Chapter 15 chapter Ten

At the taxi stand, Seldon tried to look unremarkable, but found it difficult.Trying to be inconspicuous—moving in a stealthy way, turning your face away from everyone passing by, studying a particular car—is bound to attract attention instead.All he really needed to do was adopt a simple normal attitude. But what is normal?He was uncomfortable in the clothes on his body, which didn't have any pockets, so there was no room for his hands.The two bags hanging from the belts on both sides of the waist kept bumping into his body as he walked, which made him distracted, and he always thought that someone was pushing him beside him.

He tried to admire the passing woman.None of them had those pouches, at least not hanging out.But they carry a sort of little box, some glued to the side of their hip.Seldon could not see how it was attached, perhaps (he judged) by some kind of magnetic device.Their clothes were not particularly revealing, which he regretted a little.Also, no one was wearing slightly low-cut clothing, although some of the clothing was designed to emphasize the curves of the hips. Meanwhile, Hummin went through all the formalities efficiently.He paid enough credits for a superconducting pottery shard, which was used to start a taxi.

Hummin said, "Go up, Seldon," he said, pointing to a small flying car. Seldon asked, "Do you need an autograph, Hummin?" "Of course not, people here know me and won't insist on red tape." "What do they think you're doing?" "They didn't ask, and I didn't take the initiative to explain." He inserted the pottery shard.Seldon felt a slight vibration as the speed taxi started. "We're going to fly to D—t," Hummin began. Seldon didn't know what D—t was, but he guessed it meant some kind of route or something like that.

The speed taxi weaved among the other ground vehicles, and finally overtook them on a smooth slope.Then the speeding car gradually accelerated and rose into the air in a burst of bumps. Seldon, who had been covered by a set of webbing before, felt a force push him first down toward the seat and then up against the web. "It doesn't feel like anti-gravity," he said. "That's right," said Hummin. "It's a small jet of steam, just enough to push us into the tunnel." What appeared in front of them at this time was a structure that looked like a cliff, with many cave-like openings on it, which looked like a chess board from a distance.Hummin dodged the speed taxis flying towards other tunnels, and drove their speed taxis towards the entrance of D-1.

"You can easily crash like this," Seldon said after clearing his throat. "If it all depended on how I felt and reacted, then maybe, but this taxi is fully computerized, and the computer can easily replace me at the controls. The same goes for the other taxis—we're going in." They slide into the D—t tunnel, like they're sucked into it.The light was no longer as bright as in the square outside, but a warmer, softer shade of yellow. Hummin took his hands off the control panel and leaned back.He took a deep breath, and said, "Well, we've made it through. We might have been stopped at the station; we're quite safe inside."

The speeding car moved forward steadily all the way, and the inner wall of the tunnel continued to sweep backwards rapidly.There was almost complete silence, save for the steady, soft whir of the speeding car. "How fast are we going?" Seldon asked. Hummin glanced at the control panel quickly: "Three hundred and fifty kilometers per hour." "Magnetic propulsion?" "That's right. You Helikens too, I suppose." "Yes, there is one. I've never built one, though I've always wanted to. I don't think it's going to look like this."

"I'm sure it won't be the same. There are thousands of kilometers of tunnels like this in Trantor. They drill around the ground like ant holes, and some of them spread to shallower seabeds. This is the main reason for our long-distance travel. path." "How long are we going?" "To our real destination? A little over five hours." "Five hours!" Seldon's heart turned cold. "Don't worry, we pass a rest area about every twenty minutes, where we can stop, drive the car out of the tunnel, stretch our legs, have a bite to eat, or relax. Of course, I hope the number of breaks The less the better."

They continued on in silence, and after a while, a bright light appeared on the right, which lasted for several seconds, startling Seldon.For a split second, he thought he saw two speed taxis. "That's the rest area." Hummin answered Seldon's unspoken question. Seldon said, "Wherever you take me, will I really be safe there?" Hummin said, "You'll be pretty safe as far as any public activity of the Imperial military police is concerned. Of course, as far as individuals acting alone—spies, agents, hitmen. We must always be on our guard. Naturally, I'll help you find a bodyguard."

Seldon felt quite uneasy: "A professional killer! Are you kidding me? Are they really going to kill me?" Hummin said, "I'm sure Demerzel doesn't. I'm guessing he wants to use you more than he wants to kill you. But maybe other enemies will show up, or maybe a chain of unfortunate events will happen. You can't sleepwalk forever .” Seldon shook his head, turning his face away.Come to think of it, only forty-eight hours ago he was an insignificant, almost unknown alien mathematician who just wanted to do some sightseeing before leaving Trantor, a rural view of the grandeur of this great world.But now, the situation is finally clear: he is a key criminal pursued by the imperial army and police.Thinking of this extremely dangerous situation, he suddenly trembled.

"So what about you, what are you doing now?" Inu Ming said thoughtfully, "Well, they won't be kind to me, I suppose. There might be a mysterious murderer, forever on the loose, who would split my head in half, or blow my chest out. " Hummin's voice didn't tremble in the slightest, and his calm expression didn't change at all, but Seldon couldn't help being moved. Seldon said, "I know you'd expect this to happen to you, but you don't seem... to care." "I am old Trantor, and I know as much about this planet as anyone. I know many friends, and owe me many. I have always considered myself too shrewd to be outwitted. Simply put, I am very confident, Seldon, that I can take care of myself."

"Hummin, I'm glad you feel that way, and I hope you're right to think so. But I can't figure out why on earth you'd take this risk. What do I mean to you? For a stranger, even if It's not worth the risk." Hummin checked the control panel intently, and then faced Seldon head-on, his eyes firm and serious. "The reason why I want to rescue you is the same as the reason why the emperor wants to use you - for your ability to predict the future." Seldon instantly felt extremely disappointed and distressed.It turned out that he was not rescued at all, he was just a helpless prey, being chased by many predators."I can no longer ruin my life like I did before I presented my paper at the decadal meeting," he said angrily. "No, don't jump to conclusions, mathematician. There is only one reason why the emperor and his officials want you, and that is to make their own lives safer. The reason they are interested in your ability is because they may be able to use it To support the emperor's rule, to ensure that his youngest son will succeed in the future, and to maintain the status and power of civil and military officials. On the contrary, I am for the sake of the entire galaxy." "Is there any difference between the two?" Hummin frowned seriously, and then replied, "If you can't see the difference between the two, it's your own shame. Long before the present emperor appeared, long before the dynasty he represented appeared, long before Humans existed in every corner of the galaxy before the Empire itself came into existence. Humanity is much older than the Empire, perhaps even older than the twenty-five million worlds in the galaxy. According to legend, there was a time when all humans lived in One world." "Legend!" Seldon shrugged. "Yes, legend. But I can't find a reason why this isn't true. I mean 20,000 years ago or even more. I dare say that when humans first appeared, they didn't have an innate knowledge of hyperspace travel. No need Say, there must have been a time in the past when people couldn't travel faster than light, when they must have been imprisoned on a planet. And if we look into the future, after your death, after the present Emperor's death, in his whole lineage After the end, even after the disintegration of the imperial regime, the human race will of course continue to exist in the worlds of the galaxy. In this regard, it is meaningless to be overly concerned about individuals, emperors, and young crown princes, nor even the structure of the entire empire. Worthy of concern. What about the trillions of people that exist in the galaxy? What about them?" "Worlds and humans will continue to exist, I think," said Seldon. "Don't you feel an urgent need to find out under what conditions these two continue to exist?" "I would assume both will be in a similar position to where they are now." "You'll hypothesize, but can you figure it out with that art of predicting the future that you mentioned?" "I call it psychohistory. In theory, it's possible." "You don't feel the urgency to turn theory into reality." "I really want to do this, Hummin, but this desire does not automatically produce abilities. I once told the emperor that psychohistory cannot be transformed into a practical technology, and I have to answer you with the same answer." "Don't you even have the intention of trying and looking for it?" "No, I didn't, just as I wouldn't try to sort a pile of pebbles the size of Trantor, count them, and arrange them by mass. I know that's not something I can do in my lifetime, I Not so stupid as to pretend to try it." "If you knew the truth of the human condition, wouldn't you want to try it?" "That's an impossible question. What is the truth about the present human condition? Do you mean you know?" "Yes, I know, a few words can describe it." Hummin's eyes looked forward again, and the monotonous and unchanged tunnel came oncoming. zoom out.Then, with a sullen face, he said those few words.