Chapter 31 Chapter Twenty-Three

Jenal Reagan has a gloomy vibe to it.It wasn't because of his complexion (he was quite fair, in fact), or even because his brows were thick and deep.The real reason for this impression should be that the two eyebrows protrude from the deep-set eye sockets, and his nose is high and convex.Therefore, he always looks with a very unhappy expression.His eyes were never smiling, and he seldom spoke, but when he spoke, there was a deep, forceful voice that resonated surprisingly from his rather thin body. He said, "You need warm clothes, Seldon." "Oh?" Seldon looked around.

Two other men and two women were going up with Reagan and Seldon, all wearing heavy sweaters over their satin-like Trantor suits, just like Reagan.Each sweater is brightly colored and boldly designed, and Seldon is no stranger to it.Of course, no two pieces are in the slightest alike. Seldon looked down at himself. "I'm sorry, I don't know. But I don't have the right coat." "I can give you one, and I think there's an extra here—OK. This one. It's kind of worn out, but better than nothing." "Wearing a sweater like that makes you uncomfortably hot," Seldon said.

"Here it is," Reagan said. "It's different up there in the dome. It's cold and windy. Too bad I don't have any extra leggings and boots to lend you. You'll want them later." They were testing one by one with a cart full of instruments, and Seldon felt that their movements were unnecessarily slow. "Is your home planet cold?" Reagan asked. "It's pretty cold in some areas, but where I live it's mild and it rains a lot," Seldon said. "Too bad you're not going to like the weather on the dome." "I think while we're up there, there's always a way I can hold out."

After getting ready, a group of people filed into the elevator, and there was a sign on the elevator: "Only for business use". "That's because it leads directly to the dome," said one of the young women. "No one should go there without a good reason." Seldon had never seen the young woman before, but had just heard her being called Crowzia.He didn't know if it was a first name, a last name, or just a nickname. Compared with the elevators that Seldon had used on Trantor or Helicon, this elevator seemed to be no different (except, of course, the gravity elevator he used with Hummin).But knowing that it will carry itself out of the confines of the planet to the empty dome gives one the feeling of being in a spaceship.

Seldon chuckled in his heart, this is really a stupid fantasy. The elevator was vibrating slightly, reminding Seldon of Hummin's prophecy about the fall of the Galactic Empire.Reagan and the other two men and a woman seemed to be waiting there motionless, as if they had suspended all thoughts and actions before stepping out of the elevator.Claugua, however, glanced at him frequently, as if he was particularly noticeable. Seldon moved closer to her and whispered (he was afraid of disturbing the others): "Are we going to a high place?" "Tall?" she repeated.She spoke at a normal volume and clearly did not feel the need for others to be quiet.She seemed very young, and it occurred to Seldon that she might be a student at the University Department, or perhaps just an apprentice.

"We've been ascending for a while, and the dome must be many stories high in the air." For a moment, she showed a puzzled expression.Then say, "Oh. No, it's not high at all. We start from a very deep place, and the university is located on a very low floor. We use a lot of energy, and living low enough can make the energy cost relatively low." Reagan said, "Okay, here we are, let's roll the equipment out." The elevator stopped with a slight tremor, and the wide door quickly slid open.At this moment, the temperature dropped immediately, and Seldon quickly put his hands in his pockets, glad that he was wearing a sweater.A cold wind ruffled his hair, and it occurred to him that he might as well have a hat.While thinking this way, Reagan took out something from his sweater pocket, tore it open, and put it on his head, and the others followed suit.

Only Crowzia hesitated.Just as she was about to put her hat on, she stopped and handed it to Seldon. Seldon shook his head. "I can't take your hat, Crowzia." "Go ahead. I have long hair, and it's pretty thick. Yours is short, and a little... thin." Seldon was tempted to deny that as much as he would have done under other circumstances.However, at this moment he just took the hat and murmured: "Thank you, if you feel cold, I will return it to you right away." Maybe she's not that young, maybe it's just because she has a baby face.It was only because she had mentioned her hair that Seldon noticed that it was an attractive reddish brown.He had never seen hair of this color in Helicon.

It was a heavy cloudy day outside, as he had encountered on his way through the open country to the palace.It was noticeably colder today, though, and he guessed it was because it was deep winter, six weeks apart.Plus the clouds were thicker than that day, and it was darker and harsher—or maybe it was just getting dark.Of course, since they are engaged in important work above, they will not fail to reserve sufficient daylight time for themselves.In other words, they calculated that they could get the job done quickly. He originally wanted to ask a question, but then it occurred to him that they might not like being asked questions at this moment.These people seem to have entered into a particular state of mind, which can range from excitement to anger.

Seldon surveyed his surroundings. He stood on something, supposed to be dull metal.This is what he judged based on the sound after stepping on it secretly.It wasn't bare metal, though, on which he left footprints as he walked.The surface was apparently covered with a layer of dust, either fine sand or clay. Ok.Why not?It's almost impossible for someone to come up and clean the place.Out of curiosity, he bent down and pinched a little dust. Crowzia was already beside him, and she noticed his movements.Like a housewife caught in the loop, she said awkwardly, "We've been sweeping the surrounding area quite a bit for these instruments. Most of the dome is much worse than this, but that's okay, it's It can be used for insulation."

Seldon replied vaguely, and continued to look around.He had never had a chance to understand the function of the various instruments that seemed to grow from the thin soil (if they could be called that).He had not even the vaguest notion of what they were, or what they measured. At this time Reagan came over, carefully raising and lowering his feet in turn.It occurred to Seldon that he did this to keep the instrument from shaking.So he reminded himself to walk like this from now on. "You! Seldon!" Seldon didn't like the tone very much, and he replied coldly, "What's the matter, Dr. Reagan?"

"Well, in that case, Dr. Seldon," he said impatiently, "that little Randa told me you were a mathematician." "yes." "Excellent mathematician?" "I hope so, but it's hard to guarantee." "Are you particularly interested in difficult problems?" Seldon said thoughtfully, "Now I'm stuck in a problem." "And I'm stuck in the other one. You can take a look around. If you have any questions, our trainee Crowzia will help you answer them. You may have a way to help us." "I'd be happy to help, but I don't know anything about meteorology." "Never mind. Seldon. I just want to give you a sense of the matter, and then I'll discuss with you my math problem, if it can be called math." "I teach anytime." Reagan turned away, his long, bitter face looking tense.Then he turned back to Seldon and said, "If you're feeling unbearably cold, and the lift door is open, just go in, press the mark 'University Ground Floor', and it'll take you down, and It will come back here automatically. Clozia will teach you—in case you forget." "I won't forget." This time he really wanted to walk away.Seldon watched his back, feeling the cold wind cutting the sweater on his body like a sharp knife.At this time Claudia came back, her face was a little red from the wind. Seldon said, "Dr. Reagan seems troubled—or has he always been?" She giggled: "Most of the time, he just looks upset, but now he really wants to be." Seldon asked naturally, "Why?" Clozia turned her head to look, and her long hair flew up. "They didn't tell me about it, but I know it anyway. Dr. Reagan had calculated that at this time of day, there would be a gap in the clouds, and he had planned to make some special measurements in the sun. But... uh, Look at the weather." Seldon nodded. "We've got holographic receivers up here, so he's known for a long time that there's a cloud—worse than usual. I guess he's hoping it's something wrong with the instruments so the problem lies with the instruments and not his theory. But so far, they haven't found any glitches." "That's why he looks so sullen." "He never seemed happy." Seldon squinted his eyes and looked around. Although the clouds covered the sun, the light was still dazzling.He was aware that the surface under his feet was not perfectly level; he was standing on a shallow dome, and as he looked far and wide he could see many domes in every direction, each of different width and height. "It seems bumpy up there," he said. "I think most of it is like that, it was like that when it was built." "Is there any reason?" "Actually, there is no reason. When I first came here, like you, I looked around and asked everyone. The explanation I heard was this. The residents of Trantor were originally only in specific places, such as indoor shopping malls, gymnasiums, etc. Domes were built in places, and later extended to the whole town. At that time, there were many domes all over the world, with different heights and widths. When they were all connected, it was naturally uneven everywhere. But at that time, people thought it was originally That's how it should be." "You mean that something that was supposed to be quite accidental has come to be considered tradition?" "I suppose so, if you want to say so." (Is that a law of psychohistory, Seldon thought, if some rather accidental event could easily be dismissed as tradition and thus unbreakable—or almost unbreakable? It sounds pretty obvious , but, how many other equally obvious laws are there? A million? A billion? Is there a few general laws that can be derived one by one from these obvious laws? He was so lost in thought that he almost forgot about the biting wind.) However, Crowzia was still aware of the strong wind, and shivering, she said: "It's a bad weather, it's better to hide under the dome." "Are you a Trantorian?" Seldon asked. "yes." Seldon remembered that Randa had taunted Trantorians for their spatial phobias, and said, "You don't mind being up there?" "I hate it," Crowzia said, "but I wanted a degree and expertise and status, and Dr. Reagan said I couldn't graduate unless I did some fieldwork. So here I am, even though I hate it Yes, especially when it's this cold. By the way, in such a cold weather, you would never have dreamed that there would be plants growing on the dome, would you?" "Is there?" He looked at Claudia with sharp eyes, suspecting that this was a prank specially designed to fool him.She seemed utterly innocent, but how much of that was true and how much was just because of her baby face? "Oh, of course. Even here, when it's a little warmer. Have you noticed the soil here? I said we always sweep it up for our work. But everywhere else, it accumulates Above, the depressions where the domes meet are especially deep, where the vegetation grows." "But where did the dirt come from?" "While the dome hadn't completely covered the planet, the wind blew dirt onto it, accumulating little by little. Later, when Trantor was completely covered by the dome, and the active levels were dug deeper and deeper, some soil was always Dig it out, and if it fits, it will be sprinkled on the dome." "Needless to say, this would crush the dome." "Oh, no. These domes are very strong and have supports almost everywhere. According to what I read in a film book, people were going to grow crops in the domes, and it turned out that it was more practical to develop agriculture inside the domes. Yeast and algae can also be cultivated in the dome, which relieves the demand pressure of common crops, so in the end it was decided to leave the dome barren. There are also some animals on the dome, butterflies, bees, mice, rabbits... the number is really quite a lot.” "Won't the roots of the plants do damage to the dome?" "Thousands of years have passed, and this has never happened. The domes are specially treated to keep the roots from penetrating. Most of the vegetation is grass, but there are also trees. If it is warmer now, or we are further south, or You're on a spaceship, so you can tell for yourself;" She glanced at him quickly, "did you take a look at Trantor when you came down from space?" "No, Crowzia, I must admit I haven't seen it, the hyperspaceship has never been angled for a good view. Have you seen Trantor from space?'' She smiled faintly: "I've never been in space." Seldon looked around and saw only grayness. "I can't believe it," he said. "I mean the plants on the dome." "It's true, though. I've heard people say—other worlds, like you, who actually saw Trantor from space—that the planet looked green, like a meadow , because the surface is mostly grass and bushes. In fact, there are trees, there is a forest not far from here, I have seen it before. They are all evergreen trees, the tallest is six meters." "Where?" "You can't see it here, it's on the other side of a dome: it's..." At this time, there was a faint call: "Claudia, come back, you are needed here." (Seldon noticed that they were chatting and walking, and they had already distanced themselves from the others.) Crowzia responded, "Yo-ho! Here you go—sorry, Dr. Seldon, I have to go." She turned away at once, managing to walk lightly despite her heavy boots. Was she playing a joke on him?Could it be just for the fun of telling so many lies to a gullible outsider?This kind of thing is heard all the time, in any world, and the transparent honesty cannot be taken seriously; in fact.A successful liar will always create this attitude on purpose. So, are there really six-meter trees on the dome?Without thinking too much, he walked towards the highest dome on the horizon.He kept shaking his hands, trying to warm himself up, but his feet felt colder and colder. Clozia didn't give directions.She should have given him a hint of where the trees were, but she hadn't.Why not?By the way, she just got called away. The dome is very broad, but not too high.This is a good sign, otherwise the journey would be much more difficult than it is now.A gentle slope, on the other hand, meant that he had to waddle a long way up to the summit of a dome and look down on the other side. Finally, he finally saw the other side of that dome.He looked back to make sure he could still see the meteorologists and their instruments.They were a long way from him in a distant valley, but he could see them clearly enough, well. He saw no woods or trees, but there was a sinuous depression between the two domes.The soil on both sides of this dry ditch is thicker, and occasionally some green spots can be seen, which may seem to be moss.If he followed the ditch, if the hollow ahead was low enough and the soil thick enough, he might find trees. He looked back, trying to keep some waypoints in his mind, but all he could see was the undulating dome, which made him hesitate.Dors had warned him of the possibility of getting lost, which seemed unnecessary advice at the time, and seemed quite reasonable now.However, he was almost sure that the dry ditch was a path, and if he followed it for a while, he only had to turn back to return to the starting point by the same road. He took a deliberate stride and walked down the winding ditch.There was a slight rumbling noise overhead, but he didn't notice it.He made up his mind to look at those trees, and at this moment, his mind was completely occupied by this idea. The moss was thickening and spreading like a carpet, and here and there tufts of grass were visible.Despite the barrenness of the dome, the moss grew fresh and green, and it occurred to Seldon that on a cloudy, dark planet, there would likely be plenty of rain. The ditch continued to bend, and soon, in the middle of another dome, a black spot appeared against the gray sky background, and he knew he had found the trees at last. After seeing these trees, his mind seemed to be freed, and he could finally think of other things.Only then did Seldon notice the rumbling sound he had heard, which he had just taken for the sound of machinery running without thinking, and therefore ignored it at all.Now, he considers the possibility: Is it really a noise from a machine? Why not?He is standing on a dome now, and the 200 million square kilometers of this global metropolis is covered with countless similar domes.Under these domes, various machinery must have been concealed, such as the motors for the ventilation system.Perhaps its voice is still audible in a time and space where all other sounds of the metropolis have died away. However, it doesn't seem to come from below.He looked up at the dull, drab sky—nothing. He continued to search the sky, a straight line between his eyes.Then, in the distance... It was a small black dot, appearing in the gray background.Whatever it was, it seemed to be moving around, as if trying to get its bearings before it was hidden by clouds again. Then, suddenly, he had an idea for no reason: They were looking for me. Almost before he could figure out how to react, he had acted.He ran desperately towards the trees along the dry ditch.To get there sooner, he turned left halfway and darted over a low dome, stepping over a field of dying brown ferns and prickly twigs with bright red berries.