Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty

Later that evening, after dinner time, Janelle Reagan came to visit.He looked at Dors and Seldon in turn, as if he didn't know what to say.The two didn't take the initiative to help him, but just waited patiently.In their opinion, he had never been a man for small talk. At last, he said to Seldon: "Let me see how you are." "Excellent," said Seldon, "just sleepy. Dr. Venabili told me that the therapy would make me feel tired for days, presumably to make sure I got the rest I deserved." He smiled slightly With a smile, "Frankly, I don't care."

Reagan took a full, deep breath, hesitated, and then, almost as if trying to force his words out: "I won't bother you for long, and I absolutely understand that you need a break. However, I do want to tell you, I'm sorry for what happened, I shouldn't have assumed- then just assumed you'd left on your own. Since you're a newbie, I should feel a heavier responsibility to you. After all, I agreed to let you go up Yes. I hope you will sincerely...forgive me. That's really all I want to say." Seldon covered his mouth with his hand and yawned. "I'm sorry—you don't have to blame yourself for what seems to be a comic ending. In a way, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have wandered elsewhere, and besides, the real situation..."

Dors interrupted: "Okay, Harry, please, stop talking and get some rest. Now, before Dr. Reagan leaves, I want to say a few words to him. First, Dr. Reagan, I understand quite well, you I am very worried about the possible impact of this incident on you. I once said that if Dr. Seldon can recover without any sequelae, we will not pursue it: it seems to be the case so far, so you can rest assured—— Take it easy for now. I want to ask you another thing, and I hope I can get your cooperation this time?" "I'll do my best, Dr. Venabili," Reagan said stiffly. "Did anything unusual happen while you were on the dome?"

"You know, of course, I lost the Selton blog, and I made a special apology for this incident just now." "Of course I don't mean this one. Is there anything else unusual going on?" "No more, nothing." Dors looked at Seldon, who frowned.He had the feeling that Dors was trying to get an independent set of statements to verify his account was true.Did she think the search for the plane was his fantasy?He wanted to protest strongly, but she had already raised a bird, signaling him to remain silent, as if to prevent him from interrupting.He did calm down, partly because of her gestures, but also because of his deep sleepiness.Now he just hoped Reagan wouldn't stay too long.

"Are you sure?" Dors said, "No one else broke in?" "No, of course not. Oh..." "How is it, Dr. Reagan?" "There's a jet helicopter." "Does that seem unusual to you?" "No, of course not." "Why not?" "It sounds very much like I'm being cross-examined, Dr. Venabili, and I don't like that very much." "I can appreciate that, Dr. Reagan, but these questions are related to Dr. Seldon's misfortune. It is possible that the whole matter is more complicated than I had imagined."

"How?" His voice became sharp again, "Are you planning to ask new questions so that I can apologize again? In this case, I think it may be necessary to leave." "Maybe you shouldn't go until you explain. Why doesn't a jet helicopter circling seem unusual to you at all?" "Because, my dear lady, many weather stations on Trantor have jet helicopters for direct studies of clouds and the upper atmosphere. Our station does not." "Why not? It should be useful." "Of course. But we're not competing with each other, and we've never kept secrets from each other. We'll publish our findings, and they'll publish theirs. So it makes sense to spread research topics and specialties. It would be a fool's errand if two groups of people were doing the exact same job. Money and material resources that we might have spent on jet helicopters could be spent on meson refractometers, and someone else would save on the aftermath. to focus on the plans of the former. After all, while there may be much rivalry and discord among the districts, science is the one—the only one—that holds us together. I think you should know that." He added the last sentence in a sarcastic tone.

"I know. But isn't it just a coincidence that someone sent a jet helicopter over you on the day you're going to use the weather station?" "It's not a coincidence at all. We had announced in advance that we were going to take measurements on the day, so some other weather station would have assumed that they could do some suspended matter measurements at the same time - cloud cover, you know. Take our results Taken together, it will be more meaningful and useful than the results of the two measured separately." Seldon said suddenly in a rather slurred voice: "They were just measuring, then?" He yawned again.

"That's right," Reagan said. "Is there anything else they could possibly do?" Dors blinked, one of her little quick-thinking movements. "That all makes sense. Which weather station does that jet helicopter belong to?" Reagan shook his head. "Dr. Venabili, how can you expect me to know?" "I think every weather plane may have the logo of the weather station it belongs to." "Of course, but I didn't look up. You know, I have my own work and I let them do theirs. When they publish the results, I'll know whose jet helicopter it is."

"What if they don't publish it?" "Then I will infer that their equipment is malfunctioning, which sometimes happens." His right hand clenched into a fist, "Okay, are you done asking?" "Wait a minute, based on your speculation, where did that jet helicopter possibly come from?" "Could come from any weather station with jet helicopters. Any one could fly in from anywhere on the planet with a day's notice—and they already knew." "But where is it most likely?" "It's hard to say. Hestralonia, Wye, Chigoures, and Norte Damiano. I say these four districts are the most likely, but there are at least forty other districts that are also possible."

"So, just one last question, the last one. Dr. Reagan, when you announced that your group was going to the dome, did you possibly mention that a mathematician, Dr. Hari Seldon, would also be traveling with you? " A deep and genuine surprise clearly crossed Reagan's face, but the expression quickly turned into disdain. "Why am I listing names? Who would be interested in it?" "Very well," said Dors. "Then, here it is. Dr. Seldon's sight of a jet-helicopter disturbed him. I'm not sure why, apparently his memory of the event A little blurry. It could be said that he made his way to avoid the jet helicopter. He didn't try to turn back, or dared to do so, before the end of the evening; and later in the dark, he failed to find the exact right The way back. You are not to blame for this, so let us both forget about the whole thing. Agree?"

"Agreed," Reagan said, "Goodbye!" Then he turned and left. When he was gone, Dors stood up, gently took off Seldon's slippers, laid him upright on the bed, and tucked him in.Of course, he was already asleep. Then she sat down and began to think.How much of what Reagan just said was true, and what might be hidden in his words, she had no idea.