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基地系列:基地与地球|Foundation and Earth

第七章 告别康普隆|Chapter 7: Leaving Comporellon

属类： 双语小说 【分类】魔幻小说 -[作者: 艾萨克-阿西莫夫] 阅读：[2574]
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“依照康普隆的规范，议员先生，的确不礼貌。不过既然你们是客人，不妨依循你们的规范，如果你们想要谈正经事，而不认为或不介意那样会破坏食欲，那就请便吧，我愿意奉陪。”

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崔维兹说：“谢谢你。李札乐部长曾经暗示——不，她很不客气地明说——怀疑论者在这个世界下受欢迎，这是真的吗？”

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丹尼亚多的好心情似乎更上一层楼。“当然啦，如果不是这样，我们会多伤心呢。康普隆，你知道，是个充满挫折感的世界。尽避过去的历史没有人清楚，一般人却有一种空幻的信仰，认为在许多仟年以前，住人的银河规模还很小的时候，康普隆曾是领袖群伦的世界，这点我们一直念念不忘。而在可考的历史中，我们却从未居于领导地位，这个事实令我们很不舒服，让我们——我是说，一般的民众——心中有种忿忿不平的感觉。

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“可是我们能怎么办？政府曾经被迫效忠帝国的皇帝，如今则是基地的忠诚附庸。我们越是明了自己的次等地位，就越栢信传说中那段伟大的岁月。

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“那么，康普隆人能做些什么呢？过去他们无法与帝国抗争，如今又不能公开向基地挑衅。因此他们攻击我们、憎恨我们，用这种方式来寻求慰藉，因为我们不相信那些传说，并且对那些迷信嗤之以鼻。

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“然而，我们不必担心受到更大的迫害。我们控制了科技，在大学担任教职的也是我们这些人。其中有些人特别敢说话，因而难以公开授课。比如说，我自己就有这个麻烦，不过我还是有学生，我们在校外定期悄悄聚会。但是，如果真禁止我们公开活动，那么科技将要停摆，大学将会失去全银河的认可。事实上，这种学术自杀的严着后果，也许还无法令他们收敛仇恨的心态，想必这就是人类的愚昧，不过还好有基地支持我们。所以说，虽然我们不断受到漫骂、讥嘲和公开抨击，却仍旧能安然无事。”

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崔维兹说：“是不是由于大众的反对，使你不愿告诉我们地球在哪里？虽然你刚才那么说，但你是否害怕如果做得太过分，反怀疑论者的情绪会升高到危险的秤谌？”

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丹尼亚多摇了摇头。“不是这样，地球的位置的确无人知晓。我并非由于恐惧，或是任何其他原因，而对你们有所隐瞒。”

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“可是你听我说，”崔维兹急切地说：“在银河这一星区中，自然条件适于住人的行星数量有限，而且，大多数的可住人行星必定都已有人居住，因此你们应该相当熟悉。想要在这个星区寻找一颗特殊的行星——除了带有放射性外，它具有一切适于住人的条件，这会有多困难呢？此外你还有另一个线索，就是那颗行星有颗巨大的卫星相伴。既然有了放射性和巨大卫星两个特征，地球绝不会被错认，甚至只是随便找一找，也应该找得到。或许需要花点时间，不过这是唯一的麻烦。”

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丹尼亚多说：“就怀疑论者的观点而言，地球的放射性和旁边那颗巨大卫星，都只不过是传说而已。如果我们去寻找这些特征，那就跟寻找麻雀奶和兔子羽毛一样荒唐。”

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“也许吧，可是那不至于使康普隆人完全放弃。如果他们能找到一个充满放射性的世界，大小罢好适于住人，旁边还有颗巨大的卫星，康普隆民间传说的可信度将因此大大提高。”

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丹尼亚多大笑几声。“也许正是由于这个原因，康普隆才从未进行这类探索。假如我们失败，或是找到一个跟传说显然不符的地球，便会产生适得其反的效果。康普隆的民间传说将马上垮台，变成大家的笑柄。康普隆不会冒这个险。”

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崔维兹顿了一下，再用非常认真的口气说：“那么，即使我们不强调放射性和巨大卫星这两个‘唯一点’——姑且假设银河标准语有这种说法，根据定义，一定还有第三个唯一点，它和任何的传说都毫无瓜葛。那就是如今在地球上，即使没有众多生机盎然、多采多姿的生命型态，也总会有一些留存下来，不然至少应该保有化石纪录。”

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丹尼亚多说：“议员先生，虽然康普隆未曾有组织地计划找寻地球，我们有时还是得做些太空旅行。偶尔会有船舰由于种种原因而迷途，那些船舰照例要将经过做成报告。跃迁不是每次都完美无缺，这点或许你也知道。然而，所有的报告中，从未提到跟传说中的地球性质相似的世界，也没发现过挤满各种生命型态的行星。船舰又不可能只为了搜集化石，而在一颗看似无人居住的行星登陆。如果说，过去数千年来，从来没有疑似地球的报告出现，我就绝对愿意相信找寻地球是不可能的事，因为地球根本不在那里，又怎么找得到呢。”

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崔维兹以充满挫折感的语调说：“可是地球一定在某个地方。在银河的某个角落，存在着一颗行星，人类以及人类熟悉的其他生命型态，都是从那里演化出来的。如果地球不在银河这一区，就一定在其他星区。”

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“或许如此吧，”丹尼亚多冷冷地说：“但是直到目前为止，它还没在任何一处出现过。”

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“大家未曾真正仔细找过。”

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“嗯，显然你们就会。我祝你们好运，但我绝不会赌你们成功。”

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崔维兹说：“有没有人试图以间接的方法，就是除了直接寻找之外的其他方法，来判定地球可能的位置？”

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“有——”两个声音同时响起。丹尼亚多是其中之一，他对裴洛拉特说：“你是否想到了亚瑞弗计划？”

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“是的。”裴洛拉特答道。

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“那么可否请你跟议员先生解释一下？我想他比较容易相信你的话。”

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于是裴洛拉特说：“你可知道，葛兰，在帝国末期，所谓的‘起源寻找’研究曾经风靡一时，许多人把它当作一种消遣，也许是为了逃避周遭令人不快的现实。当时帝国已渐渐崩溃瓦解，这你是知道的。

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“黎维的一位历史学家韩波·亚瑞弗，就想到了一个间接的方法。他的依据是，不论起源行星是哪一颗，它一定会先在较近的行星建立殖民世界。一般说来，一个世界距离那个原点越远，殖民者抵达的时间就越晚。

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“那么，假使将银河所有住人行星的创建日期整理出来，然后以仟年为单位，把历史同样久远的行星连成网络。比如说，具有一万年历史的行星构成一个网络；具有一万两千年历史的行星构成另一个网络；具有一万五千年历史的行星又构成另一个网络。理论上来说，每个网络都近似一个球面，而且差不多是同心球。较古老的行星所构成的网络，半径应该小于较年轻的行星网络。如果把每个网络的球心找出来，它们在太空中的分布范围应该相当小，而那个范围就该包含了起源行星——地球。”

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裴洛拉特双手做成杯状，划出一个个的球面，脸上的表情极其认真。“你明白我的意思吗，葛兰？”

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崔维兹点了点头。“明白，不过我猜他没有成功。”

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“理论上应该办得到，老伙伴。麻烦的是创建年代都不正确，每个世界多少会将本身的历史夸大拉长，可是除了传说，又没有其他简单的方法可以断定历史的长短。”

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宝绮思说：“古老树木中的碳十四衰变。”

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“当然啦，亲爱的，”裴洛拉特说：“但你必须得到那些世界的合作才行，事实上从来没人愿意那么做，每个世界都不希望夸大的历史被人推翻。帝国当时又不能为了这么小的事，就强行压制各地的反对声浪，它有更着要的事需要操心。

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“因此亚瑞弗所能做的，只是利用那些历史顶多两千年，而且创建经过在可靠的情况下，曾经仔细记录下来的世界。那些世界没有多少，虽然它们的分布大致符合球对称，球心却相当接近川陀，昔日帝国的首都。因为那些为数不多的新世界，最初的殖民者全部源自川陀。

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“那当然是另一个问题。地球并非星际殖民的唯一起点，一段时日之后，较古老的殖民世界便会送出自己的殖民队伍，而在帝国全盛时期，川陀成了殖民者的主要出产地。说来真不公平，亚瑞弗因此就成为众人的笑柄，他的学术声誉也因此而断送。”

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崔维兹说：“来龙去脉我听懂了，詹诺夫。丹尼亚多博士，照这么说来，你甚趾蟋一丝渺茫的希望都无法给我？那在其他世界上，有没有可能找到关于地球的线索呢？”

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丹尼亚多陷入迟疑的沉思，好一会儿之后才终于开口。　“嗯……”他先发出一声犹豫的感叹，接着才说：“身为一名怀疑论者，我必须告诉你，我不确定地球如今是否存在，或者是否曾经存在。不过——”他再度沉默不语。

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宝绮思终于接口：“我猜，你想到一件可能很着要的事，博士？”

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“着要吗？我很怀疑，”丹尼亚多轻声说：“不过也许很有意思。地球不是唯一行踪成谜的行星，第一波的殖民者——在我们的传说中，称他们为‘外世界人’——他们的世界如今也不知所踪。有些人管那些世界叫‘外世界’安定因素，此外也有人称之为‘禁忌世界’，后者现在较为通用。

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“传说是这么说的，在他们的黄金时代，外世界人使寿命延长到数个世纪，并且拒绝让我们短寿命的祖先登陆他们的世界。在我们击败他们之后，情势有了一百八十度的逆转，我们不屑和他们来往，要让他们自生自灭，禁止我们的船舰和行商跟他们接触。因此那些行星变成了禁忌世界。我们确定，传说中如此记述着，我们只需袖手旁观，惩罚者自然会毁灭他们，而袍显然做到了。至少，据我们所知，已经有许多仟年，不曾见到外世界人在银河出现。”

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“你认为外世界人会知道地球的下落吗？”崔维兹问。

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“想必如此，他们的世界比我们任何一个世界都要古老。不过前提是必须还有外世界人存在，而这是极端不可能的事。”

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“即使他们早就不存在了，他们的世界应该还在，或许会保有一些纪录。”

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“如果你能找到这些世界的话。”

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崔维兹看来冒火了。“你的意思是，想要寻找下落不明的地球，应该能在外世界上找到线索，可是外世界一样下落不明？”

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丹尼亚多耸了耸肩。“我们已经有两万年未跟他们来往，连想都没有想到他们。而外世界也像地球一样，隐藏到了历史的迷雾中。”

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“外世界人分布在多少个世界上？”

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“传说中有五十个这样的世界——一个可疑的整数，实际上可能少得多。”

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“你却不知道其中任何一个的位置？”

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“嗯，这个，我想——”

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“你想什么？”

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丹尼亚多说：“由于太古历史是我的业余嗜好，和裴洛拉特博士一样，我有时会翻查些古老的文件，找找看有没有任何提到太古时期的记载，比传说更可靠的记载。去年，我发现了一艘古代太空船中的纪录，那些纪录几乎已无法解读。它的年代非常久远，当时我们的世界还不叫康普隆，而是使用‘贝莱世界’这个名称。我认为，我们传说中的‘班伯利世界’，可能就是从那个名字演变而来。”

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裴洛拉特兴奋地问：“你发表了吗？”

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“没有。”丹尼亚多说：“正如一句古老格言所云：在我确定泳池有水没水之前，我可不愿意往下跳。你可知道，那个纪录中提到了一件事，那艘太空船的船长造访过某个外世界，还带了一名外世界女子离去。”

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宝绮思说：“可是你刚才说，外世界人不允许他人造访。”

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“没错，这正是我未将纪录发表的原因，听来实在难以置信。有些暧昧不明的传说事迹，可以解释为外世界人的故事，包括他们和我们的祖先‘银河殖民者’的冲突。这类传说事迹不是康普隆的特产，在许多世界上都有大同小异的故事，但有一点完全一致——外世界人和银河殖民者绝不会在一起，双方之间没有社交接触，更别毯蠼性间的接触。可是纪录中的殖民者船长和那个外世界女子，却显然因爱情而结合，这实在太不可思议。我不相信这个故事有可能被人接受，顶多只会被视为一篇浪漫的历史小说。”

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崔维兹显得很失望。“就这样吗？”

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“不只这样，议员先生，还有另外一件事。我在太空船残存的航行日志中，发现了一些数字，代表的可能是几组空间座标，但也可能不是。假如真是的话——我再着复一遍，怀疑论者的荣誉心使我必须强调，也有可能并非如此——那么，内在证据使我得到一个结论，它们是三个外世界的空间座标。其中的一个，或许就是那个船长曾经登陆的世界，他就是从那个世界带走了他的外世界爱人。”

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崔维兹说：“就算这个故事是杜撰的，有没有可能座标仍是真的呢？”

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“有这个可能，”丹尼亚多说：“我会给你那些数宇，你喜欢怎样利用都可以，不过你很可能一无所获——但我有个很有趣的想法。”他又露出了短暂的笑容。

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“什么想法？”崔维兹问。

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“如果其中一组座标代表地球的位置呢？”

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康普隆的太阳射出耀眼的橙色光芒，看来比端点星的太阳还要大，但它在天球上的位置相当低，因此只能送来微弱的热量。还好风并不强，不过吹在崔维兹脸颊上，仍然令他感到冰冷刺痛。

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他的身子瑟缩在电暖大衣里发抖，那件大衣是蜜特札·李札乐送给他的，她现在就站在他身旁。他说：“总该有暖和的时候吧，蜜特札。”

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她很快瞥了太阳一眼。站在这个空旷的太空航站里，她未曾显出任何不适。罩在她高大身形上的大衣比崔维兹的还薄，也许她对寒冷并非完全麻木，伹至少她一点都不在乎。

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她说：“我们有个美丽的夏季，虽然为时不长，但农作物都能适应。作物品种全部经过精挑细选，能在阳光下迅速生长，而且不容易受到霜害。本地的动物都生有厚实的毛皮，一般公认全银河最佳的羊毛产自康普隆。此外，康普隆的轨道上还有许多太空农场，上面种植各种热带水果，我们还外销风味绝佳的凤梨罐头。大多数的人不知道这些，只知道我们是个寒冷的世界。”

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崔维兹说：“我很感谢你来为我们送行，蜜特札，并感谢你愿意跟我们合作，让我们能继续完成任务。然而，为了使我自己心安理得，我必须问一句，你会不会为自己惹上大麻烦？”

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“不会！”她骄傲地摇了摇头，“不会有任何麻烦。第一，不会有人来质问我，一切运输系统由我控制，也就是说，这个太空航站和其他航站的法规，以及有关入境站、船舰来去的所有法规，全都由我一个人制定。总理靠我全权处理这些事情，他不必为任何细节烦心，高兴都还来不及呢。就算我受到诘问，也只要据实相告就行了。政府获悉我未将太空船交给基地后，一定会为我喝采；如果让民众知道也无妨，他们的反应想必一样。至于基地，则根本不会晓得这件事。”

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崔维兹说：“政府也许愿意见到基地没有如愿，但是你放走了我们，他们也愿意赞成你的决定吗？”

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李札乐微微一笑。“你是个高尚的君子，崔维兹。你为了保住太空船，下屈不挠地奋战到底，现在你成功了，却又开始为我的安危操心。”

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她试着向他靠近，彷佛忍不住想做个亲昵的动作。然而，显然在经过一番挣扎后，她终于克制住这个冲动。

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她又恢复了率直的口气，说道：“即使他们质疑我的决定，我只消告诉他们，说你一直都在寻找最古世界，他们就一定会说我做得很对，的确应该尽快摆脱你们，连太空船一块赶走。然后他们会进行一些赎罪仪式，以弥补当初准许你登陆的错误，虽然我们原先无法猜到你在做什么。”

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“你真的担心由于我的出现，为你自己和这个世界带来不幸吗？”

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“的确如此。”李札乐生硬地答道，再改用较缓和的语气说：“你已经为我带来了不幸，我认识你之后，康普隆的男人会显得更加索然无味。我的渴求从此再也无法满足，惩罚者已经决定让我万劫不复。”

71
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崔维兹迟疑了一下，然后说：“我并非希望你改变自己的想法，但我也不希望你被无谓的忧虑困扰。你必须知道，所谓我会带来不幸的这种说法，其实不过是迷信而已。”

72
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“我想，这是那个怀疑论者告诉你的。”

73
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“他不必告诉我，我也一样知道。”

74
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李札乐伸手抹了下额头，她突出的双层上沾积了层细霜。　“我知道有些人认为这是迷信，可是最古世界会带来厄运，却是千真万确的事。过去已经有许多实例，不管怀疑论者如何巧言善辩，也无法否定既有的事实。”

75
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她突然伸出右手。“再缓笏，葛兰。进太空船跟你的伙伴会合吧，免得你那娇弱的端点星身子，在我们寒冷的和风中冻僵了。”

76
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“告辞了，蜜特札，希望我回来的时候能再见到你。”

77
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“是啊，你答应过会回来，我也试着让自己相信。我甚至告诉自己，到时我将飞到太空，在你的太空船中和你相会，这样厄运便只会降临在我身上，不至于殃及我的世界——可是你不会再回来了。”

78
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“不！我会回来！你曾带给我这样的快乐，我不会那么轻易放弃。”此时此刻，崔维兹坚决相信自己是认真的。

79
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“我不怀疑你浪漫的冲动，我可爱的基地人，但是那些冒险寻找最古世界的人，全都永远回不来了——回不到任何地方，我自己心里很清楚。”

80
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崔维兹尽力不让牙齿打颤，虽然只是因为天气寒冷，他的牙齿才不受控制，但他不愿让她以为那是由于自己胆怯。他说：“那是迷信。”

81
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“不过，”她说：“那也是事实。”

82
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回到远星号驾驶舱的感觉真好。将它当成一个房间实在太挤了些，也许它只是无尽星空中的一个小囚笼，然而，它却令人感到那么熟悉、友善而温暖。

83
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宝绮思说：“我很高兴你终于上来了，我正在想，不知道你还要跟那位部长厮磨多久。”

84
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“没有多久，”崔维兹说：“天气冷得很。”

85
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“我有一种感觉，”宝绮思说：“你曾考虑要留下来陪她，而将寻找地球的行程延后。我不愿探触你的心灵，哪怕只是轻轻一碰，可是我关心你，而你受到的诱惑似乎感应了我。”

86
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崔维兹说：“你说得没错，至少有那么片刻，我的确感受到了诱惑。部长是个不同凡响的女人，我从来没遇到过第二个。你加强了我的抵抗力吗，宝绮思？”

87
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她答道：“我告诉你多少次了，我不能也不会以任何方式干扰你的心灵，崔维兹。我猜，你是借着强烈的责任感，自己战胜了这个诱惑。”

88
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“不，我倒不那么想，”他苦笑了一下，“不可能那么崇高、那么戏剧性。我的抵抗力的确被强化了，一来是由于天气太冷；二来是我有个不详的预感，假如我继续跟她在一起，不出几回合就会要我的命，我永远无法跟上她的步调。”

89
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裴洛拉特说：“嗯，不管怎么说，你毕竟是安全返回太空船了。下一步我们要做什么？”

90
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“眼前要做的，是以轻快的速度离开这个行星系，直到距离康普隆的太阳够远了，我们再来进行跃迁。”

91
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“你想我们会被拦截或跟踪吗？”

92
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“不，我真心相信部长渴望我们尽快离去，而且永远不要回来，以免惩罚者的报复降临这颗行星。其实……”

93
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“什么？”

94
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“她相信报复一定会降在我们身上，她坚决相信我们不会回来。我得说明一下，不是因为她料到我可能会背信，她没有机会估量我的信用。她的意思是，地球是个可怕的不祥之物，任何人试图寻找它，都一定会死在半途。”

95
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宝绮思说：“康普隆有多少人去找过地球，才使得她这么肯定？”

96
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“我怀疑没有任何康普隆人曾经试过。我告诉她，她的恐惧只不过是迷信。”

97
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“你确定自己柑信这点吗，还是你也被她动摇了？”

98
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“我知道她所表现的恐惧纯粹是迷信，但是她的恐惧仍然可能有根有据。”

99
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“你的意思是说，如果我们试图登陆地球，放射线会要我们的命？”

100
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“我不相信地球具有放射性，但我的确相信地球会保护自己。还记得吗，川陀图书馆中有关地球的资料全被移走了；而盖娅虽然拥有惊人的记忆体，行星的每个部分都参与其中，甚至包括地表的岩层和地心的熔融金属，却也无法回溯到够远的过去，所以不能告诉我们任何有关地球的事。

101
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“显然，假如地球真那么有力量，它或许也能调整人类的心灵，迫使大家都相信它具有放射性，这样便能吓阻任何寻找它的念头。也许因为康普隆和地球极为接近，对地球形成特别的威胁，所以又被加上一着诡异的空白。丹尼亚多是个怀疑论者，也是一位科学家，他百分之百相信寻找地球是白费力气，他说地球不可能被人找到——这就是部长的迷信也许有根据的原因。地球如此希望隐藏自己，难道不会将我们杀害，或是将我们引入歧途，反而任由我们找到它吗？”

102
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宝绮思皱着眉头说：“盖娅……”

103
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崔维兹立刻打断她的话。“别说盖娅会保护我们，既然地球有办法消除盖娅最早的记忆，那么在双方的冲突中，地球显然会是赢家。”

104
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宝绮思冷冷地说：“你怎么知道那些记忆被消除了？也许只是因为盖娅是在一段时间之后才发展出行星级记忆，因此才无法回溯到那个记忆完成前的时代。即使在那之前的记忆的确遭到外力消除，你又怎能确定是地球干的？”

105
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崔维兹说：“我不知道，我只不过提出我的臆测罢了。”

106
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裴洛拉特突然插嘴，怯怯地问说：“假如地球那么有力量，又如此坚持保留它的隐私——姑且这么说，那我们的努力又有什么用？你似乎认为地球不会让我们找到它，而且必要时，还会将我们全部杀害。在这种情况下，难道我们不该放弃整个计划吗？”

107
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“我们似乎应该放弃，这点我承认，但我如此强烈地坚信地球存在，就一定要也一定会找到它。而且盖娅不断在提醒我，当我有这么强烈的信念时，我的想法总是正确的。”

108
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“可是，老弟，我们发现地球之后，如何才能全身而退呢？”

109
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“有一个可能——”崔维兹尽力以轻松的口吻说：“由于我具有这种非比寻常的天赋，地球或许也会体认到我的价值，而不会对我下手。可是——这就是我想要说的话——我不能确定你们两位也能生还，我担心的正是这件事。我一直有个念头，而如今这个念头更强，那就是我应该带你们两位回盖娅，然后由我自己继续进行探索。首先断定我必须寻找地球的，是我而不是你们；看出其中着要性的，也是我而不是你们；不得不如此做的人，更是我自己而不是你们。所以说，让我来冒这个险吧，你们没有这个必要。就让我一个人继续吧——詹诺夫？”

110
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裴洛拉特将下巴埋在颈际，他的长脸显得更长了。“我不否认自己感到不安，葛兰，可是如果弃你不顾，我会非常羞愧，会觉得无地自容。”

111
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“宝绮思？”

112
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“盖娅绝不会弃你不顾，崔维兹，不论你做什么都一样。假如地球真是个危险的地方，盖娅会尽全力保护你。而扮演宝绮思这个角色的我，无论如何也不能舍弃裴，如果他决定紧跟着你，那我当然要紧跟着他。”

113
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崔维兹绷着脸说：“很好，我已经给过你们机缓笏，让我们一起上路吧。”

114
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“一起走。”宝绮思说。

115
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裴洛拉特轻轻一笑，伸手抓住崔维兹的肩头。“水远走在一起。”

116
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宝绮思说：“你看这里，裴。”

117
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她刚才以手动方式操纵着太空艇的望远镜，漫无目标地随意观看，好让脑筋别一直陷在裴洛拉特的地球传说图书馆中。

118
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裴洛拉特走过来，一只手臂搭在她的肩膀，眼睛向显像屏幕望去。康普隆行星系的气态巨行星之一已经出现，经过多次放大后，画面看来就像实物一般庞大。

119
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在彩色的显像中，它的表面呈淡橙色，并带有一些较暗的条纹。由于这颗行星与太阳的距离比远星号更为遥远，又是从行星轨道面上向它望去，因此看来几乎是个完美的光盘。

120
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“真美丽。”裴洛拉特说。

121
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“中央条纹延伸到了行星之外，裴。”

122
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裴洛拉特紧皱着眉头说：“你知道吗，宝绮思，我相信真是这样。”

123
-

“你想这是一种‘光幻视’吗？”

124
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裴洛拉特说：“我不敢肯定，宝绮思，我跟你一样是太空新兵——葛兰！”

125
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必应这声叫唤的，是一句相当微弱的“什么事？”崔维兹随着这声回答走进驾驶舱，衣服显得有点皱，好像刚才和衣在床上打过盹——而事实也正是如此。

126
-

他带着几分不悦说：“拜托！别动那些装置。”

127
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“只不过是望远镜罢了。”裴洛拉特说：“你看那个。”

128
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崔维兹依言看了一眼。“那是一颗气态巨行星，根据我获得的资料，他们管它叫葛里亚。”

129
-

“只是这样看看，你怎么知道就是那颗？”

130
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“理由之一，”崔维兹说：“根据我们现在与太阳的距离，再考虑各行星的大小和轨道上的位置——在拟定航道时，我已经把这些资料都研究得很透澈——此时此刻，它是你唯一能放大到这种秤谌的行星。另外一个理由，则是因为它有个行星环。”

131
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“行星环？”宝绮思困惑不已。

132
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“你们现在能看到的，只是个又细又暗的条纹，因为我们几乎是从正侧面取景。我们可以急速拉升，离开行星轨道面，让你们有个较佳的视野。你们想不想这么做？”

133
-

裴洛拉特说：“我不想让你着新计算位置和航道，葛兰。”

134
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“喔，放心，电脑会帮我处理，没什么麻烦。”他一面说，一面坐到电脑前，将双手放在那两个手掌轮廓上。接下来，与他的心灵精密调谐的电脑，便开始负责所有的操作。

135
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没有燃料问题也毫无惯性效应的远星号立即加速。对于做出如此回应的电脑与太空艇，崔维兹再度感到一股强烈的爱意。仿佛他的思想化成了动力与指令，又彷佛它就是自己意志的延伸，不但强而有力，而且温驯服从。

136
-

难怪基地想把它要回去，也难怪康普隆想将它据为己有。唯一令人讶异的事，是迷信的力量竟然如此之大，使康普隆自动放弃了这个野心。

137
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若是有适当的武装，远星号必定能追击或打败银河中任何一艘船舰，甚至任何一支舰队，只要别碰到另一艘同型的太空艇就好。

138
-

当然，它现在没有任何武装。布拉诺市长将太空艇拨给他的时候，至少还有足够的警觉性，没让它配备任何武器。

139
-

裴洛拉特与宝绮思注视着显像屏幕，葛里亚星正缓缓地，缓缓地朝他们倾斜。上方的那一极（姑且不论是南极或北极）已经出现，周围有一大圈湍流；下方那一极则被球体中央的鼓胀部分遮掩。

140
-

在行星顶端，暗面不断侵入橙色部分，使这个美丽的圆盘变得越来越不对称。

141
-

包令人兴奋的，则是中央那道暗纹下再是条直线，它渐渐变成一个弧形，就像其他偏南或偏北的条纹一样，只是弧度更为显着。

142
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现在能看得非常清楚了，中央暗纹的确延伸出行星的边缘，在两侧形成狭窄的弧形。这绝对不是幻象，十分明显地，那是由物质构成的环状天体，沿着行星周围绕了一圈，另一侧则隐藏在行星背后。

143
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“这样足以给你们一个概念，我想。”崔维兹说：“假如我们飞到这颗行星的正上方，你们将可看到一个圆形的环，和这颗行星呈同心圆，不过两者完全没有接触。你们还有可能发现，它其实并非单一的环，而是由数个同心环组成。”

144
-

“这简直就不可能，”裴洛拉特愣愣地说：“是什么让它停留在太空中的？”

145
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“跟卫星能停留在太空中的道理相同，”崔维兹说：“行星环由细微的粒子组成，每个粒子都环绕着行星运转。由于这些环和行星距离太近，‘潮汐效应’使它们无法聚结成一个球体。”

146
-

裴洛拉特摇了摇头。“想想实在太令人难过了，老友。我当了一辈子学者，怎么可能对天文学知道得那么少？”

147
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“而我却对人类的传奇一无所知，没有人能拥抱所有的知识。事实上，这些行星环没有什么稀奇，几乎每颗气态巨行星都有，即使有时只是一圈稀薄的尘埃。端点星的太阳所领导的行星家族，碰巧没有真正的气态巨行星，因此端点星的居民，除非是个星际旅行者，或者在大学里修过天文学课程，否则很可能不知道行星环是什么。如果行星环十分宽广，变得明后而显眼，就像现在这个一样，那才是不寻常的现象。它实在是壮丽，一定至少有好几百公里宽。”

148
-

此时，裴洛拉特突然“啪”地一声弹了下手指。“正是这个意思。”

149
-

宝绮思吓了一跳。“你想到了什么，裴？”

150
-

裴洛拉特说：“我曾读过一首诗的片段，那是一首非常古老的诗，用一种古体的银河标准语写成，相当不容易读懂，这正好证明它的年代十分久远——不过我不应该抱怨古文体难懂。由于工作的关系，我精通好几种不同的古银河语文，即使这在工作领域之外对我没什么用处，伹仍然让我很有成就感——我刚说什么来着？”

151
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宝绮思说：“一首古诗的片段，亲爱的裴。”

152
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“谢谢你，宝绮思。”然后，裴洛拉特又对崔维兹说：“她总是很注意我在说什么，以便我一旦离题——这是常有的事——她随时能把我拉回来。”

153
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“这是你的魅力之一，裴。”宝绮思微笑着说。

154
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“总之，那个片段主要是描述地球所在的行星系，至于为何有这段描述，我并不清楚，因为完整的诗句已经散轶，至少我从来没办法找到。流传下来的只有这一部分，或许是由于其中的天文学内容。总之，它提到第六颗行星拥有光辉灿烂的三着行星环。‘既宽且大，与之相较，世界相形见绌。’你看，我现在还能吟一句。以前我不明了行星环是什么东西，我记得曾经设想，也许在行星的一侧有三个圆圈排成二列，这似乎十分无稽，所以我懒得收在我的图书馆中。我当初没有追根究底，现在想来十分遗憾。”他摇了摇头，又说：“在今日银河中，神话学家是个很孤独的行业，使人忘记了追根究底的好处。”

155
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崔维兹安慰他说：“你当初没有理会它，也许是正确的态度，詹诺夫，对诗意的文字不可过分认真。”

156
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“但那就是它的意思，”裴洛拉特指着显像屏幕说：“那首诗所提到的景象，正是三个宽阔的同心环，比行星本身还要宽。”

157
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崔维兹说：“我从来没听过这种事，行星环不可能那么宽，和它们环绕的行星比较，行星环总是非常狭长。”

158
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裴洛拉特说：“我们也从未听说拥有一颗巨大卫星的可住人行星，或是它的地壳具有放射性，现在这个则是第三项唯一性。我们若能找到一颗除了有放射性之外，仍具有一切适于住人条件的行星，它拥有一颗巨大的卫星，而且在它的行星系中，有另一颗行星拥有宽阔的行星环，那么毫无疑问，我们已经发现地球了。”

159
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崔维兹微微一笑。“我同意，詹诺夫，假如我们找到这三项特征，我们就一定找到了地球。”

160
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“假如！”宝绮思叹了口气。

161
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他们已经飞越过这个行星系的主要世界，此刻正在最外围两颗行星间继续往外冲。十五亿公里内，完全没有稍具规模的天体存在。前面有的只是一大团彗星云，不会产生多大的着力效应。

162
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远星号已加速到光速的十分之一。崔维兹非常清楚，理论上来说，这艘太空艇可加速到接近光速，不过他也很明白，实际上，十分之一光速已经是合理的极限。

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以这个速率飞行，能避开任何稍具质量的物体，却无法闪避太空中无数的尘埃粒子，为数更多的原子与分子更不在话下。在极高速航行的过程中，即使那么微小的物体也会磨损、刮伤艇体，造成十分严着的损害。假若以接近光速的速率飞行，每个撞向艇体的原子都具有宇宙线粒子的性质。曝露在无孔不入的宇宙线辐射下，太空艇中每一个人都无法幸免。

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在显像屏幕上，远方的恒星看不出任何动静，虽然太空艇以每秒三万公里的速率运动，但从各方面看起来，它都像是静止在太空中。

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电脑正在进行长距离扫描，以侦测任何可能与太空艇碰撞的物体，它们即使体积有限，仍然会构成严着的威胁。在必要情况下，太空艇会稍微转向闪避，不过这种情形极不可能发生。由于可能来袭的物体都很小，相对速率也不太大，太空艇改变航向时又不会产生惯性效应，因此身在太空艇中的人，根本无法知道是否出现过堪称“千钧一发”的状况。

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因此崔维兹一点都不担心这种事，甚至根本连想都不想。他把所有注意力，全都集中在丹尼亚多交给他的三组座标上，而他特别注意的，则是与他们目前位置最接近的那组座标。

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“座标数字有什么问题吗？”裴洛拉特紧张兮兮地问。

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“我现在还不能确定，”崔维兹说：“座标数字本身并没有用，你还得知道零点在哪里，以及设定座标所使用的规约——比如说划定距离所依据的方向，以什么作为本初子午线等等。”

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“这些你怎么找得出来？”裴洛拉特茫然问道。

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“我已经取得了端点星和其他几个已知点相对于康普隆的座标，如果我将它们输进电脑，电脑便会算出究竟该用哪种规约，这些座标才能对应端点星和其他几个点的正确位置。我只是想将这些事在脑中整理一下，这样我就能对电脑发出适当的指令。一旦确定了规约，我们拿到的禁忌世界座标值就可能有意义了。”

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“只是可能而已？”宝绮思问。

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“只是可能而已，恐怕就是如此。”崔维兹说：“那些毕竟是相当古老的座标，用的应该是康普隆辨约，伹无法绝对肯定。假如它们根据的是其他规约呢？”

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“万一真是这样呢？”

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“万一真是这样，我们得到的只是一堆毫无意义的数字。可是——我们好歹也要确定一下。”

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他双手在微微发后的电脑键盘上轻快滑动，将必要的资料输进电脑，然后双手放在桌面的手掌轮廓上，再静待电脑确定这些已知座标所用的规约。答案出来后，他顿了一下，接着命令电脑使用相同的规约，算出最近一个禁忌世界的位置，最后终于在电脑记忆体的银河舆图中，找出了这组座标对应的地点。

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屏幕上出现一个星像场，并且自动迅速移动，达到停滞状态后又开始不断扩大，将周围各方向的星辰都挤出屏幕，直到星辰几乎消失殆尽。肉眼根本跟不上这种迅疾的变化，看起来只是一团模糊的斑点。最后屏幕上剩下来的，只有边长十分之一秒差距的正方范围（根据屏幕下方标示的数值）。然后一直没有进一步的变化，在漆黑的屏幕中，只剩下六个暗淡的光芒点缀其间。

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“哪个才是禁忌世界？”裴洛拉特轻声问道。

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“全都不是，”崔维兹说：“其中四颗是红矮星，一颗是准红矮星，另一颗是白矮星。在这些恒星的轨道上，都不可能有任何可住人世界。”

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“单凭这样看一眼，你怎么知道那些就是红矮星？”

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崔维兹说：“我们现在看到的不是真正的恒星，而是电脑记忆中银河舆图的一小部分，其中每颗恒星都标有简介，只不过你无法看到，通常我一样也看不到。可是一旦我的双手和电脑进行接触，像现在这样，那么我的眼睛注视某颗恒星时，我就能知道不少的相关资料。”

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裴洛拉特以悲伤的语调说：“那么，这些座标毫无用处了。”

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崔维兹抬起头望着他。“不，詹诺夫，我的话还没说完。我们还要考虑时间因素，这组座标是两万年前的，在这段时间中，那个禁忌世界和康普隆都绕着银河中心公转，两者的公转速率、轨道倾角和离心率都很可能完全不同。因此，随着时光的流逝，两个世界不是渐渐接近，就是距离越来越远。过了两万年后，那个禁忌世界如今所在的位置，与座标值的偏差可能在半个到五个秒差距之间，当然不会在这个十分之一秒差距边长的方格内出现。”

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“那么，我们该怎么办？”

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“我们以康普隆为原点，让电脑将银河的时间往前推两万年。”

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“它能这样做吗？”宝绮思的声音听来有点肃然起敬。

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“嗯，它无法使银河本身回到过去，却能让记忆库中的舆图时光倒流。”

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宝绮思说：“我们能看到任何变化吗？”

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“看——”崔维兹说。

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屏幕上原来的六颗恒星开始缓缓挪动，此外另有一颗恒星出现在屏幕左侧，且渐渐向中央漂移。裴洛拉特兴奋地指着它说：“来了！来了！”

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崔维兹说：“抱歉，又是颗红矮星。它们非常普遍，银河中的恒星至少有四分之三是红矮星。”

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屏幕上的画面停下来，星体不再继续移动。

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“然后呢？”宝绮思说。

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崔维兹答道：“这就是了，这就是银河那一小部分在两万年前的样子。如果那个禁忌世界以平均速度进行星移，就应该出现在屏幕正中央。”

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“应该出现，可是没有啊。”宝绮思尖声道。

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“的确没有。”崔维兹表示同意，声音几乎不带任何情绪。

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裴洛拉特长长叹了一口气。“啊，太糟了，葛兰。”

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崔维兹说：“且慢，不要绝望，我原本就没指望看到那颗恒星。”

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“你没有？”裴洛拉特显得极为讶异。

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“是的。我跟你说过，这不是真正的银河，而是电脑中的银河舆圆，某颗恒星若没收录在舆图中，我们便不可能看到。假如一颗行星被称为‘禁忌’，而且这个名称沿用了两万年，它就八成不会被收在舆图里。事实上果真如此，因为我们看不到它。”

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宝绮思说：“也许因为它不存在，所以我们才看不到。康普隆的传说可能是杜撰的，也可能这些座标并不正确。”

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“说得很对。不过，电脑既然找出了那个世界两万年前的可能位置，就能够估计出它如今的座标。根据修正后的座标——我唯有利用星图才能做出这个修正——我们现在可以切换到真实的银河星像场。”

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宝绮思说：“伹你只是假设禁忌世界一直以平均速度进行星移，万一它的速度有异于平均速度呢？那你现在得到的座标就不正确了。”

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“说得没错，但是和未做时间修正的结果比较，我们几乎可以肯定，根据平均速度的假设进行修正后，得到的结果将更接近真实的位置。”

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“你真乐观！”宝绮思以怀疑的口吻说。

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“我正是那么乐观，”崔维兹说：“希望不出我所料——现在就让我们看看真正的银河。”

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两位旁观者聚精会神地盯着屏幕，崔维兹则以轻松的语调慢慢解释（或许是为了缓和自己的紧张情绪，并且延后揭晓谜底的时刻），好像在发表一场演说。

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“观察真正的银河比较困难，”他说：“电脑中的舆图是人工产物，不相干的东西可以除去。比如说，如果有个星云遮蔽视线，我能将它消除；如果视角和我的预期不合，我可以调整到更方便的角度。然而观测真实银河的时候，我必须照单全收，毫无选择的余地。假使我想有所改变，必须在太空中真正运动，花的时间会比调整舆图多得多。”

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当他说到这里的时候，屏幕上出现了一团恒星云，里面挤满一颗又一颗的星辰，看来像是一堆散乱的粉末。

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崔维兹说：“那是银河某个区段的大角度画面，当然，我想要的是前景。如果我把前景扩大，相对之下背景就会变得蒙陇。这个座标点和康普隆足够接近，所以我应该能将它扩大到和舆图中的画面一致。我只需要输入必要的指令，但愿我的头脑能保持足够的清醒。开始——”

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星像场陡然扩大，成千上万的恒星被急速推出屏幕。三个人猛然觉得自己向屏幕冲去，由于感觉过于逼真，他们都不由自主向后一仰，彷佛是对一股推力生出的自然反应。

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先前的画面又出现了，虽然不似舆图中的那般黑暗，但是那六、七颗恒星都在原先的位置上。此外，在接近中央的部分，还出现了另一颗恒星，它的光芒比其他恒星明后许多。

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“它在那里。”裴洛拉特细声道，声音中充满了敬畏。

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“可能就是它，我会让电脑摄取它的光谱，然后详加分析。”沉默相当一段时间之后，崔维兹又说：“光谱型为G 4，因此它比端点星的太阳较小、较暗一点，不过比康普隆的太阳要明后些。电脑的银河舆图不该漏掉任何G型恒星，既然这颗遭到遗漏，很可能表示它就是那个禁忌世界环绕的太阳。”　宝绮思说：“我们有没有可能到头来却发现，这颗恒星周围根本没有可住人行星？”

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“有这个可能，我想。倘若真是那样，我们再设法寻找另外两个禁忌世界。”

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宝绮思固执地说：“万一另外两个也是空欢喜一场呢？”

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“那我们再尝试别的办法。”

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“比如说？”

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“但愿我知道。”崔维兹绷着脸说。

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26Luncheon consisted of a heap of soft, crusty balls thatcame in different shades and that contained a variety of fillings.

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Deniador picked up a small object which unfolded into a pair of thin,transparent gloves, and put them on. His guests followed suit.

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Bliss said, "What is inside these objects, please?"Deniador said, "The pink ones are filled with spicy chopped fish, agreat Comporellian delicacy . These yellow ones contain a cheese fillingthat is very mild. The green ones contain a vegetable mixture. Do eatthem while they are a quite warm. Later we will have hot almond pie andthe usual beverages . I might recommend the hot cider. In a cold climate,we have a tendency to heat our foods, even desserts.""You do yourself well," said Pelorat.

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"Not really," said Deniador. "I’m being hospitable to guests. Formyself, I get along on very little. I don’t have much body mass tosupport, as you have probably noticed."Trevize bit into one of the pink ones and found it very fishy indeed,with all overlay of spices that was pleasant to the taste but which,he thought, along with the fish itself, would remain with him for therest of the day and, perhaps, into the night.

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When he withdrew the object with the bite taken out of it, he foundthat the crust had closed in over the contents. There was no squirt,no leakage , and, for a moment, he wondered at the purpose of thegloves. These seemed no chance of getting his hands moist and stickyif he didn’t use them, so he decided it was a matter of hygiene . Thegloves substituted for a washing of the hands if that were inconvenientand custom, probably, now dictated their use even if the hands werewashed. (Lizalor hadn’t used gloves when he had eaten with her the daybefore. Perhaps that was because she was a mountain woman.)He said, "Would it be unmannerly to talk business over lunch?""By Comporellian standards, Councilman, it would be, but you are myguests, and we will go by your standards. If you wish to speak seriously,and do not think or care that that might diminish yourpleasure in the food, please do so, and I will join you."Trevize said, "Thank you. Minister Lizalor implied no, shestated quite bluntly that Skeptics were unpopular on this world. Isthat so?"Deniador’s good humor seemed to intensify . "Certainly. How hurt we’d beif we weren’t. Comporellon, you see, is a frustrated world. Without anyknowledge of the details, there is the general mythic belief, that once,many millennia ago, when the inhabited Galaxy was small, Comporellonwas the leading world. We never forget that, and the fact that in knownhistory we have not been leaders irks us, fills us thepopulation in general, that is with a feeling of injustice .

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"Yet what can we do? The government was forced to be a loyal vassalof the Emperor once, and is a loyal Associate of the Foundation now. Andthe more we are made aware of our subordinate position, the strongerthe belief in the great, mysterious days of the past become.

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"What, then, can Comporellon do? They could never defy the Empire inolder times and they can’t openly defy the Foundation now. They takerefuge, therefore, in attacking and hating us, since we don’t believethe legends and laugh at the superstitions .

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"Nevertheless, we are safe from the grosser effects ofpersecution. We control the technology, and we fill the faculties of theUniversities. Some of us, who are particularly outspoken , have difficultyin teaching classes openly. I have that difficulty, for instance, thoughI have my students and hold meetings quietly off-campus. Nevertheless,if we were really driven out of public life, the technology wouldfail and the Universities would lose accreditation with the Galaxygenerally. Presumably, such is the folly of human beings, the prospectsof intellectual suicide might not stop them from indulging their hatred,but the Foundation supports us. Therefore, we are constantly scoldedand sneered at and denounced and never touched."Trevize said, "Is it popular opposition that keeps you from tellingus where Earth is? Do you fear that, despite everything, the anti-Skepticfeeling might turn ugly if you go too far?"Deniador shook his head. "No. Earth’s location is unknown. I am nothiding anything from you out of fear or for any other reason.""But look," said Trevize urgently. "There are a limited numberof planets in this sector of the Galaxy that possess the physicalcharacteristics associated with habitability, and almost all ofthem must be not only inhabitable, but inhabited, and therefore wellknown to you. How difficult would it be to explore the sector for aplanet that would be habitable were it not for the fact that it wasradioactive? Besides that, you would look for such a planet with a large,satellite in attendance. Between radioactivity and a large satellite,Earth would be absolutely unmistakable and could not be missed evenwith only a casual search. It might take some time but that would bethe only difficulty."Deniador said, "The Skeptic ’s view is, of course, that Earth’sradioactivity and its large satellite are both simply legends. If welook for them, we look for sparrow-milk and rabbit-feathers.""Perhaps, but that shouldn’t stop Comporellon from at least takingon the search. If they find a radioactive world of the proper size forhabitability, with a large satellite, what an appearance of credibilityit would lend to Comporellian legendry in general."Deniador laughed. "It may be that Comporellon doesn’t search for thatvery reason. If we fail, or if we find an Earth obviously differentfrom the legends, the reverse would take place. Comporellian legendryin general would be blasted and made into a laughingstock. Comporellonwouldn’t risk that."Trevize paused, then went on, very earnestly, "Besides, even ifwe discount those two uniquities if there is such a word inGalactic of radioactivity and a large satellite, there is a thirdthat, by definition, must exist, without any reference to legends. Earthmust have upon it either a flourishing life of incredible diversity,or the remnants of one, or, at the very least, the fossil record of sucha one."Deniador said, "Councilman, while Comporellon has sent out noorganized search party for Earth, we do have occasion totravel through space, and we occasionally have reports from ships thathave strayed from their intended routes for one reason or another. Jumpsare not always perfect, as perhaps you know. Nevertheless, there havebeen no reports of any planets with properties resembling those of thelegendary Earth, or any planet that is bursting with life. Nor is any shiplikely to land on what seems an uninhabited planet in order that the crewmight go fossil-hunting. If, then, in thousands of years nothing of thesort has been reported, I am perfectly willing to believe that locatingEarth is impossible, because Earth is not there to be located."Trevize said, in frustration , "But Earth must besomewhere . Somewhere there is a planet on which humanityand all the familiar forms of life associated with humanity evolved. IfEarth is not in this section of the Galaxy, it must be elsewhere.""Perhaps," said Deniador cold-bloodedly, "but in all this time,it hasn’t turned up anywhere.""People haven’t really looked for it.""Well, apparently you are. I wish you luck, but I would never bet onyour success."Trevize said, "Have there been attempts to determine the possibleposition of Earth by indirect means, by some means other than a directsearch?""Yes," said two voices at once. Deniador, who was the owner of one ofthe voices, said to Pelorat, "Are you thinking of Yariff’s project?""I am," said Pelorat.

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"Then would you explain it to the Councilman? I think he would morereadily believe you than me."Pelorat said, "You see, Golan, in the last days of the Empire, therewas a time when the Search for Origins, as they called it, was a popularpastime, perhaps to get away from the unpleasantness of the surroundingreality. The Empire was in a process of disintegration at that time,you know.

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"It occurred to a Livian historian, Humbal Yariff, that whatever theplanet of origin, it would have settled worlds near itself sooner thanit would settle planets farther away. In general, the farther a worldfrom the point of origin the later it would have been settled.

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"Suppose, then, one recorded the date of settlement of all habitableplanets in the Galaxy, and made networks of all that were a given numberof millennia old. There could be a network drawn through all planets tenthousand years old; another through those twelve thousand years old, stillanother through those fifteen thousand years old. Each network would, intheory, be roughly spherical and they should be roughly concentric. Theolder networks would form spheres smaller in radius than the youngerones, and if one worked out all the centers they should fall within acomparatively small volume of space that would include the planet oforigin Earth."Pelorat’s face was very earnest as he kept drawing spherical surfaceswith his cupped hands. "Do you see my point, Golan?"Trevize nodded. "Yes. But I take it that it didn’t work.""Theoretically, it should have, old fellow. One trouble was that timesof origin were totally inaccurate . Every world exaggerated its own ageto one degree or another and there was no easy way of determining ageindependently of legend."Bliss said, "Carbon-14 decay in ancient timber.""Certainly, dear," said Pelorat, "but you would have had to getco-operation from the worlds in question, and that was never given. Noworld wanted its own exaggerated claim of age to be destroyed and theEmpire was then in no position to override local objections in a matterso unimportant. It had other things on its mind.

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"All that Yariff could do was to make use of worlds that were onlytwo thousand years old at most, and whose founding had been meticulouslyrecorded under reliable circumstances. There were few of those, andwhile they were distributed in roughly spherical symmetry, the centerwas relatively close to Trantor, the Imperial capital, because that waswhere the colonizing expeditions had originated for those relativelyfew worlds.

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"That, of course, was another problem. Earth was not the only point oforigin of settlement for other worlds. As time went on, the older worldssent out settlement expeditions of their own, and at the time of theheight of Empire, Trantor was a rather copious source of those. Yariffwas, rather unfairly, laughed at and ridiculed and his professionalreputation was destroyed."Trevize said, "I get the story, Janov. Dr. Deniador, is therethen nothing at all you could give me that represents the faintestpossibility of hope? Is there any other world where it is conceivablethere may be some information concerning Earth?"Deniador sank into doubtful thought for a while. "We-eeell," he saidat last, drawing out the word hesitantly, "as a Skeptic I must tell youthat I’m not sure that Earth exists, or has ever existed. However "He fell silent again.

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Finally, Bliss said, "I think you’ve thought of something that mightbe important, Doctor.""Important? I doubt it," said Deniador faintly. "Perhaps amusing,however. Earth is not the only planet whose position is a mystery. Thereare the worlds of the first group of Settlers; the Spacers, as theyare called in our legends. Some call the planets they inhabited the`Spacer worlds’; others call them the `Forbidden Worlds.’ The lattername is now the usual one.

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"In their pride and prime, the legend goes, the Spacers had lifetimesstretching out for centuries, and refused to allow our own short-livedancestors to land on their worlds. After we had defeated them, thesituation was reversed. We scorned to deal with them and left them tothemselves, forbidding our own ships and Traders to deal with them. Hencethose planets became the Forbidden Worlds. We were certain, so the legendstates, that He Who Punishes would destroy them without our intervention,and, apparently, He did. At least, no Spacer has appeared in the Galaxyto our knowledge, in many millennia.""Do you think that the Spacers would know about Earth?" saidTrevize.

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"Conceivably, since their worlds were older than any of ours. That is,if any Spacers exist, which is extremely unlikely.""Even if they don’t exist, their worlds do and may containrecords.""If you can find the worlds."Trevize looked exasperated . "Do you mean to say that the key to Earth,the location of which is unknown, may be found on Spacer worlds, thelocation of which is also unknown?"Deniador shrugged . "We have had no dealings with them for twentythousand years. No thought of them. They, too, like Earth, have recededinto the mists.""How many worlds did the Spacers live on?""The legends speak of fifty such worlds a suspiciously roundnumber. There were probably far fewer.""And you don’t know the location of a single one of the fifty?""Well, now, I wonder ""What do you wonder?"Deniador said, "Since primeval history is my hobby, as it isDr. Pelorat’s, I have occasionally explored old documents in search ofanything that might refer to early time; something more than legends. Lastyear, I came upon the records of an old ship, records that were almostindecipherable. It dated back to the very old days when our world wasnot yet known as Comporellon. The name `Baleyworld’ was used, which,it seems to me, may be an even earlier form of the `Benbally world’

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of our legends."Pelorat said, excitedly, "Have you published?""No," said Deniador. "I do not wish to dive until I am sure thereis water in the swimming pool, as the old saying has it. You see, therecord says that the captain of the ship had visited a Spacer world andtaken off with him a Spacer woman."Bliss said, "But you said that the Spacers did not allow visitors.""Exactly, and that is the reason I don’t publish the material. Itsounds incredible. There are vague tales that could be interpreted asreferring to the Spacers and to their conflict with the Settlers ourown ancestors. Such tales exist not only on Comporellon but onmany worlds in many variations, but all are in absolute accord in onerespect. The two groups, Spacers and Settlers, did not mingle . Therewas no social contact, let alone sexual contact, and yet apparentlythe Settler captain and the Spacer woman were held together by bondsof love. This is so incredible that I see no chance of the story beingaccepted as anything but, at best, a piece of romantic historicalfiction."Trevize looked disappointed. "Is that all?""No, Councilman, there is one more matter. I came across somefigures in what was left of the log of the ship that might or mightnot represent spatial co-ordinates. If they were and I repeat,since my Skeptic’s honor compels me to, that they might not be theninternal evidence made me conclude they were the spatial co-ordinatesof three of the Spacer worlds. One of them might be the Spacer worldwhere the captain landed and from which he withdrew his Spacer love."Trevize said, "Might it not be that even if the tale is fiction,the coordinates are real?""It might be," said Deniador. "I will give you the figures, and youare free to use them, but you might get nowhere. And yet I havean amusing notion." His quick smile made its appearance.

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"What is that?" said Trevize.

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"What if one of those sets of co-ordinates represented Earth?"27Comporellon’s sun, distinctly orange, was larger inappearance than the sun of Terminus, but it was low in the sky and gaveout little heat. The wind, fortunately light, touched Trevize’s cheekwith icy fingers.

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He shivered inside the electrified coat he had been given by MitzaLizalor, who now stood next to him. He said, "It must warm up sometime,Mitza."She glanced up at the sun briefly , and stood there in the emptiness ofthe spaceport, showing no signs of discomfort tall, large, wearinga lighter coat than Trevize had on, and if not impervious to the cold,at least scornful of it.

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She said, "We have a beautiful summer. It is not a long one but ourfood crops are adapted to it. The strains are carefully chosen so thatthey grow quickly in the sun and do not frostbite easily. Our domesticanimals are well furred, and Comporellian wool is the best in the Galaxyby general admission. Then, too, we have farm settlements in orbitabout Comporellon that grow tropical fruit. We actually export cannedpineapples of superior flavor. Most people who know us as a cold worlddon’t know that."Trevize said, "I thank you for coming to see us off, Mitza, and forbeing willing to co-operate with us on this mission of ours. For my ownpeace of mind, however, I must ask whether you will find yourself inserious trouble over this.""No!" She shook her head proudly. "No trouble. In the first place, Iwill not be questioned. I am in control of transportation, which meansI alone set the rules for this spaceport and others, for the entrystations, for the ships that come and go. The Prime Minister dependson me for all that and is only too delighted to remain ignorant of itsdetails. And even if I were questioned, I have but to tell thetruth. The government would applaud me for not turning the ship over tothe Foundation. So would the people if it were safe to let them know. Andthe Foundation itself would not know of it."Trevize said, "The government might be willing to keep the ship fromthe Foundation, but would they be willing to approve your letting ustake it away?"Lizalor smiled. "You are a decent human being, Trevize. You havefought tenaciously to keep your ship and now that you have it you takethe trouble to concern yourself with my welfare." She reached toward himtentatively as though tempted to give some sign of affection and then,with obvious difficulty, controlled the impulse.

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She said, with a renewed brusqueness, "Even if they question mydecision, I have but to tell them that you have been, and still are,searching for the Oldest, and they will say I did well to get rid ofyou as quickly as I did, ship and all, And they will perform the ritesof atonement that you were ever allowed to land in the first place,though there was no way we might have guessed what you were doing.""Do you truly fear misfortune to yourself and the world because ofmy presence?""Indeed," said Lizalor stolidly . Then she said, more softly, "Youhave brought misfortune to me, already, for now that I have known you,Comporellian men will seem more sapless still. I will be left with anunappeasable longing . He Who Punishes has already seen to that."Trevize hesitated, then said, "I do not wish you to change your mindon this matter, but I do not wish you to suffer needless apprehension,either. You must know that this matter of my bringing misfortune on youis simply superstition .""The Skeptic told you that, I presume.""I know it without his telling me."Lizalor brushed her face, for a thin rime was gathering on herprominent eyebrows and said, "I know there are some who think itsuperstition. That the Oldest brings misfortune is, however, a fact. Ithas been demonstrated many times and all the clever Skeptical argumentscan’t legislate the truth out of existence."She thrust out her hand suddenly. "Good-bye, Golan. Get on the shipand join your companions before your soft Terminian body freezes in ourcold, but kindly wind.""Good-bye, Mitza, and I hope to see you when I return.""Yes, you have promised to return and I have tried to believe thatyou would. I have even told myself that I would come out and meet youat your ship in space so that misfortune would fall only on me and notupon my world but you will not return.""Not so! I will! I would not give you up that easily, having hadpleasure of you." And at that moment, Trevize was firmly convinced thathe meant it.

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"I do not doubt your romantic impulses, my sweet Foundationer, butthose who venture outward on a search for the Oldest will never comeback anywhere. I know that in my heart."Trevize tried to keep his teeth from chattering . It was from coldand he didn’t want her to think it was from fear. He said, "That, too,is superstition.""And yet," she said, "that, too, is true."28It was good to be back in the pilot-room of theFar Star . It might be cramped for room. It might be a bubble ofimprisonment in infinite space. Nevertheless, it was familiar, friendly,and warm.

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Bliss said, "I’m glad you finally came aboard. I was wondering howlong you would remain with the Minister.""Not long," said Trevize. "It was cold.""It seemed to me," said Bliss, "that you were considering remainingwith her and postponing the search for Earth. I do not like to probeyour mind even lightly, but I was concerned for you and that temptationunder which you labored seemed to leap out at me."Trevize said, "You’re quite right. Momentarily at least, I felt thetemptation. The Minister is a remarkable woman and I’ve never met anyonequite like her. Did you strengthen my resistance, Bliss?"She said, "I’ve told you many times I must not and will not tamper withyour mind in any way, Trevize. You beat down the temptation, I imagine,through your strong sense of duty.""No, I rather think not." He smiled wryly . "Nothing so dramatic andnoble. My resistance was strengthened, for one thing, by the fact thatis was cold, and for another, by the sad thought that it wouldn’t takemany sessions with her to kill me. I could never keep up the pace."Pelorat said, "Well, anyway, you are safely aboard. What are we goingto do next?""In the immediate future, we are going to move outward throughthe planetary system at a brisk pace until we are far enough fromComporellon’s sun to make a Jump.""Do you think we will be stopped or followed?""No, I really think that the Minister is anxious only that we go awayas rapidly as possible and stay away, in order that the vengeance of HeWho Punishes not fall upon the planet. In fact ""Yes?""She believes the vengeance will surely fall on us. She is underthe firm conviction that we will never return. This, I hasten to add,is not an estimate of my probable level of infidelity, which she has hadno occasion to measure. She meant that Earth is so terrible a bearer ofmisfortune that anyone who seeks it must die in the process."Bliss said, "How many have left Comporellon in search of Earth thatshe can make such a statement?""I doubt that any Comporellian has ever left on such a search. I toldher that her fears were mere superstition.""Are you sure you believe that, or have you let hershake you?""I know her fears are the purest superstition in the form she expressesthem, but they may be well founded just the same.""You mean, radioactivity will kill us if we try to land on it?""I don’t believe that Earth is radioactive. What I do believe is thatEarth protects itself. Remember that all reference to Earth in the Libraryon Trantor has been removed. Remember that Gaia’s marvelous memory, inwhich all the planet takes part down to the rock strata of the surfaceand the molten metal at the core, stops short of penetrating far enoughback to tell us anything of Earth.

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"Clearly, if Earth is powerful enough to do that, it might also becapable of adjusting minds in order to force belief in its radioactivity,and thus preventing any search for it. Perhaps because Comporellon isso close that it represents a particular danger to Earth, there is thefurther reinforcement of a curious blankness. Deniador, who is a Skepticand a scientist, is utterly convinced that there is no use searching forEarth. He says it cannot be found. And that is why the Minister’ssuperstition may be well founded. If Earth is so intent on concealingitself, might it not kill us, or distort us, rather than allow us tofind it?"Bliss frowned and said, "Gaia "Trevize said quickly, "Don’t say Gaia will protect us. Since Earthwas able to remove Gaia’s earliest memories, it is clear that in anyconflict between the two Earth will win."Bliss said coldly, "How do you know that the memories were removed? Itmight be that it simply took time for Gaia to develop a planetary memoryand that we can now probe backward only to the time of the completionof that development. And if the memory was removed, howcan you be sure that it was Earth that did it?"Trevize said, "I don’t know. I merely advance my speculations ."Pelorat put in, rather timidly, "If Earth is so powerful, and so intenton preserving its privacy, so to speak, of what use is our search? Youseem to think Earth won’t allow us to succeed and will kill us if thatwill be what it takes to keep us from succeeding. In that case, is thereany sense in not abandoning this whole thing?""It might seem we ought to give up, I admit, but I have this powerfulconviction that Earth exists, and I must and will find it. And Gaiatells me that when I have powerful convictions of this sort, I am alwaysright.""But how can we survive the discovery, old chap?""It may be," said Trevize, with an effort at lightness, "that Earth,too, will recognize the value of my extraordinary rightness and will leaveme to myself. But  and this is what I am finally gettingat I cannot be certain that you two will survive and that is ofconcern to me. It always has been, but it is increasing now and it seemsto me that I ought to take you two back to Gaia and then proceed on myown. It is I, not you, who first decided I must search for Earth; it is I,not you, who see value in it; it is I, not you, who am driven. Let it beI, then, not you, who take the risk. Let me go on alone. Janov?"Pelorat’s long face seemed to grow longer as he buried his chin inhis neck. "I won’t deny I feel nervous, Golan, but I’d be ashamed toabandon you. I would disown myself if I did so.""Bliss?""Gaia will not abandon you, Trevize, whatever you do. If Earth shouldprove dangerous, Gaia will protect you as far as it can. And in any case,in my role as Bliss, I will not abandon Pel, and if he clings to you,then I certainly cling to him."Trevize said grimly, "Very well, then. I’ve given you your chance. Wego on together.""Together," said Bliss.

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Pelorat smiled slightly, and gripped Trevize’sshoulder. "Together. Always."29Bliss said, "Look at that, Pel."She had been making use of the ship’s telescope by hand, almostaimlessly, as a change from Pelorat’s library of Earth-legendry.

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Pelorat approached, placed an arm about her shoulders and looked atthe viewscreen. One of the gas giants of the Comporellian planetary systemwas in sight, magnified till it seemed the large body it really was.

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In color it was a soft orange streaked with paler stripes. Viewedfrom the planetary plane, and more distant from the sun than the shipitself was, it was almost a complete circle of light.

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"Beautiful," said Pelorat.

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"The central streak extends beyond the planet, Pel."Pelorat furrowed his brow and said, "You know, Bliss, I believeit does.""Do you suppose it’s an optical illusion?"Pelorat said, "I’m not sure, Bliss. I’m as much a space-novice asyou are Golan!"Trevize answered the call with a rather feeble "What is it?" andentered the pilot-room, looking a bit rumpled , as though he had just beennapping on his bed with his clothes on which was exactly what hehad been doing.

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He said, in a rather peevish way, "Please! Don’t be handling theinstruments.""It’s just the telescope," said Pelorat. "Look at that."Trevize did. "It’s a gas giant, the one they call Gallia, accordingto the information I was given.""How can you tell it’s that one, just looking?""For one thing," said Trevize, "at our distance from the sun, andbecause of the planetary sizes and orbital positions, which I’ve beenstudying in plotting our course, that’s the only one you could magnifyto that extent at this time. For another thing, there’s the ring.""Ring?" said Bliss, mystified.

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"All you can see is a thin, pale marking, because we’re viewing italmost edge-on. We can zoom up out of the planetary plane and give youa better view. Would you like that?"Pelorat said, "I don’t want to make you have to recalculate positionsand courses, Golan. ""Oh well, the computer will do it for me with little trouble." He satdown at the computer as he spoke and placed his hands on the markings thatreceived them. The computer, finely attuned to his mind, did the rest.

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The Far Star , free of fuel problems or of inertial sensations,accelerated rapidly, and once again, Trevize felt a surge of love for acomputer-and-ship that responded in such a way to him as thoughit was his thought that powered and directed it, as though it were apowerful and obedient extension of his will.

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It was no wonder the Foundation wanted it back; no wonder Comporellonhad wanted it for itself. The only surprise was that the force ofsuperstition had been strong enough to cause Comporellon to be willingto give it up.

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Properly armed, it could outrun or outfight any ship in the Galaxy,or any combination of ships provided only that it did not encounteranother ship like itself.

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Of course, it was not properly armed. Mayor Branno, in assigning himthe ship, had at least been cautious enough to leave it unarmed.

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Pelorat and Bliss watched intently as the planet, Gallia, slowly,slowly, tipped toward them. The upper pole (whichever it was) becamevisible, with turbulence in a large circular region around it, whilethe lower pole retired behind the bulge of the sphere.

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At the upper end, the dark side of the planet invaded the sphere oforange light, and the beautiful circle became increasingly lopsided.

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What seemed more exciting was that the central pale streak was nolonger straight but had come to be curved, as were the other streaks tothe north and south, but more noticeably so.

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Now the central streak extended beyond the edges of the planet verydistinctly and did so in a narrow loop on either side. There was noquestion of illusion; its nature was apparent. It was a ring of matter,looping about the planet, and hidden on the far side.

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"That’s enough to give you the idea, I think," said Trevize. "If wewere to move over the planet, you would see the ring in its circularform, concentric about the planet, touching it nowhere. You’ll probablysee that it’s not one ring either but several concentric rings.""I wouldn’t have thought it possible," said Pelorat blankly. "Whatkeeps it in space?""The same thing that keeps a satellite in space," said Trevize. "Therings consist of tiny particles, every one of which is orbiting theplanet. The rings are so close to the planet that tidal effects preventit from coalescing into a single body."Pelorat shook his head. "It’s horrifying when I think of it, oldman. How is it possible that I can have spent my whole life as a scholarand yet know so little about astronomy?""And I know nothing at all about the myths of humanity. No one canencompass all of knowledge. The point is that these planetaryrings aren’t unusual. Almost every single gas giant has them, even ifit’s only a thin curve of dust. As it happens, the sun of Terminus has notrue gas giant in its planetary family, so unless a Terminian is a spacetraveler, or has taken University instruction in astronomy, he’s likelyto know nothing about planetary rings. What is unusual is a ring thatis sufficiently broad to be bright and noticeable, like that one. It’sbeautiful. It must be a couple of hundred kilometers wide, at least."At this point, Pelorat snapped his fingers. " That’s what it meant."Bliss looked startled. "What is it, Pel?"Pelorat said, "I came across a scrap of poetry once, very ancient,and in an archaic version of Galactic that was hard to make out but thatwas good evidence of great age. Though I shouldn’t complain of thearchaism, old chap. My work has made me an expert on various varietiesof Old Galactic, which is quite gratifying even if it is of no use tome whatever outside my work. What was I talking about?"Bliss said, "An old scrap of poetry, Pel dear.""Thank you, Bliss," he said. And to Trevize, "She keeps close trackof what I say in order to pull me back whenever I get off-course, whichis most of the time.""It’s part of your charm, Pel," said Bliss, smiling.

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"Anyway, this scrap of poetry purported to describe the planetarysystem of which Earth was part. Why it should do so, I don’t know,for the poem as a whole does not survive; at least, I was never ableto locate it. Only this one portion survived, perhaps because of itsastronomical content. In any case, it spoke of the brilliant triplering of the sixth planet `both brade and large, sae the woruld shronk incomparisoun.’ I can still quote it, you see. I didn’t understand what aplanet’s ring could be. I remember thinking of three circles on one sideof the planet, all in a row. It seemed so nonsensical, I didn’t botherto include it in my library. I’m sorry now I didn’t inquire." He shookhis head. "Being a mythologist in today’s Galaxy is so solitary a job,one forgets the good of inquiring."Trevize said consolingly, "You were probably right to ignore it,Janov. It’s a mistake to take poetic chatter literally .""But that’s what was meant," said Pelorat, pointing at thescreen. "That’s what the poem was speaking of. Three wide rings,concentric, wider than the planet itself."Trevize said, "I never heard of such a thing. I don’t think ringscan be that wide. Compared to the planet they circle, they are alwaysvery narrow."Pelorat said, "We never heard of a habitable planet with a giantsatellite, either. Or one with a radioactive crust. This is uniquenessnumber three. If we find a radioactive planet that might be otherwisehabitable, with a giant satellite, and with another planet in thesystem that has a huge ring, there would be no doubt at all that we hadencountered Earth."Trevize smiled. "I agree, Janov. If we find all three, we willcertainly have found Earth.""If!" said Bliss, with a sigh.

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30They were beyond the main worlds of the planetarysystem, plunging outward between the positions of the two outermostplanets so that there was now no significant mass within 1.5 billionkilometers. Ahead lay only the vast cometary cloud which, gravitationally,was insignificant .

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The Far Star had accelerated to a speed of 0.1 c , onetenth the speed of light. Trevize knew well that, in theory, the shipcould be accelerated to nearly the speed of light, but he also knew that,in practice, 0.1 c was the reasonable limit.

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At that speed, any object with appreciable mass could be avoided,but there was no way of dodging the innumerable dust particles in space,and, to a far greater extent even, individual atoms and molecules

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. Atvery fast speeds, even such small objects could do damage, scouring andscraping the ship’s hull

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. At speeds near the speed of light, each atomsmashing into the hull had the properties of a cosmic ray particle. Underthat penetrating cosmic radiation, anyone on board ship would not longsurvive.

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The distant stars showed no perceptible motion in the viewscreen,and even though the ship was moving at thirty thousand kilometers persecond, there was every appearance of its standing still.

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The computer scanned space to great distances for any oncoming objectof small but significant size that might be on a collision course, andthe ship veered gently to avoid it, in the extremely unlikely case thatthat would be necessary. Between the small size of any possible oncomingobject, the speed with which it was passed, and the lack of inertialeffect as the result of the course change, there was no way of tellingwhether anything ever took place in the nature of what might be termed a"close call."Trevize, therefore, did not worry about such things, or even giveit the most casual thought. He kept his full attention on the threesets of co-ordinates he had been given by Deniador, and, particularly,on the set which indicated the object closest to themselves.

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"Is there something wrong with the figures?" asked Peloratanxiously.

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"I can’t tell yet," said Trevize. "Co-ordinates in themselves aren’tuseful, unless you know the zero point and the conventions used insetting them up the direction in which to mark off the distance,so to speak, what the equivalent of a prime meridian is, and so on.""How do you find out such things?" said Pelorat blankly.

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"I obtained the co-ordinates of Terminus and a few other knownpoints, relative to Comporellon. If I put them into the computer,it will calculate what the conventions must be for such co-ordinatesif Terminus and the other points are to be correctly located. I’m onlytrying to organize things in my mind so that I can properly program thecomputer for this. Once the conventions are determined , the figures wehave for the Forbidden Worlds might possibly have meaning.""Only possibly?" said Bliss.

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"Only possibly, I’m afraid," said Trevize. "These are old figuresafter all presumably Comporellian, but not definitely. What ifthey are based on other conventions?""In that case?""In that case, we have only meaningless figures. But we justhave to find out."His hands flickered over the softly glowing keys of the computer,feeding it the necessary information. He then placed his hands onthe handmarks on the desk. He waited while the computer worked out theconventions of the known co-ordinates, paused a moment, then interpretedthe co-ordinates of the nearest Forbidden World by the same conventions,and finally located those co-ordinates on the Galactic map in itsmemory.

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A starfield appeared on the screen and moved rapidly as it adjusteditself. When it reached stasis, it expanded with stars bleeding off theedges in all directions until they were almost all gone. At no pointcould the eye follow the rapid change; it was all a speckled blur

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. Untilfinally, a space one tenth of a parsec on each side (according to theindex figures below the screen) was all that remained. There was nofurther change, and only half a dozen dial sparks relieved the darknessof the screen.

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"Which one is the Forbidden World?" asked Pelorat softly.

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"None of them," said Trevize. "Four of them are red dwarfs , one anear-red dwarf , and the last a white dwarf. None of them can possiblyhave a habitable world in orbit about them.""How do you know they’re red dwarfs just by looking at them?"Trevize said, "We’re not looking at real stars; we’re looking at asection of the Galactic map stored in the computer’s memory. Each oneis labeled. You can’t see it and ordinarily I couldn’t see it either,but as long as my hands are making contact, as they are, I am aware of aconsiderable amount of data on any star on which my eyes concentrate."Pelorat said in a woebegone tone, "Then the co-ordinates areuseless."Trevize looked up at him, "No, Janov. I’m not finished. There’sstill the matter of time. The co-ordinates for the Forbidden Worldare those of twenty thousand years ago. In that time, both it andComporellon have been revolving about the Galactic Center, and theymay well be revolving at different speeds and in orbits of differentinclinations and eccentricities

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. With time, therefore, the two worldsmay be drifting closer together or farther apart and, in twenty thousandyears, the Forbidden World may have drifted anywhere from one-half tofive parsecs off the mark. It certainly wouldn’t be included in thattenth-parsec square.""What do we do, then?""We have the computer move the Galaxy twenty thousand years back intime relative to Comporellon.""Can it do that?" asked Bliss, sounding rather awe-struck.

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"Well, it can’t move the Galaxy itself back in time, but it can movethe map in its memory banks back in time."Bliss said, "Will we see anything happen?""Watch," said Trevize.

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Very slowly, the half-dozen stars crawled over the face of thescreen. A new star, not hitherto on the screen, drifted in from the lefthand edge, and Pelorat pointed in excitement. "There! There!"Trevize said, "Sorry. Another red dwarf. They’re very common. Atleast three fourths of all the stars in the Galaxy are red dwarfs."The screen settled down and stopped moving.

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"Well?" said Bliss.

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Trevize said, "That’s it. That’s the view of that portion of theGalaxy as it would have been twenty thousand years ago. At the verycenter of the screen is a point where the Forbidden World ought to beif it had been drifting at some average velocity

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.""Ought to be, but isn’t," said Bliss sharply.

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"It isn’t," agreed Trevize, with remarkably little emotion.

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Pelorat released his breath in a long sigh. "Oh, too bad, Golan."Trevize said, "Wait, don’t despair. I wasn’t expecting to see thestar there.""You weren’t?" said Pelorat, astonished.

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"No. I told you that this isn’t the Galaxy itself, but the computer’smap of the Galaxy. If a real star is not included in the map, we don’tsee it. If the planet is called `Forbidden’ and has been called so fortwenty thousand years, the chances are it wouldn’t be included in themap. And it isn’t, for we don’t see it."Bliss said, "We might not see it because it doesn’t exist. TheComporellian legends may be false, or the co-ordinates may be wrong.""Very true. The computer, however, can now make an estimate as towhat the co-ordinates ought to be at this time, now that it has locatedthe spot where it may have been twenty thousand years ago. Using theco-ordinates corrected for time, a correction I could only have madethrough use of the star map, we can now switch to the real starfield ofthe Galaxy itself."Bliss said, "But you only assumed an average velocity for the ForbiddenWorld. What if its velocity was not average? You would not now have thecorrect co-ordinates.""True enough, but a correction, assuming average velocity, is almostcertain to be closer to its real position, than if we had made no timecorrection at all.""You hope!" said Bliss doubtfully.

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"That’s exactly what I do," said Trevize. "I hope. And nowlet’s look at the real Galaxy."The two onlookers watched tensely, while Trevize (perhaps to reducehis own tensions and delay the zero moment) spoke softly, almost asthough he were lecturing.

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"It’s more difficult to observe the real Galaxy," he said. "The map inthe computer is an artificial construction, with irrelevancies capable ofbeing eliminated. If there is a nebula obscuring the view, I can removeit. If the angle of view is inconvenient for what I have in mind, I canchange the angle, and so on. The real Galaxy, however, I must take asI find it, and if I want a change I must move physically through space,which will take far more time than it would take to adjust a map."And as he spoke, the screen showed a star cloud so rich in individualstars as to seem an irregular heap of powder.

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Trevize said, "That’s a large angle view of a section of the MilkyWay, and I want the foreground, of course. If I expand the foreground,the background will tend to fade in comparison. The co-ordinate spotis close enough to Comporellon so that I should be able to expand itto about the situation I had on the view of the map. Just let me putin the necessary instructions, if I can hold on to my sanity longenough. Now ."The starfield expanded with a rush so that thousands of stars pushedoff every edge, giving the watchers so real a sensation of moving towardthe screen that all three automatically leaned backward as though inresponse to a forward rush.

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The old view returned, not quite as dark as it had been on the map,but with the half-dozen stars shown as they had been in the originalview. And there, close to the center, was another star, shining far morebrightly than the others.

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"There it is," said Pelorat, in an awed whisper.

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"It may be. I’ll have the computer take its spectrum and analyzeit." There was a moderately long pause, then Trevize said, "Spectralclass, G-4, which makes it a trifle dimmer and smaller than Terminus’ssun, but rather brighter than Comporellon’s sun. And no G-class starshould be omitted from the computer’s Galactic map. Since this one is,that is a strong indication that it may be the sun about which theForbidden World revolves

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."Bliss said, "Is there any chance of its turning out that there is nohabitable planet revolving about this star after all?""There’s a chance, I suppose. In that case, we’ll try to find theother two Forbidden Worlds."Bliss persevered

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. "And if the other two are false alarms, too?""Then we’ll try something else.""Like what?""I wish I knew," said Trevize grimly.

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