excreta is, of course, as alive as you are.”
“Not alive. Conscious. There is a difference. The level of consciousness is, naturally, very low.”
Trevize sniffed in a disparaging way, but didn’t try to answer. He said, “I’m going into the pilot-room to keep the computer company. Not that it needs me.”
Pelorat said, “May we come in and help you keep it company? I can’t quite get used to the fact that it can get us down all by itself; that it can sense other ships, or storms, or—whatever?”
Trevize smiled broadly. “Get used to it, please. The ship is far safer under the computer’s control than it ever would be under mine. —But certainly, come on. It will do you good to watch what happens.”
They were over the sunlit side of the planet now for, as Trevize explained, the map in the computer could be more easily matched to reality in the sunlight than in the dark.
“That’s obvious,” said Pelorat.
“Not at all obvious. The computer will judge just as rapidly by the infrared light which the surface radiates even in the dark. However, the longer waves of infrared don’t allow the computer quite the resolution that visible light would. That is, the computer doesn’t see quite as finely and sharply by infrared, and where necessity doesn’t drive, I like to make things as easy as possible for the computer.”
“What if the capital is on the dark side?”
“The chance is fifty-fifty,” said Trevize, “but if it is, once the map is matched by daylight, we can skim down to the capital quite unerringly even if it is in the dark. And long before we come anywhere near the capital, we’ll be intersecting microwave beams and will be receiving messages directing us to the most convenient spaceport. —There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Are you sure?” said Bliss. “You’re bringing me down without papers and without any native world that these people here will recognize—and I’m bound and determined not to mention Gaia to them in any case. So what do we do, if I’m asked for my papers once we’re on the surface?”
Trevize said, “That’s not likely to happen. Everyone will assume that was taken care of at the entry station.”
“But if they ask?”
“Then, when that time comes, we’ll face the problem. Meanwhile, let’s not manufacture problems out of air.”
“By the time we face the problems that may arise, it might well be too late to solve them.”
“I’ll rely on my ingenuity to keep it from being too late.”
“Talking about ingenuity, how did you get us through the entry station?”
Trevize looked at Bliss, and let his lips slowly expand into a smile that made him seem like an impish teenager. “Just brains.”
Pelorat said, “What did you do, old man?”
Trevize said, “It was a matter of appealing to him in the correct manner. I’d tried threats and subtle bribes. I had appealed to his logic and his loyalty to the Foundation. Nothing worked, so I fell back on the last resort. I said that you were cheating on your wife, Pelorat.”
“My
wife
? But, my dear fellow, I don’t have a wife at the moment.”
“I know that, but
he
didn’t.”
Bliss said, “By ‘wife,’ I presume you mean a woman who is a particular man’s regular companion.”
Trevize said, “A little more than that, Bliss. A
legal
companion, one with enforceable rights in consequence of that companionship.”
Pelorat said nervously, “Bliss, I do
not
have a wife. I have had one now and then in the past, but I haven’t had one for quite a while. If you would care to undergo the legal ritual—”
“Oh, Pel,” said Bliss, making a sweeping-away movement with her right hand, “what would I care about that? I have innumerable companions that are as close to me as your arm is close companion to your other arm. It is only Isolates who feel so alienated that they have to use artificial conventions to enforce a feeble substitute for true companionship.”
“But I
am
an Isolate,
“Not alive. Conscious. There is a difference. The level of consciousness is, naturally, very low.”
Trevize sniffed in a disparaging way, but didn’t try to answer. He said, “I’m going into the pilot-room to keep the computer company. Not that it needs me.”
Pelorat said, “May we come in and help you keep it company? I can’t quite get used to the fact that it can get us down all by itself; that it can sense other ships, or storms, or—whatever?”
Trevize smiled broadly. “Get used to it, please. The ship is far safer under the computer’s control than it ever would be under mine. —But certainly, come on. It will do you good to watch what happens.”
They were over the sunlit side of the planet now for, as Trevize explained, the map in the computer could be more easily matched to reality in the sunlight than in the dark.
“That’s obvious,” said Pelorat.
“Not at all obvious. The computer will judge just as rapidly by the infrared light which the surface radiates even in the dark. However, the longer waves of infrared don’t allow the computer quite the resolution that visible light would. That is, the computer doesn’t see quite as finely and sharply by infrared, and where necessity doesn’t drive, I like to make things as easy as possible for the computer.”
“What if the capital is on the dark side?”
“The chance is fifty-fifty,” said Trevize, “but if it is, once the map is matched by daylight, we can skim down to the capital quite unerringly even if it is in the dark. And long before we come anywhere near the capital, we’ll be intersecting microwave beams and will be receiving messages directing us to the most convenient spaceport. —There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Are you sure?” said Bliss. “You’re bringing me down without papers and without any native world that these people here will recognize—and I’m bound and determined not to mention Gaia to them in any case. So what do we do, if I’m asked for my papers once we’re on the surface?”
Trevize said, “That’s not likely to happen. Everyone will assume that was taken care of at the entry station.”
“But if they ask?”
“Then, when that time comes, we’ll face the problem. Meanwhile, let’s not manufacture problems out of air.”
“By the time we face the problems that may arise, it might well be too late to solve them.”
“I’ll rely on my ingenuity to keep it from being too late.”
“Talking about ingenuity, how did you get us through the entry station?”
Trevize looked at Bliss, and let his lips slowly expand into a smile that made him seem like an impish teenager. “Just brains.”
Pelorat said, “What did you do, old man?”
Trevize said, “It was a matter of appealing to him in the correct manner. I’d tried threats and subtle bribes. I had appealed to his logic and his loyalty to the Foundation. Nothing worked, so I fell back on the last resort. I said that you were cheating on your wife, Pelorat.”
“My
wife
? But, my dear fellow, I don’t have a wife at the moment.”
“I know that, but
he
didn’t.”
Bliss said, “By ‘wife,’ I presume you mean a woman who is a particular man’s regular companion.”
Trevize said, “A little more than that, Bliss. A
legal
companion, one with enforceable rights in consequence of that companionship.”
Pelorat said nervously, “Bliss, I do
not
have a wife. I have had one now and then in the past, but I haven’t had one for quite a while. If you would care to undergo the legal ritual—”
“Oh, Pel,” said Bliss, making a sweeping-away movement with her right hand, “what would I care about that? I have innumerable companions that are as close to me as your arm is close companion to your other arm. It is only Isolates who feel so alienated that they have to use artificial conventions to enforce a feeble substitute for true companionship.”
“But I
am
an Isolate,
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