"That will give us a better view of the region as a whole," he said, "since we will see the planets in every part of their orbit at maximum apparent distance from the sun. And they - whoever they may be - might not be quite as watchful over regions outside the plane. - I hope."
They were now as close to Gaia-S as the nearest and largest of the gas giants was and they were nearly half a billion kilometers from it. Trevize placed it under full magnification on the screen for Pelorat's benefit. It was an impressive sight, even if the three sparse and narrow rings of debris were left out of account.
"It has the usual train of satellites," said Trevize, "but at this distance from Gaia-S, we know that none of them are habitable. Nor are any of them settled by 'human beings who survive, let us say, under a glass dome or under other strictly artificial conditions."
"How can you tell?"
"There's no radio noise with characteristics that point them out as of intelligent origin. Of course," he added, qualifying his statement at once, "it is conceivable that a scientific outpost might go to great pains to shield its radio signals and the gas giant produces radio noise that could mask what I was looking for. Still, our radio reception is delicate and our computer is an extraordinarily good one. I'd say the chance of human occupation of those satellites is extremely small."
"Does that mean there's no Gaia?"
"No. But it does mean that if there is a Gaia, it hasn't bothered to settle those satellites. Perhaps it lacks the capacity to do so - or the interest."
"Well, is there a Gaia?"
"Patience, Janov. Patience."
Trevize considered the sky with a seemingly endless supply of patience. He stopped at one point to say, "Frankly, the fact that they haven't come out to pounce on us is disheartening, in a way. Surely, if they had the capacities they were described as having, they would have reacted to us by now."
"It's conceivable, I suppose," said Pelorat glumly, "that the whole thing is a fantasy."
"Call it a myth, Janov," said Trevize with a wry smile, "and it will be right up your alley. Still, there's a planet moving through the ecosphere, which means it might be habitable. I'll want to observe it for at least a day."
"Why?"
"To make sure it's habitable, for one thing."
"You just said it was in the ecosphere, Golan."
"Yes, at the moment it is. But its orbit could be very eccentric, and could eventually carry it within a microparsec of the star, or out to fifteen microparsecs, or both. We'll have to determine and compare the planet's distance from Gaia-S with its orbital speed - and it would help to note the direction of its motion."
Another day.
"The orbit is nearly circular," Trevize said finally, "which means that habitability becomes a much safer bet. Yet no one's coming out to get us even now. We'll have to try a closer look."
Pelorat said, "Why does it take so long to arrange a Jump? You're just taking little ones."
"Listen to the man. Little Jumps are harder to control than big ones. Is it easier to pick up a rock or a fine grain of sand? Besides, Gaia-S is nearby and space is sharply curved. That complicates the calculations even for the computer. Even a mythologist should see that."
Pelorat grunted.
Trevize said, "You can see the planet with the unaided eye now. Right there. See it? The period of rotation is about twenty-two Galactic Hours and the axial inclination is twelve degrees. It is practically a textbook example of a habitable planet and it is life-bearing."
"How can you tell?"
"There are substantial quantities of free oxygen in the atmosphere. You can't have that without well-established vegetation."
"What about intelligent life?"
"That depends on the analysis of radio-wave radiation. Of course, there could be intelligent life that has abandoned technology, I suppose, but that seems very unlikely."
"There have been cases of that," said Pelorat.
"I'll take your word for it. That's your department. However, it's not likely that there would be nothing but pastoral survivors on a planet that frightened off the Mule."
Pelorat said, "Does it have a satellite?"
"Yes, it does," said Trevize casually.
"How big?" Pelorat said in a voice that was suddenly choking.
"Can't tell for sure. Perhaps a hundred kilometers across."
"Dear me," said Pelorat wistfully. "I wish I had some worthier set of expletives on instant call, my dear chap, but there was just that one little chance..."
"You mean, if it had a giant satellite, it might be Earth itself?"
"Yes, but it clearly isn't."
"Well, if Compor is right, Earth wouldn't be in this Galactic region, anyway. It would be over Sirius way. - Really, Janov, I'm sorry."
"Oh well."
"Look, we'll wait, and risk one more small Jump. If we find no signs of intelligent life, then it should be safe to land - except that there will then be no reason to land, will there?"
After the next Jump, Trevize said in an astonished voice, "That does it, Janov. It's Gaia, all right. At least, it possesses a technological civilization."
"Can you tell that from the radio waves?"
"Better than that. There's a space station circling the planet. Do you see that?"
There was an object on display on the viewscreen. To Pelorat's unaccustomed eye, it didn't seem very remarkable, but Trevize said, "Artificial, metallic, and a radio-source."
"What do we do now?"