Trevize said, "And it is like you to have that feeling, Janov. I share it. I think Solarian society is horrible, but it wasn't always like that. They are descended from Earthmen, and, more immediately, from Spacers who lived a much more normal life. The Solarians chose a path, for one reason or another, which led to an extreme, but you can't judge by extremes. In all the Galaxy, with its millions of inhabited worlds, is there one you know that now, or in the past, has had a society like that of Solaria, or even remotely like that of Solaria? And would even Solaria have such a society if it were not riddled with robots? Is it conceivable that a society of individuals could evolve to such a pitch of Solarian horror without robots?"
Pelorat's face twitched a little. "You punch holes in everything, Golan or at least I mean you don't ever seem to be at a loss in defending the type of Galaxy you voted against."
"I won't knock down everything. There is a rationale for Galaxia and when I find it, I'll know it, and I'll give in. Or perhaps, more accurately, if I find it.
"Do you think you might not?"
Trevize shrugged. "How can I say? Do you know why I'm waiting a few hours to make the Jump, and why I'm in danger of talking myself into waiting a few days?"
"You said it would be safer if we waited."
"Yes, that's what I said, but we'd be safe enough now. What I really fear is that those Spacer worlds for which we have the co-ordinates will fail us altogether. We have only three, and we've already used up two, narrowly escaping death each time. In doing so, we have still not gained any hint as to Earth's location, or even, in actual fact, Earth's existence. Now I face the third and last chance, and what if it, too, fails us?"
Pelorat sighed. "You know there are old folk tales-one, in fact, exists among those I gave Fallom to practice upon-in which someone is allowed three wishes, but only three. Three seems to be a significant number in these things, perhaps because it is the first odd number so that it is the smallest decisive number. You know, two out of three wins. The point is that in these stories, the wishes are of no use. No one ever wishes correctly, which, I have always supposed, is ancient wisdom to the effect that the satisfaction of your wants must be earned, and not-"
He fell suddenly silent and abashed. "I'm sorry, old man, but I'm wasting your time. I do tend to rattle on when I get started on my hobby."
"I find you always interesting, Janov. I am willing to see the analogy. We have been given three wishes, and we have had two and they have done us no good. Now only one is left. Somehow, I am sure of failure again and so I wish to postpone it. That is why I am putting off the Jump as long as possible."
"What will you do if you do fail again? Go back to Gaia? To Terminus?"
"Oh no," said Trevize in a whisper, shaking his head. "The search must continue-if I only knew how."
Chapter 14 Dead Planet
60.
TREVIZE felt depressed. What few victories he had had since the search began had never been definitive; they had merely been the temporary staving off of defeat
Now he had delayed the Jump to the third of the Spacer worlds till he had spread his unease to the others. When he finally decided that he simply must tell the computer to move the ship through hyperspace, Pelorat was standing solemnly in the doorway to the pilot-room, and Bliss was just behind him and to one side. Even Fallom was standing there, gazing at Trevize owlishly, while one hand gripped Bliss's hand tightly.
Trevize had looked up from the computer and had said, rather churlishly, "Quite the family group!" but that was only his own discomfort speaking.
He instructed the computer to Jump in such a way as to reenter space at a further distance from the star in question than was absolutely necessary. He told himself that that was because he was learning caution as a result of events on the first two Spacer worlds, but he didn't believe that. Well underneath, he knew, he was hoping that he would arrive in space at a great enough distance from the star to be uncertain as to whether it did or did not have a habitable planet. That would give him a few more days of in-space travel before he could find out, and (perhaps) have to stare bitter defeat in the face.
So now, with the "family group" watching, he drew a deep breath, held it, then expelled it in a between-the-lips whistle as he gave the computer its final instruction.
The star-pattern shifted in a silent discontinuity and the viewscreen became barer, for he had been taken into a region in which the stars were somewhat sparser. And there, nearly in the center, was a brightly gleaming star.
Trevize grinned broadly, for this was a victory of sorts. After all, the third set of co-ordinates might have been wrong and there might have been no appropriate G-type star in sight. He glanced toward the other three, and said, "That's it. Star number three."
"Are you sure?" asked Bliss softly.
"Watch!" said Trevize. "I will switch to the equi-centered view in the computer's Galactic map, and if that bright star disappears, it's not recorded on the map, and it's the one we want."
The computer responded to his command, and the star blinked out without any prior dimming. It was as though it had never been, but the rest of the starfield remained as it was, in sublime indifference.
"We've got it," said Trevize.
And yet he sent the Far Star forward at little more than half the speed he might easily have maintained. There was still the question of the presence or absence of a habitable planet, and he was in no hurry to find out. Even after three days of approach, there was still nothing to be said about that, either way.
Or, perhaps, not quite nothing. Circling the star was a large gas giant. It was very far from its star and it gleamed a very pale yellow on its daylight side, which they could see, from their position, as a thick crescent.