Foundation's Edge - Isaac Asimov [123]
Pelorat said, "Oh, my dear fellow, why do you ask? I make the decision freely for my reasons, not yours. And, please--let us leave quickly. I don't trust my cowardice not to seize me by the throat and shame me for the rest of my life."
"As you say, Janov," said Trevize. "We'll leave at the earliest moment the computer will permit. This time, we'll be moving gravitically--straight up--as soon as we can be assured the atmosphere above is clear of other ships. And as the surrounding atmosphere grows less and less dense, we'll put on more and more speed. Well within the hour, we'll be in open space."
"Good," Pelorat said and pinched the tip off a plastic coffee container. The opened orifice almost at once began steaming. Pelorat put the nipple to his mouth and sipped, allowing just enough air to enter his mouth to cool the coffee to a bearable temperature.
Trevize grinned. "You've learned how to use those things beautifully. You're a space veteran, Janov."
Pelorat stared at the plastic container for a moment and said, "Now that we have ships that can adjust a gravitational field at will, surely we can use ordinary containers, can't we?"
"Of course, but you're not going to get space people to give up their space-centered apparatus. How is a space rat going to put distance between himself and surface worms if he uses an open-mouthed cup? See those rings on the walls and ceilings? Those have been traditional in spacecraft for twenty thousand years and more, but they're absolutely useless in a gravitic ship. Yet they're there and I'll bet the entire ship to a cup of coffee that your space rat will pretend he's being squashed into asphyxiation on takeoff and will then sway back and forth from those rings as though he's under zero-grav when its gee-one--normal-grav, that is--on both occasions."
"You're joking."
"Well, maybe a little, but there's always social inertia to everything--even technological advance. Those useless wall rings are there and the cups they supply us have nipples."
Pelorat nodded thoughtfully and continued to sip at his coffee. Finally he said, "And when do we take off?"
Trevize laughed heartily and said, "Got you. I began talking about wall rings and you never noticed that we were taking off right at that time. We're a mile high right now."
"You don't mean it."
"Look out."
Pelorat did and then said, "But I never felt a thing."
"You're not supposed to."
"Aren't we breaking the regulations? Surely we ought to have followed a radio beacon in an upward spiral, as we did in a downward spiral on landing?"
"No reason to, Janov. No one will stop us. No one at all."
"Coming down, you said--"
"That was different. They weren't anxious to see us arrive, but they're ecstatic to see us go."
"Why do you say that, Golan? The only person who talked to us about Gaia was Quintesetz and he begged us not to go."
"Don't you believe it, Janov. That was for form. He made sure we'd go to Gaia. --Janov, you admired the way I bluffed the information out of Quintesetz. I'm sorry, but I don't deserve the admiration. If I had done nothing at all, he would have offered the information. If I had tried to plug my ears, he would have shouted it at me."
"Why do you say that, Golan? That's crazy."
"Paranoid? Yes, I know." Trevize turned to the computer and extended his sense intently. He said, "We're not being stopped. No ships in interfering distance, no warning messages of any kind."
Again he swiveled in the direction of Pelorat. He said, "Tell me, Janov, how did you find out about Gaia? You knew about Gaia while we were still on Terminus. You knew it was in the Sayshell Sector. You knew the name was, somehow, a form of Earth. Where did you hear all this?"
Pelorat seemed to stiffen. He said, "If I were back in my office on Terminus, I might consult my files. I have not brought everything with me--certainly not the dates on which