Tydore handed him the key. "Come, we will get it together."
Marley followed him cautiously, alert for any trickery. Presently they stood before the case and Marley unlocked it, reaching greedily for the polished stock. He cradled the gun in his arms lovingly, savoring triumph. With this in his hands, he could defy a world.
"There is no other like it, nor any but I to make one," Tydore said with a strange smile.
"Why did you make it?" asked Marley.
"I made it for you."
"I made it for you...."
Marley laughed aloud. It was an alien sound in the thin, cold air of the tower. "You're a liar, Tydore. You built this weapon long before I ever left Earth and you know it."