“There are other paradoxes that have not yet been resolved, but the problem is one for the psychologist rather than the historian. Even my records cannot be wholly trusted, and bear clear evidence of tampering in the very remote past.
“Only Diaspar and Lys survived the period of decadence-Diaspar thanks to the perfection of its machines, Lys owing to its partial isolation and the unusual intellectual powers of its people. But both cultures, even when they had struggled back to their former level, were distorted by the fears and myths they had inherited.
“Those fears need haunt us no longer. All down the ages, we have now discovered, there were men who rebelled against them and maintained a tenuous link between Diaspar and Lys. Now the last barriers can be swept aside and our two races can move together into the future-whatever it may bring.”
* * *
“I wonder what Yarlan Zey would think of this?” said Rorden thoughtfully. “I doubt if he would approve.”
The Park had changed considerably, so far very much for the worse. But when the rubble had been cleared away, the road to Lys would be open for all to follow.
“I don’t know,” Alvin replied. “Though he closed the moving ways, he didn’t destroy them as he might very well have done. One day we must discover the whole story behind the Park-and behind Alaine of Lyndar.”
“I’m afraid these things will have to wait,” said Rorden, “until more important problems have been settled. In any case, I can picture Alaine’s mind rather well: once we must have had a good deal in common.”
They walked in silence for a few hundred yards, following the edge of the great excavation. The Tomb of Yarlan Zey was now poised on the brink of a chasm, at the bottom of which scores of robots were working furiously.
“By the way,” said Alvin abruptly, “did you know that Jeserac is staying in Lys? Jeserac, of all people! He likes it there and won’t come back. Of course, that will leave a vacancy on the Council.”