“So it will,” replied Rorden, as if he had never given the matter any thought. A short time ago he could have imagined very few things more unlikely than a seat on the Council; now it was probably only a matter of time. There would, he reflected, be a good many other resignations in the near future. Several of the older councillors had found themselves unable to face the new problems pouring upon them.
They were now moving up the slope to the Tomb, through the long avenue of eternal trees. At its end, the avenue was blocked by Alvin’s ship, looking strangely out of place in these familiar surroundings.
“There,” said Rorden suddenly, “is the greatest mystery of all. Who was the Master? Where did he get this ship and the three robots?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” answered Theon. “We know that he came from the Seven Suns, and there might have been a fairly high culture there when civilization on Earth was at its lowest. The ship itself is obviously the work of the Empire.
“I believe that the Master was escaping from his own people. Perhaps he had ideas with which they didn’t agree: he was a philosopher, and a rather remarkable one. He found our ancestors friendly but superstitious and tried to educate them, but they misunderstood and distorted his teachings. The Great Ones were no more than the men of the Empire-only it wasn’t Earth they had left, but the Universe itself. The Master’s disciples didn’t understand or didn’t believe this, and all their mythology and ritual was founded on that false premise. One day I intend to go into the Master’s history and find why he tried to conceal his past. I think it will be a very interesting story.”
“We’ve a good deal to thank him for,” said Rorden as they entered the ship. “Without him we would never have learned the truth about the past.”
“I’m not so sure,” said Alvin. “Sooner or later Vana-monde would have discovered us. And I believe there may be other ships hidden on Earth: one day I mean to find them.”
The city was now too distant to be recognized as the work of Man, and the curve of the planet was becoming visible. In a little while they could see the line of twilight, thousands of miles away on its never-ending march across the desert. Above and around were the stars, still brilliant for all the glory they had lost.
For a long time Rorden stared at the desolate panorama he had never seen before. He felt a sudden contemptuous anger for the men of the past who had let Earth’s beauty die through their own neglect. If one of Alvin’s dreams came true, and the great transmutation plants still existed, it would not be many centuries before the oceans rolled again.
There was so much to do in the years ahead. Rorden knew that he stood between two ages: around him he could feel the pulse of mankind beginning to quicken again. There were great problems to be faced, and Diaspar would face them. The recharting of the past would take centuries, but when it was finished Man would have recovered all that he had lost. And always now in the background would be the great enigma of Vanamonde…