Alvin grinned sheepishly and said nothing. Thereafter he made no more excursions into forbidden realms.
3
THE TOMB OF YARLAN ZEY
Not for three years did Rorden make more than casual references to the purpose of their work. The time had passed quickly enough, for there was so much to learn and the knowledge that his goal was not unattainable gave Alvin patience. Then, one day when they were struggling to reconcile two conflicting maps of the ancient world, the main Associator suddenly began to call for attention.
Rorden hurried to the machine and returned with a long sheet of paper covered with writing. He ran through it quickly and looked at Alvin with a smile.
“We will soon know if the first way is still open,” he said quietly.
Alvin jumped from his chair, scattering maps in all directions.
“Where is it?” he cried eagerly.
Rorden laughed and pushed him back into his seat.
“I haven’t kept you waiting all this time because I wanted to,” he said. “It’s true that you were too young to leave Diaspar before, even if we knew how it could be done. But that’s not the only reason why you had to wait. The day you came to see me, I set the machines searching through the records to discover if anyone after Alaine’s time had tried to leave the city. I thought you might not be the first, and I was right. There have been many others: the last was about fifteen million years ago. They’ve all been very careful to leave us no clues, and I can see Alaine’s influence there. In his message he stressed that only those who searched for themselves should be allowed to find the way, so I’ve had to explore many blind avenues. I knew that the secret had been hidden carefully — yet not so carefully that it couldn’t be found.