Seranis smiled, a little wryly.
“Diaspar has surprised us. We expected it to go the way of all other cities, but instead it has achieved a stable culture that may last as long as Earth. It is not a culture we admire, yet we are glad that those who wish to escape have been able to do so. More than you might think have made the journey, and they have almost all been outstanding men.”
Alvin wondered how Seranis could be so sure of her facts, and he did not approve of her attitude towards Diaspar. He had hardly “escaped”-yet, after all, the word was not altogether inaccurate.
Somewhere a great bell vibrated with a throbbing boom that ebbed and died in the still air. Six times it struck, and as the last note faded into silence Alvin realized that the sun was low on the horizon and the eastern sky already held a hint of night.
“I must return to Diaspar,” he said. “Rorden is expecting me.”
6
THE LAST NIAGARA
Seranis looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. Then she rose to her feet and walked towards the stairway.
“Please wait a little while,” she said. “I have some business to settle, and Theon, I know, has many questions to ask you.”
Then she was gone, and for the next few minutes Theon’s barrage of questions drove any other thoughts from his mind. Theon had heard of Diaspar, and had seen records of the cities as they were at the height of their glory, but he could not imagine how their inhabitants had passed their lives. Alvin was amused at many of his questions-until he realized that his own ignorance of Lys was even greater.