"I see. This is Bek, a field observer. He was at your party last night."
Sethos remembered the stranger he had taken for a spying apprentice on the hillside. He felt embarrassed, but brushed it aside.
"I ... want you to take me with you."
Hol looked at his companion.
"I don't fit here," Sethos went on. "Mr. Third himself said I'm more intelligent than the others—I'm the only one who knows what your visit means. I want to go where people are interested in learning and progress. If I stay here I'll have to fool around with a hobby the rest of my life. There's no work, no expansion. You can see why I have to leave, can't you? I'm the curious type."
"You don't know what you're asking."
"Why? Can't you take me with you? What harm would it do?"
"Well, there are rules."
"But—I'm not just anybody. I'm an exception to the rule. I qualify as a genius—you mean there isn't a place for me somewhere in the universe? Surely you can use a smart man!"
"You are a genius, that's true," said Bek, in a deep, serious voice. "As long as you remain here. Hundreds of centuries ago, your ancestors discovered principles that are not even expressible in your language, and learned to apply them to matter. Soon they knew no boundaries. The earth was not forgotten, but it was no longer important. It still is only a statistic. And we are here to examine it briefly. We have many others to visit.