"Hallo," called Thor.
The blotched thing swung about. There were no eyes to be seen in its immense shape, but Thor knew he was being surveyed, and closely.
"You are an Earthman," ran a thought in his mind. "The woman and the man are Klogorons."
Thor said eagerly, "You know that? Then you must also know where we are—how we came here?"
"I know, yes."
"And those men that come and go? And why we see no cities, no habitations where they live? Do you know that too?"
"The Discoverer knows everything. I am the Discoverer. I live everywhere and nowhere. Or at least I did until the madness that is this queer space lapped out at me and brought me here, just as it did you.
"To understand, you must think of the universe that you know as a big, big bubble. It is stable and steady. It has its star clusters with their space velocities and planetal orbits. Inside the big bubble everything is orderly—except one thing.
"That one thing is a very tiny bubble. A sort of cancer, you might say. It obeys no laws. Its very space coordinates and vectors are different than ours. It is fluid—always in motion. Its space segments are so alien that they can reach right through ordinary space, annihilating distance, and seize upon objects."
"But that's nonsensical," protested Thor.