For ten minutes he had been alone with Phil in the Temple of Osiris. And, before the youth died, he had told Tony the truth—that he was the Merlin. He had given his brother the Earth Star to keep. But no one would ever know that now.
Tony’s throat was tight. He stared at the dim horizon of sky and sea, knowing that beyond it lay New York, and a life he could take up again where he had left it. A life he must live—alone.
A faint glow brightened to the west. The tallest towers of Manhattan were pillars of light against the sky.
[The end of Secret of the Earth Star by Henry Kuttner]