"Liar and renegade! Beast of the upper earth—"
The Father's voice came wearily, "Enough, O'Hara—do not preach to him. Our problem has been solved. Descend."
The hatch clanged shut. O'Hara felt the shock of the cylinder's sudden acceleration and sprawled helplessly upon its foamlike cushioning, and as before, when he regained his feet, the quick deceleration flung him down again. And the hatch was opening.
"The Father awaits," a Son above him said.
But this time there was to be no long ascent by corridors and stairs and shafts to reach the awe-inspiring architecture of the Dome. When he left the cylinder, a panel opened in the wall beyond the terminus of the Tube, and after O'Hara had passed through, the Son stepped quickly back, the panel slid down instantly, and in the rushing dark O'Hara heard the Father's silken voice, now faint, now roaring through his brain, now very faint and weak again:
"I am returning you at once to Anstruther. When you have regained your senses, awaken him. You have only to tell him that you have at last remembered the way to reach me. He and his Sons will follow willingly enough.
"But this time I shall not guide you by my voice. A panel will open in the corridor beyond the point at which Anstruther blasted through. Lead them through that panel. Ascend the stairs you will then find. At the top of them, push up the metal covering. And you will find yourselves before this dais."
O'Hara gasped, "Anstruther was that close to you?"
"Anstruther always has been that close to me, but men who live by their emotions never quite achieve their goals. He feels. I think. That is our difference."
"Ah, Father, there is more than that."