"You have your atom guns. You can blast your way back into the corridor. I must tell you that the Father knows that you are approaching. He asked me to lead you."
"Yes. Lead on."
"I will not do it, Anstruther. Despite his pledge and despite the logic of his argument to support it, I will not lead you further into what is certainly a trap for you."
"What is the way to go?" Anstruther asked impatiently.
"But what do you hope to accomplish?"
"All that any man can accomplish—to meet with evil and combat it."
"Regardless of whether the Father is evil, you cannot combat him. Your only chance of ultimate success is to avoid him until the Sons and the masses everywhere will rise against him."
"But unless I meet him, they will never rise."
"You mean unless you die?"
In the darkness their voices had sunk to whispers. The turgid, thick-nosed breathing of the Sons made hearing difficult, yet neither of them noticed it. For each of them knew both the questions and the answers that must come.