Oridin shrugged. "I am still not afraid of you Caddo. If you had come here to loot, you would have killed me long ago. But what you want is something you cannot gain by killing me. What is it?"
"You are going to give me the secret that will make me the master of the earth, and the master of the universe," Caddo announced.
Oridin poured himself a mug of coffee.
"I knew you did not want gold, although Azair is filthy with the stuff," he said. "But what secret have I that is so powerful?"
"The Discovery!" Caddo said.
"I have many." Oridin nodded toward the wall, and the pinhole of light blinked out.
"I want the secret of the universe!" Caddo spoke tensely.
"Come! Don't be so melodramatic," Oridin chided. "The universe is full of secrets."
"You're stalling. You know what I mean!"
"I think I do," Oridin agreed. "My erratic experiments have revealed a certain mathematical function, J, which theoretically opens the door to action without probability. Is that what you want, Caddo? The value of J?"