"The mathematical bombsight!" Caddo said. "It removes probability and makes certainty of everything. With my calculations based on certainty, I'll be fate itself! I can conquer the world, chain the universe and govern creation."
Oridin laughed quietly.
"Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Genghis Khan and Hitler spoke those words and they were willing to bargain with the devil himself to make them come true," he said. "I suppose I am the devil, for I know the answer and I can tell you the answer—for a price."
"You'll give it to me for nothing!" Caddo patted the blister, now in the holster at his side.
"Is that your only offer?" Oridin asked, still wearing an amused half-smile.
"It is!"
Oridin rose and moved toward a safe under two clocks on the wall across the room. One of these clocks gave the terrestrial days, hours and minutes according to the General Meridian time. The other registered the four-hour rotation of Azair.
"Wait!" Caddo halted Oridin. "No tricks. Give me the combination and I'll open the safe!"
Oridin turned to the space pirate.
"The safe is unlocked. The formula is inside."