"The beginning is real zero!" Caddo spoke aloud.
"Which is different from a mathematical zero," Oridin said. "I might say that zero, like absolute vacuum, never occurs. Even if we have two apples and eat two of them the atoms of the apples continue to exist. In the formula you have a small fraction instead of zero. It serves the same purpose. If you multiply a number X by zero, the answer is zero. Multiply a fraction approaching zero, .000,000,001 by another number and that number approaches zero too. If that number is a fraction it will be even closer to zero than our real zero. In fact, we are dealing with trans-zero numbers, just like the transfinite numbers discovered by Georg Cantor."
"Yes, yes!" Caddo said eagerly. He picked up a pencil. He scribbled furiously. His objective was all of the power in the world expressed in ergs; all of the gold in the world, expressed in dollars; all of the land, expressed in acres; the people, in individuals.
Oridin moved softly behind him. A multiple-calculator made its appearance in the room. Paper flew from under Caddo's pencil. Sweat poured from his space-browned face.
The two clocks on the wall recorded the turning of the earth and the planetoid Azair.
Caddo forgot about Oridin. He forgot about everything except the figures that revolved in his brain.
Oridin moved out into the warm artificial atmosphere of his planetoid. He was a recluse again. He was alone. A momentary contact with the greed, and avarice of the human race had been wiped away.
Far out in space was a glow of rockets. A ship was going to land. It had seemed only a short time since Caddo had landed. But that was three terrestrial days ago. This was the patrol.
"I've a prisoner for you," Oridin informed the captain. "It's Caddo."
"Caddo! He's the No. 1 universal enemy. Man, you'll grow rich with the rewards offered on nine planets for his capture."