His thoughts cut off and Gary heard the shuffle of Kingsley's feet.
"These other beings," the Engineer went on, "know that their universe has very little longer to exist in any event. It has almost reached the end of its time. It soon will die the heat death. Throughout its space, matter and energy are being swiftly distributed. Soon the day will arrive when it will be equally distributed, when the heat, the energy, the mass throughout the universe will be spread so thin that it scarcely exists.”
Gary sucked in his breath. "Like a watch running down," he said.
"You're right," said Kingsley. "Like a watch that has run down. That is what will happen to our universe in time.”
"Not," said Gary, "if we have the energy from interspace at our command.”
"Already," said the Engineer, "only one corner of this other universe is still suitable for life… the area that is facing us. Into that corner all life has been driven and now it has been, or is being, assembled to transfer itself to our universe.”
"But," asked Herb, "just how are they going to get here?”
"They will use a time warp," said the Engineer. "They will bud out from their universe, but in doing so they will distort the time factor in the walls of their hypersphere — a distortion that will send them ahead in time, will push their little universe closer to us than to their universe.
Our gravity will grasp their hypersphere and draw it in.”
"But that," protested Gary, "will produce more energy. Their little universe will be destroyed.”