In the little silence Gary had a sense of ancient things, of old plays played out upon a stage that had dissolved in dust these many thousand years. A sense of an even greater race upon an even greater planet. An old, old heraldry carried down through cosmic ages by these metal men.
"But you are young," declared the Engineer. "Your race is young and unspoiled. You have fallen into no grooves. Your mind is free. You are full of imagination and initiative. I sensed it when I talked with you back in your own system. And that is what we need… that is what we must have.
Imagination to grasp the problem that is offered. Imagination to peer around the corner. A dreaming contemplation of what is necessary to be done, and then the vigorous initiative to meet the challenge that the dream may bring.”
Again a silence.
"That is why we are so glad to have you here," went on the Engineer. "That is why I know I can tell you what must be told.”
He hesitated for a moment and a million fears speared at Gary's brain.
Something that must be told! Something they hadn't known before. An even greater threat to face?
They waited breathlessly.
"You should know," said the Engineer, "but I almost fear to tell you. It is this: Upon you, and you alone, must rest the fate of the universe. You are the only ones to save it.”
"Upon us," cried Tommy. "Why, that is mad! You can't mean it!”