O'Brien's voice grew deeper, stronger. "Long ago--very long ago, and
in another galaxy, light-years away, there was a civilization far
beyond ours. Deirdre is a child of that race. It was--mighty. It passed
through our culture-level and went far beyond. Till machines were no
longer needed. Instead, the race made the crystals--super-machines,
super-robots, with incredible powers locked in them. They supplied all
the needs of Deirdre's race."
"Well?"
"This asteroid doesn't belong to our family of planets. It's from
that other system, in the neighboring galaxy. It drifted here by
accident, I think. I don't quite know the facts of it. It came under
the gravitational pull of a comet, or a wandering planet, and was
yanked out into space. Eventually it settled into this orbit. Deirdre
didn't care. Her mind isn't like ours. The crystals supplied all her
needs--made air, gave her food and water. Everything she desired."