A few hours ago we said goodbye to Ralf and Mari and Bruno, and watched
them start down Hope Passage. I think they may find life again soon.
Even now, I do not understand clearly why we are not with them; why we
are climbing in this old rough passage which rises so steeply we must
stop every little while to rest.
Many thoughts must have come to Doctor Dorn during our last sleep,
because when we awoke he was different from any way he had been before.
For a little while, he just walked up and back rubbing his chin as if he
were thinking very hard. Then all of a sudden he stopped and came over
to Nina. He asked Nina whether if we were not here, if she had to decide
only for herself, knowing all he had told her, would she still take the
old passage?
Nina said yes, she would. Doctor Dorn sat down. He said he was going to
say strong words. He was going to tell us some of the things he had read
in the Forbidden Books.
For thousands of years Man had first lived on Earth Surface, the books
said. But then great wars had come and Man had studied hard and learned
ways to kill each other millions at a time. But some of the men who did
not want to die had dug deep into the earth to live. Everyone in the
earth, the books said, came from these first men from Earth Surface.
Doctor Dorn stopped to let us think about what he had told us. _Earth
Surface_--nothing above but nothing--and nothing beyond nothing--the
thought is more than the mind can hold. That men could have lived on
such a place is too much to be believed.
There were some things written in the Forbidden Books that could not be
true, Doctor Dorn said, like the plants called trees that grew to be
many times taller than a man; or lakes called oceans that were larger
than a thousand Red Lakes together. But even though these and some other
things the books said were not possible, there was something about the
story of men living on Earth Surface that made him wonder. All sleep he
had not slept, but had thought how the old passage we had found near the
statue might be one of the surface passages the books told about. He
could not imagine any City in the Earth building a passage so steep and
so rough.
Doctor Dorn stopped talking for a moment, and he looked at me. He seemed
very excited. "Jon," he said, "my own feeling now is to take Surface
Passage. I cannot do this alone with one lamp. You know how Nina feels.
Will you and Nina come with me?"
My thoughts must have been like those of the lost-mind men in the
hospital at Central City. Even now I do not know why I said we would.
Maybe it was because of the way Nina's eyes shone when Doctor Dorn
talked about Earth Surface. Nina is a wonderful girl and I love her
very much, but sometimes I think I do not understand her completely.
Ralf and Mari talked together for a long time. Then Ralf told Doctor
Dorn he thought Hope Passage was the best chance for finding life. They
would not come with us.
Doctor Dorn said he understood. He was sorry we had to separate now, but
each must do what was in his own thoughts and heart. Then he asked Bruno
if he was coming with us, and Bruno shook his head no, and did not say
anything.
Theodor thought for even a longer time than Ralf and Mari. He kept
biting the nails on his fingers and every little while his eyes would
look at Bruno. I knew he was afraid to come with us; but also he was
afraid to be alone with Bruno with only Ralf to help him if anything
happened. Finally, in a very low voice, he said he would come with us.
Doctor Dorn said fine, now there was one more thing we must do before we
started. We must take the oil from one of the lamps and put it in the
other six lamps so there would be the same amount in each one. Then each
group would take three lamps.
Theodor said this was not fair. There were four of us so we should have
four lamps. Doctor Dorn said four people needed no more light than three
people.
It was very sad when we had to separate. Mari and Nina cried a little.
For a long time after we found Surface Passage and were climbing in it,
no one said anything. Perhaps after next sleep, our sadness may be less.
* * * * *