"There aren't many of us left. We discovered matter-transmission. We
used it once, to people the worlds of the galaxy. It was our final
creative effort. We merely observe now, unable to destroy our creation,
trying to keep it out of mankind's hands. You see--"
"Then back on Irwadi you knew all along we would come here!"
"I was vouchsafed the vision, yes. Even as you--stop her, Ramsey. You
must stop her!"
* * * * *
Ramsey sprinted forward. Margot was nearing the black coffin now.
Ramsey ran at her, and tackled her.
They went down together, the girl fighting like a tigress, tooth and
nail, wildly, sobbing, striking out at Ramsey with small impotent fists,
until he subdued her. Panting, they glared at each other.
And could not stop Garr Symm from running past them, eyes rapt behind
the plastiglass of his helmet, and jumping into the black box.
"To the end of the universe and back!" he cried. "Take me there and
back. Instantly. Prove to me that you work! Now...." His voice trailed
off. He had addressed the black rectangle almost as if it were something
alive.
* * * * *
Ramsey thought he heard a growl from the box. He stood before it,
looking in. The hackles rose on his neck.
"You see," Vardin said. "My ancestors and yours discovered the power of
a god--and did not understand it. We were incorporeal. We created
life--your ancestors. We patterned it to fit the evolution of the three
thousand worlds. Human life. Millions of them, colonists for the worlds
of normal space. We were tampering in our tragic pride, Ramsey, with
forces we would never comprehend.
"We colonized the worlds, deciding that physical existence, along with
the mental prowess we had, was the ideal state. A few of us, like
myself, or my ancestors if you wish, although the purely mental lives
continuously--a few of us stayed behind and saw--the loss of a million
years!"
Ramsey's eyes still could not pierce the darkness inside the box.
"What do you mean?" he asked in an awed voice.
"We sent out god-like men. We did not understand our discovery. The
god-like men--but look at Garr Symm."
The spacesuited figure got up slowly. It blinked at Ramsey. It growled.
It had a recognizably green, scale-skinned face. But it was not the face
of Garr Symm. It was the face of Garr Symm's caveman ancestors, a
million years ago....
"This is what happened to my people," Vardin said.
She looked at Ramar Chind and Chind, responding, went to Garr Symm and
led him quietly back toward the _Dog Star_. Chind never said a word.
Garr Symm growled.
"Take the Earthgirl and go," Vardin told Ramsey.
"But I--you--aren't you coming?"
"My work is finished," Vardin told him. "For now."
"For now?"
"I am a guardian. When I am needed again--" She shrugged her slim blue
shoulders.
"But Margot will never be content now," Ramsey protested. "Not when
she's come so close."
"She'll understand. Just as you understand. You'll be good for each
other, Ramsey, you and the girl. She's had only her fierce pride and her
dreams of power. She has room for love. She needs love."
"But you--"
"I? I am nothing. I am the end-product of an equation our ancestors
found a million years ago. An equation to give them god-like power.
Instead it made them savages and I have had to watch their slow climb
back to the stars. An equation, Ramsey. Almost an equation of doom. Now
go."
Vardin flickered, became insubstantial. Her body seemed to melt into the
gray mists.
The gleaming walls were gone. The black box was gone. Vardin was gone.
Ramsey led Margot back to the _Enterprise_.
Moments later--although the elapsed time was subjective--they blasted
off.
Margot opened her eyes. She had been sleeping. She smiled at Ramsey
tremulously. "I love you," she said. Her words seemed to surprise her.
"I can't go back to Earth," Ramsey said.
"Who wants to go back to Earth--if you can't?"
They had, Ramsey knew, all of space and the life-span of mortal man to
enjoy together.