The Lion of Comarre & Against The Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke

Author:Arthur C. Clarke [Clarke, Arthur C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780156525176
Amazon: 0156525178
Publisher: Harcourt
Published: 1987-03-01T22:00:00+00:00

Six

The Last Niagara

Seranis looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. Then she rose to her feet and walked towards the stairway.

“Please wait a little while,” she said. “I have some business to settle and Theon, I know, has many questions to ask you.”

Then she was gone, and for the next few minutes Theon’s barrage of questions drove any other thoughts from his mind. Theon had heard of Diaspar, and had seen records of the cities as they were at the height of their glory, but he could not imagine how their inhabitants had passed their lives. Alvin was amused at many of his questions—until he realized that his own ignorance of Lys was even greater.

Seranis was gone for many minutes, but her expression revealed nothing when she returned.

“We have been talking about you,” she said—not explaining who “we” might be: “If you return to Diaspar, the whole city will know about us. Whatever promises you make, the secret could not be kept.”

A feeling of slight panic began to creep over Alvin. Seranis must have known his thoughts for her next words were more reassuring.

“We don’t wish to keep you here against your wishes, but if you return to Diaspar we will have to erase all memories of Lys from your mind.” She hesitated for a moment. “This has never arisen before: all your predecessors came here to stay.”

Alvin was thinking deeply.

“Why should it matter,” he said, “if Diaspar does learn about you again? Surely it would be a good thing for both our peoples?”

Seranis looked displeased.

“We don’t think so,” she said. “If the gates were opened, our land would be flooded with sensation seekers and the idly curious. As things are now, only the best of your people have ever reached us.”

Alvin felt himself becoming steadily more annoyed, but he realized that Seranis’s attitude was quite unconscious.

“That isn’t true,” he said flatly. “Very few of us would ever leave Diaspar. If you let me return, it would make no difference to Lys.”

“The decision is not in my hands,” replied Seranis, “but I will put it to the Council when it meets in three days from now. Until then, you can remain as my guest and Theon will show you our country.”

“I would like to do that,” said Alvin, “but Rorden will be waiting for me. He knows where I am, and if I don’t come back at once anything may happen.”

Seranis smiled slightly.

“We have given that a good deal of thought,” she admitted. “There are men working on the problem now—we will see if they have been successful.”

Alvin was annoyed at having overlooked something so obvious. He knew that the engineers of the past had built for eternity—his journey to Lys had been proof of that. Yet it gave him a shock when the chromatic mist on the visiphone screen drifted aside to show the familiar outlines of Rorden’s room.

The Keeper of the Records looked up from his desk. His eyes lit when he saw Alvin.

“I never expected you to be early,” he said—though there was relief behind the jesting words.

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