said. Which form, therefore, should we accept as representing more closely the
reality that exists?”
Groork unplugged himself from the transformer unit and shook his head in
protest. “Your facts are in error, for did you not claim they were amassed from
travelers who have seen the farthest limits of north, south, east, and west? But
it is obvious that no traveler could venture beyond a small region at the top of
that. . .” He pointed at the globe. “Otherwise they would fall off, as indeed
would the methanes of the oceans. But the oceans persist. There is a fact,
Brother Thirg, which you would appear to have chosen conveniently to ignore.”
“That was a source of vexation to me too for a while,” Thirg admitted. “But a
possible answer suggested itself to me one bright when I was strolling in the
forest. I stopped to rest for a while by a glade where spectrometers are
assembled, and picked a magnet from one of the storage bins to savor its scent.
The iron grains that it attracted from the debris around where I was sitting
prompted me to wonder if perhaps the world-sphere might draw all things to
itself in the same way that a magnet draws iron grains to itself—from any
direction. Just as every line toward the magnet is uniformly ‘down’ for the
grain, so ‘down’ at every place on the world-sphere would be toward the ground.
The methanes of the oceans would thus seek a level nearest to the center and
remain in the lowest regions, which is as we know to be true. Hence, you see,
the fact is explained.”
Thirg paused, but Groork made no response. Thirg held up the sphere to study it
for a moment or two, and then continued in a more distant voice, “The fact that
nobody has ever found a Barrier holding up a solid sky leads me to wonder if the
sky is really solid at all. Could it be nothing more than vapors? And if so, how
far do they extend? Forever? If not, what lies beyond them? Could there be other
worlds? The question intrigues me. Ever since it occurred to me after I began
familiarizing myself with Lofbayel’s work, I have been studying the cycles of
full-brights and half-brights as they follow one another across the world. On
the basis that the world is indeed a sphere and the sky nothing more than
vapors, the bright and half-bright periods could be accounted for by two
brilliant objects moving beyond the sky in a complicated but repeating motion.
Where would you look in your Scribings for the knowledge to answer questions
like these, Groork?”
Groork stood up suddenly and dismissed the whole matter with a gesture. “I did
not come here to listen to you compounding your folly by adding more heresies to
those you are guilty of already,” he said. “The High Council will not look
leniently upon you one more time. Their patience is exhausted. May the Lifemaker
forgive me for my weakness, but I cannot abandon my brother though the madness
boils within him. Collect together the possessions you would carry with you,
Thirg, and for this bright we can travel together. But on the far side of the
mountains I must lead a lone path to the destiny that has been written but which
is yet to be revealed. Hurry. There may be little time.”
Thirg stared back sadly. “I doubt if you could ever understand, Groork, even if
I had all the rest of time to try and explain it. Your beliefs are taught
without a question’s being tolerated, while mine are learned only after posing
every question. What does it say for the worth of beliefs if they cannot survive
critical scrutiny and dare not permit a word of dissent to be voiced? Would
truth or untruth be the first to tremble in the presence of the other? It
seems—”
At that moment the sound of Rex’s agitation again came from outside. Groork
rushed to the doorway. “Too late!” he moaned, turning a fearful face as Thirg
strode across the living area after him. “They’re here. The King’s soldiers have
arrived.” Thirg reached the door and looked out past Groork. Mounted figures in