Prime rose and swept his eyes around the table.
"What you see before you-this body, myself-is but an instrument by which it will be possible for you to communicate with the Culmination. You have been in contact with the Culmination since our first meeting, some few hours ago. We will talk again, but now I must leave you. You will be conducted to your quarters." The warmth of his smile was almost withering. "I have enjoyed our luncheon together. Forgive my being abrupt, but I have pressing matters to attend to. I hope you will be comfortable during your stay here, however long you choose to make it."
"I thought you said we could go now if we wanted to?" I reminded him. "Anytime, you said."
"And so you may. Do you wish to leave now?"
I glanced around the table and got looks of varying degrees of befuddlement. "I think we have to take a meeting on that," I said to Prime. "Can we get back to you?"
"I'm afraid I will be occupied for some time," Prime told me. "I had hoped you would at least stay the night. However, I can return in a few hours to hear your decision, if that is what you wish. You may remain here, or if you like, you may retire to your quarters to rest It is up to you."
"Uh… um." Nobody seemed to want to take the lead. "Look, can we sit here for a little longer, then go to our quarters?"
"Certainly. I will send the guide to conduct you in, say, half an hour?"
"Uh, make it twenty minutes. Then how will we get in touch with you?"
"I will contact you again as soon as I can," Prime said. "You can then apprise me of your decision. If you choose, you may then leave."
"Well, that sounds okay. How long do you think you'll be? If you don't mind my asking."
"Certainly not. I don't think I will be occupied more than three hours:"
"Oh. Fine with us, I guess."
"Very good. Again, I want say that I have enjoyed our luncheon. Your company has given me great pleasure."
"Well… thank you. I think I can speak for all of us-it's been… interesting. To say the very least."
"'Thank you. A very good afternoon to you."
We all got up as he turned and strode away from the table. He passed through an archway and entered one of a number of corridors branching away from the dining hall. Nobody said a word. He receded from us, striding purposefully, gracefully, soft-soled boots padding over the polished onyx floor, green cape billowing in his wake. Without looking back, he turned a corner and went out of sight.
We sat.
"Anybody know what that joker was talking about?" Carl asked.
John cocked a sardonic eyebrow at him, then turned his head to me "We have a decision to reach, Jake."
I poured myself more brandy. These weighty matters call for inspired thinking. "I'm for getting the hell out of here, like, mucho fasto."
"I wish he could have stayed to answer more of our questions. So many of them still hanging." John shook his head slowly. "Absolutely astounding. Incredible."
"If he's telling the truth," I said.
"Well, I suppose he could be leading us on. I'm incapable of imagining why, though."
"Maybe he's got plans for us. The last survivor of a dead race. Alone, desperate. Or maybe he's just crazy, We don't know."
"I think we are all very weary," Yuri said.
"I'm sleepy as hell," Carl said. "I ate too much."
I realized that I was feeling pretty logy, too, what with the brandy and all. I set down my glass, resolved to drink no more. For now at least.
"Any other votes?" I asked. "Lori?"
"I think we should stay and find out if Prime needs us. I think we should help him."
"Why should we help him?" John asked.
Lori thought about it, then said, "I don't know if he's God or not. But he did build the Skyway."
"Remember what he said," Yuri reminded, "about the Culmination not possessing any technology."
John rubbed his chin. "Yes, he did say that, didn't he? Strange."
"Actually, he said that they didn't originate any," I put in. "Doesn't mean they don't use existing technology."
Yuri shook his head skeptically. "I don't know. Difficult to imagine all that miraculous Skyway technology just lying about, waiting to be used."
"Maybe the Culmination merely developed it, adapted it for the purpose," Roland speculated.
"Well, that makes them consummate engineers, at least."
I yawned. Recovering, I said, "I guess we really don't know yet who built the Skyway."
"If the Culmination didn't do it, who did?" Darla asked.
"I suppose we have to stick around to find out."
"Then we should stick around," she said firmly.
I turned to Carl. "What about it, kid?"
"I say let's get the hell out of here. I want to go home." John said, "Well, `home' is a separate problem for you."
Carl cocked his head toward the hallway down which Prime had made his exit. "He kidnapped me, he can take me back."
"You're still convinced Prime's responsible?"
"I sure am."
"Okay, that's one no vote so far. Any others? Ragna?"
"I am thinking-and so also is Oni-that we should be staying perhaps for the night, at least. Perhaps some further questions can be put to our host that he might be answering. Maybe?"
John glanced around the dining hall. "What about all this? And what we saw outside and in the basement?"
"Maybe the story about Microcosmos is true. It's a museum, a junkyard, a disneyworld, whatever. And he's the robot caretaker."
Yuri asked, "You think he's a machine?"
"Sure," I said, "or an android, something like that. He admitted as much himself."
Zoya said, "He's not human. I'm very sure of that."
"He sure puts on a good show," I said.
"Yes, he does."
Darla asked, "What about his saying that he was part human?"
"Don't know quite what to make of that," John said. "What could he possibly mean?"
"What do you make of this Culmination business?" Yuri said. "Any idea, Jake?"
"Nope. Sounded like a lot of bullshit to me. Actually, it sounded a little like what your Teleological Pantheism is all about." I took a sip and added, "No offense."
"Yeah, bullshit," Carl seconded. The Teelies looked at each other.
"Remind me to kill you later, Jake," Susan scowled. "But he's right, John. It does strike very close to home."
"Don't think I didn't notice," John said. "He sounded like a Teelie himself."
"I think he's telling the truth," Roland said. "And I think we should stay."
"Okay, that's one vote," I said. "Anybody else want to exercise his franchise. Or hers?"
"Well," Yuri said. "We…" He looked at Zoya, who returned a cool stare. "I think at least that it's my duty to stay. The opportunities for learning here… I can't begin to guess what secrets this place holds. The issue is clear. I must stay."
After a short silence, Zoya said, "I… think we should stay for a while at least. I…" She ran a hand through the tangles of her chestnut-brown hair, then heaved a sigh and rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes. "I just have a bad feeling about him." She lowered her head. "I'm so very tired."
"You should be," I said, "after running around the universe, lost for two years."
"Maybe. Anybody else? How 'bout you, Susan?"
"I'm intrigued, to say the least. I want to go home, but…"
"Should we stay the night, do you think?"
She nodded. "At least."
"John?"
John brooded for a long moment. Then: "I would… I would not think very highly of myself if I walked away from the chance to discover the answer to some very basic questions. If Prime is a man… or a being from ten billion years in the future, he could tell us things… Lord, what things he could tell us!" He looked around the table. "It seems as if my no vote would be in a distinct minority, wouldn't it? Therefore, I say we stay. I don't think we're in any danger."