Vestaler said, formally. "Usdon, do you propose that Earl Dumarest be shown the inner mysteries?"
"Master, I do."
"And you, Earl Dumarest, soon to leave us, do you swear that never, ever, will you betray to others what you are about to see?"
"I swear."
"You are with us, if not of us. We of the Original People accept you. Now come with me, watch and be humble."
Vestaler turned and approached the enigmatic machine set in the floor beneath the dome. He stooped over it as Usdon moved softly about the chamber, extinguishing the lanterns. When only one remained at the far end of the chamber, he came to stand beside Dumarest.
"Now," said Vestaler. "Witness the glories now lost to us. The past we must remember."
He touched something and, suddenly, light and color filled the dome.
A pattern.
A scene.
A part of ancient Earth.
Dumarest knew it, felt it, sensed that it could be nothing else. It was all around him, streaming from the machine, light directed through the Eye, the lens which held holographic images.
A park, neatly cropped grass, trees, birds which hung like jeweled fabrications. In the foreground, a soaring monument of weathered stone. An obelisk with a pointed tip.
A blur, another scene. A bridge which seemed to float above a river, strands like those of a spider's web. In the water, the shapes of assorted vessels.
The faces of solemn giants carved on the side of a mountain.
A vast canyon.
A great waterfall.
Oceans, ice, deserts, endless fields of ripening grain. Massive pyramids, cities which stretched to the horizon, soaring buildings which reached for the sky.
Scene after scene, each filling the dome, all building to a culmination of awesome majesty.
One planet to have held so much!
Earth!
But not the world Dumarest had known. Here were no signs of dreadful scars, the arid bleakness he had known as a boy. No gaping sores-this was a world at peace, bursting with energy and life, a planet in its prime.
He blinked as the scenes ended, darkness closing in, momentarily disoriented.
"The things we must remember," whispered Vestaler. "Our ancient heritage, lost to us because of heinous ways. One day, when we are cleansed, it will be ours again."
Dumarest turned to move away, felt Usdon's grip on his arm.
"Wait. There is more."
A flicker and the dome shone with stars. Blazing points overlaid with names and numbers-Sinus 8.7, Procyon 11.4, Altair 16.5, Epsilon Indi 11.3, Alpha Centauri 4.3…
Signposts in the sky! Dumarest stared at them, impressing the data on his memory. Names and numbers which had to be distances. A relationship could be established by a computer, the common center determined, the modern coordinates found.
"Earl?" Usdon was beside him, his voice anxious. "Your face-is anything wrong."
Dumarest drew a deep breath. The raft was waiting, soon he would be on his way. Now, it would be only a matter of time before his search was over.
"No," be said. "Nothing is wrong."