LionWalker waved his whisky tumbler across the darkened parkland, ice cubes chittering at the movement. 'So what brings you to our celebrated outpost, then young Inigo? Thinking of the glory? The riches? Lots of sex? After all, there's not much else to do here.

Inigo's smile tightened slightly as he realized just how drunk the director was. 'I just wanted to help. I think it's important.

'Why? The question was snapped out, accompanied by narrowed eyes.

'Okay. The Void is a mystery that is beyond even ANA to unravel. If we can ever figure it out we will have advanced our understanding of the universe by a significant factor.

'Huh. Do yourself a favour, laddy, forget ANA. Bunch of decadent aristos who've been mentally taxidermied. Like they care what happens to physical humans. It's the Raiel we're helping, a people who are worth a bit of investment. And even those galumphing masterminds are stumped. You know what the Navy engineers found when they were excavating the foundations for this very garden dome?

'No.

'More ruins. LionWalker took a comfortable gulp of whisky.

I see.

'No you don't. They were practically fossilized, nothing more than dust strata, over three quarters of a million years old. And from what I've picked up, looking at the early records the Raiel deign to make available, the observation has been going on a lot longer than that. A million years pecking away at a problem. Now that's dedication for you. We'd no be able to manage that, far too petty.

'Speak for yourself.

'Ah, I might have known, a believer.

'In what?

'Humanity.

'That must be pretty common among the staff here, surely? Inigo was wondering how to disengage himself, the director was starting to irritate him.