Metaphysics was a subject with which he
wasn't yet fully prepared to cope.
The model of the world inside the orrery must have been made from
earthly materials already, and it was colored to depict land and sea
areas. It could probably be used. At their agreement, he nodded with
some satisfaction. That should save some time, at least. He stared
doubtfully at the rods and bearings that supported the model world in
the center of the orrery.
"What about those things? How do we hold the globe in the center of
everything?"
Bork shrugged. "It seems simple enough. We'll fashion supports of more
of the sky material."
"And have real rods sticking up from the poles in the real universe?"
Hanson asked sarcastically.
"Why not?" Bork seemed surprised at Hanson's tone. "There have always
been such columns connecting the world and the sky. What else would keep
us from falling?"
Hanson swore. He might have guessed it! The only wonder was that simple
rods were used instead of elephants and turtles. And the doubly-damned
fools had let Menes drive millions of slaves to death to build a pyramid
to the sky when there were already natural columns that could have been
used!
"There remains only one step," Sather Karf decided after a moment more.
"To make symbol and thing congruent, all must be invoked with the true
and secret name of the universe."
Hanson suddenly remembered legends of the tetragrammaton and the tales
of magic he'd read in which there was always one element lacking.
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