on the same side of the corridor as the entrance.
She could make out her father's words clearly now: “…will read to you Sir Dennis Darby's final wishes,” he said. “But before I do, I must emphasize that no matter what words this document contains, the Paragons will move forward in a manner that we decide is best.
“As our leader, Sir Dennis acted as our visionary, his incorruptible heart providing us with determination and direction. But if we are to follow his dream and move humanity forward toward a greater tomorrow, we cannot blindly follow his wishes from beyond the grave. No matter how great a thinker the man may have been during his life, the world is constantly changing. While his demise is a tragedy, it is the cycle of life and death that powers the engine of progress.”
“Pish,” Sarah said, realizing that she had said the phrase out loud only when the sound of it reached her ears. Sarah pressed a hand to her lips and leaned her back against the wall outside the door. She slowly let herself slide to the floor as she listened to her father's words, the same way that she had done so many times as a little girl.
“Now,” her father continued, “these are the final words of our fallen leader, Sir Dennis Darby.”
“‘Dear friends,’” he began, “‘if you are hearing these words then I have passed on from this world and into the next.’” Stanton paused for a moment to cough slightly. “‘Do not mourn me too greatly. Those of you who knew me well will be comforted by the fact that even as I write this document I have already lived a life so full of discovery and accomplishment that it would satisfy any ten men. And so I can ask for no more, although I am hopeful that I still have a great deal more of life left to live. I do not wish to die. Nor, do I imagine, would anyone who cares as deeply about the future as I do.
“‘I still spend each and every day in a state of constant amazement at the new things that we are discovering, and go to sleep each night with greatest anticipation of what we will learn tomorrow.
“‘But our days on this world are numbered from the moment we are born, and the most that any of us can hope for is that when they have ended, we will have left this world nobly, and with our good name intact.
“‘I have spent my time on this planet in pursuit of a dream of a better life for all mankind, helping humanity find dominion over that which would bring men misery or harm. I have used the power and possibilities of science to fight back against the petty desires that cause conflict and death. I have done all this so that we may strive to use our intelligence to become so much more than the simple, dangerous creatures we are now.
“‘Some claim that we have already reached the zenith of human ingenuity, but I believe that we have only just begun to see the marvels that—’”
Her Father's voice was cut short by two words: “Yah, yah.” The new speaker had a clearly recognizable German accent. “It is obvious zat Darby had everybody's best vishes in mind. Aber, I have had been lectured by der ghost of zis man too much already over zis last week.” Sarah shuffled herself closer to the door. The entrance was cut through a wall of granite four feet thick, and she was able to peer directly into the room through the crack between the open door and its frame. She saw the portly form of Helmut Grüsser, the Submersible. He was wearing his dress costume to the table, an outfit intended to evoke the Paragon's grandeur without the ungainly complexity that came with the armor and devices that they lugged into action with them.
In the Submersible's case it was a cloth jacket. The baggy fabric was gathered at his elbows and knees, and was supposed to suggest the diving suit he wore when commanding his amphibious vehicle. On each of his shoulders was an oversized brass epaulet with tassels made from golden thread. Nathan had once described them as “Grüsser's broken
She could make out her father's words clearly now: “…will read to you Sir Dennis Darby's final wishes,” he said. “But before I do, I must emphasize that no matter what words this document contains, the Paragons will move forward in a manner that we decide is best.
“As our leader, Sir Dennis acted as our visionary, his incorruptible heart providing us with determination and direction. But if we are to follow his dream and move humanity forward toward a greater tomorrow, we cannot blindly follow his wishes from beyond the grave. No matter how great a thinker the man may have been during his life, the world is constantly changing. While his demise is a tragedy, it is the cycle of life and death that powers the engine of progress.”
“Pish,” Sarah said, realizing that she had said the phrase out loud only when the sound of it reached her ears. Sarah pressed a hand to her lips and leaned her back against the wall outside the door. She slowly let herself slide to the floor as she listened to her father's words, the same way that she had done so many times as a little girl.
“Now,” her father continued, “these are the final words of our fallen leader, Sir Dennis Darby.”
“‘Dear friends,’” he began, “‘if you are hearing these words then I have passed on from this world and into the next.’” Stanton paused for a moment to cough slightly. “‘Do not mourn me too greatly. Those of you who knew me well will be comforted by the fact that even as I write this document I have already lived a life so full of discovery and accomplishment that it would satisfy any ten men. And so I can ask for no more, although I am hopeful that I still have a great deal more of life left to live. I do not wish to die. Nor, do I imagine, would anyone who cares as deeply about the future as I do.
“‘I still spend each and every day in a state of constant amazement at the new things that we are discovering, and go to sleep each night with greatest anticipation of what we will learn tomorrow.
“‘But our days on this world are numbered from the moment we are born, and the most that any of us can hope for is that when they have ended, we will have left this world nobly, and with our good name intact.
“‘I have spent my time on this planet in pursuit of a dream of a better life for all mankind, helping humanity find dominion over that which would bring men misery or harm. I have used the power and possibilities of science to fight back against the petty desires that cause conflict and death. I have done all this so that we may strive to use our intelligence to become so much more than the simple, dangerous creatures we are now.
“‘Some claim that we have already reached the zenith of human ingenuity, but I believe that we have only just begun to see the marvels that—’”
Her Father's voice was cut short by two words: “Yah, yah.” The new speaker had a clearly recognizable German accent. “It is obvious zat Darby had everybody's best vishes in mind. Aber, I have had been lectured by der ghost of zis man too much already over zis last week.” Sarah shuffled herself closer to the door. The entrance was cut through a wall of granite four feet thick, and she was able to peer directly into the room through the crack between the open door and its frame. She saw the portly form of Helmut Grüsser, the Submersible. He was wearing his dress costume to the table, an outfit intended to evoke the Paragon's grandeur without the ungainly complexity that came with the armor and devices that they lugged into action with them.
In the Submersible's case it was a cloth jacket. The baggy fabric was gathered at his elbows and knees, and was supposed to suggest the diving suit he wore when commanding his amphibious vehicle. On each of his shoulders was an oversized brass epaulet with tassels made from golden thread. Nathan had once described them as “Grüsser's broken
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