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You duck back inside the mining droid and run back through the length of it and down into the cave at its mouth once more Carborundum guides you back through the miasmal fog to Falcon's Wing. It thinks of you as a mere space traveller and you do nothing to let it realise that you have come from the far future. You tell it that the droids remaining on Thrix will soon be disabled by the corrosive atmosphere, and that if you are successful it and its kind will never be troubled by them again When it realises you are leaving it becomes sad, and its mind touches yours once more. It is hoping that you will meet again one day and it says that it will travel a thousand years to find you if you tell it which star your planet circles. You shake your head, its sadness is infectious, and say that you cannot tell it. Indeed you have to tell it never to try to find out. CAIN radios you to say that the timehole on Thrix is closing and you allow yourself to be sucked up into Falcon's Wing. Turn to 284.