Trevor's whisper speared at him from across the desk.
"Staggers you, doesn't it?" he said.
Sutton tried to speak aloud, but his voice came out a whisper, too.
"You're mad, Trevor. Absolutely mad."
"The long-range view," said Trevor. "That is what we need. The absolutely unshakable belief in human destiny, the positive and all-inclusive conviction that Man is meant not only to take over this galaxy alone but all the galaxies, the entire universe."
"You should live long enough," said Sutton, sudden mockery rising to his tongue.
"I won't see it, of course," said Trevor. "And neither will you. Nor will our children's children or their children for many generations."
"It will take a million years," Sutton told him.
"More than a million years," Trevor told him calmly. "You have no idea, no conception of the scope of the universe. In a million years we'll be getting a good start…"
"Then, why, for the love of heaven, do you and I sit here and quibble about it?"