Daniel’s mind reeled.
That can’t be right, Daniel thought. If this place was that size, I would have heard of it. Gods, everyone would have heard of it. 73,000-rooms, each the size of a moon? Maybe my translator is broken.
“Of course, the farther down you go, the larger the spheres become,” the Tour Guide said.
No, I don’t buy it, Daniel decided. It’s too big.
“I’m calling Kep on that,” Daniel said.
“I’m sorry?”
“Kep. It means crap, or garbage or —”
“It is not Kep,” the Tour Guide said, not sounding the least bit offended.
“This place can’t be that big,” Daniel said. “73,000 moons stacked on top of each other?”
“Actually by about the time you’ve reached the 1,000th level, the floors are the size of main-sequence stars, not moons.”
“Stars? Stars?!” Daniel said. “That’s impossible. Impossible! … Oh, I get it. You’re not malfunctioning. You’re lying. You must be lying.”
“I assure you the numbers are accurate.”
“They can’t be!” Daniel said frantically. “That’s bigger than Fragged’s sun. That’s bigger than The Big One! The Garage wasn’t even that big!
(Authors note: The Big One refers to VV Cephei A, one of the largest stars in the entire universe. )
“Gods, nothing is that big! I mean, is anything that size even possible? Is it?”
The Tour Guide did not respond.
“Of course, now you’re quiet,” Daniel said.
For sanity’s sake, Daniel decided to assume the Tour Guide was lying.
Then, as if Daniel hadn’t said anything, the Tour Guide resumed describing the Crew Storage area.
