For the most part, Darlington doesn't think about the vast gulf of time that separates the world he knows from the one Palamedes does. Even if they aren't the same one--and he has to be agnostic on that point in general, for the sake of doing something with his days that isn't filling them with research and experimentation--there's enough of a parallel to invite the possibility. He tries not to think about it, but at moments like this the reminder is impossible to ignore.

"Here you are," he says, fitting the key in the ignition. "Doubtless it's not as flashy as a spaceship, but for an ancient piece of equipment it isn't too bad." He grins, turning the key and letting the car rumble to life. "Although please tell me you know about combustion engines only because there's...diagrams or something in the Library's collections and not because you've had to work at preserving a physical example for thousands of years."