* * * * *
I had no trouble posing as a historian entitled to the facts. The gas
didn't work on me, you see, because it was adjusted to the physiology
of that timeline. There was just enough difference between us for it
not to make me stick to the truth.
"We'll write out the formula for you," I was told obligingly. "But
you'll have to sign the usual statement."
"Of course," I said. "Which one is that?"
"The one that says you won't publish it, and will destroy your copy
when it has served your research purpose, without letting anyone else
see it."
"Oh, _that_ statement," I said.
I signed freely, told my elephant story and departed in an aura of
good will.
The jet got me back that same evening. Julie fixed me up a snack, and
we discussed how pretty she was and how nice I was.
I had everything Krasnow wanted now. I felt pretty good about it,
because there was nobody else who could have done the job for him, and
because it wasn't spying, really. Earth One Point One on the Timeline
is world enough for Krasnow, I'm sure. Besides, dimensions don't have
wars with one another. Too many things can go wrong.
Julie was lovely and I hated to leave the next morning, but it was my
job. I told her, "I'm afraid I have to leave town for a bit, dear, but
I'll be back very soon. Business, you know."
Being a Seventeen Point Zero Eight girl, Julie had no reason to doubt
me. "Make it _very_ soon," she whispered, her lips close to my ear.
So I came back, and now Krasnow has what he wants. He's delighted, as
he should be. I've made up the gas for him and adjusted the formula so
that it will work on people of our timeline. It's high-power stuff and
a little will go a long way. I also made up an antidote for him. This
was easy, since I could work on it without feeling any compulsion to
tell everybody what I was doing and why.
Krasnow plans to release the truth gas just before the state
convention. He'll be nominated, of course, and after November he'll
be Governor. With everyone else compelled to tell the truth, it should
be a cinch for him. He's a patient man, Honest John Krasnow is, and
he's willing to wait four years for the Presidency.
I ought to be happy too. With the money Krasnow gave me, I've been
living in the style to which I've always wanted to be accustomed. He
has offered me a place on his staff and, somewhat superfluously, the
use of his antidote. Naturally, the reason he was so magnanimous was
that he doesn't want anyone else around who knows his gimmick and
might have to tell the truth about it.
But I have had enough of this dimension now--now that Krasnow has what
I promised him. He's going to use it tomorrow. And if I know Honest
John--and I do--not even the Presidency will be big enough for him.
So I'm going back to Julie.
* * * * *
There are some obvious questions in your mind, I know, such as: Why
did I get the formula for Krasnow, knowing there was no way for him to
prosecute me while I was in Julie's dimension? And what made me come
back?
In short--what was in it for me?
Let's call it research. Krasnow is a big-time operator; I've always
been, you might say, in the peanut end of the game. He had a great
deal to teach me and I, I'm happy to say, was an apt pupil. You might
speculate on what's in it for you, because, if you ask me, anybody who
can do the side-shuffle should do it before Krasnow becomes President.
However, don't go to Seventeen Point Zero Eight unless you want to
swap one Krasnow for another. The fact is that I've learned I can be
one in Julie's dimension. After all, their formula doesn't work on
me--but I can assure you that it will work on you.
And that elephant story I told on my last visit is, as I've indicated,
in the peanut category. All Krasnow has is a country. I'll have a
whole world.
There's nothing like study under a master, is there?