The little man spread his hands. "What are the people doing now at
Sixth and Main? Certainly not the same things they were doing the day
of the fire. We're talking about a dimension, not an event. Don't you
grasp the difference between the two?"
"Nope. To me, 1865 means the end of the Civil War. How else can you
speak of a point in time except by the events that happened then?"
"Well, if you go to a place in three-dimensional space--say, a lake
in the mountains--how do you identify that place? By looking for
landmarks. It doesn't matter that an eagle is soaring over a mountain
peak. That's only an event. The peak is the landmark. You follow me?"
"So far. Keep talking."
* * * * *
The little man looked pleased. "Very well. In the fourth
dimension--which is time--you do the same thing. You look around to see
what is visible where you are. My contemporaries can see that freedom
is unnecessary, that time travel is practical. Your people have not
reached that place in time yet. But yours can see the technical facts
about color television. Those facts are not visible yet to anyone here."
"You mean that these inventions--"
"Oh, no, no, no, Mr. Elliott," the little man said indignantly. "Don't
call them inventions. There are no inventions. None. There are only
truths--scientific principles waiting through eternity for someone to
discover them."
"I must be dense, but--"
"Did your Columbus invent America? Did someone invent fire? The
possibility of time travel, of color television, of any phase of social
progress--these are facts. They stand up in the time dimension like
mountains. Waves of humanity meander through the time dimension like
caravans of immigrants crossing a continent. The first man in any wave
to see the mountain peak claims that he 'invented' it. Soon it is
clearly visible to everyone. While the people of my wave know of time
travel, there are human caravans, following us many years back in time,
just now discovering steam."
"Then the reason your people won't accept my money--"
"Yah." The little lawyer nodded. "Your money is an outgrowth of your
history. It bears the name your people gave to the society they
built--the United States. This has no meaning to a different wave of
humanity, with a different history. These people here have reached this
point in time six years behind the humanity you traveled with."
"Can I get back to my own time, my own wave of humanity?"
"Not unless you know how." The lawyer grinned. "To be perfectly frank,
Mr. Elliott, there is no hope of your going back. Either work for
Bullen or live out your life in a mental institution. No one else will
give you work and no one will believe your story."
Jeff clamped his teeth. If a crook like Snader could move freely back
and forth in time, there must be a way for Jeff to do it. Meanwhile, he
would pretend to be a humble and obedient servant.
"Okay," he said to the lawyer. "I'm convinced. Get me out."
"Snader is waiting with a car," the man said. "He'll meet you and your
wife outside. I'll free her at once, then go about my business."
* * * * *
Snader was standing beside the limousine. He looked Ann up and down. "I
like you, little lady. Soon I know you better."