"There is no Carolyn Sagen here."
"What d'you mean, when you say 'here'?"
Nordsen took off his shell-rimmed glasses, wiped them, restored them to
his boyish face. "I would advise you to brace yourself. By 'here,' I
mean on this particular time-track."
Lance stared at him.
"Doesn't the word have any significance for you?" Nordsen asked.
"Time-track? Sure, I've heard of the concept before. It's a theory that
parallel worlds branch off when ... hey!" Lance's tone rose to a shout.
"You're not trying to imply that ... that I'm on a diff--?"
"That's right. We're trying to tell you that you have obviously landed
in another time-track. One that is parallel to--but just a slight bit
different from the one you formerly knew. To you, we seem to be the
same officers as in that world; but of course, we're not. It isn't the
same universe. Hyperspace is tricky stuff, as our men are finding out.
You've just got bounced around by one of the trickiest things connected
with it."