_Halfway Mark_
Unmindful of his danger--both immediate and future--Ed Bronson sat and
watched Virginia with admiration. Their initial talk had been sketchy.
All Virginia knew was that she had been working on equipment similar to
his and had heard the same things he had--including him.
Her information was less complete than his, for Virginia was not
equipped to tinker up a complete set of filters to tune out the
interferences, so she said. Only Bronson's voice came through clearly
enough to be understood. Yet she was aware of the danger and felt that
she must help.
And that was that so far as she was concerned. As to what track to
follow, Virginia professed ignorance. She suggested that they eat and
then go to Bronson's laboratory and work on the stuff.
"And what do we do about them?" he asked.
Virginia blinked. "You're certain it was they?"
"He told me so."
"Then there's just one."
"There may be more," objected Bronson. "Perhaps we should forget my
place and go to work on yours."
Virginia blinked inwardly at that one. Naturally, Virginia could not
take him to her place for she had none. There had to be some way.
"I suggest that you and I go in very quietly," she said. "If the house
is infested we'll go to my place. If it is clear, even temporarily, we
can go in and steal the phosphor."
"Better," grinned Bronson. "We can conceal it in a steel safe. I have a
hunch they can't get through it then."
"I wouldn't know," said Virginia. She did know, however, that Peter
Moray would not be in evidence since she was bringing Bronson back
with her. "But you have a good idea. It'll do them a lot of good to try
coming through if they end up in a steel box.
"Besides," she said thoughtfully, "it is better to try. I'd hate to
think of them coming through unguarded. We owe it to the earth to try
and stop them."
"That we do," nodded Bronson. Then he ceased to think about it since it
had been settled. He preferred to watch Virginia.
She was a beautiful girl--one of the most beautiful women that Bronson
had ever seen. That alone won his admiration. But what brought his real
commendation was her attitude. Bronson had known other beautiful women
before and most of them were inclined towards a selfish narcissism
because of the round of admiration they got from every male.
This gave them an egotistical attitude that repelled Bronson, for he
knew with some disdain that their attitude was born of the actions of
his own sex.
Virginia had none of this false sophistication. She was readily and
honestly pleased with things as they were and with Bronson's offerings.
To add to that Virginia was clever and intelligent and could, without
straining, discuss several subjects that the average beauty wouldn't
bother to strain her vapid mind on.
Bronson could not know it, of course, but Virginia's attitude was
mostly naiveté. Seldom before had she spent an hour in luxurious
surroundings with nothing to think about or to do but relax and enjoy
herself. Not that Virginia had forgotten her basic job--but at least
here was the offering of relaxation in an atmosphere completely devoid
of the constant gnawing fear.
The light in the sky was not there.
Then, too, Virginia was capable of pigeon-holing her mind. Though she
intended to eliminate this man as a factor in the safety of her world's
people she saw no reason why she should not enjoy herself first.
Looking about her in the restaurant she saw many other people enjoying
life. This itself was unlike Earth Two and it offered Virginia a point
for jealous desire. She wanted this kind of life-without-fear. And it
was within her grasp!
* * * * *
In her world many were mutants that repelled the mind. Here there were
none. The man opposite her, who toyed with the silverware idly was a
fine specimen of humanity. The waiter, the cashier, the hat-check girl,
the major-domo, the customers--all were whole and healthy.
Virginia looked about her at the thickly peopled restaurant and
mentally compared it with a place in her own world. Idly she replaced
the elderly gentleman at the table opposite with a gnarled, seven
fingered monster--and the boy-girl couple beyond with a pair of
uglinesses.
The waiter instead of being well-dressed and polite was misshapen and
clad in remnants of a once-great civilization. Starch wasted on a
shirt, as well as the time wasted in preparing it, was unthought-of in
Earth Two. Few of the men in Earth Two would look so polished and at
ease in the formal trappings.
Bronson made motions to leave and Virginia arose to follow. From his
pocket he took money instead of a ration card and he left a generous
tip for the waiter. A smiling doorman opened the portal for them.
Once on the street Virginia was again impressed by the people. Then
there were the theatre on the corner, the stores and the shops selling
anything and everything that men and women would buy.
The automatic bumped Virginia's hip as her bag swung, and the contact
hurt--more than physically.
Walking beside this tall man Virginia considered the situation. In her
bag was the means of replacing the people she saw in this street with
a high percentage of misshapen bodies of her own world. To--eliminate
this scene of physical health and mental good-will with the warped
bodies and minds of her own world.
Virginia saw her own reflection in a shop window. She was shapely and
well-dressed. She knew that without egotism--it was obvious fact. She
was more like this world--fitted better into this scene than into the
world on which she had been born.
An age-old urge rose in her. She had shied away from marriage because
of fear and distaste. Too many of her friends she had seen in mental
agony because of mutant offspring. Now she was presented with at least
an opportunity of a life that would be normal. What had she on Earth
Two but unpleasant memories for all of her life?
Perhaps it seems a sudden change. Yet a mind suddenly shown a way
toward happiness will often swing as swift as a pendulum from one
attitude to the opposite. Perhaps the only reason that Virginia had
not followed many of Earth Two's people into the madness of fear was
because she had been born to the insoluble threat of the Alamogordo
Blow-up and had never been forced to change from freedom to fear.
Many another on Earth Two had seen the eternal flame and had gone mad,
knowing its threat. Virginia, born after it started, had never known
anything else. So now Virginia viewed a world built like her own, but
one devoid of fear and populated heavily with healthy, happy people.
Why go back? Why change this? She could blend very well with this
environment. Her woman's instinct told her that she could and by very
little trying.
There was but one great fear. This man who walked beside her knew the
facts of Earth Two. He also stood to learn about her. It presented
her with a quandary. To make her future secure he must be placed in a
position never to learn the truth. On the other hand she needed his
aid to forestall the invasion from Earth Two if she were to enjoy the
future of Earth One as she now saw it.
Virginia wondered whether she could work with Ed Bronson long enough to
give him the particulars of the space-resonant techniques--and still
keep him in the dark regarding her own part in it. Once the threat of
invasion was gone there was no doubt in Virginia's mind that she could
lose herself here on Earth One.
In fact, the proper thing to do was just that--tell him the truth and
she would be forever suspect.
* * * * *
Then there was the other problem. She was supposed to have an
apartment, a house or something equipped with a basement in which to
work. He'd be wanting to see that sooner or later. How to forestall him
on that required thinking.
Once he knew that it required the presence of the proper elements in
the space-resonant series to effect the transfer of material, he would
demand the opportunity of sealing up her bit of the stuff in order to
forestall the invasion of the vanguard from Earth Two.
From a technical standpoint, Virginia knew that the operation of the
space-resonant science required the presence of the space-resonant
elements. Even though she knew nothing of Earth Three and its
highly advanced techniques which permitted the operation of a
view-and-voice-operated mechanism without the presence of the elements
in the area of transmission, Virginia was correct in her assumption
that no passage from one time-zone to the other was possible without
a critical mass of the ultra-rare transuranic elements in the
receptor-zone.
Having used the technique for many years Virginia and the rest in Earth
Two could be certain that the only critical mass of these rare elements
on Earth One was in Ed Bronson's laboratory.
So, the first thing was to protect herself, to isolate herself on Earth
One and to seal up forever the passageway. All Virginia had to do was
to break up Ed Bronson's mass into subcritical sizes--and then to keep
all other discrete bits of the space-resonant elements from being
collected for a period that surpassed the possible time required for
the final death of the ill-fated temporal division--the end of Earth
Two.
Impulsively, Virginia opened her bag and handed the automatic to
Bronson.
"Here," she whispered, "this may help--if they're still here!"
It was hours later. Bronson's re-entry into his home was careful and
stealthy but unproductive, for Peter Moray had gone back to Earth Two
to await developments. Virginia knew this and was prepared for the lack
of population in the Bronson home. Once the place was known to be free
of invaders Bronson relaxed.
"Me," he said with a yawn, "I'm tired."
"I don't suppose you got much sleep last night," smiled Virginia.
"Darned little," he agreed. "And I'll get less until we figure out
something to do with this equipment of mine. Obviously it does not
require energization to permit the effect."
"Why not seal the thing in a metal case of some sort?" suggested
Virginia.
"Think it might work?"
"Maybe. At best, if you shield it well and keep it canned up, you can
be certain that anybody that comes through will emerge in a dark,
confined place."
"Not necessarily," said Bronson. "Radio waves often disregard things
like shields and closed rooms. And, if I recall correctly, that feller
who came through and clipped me was parked out on the middle of the
floor some ten feet from the crystal."
"If you're tired," suggested Virginia, "why not take it easy? You take
a snooze and I'll keep watch. You'll think better once you've had a bit
of rest."
"But what will you do if--"
Virginia smiled. She went to Bronson and touched his hip pocket with
the back of her hand. Ed nodded and took the automatic out of the hip
pocket and handed it to her.
"I can't cover eight shots with the ace of spades," she said, hefting
the gun, "but I'd not miss an invader."
"I'd like to clip a few of them myself," grunted Bronson. "First I'm up
all night. Then I'm clipped by one of them after only a short few hours
sleep; then the trip to the asylum, and now home. Yes, Virginia, I've
had all too little sleep. You'll be all right?"
"Definitely," she told him. "From here on in, I'm unafraid--and in high
confidence."
"Wake me in three hours," he told her. She nodded.
He left, heading toward the bedroom. Virginia found a book and read it
quietly, keeping a weather eye on the space-resonant crystal in the
experimental kinescope set-up. A half hour later, Virginia put down her
book and tiptoed into Bronson's bedroom. He was sprawled on his back in
the deepest of slumber.
Virginia went back to his laboratory and began to work on his gear.
It was late afternoon when she finished, which was quick enough
considering what Virginia had accomplished. It was her field of
science, this space-resonant technique, and Ed Bronson's laboratory was
rather complete.
So simple, Virginia's plan. Setting a timer to reverse the equipment
after a pre-calculated time, Virginia composed herself on a chair and
waited. Again, her body faded bit by bit as she passed, molecule by
molecule, from Ed Bronson's laboratory. At a short interval beyond the
halfway point where Virginia's body sank into the floor, the machine
ceased its operation.
Wraithlike, half of her in each world, Virginia was physically
powerless. But she knew that her equipment was working. The window of
Ed Bronson's laboratory had a strange appearance.
It was not quite like the mixed-image impression received when viewing
different scenes simultaneously with the separate eyes. It was more
like viewing through a stereoscope, with one side taken in bright
sunlight and highly illuminated while the other photo had been taken
by moonlight. Also there had been years between the taking of the two
because things were not exactly the same.
Of course, Virginia was not viewing one scene with each eye. The
process of transmission was not a passage similar to walking through
the door. The molecular transfer took place at random, a molecule from
here, a molecule from there.
So Virginia viewed the scene in a truly indescribable state. Each eye
saw the same scenes--a mixed, foggy montage in poor register.
But the illumination in the afternoon sky was unmistakable as Virginia
looked at the window that existed simultaneously in two worlds. She
smiled to herself as the equipment in Ed Bronson's laboratory reversed
automatically and started to return her to Earth One.
Virginia had been halfway home. And her plan was halfway complete!