Read Ebook: Equation for Time by Winterbotham R R Russell Robert Binder Jack Illustrator

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Ebook has 159 lines and 8081 words, and 4 pages

by R. R. WINTERBOTHAM

There is no one today who has seen a living horse. The creature became extinct a couple of centuries ago, about the year 2,800. Man, who betrayed the horse into what he became, hardly regretted the passing.

However, and I speak with all sincerity, there will be men of the future who will see a horse. Perhaps men of the future may ride horseback like knights and cowboys of the Middle Ages.

The secret of time travel has been discovered. No one has traveled through time as yet, although man has explored the universe for more than twenty light years from the sun. But the day of time travel is not far distant. It had simple beginnings. All great things began in simple ways. Newton and the apple were the beginnings of modern understanding of the laws of the physical world; Watts and the teakettle were the origins of industry and the machine age. A very beautiful young woman and an unscrupulous man were responsible for time travel.

I met the man early in the morning of July 2, 3002. I remember the date because on the day before I had visited in Alexandria, Egypt, and I had eaten dinner in Shanghai, China. It was nearly midnight when I reached the rocket port in Chicago and a jam in the pneumatics delayed my arrival home until nearly one o'clock in the morning.

Blake, fully dressed, met me at the door. There was a worried look in his eyes.

"There is a gentleman to see you, sir," Blake said. "I explained that you would not return until quite late and I tried to get him to leave, but he said it was urgent that he see you the minute you returned." Blake glanced over his shoulder toward the library and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I was a little frightened of him, sir. He doesn't seem quite--ah--quite right, sir, if you know what I mean. Shall I call the police?"

"No, Blake." I felt confident of licking my weight in madmen and I entered the library.

A tall, distinguished, dark haired gentleman rose to greet me.

"Ah! Dr. Huckins! I was afraid you would not get here in time!"

As he spoke I noticed a peculiar light in his eyes. It seemed to be a reflection from the fluorescent lamps of the library, but it showed a little too much of the whites of his eyes and I thought of what Blake had said about the man not being "quite right."

I did not feel that I owed him an apology for keeping him waiting, since I usually received visitors by appointment.

"I am Gustav Keeshwar!" he introduced himself. He seemed to expect some reaction, but unfortunately the name meant nothing to me, although if I had paid more attention to the newspapers I would have known who he was at once.

"I am the president of the Stellar Transport Company," he announced.

As he spoke he glanced secretively about the room, as though he feared an eavesdropper. Then he picked up a brief case which was lying on the table. With no explanation he opened it and pulled out package after package of thousand dollar bills.

"You may count it if you wish," Keeshwar said. "There are 1,000 bills, each of one thousand dollar denomination. One million dollars in cold cash."

There are any number of bank presidents who have never seen a million dollars in one pile. Spread out before me, I could scarcely grasp the amount of wealth it represented. As I recall now, my clearest mental reaction was a curiosity about how he managed to tuck it away so neatly in a brief case. Then I wondered if it was real money. A closer glance at the bills convinced me that it was.

Suddenly I came to my senses. I closed the library door and locked it. I glanced nervously at the shades to make sure all were pulled down.

"Great Scott, man, you shouldn't carry all that money around with you in a brief case!" As I said it, I spoke with the realization that the man was mad.

"I brought the money to you," Keeshwar said. "It is yours if you will do one thing for me."

"I must ask you to leave and to take your money with you," I said, realizing that I was turning down the ransom of a king. "No honest task ever called for a million dollars compensation--"

"But you have not asked me what I wish you to do!" Keeshwar exploded. "Look! Do you see how much money a million dollars is?"

I do not wish to pose as a man over-stocked with principles. A million dollars is more money than I ever hope to see again at one time. But I had a good income, a nice little fortune tucked away in worth while investments. I had a good name and my position in the world was better than average. I did not trust this man. I had a feeling that the million dollars he offered would not be worth the price.

"I am a surgeon," I said. "If you wish my professional services, I will charge you a reasonable fee."

"I want your services," Keeshwar said. "I want them for one day."

"You may have them. I will send you a bill after I complete the task."

"I want your services tomorrow," said Keeshwar, persistently.

I shook my head. "I have a delicate operation scheduled tomorrow. It is an operation I cannot postpone."

"It is an operation on Trella Mayo?"

I started. "How did you know that?"

"It is this operation that I wish you to perform for me," Keeshwar said. "Would it not be simple to let your knife slip, or to allow something to happen to her--for one million dollars!"

I do not remember clearly what happened next. I think I knocked the man down. I do remember stuffing his million dollars into his brief case and throwing it after him out of the door.

When I closed the door I was excited and unnerved. I found some sedative tablets and swallowed one. Then I sat down to think. Trella Mayo, beautiful, young and intelligent, a woman in a billion! Someone wanted to kill her.

She was only twenty-eight, yet her discoveries in physics had astounded the world. She might have taken first place in any beauty contest, yet she preferred working in a laboratory with men too old to notice her charms.

Her operation was not serious, except that it involved delicate skill. I resolved that nothing must happen during that operation the following day.

Two weeks later I visited Trella, now convalescing from her operation.

"I've wanted to talk to you, Fred," she said after I had taken her temperature, felt her pulse and gone through the usual ritual.

"I must warn you that I'll send you a bill for any medical advice I give you," I replied, laughing.

She smiled only a little and then puckered her brow seriously.

"I wanted to ask you about that operation. Wasn't it performed under unusual circumstances?"

I was taken by surprise and I am afraid that the truth forced its indications through my professional manner. "Why do you ask?"

"I noticed Blake standing near the door. There seemed to be a bulge in his pocket. It couldn't have been a gun, could it? And you kept watching, as if you were afraid a tribe of Indians would drop in for a massacre. I wonder if there couldn't have been a tall, dark gentleman mixed up in these unusual precautions?"

I did not reply.

"And I've noticed during my convalescence that the internes that continually hover around my door have a look as if--well, shall I say that they look more like policemen than internes?"

I laughed nervously. "I think you are a mental case, Miss Mayo," I said. "I shall have to call in a specialist."

"You do not need to deny it, Fred," she said. "Why do you suppose I insisted that you perform the operation? Why didn't I let you call in someone else? It was because you are the only man in the world that I trust, Fred. How much did Gustav Keeshwar offer you to do me in?"

Before I could stop myself I opened my mouth and blurted the truth.

"One million dollars!"

"Whew!" Trella whistled softly. "I'm worth a lot to you! I must be getting close if Keeshwar will pay a million to see me out of the way."

"Trella," I pleaded. "What is it all about? What's behind this mystery?"

"If you turned down a million dollars for my sake, I think I can trust you," she said. "Supposing I was about to invent a new method of locomotion? Can you see where Keeshwar might find me obnoxious?"

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