Hesensed death in that cold sea-bottom, but what of it? What reason did hehave left to live? He'd be only a museum piece here, a thing to be cagedand studied....
Prison or a madhouse would be far better. He tried to get hold of hiscourage. But what was there to inspire it? Nothing! He laughed harshlyas he ran, welcoming that bitter, killing cold. Nostalgia had him in itsclutch, and there was no answer in his hell-world, lost beyond thebarrier of the years....
* * * * *
Loy Chuk and his followers presently came upon Ned Vince's unconsciousform, a mile from the city of Kar-Rah. In a flying machine they took himback, and applied stimulants. He came to, in the same laboratory room asbefore. But he was firmly strapped to a low platform this time, so thathe could not escape again. There he lay, helpless, until presently anidea occurred to him. It gave him a few crumbs of hope.
"Hey, somebody!" he called.
"You'd better get some rest, Ned Vince," came the answer from the blackbox. It was Loy Chuk speaking again.
"But listen!" Ned protested. "You know a lot more than we did in theTwentieth Century. And--well--there's that thing called time-travel,that I used to read about. Maybe you know how to make it work! Maybe youcould send me back to my own time after all!"
Little Loy Chuk was in a black, discouraged mood, himself. He couldunderstand the utter, sick dejection of this giant from the past, lostfrom his own kind. Probably insanity looming. In far less extremecircumstances than this, death from homesickness had come.
Loy Chuk was a scientist. In common with all real scientists, regardlessof the species from which they spring, he loved the subjects of hisresearches. He wanted this ancient man to live and to be happy. Or thiscreature would be of scant value for study.
So Loy considered carefully what Ned Vince had suggested. Time-travel.Almost a legend. An assault upon an intangible wall that had baffled farkeener wits than Loy's. But he was bent, now, on the well-being of thisanachronism he had so miraculously resurrected--this human, thisKaalleee....
Loy jabbed buttons on the black box. "Yes, Ned Vince," said the sonicapparatus. "Time-travel. Perhaps that is the only thing to do--to sendyou back to your own period of history. For I see that you will never beyourself, here. It will be hard to accomplish, but we'll try. Now Ishall put you under an anesthetic...."
Ned felt better immediately, for there was real hope now, where therehad been none before. Maybe he'd be back in his home-town of Harwichagain. Maybe he'd see the old machine-shop, there. And the treesgreening out in Spring. Maybe he'd be seeing Betty Moore in Hurley,soon.... Ned relaxed, as a tiny hypo-needle bit into his arm....
As soon as Ned Vince passed into unconsciousness, Loy Chuk went to workonce more, using that pair of brain-helmets again, exploring carefullythe man's mind. After hours of research, he proceeded to prepare hisplans. The government of Kar-Rah was a scientific oligarchy, of whichLoy was a prime member. It would be easy to get the help he needed.
A horde of small, grey-furred beings and their machines, toiled for manydays.
* * * * *
Ned Vince's mind swam gradually out of the blur that had enveloped it.He was wandering aimlessly about in a familiar room. The girders of theroof above were of red-painted steel. His tool-benches were there,greasy and littered with metal filings, just as they had always been. Hehad a tractor to repair, and a seed-drill. Outside of the machine-shop,the old, familiar yellow sun was shining. Across the street was thesmall brown house, where he lived.
With a sudden startlement, he saw Betty Moore in the doorway. She wore ablue dress, and a mischievous smile curved her lips. As though she hadsucceeded in creeping up on him, for a surprise.
"Why, Ned," she chuckled. "You look as though you've been dreaming, andjust woke up!"
He grimaced ruefully as she approached. With a kind of fierce gratitude,he took her in his arms. Yes, she was just like always.
"I guess I _was_ dreaming, Betty," he whispered, feeling that mightysense of relief. "I must have fallen asleep at the bench, here, and hada nightmare. I thought I had an accident at Pit Bend--and that a lot ofworse things happened.... But it wasn't true ..."
Ned Vince's mind, over which there was still an elusive fog that he didnot try to shake off, accepted apparent facts simply.
He did not know anything about the invisible radiations beating downupon him, soothing and dimming his brain, so that it would neverquestion or doubt, or observe too closely the incongruous circumstancesthat must often appear. The lack of traffic in the street without, forinstance--and the lack of people besides himself and Betty.
He didn't know that this machine-shop was built from his own memories ofthe original. He didn't know that this Betty was of the same origin--amiraculous fabrication of metal and energy-units and soft plastic. Thetrees outside were only lantern-slide illusions.
It was all built inside a great, opaque dome. But there were hiddentelevision systems, too. Thus Loy Chuk's kind could study this ancientman--this Kaalleee. Thus, their motives were mostly selfish.
Loy, though, was not observing, now. He had wandered far out into cold,sad sea-bottom, to ponder. He squeaked and chatted to himself,contemplating the magnificent, inexorable march of the ages. Heremembered the ancient ruins, left by the final supermen.
"The Kaalleee believes himself home," Loy was thinking. "He will surviveand be happy. But there was no other way. Time is an Eternal Wall. Ourarcheological researches among the cities of the supermen show thetruth. Even they, who once ruled Earth, never escaped from the presentby so much as an instant...."
THE END
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ April 1956 and was first published in _Amazing Stories_ November 1942. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.
The Eternal Wall Page 3
