Thoughts shifted uneasily in his mind. Would Nela actually appear? Fifteen years had passed for him--a matter of a few hours to her. But perhaps something had gone wrong. Perhaps she had miscalculated somewhere. And on mental scales he balanced Ellen against the future, wondering if his choice had been wise. Could the future possibly hold the happiness he might have known with Ellen, in the age familiar to him? He heard a car motor start up in the distance. The sound rose in volume, then began fading. Dave and Ellen were on their way back to the city. He felt suddenly alone--somehow abandoned. Raising the bottle to his lips again, he resumed his nervous pacing. And then he stopped, frozen, aware of a change in his surroundings. The air in the glade was thickening queerly, the trees all around were growing crazily distorted. And he heard a deep humming sound--the kind of sound that might have been made by a string on a giant harp. Across the glade, appearing as though from nothingness itself, an object was taking shape--a metal globe. Bands of distortion surrounded it like ripples in water. For an instant the globe seemed unsubstantial, illusory--then it was solid, resting quietly on the floor of the glade. [Illustration: Andy stood out in the small clearing, waving a goodbye to them, while behind him a strange metallic globe suddenly shimmered in the air....] Pearce watched it, his heart pounding. "Andy!" The call hit him like a physical blow. Stunned, he whirled to see Ellen hurrying toward him through the trees. "Andy!" she cried again. "Are you all right?" "Ellen!" he gasped. "What are you doing here? I thought you left with Dave." * * * * * She caught breathlessly at his arm, steadying herself. "I made him go without me. I ... I couldn't leave you, Andy." Her voice rose. "I'm going with you!" His mind whirled in dismayed confusion. He sent a swift glance at the metal globe. Any moment now, the door would open-- "Ellen, you can't go!" "Why not? I'm willing to take the risk. And I'll be happy, whatever the future is like, as long as I'm with you." He shook his head in despair. "It ... well, I'm afraid it's just impossible, that's all. No provision has been made for you. I don't know even if there would be room for you. I don't know if Nela can allow you in her plans, or--" He broke off. Glancing at the globe again, he saw that the door was opening. He waited for Nela to appear, wondering what her reaction would be when she saw Ellen, wondering how this hopelessly tangled situation could possibly be resolved. The door of the globe stood fully open. Nothing else happened. Pearce waited a moment longer, puzzled, then slowly looked into the globe. Except for two padded seats and a myriad of instruments on the curving walls, the interior of the machine was empty. He turned in bewilderment to Ellen. "Something's wrong! Nela isn't inside."