Science fiction; Short stories; Time travel -- Fiction
"Well, you know how it is. He's gone native, you might say. Life among
the lotus eaters, and all that. Might happen to anybody, even yourself."
Lenner shuddered.
"It's all right, though." Corrigan continued. "He'll be here any
minute, and I'm sure he'll be able to help. Knows all there is to know
about these machines. In fact, here he comes now."
Burwell entered, and Corrigan could hardly suppress a small chuckle.
Burwell had picked up Lenner's ideas about what a man of intelligence
and authority ought to look like, and had gone to some trouble to look
the part. He was wearing a uniform of some sort, spectacles, and an
expression of extreme wisdom.
"I'm sure I can repair what's wrong," Burwell told Lenner. "Let's go
and look at your machine."
Arriving, Burwell climbed over the mechanism with an air of bored
ability, occasionally thumping at something, adjusting something else,
or hitting a part with a tool until it rang. He muttered to himself
as he worked, allowing the sound of his musings to drift in Lenner's
direction.
"Umm ... badly twisted impeller ... the varish is more or less
waffled ... let's see if ... ah, there we are."
He climbed down and solemnly shook hands with Lenner.
"Fine machine you've got there, my boy. It'll take you back to your
own place quite easily now. There wasn't a thing wrong except the drift
crotch. However, I wouldn't use it again if I were you. There's no real
control on these things. A man could end up anywhere. And of course,
you'd never find your way back here, without control."
"Well, thanks..." Lenner said doubtfully. He glanced around. "It's a
shame there's no way we could regularly communicate between our worlds.
There's a lot we could do for this one."
"I'm sure of that," Burwell said, hastily looking away. "But it isn't
worth the danger and difficulty of reaching us. For myself, it doesn't
matter any more." He assumed a nobly tragic expression. "But you are
young; you've got your life ahead of you; your State and your society
need you. I'm glad to help you on your way."
Lenner mounted the machine, and Burwell beamed a thought at Corrigan.
"_I've convinced him that the thing works, and that it would not be
easy to come back. Actually, that machine of his is a real work of art.
It doesn't do a damn thing. This boy comes from a place where they
have to have a mechanical crutch for everything. His gadgets are pink
pill stuff ... something to convince him he can do things he could do
anyway. All we have to do now is give him a small mental shove to help
him along, and he'll be home in no time. All right, now--SHOVE!_"
Corrigan and Burwell shoved. Lenner and his machine faded and were
gone, leaving only a flattened place on the grass.
"Brrr," Burwell said. "Am I glad that worked! If he'd stayed another
week or so we would have had our first lunatic of the century."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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