Science fiction; Short stories; Time travel -- Fiction
Even for younger Destinyworkers, time travel at best was an exhausting
business. The bags _had_ been heavy, and Zonal Speech Compliance was
always a strain at the outset of an assignment. Mrs. Mimms needed
refreshment. Finding a battered pot and a broken cup abandoned by the
former tenants, she heated water on the range and made herself some
hot tea. Sipping it slowly Mrs. Mimms felt the strength returning to
her tired system.
Having eaten an early dinner in the future Mrs. Mimms was not hungry.
The tea would be sufficient until tomorrow. She washed the cup
carefully, put away the pot and then unlocked one of her black
suitcases. From it she extracted a small white card on which there was
some printing and a phone number at the bottom. Mrs. Mimms checked the
phone number with the telephone in her new apartment; they were the
same. Research was almost _never_ wrong. Mrs. Mimms then took the card
down to the main floor and attached it to a bulletin board with four
thumbtacks. The message read:
_Mrs. Althea Mimms_
Professional Companion & Babysitter
Rates Reasonable
Back in her apartment, the time traveler opened the other suitcase. It
contained a batch of weird-looking apparatus which faintly resembled a
television set, although there were twice the number of dials and
knobs. To the uninitiated eye the legends under them would have been
perplexing--"Month Selector," "Reverse Day Fast-Forward,"
"Weekometer," "Minute-Second Divider." To Mrs. Mimms however the
instrument was simply standard equipment for all assignments. She
placed it carefully on the desk in her living room and, one by one,
drew out the five sensitive antennae from their sockets. Mrs. Mimms
did not need to use the electrical outlet under the desk for new d-c
ion batteries had been installed whose combined guaranteed life was
five years.
It had grown somewhat late at Greenlawn--the hands of Mrs. Mimms'
watch were nearing eleven--yet this did not deter her from flicking
the power on. She dialed to a position a few hours before on that same
evening and waited for the equipment to warm up. A roar of angry
static and strident voices suddenly filled the room until Mrs. Mimms
quickly cut the volume. The outburst was definitely an indication that
her work was cut out for her. Eyeing the red pilot indicator across
which a ribbon of names was flashing she slowly twirled the Master
Selector. Images flickered and disappeared on the screen; then
suddenly Mrs. Mimms leaned forward anxiously. A living room much like
her own came into view and in it a man and a woman faced each other
menacingly. The pilot was flashing the name Randolph, Apt. 14-B.
Reducing the volume slightly, Mrs. Mimms listened:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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