A time traveler! Julia stood very still. Her eyes searched the room slowly once again. The window was open about three inches. Too small for anyone to squeeze through. The door was locked from the inside. There was absolutely no one in the room. In her desperate state, she was hunting for an out. She was involved in a fairy story. Her body started to relax. "I can't see you, Mr. Vassi." I can't accept death. I'm looking for escape. "You can't see me? I'm standing right in front of you." "I can't see you." "I don't understand. I can see you. Here, take my hand." For a moment, Julia hoped. There was nothing. "Why, I can't touch you!" Not even a breath of wind. Julia walked over to the dresser and took a package of cigarettes out of her handbag. She carried it over to the sofa and sat down. "You walked through me!" She lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply and blew out the smoke in a long steady stream. When she was a little girl and she had a sharp pain in her side, her mother would say it's only gas, hold on, it'll pass. She would hold on.... Mother, help me! The voice in her head. "I wish I had paid more attention to those scientists. What was it they said? I had so much to do before I left. Something about transporting living matter.... Are you _sure_ I'm invisible?" "I can't see you." "Do you people have trouble with your eyes? No, that's not it. I can't touch you. And I'd expected to bring back some artifacts. I am terribly disappointed." "I'm sorry." "And well you might be. It's going to be extremely difficult going around asking people a lot of questions when they can't see me. You must have had quite a start." "Stop it! Stop it! My head. Oh, dear God, my head!" Julia got up. "I'm going out!" "You are having trouble with the thought projection. I'll sit down and be quiet for a moment." * * * * * The voice stopped. Julia paused at the door. The room was quiet. Breathing! She heard breathing. Her own? She held her breath. It was there in the room. She was sure of it. It was a whisper in her throat. "You are real." The faucet, the water, the knock on the door. "You are real!" If she held on, it would pass like gas. "You are real!" She moved trancelike back into the room. "You see me now." "No. I heard you breathe." "Can you touch me?" "No." She heard her own blood in her ears. Her own breath forced itself between her lips. His breathing was gone. It was a dream. She said, "You're gone." "Over here on the arm of the couch." She turned. She fought to silence herself. She heard the soft breathing from the direction of the couch. "Who are you, Mr. Vassi?" "It's just Vassi, no mister. I already told you who and what I am." "A time traveler from some distant future," she said. "Most of your records disappeared in the final war. We want to pick up the traces. Best way to do that is to travel back in time." "It sounds like such a long way. How long?"