‘But one of these days we’ll crack the problem, Joe. We’re very close to doing it now. When this work started I thought time-travel was more impossible than instantaneous travel through space, and I still think so. We took the wrong turning somewhere. Even at two hundred and fifteen miles per second your life is only long enough to take you about one twentieth of the way to the nearest extra-solar planets. But don’t worry, soon you’ll be able to go to the stars and look around and remember everything when you come back. But right now you will have to be satisfied with being poor old Joe Carson, the chief security officer with ... problems.’
Poor Joe Carson ...
He came fully conscious then, muttering and squirming in the bed and trying to get up. Immediately she was leaning over him, smoothing his hair and running her fingers along his cheek. Suddenly, but very gently, he reached up and drew her down until their lips met. For a few seconds she tried to pull free and then she spent the rest of the time trying to get closer.
It was coming back. All of it.
Poor Joe Carson, the man who had nervous break-downs the way other people had head colds. Over-work was the reason, everyone said, and that was why the company were keeping him on and employing an assistant for him who really did all the work. Eleven breakdowns in four years, wasn’t it? The first one had needed five months to recover from but in recent years he was rarely absent for more than a few weeks. It was strange how healthy and happy he looked when he was well, then suddenly he would be gone again for more treatment. It was the Marshall girl they were all really sorry for. Joe Carson had married her after his first breakdown, probably working on her sympathy, and they had been a loving and devoted doctor and patient ever since. But the girl did not seem to mind.
No, thought Carson, she doesn’t ...
The black window was gone now, completely smashed. Even the odd pieces adhering to the frame had dropped away. He relaxed his hold on her just enough to give room for their lips to move and said, ‘This is the part I always like. The Princess Charming and the Sleeping Beast bit...’
Suddenly she was lying beside him and dripping tears all over his face. ‘Oh, Joe,’ she said. ‘Welcome home...’
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One