“Following that I seemed to slant through a lot of places — ”
“Just a second,” Howard interrupted, “just what happened before that? I thought I savvied entropy, but that got me licked.”
“Well,” explained Frost, “the easiest way to explain it is to say that she was travelling backwards in time. Her future was their past, and vice versa. I’m glad she got out in a hurry. I’m not sure that human metabolism can be maintained in such conditions.”
“Hmm — Go ahead, Helen.”
“This slanting through the axes would have been startling, if I hadn’t been emotionally exhausted. I sat back and watched it, like a movie. I think Salvador Dali wrote the script. I saw landscapes heave and shift like a stormy sea.
People melted into plants-I think my own body changed at times, but I can’t be sure. Once I found myself in a place that was all insides, instead of outsides.
Some of the things we’ll skip-I don’t believe them myself.
“Then I slowed down in a place that must have had an extra spatial dimension.
Everything looked three dimensional to me, but they changed their shapes when I thought about them. I found I could look inside solid objects simply by wanting to. When I tired of prying into the intimate secrets of rocks and plants, I took a look at myself, and it worked Just as well. I know more about anatomy and physiology now than an M.D. It’s fun to watch your heart beat — kind o’cute.
“But my appendix was swollen and inflamed. I found I could reach in and touch it-it was tender. I’ve had trouble with it so I decided to perform an emergency operation, I nipped it off with my nails. It didn’t hurt at all, bled a couple of drops and closed right up.”
“Good Heavens, child! You might have gotten peritonitis and died.”
“I don’t think so. I believe that ultra-violet was pouring all through me and killing the bugs. I had a fever for a while, but I think what caused it was a bad case of internal sunburn.
“I forgot to mention that I couldn’t walk around in this place, for I couldn’t seem to touch anything but myself. I sliced right through anything I tried to get a purchase on. Pretty soon I quit trying and relaxed. It was comfortable and I went into a warm happy dope, like a hibernating bear.
“After a long time-a long, long time, I went sound asleep and came to in your big easy-chair. That’s all.”
Helen answered Howard’s anxious inquiries by telling him that she had seen nothing of Estelle. “But why don’t you calm down and wait? She isn’t really overdue.”
They were interrupted by the opening of the door from the hallway. A short wiry figure in a hooded brown tunic and tight brown breeches strode into the room.
“Where’s Doctor Frost? Oh-Doctor, I need help!”
It was Monroe, but changed almost beyond recognition. He had been short and slender before, but was now barely five feet tall, and stocky, with powerful shoulder muscles. The brown costume with its peaked hood, or helmet, gave him a strong resemblance to the popular notion of gnome.
Frost hurried to him. “What is it, Robert? How can I help?”
“This first.” Monroe hunched forward for inspection of his left upper arm. The fabric was tattered and charred, exposing an ugly burn. “He just grazed me, but it had better be fixed. If I am to save the arm.”
Frost examined it without touching it. “We must rush you to a hospital.”
“No time. I’ve got to get back. They need me — and the help I can bring.”
The Doctor shook his head. “You’ve got to have treatment. Bob. Even if there is strong need for you to go back wherever you have been, you are in a different time track now. Time lost here isn’t necessarily lost there.”
Monroe cut him short. “I think this world and my world have connected time rates. I must hurry.”
Helen Fisher placed herself between them. “Let me see that arm. Bob. Hm-pretty nasty, but I think I can fix it. Professor, put a kettle on the fire with about a cup of water in it. As soon as it boils, chuck in a handful of tea leaves.”