“Good little time machine. Time mover, slower, halter, stopper-whatever you are. Neat trick. But what do I do next?”
It chose not to answer me. Nor did I expect it to. This was my problem now and I had to force myself to take the time to think it out. For the moment I had all the time I needed. Though eventually I would have to do something. And that something would probably mean touching another one of the colored buttons. Either that or I could stand looking dumbly at the device while I quietly died of thirst or starvation or whatever.
But which light?
Green had been obvious enough-even more obvious by hindsight. And the decision had been made at a moment of life and death. Nov, I was not so sure. I reached out, then dropped my hand. With plenty of time to decide I had become the master of indecision. Green had meant go, turn on, get started. Did red mean off, stop? Maybe. But what about white and orange?
“Not an easy one, Jimmy boy?” I said in what I hoped was a jocular voice-which came out very mournful and doomladen. I wrung my hands together with indecision. Then stopped and looked at them as though I might see some answer printed on my fingers. All I saw was dirt under the nails.
“You have got to do it sooner or later-so do it sooner before your nerve fails completely,” I told myself. Reached out a finger-drew it away. It looked like my nerve had indeed failed me completely.
“Take yourself in hand, Jim!” I ordered. Reached back and took a handful of collar and shook myself as violently as I could.
It was no help at all. Random choice then? Why not, just as good as guessing. I put the finger out again and promised myself that I would push down on whatever color was under the finger when the jingle ended.
“Eeeny, meeny, miney, shmoe, catch a . . .”
I never found out what I was going to catch because at that moment I heard the dragging footsteps coming from the hall.
Sound?
Out there where nothing moved!
I jumped about, hands raised in defense. Lowered them and waited as the footsteps grew louder, came closer and closer to the doorway . . .
Slipped past Floyd’s immobile body.
“Aliens! Monsters!” I gasped, pulling back. Trying to run although I knew there was no place to go.
Two hideous metal creatures. Bifurcated limbs, many-angled skulls, glowing eyes, claw-fingered hands. Coming towards me. Stopping. Reaching out
No! Reaching up to twist their own heads off. I could hear a gurgling scream, was only dimly aware that it was my own voice.
Twisted and turned and lifted-
Lifted off the helmets. Two very human faces looked at me with a good deal of interest. I stared back with the same emotion. Realized that, despite the close-cropped hair, the one on the left was female. She smiled at me and spoke.
“Wes hal, eltheodige, ac hwca bith thes thin freond?”
I blinked, didn’t understand a word. Shrugged and smiled in what I hoped was a winning way. The second visitor shook his head.
“Unrihte tide, unrihte elde, to earlz’ch eart thu rcome!”
“Look,” I said, having enough of this and very much needing a few questions answered. “Could you please try Esperanto? That good, old, simple intergalactic second language Esperanto.”
“Certainly,” the girl said, smiling a winning and white-toothed smile. “My name is Vesta Timetinker. My companion is Othred Timetinker.”
“Married?” I asked for some incomprehensible reason.
“No, stepsiblings. And you-you have a name?”
“Yes, of course. James diGriz. But everyone calls me Jim.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Jim. Our thanks for activating the temporooter. We’ll take it off your hands now.”
She started towards the artifact-which I now knew was a temporooter. Though I still knew little else. I stepped in front of it and said:
“No.”
“No?” Her rather attractive forehead furrowed while Othred’s face suddenly looked grim. I turned a bit so I could keep an active eye on him.
“If no is too abrupt,” I said, “then I will ameliorate it and say hold on just a moment if you please. Didn’t you just thank me for finding this thing?”