Button in the Fabric of Time Read Online Free PDF

first, they seemed to be relating in a
normal way; then I noticed that each man flirted with each woman,
and that the women responded equally to the attention of each
man.
    It would have been difficult to choose a
particular woman as a companion because they were all so beautiful.
As a group, they reminded me of a flock of doves. The men were the
aggressors, but the women did the choosing—it was simple yet
beautiful.
    At first, I couldn’t understand their
language, but after listening for a while I began to understand a
word now and then. Hoping to make myself understood, I stepped into
the open. My sudden appearance startled them. After a slight
hesitation, one of the men came forward. I extended my hand in a
gesture of friendship, and asked, “What is this place called?”
    He responded with words that sounded strange,
yet were perfectly understandable. “This is Alpha Bravo 325,” he
said. “From where did you come? Are you lost?”
    I thought for a moment and decided it would
be best to answer as plainly as I could. I replied, “No, I’m not
lost, but I’m in a place that is unknown to me. I am a time
traveler. I hope I have arrived at the same place I left; only the
time should be different. I left on July 7, 2007. If my traveling
device has worked as I hoped, the date now is July 7, 3107.”
    “The date is right, but your story is
strange. How could you come from the past using technology unknown
to us? Our scientists tell us that time travel is possible, but
we’ve been unable to develop the technology.”
    “I can see why it would be hard to
understand, and I’ll try to explain, but it’ll take time,” I
responded.
    “Why are you here?” the man asked.
    “I want to learn about your way of life, your
technology, and your culture.”
    “I can’t reveal that information,” the man
said. “Earth is under surveillance by beings from a planet in
another galaxy. We don’t know how they get here; all we know is
that they come and go at will. I’ll take you to security, where
they’ll verify your story. If it’s true, you’ll be able to help us
more than we can help you. How are you called?”
    “My name is Gus. I have identification in my
wallet.” I produced my driver’s license and handed it to him.
    He studied the card, then shook his head and
said, “This is interesting, but it means nothing to me. Your
clothes tell me more than the card. Your shoes are made from skin
of animals, and your clothes are made from spun plant fibers. That
tells me that you come from a primitive culture, but I still must
take you to security. They’ll examine you more closely.”
    The others were getting out of the water and
putting on flowing robes that appeared to be made from fibers of
spun-gold. The robes glittered in the sunlight. After donning them,
they moved about talking quietly.
    One of the identical twins attracted my
attention. She was something special, walking as gracefully as a
doe, and moving so smoothly that she seemed to glide. Beauty
radiated from her like the first pink glow of a sunrise.
    “Do you mind coming with me?” the man
asked.
    His question startled me. I had been so drawn
to the beautiful woman that I had forgotten him even though he was
standing right beside me. I answered, “I’d be pleased to go with
you, and I’ll share the information I have, but I doubt that it
will add to your knowledge. . . . What’s your name, and where will
we go? How will we travel?”
    “I am called Roc-2. We will travel by keri to
our capital city, Alpha 1. A keri station is only a short distance
away.”
    “What’s a keri?” I asked.
    “Keri is what we call the compartments we
travel in,” Roc-2 replied. “We can go fast or, if you prefer, we
can travel more slowly, allowing you to see the country.”
    “I’d like to travel slowly. I’m an engineer,
and I want to see how you have built your cities.”
    “I thought you would want to travel slowly,”
Roc-2 replied. “We’ll take a