Button in the Fabric of Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

keri with a view plate in the bottom
that will allow you to see the countryside as well as the cities.
We’ll go through two other cities before we reach Alpha 1.”
     
    * * * * *
     
    Chapter 6
     
    The stunningly beautiful twin whispered to
Roc-2. He listened intently, then turned to me and said, “Jan-3 is
an anthropologist and a historian. She hopes you won’t mind if she
comes along. She wants to learn about the time you came from.”
    “Mind! How could I mind? Would you introduce
us?”
    With a quizzical look Roc-2 asked, “What do
you mean, introduce you?”
    “Tell her what you know about me, and tell me
what you know about her, so that we can have a basis from which to
begin a conversation.”
    Smiling, Roc-2 remarked, “What a quaint
idea.” He turned to Jan-3 and said, “Jan-3, this is Gus. He has
come from a time in the past and wants to learn about our
achievements. I’m taking him to Alpha 1, where security will
examine him to verify that he is who he says he is. The examination
should take only a few minutes. Then you’ll have time to talk. . .
. Gus, this is Jan-3. She wants to know what it’s like to live in
the twenty-first century. You each have information the other
wants; perhaps you can help one another.”
    Jan-3 moved toward me, her robe flowed around
her exposing her slender legs. Her features were clearly defined.
She had large wide-set eyes, a slightly upturned nose, a small,
delicate mouth, and lightly tanned skin with a flawless complexion.
Her cobalt-blue eyes seemed to penetrate my very soul. I was
mesmerized. I extended my hand for the traditional handshake. Not
recognizing the gesture, she looked questioningly at me, then took
my right hand and placed it on her left shoulder, and placed her
right hand on my left shoulder. Smiling, she said in a soft, clear
voice, “I’m pleased to have this opportunity to experience your
life force.”
    This was so much better than shaking hands,
and there did seem to be a force passing between us that was
disturbingly strong. Struggling to regain my composure, I asked,
“Why do you have numbers following your names?”
    Roc-2 answered, “The number indicates how
many people have copied the DNA of an original. Jan-3 is
twenty-four years old.” Then, pointing to the woman I thought was
Jan-3’s identical twin, he said, “That is Jan-1. She is 130 years
old.”
    “How is that possible? She has the body of a
teenager.”
    “The human body is a perfect machine,” Roc-2
explained. “It replenishes itself, cell by cell, repeatedly. If it
is maintained in perfect health, it reproduces itself
perfectly.”
    Fascinated, I asked, “How long can that be
continued?”
    “We don’t know,” Roc-2 replied. “The method
of maintaining the body in perfect condition was discovered only
180 years ago. Until now, no one has died of what was called
natural causes.”
    “How do you handle the problem of
overpopulation?”
    “We don’t have that problem. The earth, if
properly used, can supply the needs of an infinite number of
people.”
    “Do you control the number of children a
couple can have?”
    “Some people marry and have families, but
most just make new copies of themselves and select a new mate from
time to time.”
    “Is that a satisfying lifestyle?” I
asked.
    “It’s satisfying to most,” Roc-2 replied.
“Individuals decide what kind of person they want to be, and then
becomes that person, by altering their DNA. They choose the size
and shape they want to be, determine the texture and color of their
hair and skin, and even the shape of their eyes.”
    “Sometimes a person has a body that others
think is ideal. People can look the same as their ideal by
duplicating the DNA of their ideal. Then they take the name of the
person they’ve duplicated and add a number to indicate how many
people duplicated the original DNA. The number also identifies them
as being a separate person,” Roc-2 explained.
    Then he continued, “The second