style="font-size:15px;"> 4 Megacharge Hand Pistols ............10,000
3 Lifebelts, Inflatable....................100
5 Cans, Ollen’s Shark Repellant...........400
Taken from Alfghan’s Specialty Shop,
Sector One:
2 Microflex Sets, World Literature . . . . . . .1,000
5 Teeny-Tom Symphonic Tape Runs .....2,650
Taken from Loorie’s Produce Store,
Sector Two:
4 Dozen Potatoes, White Turtle Brand.......5
9 Packages, Carrot Seeds (Fancy) . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Taken from Manori’s Notions Store,
Sector Two:
5 Dozen Mirrors, Silver-backed (hand-size)....95
Total Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14,256
“What does it mean?” the captain asked. “Stealing a million credits outright, I could understand, but why all that junk?”
Eldridge shook his head. He could find nothing meaningful in the list. The megacharge hand pistols sounded useful. But why the mirrors, lifebelts, potatoes and the rest of the things that the captain had properly called junk?
It just didn’t sound like himself. Eldridge began to think of himself as two people. Eldridge I had invented time travel, been victimized, stolen some incomprehensible articles, and vanished. Eldridge II was himself, the person Viglin had found. He had no memory of the first Eldridge. But he had to discover Eldridge I’s motives and/or suffer for his crimes.
“What happened after I stole these things?” Eldridge asked.
“That’s what we’d like to know,” the captain said. “All we know is, you fled into Sector Three with your loot.”
“And then?”
The captain shrugged. “When we applied for extradition, the authorities told us you weren’t there. Not that they’d have given you up. They’re a proud, independent sort, you know. Anyhow, you’d vanished.”
“Vanished? To where?”
“I don’t know. You might have gone into the Uncivilized Sectors that lie beyond Sector Three.”
“What are the Uncivilized Sectors?” Eldridge asked.
“We were hoping you would tell us,” the captain said. “You’re the only man who’s explored beyond Sector Three.”
Damn it, Eldridge thought, he was supposed to be the authority on everything he wanted to know!
“This puts me in a pretty fix,” the captain remarked squinting at his paperweight.
“Why?”
“Well, you’re a thief. The law says I must arrest you. However, I am also aware that you got a very shoddy deal. And I happen to know that you stole only from Viglin and his afifliates in both Sectors. There’s a certain justice to it – unfortunately unrecognized by law.”
Eldridge nodded unhappily.
“It’s my clear duty to arrest you,” the captain said with a deep sigh. “There’s nothing I can do about it, even if I wanted to. You’ll have to stand trial and probably serve a sentence of twenty years or so.”
“What? For stealing rubbish like shark repellant and carrot seed? For stealing junk?”
“We’re pretty rough on time theft,” said the captain. “Temporal offense.”
“I see,” Eldridge said, slumping in his chair.
“Of course,” said the captain thoughtfully, “if you should suddenly turn vicious, knock me over the head with this heavy paperweight, grab my personal Time Traveler – which I keep in the second shelf of that cabinet – and return to your friends in Sector Three, there would really be nothing I could do about it.”
“Huh?”
The captain turned toward the window, leaving his paperweight within Eldridge’s easy reach.
“It’s really terrible,” he commented, “the things one will consider doing for a boyhood hero. But, of course, you’re a law-abiding man. You would never do such a thing and I have psychological reports to prove it.”
“Thanks,” Eldridge said. He lifted the paperweight and tapped the captain lightly over the head. Smiling, the captain slumped behind his desk. Eldridge found the Traveler in the cabinet, and set it for Sector Three. He sighed deeply and pushed the button.
Again he was overcome by darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing on a plain of parched yellow ground. Around him stretched a treeless waste, and a dusty wind blew in his face. Ahead, he could see several brick buildings and a row of tents, built along the side of a dried-out gully. He walked toward them.
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