will be returned in a month, according to the notes May Roberts
left. She gave you plenty of time to get the data, you see. We propose
to make that month an enjoyable one for you. The resources of our
city--and any others you care to visit--are at your disposal. We wish
you to take full advantage of them."

"And the Dynapack?"

"Let us worry about that. We want you to have a good time while you
are our guest."

I did.

It was the most wonderful month of my life.

* * * * *

The mesh cage blurred around me. I could see May Roberts through it,
her hand just leaving the switch. She was as beautiful as ever, but I
saw beneath her beauty the vengeful, vicious creature her father's
bitterness had turned her into; Blundell and Carr had let me read some
of her notes, and I knew. I wished I could have spent the rest of my
years in the future, instead of having to come back to this.

She came over and opened the gate, smiling like an angel welcoming a
bright new soul. Then her eyes traveled startledly over me and her
smile almost dropped off. But she held it firmly in place.

She had to, while she asked, "Do you have the notes I sent you for?"

"Right here," I said.

I reached into my breast pocket and brought out a stubby automatic and
shot her through the right arm. Her closed hand opened and a little
derringer clanked on the floor. She gaped at me with an expression of
horrified surprise that should have been recorded permanently; it
would have served as a model for generations of actors and actresses.

"You--brought back a weapon!" she gasped. "You shot me!" She stared
vacantly at her bleeding arm and then at my automatic. "But you
can't--bring anything back from the future. And you aren't--dying of
malnutrition."

She said it all in a voice shocked into toneless wonder.

"The food I ate and this gun are from the present," I said. "The
people of the future knew I was coming. They gave me food that
wouldn't vanish from my cells when I returned. They also gave me
the gun instead of the plans for the Dynapack."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

"And you took it?" she screamed at me. "You idiot! I'd have shared the
profits honestly with you. You'd have been worth millions!"

"With acute malnutrition," I amended. "I like it better this way,
thanks--poor, but alive. Or relatively poor, I should say, because
you've been very generous and I appreciate it."

"By shooting me!"

"