The Project Gutenberg EBook of Of Time and Texas, by William F. Nolan

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Title: Of Time and Texas

Author: William F. Nolan

Release Date: May 20, 2009 [EBook #28893]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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_Twenty-eight-year-old William Nolan, another newcomer to the field,
introduces us to the capricious Time Door of Professor C. Cydwick
Ohms, guaranteed to solve the accumulated problems of the world of
the year 2057._

of
time
and
texas

_by ... William F. Nolan_

Open the C. Cydwick Ohms Time
Door, take but a single step, and--

"In one fell swoop," declared Professor C. Cydwick Ohms, releasing a
thin blue ribbon of pipe-smoke and rocking back on his heels, "--I
intend to solve the greatest problem facing mankind today. Colonizing
the Polar Wastes was a messy and fruitless business. And the Enforced
Birth Control Program couldn't be enforced. Overpopulation still remains
the thorn in our side. Gentlemen--" He paused to look each of the
assembled reporters in the eye. "--there is but _one_ answer."

"Mass annihilation?" quavered a cub reporter.

"Posh, boy! Certainly not!" The professor bristled. "The answer
is--TIME!"

"Time?"

"Exactly," nodded Ohms. With a dramatic flourish he swept aside a red
velvet drape--to reveal a tall structure of gleaming metal. "As
witness!"

"Golly, what's _that_ thing?" queried the cub.

"This _thing_," replied the professor acidly, "--is the C. Cydwick Ohms
Time Door."

"Whillikers, a Time Machine!"

"Not so, not so. _Please_, boy! A Time Machine, in the popular sense,
is impossible. Wild fancy! However--" The professor tapped the dottle
from his pipe. "--by a mathematically precise series of infinite
calculations, I have developed the remarkable C. Cydwick Ohms Time Door.
Open it, take but a single step--and, presto! The Past!"

"But, _where_ in the past, Prof.?"

Ohms smiled easily down at the tense ring of faces. "Gentlemen, beyond
this door lies the sprawling gian