Time and the Woman Read online

till it could no longer be felt. But Ninon, as shestumbled back into the acceleration sling, sick and shaken, knew it wasstill there. The light drive!

  She watched through the ports. The motionless, silent stars were movingnow, coming toward them, faster and faster, as the ship swept out of thegalaxy, shooting into her face like blazing pebbles from a giantslingshot.

  She asked, "How fast are we going now?"

  Robert's voice sounded far off as he replied, "We are approaching thespeed of light."

  "Make it go faster!" she cried. "Faster! Faster!"

  She looked out the ports again; looked back behind them--and saw shiningspecks of glittering blackness falling away to melt into the sootinessof space. She shuddered, and knew without asking that these were starsdropping behind at a rate greater than light speed.

  "Now how fast are we going?" she asked. She was sure that her voice wasstronger; that strength was flowing back into her muscles and bones.

  "Nearly twice light speed."

  "Faster!" she cried. "We must go much faster! I must be young again.Youthful, and gay, and alive and happy.... Tell me, Robert, do you feelyounger yet?"

  He did not answer.

  * * * * *

  Ninon lay in the acceleration sling, gaining strength, and--sheknew--youth. Her lost youth, coming back, to be spent all over again.How wonderful! No woman in all of time and history had ever done it. Shewould be immortal; forever young and lovely. She hardly noticed thestiffness in her joints when she got to her feet again--it was just fromlying in the sling so long.

  She made her voice light and gay. "Are we not going very, very fast,now, Robert?"

  He answered without turning. "Yes. Many times the speed of light."

  "I knew it ... I knew it! Already I feel much younger. Don't you feel ittoo?"

  He did not answer, and Ninon kept on talking. "How long have we beengoing, Robert?"

  He said, "I don't know ... depends on where you are."

  "It must be hours ... days ... weeks. I should be hungry. Yes, I think Iam hungry. I'll need food, lots of food. Young people have goodappetites, don't they, Robert?"

  He pointed to the provisions locker, and she got food out and made itready. But she could eat but a few mouthfuls. _It's the excitement_, shetold herself. After all, no other woman, ever, had gone back through theyears to be young again....

  * * * * *

  Long hours she rested in the sling, gaining more strength for the daywhen they would land back on Earth and she could step out in all thespringy vitality of a girl of twenty. And then as she watched throughthe ingenious ports she saw the stars of the far galaxies beginning towheel about through space, and she knew that the ship had reached thehalfway point and was turning to speed back through space to Earth,uncounted light-years behind them--or before them. And she would stillcontinue to grow younger and younger....

  She gazed at the slightly-blurred figure of the young spaceman on thefar side of the compartment, focussing her eyes with effort. "You arelooking much younger, Robert," she said. "Yes, I think you are becomingquite boyish, almost childish, in appearance."

  He nodded slightly. "You may be right," he said.

  "I must have a mirror," she cried. "I must see for myself how muchyounger I have become. I'll hardly recognize myself...."

  "There is no mirror," he told her.

  "No mirror? But how can I see...."

  "Non-essentials were not included in the supplies on this ship. Mirrorsare not essential--to men."

  The mocking gravity in his voice infuriated her. "Then you shall be mymirror," she said. "Tell me, Robert, am I not now much younger? Am I notbecoming more and more beautiful? Am I not in truth the most desirableof women?... But I forget. After all, you are only a boy, by now."

  He said, "I'm afraid our scientists will have some new and interestingdata on the effects of time in relation to time. Before long we'll beginto decelerate. It won't be easy or pleasant. I'll try to make you ascomfortable as possible."

  Ninon felt her face go white and stiff with rage. "What do you mean?"

  Robert said, coldly brutal, "You're looking your age, Ninon. Every yearof your fifty-two!"

  Ninon snatched out the little beta-gun, then, leveled it and fired. Andwatched without remorse as the hungry electrons streamed forth to strikethe young spaceman, turning him into a motionless, glowing figure whichrapidly became misty and wraith-like, at last to disappear, leaving onlya swirl of sparkling haze where he had stood. This too disappeared asits separate particles drifted to the metallite walls of the space ship,discharged their energy and ceased to sparkle, leaving only a thin filmof dust over all.

  * * * * *

  After a while Ninon got up again from the sling and made her way to thewall. She polished the dust away from a small area of it, trying to makethe spot gleam enough so that she could use it for a mirror. Shepolished a long time, until at last she could see a ghostly reflectionof her face in the rubbed spot.

  Yes, unquestionably she was younger, more beautiful. Unquestionably Timewas being kind to her, giving her back her youth. She was not sorry thatRobert was gone--there would be many young men, men her own age, whenshe got back to Earth. And that would be soon. She must rest more, andbe ready.

  The light drive cut off, and the great ship slowly decelerated as itfound its way back into the galaxy from which it had started. Found itsway back into the System which had borne it. Ninon watched through theport as it slid in past the outer planets. Had they changed? No, shecould not see that they had--only she had changed--until Saturn loomedup through the port, so close by, it looked, that she might touch it.But Saturn had no rings. Here was change. She puzzled over it a moment,frowning then forgot it when she recognized Jupiter again as Saturn fellbehind. Next would be Mars....

  But what was this? Not Mars! Not any planet she knew, or had seenbefore. Yet there, ahead, was Mars! A new planet, where the asteroidshad been when she left! Was this the same system? Had there been amistake in the calculations of the scientists and engineers who hadplotted the course of the ship? Was something wrong?

  But no matter--she was still Ninon. She was young and beautiful. Andwherever she landed there would be excitement and rushing about as shetold her story. And men would flock to her. Young, handsome men!

  She tottered back to the sling, sank gratefully into the comfort of it,closed her eyes, and waited.

  * * * * *

  _The ship landed automatically, lowering itself to the land on a pillarof rushing flame, needing no help from its passenger. Then the flamedied away--and the ship--and Ninon--rested, quietly, serenely, while therocket tubes crackled and cooled. The people outside gathered at a safedistance from it, waiting until they could come closer and greet thebrave passengers who had voyaged through space from no one knew where._

  _There was shouting and laughing and talking, and much speculation._

  _"The ship is from Maris, the red planet," someone said._

  _And another: "No, no! It is not of this system. See how the hull ispitted--it has traveled from afar."_

  _An old man cried: "It is a demon ship. It has come to destroy us all."_

  _A murmur went through the crowd, and some moved farther back forsafety, watching with alert curiosity._

  _Then an engineer ventured close, and said, "The workmanship is similarto that in the space ship we are building, yet not the same. It isobviously not of our Aerth."_

  _And a savant said, "Yes, not of this Aerth. But perhaps it is from aparallel time stream, where there is a system with planets and peopleslike us."_

  _Then a hatch opened in the towering flank of the ship, and a ramp slidforth and slanted to the ground. The mingled voices of the crowdattended it. The fearful ones backed farther away. Some stood theirground. And the braver ones moved closer._

  _But no one appeared in the open hatch; no one came down the ramp. Atlast the crowd surged
forward again._

  _Among them were a youth and a girl who stood, hand in hand, at the footof the ramp, gazing at it and the ship with shining eyes, then at eachother._

  _She said, "I wonder, Robin, what it would be like to travel through farspace on such a ship as that."_

  _He squeezed her hand and said, "We'll find out, Nina. Space travel willcome, in our time, they've always said--and there is the proof of it."_

  _The girl rested her head against the young man's shoulder. "You'll beone of the first, won't you, Robin? And you'll take me with you?"_

  _He slipped an arm around her. "Of course. You know, Nina, ourscientists say that if one could travel faster than the speed of lightone could live in reverse. So when we get old we'll go out in space,very, very fast, and