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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1218f73 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60921 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60921) diff --git a/old/60921-h.zip b/old/60921-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ef5031a..0000000 --- a/old/60921-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60921-h/60921-h.htm b/old/60921-h/60921-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 892b343..0000000 --- a/old/60921-h/60921-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1327 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Vassi, by Art Lewis. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vassi, by Art Lewis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Vassi - -Author: Art Lewis - -Release Date: December 14, 2019 [EBook #60921] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VASSI *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="347" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>VASSI</h1> - -<h2>By ART LEWIS</h2> - -<p class="ph1"><i>The apartment was empty. So<br /> -was she. But not for long.</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Worlds of If Science Fiction, January 1961.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The apartment is called a single. It contains a Murphy bed, a chest of -drawers, an overstuffed chair, a sofa, a coffee table, a seventeen-inch -television set, a bookcase partially filled with the volumes A through -F of an encyclopedia from the supermarket, assorted paperback books, -and a radio that doesn't work. In the ceiling is a fixture with two -twenty-five-watt bulbs. A short hallway leads to the bathroom and the -kitchen.</p> - -<p>Julia Fenway stood outside her apartment, fumbling in her bag for her -keys. She had never had any trouble finding her keys before. Her purse -was always neat and orderly. And she was breathing hard. Breathing -hard from the short walk from the bus at the corner and down the long -corridor to the private, the lonesome apartment door.</p> - -<p>Those keys! Where are those keys! I'm becoming a regular pack rat -lately. Look at that bag! Did you ever see so much junk? She thrust -her hand deep inside and felt around. A crumpled kleenex, worn-out -lipstick, change purse, pencils, movie stubs ... a coldness, the keys. -Her heart was pounding. She pressed the hand with the keys to her -bosom. It <i>was</i> pounding. At least it was working.</p> - -<p>She managed to get the door open just as the landlady's door down the -hall gushed forth cooked cabbage odor and Mrs. Shultz stuck her head -out. Julia closed her door behind her until she heard the lock click. -Of all the people in the world, why was it the Mrs. Shultzes she -attracted?</p> - -<p>At the sound of the lock, the cat, Belle, poked her head out of the -kitchen. She walked lazily into the room, rubbing her side along the -wall to scratch off the sleep. Then she leaped to the top of the -dresser and started to wash herself.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Julia stood with her back against the door. Her arms, tired of reaching -out, hung limply against her sides. A ray of sunlight streamed through -the partly open window and a little pool of it snuggled on her pillow. -It had been such a long ride in from Beverly Hills and on two buses. -She had sat in the back where it wasn't so crowded and the smell of -exhaust was still in her nostrils.</p> - -<p>She walked over to the dresser and put her purse down beside the cat -and ran her fingers caressingly through the soft fur. Belle took a -swipe with a hind paw. Julia rested her head on the dresser.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to die, Belle."</p> - -<p>The cat sat up and lifted a front paw. She washed it with little -delicate strokes from her tongue.</p> - -<p>Julia moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. She slipped -her shoes off. Her feet hurt. They always hurt in heels. Why does one -get dressed up to see the doctor? He could have told her she had six -months to live while she was wearing flats.</p> - -<p>He didn't actually blurt it out as I walked in the door. He fooled -around under that sheet for a long time. And then he said it. No, not -then either. He just looked pained and hurt and a little white around -the lips and he told me to get dressed and come into his office. He had -the lab reports on his desk and he pounded on them and he said you're -as good as dead now!</p> - -<p>I wish he had! Then I could hate him. I could hate instead of feeling -numb all over. He didn't want to tell me anything. Just get ready for -an operation. No, there really wasn't any rush. But soon. And then I -dragged it out of him. I insisted I had a right to know. It was my -life. No, I don't have any family here. No one ... no one! A brother in -New York. Don't call him! The doctor stammered like a schoolboy who's -unprepared in class.</p> - -<p>Julia fell back on the bed. She stared at the unlighted ceiling -fixture. She should cry, but she'd cried in the doctor's office and -there was nothing left to cry. Six months to live. Maybe only five -months. Certainly no more than seven with the operation.</p> - -<p>A spring in the bed got her in the back. She ought to tell Mrs. Shultz -to fix that. She certainly didn't want to spend her last six months -sleeping on a loose spring. Spend her last six months!</p> - -<p>She turned over on her stomach and pressed her face into the blanket. -Her body was rigid. She tried to contemplate her own death. She should -call her brother. No, she would die first.</p> - -<p>"Hello, excuse me, my name is Vassi."</p> - -<p>Julia raised her head and looked around the room. It was empty.</p> - -<p>"Would you say this is a typical prior dwelling?"</p> - -<p>Julia sat up. There was no one.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I hadn't thought of that possibility. I suppose we don't have a -similar frame of reference. You'll never understand my thoughts."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She got off the bed. She walked around the room and her stocking feet -made little padded sounds on the cotton carpet. Then she crossed to the -door of the apartment and pressed her ear against it.</p> - -<p>"Are you a ventriloquist?" she said.</p> - -<p>"A ventriloquist? Oh, my, no. I'm an historian." The voice was in her -head.</p> - -<p>"I'm insane." It had to happen. She touched her finger-tips to her -mouth.</p> - -<p>"Is that so? That's too bad. We're over and done with that sort of -thing."</p> - -<p>"I'll wash my face with cold water. It must be the strain. I shouldn't -have forced the doctor...."</p> - -<p>"You <i>are</i> alone, aren't you? I looked around rather carefully. -I didn't see anyone except that ... that thing on that piece of -furniture."</p> - -<p>Julia looked at Belle. The cat was asleep on the dresser. She started -to walk to the bathroom but stopped in front of the bed and sat down. -Her head was going to burst.</p> - -<p>"Please" she said. "Please stop."</p> - -<p>"I really don't want to intrude. But I have my recorder right here. -It won't take long and then I must move on. Now I notice you're fully -dressed. Most remarkable. We always thought you prior people indulged -in sex orgies almost continuously."</p> - -<p>"My God!"</p> - -<p>"Your thoughts are confused. Is it because you're insane? You haven't -had much experience in thought projection, have you?"</p> - -<p>Julia jumped from the bed and ran into the bathroom. She locked the -door behind her and turned on the cold water full force. She cupped her -hands under the faucet and plunged her face into the cascading coldness.</p> - -<p>My name is Julia Fenway. I'm a file clerk at Continental Insurance. I'm -going to die and I'm not preoccupied with sex.</p> - -<p>She turned off the faucet and stared into the sink. The water gathered -into a little whirlpool and disappeared down the drain. There was a -knock on the bathroom door.</p> - -<p>The voice was in her head. "I wonder if I could see that. We have some -rather indistinct writings on running water. I'd like to bring them up -to date."</p> - -<p>The cold water didn't help. If anything, it was worse now. The knocking -came from the door. She was sure of it. But the voice ... the voice was -inside her.</p> - -<p>"May I come in?"</p> - -<p>Julia sat down on the edge of the tub. She squeezed her head between -her hands. I don't deserve this. What did I do to deserve this?</p> - -<p>"Please. I'm on a tight schedule."</p> - -<p>"So am I! Go away!" She was talking to it. She was talking to the voice -in her head.</p> - -<p>Then it was very quiet. Julia watched the door, waiting for someone to -walk through its solidness. Nothing happened. She lowered her head and -started to count the tiny tiles in the floor.</p> - -<p>If I count one row very carefully, it will take me five minutes, two -rows ten minutes, three rows....</p> - -<p>She started to count.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>As she was midway through the fourth row, the voice said, "I don't -think you realize the importance of my visit. We recognize your right -of privacy, but don't you feel in this case...?"</p> - -<p>Julia jumped up and pulled open the door. "Let me die in peace!"</p> - -<p>She ran into the other room and stood in the middle of it, looking all -around, breathing hard. Belle leaped down from the dresser, her doze -finished, and rubbed against Julia's leg.</p> - -<p>The water in the bathroom was running.</p> - -<p>She hadn't shut it off. But she had. She had.</p> - -<p>The water started again. It stopped. It started. It stopped.</p> - -<p>"How quaint."</p> - -<p>There is someone here!</p> - -<p>"Who are you?"</p> - -<p>"Vassi."</p> - -<p>"Vassi?"</p> - -<p>"I'm chief historian, research division. It's my first trip in time. -The scientists have been playing around with this thing for years and -they've only just let us take it over."</p> - -<p>A time traveler! Julia stood very still. Her eyes searched the room -slowly once again. The window was open about three inches. Too small -for anyone to squeeze through. The door was locked from the inside. -There was absolutely no one in the room. In her desperate state, she -was hunting for an out. She was involved in a fairy story. Her body -started to relax.</p> - -<p>"I can't see you, Mr. Vassi."</p> - -<p>I can't accept death. I'm looking for escape.</p> - -<p>"You can't see me? I'm standing right in front of you."</p> - -<p>"I can't see you."</p> - -<p>"I don't understand. I can see you. Here, take my hand."</p> - -<p>For a moment, Julia hoped. There was nothing.</p> - -<p>"Why, I can't touch you!"</p> - -<p>Not even a breath of wind.</p> - -<p>Julia walked over to the dresser and took a package of cigarettes out -of her handbag. She carried it over to the sofa and sat down.</p> - -<p>"You walked through me!"</p> - -<p>She lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply and blew out the smoke in a long -steady stream. When she was a little girl and she had a sharp pain in -her side, her mother would say it's only gas, hold on, it'll pass.</p> - -<p>She would hold on.... Mother, help me!</p> - -<p>The voice in her head. "I wish I had paid more attention to those -scientists. What was it they said? I had so much to do before I left. -Something about transporting living matter.... Are you <i>sure</i> I'm -invisible?"</p> - -<p>"I can't see you."</p> - -<p>"Do you people have trouble with your eyes? No, that's not it. I can't -touch you. And I'd expected to bring back some artifacts. I am terribly -disappointed."</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry."</p> - -<p>"And well you might be. It's going to be extremely difficult going -around asking people a lot of questions when they can't see me. You -must have had quite a start."</p> - -<p>"Stop it! Stop it! My head. Oh, dear God, my head!" Julia got up. "I'm -going out!"</p> - -<p>"You are having trouble with the thought projection. I'll sit down and -be quiet for a moment."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The voice stopped. Julia paused at the door. The room was quiet. -Breathing! She heard breathing. Her own? She held her breath. It was -there in the room. She was sure of it.</p> - -<p>It was a whisper in her throat. "You are real."</p> - -<p>The faucet, the water, the knock on the door. "You are real!"</p> - -<p>If she held on, it would pass like gas. "You are real!"</p> - -<p>She moved trancelike back into the room.</p> - -<p>"You see me now."</p> - -<p>"No. I heard you breathe."</p> - -<p>"Can you touch me?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>She heard her own blood in her ears. Her own breath forced itself -between her lips. His breathing was gone. It was a dream.</p> - -<p>She said, "You're gone."</p> - -<p>"Over here on the arm of the couch."</p> - -<p>She turned. She fought to silence herself. She heard the soft breathing -from the direction of the couch.</p> - -<p>"Who are you, Mr. Vassi?"</p> - -<p>"It's just Vassi, no mister. I already told you who and what I am."</p> - -<p>"A time traveler from some distant future," she said.</p> - -<p>"Most of your records disappeared in the final war. We want to pick up -the traces. Best way to do that is to travel back in time."</p> - -<p>"It sounds like such a long way. How long?"</p> - -<p>If it was true, it was a miracle. If it wasn't ... Julia, you're a -realist!</p> - -<p>"It would be a meaningless term for you. It's an age, an eon away."</p> - -<p>Julia sat down on the edge of the overstuffed chair. She noticed a -faint layer of dust on the coffee table. The apartment looked messy -with the bed out of the wall. Ever since the first visit to the doctor -three weeks ago, she hadn't thought of cleaning.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid the apartment doesn't look very presentable."</p> - -<p>"Aren't you comforted to know that the world has survived?"</p> - -<p>"But I won't survive." She looked at the dust again. "You see, I don't -do much entertaining."</p> - -<p>"Is that so? I wouldn't know. Do you mind if I record our conversation?"</p> - -<p>"I don't mind. It's nice to have someone to talk to, even if I can't -see you." Julia, you're a realist!</p> - -<p>"Yes. Well, that is a bother. Now would you mind telling me a few -pertinent facts about civilization as you know it?"</p> - -<p>"I don't think I know too much about that sort of thing," said Julia.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"I'd hoped to land in the middle of a library of some sort...." His -voice broke off. "You don't seem to have much of a collection of books -here."</p> - -<p>Julia said, "Are you near the bookcase?"</p> - -<p>"No wonder the records didn't last, if this is the way they were kept."</p> - -<p>"Vassi, can you touch the books?" She got up and went to the bookcase.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Pick one up."</p> - -<p>"They're no use to me. This isn't history."</p> - -<p>"Pick one up!"</p> - -<p>"I haven't got the time. I have to move on."</p> - -<p>"Vassi, you touched the faucet, didn't you? And you knocked on the -door."</p> - -<p>"Yes.... That <i>does</i> mean I can bring back artifacts!"</p> - -<p>"Why can't you touch me?"</p> - -<p>"Now I have to get to a place that will do me some good. A library, a -store, isn't that what you call them? A museum.... Are any of these -things nearby?"</p> - -<p>"Let me go with you. I'll be your guide. I'll—I'll show you my time."</p> - -<p>"But won't you be uncomfortable? I'm invisible."</p> - -<p>"I don't care! No one can steal you from me this way."</p> - -<p>"Steal me?"</p> - -<p>"Vassi, why can't you touch me!"</p> - -<p>"I'm not too sure. I think it's because you're alive. You see, life is -a transient thing. Matter is continuous in one form or another. Matter -existing today always existed and will always exist, or something like -that. I didn't listen too carefully. Anyhow, it's possible for someone -to travel back in time but not ahead. Do I make myself clear? It's out -of my line, you know."</p> - -<p>Julia reached down and scooped up Belle. "Can you touch her?"</p> - -<p>"What is that?"</p> - -<p>"My cat. Can you touch her?"</p> - -<p>"A cat? My, the anatomists would love to see that! But it's the same as -with you. My hand passes right through her."</p> - -<p>Julia put Belle back on the floor. Her mind was racing.</p> - -<p>Vassi said, "She's sitting right where I'm standing."</p> - -<p>"I've got to believe it's not a nightmare. I've got to believe you're -real and that you can help me."</p> - -<p>"If I can do it quickly. I have so much else to do. Others are waiting -to use the machine."</p> - -<p>"Are people well where you come from?"</p> - -<p>"Very well, thank you."</p> - -<p>"Are there any incurable diseases?" She tried to listen for his -breathing.</p> - -<p>"Incurable? You mean sickness that doesn't respond to treatment? No, of -course not."</p> - -<p>"Then take me with you!" she cried.</p> - -<p>"You just said you wanted to guide me here."</p> - -<p>"Take me with you to your time."</p> - -<p>"I can't do that. I can't even touch you."</p> - -<p>"There must be a way. You have got to think of something."</p> - -<p>"Even if I could take you, I'm not supposed to."</p> - -<p>"Why?"</p> - -<p>"It would mix up history to remove persons from their time. It might -even be dangerous with artifacts. I suppose we couldn't hold onto them -very long."</p> - -<p>"History? I have no history. I'm going to die very soon. No one depends -on me. I have no one. Please take me, Vassi."</p> - -<p>"I feel very strange."</p> - -<p>"Are you all right?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. I just feel—odd."</p> - -<p>"How...."</p> - -<p>"First you want to guide me, then you want to come with me, you don't -care about mankind's survival. You sound so terrified and confused."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Julia sank down on the couch. If only she could see him. "Don't leave -me to die."</p> - -<p>"How strange to talk about dying," said Vassi. "We all live so long we -never think about it."</p> - -<p>"You will take me with you, Vassi?"</p> - -<p>"If people in your time have such short lives, then why does dying -trouble you? It would seem a matter of course."</p> - -<p>"Vassi, I haven't lived yet."</p> - -<p>"This is out of my line. I'll tell you what. When I return, I'll talk -to one of the scientists. If they're interested in the project, they'll -send someone back."</p> - -<p>"How long will that be?"</p> - -<p>"Now let's see if I can figure in your time. Hmm.... I'd say about a -year...."</p> - -<p>Julia closed her eyes. She felt dampness under the lids. Her voice was -hollow as she spoke to the empty room. "I'll be dead in six months."</p> - -<p>And the voice in her head echoed, "Six months...."</p> - -<p>"Vassi, isn't there someone you can talk to now?"</p> - -<p>He didn't answer her.</p> - -<p>Julia looked around the room. "Vassi, are you still here? Vassi? -Vassi, if you don't talk, I can't tell if you're still here! Vassi, -please answer me. Did I talk too much? I didn't mean to run on about -my problems. I know you have a job to do. Maybe you can squeeze me -in. I don't want to keep you from your work. Vassi, you didn't go, did -you? You didn't leave me! Don't leave. I believe in you. I believe in -you...."</p> - -<p>And now she had the aloneness she had longed for. He was gone and she -would be left with the Mrs. Shultzes and the doctor.</p> - -<p>She went from the living room to the kitchen to the bathroom and back -into the living room, listening, hoping to catch the small sound of his -breathing. But her body would not be quiet and she heard nothing except -herself.</p> - -<p>She stood for a long while looking down at the bed. The sunlight -drifted from the pillow onto the covers and finally spilled off the -foot of the bed onto the floor and the room was a shade darker. She was -a stone, but a stone whose blood gurgled and stomach rumbled and heart -beat and pulse pounded, so loudly she could hear nothing else.</p> - -<p>Her legs gave way and she crumpled to the bed and she was silent at -last.</p> - -<p>The breathing came from the direction of the window.</p> - -<p>She spoke into the covers. "Vassi, why didn't you answer me?"</p> - -<p>"You tempt me and I have so much to do, so much ground to cover."</p> - -<p>"You can come back."</p> - -<p>"We haven't got enough of these time centers. There's quite a lineup -to use them. If I go now, there's no telling how long it'll take me to -get back."</p> - -<p>Julia got up and went to the window. "Am I facing you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"You're my only hope, wild as it seems. Vassi, wouldn't it be helpful -to your research to have a real live person from my time to study?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Vassi spoke slowly. "You mean you would be willing to have us—study -you?"</p> - -<p>"Within limits.... No, not within limits."</p> - -<p>"They'll be very angry if I come back without my research project."</p> - -<p>"Are people that cold in your time?" asked Julia.</p> - -<p>"Cold?" Vassi repeated in bewilderment.</p> - -<p>"Heartless?"</p> - -<p>"Heartless? I hardly think so."</p> - -<p>"I mean callous, without pity, without compassion."</p> - -<p>"I've been very busy. I haven't thought about it."</p> - -<p>"Do men and women marry in your time?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, they do."</p> - -<p>"Are you married?"</p> - -<p>"No, you see, I'm not very—presentable. Besides, I have my research."</p> - -<p>"To me you're the most beautiful man in the world."</p> - -<p>"You can't see me. If you saw me, you wouldn't think so."</p> - -<p>"I can hear you. That's all I need."</p> - -<p>Julia turned from the window and walked back to the couch. When she sat -down she could feel herself trembling. Never, never in her life had she -spoken to a man like that. Maybe, if she could see him, his eyes would -be mocking her.</p> - -<p>She said, "If you take me back with you, then later when I'm well I -could come back with you and show you everything you would want to see. -Then I could be your guide."</p> - -<p>He was standing in front of her. She could hear him breathing again. -There was excitement in his breathing; she was sure of it.</p> - -<p>He said, "I wish I could touch you. You're very beautiful."</p> - -<p>"Vassi, in my own time I'm ugly. Perhaps I belong in your time."</p> - -<p>Then the excitement that was in his breathing was in his voice. "All -right. All right. I'll see what I can do. You wait right here. It may -take me several years to get back. But I'll do it if I can...."</p> - -<p>"Several years! Vassi, I can't wait that long!" She was very near -despair.</p> - -<p>"No, no, you don't understand. In your time it'll only be a matter of -minutes. The controls would be set to right now, however long it may -take to have the project approved in my time."</p> - -<p>The room was quiet. A slight breeze drifted in through the open window. -Julia sat very still on the couch for a few moments. Belle rubbed -herself against the coffee table and then climbed into Julia's lap.</p> - -<p>She had to hold on. She had to believe. A world with no illness. A -world where people live practically forever. A world with Vassi.</p> - -<p>She scratched the cat behind the ears. Belle started to purr softly.</p> - -<p>"Belle," Julia said, "what am I going to do with you? Vassi will think -of something. He's coming back, Belle. He's coming back and he'll take -both of us with him."</p> - -<p>She picked up the cat and put it on the couch. Then she got up and went -to the mirror over the dresser. She pushed her hair back from her face.</p> - -<p>He said I was beautiful. Not even my mother ever said I was beautiful. -What will they think at the office when I don't come in tomorrow or -even phone? They won't think anything. They'll get Sheila with the -black hair and the big bust to do my work and they won't think about me -at all.</p> - -<p>Even <i>that</i> one didn't say I was beautiful. Not even right after I -moved in here and he was a little drunk, and he could have said it -then. Then, of all times, but he didn't. He just looked a little -ashamed, maybe disgusted afterward, and he talked about being late for -a dinner appointment.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There was a knock on the door. Julia whirled from the mirror. Vassi -must have gotten a little off course. She hadn't thought of that -possibility. She walked quickly to the door.</p> - -<p>"Vassi?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"It's me, Mrs. Shultz."</p> - -<p>"What do you want?"</p> - -<p>"You went to the doctor today. I expected you'd come by. Tell me, how -are you?"</p> - -<p>"Go away."</p> - -<p>"Julia, open up. Maybe I can do something for you."</p> - -<p>"Go away. Please go away."</p> - -<p>"You're not feeling so well?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Bad news, maybe?"</p> - -<p>"I don't want to see anyone, Mrs. Shultz."</p> - -<p>"I understand. I'll come back later."</p> - -<p>Footsteps went down the hallway. A door opened. The sound of a -television set. A door closed.</p> - -<p>Vassi, hurry! I don't know whether or not it really happened. I'm not -sure now, Vassi. I am going out of my mind. I am clutching at straws. -Come back, Vassi. Come back. Reassure me.</p> - -<p>"They said it would work."</p> - -<p>"Vassi!"</p> - -<p>"They said it would work, but it sounds like a terrible risk. We'll do -it with the cat first."</p> - -<p>"Vassi, where are you?"</p> - -<p>"Right in front of you. Now listen carefully."</p> - -<p>"Are you going to take me with you?"</p> - -<p>"We'll try the cat first. If it works with the cat, then we'll try you."</p> - -<p>Julia was trembling. "What do I do?"</p> - -<p>"The first thing we have to do is kill the cat."</p> - -<p>"What are you talking about!"</p> - -<p>"When the cat is dead, it will become as inanimate an object as any of -those books over there. In that state I should be able to transport it -to my time. There the doctors will revive it. Everything is ready."</p> - -<p>"I can't kill my cat!"</p> - -<p>"If it works, it's only temporary."</p> - -<p>"And if it doesn't work?" she whispered.</p> - -<p>"I'd rather it be the cat than you."</p> - -<p>"I never dreamed...."</p> - -<p>"We'll have to hurry. They are waiting."</p> - -<p>"I can't kill Belle."</p> - -<p>"You're not killing her. You're transporting her."</p> - -<p>The tears were in Julia's eyes again. "It's crazy. I'm crazy."</p> - -<p>"Look, I'd do it, but I can't physically touch the cat."</p> - -<p>"I know. I know."</p> - -<p>"They said suffocation was best. It leaves fewer complications."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Julia bent down and picked up the cat. Her tears fell on the animal's -fur. She held it close to her. The cat was quiet, unknowing.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="650" height="492" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Julia said, "Do me first."</p> - -<p>"Even if I could, I would not," said Vassi. "The cat first."</p> - -<p>"I've had her since she was a kitten, a little round ball with a button -for a nose. I can't do this to her. If it does not work.... This is my -madness, not hers!"</p> - -<p>"What were you going to do with her six months from now?"</p> - -<p>"Six months.... Alone, she would be left alone.... Belle has never -been alone except for the hours when I'm at work. Who would take care -of her? She's such a fussy eater. I have to feed her liver from my -hand...."</p> - -<p>"You'll be together."</p> - -<p>"Together...."</p> - -<p>"Take one of the pillows on the bed. Don't think about it! Do it!"</p> - -<p>Julia carried Belle over to the bed. As she tried to put it down, one -of its claws became entangled in her dress. The cat started to struggle -as if finally awakened. Julia reached over for a pillow. Sweat stood -out on her forehead. Her tears blinded her. She saw the mass of fur. -She saw the softness. The claws were freed. She brought the pillow -down over Belle.</p> - -<p>Julia blacked out, sprawled across the pillow.</p> - -<p>She couldn't have been out long. She pulled herself from the bed. The -pillow was on the floor. Belle was gone.</p> - -<p>Vassi's voice was in her head. "It worked! The anatomists are wild! -I've never seen so much excitement!"</p> - -<p>"Belle is all right?"</p> - -<p>"Wonderful. It took them no time at all to revive her. The laboratory -is a bedlam. Everyone wants to examine her."</p> - -<p>"How should I do it? I'll never be able to suffocate myself." She -laughed a little. "I can't even turn on the gas range. Mine is -electric."</p> - -<p>She looked around the apartment. If she slashed her wrists there would -be too much blood. She hated blood. The thought of poison repelled her. -Wait—she had it.</p> - -<p>She pulled one of the sheets off the bed and twisted it. She pushed the -overstuffed chair into the center of the room and stood on one of the -arms to attach an end of the sheet to the ceiling fixture. At the other -end she made a noose.</p> - -<p>There was a knock on the door again.</p> - -<p>"Julia, if you're not well, it's no good you should be alone," Mrs. -Shultz said.</p> - -<p>Julia slipped the noose over her head.</p> - -<p>"Vassi, do you love me?"</p> - -<p>"Of course. I just hope you'll love me."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Shultz knocked hard. "Julia, I hear you talking. I know you're -home. Let me in. I have some soup for you."</p> - -<p>"Vassi, do you think I'm beautiful?"</p> - -<p>"The most beautiful woman I have ever seen."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Shultz pounded on the door. "Julia, why don't you answer me?"</p> - -<p>As Julia stepped off the arm of the chair, she saw the open window. A -thought crossed her mind before the noose tightened. Belle could have -jumped out of the window when I passed out. <i>Julia, you're a realist!</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Mrs. Shultz put down the pot of soup and opened the door.</p> - -<p>The apartment is called a single. It consists of a Murphy bed, a -chest of drawers, an overstuffed chair, a sofa, a coffee table, a -seventeen-inch television set, a bookcase partially filled with the -volumes A through F of an encyclopedia from the supermarket, and -assorted paperback books, and a radio that doesn't work. In the ceiling -is a fixture with two twenty-five-watt bulbs. From the fixture hangs -a twisted sheet with a hangman's knot in the end of it. The noose is -quite empty. So is the apartment.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="183" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Vassi, by Art Lewis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VASSI *** - -***** This file should be named 60921-h.htm or 60921-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/2/60921/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/60921-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/60921-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 7b6b65a..0000000 --- a/old/60921-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60921-h/images/illus1.jpg b/old/60921-h/images/illus1.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b333cab..0000000 --- a/old/60921-h/images/illus1.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60921-h/images/illus2.jpg b/old/60921-h/images/illus2.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e5b1bfe..0000000 --- a/old/60921-h/images/illus2.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60921.txt b/old/60921.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 94e83ba..0000000 --- a/old/60921.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1209 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vassi, by Art Lewis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Vassi - -Author: Art Lewis - -Release Date: December 14, 2019 [EBook #60921] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VASSI *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - VASSI - - By ART LEWIS - - The apartment was empty. So - was she. But not for long. - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Worlds of If Science Fiction, January 1961. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The apartment is called a single. It contains a Murphy bed, a chest of -drawers, an overstuffed chair, a sofa, a coffee table, a seventeen-inch -television set, a bookcase partially filled with the volumes A through -F of an encyclopedia from the supermarket, assorted paperback books, -and a radio that doesn't work. In the ceiling is a fixture with two -twenty-five-watt bulbs. A short hallway leads to the bathroom and the -kitchen. - -Julia Fenway stood outside her apartment, fumbling in her bag for her -keys. She had never had any trouble finding her keys before. Her purse -was always neat and orderly. And she was breathing hard. Breathing -hard from the short walk from the bus at the corner and down the long -corridor to the private, the lonesome apartment door. - -Those keys! Where are those keys! I'm becoming a regular pack rat -lately. Look at that bag! Did you ever see so much junk? She thrust -her hand deep inside and felt around. A crumpled kleenex, worn-out -lipstick, change purse, pencils, movie stubs ... a coldness, the keys. -Her heart was pounding. She pressed the hand with the keys to her -bosom. It _was_ pounding. At least it was working. - -She managed to get the door open just as the landlady's door down the -hall gushed forth cooked cabbage odor and Mrs. Shultz stuck her head -out. Julia closed her door behind her until she heard the lock click. -Of all the people in the world, why was it the Mrs. Shultzes she -attracted? - -At the sound of the lock, the cat, Belle, poked her head out of the -kitchen. She walked lazily into the room, rubbing her side along the -wall to scratch off the sleep. Then she leaped to the top of the -dresser and started to wash herself. - - * * * * * - -Julia stood with her back against the door. Her arms, tired of reaching -out, hung limply against her sides. A ray of sunlight streamed through -the partly open window and a little pool of it snuggled on her pillow. -It had been such a long ride in from Beverly Hills and on two buses. -She had sat in the back where it wasn't so crowded and the smell of -exhaust was still in her nostrils. - -She walked over to the dresser and put her purse down beside the cat -and ran her fingers caressingly through the soft fur. Belle took a -swipe with a hind paw. Julia rested her head on the dresser. - -"I'm going to die, Belle." - -The cat sat up and lifted a front paw. She washed it with little -delicate strokes from her tongue. - -Julia moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. She slipped -her shoes off. Her feet hurt. They always hurt in heels. Why does one -get dressed up to see the doctor? He could have told her she had six -months to live while she was wearing flats. - -He didn't actually blurt it out as I walked in the door. He fooled -around under that sheet for a long time. And then he said it. No, not -then either. He just looked pained and hurt and a little white around -the lips and he told me to get dressed and come into his office. He had -the lab reports on his desk and he pounded on them and he said you're -as good as dead now! - -I wish he had! Then I could hate him. I could hate instead of feeling -numb all over. He didn't want to tell me anything. Just get ready for -an operation. No, there really wasn't any rush. But soon. And then I -dragged it out of him. I insisted I had a right to know. It was my -life. No, I don't have any family here. No one ... no one! A brother in -New York. Don't call him! The doctor stammered like a schoolboy who's -unprepared in class. - -Julia fell back on the bed. She stared at the unlighted ceiling -fixture. She should cry, but she'd cried in the doctor's office and -there was nothing left to cry. Six months to live. Maybe only five -months. Certainly no more than seven with the operation. - -A spring in the bed got her in the back. She ought to tell Mrs. Shultz -to fix that. She certainly didn't want to spend her last six months -sleeping on a loose spring. Spend her last six months! - -She turned over on her stomach and pressed her face into the blanket. -Her body was rigid. She tried to contemplate her own death. She should -call her brother. No, she would die first. - -"Hello, excuse me, my name is Vassi." - -Julia raised her head and looked around the room. It was empty. - -"Would you say this is a typical prior dwelling?" - -Julia sat up. There was no one. - -"Oh, I hadn't thought of that possibility. I suppose we don't have a -similar frame of reference. You'll never understand my thoughts." - - * * * * * - -She got off the bed. She walked around the room and her stocking feet -made little padded sounds on the cotton carpet. Then she crossed to the -door of the apartment and pressed her ear against it. - -"Are you a ventriloquist?" she said. - -"A ventriloquist? Oh, my, no. I'm an historian." The voice was in her -head. - -"I'm insane." It had to happen. She touched her finger-tips to her -mouth. - -"Is that so? That's too bad. We're over and done with that sort of -thing." - -"I'll wash my face with cold water. It must be the strain. I shouldn't -have forced the doctor...." - -"You _are_ alone, aren't you? I looked around rather carefully. -I didn't see anyone except that ... that thing on that piece of -furniture." - -Julia looked at Belle. The cat was asleep on the dresser. She started -to walk to the bathroom but stopped in front of the bed and sat down. -Her head was going to burst. - -"Please" she said. "Please stop." - -"I really don't want to intrude. But I have my recorder right here. -It won't take long and then I must move on. Now I notice you're fully -dressed. Most remarkable. We always thought you prior people indulged -in sex orgies almost continuously." - -"My God!" - -"Your thoughts are confused. Is it because you're insane? You haven't -had much experience in thought projection, have you?" - -Julia jumped from the bed and ran into the bathroom. She locked the -door behind her and turned on the cold water full force. She cupped her -hands under the faucet and plunged her face into the cascading coldness. - -My name is Julia Fenway. I'm a file clerk at Continental Insurance. I'm -going to die and I'm not preoccupied with sex. - -She turned off the faucet and stared into the sink. The water gathered -into a little whirlpool and disappeared down the drain. There was a -knock on the bathroom door. - -The voice was in her head. "I wonder if I could see that. We have some -rather indistinct writings on running water. I'd like to bring them up -to date." - -The cold water didn't help. If anything, it was worse now. The knocking -came from the door. She was sure of it. But the voice ... the voice was -inside her. - -"May I come in?" - -Julia sat down on the edge of the tub. She squeezed her head between -her hands. I don't deserve this. What did I do to deserve this? - -"Please. I'm on a tight schedule." - -"So am I! Go away!" She was talking to it. She was talking to the voice -in her head. - -Then it was very quiet. Julia watched the door, waiting for someone to -walk through its solidness. Nothing happened. She lowered her head and -started to count the tiny tiles in the floor. - -If I count one row very carefully, it will take me five minutes, two -rows ten minutes, three rows.... - -She started to count. - - * * * * * - -As she was midway through the fourth row, the voice said, "I don't -think you realize the importance of my visit. We recognize your right -of privacy, but don't you feel in this case...?" - -Julia jumped up and pulled open the door. "Let me die in peace!" - -She ran into the other room and stood in the middle of it, looking all -around, breathing hard. Belle leaped down from the dresser, her doze -finished, and rubbed against Julia's leg. - -The water in the bathroom was running. - -She hadn't shut it off. But she had. She had. - -The water started again. It stopped. It started. It stopped. - -"How quaint." - -There is someone here! - -"Who are you?" - -"Vassi." - -"Vassi?" - -"I'm chief historian, research division. It's my first trip in time. -The scientists have been playing around with this thing for years and -they've only just let us take it over." - -A time traveler! Julia stood very still. Her eyes searched the room -slowly once again. The window was open about three inches. Too small -for anyone to squeeze through. The door was locked from the inside. -There was absolutely no one in the room. In her desperate state, she -was hunting for an out. She was involved in a fairy story. Her body -started to relax. - -"I can't see you, Mr. Vassi." - -I can't accept death. I'm looking for escape. - -"You can't see me? I'm standing right in front of you." - -"I can't see you." - -"I don't understand. I can see you. Here, take my hand." - -For a moment, Julia hoped. There was nothing. - -"Why, I can't touch you!" - -Not even a breath of wind. - -Julia walked over to the dresser and took a package of cigarettes out -of her handbag. She carried it over to the sofa and sat down. - -"You walked through me!" - -She lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply and blew out the smoke in a long -steady stream. When she was a little girl and she had a sharp pain in -her side, her mother would say it's only gas, hold on, it'll pass. - -She would hold on.... Mother, help me! - -The voice in her head. "I wish I had paid more attention to those -scientists. What was it they said? I had so much to do before I left. -Something about transporting living matter.... Are you _sure_ I'm -invisible?" - -"I can't see you." - -"Do you people have trouble with your eyes? No, that's not it. I can't -touch you. And I'd expected to bring back some artifacts. I am terribly -disappointed." - -"I'm sorry." - -"And well you might be. It's going to be extremely difficult going -around asking people a lot of questions when they can't see me. You -must have had quite a start." - -"Stop it! Stop it! My head. Oh, dear God, my head!" Julia got up. "I'm -going out!" - -"You are having trouble with the thought projection. I'll sit down and -be quiet for a moment." - - * * * * * - -The voice stopped. Julia paused at the door. The room was quiet. -Breathing! She heard breathing. Her own? She held her breath. It was -there in the room. She was sure of it. - -It was a whisper in her throat. "You are real." - -The faucet, the water, the knock on the door. "You are real!" - -If she held on, it would pass like gas. "You are real!" - -She moved trancelike back into the room. - -"You see me now." - -"No. I heard you breathe." - -"Can you touch me?" - -"No." - -She heard her own blood in her ears. Her own breath forced itself -between her lips. His breathing was gone. It was a dream. - -She said, "You're gone." - -"Over here on the arm of the couch." - -She turned. She fought to silence herself. She heard the soft breathing -from the direction of the couch. - -"Who are you, Mr. Vassi?" - -"It's just Vassi, no mister. I already told you who and what I am." - -"A time traveler from some distant future," she said. - -"Most of your records disappeared in the final war. We want to pick up -the traces. Best way to do that is to travel back in time." - -"It sounds like such a long way. How long?" - -If it was true, it was a miracle. If it wasn't ... Julia, you're a -realist! - -"It would be a meaningless term for you. It's an age, an eon away." - -Julia sat down on the edge of the overstuffed chair. She noticed a -faint layer of dust on the coffee table. The apartment looked messy -with the bed out of the wall. Ever since the first visit to the doctor -three weeks ago, she hadn't thought of cleaning. - -"I'm afraid the apartment doesn't look very presentable." - -"Aren't you comforted to know that the world has survived?" - -"But I won't survive." She looked at the dust again. "You see, I don't -do much entertaining." - -"Is that so? I wouldn't know. Do you mind if I record our conversation?" - -"I don't mind. It's nice to have someone to talk to, even if I can't -see you." Julia, you're a realist! - -"Yes. Well, that is a bother. Now would you mind telling me a few -pertinent facts about civilization as you know it?" - -"I don't think I know too much about that sort of thing," said Julia. - - * * * * * - -"I'd hoped to land in the middle of a library of some sort...." His -voice broke off. "You don't seem to have much of a collection of books -here." - -Julia said, "Are you near the bookcase?" - -"No wonder the records didn't last, if this is the way they were kept." - -"Vassi, can you touch the books?" She got up and went to the bookcase. - -"Yes." - -"Pick one up." - -"They're no use to me. This isn't history." - -"Pick one up!" - -"I haven't got the time. I have to move on." - -"Vassi, you touched the faucet, didn't you? And you knocked on the -door." - -"Yes.... That _does_ mean I can bring back artifacts!" - -"Why can't you touch me?" - -"Now I have to get to a place that will do me some good. A library, a -store, isn't that what you call them? A museum.... Are any of these -things nearby?" - -"Let me go with you. I'll be your guide. I'll--I'll show you my time." - -"But won't you be uncomfortable? I'm invisible." - -"I don't care! No one can steal you from me this way." - -"Steal me?" - -"Vassi, why can't you touch me!" - -"I'm not too sure. I think it's because you're alive. You see, life is -a transient thing. Matter is continuous in one form or another. Matter -existing today always existed and will always exist, or something like -that. I didn't listen too carefully. Anyhow, it's possible for someone -to travel back in time but not ahead. Do I make myself clear? It's out -of my line, you know." - -Julia reached down and scooped up Belle. "Can you touch her?" - -"What is that?" - -"My cat. Can you touch her?" - -"A cat? My, the anatomists would love to see that! But it's the same as -with you. My hand passes right through her." - -Julia put Belle back on the floor. Her mind was racing. - -Vassi said, "She's sitting right where I'm standing." - -"I've got to believe it's not a nightmare. I've got to believe you're -real and that you can help me." - -"If I can do it quickly. I have so much else to do. Others are waiting -to use the machine." - -"Are people well where you come from?" - -"Very well, thank you." - -"Are there any incurable diseases?" She tried to listen for his -breathing. - -"Incurable? You mean sickness that doesn't respond to treatment? No, of -course not." - -"Then take me with you!" she cried. - -"You just said you wanted to guide me here." - -"Take me with you to your time." - -"I can't do that. I can't even touch you." - -"There must be a way. You have got to think of something." - -"Even if I could take you, I'm not supposed to." - -"Why?" - -"It would mix up history to remove persons from their time. It might -even be dangerous with artifacts. I suppose we couldn't hold onto them -very long." - -"History? I have no history. I'm going to die very soon. No one depends -on me. I have no one. Please take me, Vassi." - -"I feel very strange." - -"Are you all right?" - -"Yes. I just feel--odd." - -"How...." - -"First you want to guide me, then you want to come with me, you don't -care about mankind's survival. You sound so terrified and confused." - - * * * * * - -Julia sank down on the couch. If only she could see him. "Don't leave -me to die." - -"How strange to talk about dying," said Vassi. "We all live so long we -never think about it." - -"You will take me with you, Vassi?" - -"If people in your time have such short lives, then why does dying -trouble you? It would seem a matter of course." - -"Vassi, I haven't lived yet." - -"This is out of my line. I'll tell you what. When I return, I'll talk -to one of the scientists. If they're interested in the project, they'll -send someone back." - -"How long will that be?" - -"Now let's see if I can figure in your time. Hmm.... I'd say about a -year...." - -Julia closed her eyes. She felt dampness under the lids. Her voice was -hollow as she spoke to the empty room. "I'll be dead in six months." - -And the voice in her head echoed, "Six months...." - -"Vassi, isn't there someone you can talk to now?" - -He didn't answer her. - -Julia looked around the room. "Vassi, are you still here? Vassi? -Vassi, if you don't talk, I can't tell if you're still here! Vassi, -please answer me. Did I talk too much? I didn't mean to run on about -my problems. I know you have a job to do. Maybe you can squeeze me -in. I don't want to keep you from your work. Vassi, you didn't go, did -you? You didn't leave me! Don't leave. I believe in you. I believe in -you...." - -And now she had the aloneness she had longed for. He was gone and she -would be left with the Mrs. Shultzes and the doctor. - -She went from the living room to the kitchen to the bathroom and back -into the living room, listening, hoping to catch the small sound of his -breathing. But her body would not be quiet and she heard nothing except -herself. - -She stood for a long while looking down at the bed. The sunlight -drifted from the pillow onto the covers and finally spilled off the -foot of the bed onto the floor and the room was a shade darker. She was -a stone, but a stone whose blood gurgled and stomach rumbled and heart -beat and pulse pounded, so loudly she could hear nothing else. - -Her legs gave way and she crumpled to the bed and she was silent at -last. - -The breathing came from the direction of the window. - -She spoke into the covers. "Vassi, why didn't you answer me?" - -"You tempt me and I have so much to do, so much ground to cover." - -"You can come back." - -"We haven't got enough of these time centers. There's quite a lineup -to use them. If I go now, there's no telling how long it'll take me to -get back." - -Julia got up and went to the window. "Am I facing you?" - -"Yes." - -"You're my only hope, wild as it seems. Vassi, wouldn't it be helpful -to your research to have a real live person from my time to study?" - - * * * * * - -Vassi spoke slowly. "You mean you would be willing to have us--study -you?" - -"Within limits.... No, not within limits." - -"They'll be very angry if I come back without my research project." - -"Are people that cold in your time?" asked Julia. - -"Cold?" Vassi repeated in bewilderment. - -"Heartless?" - -"Heartless? I hardly think so." - -"I mean callous, without pity, without compassion." - -"I've been very busy. I haven't thought about it." - -"Do men and women marry in your time?" - -"Yes, they do." - -"Are you married?" - -"No, you see, I'm not very--presentable. Besides, I have my research." - -"To me you're the most beautiful man in the world." - -"You can't see me. If you saw me, you wouldn't think so." - -"I can hear you. That's all I need." - -Julia turned from the window and walked back to the couch. When she sat -down she could feel herself trembling. Never, never in her life had she -spoken to a man like that. Maybe, if she could see him, his eyes would -be mocking her. - -She said, "If you take me back with you, then later when I'm well I -could come back with you and show you everything you would want to see. -Then I could be your guide." - -He was standing in front of her. She could hear him breathing again. -There was excitement in his breathing; she was sure of it. - -He said, "I wish I could touch you. You're very beautiful." - -"Vassi, in my own time I'm ugly. Perhaps I belong in your time." - -Then the excitement that was in his breathing was in his voice. "All -right. All right. I'll see what I can do. You wait right here. It may -take me several years to get back. But I'll do it if I can...." - -"Several years! Vassi, I can't wait that long!" She was very near -despair. - -"No, no, you don't understand. In your time it'll only be a matter of -minutes. The controls would be set to right now, however long it may -take to have the project approved in my time." - -The room was quiet. A slight breeze drifted in through the open window. -Julia sat very still on the couch for a few moments. Belle rubbed -herself against the coffee table and then climbed into Julia's lap. - -She had to hold on. She had to believe. A world with no illness. A -world where people live practically forever. A world with Vassi. - -She scratched the cat behind the ears. Belle started to purr softly. - -"Belle," Julia said, "what am I going to do with you? Vassi will think -of something. He's coming back, Belle. He's coming back and he'll take -both of us with him." - -She picked up the cat and put it on the couch. Then she got up and went -to the mirror over the dresser. She pushed her hair back from her face. - -He said I was beautiful. Not even my mother ever said I was beautiful. -What will they think at the office when I don't come in tomorrow or -even phone? They won't think anything. They'll get Sheila with the -black hair and the big bust to do my work and they won't think about me -at all. - -Even _that_ one didn't say I was beautiful. Not even right after I -moved in here and he was a little drunk, and he could have said it -then. Then, of all times, but he didn't. He just looked a little -ashamed, maybe disgusted afterward, and he talked about being late for -a dinner appointment. - - * * * * * - -There was a knock on the door. Julia whirled from the mirror. Vassi -must have gotten a little off course. She hadn't thought of that -possibility. She walked quickly to the door. - -"Vassi?" she asked. - -"It's me, Mrs. Shultz." - -"What do you want?" - -"You went to the doctor today. I expected you'd come by. Tell me, how -are you?" - -"Go away." - -"Julia, open up. Maybe I can do something for you." - -"Go away. Please go away." - -"You're not feeling so well?" - -"No." - -"Bad news, maybe?" - -"I don't want to see anyone, Mrs. Shultz." - -"I understand. I'll come back later." - -Footsteps went down the hallway. A door opened. The sound of a -television set. A door closed. - -Vassi, hurry! I don't know whether or not it really happened. I'm not -sure now, Vassi. I am going out of my mind. I am clutching at straws. -Come back, Vassi. Come back. Reassure me. - -"They said it would work." - -"Vassi!" - -"They said it would work, but it sounds like a terrible risk. We'll do -it with the cat first." - -"Vassi, where are you?" - -"Right in front of you. Now listen carefully." - -"Are you going to take me with you?" - -"We'll try the cat first. If it works with the cat, then we'll try you." - -Julia was trembling. "What do I do?" - -"The first thing we have to do is kill the cat." - -"What are you talking about!" - -"When the cat is dead, it will become as inanimate an object as any of -those books over there. In that state I should be able to transport it -to my time. There the doctors will revive it. Everything is ready." - -"I can't kill my cat!" - -"If it works, it's only temporary." - -"And if it doesn't work?" she whispered. - -"I'd rather it be the cat than you." - -"I never dreamed...." - -"We'll have to hurry. They are waiting." - -"I can't kill Belle." - -"You're not killing her. You're transporting her." - -The tears were in Julia's eyes again. "It's crazy. I'm crazy." - -"Look, I'd do it, but I can't physically touch the cat." - -"I know. I know." - -"They said suffocation was best. It leaves fewer complications." - - * * * * * - -Julia bent down and picked up the cat. Her tears fell on the animal's -fur. She held it close to her. The cat was quiet, unknowing. - -Julia said, "Do me first." - -"Even if I could, I would not," said Vassi. "The cat first." - -"I've had her since she was a kitten, a little round ball with a button -for a nose. I can't do this to her. If it does not work.... This is my -madness, not hers!" - -"What were you going to do with her six months from now?" - -"Six months.... Alone, she would be left alone.... Belle has never -been alone except for the hours when I'm at work. Who would take care -of her? She's such a fussy eater. I have to feed her liver from my -hand...." - -"You'll be together." - -"Together...." - -"Take one of the pillows on the bed. Don't think about it! Do it!" - -Julia carried Belle over to the bed. As she tried to put it down, one -of its claws became entangled in her dress. The cat started to struggle -as if finally awakened. Julia reached over for a pillow. Sweat stood -out on her forehead. Her tears blinded her. She saw the mass of fur. -She saw the softness. The claws were freed. She brought the pillow -down over Belle. - -Julia blacked out, sprawled across the pillow. - -She couldn't have been out long. She pulled herself from the bed. The -pillow was on the floor. Belle was gone. - -Vassi's voice was in her head. "It worked! The anatomists are wild! -I've never seen so much excitement!" - -"Belle is all right?" - -"Wonderful. It took them no time at all to revive her. The laboratory -is a bedlam. Everyone wants to examine her." - -"How should I do it? I'll never be able to suffocate myself." She -laughed a little. "I can't even turn on the gas range. Mine is -electric." - -She looked around the apartment. If she slashed her wrists there would -be too much blood. She hated blood. The thought of poison repelled her. -Wait--she had it. - -She pulled one of the sheets off the bed and twisted it. She pushed the -overstuffed chair into the center of the room and stood on one of the -arms to attach an end of the sheet to the ceiling fixture. At the other -end she made a noose. - -There was a knock on the door again. - -"Julia, if you're not well, it's no good you should be alone," Mrs. -Shultz said. - -Julia slipped the noose over her head. - -"Vassi, do you love me?" - -"Of course. I just hope you'll love me." - -Mrs. Shultz knocked hard. "Julia, I hear you talking. I know you're -home. Let me in. I have some soup for you." - -"Vassi, do you think I'm beautiful?" - -"The most beautiful woman I have ever seen." - -Mrs. Shultz pounded on the door. "Julia, why don't you answer me?" - -As Julia stepped off the arm of the chair, she saw the open window. A -thought crossed her mind before the noose tightened. Belle could have -jumped out of the window when I passed out. _Julia, you're a realist!_ - - * * * * * - -Mrs. Shultz put down the pot of soup and opened the door. - -The apartment is called a single. It consists of a Murphy bed, a -chest of drawers, an overstuffed chair, a sofa, a coffee table, a -seventeen-inch television set, a bookcase partially filled with the -volumes A through F of an encyclopedia from the supermarket, and -assorted paperback books, and a radio that doesn't work. In the ceiling -is a fixture with two twenty-five-watt bulbs. From the fixture hangs -a twisted sheet with a hangman's knot in the end of it. The noose is -quite empty. So is the apartment. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Vassi, by Art Lewis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VASSI *** - -***** This file should be named 60921.txt or 60921.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/2/60921/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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