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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..975a325 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65896 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65896) diff --git a/old/65896-0.txt b/old/65896-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 97cf872..0000000 --- a/old/65896-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1589 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of So Many Worlds Away..., by Dwight V. Swain - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: So Many Worlds Away... - -Author: Dwight V. Swain - -Release Date: July 22, 2021 [eBook #65896] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SO MANY WORLDS AWAY... *** - - - - - SO MANY WORLDS AWAY.... - - By Dwight V. Swain - - Horning's married life was unbearable so - he sought peace in another dimension. But was - his past somehow linked with other worlds?... - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - July 1952 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -It was nearly four o'clock in the windowless basement laboratory when -Horning screwed tight the last connection. - -He straightened, shrugged the kinks from his back and shoulders, and -wiped his hands clean on a wad of waste. Crossing to the battered desk -in the corner, he pushed back Margaret's picture, got out pen and -paper, and wrote briefly: - - _Dear Myrtle_, - - _It's time we faced facts. I never should have married you after - Margaret died. My work means everything to me; I can't give it up. - But you detest the whole business of being a scientist's wife. - Knowing how you feel about the "shame" of divorce, I won't ask - you to let me leave you legally. There's a better way out. By the - time you read this, I'll either have breached and bridged the - space-time continuum to another plane, or I'll be dead. In either - case, you'll be happier with me gone. My patent royalties and - insurance will take care of you as long as you live._ - - _Good luck, and I'm sorry it didn't work out._ - - _Raymond._ - -Horning weighted the letter down in the center of the desk. Then, -pushing back his chair, he picked up Margaret's picture. - -She smiled up at him as always, so real the sight of her brought a -tightness to his throat. When he closed his eyes, he could almost hear -her voice, rippling with gay, gentle laughter. He felt her lips on -his ... her dark, silken hair against his cheek. - -Only Margaret had lain in her grave for three years now.... - -Horning drew a quick, shallow breath. Sliding the photo from its frame, -he tucked it into the breast pocket of his shirt. - -Back at the workbench, he heaved up the bulky transdimensional -registration unit, strapped it on and adjusted the scanning scope to -the proper angle against his chest. Dial by dial, circuit by circuit, -he checked the light-loop's control panel. - -Everything was ready. - -This was the moment he'd worked for ... the great gamble, the final -test. Not even Myrtle could stop him now. - -Palm slick with sweat, he gripped the master switch and shoved it shut. - -Purple light flared in the tubes set in the light-loop's door-like -metal frame. The blank wall behind it took on the familiar translucent -glow. - -Horning opened the intensifier channels and increased the alpha and -gamma readings. - -The light turned silver. The wall behind the framework disappeared. - - * * * * * - -Horning stepped onto the ramp that led up to the frame. In the humming -stillness he could hear the sound of his own heartbeat, drumming faster -and faster. The sharp, chlorine-like smell of ozone filled the air. - -For an instant, then, he hesitated, acutely conscious of an -uncontrollable trembling. Sweat drenched him; the sour stench of it cut -through the ozone. - -He thought: _Maybe they're right. Maybe I'm crazy to think I can cross -the barrier between the worlds._ - -Upstairs, the front door slammed. The house echoed with the thud of -heavy footsteps. - -Myrtle's footsteps--! - -Horning sucked in one final, desperate breath and stepped through the -light-loop's frame. - -It was so simple, really. Just like going out a doorway, into a -limitless expanse of shining silver plain. He felt no pain, no shock, -not even slight discomfort. - -Swiftly, skillfully, he adjusted the transdimensional registration -unit's dials. - -Light flickered on the scanning scope's screen, a shapeless blur. - -Horning twisted the focussing knob. The blur resolved. A scene took -form. - -Taut with excitement, Horning stared for the first time into another -world. - -The place was an apartment, he decided. But what an apartment! It -shimmered like a modernist's sparkling dream. The decor was brilliant, -unique in style. Metal and plastic combined in sleek, functional forms. - -Nor was this all. A man stood by a table, back to the screen, mixing a -drink. While Horning watched, he restoppered the bottle and stepped out -a door to the right. - -Horning frowned. He had a strange feeling, somehow, that he'd seen the -man somewhere before. - -Shrugging it off, he lined up the crosshairs on the screen with -infinite care and switched the projector drive to high. - -Before his very eyes, the shining silver plain dissolved. The shadowy -walls of the room on the screen rose about him. Furnishings appeared in -misty outline. - -Horning pressed the reintegrator button. - -The walls lost their shadow. The furnishings took on solid form. - -Horning came to rest with a heavy thud, sprawled in the center of the -floor. - -Behind him, there was a stir of sudden movement; a choked exclamation. - -Before he could turn or regain his feet, a man's tight voice clipped, -"Don't move--or you die!" - -Horning froze. "There's no need to be frightened," he said quickly. -"I'm merely a--a traveler. I've come here from another plane--" - -"I understand perfectly!" the voice snapped back. "I happen to be an -authority on such matters. That's why I say--if you move, you die!" - -Horning's spine prickled. Just as he'd had the feeling he'd seen the -man on the screen before, now it came to him that the voice, too, was -strangely familiar. - - * * * * * - -Behind him, shoes scraped the floor. Fingers probed warily at his -pockets, his belt, his armpits. Then they went away again and the voice -said, "All right. Now take off that outfit." - -Wordless, wooden-fingered, Horning unstrapped the transdimensional -registration unit's harness. - -"Get up!" the voice commanded. - -Horning obeyed. - -"Now sit down on that lounge in front of you, with your hands on the -arms." - -Horning crossed to the divan and turned around. For the first time, he -faced his captor. - -It was the same man Horning had seen on the screen. He stood poised, -cat-footed, back against the gleaming metaloid wall. An ugly, -snub-nosed pistol of strange design was in his hand. - -And his face was Horning's face. - -Horning went rigid--shocked, half unbelieving. - -"Down!" rapped his counterpart. - -Horning sank numbly to the seat. - -"Who are you? Why did you come here?" - -Some of the numbness left Horning. Cold anger came in its place. "Why -ask me?" he lashed back. "I thought you knew all the answers." - -The man's knuckles whitened on the pistol. "I want the truth!" - -Horning laughed. Of a sudden he felt bold and reckless. "I told you the -first time. I came from another world, a different plane--" - -The gun moved in a flat, incisive gesture. "I know all that! The -parallel worlds, the Worlds of 'If'. Parmenides and his theory of the -Eternal Now. The idea that life's a book with an infinity of pages; -that every event automatically creates coexisting planes, one for each -possible outcome--" Horning's captor broke off. "But _why_? What drove -you to cross the barrier?" - -Horning shrugged. "It was Myrtle--" he began wryly. - -The other started; fell back a step. "_Myrtle--?_" - -"My wife. I wanted to leave her." - -"You mean--you breached the continuum for no better reason...?" - -Horning laughed curtly. "For my part, I found it a very adequate -reason." - -For a long moment the other stared at him. Then, abruptly, he, too, -laughed. The snub-nosed gun's muzzle lowered. - -"You amaze me," his captor chuckled. He bowed. "Permit me to introduce -myself. I'm Doctor Raymond X. Horning." - -"My coexisting counterpart on this plane--?" - -"Of course. The alter ego is bound to serve as a focal point when you -cross the barrier." The man pocketed his gun and walked over to the -table. "Let me mix you a drink. After such an experience, you need a -pickup." - - * * * * * - -Horning leaned back, studying the other obliquely and trying to fathom -the sudden change in his attitude. - -Too, he still marveled at the similarity between them. They were so -alike they could pass as twins, he decided. Identical twins. The only -difference between them lay in details of expression--the sardonic -twist to the other's mouth; the chill, penetrating gleam in the -deep-set eyes. - -His counterpart handed him a glass. "You amuse me, my friend. But I'm -afraid you don't realize the full implications of what you've done." - -"Such as--?" Horning queried, sipping at the drink and finding it good. - -"Such as the fact that interdimensional transit is not only a logical -impossibility, but a very practical menace." - -Horning frowned. "Why?" - -"Because it puts two identical personalities on one plane." The man -with Horning's face dropped into a chair and hunched forward. "Take our -own situation as an example. You're married to a shrew, a termagant. -You want to leave her." - -"Yes." - -"I, on the other hand, have a young and charming wife who holds a -considerable fortune in her own right. Consequently, it would be -ever so much to your advantage to switch places with me." Horning's -counterpart brought up one square-knit hand in an expressive gesture. -"What's to prevent your murdering me and moving in?" - -Horning nodded slowly. "I see what you mean." - -"I'm convinced it's actually happened a few times already," the other -asserted. "Though of course it's not generally known. Fortunately, -we've never worked out the principle on this plane." He paused to -drink, then set down his glass. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and -he nodded in the direction of the transdimensional registration unit. -"Just how does it work, Doctor? I've always wondered where my own -experiments went wrong." - -For a moment Horning hesitated, then shrugged. "See for yourself." -Kneeling, he unsnapped the unit's back plate and exposed the circuits. -"The registration dials are set with my own world as zero. You pick -up others in the scanning scope as you go, within the limits of the -projector drive. After that, it's just a problem of reintegration." - -Beside him, the man who was his coexisting self craned. "So that's it! -I never dreamed it could be so simple." - -"I used a light-loop to help break through the barrier," Horning -explained, sketching out a hasty diagram. "It helps to increase the -power output--" - -"Of course." The other was down on the floor now, probing into the -unit's workings. "I've developed all the component elements at one -time or another, but when it came to combining them properly, I always -managed to miss out." - - * * * * * - -Horning rose and drained his glass. "Well, you know now," he observed. -"For my part, I'm ready to start work on some other project, now that -I've gotten to this world." - -"I was afraid you'd say that," the other Doctor Raymond X. Horning -remarked. Straightening, he snapped shut the back panel of the -transdirectional registration unit. "But ... it's not easy." - -"What do you mean?" - -Horning's counterpart got up. "I mean you can't stay in this world. -You're going to have to leave again." - -"To leave--!" Horning turned sharply. - -"Yes." Beneath the blandness of the other's manner, a new note rang, -grim and unyielding. "As I pointed out, interdimensional transit's a -logical impossibility. There's no way of integrating two identical -personalities, two selves of the same man, into a highly organized -society such as this one." - -"And for a reason like that you'd try to force me out--?" Horning took -an angry step forward. - -But his counterpart jumped back, out of the way. His hand darted to his -pocket, whipping out the snub-nosed pistol. - -Horning came to an abrupt halt. - -The blandness was gone from the other's face now. The deep-set eyes -were cold, the sardonic lines set. - -He said: "There's another reason, Doctor. I like my life; I like my -wife. And I'm afraid the temptation to relieve me of both might prove -too great for you." - -"You're being absurd," Horning snapped. "Not to mention insulting." - -"Am I?" His counterpart smiled thinly. "I doubt that, my friend. You -see, we're one, really. Though we live on separate planes, we both feel -the same drives, the same tensions, the same impulses." - -"You're talking nonsense!" - -"No nonsense, Doctor." The pistol in his counterpart's hand was very -steady. "Given the proper pressure, a strong enough motive, I know that -even I could kill. In your situation, I'd certainly feel justified in -murdering you. So I have no intention of giving you the chance to make -me your victim." - -"So--?" snapped Horning. - -"So, you're going to leave now," his coexisting self answered bluntly. -"You can be thankful I'll even let you go alive." He gestured with the -pistol. "Strap on your unit. And be assured I'd have no hesitancy about -shooting you if I have to." - -Horning clenched his fists, caught up in a churning sea of fury. "So -help me--!" - -The gun centered on his belly. "I'll give you till I count ten," his -counterpart clipped tightly. - -Horning bit down hard. Pivoting, he hoisted the transdimensional -registration unit from the floor and strapped it into position. - -"In case you have any foolish ideas of coming back, let me warn you -that I intend to set up a force barrier around this place," the man -with his face observed with grim malice. "If you try to breach it, I'll -kill you on sight." - -Wordless, still seething, Horning switched the projector drive to -reverse. - -The room grew shadowy about him. His counterpart faded. - -Horning pressed the disintegrator button. - - * * * * * - -Of a sudden, room and counterpart were gone. Once more Horning stood -alone in the vastness of the shining silver plain. His head throbbed -dully; he felt incredibly tired and drained. - -For a moment he almost considered going back to his own world ... back -to Myrtle. - -But nightmare memories of the empty, bitter life they'd led rose up -to steel him, all hatred, conflict, tension ... so different from the -happiness of the other days, the days with Margaret. - -Margaret.... He touched her picture, still safe in his pocket. - -There were other worlds--an infinity of them. Somewhere, sometime, he'd -find the one world he sought. - -Again, he turned the transdimensional registration unit's dials. - -Light flashed on the scanning scope's screen. Stiff-fingered, Horning -focussed. - -Here the scene was one of bleak desolations, painted in a hundred -drab shades of grey. A murky sky pressed down on sullen hills, thick -underfoot with powdery, ash-dry dust. Seared shafts that might once -have been trees thrust up here and there like skeletal fingers. In the -foreground rose the crumbling corner of a ruined building, base buried -deep in rubble. - -A man crouched there--ragged, bone-gaunt, grey as the shattered walls -at his back. He clutched a club in one claw-like hand, and the strain -of utter panic, despair, stood out in every taut, harsh-drawn line. - -Before the man, hemming him in, ranged a dozen great, six-legged, -wolfish beasts of a fearsome genus Horning had never seen before. -Snarling, slavering, they crowded in closer and closer, huge fangs -bared. - -With a chill of horror, Horning flipped the magnifier across the -scanning scope's screen. - -The beleagured man's face leaped up at him, sharp and clear. - -"No--!" Horning choked. "No!" - -For the other's fear-blanched face was his face, too ... the face of -another coexisting self, doomed to live and die in this grey, desolate -world. - -Even as Horning cried out, one of the great wolf-things sprang. - -The man jerked back and lashed out with his club. The beast fell short, -battered down. - -But in the same instant, another of the creatures lunged, from the -other side. Its hideous, slashing fangs closed on the man's club arm. - -The impact bore the man to his knees. Before he could recover, a third -of the wolf-things was at his throat. Blood gushed, a sharp scarlet -accent in a world of grey. - -Horning squeezed his eyes tight shut in a frenzied effort to shut out -the horror. Spasmodically, he spun the transdimensional registration -unit's dials. - -Again there was a flicker of light. Hands still atremble, Horning -focussed on it. - -A new world came alive before him. - - * * * * * - -This time, the scene was laid in what appeared to be a cheap cafe. A -throng of loungers lined the bar set against the far wall. But their -shabby clothes were of a cut and material unknown to Horning. The -grimed, poorly-executed murals struck a note of jangling discord, as if -even the arts here were keyed to a different plane. - -In the foreground, a man gone flabby with fat slumped on his arms at a -table, a bottle half full of greenish liquor before him. - -A sudden commotion stirred at the far end of the room. The loungers -milled and drew back. - -Four men in sack-like purple uniforms pushed through the crowd with -cold arrogance. Their features had an oriental cast, and they carried -drawn swords of strange design. - -The first of the quartet came abreast the table in the foreground. -Stepping aside, he gestured contemptuously towards the man slumped -there. - -The other three troopers swaggered up and jerked the man bodily from -his chair. - -For the first time, Horning saw the sodden man's face. - -Again, as in the other worlds, it was his own. - -Now, the fat man shook his head blearily, as if trying to blink the -haze of drink from his eyes. - -The leader of the four uniformed men slapped him savagely, first on one -side of the face and then the other. - -Horning's coexisting self sagged to his knees. - -The leader of the men in purple kicked him in the stomach. - -Horning's counterpart vomited. - -The men in purple laughed and threw their prisoner down at full length -on the floor with all their might. Then, catching him by the feet, they -dragged him bodily out of both drinking house and range of the scanning -scope's screen. - -Shuddering, Horning stared off across the shining silver plain. Of a -sudden he had no heart for searching through other worlds; knew that he -would not have till time had dimmed the memory of this day. - -It left him no choice but to go back to his own plane ... back to -Myrtle. - -And if she'd found his note.... He shook his head in wry dismay. - -But he had no other course left open. Carefully, he turned the -transdimensional registration unit's calibrated dials back to zero ... -manipulated the controls. - -The light-loop's tubes blazed and pulsated on the scanner screen, so -bright they obscured everything beyond. The frame materialized before -him, rising like a shimmering, translucent gateway amid the empty -vastness of the silver plain. - - * * * * * - -Heavy-footed, heavy-hearted, Horning stepped through it, back to the -basement laboratory that lay in his own world. - -And there was Myrtle. Head thrust forward, one thick arm belligerently -akimbo, she stood by the desk, reading Horning's note. - -Horning stopped short. - -Myrtle's glance flicked to him. Her eyes, black and beady, drew to -fury-glinting, fat-rimmed slits. - -Horning stumbled from the ramp, fumbling at the transit unit's harness. - -But Myrtle was upon him in three walloping strides--clutching his -shirt-front, shoving her face close to his. An aura of cheap perfume, -stale face powder, clothes that could have done with more frequent -laundering, washed over Horning in unpleasant waves. - -"You--!" - -She spat the word with such venom that her face shook. - -Horning tried to speak, but no words came. - -"Leave me, will you--!" - -"Myrtle--" - -She struck him across the mouth. - -Horning's head reeled. He tried to twist free. - -But Myrtle's hand was still locked in his shirt-front. Savagely, she -jerked him back and hit him again. - -Horning staggered. His shirt ripped. Margaret's portrait fluttered from -his pocket to the floor. - -Myrtle went rigid. Eyes dilating, she stared at the fallen picture. - -Horning tore loose her hand and scooped the photo from the floor. - -Teeth bared, nostrils flaring, Myrtle closed in upon him. "So that's -it!" she cried shrilly. - -"What--?" - -"So you thought you'd go back to her, that's what! You figured you'd -find her in another world--" - -A chill ran up and down Horning's spine. He tucked the picture back in -his pocket. "Myrtle, you don't know what you're saying--" - -"Oh, don't I?" His wife laughed wildly. Grey hair fell across her -forehead in snarled disarray. "Maybe I know more than you think, -Doctor Raymond X. Horning! I've read those things you wrote--all that -craziness about the other worlds. But I didn't know _why_ you wanted to -go there till now." - -Horning fumbled with the transdimensional registration unit's straps. -Unslinging the bulky case, he lowered it to the floor. He dared not -trust himself to speak. - -But Myrtle closed in upon him, clawing at him. "Admit it!" she -shrieked. "Go ahead! Tell me to my face you'd rather have that--that -slut than me--" - -Horning wheeled. His hands shook. "Myrtle, I've taken every word from -you that I intend to," he said tightly. "Get out of my laboratory! Now! -This instant!" Myrtle's nails raked at his eyes. - - * * * * * - -Before he could recover from fending off the blow, she had snatched -Margaret's picture from his pocket. - -"I'll show you!" she cried, shrill and strident. "I'll let you see what -I think of her, the dirty little tramp!" - -She spat full in the face of the picture. - -Horning hit her. - -She lurched back two tottering steps, tripped, and sprawled on the -floor. - -Horning strode to her, jerked Margaret's photo from her hand, and wiped -it clean. - -He said: "I'm through. Whether you like it or not, I'm filing for -divorce tomorrow." - -His wife dragged herself up to a sitting position, her face a mask of -hate and cunning. - -"Go ahead," she goaded. "Go _right_ ahead, Doctor Raymond X. Horning." -Her voice rose, took on new and even more bitter overtones of malice. -"But ... just don't blame anyone but yourself for whatever happens to -your precious apparatus." - -Heaving herself to her feet, she stomped out of the laboratory and off -up the basement stairs. - -Fists clenched, Horning watched her go. Then, wearily, he crossed to -his ancient desk and dropped down in the chair. - -As always, Myrtle had won. The first time he left the house she'd be -at work here--breaking down the door, smashing his equipment and his -dreams. - -And as for Margaret.... He smoothed her picture. But the features -blurred and his eyes began to burn, till at last he pushed the -photograph back in his pocket and slumped forward on his arms. - -How long he lay there he never knew. Later, sometimes, he thought -perhaps he'd slept. - -Then, dimly, he became conscious of a sound ... a humming, persistent -vibrance that grew steadily louder. It dawned on him that he'd -forgotten to turn off the light-loop's master switch. - -He got up and started towards the control panel. - -In the same instant, he glimpsed a shadowy figure, framed in the -door-like scaffolding of tubes and metal that formed the gateway to the -shining silver plain that lay like a shimmering no-man's land between -the parallel worlds. - -Horning came up short, staring. - -The figure outlined in the light-loop grew sharper. A man lurched -through the frame, into the room. His face was Horning's face, and he -staggered under the weight of a transdimensional registration unit, -plus a great, bulging, cumbersome bundle slung across his shoulder. - -Horning started forward. - -His visitor said, "Hold it!" sharply and brought a snub-barreled, -too-familiar pistol into view. - -Horning stopped in his tracks. - -"You mean--it's you--?" - -The man from beyond the barrier laughed and spilled the bulky bundle -off his shoulder, down onto the floor. "Of course, Doctor! I thought -I'd return your visit." He prodded the bundle with his toe. "I even -brought you a present." - -"But ... I thought you said you'd never developed a successful transit -unit...." - -"I hadn't, till you came along and showed me how. As I told you, I'd -worked out the components. Once I had a chance to look over your unit, -integrating them was no job at all." - -"But why...?" - - * * * * * - -The man with Horning's face laughed again. "That comes later, my -friend. After you've admired the present I brought you." - -Horning eyed the bundle. Limp and bulky, it was nearly six feet long -and wrapped loosely in a covering of some greenish plastic. - -"Go ahead. Look it over," his visitor invited, gesturing with the gun. -"It's all yours." - -New uneasiness crept through Horning. Slowly, he came forward and, -kneeling, started to untie the cords that held the bundle closed. - -"You're too slow," the man said. "Here. Let me do it." - -He tugged at one corner of the covering. The plastic tore away. - -Feminine hair came into view. A head lolled over, exposed. - -Horning found himself staring down into a nightmarish, waxen face. A -thin breath bubbled the lips. He leaped back, choking. - -"Myrtle--!" - -"Correct," his counterpart chuckled. "Or perhaps I should say--_my_ -Myrtle." - -"_Your_ Myrtle--?" A convulsive tremor shook Horning. "But I -thought...." - -"You thought I had a charming wife who held a fortune in her own name," -the other retorted coolly. "The part about the fortune was true. As -for the rest"--he shrugged--"well, you can see that I, too, married a -wasp-tongued shrew named Myrtle--the coexisting counterpart of your own -trouble." - -With an effort, Horning stilled his trembling. "Then why lie to me?" he -demanded in sudden, flaring anger. "What possible reason--" - -"I was afraid to let you know. And ... I needed time to work out a -plan." The sardonic lines about his alter ego's mouth etched deeper. -"I've taken care of that detail now." - -Horning drew back another step. "I don't think I care to hear about -it," he clipped tightly. - -"Oh, but you must!" his counterpart retorted. "You see, you're vital -to it." - -"I don't care for that, either." - -The other's deep-set eyes glinted. "Not even if it would enable you to -get rid of your own wife in perfect safety?" - -"No." - -"It's a wonderful plan. So simple...." - -Horning cut him off with a short, decisive gesture. "I don't want to -hear it." - -The man with Horning's face took one fast step forward. His head seemed -to draw down between his shoulders. "And I say you're going to hear it, -whether you want to or not!" he snapped harshly. He swung the gun in a -threatening arc. "I don't intend to have gone through all of this for -nothing." - - * * * * * - -Horning hooked his thumbs in his belt and met the other's cold eyes -with all the bravado he could muster. He said nothing. - -"I merely propose that we switch wives," his counterpart clipped. - -"Switch wives--!" Shock startled the words from Horning. - -"Could anything be simpler? Here are two women, completely identical. -Both are stupid, both termagants in their own right. So, each falls -asleep tonight in her own world. In the morning, she wakes up in -another." - -Horning twisted at his belt. Narrow-eyed, frowning, he stared at his -visitor. "But why--?" - -The man's thin lips parted in a mirthless grin. "How would you feel -if, stupid and knowing nothing of transdimensional transit, you were -suddenly to awaken in a completely strange world? What would be your -chances of making a successful adjustment?" - -"I ... I don't know...." - -"Adjustment to environment is the key to integration of personality. -When anyone loses touch with his world, the background he knows as -reality, he can no longer adjust." Horning's counterpart paused. His -voice dropped a note. "Every plane has facilities to take care of such -unfortunates." - -The skin along the back of Horning's neck prickled. "You mean ... -Myrtle would go mad?" he whispered hoarsely. - -"That's what the psychiatrists would say, at least." - -A new tremor shook Horning. Unsteadily, he made his way to the chair by -the desk and slumped into it. - -His other self chuckled. "It's beautiful, isn't it? All you need to -do is call the authorities in the morning. They'll take Myrtle to the -nearest mental hospital for observation--and that's the last you'll -ever see of her." - -Horning's collar was all at once too tight. His palms grew wet with icy -sweat. - -His coexisting self leaned back against the light-loop's control -panel. The pistol hung loose at his side. - -"We have an undetectable anesthetic in my world," he observed. "A few -drops of it on a handkerchief, pressed over your Myrtle's face tonight, -will make her sleep as soundly as my wife is sleeping over there." He -nodded to the still figure on the floor. - -Horning scrubbed the sweat from his hands against his pant-legs. -Shivering, he ran his fingers through his hair. - -"You'll be free to follow your research, wherever it leads you," his -counterpart murmured dreamily. "For me, I'll have my Myrtle's fortune -to console me." He laughed softly. "What could be simpler, or sweeter?" - -Horning slumped deeper into the chair. He rubbed at his cheek; squeezed -his eyes tight shut and then opened them again. The skin across his -forehead seemed to draw tighter and tighter, like a band of steel, -till it was all he could do to keep from screaming aloud. He twisted, -shifted, slid down further. - -His counterpart stretched. The dreamy look left the deep-set eyes. - -"We're dawdling too long. It's time we got started." He straightened. -"Come on." - -"No," said Horning. - -The man from across the barrier between the parallel worlds half -turned, head tilted, brows suddenly knitting. "What--?" - -"I said no," Horning answered through dry lips. "I'm not going to do -it." - - * * * * * - -The other's lean face went blank, incredulous. He came a step towards -Horning. "Do you know what you're saying, man? Would you actually pass -up a chance like this to rid yourself of that harridan you married?" - -Horning shifted in his seat. He dodged the other's eyes, not speaking. - -"But why? Why won't you? You'll never have another chance like this." - -"I don't know why," said Horning. "Or ... maybe I do...." His voice -trailed off. - -The other took a stand directly before him--feet spread apart, face -cold and rocky. "Don't give me that! We're really one--remember? I know -how you feel. You want to do it!" - -The fury in the man's voice struck an answering spark in Horning. He -came up from the chair. "I want to--but I'm not going to! Now get out! -And take her"--he gestured towards the other's unconscious wife--"with -you!" - -His counterpart seemed to grow suddenly taller. "When I'm ready to go, -I'll tell you!" - -"You'll go now!" - -"No!" - -Horning started forward. - -The other whipped up his gun. "I've come too far to quit now," he -clipped tightly. "If you're too much of a fool or a coward to go -along, then that's your bad luck. I'll handle things a different way." -His lips twisted. "Back up against the wall!" - -For the fraction of a second, Horning hesitated. But the gun in his -alter ego's hand stayed steady. - -Horning backed away. - -"Maybe this way is better, after all," his counterpart said. "Maybe I -should have planned it like this from the start." - -New lines of strain slashed his lean, sardonic face. The deep-set eyes -took on a light almost of madness. - -Then--lightning fast; without warning--he pivoted. The pistol in his -hand made flat, clicking sounds. There was no report, no muzzle flare. - -Three times he fired--straight at the limp form of his bound, drugged -wife. - -Dust leaped from the plastic wrapper as the slugs smashed home. The -woman's body jerked convulsively. - -Horning gave a hoarse cry and leaped forward. - -His counterpart jumped aside. He hit Horning hard on the back of the -neck with the pistol. - -Horning slammed to the floor. The room rocked about him. - -As from afar, he heard his alter ego's voice: "Get up!" - -Horning dragged himself to his knees, choking and gasping. He caught -a blurred glimpse of the limp figure of the woman who had been his -counterpart's wife. A thin trickle of blood was seeping from her -mouth.... - -"Get up, I said!" the killer cried in a tight terrible voice. - -He kicked Horning in the side. - -Horning rolled away, pain stabbing through him. He scrambled to his -feet. - -"Climb onto the desk!" - - * * * * * - -Shaking, Horning clambered up, standing half-crouched with the top of -his head pressing the ceiling. A water pipe lay like a cold knife-blade -against the back of his neck. - -His counterpart dragged a coil of insulated wire from the workbench and -threw it to Horning. "Here! Tie a noose!" - -In aching silence, Horning looped and twisted the wire. - -"You know what happens now, don't you?" The murderer from another world -leered up at him, rocking with laughter, and this time there was no -mistaking the madness in the deep-set eyes. "You're going to anchor -that wire to the water pipe, and put the noose around your scrawny -neck, and jump off the desk! After that"--he laughed again--"I'll take -your wife and go back to my own plane. When they find you here, with my -Myrtle and my gun, they'll say you murdered her and hanged yourself!" - -"They wont believe it!" Horning blurted. He groped desperately. -"They--they'll know from the gun. There's no other like it on this -plane--" - -"--So, they'll say it's a new development by the renowned scientist, -Doctor Raymond X. Horning--" Abruptly, the man who was Horning's -counterpart broke off. His mirth vanished, replaced by cold, gun-backed -menace. "You're stalling! Anchor that wire!" - -A knot of black fear drew tight in Horning's midriff. Numbly, he -fumbled with wire and pipe. - -"Anchor it!" - -Horning sucked in air. - -"Hurry up!" - -Horning let the wire drop. - -The coil hit the edge of the desk, hung for a moment, and then rolled -off onto the floor. - -The other's eyes flicked down to it. He cursed and took one short step -forward, hand outstretched. - -Horning dived off the desk, straight at him. - -The man from beyond the barrier started back. He jerked up the gun. - -His shot went wild. Horning landed on him with bone-crushing impact. -The gun skated off across the room. They crashed to the floor together, -rolling over and over till they hit the workbench. It rocked wildly. -Tools cascaded over them. - -Twisting, Horning drove a blow at his counterpart's face. - -The other writhed away. His elbow jabbed into Horning's throat. - -Horning choked. Before he could recover, a knee found his belly. The -wind went out of him. His adversary broke free and scrambled away, -clawing for the gun. - -Horning lunged after him. He caught a foot ... jerked and twisted with -all his might. - -The killer sprawled, flat on his face. But his outstretched hand -clutched the pistol. - -Horning snatched a Stillson wrench from the litter of tools fallen from -the workbench. - -His counterpart rolled, whipping round the gun. - - * * * * * - -Horning lashed out with the wrench, straight at the other's head. It -struck home with a sound like that of a dropped watermelon bursting on -a concrete sidewalk. - -The killer went limp. - -Horning sagged back, panting. After a moment, he saw that his -counterpart had stopped breathing. - -Horning staggered to his feet. His stomach churned. He lurched to the -wastebasket beside the desk and vomited. - -Then a dull, shuffling sound impinged upon him. Swaying, Horning came -erect and peered round behind him. - -Myrtle stood in the doorway, eyes blacker and beadier than ever. Her -jaw was set, her greying hair loose and disheveled. She wore a frayed, -ancient kimona and dirty white mules. - -Horning choked, "Myrtle, get back--!" and tried to move round between -her and the bodies. But she pushed past without speaking, straight to -his fallen counterpart, and bent as swiftly as her bulk would allow. -When she straightened, she held the murderer's pistol in her hand. - -"Myrtle, be careful--!" - -She shoved him back with a meaty hand, blocking him with her body, the -gun held behind her. He could not read her expression. When she spoke, -her voice was flat and without feeling, no longer strident: "I heard it -all, Raymond--all the conniving ... how you hate me ... that monster's -scheme to steal his wife's fortune...." - -Horning shrugged, not bothering to answer. Squatting down, he began -gathering together the tools spilled from the workbench. - -"Raymond...." - -Horning glanced up, then stiffened. - -Myrtle had brought round the pistol. She was pointing it at him. - -In the same flat voice she said: "Put on that outfit, Raymond. That -transdimensional whatever-you-call-it." - -Horning let the tools fall. "Are you out of your mind, woman? In this -shambles, with two corpses...." He choked, unable to go on. - -Myrtle said: "Put it on." Her face was a mask, an enigma. Her voice -stayed low, completely devoid of emotion. "I'll kill you if you don't." - -Horning stared into his wife's eyes. They were inscrutable, hard and -blank and black as twin balls of polished onyx. - -Myrtle's lips parted. Her jowls quivered. She steadied the pistol. - -Very slowly, very wearily, Horning rose. Wordless, he crossed to the -transdimensional registration unit and strapped it on. - -"Go over in the corner," his wife ordered. "Stand with your face -against the wall." - -Horning obeyed. He wondered whether Myrtle intended to shoot him in the -back. - -Or maybe she'd just gone mad. - -Whatever it was, he decided, he didn't much care. - - * * * * * - -Metal scraped on metal. Something thudded on the floor. The hoarse -wheeze of Myrtle's breathing, the slap and shuffle of her mules, -sounded loud in the stillness. - -After another moment, Myrtle said, "Turn around." - -Horning pivoted, then stared. - -His wife now wore the other transit unit, the one by means of which -Horning's counterpart had crossed the barrier between the parallel -worlds. - -"All right, Raymond." She gestured to the light-loop's glowing, -door-like frame. "Go through." - -"Go _through_--?" - -"Yes. Ahead of me. I'll follow." - -"No." Horning put flat finality into his voice. "You don't understand -what that frame is for, Myrtle--what lies on the other side--" - -"Don't tell me what I don't understand!" For an instant the old -stridency rang in Myrtle's words. "I've read those things you -wrote--remember? Your notes, too. I know what I'm doing!" She thrust -the pistol forward. "Go on! Go through!" - -Once again, Horning studied his wife's face, to no avail. He made a wry -mouth. Then, turning, he walked up the ramp, and stepped through the -light-loop's pulsating, tube-laden frame. - -The silver plain stretched endlessly before him ... infinitely vast, -infinitely lonely. - -Horning shivered a little and swung about. - -A bulky figure loomed close at hand, framed in the light-loop's glow. -A moment later, Myrtle was beside him, staring across the shimmering -wastes wide-eyed. She cringed before the immensity and desolation of -it, knuckles white, face slack and waxy grey. Horning could almost -taste her fear. - -He prodded her: "What now?" - -She shook as with a chill, not answering. Then, peering down into the -scanner screen, she fumbled with the calibrated knobs that shifted the -scene from plane to plane. - -Horning began, "If you'd only tell me what you want--" - -"Shut up." - -The seconds ticked into minutes. The minutes marched stolidly on. A -half hour dragged by. An hour. And still Myrtle spun the registration -dials. - -Horning shifted, closed his eyes. A haze seemed to rise about him. He -was so tired he could hardly stand. - -Myrtle said, "Raymond...." - -Horning shook away the haze. - - * * * * * - -His wife's expression was more unfathomable than ever. She stepped -closer, and now he saw that she was holding out the pistol, -butt-foremost, as if to hand it to him. - -He reached up to take the weapon. - -But instead of releasing it, she brushed his hand aside and brought the -gun-butt down sharply on the screen of Horning's scanning scope. - -The scanner smashed to splinters. - -Horning went rigid. But before he could move, his wife had jerked back -the gun, reversed it, and leveled it at him. - -Horning cursed aloud. - -For the first time, Myrtle smiled. - -It reminded Horning of the grin on a bleaching skull. - -She said: "Set your dials at 830-X-974." - -For a moment Horning hesitated. But the gun was very steady. Seething, -he did as he was told. - -"Now turn your projector drive to high." - -Horning gripped the corner of his unit's bulky case. "Where are you -sending me? Why did you smash the scanner so I couldn't see?" - -"We're both going. Turn it to high." Her eyes mocked him. The pistol -menaced. - -Horning threw the switch. - -"Now, reintegrate...." - -A wave of utter helplessness, utter hopelessness, engulfed Horning. He -pressed the button. - -A room materialized about him--a room almost the twin of his own -basement laboratory. There was the workbench, there the desk. A frame -close akin to that of the light-loop rose against one wall. - -A man sprawled on his back near the control panel. His face was -Horning's face. - -Horning bent over him and felt for some trace of pulse, then -straightened, to find Myrtle once more standing beside him. - -"He's dead," Horning said. - -She nodded. Her lips twitched. "Take off your unit." - -"My unit--?" - -"Yes," She gestured to the dead man. "Put it on him." - -"What--?" - -"I said, put it on him." All the flatness was back in Myrtle's voice. - -In a numb, aching void of silence, Horning obeyed. - -"Set the dials for 701-G-0060." - -Horning's fingers went stiff. He looked up at his wife, hardly -believing his own ears. "You mean...?" - -"I mean, I'm going to the world that murdering monster in our basement -came from!" Myrtle's breasts rose and fell in a sudden tempest of -emotion. She was breathing noisily, too fast. The greying hair fell -over her face, and her eyes were drawn to hot black pinpoints. "You -wanted to get rid of me, didn't you? You were ready to try anything -short of murder or sending me to the madhouse? So I'm leaving you here. -That other woman had a fortune. I'll have a better life in her place -than you ever gave me!" - -"But this man here...." - -"He died a natural death. That's all I care about. I'll be a widow--a -wealthy widow...." - - * * * * * - -The words went on, but Horning hardly heard. He sagged back against the -workbench--shaken, unable to speak. It was as if, of a sudden, he were -seeing his wife through new eyes. - -She crowded close to him and said, "One other thing...." - -Her hand darted out. She snatched Margaret's picture from Horning's -pocket--ripping it to shreds, scuffing the fragments. - -Horning made no effort to stop her. - -"I hate her!" Myrtle cried. "That woman--that creature--she could be -dead a thousand years and I'd still hate her--!" - -She broke off, shaking, and switched both transit units' projector -drives to high, then pressed the disintegrator buttons. - -In the tick of a clock, both woman and corpse had vanished. - -New weariness welled up in Horning ... weariness, and a sudden, -stabbing pang of pity. In the awful emptiness of losing Margaret, he'd -plunged down, all the way, till finally he'd been blinded and panicked -into marrying Myrtle. Then, climbing from the depths once more, he'd -come to hate her. - -Now, that, too, was past. The hate was dead; the bitterness had fallen -from him. He knew the fault lay as much with him as her. They were -simply dog and cat, not suited. - -He even found himself hoping she'd find happiness in the world to which -she'd fled. - -It made him smile a little; and he knew it was good that he _could_ -smile ... that he'd grown so much in depth and understanding. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SO MANY WORLDS AWAY... *** - -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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Swain</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: So Many Worlds Away...</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Dwight V. Swain</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 22, 2021 [eBook #65896]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SO MANY WORLDS AWAY... ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>SO MANY WORLDS AWAY....</h1> - -<h2>By Dwight V. Swain</h2> - -<p>Horning's married life was unbearable so<br /> -he sought peace in another dimension. But was<br /> -his past somehow linked with other worlds?...</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -July 1952<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>It was nearly four o'clock in the windowless basement laboratory when -Horning screwed tight the last connection.</p> - -<p>He straightened, shrugged the kinks from his back and shoulders, and -wiped his hands clean on a wad of waste. Crossing to the battered desk -in the corner, he pushed back Margaret's picture, got out pen and -paper, and wrote briefly:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><i>Dear Myrtle</i>,</p> - -<p><i>It's time we faced facts. I never should have married you after -Margaret died. My work means everything to me; I can't give it up. But -you detest the whole business of being a scientist's wife. Knowing how -you feel about the "shame" of divorce, I won't ask you to let me leave -you legally. There's a better way out. By the time you read this, -I'll either have breached and bridged the space-time continuum to -another plane, or I'll be dead. In either case, you'll be happier with -me gone. My patent royalties and insurance will take care of you as -long as you live.</i></p> - -<p><i>Good luck, and I'm sorry it didn't work out.</i></p> - -<p class="ph1"><i>Raymond.</i></p></div> - -<p>Horning weighted the letter down in the center of the desk. Then, -pushing back his chair, he picked up Margaret's picture.</p> - -<p>She smiled up at him as always, so real the sight of her brought a -tightness to his throat. When he closed his eyes, he could almost hear -her voice, rippling with gay, gentle laughter. He felt her lips on -his ... her dark, silken hair against his cheek.</p> - -<p>Only Margaret had lain in her grave for three years now....</p> - -<p>Horning drew a quick, shallow breath. Sliding the photo from its frame, -he tucked it into the breast pocket of his shirt.</p> - -<p>Back at the workbench, he heaved up the bulky transdimensional -registration unit, strapped it on and adjusted the scanning scope to -the proper angle against his chest. Dial by dial, circuit by circuit, -he checked the light-loop's control panel.</p> - -<p>Everything was ready.</p> - -<p>This was the moment he'd worked for ... the great gamble, the final -test. Not even Myrtle could stop him now.</p> - -<p>Palm slick with sweat, he gripped the master switch and shoved it shut.</p> - -<p>Purple light flared in the tubes set in the light-loop's door-like -metal frame. The blank wall behind it took on the familiar translucent -glow.</p> - -<p>Horning opened the intensifier channels and increased the alpha and -gamma readings.</p> - -<p>The light turned silver. The wall behind the framework disappeared.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Horning stepped onto the ramp that led up to the frame. In the humming -stillness he could hear the sound of his own heartbeat, drumming faster -and faster. The sharp, chlorine-like smell of ozone filled the air.</p> - -<p>For an instant, then, he hesitated, acutely conscious of an -uncontrollable trembling. Sweat drenched him; the sour stench of it cut -through the ozone.</p> - -<p>He thought: <i>Maybe they're right. Maybe I'm crazy to think I can cross -the barrier between the worlds.</i></p> - -<p>Upstairs, the front door slammed. The house echoed with the thud of -heavy footsteps.</p> - -<p>Myrtle's footsteps—!</p> - -<p>Horning sucked in one final, desperate breath and stepped through the -light-loop's frame.</p> - -<p>It was so simple, really. Just like going out a doorway, into a -limitless expanse of shining silver plain. He felt no pain, no shock, -not even slight discomfort.</p> - -<p>Swiftly, skillfully, he adjusted the transdimensional registration -unit's dials.</p> - -<p>Light flickered on the scanning scope's screen, a shapeless blur.</p> - -<p>Horning twisted the focussing knob. The blur resolved. A scene took -form.</p> - -<p>Taut with excitement, Horning stared for the first time into another -world.</p> - -<p>The place was an apartment, he decided. But what an apartment! It -shimmered like a modernist's sparkling dream. The decor was brilliant, -unique in style. Metal and plastic combined in sleek, functional forms.</p> - -<p>Nor was this all. A man stood by a table, back to the screen, mixing a -drink. While Horning watched, he restoppered the bottle and stepped out -a door to the right.</p> - -<p>Horning frowned. He had a strange feeling, somehow, that he'd seen the -man somewhere before.</p> - -<p>Shrugging it off, he lined up the crosshairs on the screen with -infinite care and switched the projector drive to high.</p> - -<p>Before his very eyes, the shining silver plain dissolved. The shadowy -walls of the room on the screen rose about him. Furnishings appeared in -misty outline.</p> - -<p>Horning pressed the reintegrator button.</p> - -<p>The walls lost their shadow. The furnishings took on solid form.</p> - -<p>Horning came to rest with a heavy thud, sprawled in the center of the -floor.</p> - -<p>Behind him, there was a stir of sudden movement; a choked exclamation.</p> - -<p>Before he could turn or regain his feet, a man's tight voice clipped, -"Don't move—or you die!"</p> - -<p>Horning froze. "There's no need to be frightened," he said quickly. -"I'm merely a—a traveler. I've come here from another plane—"</p> - -<p>"I understand perfectly!" the voice snapped back. "I happen to be an -authority on such matters. That's why I say—if you move, you die!"</p> - -<p>Horning's spine prickled. Just as he'd had the feeling he'd seen the -man on the screen before, now it came to him that the voice, too, was -strangely familiar.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Behind him, shoes scraped the floor. Fingers probed warily at his -pockets, his belt, his armpits. Then they went away again and the voice -said, "All right. Now take off that outfit."</p> - -<p>Wordless, wooden-fingered, Horning unstrapped the transdimensional -registration unit's harness.</p> - -<p>"Get up!" the voice commanded.</p> - -<p>Horning obeyed.</p> - -<p>"Now sit down on that lounge in front of you, with your hands on the -arms."</p> - -<p>Horning crossed to the divan and turned around. For the first time, he -faced his captor.</p> - -<p>It was the same man Horning had seen on the screen. He stood poised, -cat-footed, back against the gleaming metaloid wall. An ugly, -snub-nosed pistol of strange design was in his hand.</p> - -<p>And his face was Horning's face.</p> - -<p>Horning went rigid—shocked, half unbelieving.</p> - -<p>"Down!" rapped his counterpart.</p> - -<p>Horning sank numbly to the seat.</p> - -<p>"Who are you? Why did you come here?"</p> - -<p>Some of the numbness left Horning. Cold anger came in its place. "Why -ask me?" he lashed back. "I thought you knew all the answers."</p> - -<p>The man's knuckles whitened on the pistol. "I want the truth!"</p> - -<p>Horning laughed. Of a sudden he felt bold and reckless. "I told you the -first time. I came from another world, a different plane—"</p> - -<p>The gun moved in a flat, incisive gesture. "I know all that! The -parallel worlds, the Worlds of 'If'. Parmenides and his theory of the -Eternal Now. The idea that life's a book with an infinity of pages; -that every event automatically creates coexisting planes, one for each -possible outcome—" Horning's captor broke off. "But <i>why</i>? What drove -you to cross the barrier?"</p> - -<p>Horning shrugged. "It was Myrtle—" he began wryly.</p> - -<p>The other started; fell back a step. "<i>Myrtle—?</i>"</p> - -<p>"My wife. I wanted to leave her."</p> - -<p>"You mean—you breached the continuum for no better reason...?"</p> - -<p>Horning laughed curtly. "For my part, I found it a very adequate -reason."</p> - -<p>For a long moment the other stared at him. Then, abruptly, he, too, -laughed. The snub-nosed gun's muzzle lowered.</p> - -<p>"You amaze me," his captor chuckled. He bowed. "Permit me to introduce -myself. I'm Doctor Raymond X. Horning."</p> - -<p>"My coexisting counterpart on this plane—?"</p> - -<p>"Of course. The alter ego is bound to serve as a focal point when you -cross the barrier." The man pocketed his gun and walked over to the -table. "Let me mix you a drink. After such an experience, you need a -pickup."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Horning leaned back, studying the other obliquely and trying to fathom -the sudden change in his attitude.</p> - -<p>Too, he still marveled at the similarity between them. They were so -alike they could pass as twins, he decided. Identical twins. The only -difference between them lay in details of expression—the sardonic -twist to the other's mouth; the chill, penetrating gleam in the -deep-set eyes.</p> - -<p>His counterpart handed him a glass. "You amuse me, my friend. But I'm -afraid you don't realize the full implications of what you've done."</p> - -<p>"Such as—?" Horning queried, sipping at the drink and finding it good.</p> - -<p>"Such as the fact that interdimensional transit is not only a logical -impossibility, but a very practical menace."</p> - -<p>Horning frowned. "Why?"</p> - -<p>"Because it puts two identical personalities on one plane." The man -with Horning's face dropped into a chair and hunched forward. "Take our -own situation as an example. You're married to a shrew, a termagant. -You want to leave her."</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"I, on the other hand, have a young and charming wife who holds a -considerable fortune in her own right. Consequently, it would be -ever so much to your advantage to switch places with me." Horning's -counterpart brought up one square-knit hand in an expressive gesture. -"What's to prevent your murdering me and moving in?"</p> - -<p>Horning nodded slowly. "I see what you mean."</p> - -<p>"I'm convinced it's actually happened a few times already," the other -asserted. "Though of course it's not generally known. Fortunately, -we've never worked out the principle on this plane." He paused to -drink, then set down his glass. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and -he nodded in the direction of the transdimensional registration unit. -"Just how does it work, Doctor? I've always wondered where my own -experiments went wrong."</p> - -<p>For a moment Horning hesitated, then shrugged. "See for yourself." -Kneeling, he unsnapped the unit's back plate and exposed the circuits. -"The registration dials are set with my own world as zero. You pick -up others in the scanning scope as you go, within the limits of the -projector drive. After that, it's just a problem of reintegration."</p> - -<p>Beside him, the man who was his coexisting self craned. "So that's it! -I never dreamed it could be so simple."</p> - -<p>"I used a light-loop to help break through the barrier," Horning -explained, sketching out a hasty diagram. "It helps to increase the -power output—"</p> - -<p>"Of course." The other was down on the floor now, probing into the -unit's workings. "I've developed all the component elements at one -time or another, but when it came to combining them properly, I always -managed to miss out."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Horning rose and drained his glass. "Well, you know now," he observed. -"For my part, I'm ready to start work on some other project, now that -I've gotten to this world."</p> - -<p>"I was afraid you'd say that," the other Doctor Raymond X. Horning -remarked. Straightening, he snapped shut the back panel of the -transdirectional registration unit. "But ... it's not easy."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>Horning's counterpart got up. "I mean you can't stay in this world. -You're going to have to leave again."</p> - -<p>"To leave—!" Horning turned sharply.</p> - -<p>"Yes." Beneath the blandness of the other's manner, a new note rang, -grim and unyielding. "As I pointed out, interdimensional transit's a -logical impossibility. There's no way of integrating two identical -personalities, two selves of the same man, into a highly organized -society such as this one."</p> - -<p>"And for a reason like that you'd try to force me out—?" Horning took -an angry step forward.</p> - -<p>But his counterpart jumped back, out of the way. His hand darted to his -pocket, whipping out the snub-nosed pistol.</p> - -<p>Horning came to an abrupt halt.</p> - -<p>The blandness was gone from the other's face now. The deep-set eyes -were cold, the sardonic lines set.</p> - -<p>He said: "There's another reason, Doctor. I like my life; I like my -wife. And I'm afraid the temptation to relieve me of both might prove -too great for you."</p> - -<p>"You're being absurd," Horning snapped. "Not to mention insulting."</p> - -<p>"Am I?" His counterpart smiled thinly. "I doubt that, my friend. You -see, we're one, really. Though we live on separate planes, we both feel -the same drives, the same tensions, the same impulses."</p> - -<p>"You're talking nonsense!"</p> - -<p>"No nonsense, Doctor." The pistol in his counterpart's hand was very -steady. "Given the proper pressure, a strong enough motive, I know that -even I could kill. In your situation, I'd certainly feel justified in -murdering you. So I have no intention of giving you the chance to make -me your victim."</p> - -<p>"So—?" snapped Horning.</p> - -<p>"So, you're going to leave now," his coexisting self answered bluntly. -"You can be thankful I'll even let you go alive." He gestured with the -pistol. "Strap on your unit. And be assured I'd have no hesitancy about -shooting you if I have to."</p> - -<p>Horning clenched his fists, caught up in a churning sea of fury. "So -help me—!"</p> - -<p>The gun centered on his belly. "I'll give you till I count ten," his -counterpart clipped tightly.</p> - -<p>Horning bit down hard. Pivoting, he hoisted the transdimensional -registration unit from the floor and strapped it into position.</p> - -<p>"In case you have any foolish ideas of coming back, let me warn you -that I intend to set up a force barrier around this place," the man -with his face observed with grim malice. "If you try to breach it, I'll -kill you on sight."</p> - -<p>Wordless, still seething, Horning switched the projector drive to -reverse.</p> - -<p>The room grew shadowy about him. His counterpart faded.</p> - -<p>Horning pressed the disintegrator button.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Of a sudden, room and counterpart were gone. Once more Horning stood -alone in the vastness of the shining silver plain. His head throbbed -dully; he felt incredibly tired and drained.</p> - -<p>For a moment he almost considered going back to his own world ... back -to Myrtle.</p> - -<p>But nightmare memories of the empty, bitter life they'd led rose up -to steel him, all hatred, conflict, tension ... so different from the -happiness of the other days, the days with Margaret.</p> - -<p>Margaret.... He touched her picture, still safe in his pocket.</p> - -<p>There were other worlds—an infinity of them. Somewhere, sometime, he'd -find the one world he sought.</p> - -<p>Again, he turned the transdimensional registration unit's dials.</p> - -<p>Light flashed on the scanning scope's screen. Stiff-fingered, Horning -focussed.</p> - -<p>Here the scene was one of bleak desolations, painted in a hundred -drab shades of grey. A murky sky pressed down on sullen hills, thick -underfoot with powdery, ash-dry dust. Seared shafts that might once -have been trees thrust up here and there like skeletal fingers. In the -foreground rose the crumbling corner of a ruined building, base buried -deep in rubble.</p> - -<p>A man crouched there—ragged, bone-gaunt, grey as the shattered walls -at his back. He clutched a club in one claw-like hand, and the strain -of utter panic, despair, stood out in every taut, harsh-drawn line.</p> - -<p>Before the man, hemming him in, ranged a dozen great, six-legged, -wolfish beasts of a fearsome genus Horning had never seen before. -Snarling, slavering, they crowded in closer and closer, huge fangs -bared.</p> - -<p>With a chill of horror, Horning flipped the magnifier across the -scanning scope's screen.</p> - -<p>The beleagured man's face leaped up at him, sharp and clear.</p> - -<p>"No—!" Horning choked. "No!"</p> - -<p>For the other's fear-blanched face was his face, too ... the face of -another coexisting self, doomed to live and die in this grey, desolate -world.</p> - -<p>Even as Horning cried out, one of the great wolf-things sprang.</p> - -<p>The man jerked back and lashed out with his club. The beast fell short, -battered down.</p> - -<p>But in the same instant, another of the creatures lunged, from the -other side. Its hideous, slashing fangs closed on the man's club arm.</p> - -<p>The impact bore the man to his knees. Before he could recover, a third -of the wolf-things was at his throat. Blood gushed, a sharp scarlet -accent in a world of grey.</p> - -<p>Horning squeezed his eyes tight shut in a frenzied effort to shut out -the horror. Spasmodically, he spun the transdimensional registration -unit's dials.</p> - -<p>Again there was a flicker of light. Hands still atremble, Horning -focussed on it.</p> - -<p>A new world came alive before him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>This time, the scene was laid in what appeared to be a cheap cafe. A -throng of loungers lined the bar set against the far wall. But their -shabby clothes were of a cut and material unknown to Horning. The -grimed, poorly-executed murals struck a note of jangling discord, as if -even the arts here were keyed to a different plane.</p> - -<p>In the foreground, a man gone flabby with fat slumped on his arms at a -table, a bottle half full of greenish liquor before him.</p> - -<p>A sudden commotion stirred at the far end of the room. The loungers -milled and drew back.</p> - -<p>Four men in sack-like purple uniforms pushed through the crowd with -cold arrogance. Their features had an oriental cast, and they carried -drawn swords of strange design.</p> - -<p>The first of the quartet came abreast the table in the foreground. -Stepping aside, he gestured contemptuously towards the man slumped -there.</p> - -<p>The other three troopers swaggered up and jerked the man bodily from -his chair.</p> - -<p>For the first time, Horning saw the sodden man's face.</p> - -<p>Again, as in the other worlds, it was his own.</p> - -<p>Now, the fat man shook his head blearily, as if trying to blink the -haze of drink from his eyes.</p> - -<p>The leader of the four uniformed men slapped him savagely, first on one -side of the face and then the other.</p> - -<p>Horning's coexisting self sagged to his knees.</p> - -<p>The leader of the men in purple kicked him in the stomach.</p> - -<p>Horning's counterpart vomited.</p> - -<p>The men in purple laughed and threw their prisoner down at full length -on the floor with all their might. Then, catching him by the feet, they -dragged him bodily out of both drinking house and range of the scanning -scope's screen.</p> - -<p>Shuddering, Horning stared off across the shining silver plain. Of a -sudden he had no heart for searching through other worlds; knew that he -would not have till time had dimmed the memory of this day.</p> - -<p>It left him no choice but to go back to his own plane ... back to -Myrtle.</p> - -<p>And if she'd found his note.... He shook his head in wry dismay.</p> - -<p>But he had no other course left open. Carefully, he turned the -transdimensional registration unit's calibrated dials back to zero ... -manipulated the controls.</p> - -<p>The light-loop's tubes blazed and pulsated on the scanner screen, so -bright they obscured everything beyond. The frame materialized before -him, rising like a shimmering, translucent gateway amid the empty -vastness of the silver plain.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Heavy-footed, heavy-hearted, Horning stepped through it, back to the -basement laboratory that lay in his own world.</p> - -<p>And there was Myrtle. Head thrust forward, one thick arm belligerently -akimbo, she stood by the desk, reading Horning's note.</p> - -<p>Horning stopped short.</p> - -<p>Myrtle's glance flicked to him. Her eyes, black and beady, drew to -fury-glinting, fat-rimmed slits.</p> - -<p>Horning stumbled from the ramp, fumbling at the transit unit's harness.</p> - -<p>But Myrtle was upon him in three walloping strides—clutching his -shirt-front, shoving her face close to his. An aura of cheap perfume, -stale face powder, clothes that could have done with more frequent -laundering, washed over Horning in unpleasant waves.</p> - -<p>"You—!"</p> - -<p>She spat the word with such venom that her face shook.</p> - -<p>Horning tried to speak, but no words came.</p> - -<p>"Leave me, will you—!"</p> - -<p>"Myrtle—"</p> - -<p>She struck him across the mouth.</p> - -<p>Horning's head reeled. He tried to twist free.</p> - -<p>But Myrtle's hand was still locked in his shirt-front. Savagely, she -jerked him back and hit him again.</p> - -<p>Horning staggered. His shirt ripped. Margaret's portrait fluttered from -his pocket to the floor.</p> - -<p>Myrtle went rigid. Eyes dilating, she stared at the fallen picture.</p> - -<p>Horning tore loose her hand and scooped the photo from the floor.</p> - -<p>Teeth bared, nostrils flaring, Myrtle closed in upon him. "So that's -it!" she cried shrilly.</p> - -<p>"What—?"</p> - -<p>"So you thought you'd go back to her, that's what! You figured you'd -find her in another world—"</p> - -<p>A chill ran up and down Horning's spine. He tucked the picture back in -his pocket. "Myrtle, you don't know what you're saying—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't I?" His wife laughed wildly. Grey hair fell across her -forehead in snarled disarray. "Maybe I know more than you think, -Doctor Raymond X. Horning! I've read those things you wrote—all that -craziness about the other worlds. But I didn't know <i>why</i> you wanted to -go there till now."</p> - -<p>Horning fumbled with the transdimensional registration unit's straps. -Unslinging the bulky case, he lowered it to the floor. He dared not -trust himself to speak.</p> - -<p>But Myrtle closed in upon him, clawing at him. "Admit it!" she -shrieked. "Go ahead! Tell me to my face you'd rather have that—that -slut than me—"</p> - -<p>Horning wheeled. His hands shook. "Myrtle, I've taken every word from -you that I intend to," he said tightly. "Get out of my laboratory! Now! -This instant!" Myrtle's nails raked at his eyes.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Before he could recover from fending off the blow, she had snatched -Margaret's picture from his pocket.</p> - -<p>"I'll show you!" she cried, shrill and strident. "I'll let you see what -I think of her, the dirty little tramp!"</p> - -<p>She spat full in the face of the picture.</p> - -<p>Horning hit her.</p> - -<p>She lurched back two tottering steps, tripped, and sprawled on the -floor.</p> - -<p>Horning strode to her, jerked Margaret's photo from her hand, and wiped -it clean.</p> - -<p>He said: "I'm through. Whether you like it or not, I'm filing for -divorce tomorrow."</p> - -<p>His wife dragged herself up to a sitting position, her face a mask of -hate and cunning.</p> - -<p>"Go ahead," she goaded. "Go <i>right</i> ahead, Doctor Raymond X. Horning." -Her voice rose, took on new and even more bitter overtones of malice. -"But ... just don't blame anyone but yourself for whatever happens to -your precious apparatus."</p> - -<p>Heaving herself to her feet, she stomped out of the laboratory and off -up the basement stairs.</p> - -<p>Fists clenched, Horning watched her go. Then, wearily, he crossed to -his ancient desk and dropped down in the chair.</p> - -<p>As always, Myrtle had won. The first time he left the house she'd be -at work here—breaking down the door, smashing his equipment and his -dreams.</p> - -<p>And as for Margaret.... He smoothed her picture. But the features -blurred and his eyes began to burn, till at last he pushed the -photograph back in his pocket and slumped forward on his arms.</p> - -<p>How long he lay there he never knew. Later, sometimes, he thought -perhaps he'd slept.</p> - -<p>Then, dimly, he became conscious of a sound ... a humming, persistent -vibrance that grew steadily louder. It dawned on him that he'd -forgotten to turn off the light-loop's master switch.</p> - -<p>He got up and started towards the control panel.</p> - -<p>In the same instant, he glimpsed a shadowy figure, framed in the -door-like scaffolding of tubes and metal that formed the gateway to the -shining silver plain that lay like a shimmering no-man's land between -the parallel worlds.</p> - -<p>Horning came up short, staring.</p> - -<p>The figure outlined in the light-loop grew sharper. A man lurched -through the frame, into the room. His face was Horning's face, and he -staggered under the weight of a transdimensional registration unit, -plus a great, bulging, cumbersome bundle slung across his shoulder.</p> - -<p>Horning started forward.</p> - -<p>His visitor said, "Hold it!" sharply and brought a snub-barreled, -too-familiar pistol into view.</p> - -<p>Horning stopped in his tracks.</p> - -<p>"You mean—it's you—?"</p> - -<p>The man from beyond the barrier laughed and spilled the bulky bundle -off his shoulder, down onto the floor. "Of course, Doctor! I thought -I'd return your visit." He prodded the bundle with his toe. "I even -brought you a present."</p> - -<p>"But ... I thought you said you'd never developed a successful transit -unit...."</p> - -<p>"I hadn't, till you came along and showed me how. As I told you, I'd -worked out the components. Once I had a chance to look over your unit, -integrating them was no job at all."</p> - -<p>"But why...?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The man with Horning's face laughed again. "That comes later, my -friend. After you've admired the present I brought you."</p> - -<p>Horning eyed the bundle. Limp and bulky, it was nearly six feet long -and wrapped loosely in a covering of some greenish plastic.</p> - -<p>"Go ahead. Look it over," his visitor invited, gesturing with the gun. -"It's all yours."</p> - -<p>New uneasiness crept through Horning. Slowly, he came forward and, -kneeling, started to untie the cords that held the bundle closed.</p> - -<p>"You're too slow," the man said. "Here. Let me do it."</p> - -<p>He tugged at one corner of the covering. The plastic tore away.</p> - -<p>Feminine hair came into view. A head lolled over, exposed.</p> - -<p>Horning found himself staring down into a nightmarish, waxen face. A -thin breath bubbled the lips. He leaped back, choking.</p> - -<p>"Myrtle—!"</p> - -<p>"Correct," his counterpart chuckled. "Or perhaps I should say—<i>my</i> -Myrtle."</p> - -<p>"<i>Your</i> Myrtle—?" A convulsive tremor shook Horning. "But I -thought...."</p> - -<p>"You thought I had a charming wife who held a fortune in her own name," -the other retorted coolly. "The part about the fortune was true. As -for the rest"—he shrugged—"well, you can see that I, too, married a -wasp-tongued shrew named Myrtle—the coexisting counterpart of your own -trouble."</p> - -<p>With an effort, Horning stilled his trembling. "Then why lie to me?" he -demanded in sudden, flaring anger. "What possible reason—"</p> - -<p>"I was afraid to let you know. And ... I needed time to work out a -plan." The sardonic lines about his alter ego's mouth etched deeper. -"I've taken care of that detail now."</p> - -<p>Horning drew back another step. "I don't think I care to hear about -it," he clipped tightly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but you must!" his counterpart retorted. "You see, you're vital -to it."</p> - -<p>"I don't care for that, either."</p> - -<p>The other's deep-set eyes glinted. "Not even if it would enable you to -get rid of your own wife in perfect safety?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"It's a wonderful plan. So simple...."</p> - -<p>Horning cut him off with a short, decisive gesture. "I don't want to -hear it."</p> - -<p>The man with Horning's face took one fast step forward. His head seemed -to draw down between his shoulders. "And I say you're going to hear it, -whether you want to or not!" he snapped harshly. He swung the gun in a -threatening arc. "I don't intend to have gone through all of this for -nothing."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Horning hooked his thumbs in his belt and met the other's cold eyes -with all the bravado he could muster. He said nothing.</p> - -<p>"I merely propose that we switch wives," his counterpart clipped.</p> - -<p>"Switch wives—!" Shock startled the words from Horning.</p> - -<p>"Could anything be simpler? Here are two women, completely identical. -Both are stupid, both termagants in their own right. So, each falls -asleep tonight in her own world. In the morning, she wakes up in -another."</p> - -<p>Horning twisted at his belt. Narrow-eyed, frowning, he stared at his -visitor. "But why—?"</p> - -<p>The man's thin lips parted in a mirthless grin. "How would you feel -if, stupid and knowing nothing of transdimensional transit, you were -suddenly to awaken in a completely strange world? What would be your -chances of making a successful adjustment?"</p> - -<p>"I ... I don't know...."</p> - -<p>"Adjustment to environment is the key to integration of personality. -When anyone loses touch with his world, the background he knows as -reality, he can no longer adjust." Horning's counterpart paused. His -voice dropped a note. "Every plane has facilities to take care of such -unfortunates."</p> - -<p>The skin along the back of Horning's neck prickled. "You mean ... -Myrtle would go mad?" he whispered hoarsely.</p> - -<p>"That's what the psychiatrists would say, at least."</p> - -<p>A new tremor shook Horning. Unsteadily, he made his way to the chair by -the desk and slumped into it.</p> - -<p>His other self chuckled. "It's beautiful, isn't it? All you need to -do is call the authorities in the morning. They'll take Myrtle to the -nearest mental hospital for observation—and that's the last you'll -ever see of her."</p> - -<p>Horning's collar was all at once too tight. His palms grew wet with icy -sweat.</p> - -<p>His coexisting self leaned back against the light-loop's control -panel. The pistol hung loose at his side.</p> - -<p>"We have an undetectable anesthetic in my world," he observed. "A few -drops of it on a handkerchief, pressed over your Myrtle's face tonight, -will make her sleep as soundly as my wife is sleeping over there." He -nodded to the still figure on the floor.</p> - -<p>Horning scrubbed the sweat from his hands against his pant-legs. -Shivering, he ran his fingers through his hair.</p> - -<p>"You'll be free to follow your research, wherever it leads you," his -counterpart murmured dreamily. "For me, I'll have my Myrtle's fortune -to console me." He laughed softly. "What could be simpler, or sweeter?"</p> - -<p>Horning slumped deeper into the chair. He rubbed at his cheek; squeezed -his eyes tight shut and then opened them again. The skin across his -forehead seemed to draw tighter and tighter, like a band of steel, -till it was all he could do to keep from screaming aloud. He twisted, -shifted, slid down further.</p> - -<p>His counterpart stretched. The dreamy look left the deep-set eyes.</p> - -<p>"We're dawdling too long. It's time we got started." He straightened. -"Come on."</p> - -<p>"No," said Horning.</p> - -<p>The man from across the barrier between the parallel worlds half -turned, head tilted, brows suddenly knitting. "What—?"</p> - -<p>"I said no," Horning answered through dry lips. "I'm not going to do -it."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The other's lean face went blank, incredulous. He came a step towards -Horning. "Do you know what you're saying, man? Would you actually pass -up a chance like this to rid yourself of that harridan you married?"</p> - -<p>Horning shifted in his seat. He dodged the other's eyes, not speaking.</p> - -<p>"But why? Why won't you? You'll never have another chance like this."</p> - -<p>"I don't know why," said Horning. "Or ... maybe I do...." His voice -trailed off.</p> - -<p>The other took a stand directly before him—feet spread apart, face -cold and rocky. "Don't give me that! We're really one—remember? I know -how you feel. You want to do it!"</p> - -<p>The fury in the man's voice struck an answering spark in Horning. He -came up from the chair. "I want to—but I'm not going to! Now get out! -And take her"—he gestured towards the other's unconscious wife—"with -you!"</p> - -<p>His counterpart seemed to grow suddenly taller. "When I'm ready to go, -I'll tell you!"</p> - -<p>"You'll go now!"</p> - -<p>"No!"</p> - -<p>Horning started forward.</p> - -<p>The other whipped up his gun. "I've come too far to quit now," he -clipped tightly. "If you're too much of a fool or a coward to go -along, then that's your bad luck. I'll handle things a different way." -His lips twisted. "Back up against the wall!"</p> - -<p>For the fraction of a second, Horning hesitated. But the gun in his -alter ego's hand stayed steady.</p> - -<p>Horning backed away.</p> - -<p>"Maybe this way is better, after all," his counterpart said. "Maybe I -should have planned it like this from the start."</p> - -<p>New lines of strain slashed his lean, sardonic face. The deep-set eyes -took on a light almost of madness.</p> - -<p>Then—lightning fast; without warning—he pivoted. The pistol in his -hand made flat, clicking sounds. There was no report, no muzzle flare.</p> - -<p>Three times he fired—straight at the limp form of his bound, drugged -wife.</p> - -<p>Dust leaped from the plastic wrapper as the slugs smashed home. The -woman's body jerked convulsively.</p> - -<p>Horning gave a hoarse cry and leaped forward.</p> - -<p>His counterpart jumped aside. He hit Horning hard on the back of the -neck with the pistol.</p> - -<p>Horning slammed to the floor. The room rocked about him.</p> - -<p>As from afar, he heard his alter ego's voice: "Get up!"</p> - -<p>Horning dragged himself to his knees, choking and gasping. He caught -a blurred glimpse of the limp figure of the woman who had been his -counterpart's wife. A thin trickle of blood was seeping from her -mouth....</p> - -<p>"Get up, I said!" the killer cried in a tight terrible voice.</p> - -<p>He kicked Horning in the side.</p> - -<p>Horning rolled away, pain stabbing through him. He scrambled to his -feet.</p> - -<p>"Climb onto the desk!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Shaking, Horning clambered up, standing half-crouched with the top of -his head pressing the ceiling. A water pipe lay like a cold knife-blade -against the back of his neck.</p> - -<p>His counterpart dragged a coil of insulated wire from the workbench and -threw it to Horning. "Here! Tie a noose!"</p> - -<p>In aching silence, Horning looped and twisted the wire.</p> - -<p>"You know what happens now, don't you?" The murderer from another world -leered up at him, rocking with laughter, and this time there was no -mistaking the madness in the deep-set eyes. "You're going to anchor -that wire to the water pipe, and put the noose around your scrawny -neck, and jump off the desk! After that"—he laughed again—"I'll take -your wife and go back to my own plane. When they find you here, with my -Myrtle and my gun, they'll say you murdered her and hanged yourself!"</p> - -<p>"They wont believe it!" Horning blurted. He groped desperately. -"They—they'll know from the gun. There's no other like it on this -plane—"</p> - -<p>"—So, they'll say it's a new development by the renowned scientist, -Doctor Raymond X. Horning—" Abruptly, the man who was Horning's -counterpart broke off. His mirth vanished, replaced by cold, gun-backed -menace. "You're stalling! Anchor that wire!"</p> - -<p>A knot of black fear drew tight in Horning's midriff. Numbly, he -fumbled with wire and pipe.</p> - -<p>"Anchor it!"</p> - -<p>Horning sucked in air.</p> - -<p>"Hurry up!"</p> - -<p>Horning let the wire drop.</p> - -<p>The coil hit the edge of the desk, hung for a moment, and then rolled -off onto the floor.</p> - -<p>The other's eyes flicked down to it. He cursed and took one short step -forward, hand outstretched.</p> - -<p>Horning dived off the desk, straight at him.</p> - -<p>The man from beyond the barrier started back. He jerked up the gun.</p> - -<p>His shot went wild. Horning landed on him with bone-crushing impact. -The gun skated off across the room. They crashed to the floor together, -rolling over and over till they hit the workbench. It rocked wildly. -Tools cascaded over them.</p> - -<p>Twisting, Horning drove a blow at his counterpart's face.</p> - -<p>The other writhed away. His elbow jabbed into Horning's throat.</p> - -<p>Horning choked. Before he could recover, a knee found his belly. The -wind went out of him. His adversary broke free and scrambled away, -clawing for the gun.</p> - -<p>Horning lunged after him. He caught a foot ... jerked and twisted with -all his might.</p> - -<p>The killer sprawled, flat on his face. But his outstretched hand -clutched the pistol.</p> - -<p>Horning snatched a Stillson wrench from the litter of tools fallen from -the workbench.</p> - -<p>His counterpart rolled, whipping round the gun.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Horning lashed out with the wrench, straight at the other's head. It -struck home with a sound like that of a dropped watermelon bursting on -a concrete sidewalk.</p> - -<p>The killer went limp.</p> - -<p>Horning sagged back, panting. After a moment, he saw that his -counterpart had stopped breathing.</p> - -<p>Horning staggered to his feet. His stomach churned. He lurched to the -wastebasket beside the desk and vomited.</p> - -<p>Then a dull, shuffling sound impinged upon him. Swaying, Horning came -erect and peered round behind him.</p> - -<p>Myrtle stood in the doorway, eyes blacker and beadier than ever. Her -jaw was set, her greying hair loose and disheveled. She wore a frayed, -ancient kimona and dirty white mules.</p> - -<p>Horning choked, "Myrtle, get back—!" and tried to move round between -her and the bodies. But she pushed past without speaking, straight to -his fallen counterpart, and bent as swiftly as her bulk would allow. -When she straightened, she held the murderer's pistol in her hand.</p> - -<p>"Myrtle, be careful—!"</p> - -<p>She shoved him back with a meaty hand, blocking him with her body, the -gun held behind her. He could not read her expression. When she spoke, -her voice was flat and without feeling, no longer strident: "I heard it -all, Raymond—all the conniving ... how you hate me ... that monster's -scheme to steal his wife's fortune...."</p> - -<p>Horning shrugged, not bothering to answer. Squatting down, he began -gathering together the tools spilled from the workbench.</p> - -<p>"Raymond...."</p> - -<p>Horning glanced up, then stiffened.</p> - -<p>Myrtle had brought round the pistol. She was pointing it at him.</p> - -<p>In the same flat voice she said: "Put on that outfit, Raymond. That -transdimensional whatever-you-call-it."</p> - -<p>Horning let the tools fall. "Are you out of your mind, woman? In this -shambles, with two corpses...." He choked, unable to go on.</p> - -<p>Myrtle said: "Put it on." Her face was a mask, an enigma. Her voice -stayed low, completely devoid of emotion. "I'll kill you if you don't."</p> - -<p>Horning stared into his wife's eyes. They were inscrutable, hard and -blank and black as twin balls of polished onyx.</p> - -<p>Myrtle's lips parted. Her jowls quivered. She steadied the pistol.</p> - -<p>Very slowly, very wearily, Horning rose. Wordless, he crossed to the -transdimensional registration unit and strapped it on.</p> - -<p>"Go over in the corner," his wife ordered. "Stand with your face -against the wall."</p> - -<p>Horning obeyed. He wondered whether Myrtle intended to shoot him in the -back.</p> - -<p>Or maybe she'd just gone mad.</p> - -<p>Whatever it was, he decided, he didn't much care.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Metal scraped on metal. Something thudded on the floor. The hoarse -wheeze of Myrtle's breathing, the slap and shuffle of her mules, -sounded loud in the stillness.</p> - -<p>After another moment, Myrtle said, "Turn around."</p> - -<p>Horning pivoted, then stared.</p> - -<p>His wife now wore the other transit unit, the one by means of which -Horning's counterpart had crossed the barrier between the parallel -worlds.</p> - -<p>"All right, Raymond." She gestured to the light-loop's glowing, -door-like frame. "Go through."</p> - -<p>"Go <i>through</i>—?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. Ahead of me. I'll follow."</p> - -<p>"No." Horning put flat finality into his voice. "You don't understand -what that frame is for, Myrtle—what lies on the other side—"</p> - -<p>"Don't tell me what I don't understand!" For an instant the old -stridency rang in Myrtle's words. "I've read those things you -wrote—remember? Your notes, too. I know what I'm doing!" She thrust -the pistol forward. "Go on! Go through!"</p> - -<p>Once again, Horning studied his wife's face, to no avail. He made a wry -mouth. Then, turning, he walked up the ramp, and stepped through the -light-loop's pulsating, tube-laden frame.</p> - -<p>The silver plain stretched endlessly before him ... infinitely vast, -infinitely lonely.</p> - -<p>Horning shivered a little and swung about.</p> - -<p>A bulky figure loomed close at hand, framed in the light-loop's glow. -A moment later, Myrtle was beside him, staring across the shimmering -wastes wide-eyed. She cringed before the immensity and desolation of -it, knuckles white, face slack and waxy grey. Horning could almost -taste her fear.</p> - -<p>He prodded her: "What now?"</p> - -<p>She shook as with a chill, not answering. Then, peering down into the -scanner screen, she fumbled with the calibrated knobs that shifted the -scene from plane to plane.</p> - -<p>Horning began, "If you'd only tell me what you want—"</p> - -<p>"Shut up."</p> - -<p>The seconds ticked into minutes. The minutes marched stolidly on. A -half hour dragged by. An hour. And still Myrtle spun the registration -dials.</p> - -<p>Horning shifted, closed his eyes. A haze seemed to rise about him. He -was so tired he could hardly stand.</p> - -<p>Myrtle said, "Raymond...."</p> - -<p>Horning shook away the haze.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>His wife's expression was more unfathomable than ever. She stepped -closer, and now he saw that she was holding out the pistol, -butt-foremost, as if to hand it to him.</p> - -<p>He reached up to take the weapon.</p> - -<p>But instead of releasing it, she brushed his hand aside and brought the -gun-butt down sharply on the screen of Horning's scanning scope.</p> - -<p>The scanner smashed to splinters.</p> - -<p>Horning went rigid. But before he could move, his wife had jerked back -the gun, reversed it, and leveled it at him.</p> - -<p>Horning cursed aloud.</p> - -<p>For the first time, Myrtle smiled.</p> - -<p>It reminded Horning of the grin on a bleaching skull.</p> - -<p>She said: "Set your dials at 830-X-974."</p> - -<p>For a moment Horning hesitated. But the gun was very steady. Seething, -he did as he was told.</p> - -<p>"Now turn your projector drive to high."</p> - -<p>Horning gripped the corner of his unit's bulky case. "Where are you -sending me? Why did you smash the scanner so I couldn't see?"</p> - -<p>"We're both going. Turn it to high." Her eyes mocked him. The pistol -menaced.</p> - -<p>Horning threw the switch.</p> - -<p>"Now, reintegrate...."</p> - -<p>A wave of utter helplessness, utter hopelessness, engulfed Horning. He -pressed the button.</p> - -<p>A room materialized about him—a room almost the twin of his own -basement laboratory. There was the workbench, there the desk. A frame -close akin to that of the light-loop rose against one wall.</p> - -<p>A man sprawled on his back near the control panel. His face was -Horning's face.</p> - -<p>Horning bent over him and felt for some trace of pulse, then -straightened, to find Myrtle once more standing beside him.</p> - -<p>"He's dead," Horning said.</p> - -<p>She nodded. Her lips twitched. "Take off your unit."</p> - -<p>"My unit—?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," She gestured to the dead man. "Put it on him."</p> - -<p>"What—?"</p> - -<p>"I said, put it on him." All the flatness was back in Myrtle's voice.</p> - -<p>In a numb, aching void of silence, Horning obeyed.</p> - -<p>"Set the dials for 701-G-0060."</p> - -<p>Horning's fingers went stiff. He looked up at his wife, hardly -believing his own ears. "You mean...?"</p> - -<p>"I mean, I'm going to the world that murdering monster in our basement -came from!" Myrtle's breasts rose and fell in a sudden tempest of -emotion. She was breathing noisily, too fast. The greying hair fell -over her face, and her eyes were drawn to hot black pinpoints. "You -wanted to get rid of me, didn't you? You were ready to try anything -short of murder or sending me to the madhouse? So I'm leaving you here. -That other woman had a fortune. I'll have a better life in her place -than you ever gave me!"</p> - -<p>"But this man here...."</p> - -<p>"He died a natural death. That's all I care about. I'll be a widow—a -wealthy widow...."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The words went on, but Horning hardly heard. He sagged back against the -workbench—shaken, unable to speak. It was as if, of a sudden, he were -seeing his wife through new eyes.</p> - -<p>She crowded close to him and said, "One other thing...."</p> - -<p>Her hand darted out. She snatched Margaret's picture from Horning's -pocket—ripping it to shreds, scuffing the fragments.</p> - -<p>Horning made no effort to stop her.</p> - -<p>"I hate her!" Myrtle cried. "That woman—that creature—she could be -dead a thousand years and I'd still hate her—!"</p> - -<p>She broke off, shaking, and switched both transit units' projector -drives to high, then pressed the disintegrator buttons.</p> - -<p>In the tick of a clock, both woman and corpse had vanished.</p> - -<p>New weariness welled up in Horning ... weariness, and a sudden, -stabbing pang of pity. In the awful emptiness of losing Margaret, he'd -plunged down, all the way, till finally he'd been blinded and panicked -into marrying Myrtle. Then, climbing from the depths once more, he'd -come to hate her.</p> - -<p>Now, that, too, was past. The hate was dead; the bitterness had fallen -from him. He knew the fault lay as much with him as her. They were -simply dog and cat, not suited.</p> - -<p>He even found himself hoping she'd find happiness in the world to which -she'd fled.</p> - -<p>It made him smile a little; and he knew it was good that he <i>could</i> -smile ... that he'd grown so much in depth and understanding.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SO MANY WORLDS AWAY... ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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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