The Time Mirror Part 9

"I could not make you understand. It is a complicated matter of s.p.a.ce-time theory--"

The other strode back to him. Gripped his shoulder.

"I don't care about the details. Just try to give me a simplified version of the principle."

Professor Duchard gazed into the younger man's eyes. Caught the fierce light within them--the gleam of spirit that marks those who will not be downed for long, no matter what the odds. The ray of struggle that only death could take away.

For a long moment, then, the old man sat buried in thought. At last he looked up again. Broke the silence.

"Have you ever seen the physical experiment in which a wave of sound is used to break a gla.s.s?"

"No. But I've heard of it. I know what you're talking about."

"Very well, then. Imagine, if you can, that the barrier between s.p.a.ce and time is that gla.s.s. It is apparently impenetrable."

"I see." Elaine's fiance nodded eagerly.

"Then try to conceive of a terrific wave of energy being concentrated against it, just as the sound wave is concentrated on the gla.s.s. But this time, the wave must be so manipulated as to strike the barrier as a pebble strikes and breaks a window. Otherwise it would be too weak to break through. Or, if it was strong enough, it would break down the entire s.p.a.ce-time relationship."

Again Mark nodded, this time more slowly.

"You mean that the wave of energy really must be like a sword, stabbing one small hole through the barrier?"

"Exactly." A pause. "The time mirror represented just such a hole through the barrier. What appeared to us to be waves in the gla.s.s actually were frozen ripples in the s.p.a.ce-time continuum--just as if you had dropped a stone in water, and the hole and ripples had frozen."

"Then when you looked into the mirror--"

"Your mind went out through that gap in the barrier. Ordinarily, of course, you would not even know that this was happening. But if your mind was concentrated on something in the past or future--as Elaine's was upon the picture of her ancestor--, you were automatically hurtled through time to that period."

The younger man frowned.

"Then why didn't my mind go, too, when Elaine's did? We both were looking into the mirror."

"But from different angles," the professor reminded him. "Remember, the actual break in the continuum was relatively small. Elaine, seated before the mirror, must have been directly in front of the gap, so she was sucked through. You, on the other hand--"

"Yes. I was standing up. Off center. So I didn't go." Mark nodded. "I see."

"And now," said the scientist, "the mirror is broken. Our last chance of saving Elaine is gone."

"No!"

"What?" The professor peered up at the other incredulously. "What do you mean, Mark?"

Brown eyes narrowed with excitement, Elaine's sweetheart held out the splinter of gla.s.s he had picked up. He shook it in front of the savant's face.

"Professor, every piece of gla.s.s that went to make up that mirror is laying over there on the floor."

"I am sorry, my boy." The elder man frowned. "I do not understand."

"Professor, if you break your gla.s.ses, all you have to do to get a new pair is to take the pieces to an optician. He'll figure the formula of the lens from the fragments and make you a new set."

"You mean--"

"I mean that we can put the pieces of that mirror together as if it was a jigsaw puzzle. From it, you can figure out some kind of a formula.

Then, by experimenting, you can find what kind of energy bolt it takes to blast through the barrier!"

Something of the man's intensity, his enthusiasm, communicated itself to the professor. His blue eyes came alight.

"It is conceivable!" he declared. "Not likely. But conceivable." He gripped the fragment of gla.s.s which Mark held. "Yes! We shall try it! If it works, we can--"

He stopped short. His face fell.

"We can what?" he finished. "Another time mirror will not help us bring Elaine back--"

His companion interrupted fiercely:

"How do we know? There's always a chance we'll think of something, isn't there? And it's a cinch we won't accomplish anything just sitting here."

"But--"

"The least we can do is try!"

They worked like madmen in the hours that followed, heedless of the wedding guests who came and went from the house in bewildered knots.

Unmindful of gashed fingers, Mark fitted the slivers of mirror together, while Professor Duchard tested and a.n.a.lyzed and figured at his side.

And then--

"I have it!" shouted the savant triumphantly. "I have the formula!"

"Then we can construct another mirror?"

Some of the old man's elation dropped away. He shook his head.

"Not yet. We know only the _effect_ we want. But how to achieve it--" He shrugged.

Experiments. More experiments. Hours of experiments, with Mark and the professor hovering over an electric crucible bubbling with molten gla.s.s.

Hours of failure.

At last the old scientist straightened, his face haggard with weariness.

"It is no use," he said sadly. "I have exhausted my knowledge, and to no avail."

He turned away, shoulders sagging. Stumbled toward the door.