Chapter 3
Roy lay in bed and thought about what had just happened. He was still not 100% convinced that he didn't dream this. He knew that no one would believe him if he tried to tell them about tonight. Maybe it was a dream. There was no woman from a spaceship here. He got out of bed and stretched. He decided to get a glass of milk and try to get back to sleep and see what tomorrow would bring.
As he started to leave his bed something on the other side of the room appeared. It looked like a pile of water shimmering in the middle of the floor. The watery looking substance started to take the outline of a human. As the form continued to take shape, Roy stood as if his feet were welded to the floor. After about a minute the form had been fully formed and the watery appearance disappeared. Standing before him was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. She appeared to be asleep. He walked over to her and stared. She had a perfect figure. This was the woman that all men have dreamed about since men appeared on the earth. Her eyes started to flutter open.
"Where am I? What is this place? How did I get here and where is my space ship? What happened to my uniform?"
Roy held up his hand, "Wait a minute one question at a time."
"What is this place? I have seen places like this in books. People lived in houses like this in the old time."
She was getting on his nerves. She had a condescending tone to her voice.
"You are in the year 2002. You have been brought here by-I don't know what brought you here. Anyway, the story that I got was that you got too close to a super-nova and the things that brought you here had to save you."
"I would not get too close to a super-nova. They generate heat millions of degrees in Fahrenheit."
"Well Lady, I was told that the super-nova exploded and you were almost incinerated. I have never been in outer space so I have to take their word for it."
"This can't be 2002. Time travel isn't possible. Our best scientists have confirmed this. I demand that you stop this farce or I will be forced to report you to the Supreme Ruling Body. I have a commission as an astronomer to study deep space. I was tested as a child and found that I had an aptitude for space study. I traveled to my space station for 25 years to prepare for my mission. I am not about to lose my commission and my life's preparation over some joke that you and your friends have pulled. I don't know how you got me here to this place, but I demand that you undo it."
He sat her down on the bed, "I think that I'd better explain what happened tonight. If you don't believe it, that's Ok. I don't know if I really believe it either."
He sat down next to her and explained all that had happened before she got to his bedroom. After he had finished, she stared at him and he could tell that she didn't believe him. He got up and turned on the TV. He brought her the remote and handed it to her.
"This button changes the channels. Each time you press a button the next channel will come on. Go through all of the channels and you will see what this world is like today. You are in 2002."
She pushed the button, surfing through each of the channels. When she got to the channel that she had started from, she turned to him. It was a long time before she spoke.
"You didn't feed those signals into that thing from the old time?"
He shook his head and waited for her next question.
"What am I to do? I must get back to my time. I have important work to do. There are others waiting for my reports so that they can continue deep space exploration."
"Look lady, I don't know why you're here. The fact of the matter is this; I have no idea how to get you back to your time. I don't even know if it will ever be possible for humans to do that. Those people, or whatever they were, are much more advanced than I suspect humans will ever be."
He looked at her, "Uh, would you like a robe or something?"
"No the temperature in here is fine. I am comfortable."
She looked at him and suddenly she realized why he had asked about a robe.
"Oh, that's right. Your people still have children the old way. I remember reading that your men get sexually aroused by the sight of a woman's nude body."
"What do you mean have babies in the old way."
"In my time the girl's eggs are harvested when they are mature and they are stored. My eggs have not been harvested yet because I have been in deep space since I was a child. When the stock of children starts to run low, the eggs are analyzed and suitable male sperm is introduced and a child is conceived. The child grows under strictly controlled conditions in an incubation pod. The proper vitamins and chemicals are added to produce the type of child required."
Roy looked at her like she was crazy, "What do you mean "the proper type of child?'
"Well, if a scientist is needed to replenish the stock, then a scientist is produced. Naturally you would have to know what kind of scientist that you needed. We can produce a chemist or astronomer or other as needed."
"What about sex, or have you done away with that too?"
"Every home has a pleasure room with the proper pleasure devices. It is much better than the way your time does it. I read, that in your time, quite often a woman was not pleasured, only the man was."
"What about love?" he asked incredulously.
"What a silly notion. Much like your fairy tales. That died out centuries ago. Love is not really necessary."
He shook his head. "Lady, I don't think that I would like your world too much."
She looked down her nose at him, "What job do you do in your time. It is obvious that you are not a scientist or leader. Even our philosophers live in better houses than this. I do not know why our people coddle the philosophers so much. It is an inexact science, and a worthless one at that."
He got up and walked to the window and looked out into the darkness of the night. This woman was getting on his nerves. He tried to calm down before he answered her.
"Look Lady, I am a scientist. I have a master's degree in chemistry and biology and I have a doctorate in physics. I work on highly technical weaponry for our military. I am one of the leading scientists working for the government. I am getting ready to start work on a new weapons program that will advance pure science. Hell, my studies will probably even create new science disciplines."
She continued to sneer, "You work on weapons? I would not be so boastful about it."
"Yeh, sure. Don't you have a military and weapons designers in your time?"
"Yes, but we are not proud of it. I do not know if a weapons designer would admit to what his job is in our time. It is really nothing to be proud of."
This woman was getting to him. He had to take a break from her for a while or he was afraid he would deck her. He got up and started into the kitchen.
"It looks like I'm not going to get anymore sleep tonight. I'm going to fix coffee. Would you like some?"
The look on her face told him that she had no idea what he was
talking about. He left the room and walked into the kitchen.