[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

glassware as well. With a little gesture Jerry pulled out one bottle labeled
brandy. There was no ice, of course, but what the hell, sometimes you had to
rough it.
When he and his charming companion really, she wasn't at all bad looking had
toasted each other, he remarked: "I see there's a sofa in the bedroom. Perhaps
I'd better sleep in there. It might look a little strange to Sam if he found
me out here on one of these." And with his free hand Jerry patted the cushions
beside him.
"I think perhaps you're right. The sofa in the bedroom it should be for you."
The emphasis upon the second word in the last sentence
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Saberhagen, Fred - After the Fact was not all that heavy, but it was
definitely there. "And now, if you don't mind, Mr. James, I'm very tired."
Colleen looked uncertainly for a moment at her empty brandy glass, then smiled
briefly and put it down Sam would take care of it and swayed to her feet
against the motion of the train.
A few minutes later, going back to the kitchen-utility room to take his turn
with the water closet, Jerry observed Sam, who was bedded down wrapped in a
blanket on the floor beside the cookstove. The supper dishes had already been
washed and stacked in a rack to dry.
To all appearances their attendant was dead to the world.
Jerry paused for a moment, studying the sleeping man. A slave? No, surely not,
here in the north. But had Sam perhaps been a slave at some point in his life,
his living human body bought and sold?
Almost certainly. The thought gave Jerry an eerie feeling.
Coming forward in the car again a few minutes later, Jerry once more passed
the sleeping Sam, who did not appear to have moved a muscle. Moments later he
entered the parlor and came to a dead stop.
Here in the parlor only one of the high-hung kerosene lanterns was still
burning, the light somehow turned down to dim nightlight intensity. The door
leading to the bedroom was closed. Seated in an armchair directly beneath the
lantern, Pilgrim was waiting, his strong, compact body swaying lightly with
the motion of the train.
He frowned at Jerry but at first said nothing, as if he were waiting to hear
what Jerry had to say.
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Saberhagen, Fred - After the Fact
Recovering from his initial surprise, Jerry at last moved forward again, to
lean with both fists on the parlor table.
"Well?" he demanded. "Is the joke over? Had enough fun?"
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The dark man in the chair sat with folded arms, shaking his head slowly. His
face remained saturnine. "Would that it were all a joke, my friend. Would that
it were."
"I think you better tell me just what the hell is going on."
"I shall do my best." Pilgrim drew a deep breath and expelled it. Not far
ahead, another train's engine whistled sharply. "You have been drafted to
carry out a rescue operation. At the moment it is not going well."
The train swayed, rounding a curve, and the flame in the dim lantern swayed
lightly with it. "Whatever it is you drafted me for, since you're here now, I
suggest you take over the operational details yourself, and send me home."
"I should be delighted to take over, as you put it, and myself do everything
that needs to be done. In fact nothing would please me more. But that is, I
regret, not possible."
"Really."
"Yes."
"Let me see if I can begin to understand this. Your message on the talking
watch indicated that the object of the rescue operation is
Abraham Lincoln. And that if he can be saved from assassination, then there's
some chance of my resuming a normal life."
"That is roughly correct."
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Saberhagen, Fred - After the Fact
"Good. Meanwhile, your aide, little Jan, spent most of an evening back in
Springfield feeding me drugs and telling me how important
Lincoln was to history, how different everything would be if he hadn't been
shot. Which means that if I save him, I'll be resuming my life in a different
twentieth century. Or are you telling me there would then be two different
futures?"
Pilgrim was shaking his head with a slow emphasis. "Understand this from the
start.
There is only one future
. There is only one world.' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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