Dracula Unbound by Brian W. Aldiss Read Free Book Online Page A

coldly, saying nothing. They parted without shaking hands.
    No word had come from Washington in Bodenland’s absence. Instead he received a phone call from the Washington Post wanting an angle on governmental procrastination. Summoning his publicity liaison officer, Bodenland had another demonstration arranged.
    When a distinguished group of political commentators was gathered in the laboratory, clustering round the inertial disposal cabinet, Bodenland addressed them informally.
    â€œThe principle involved here is new. Novelty in itself takes a while for governmental departments to digest. But we want to get there first. Otherwise, our competitors in Japan and Europe will be there before us, and once more America will have lost out. We used to be the leaders where invention was concerned. My heroes since boyhood have been men like Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Alva Edison. I’m going to do an Edison now, just to prove how safe our new principal of waste disposal is.”
    He glanced at Mina, giving her a smile of reassurance.
    â€œMy wife’s anxious for my safety. I welcome that. Washington has different motivations for delay.”
    This time, Bodenland was taking the place of the black plastic bag. He nodded to the technicians and stepped into the cabinet. Waldgrave closed the door on him.
    Bodenland watched the two clocks, the one inside the cabinet with him and the one in the laboratory, as the energy field built up round him. The sweep hand on the inside clock slowed and stopped. The blue light intensified rapidly and he witnessed all movement ceasing in the outside world. The expression on Mina’s face froze, her hand paused halfway to her mouth. Then everything disappeared. It whited out and went in a flash. He stood alone in the middle of a grayish something that had no substance.
    Yet he was able to move again. He turned round and saw a black plastic bag some way behind him, standing in a timeless limbo. He tried to reach it but could not. He felt the air grow thick.
    The stationary clock started to move again. Its rate accelerated. Through the gray fog, outlines of the laboratory with its frozen audience appeared. As the clock in the cabinet caught up with the one outside, everything returned to normal. Waldgrave released him from the cabinet.
    The audience clapped, and there were murmurs of relief.
    Bodenland wiped his brow with a handkerchief.
    â€œI became stuck in time, just for five minutes. I represented a container of nuclear waste. Only difference, we would not bring the waste back, as Max Waldgrave just brought me back. It would remain at that certain time at which it was disposed of, drifting even further back into the past, like a grave.
    â€œThis cabinet is just a prototype. Given the Department of the Environment’s approval, Bodenland Enterprises will build immense hangars to cope with waste, stow it away in the past by the truckload, and become world monopolists in the new trade.”
    â€œCould we get the stuff back if we ever wanted to?” someone asked. “I mean, if future ages found what we consider waste to be valuable, worth reclamation.”
    â€œSure. Just as I have been brought back to the present time. The point to remember is that at the moment the technology requires enormous amounts of energy. It’s expensive, but security costs. You know we at Bodenland Enterprises are presently tapping solar energy, beamed down from our own satellite by microwave. If and when we get the okay from the DOE, we can afford to research still more efficient methods of beaming in power from space.”
    The two men from the Post had been conferring. The senior man said, “We certainly appreciate the Edison imitation, Mr. Bodenland. But aren’t you being unduly modest—haven’t you just invented the world’s first time machine? Aren’t you applying to the wrong department? Shouldn’t you be approaching the Defense top brass in the