Highway of Eternity by Clifford D. Simak Read Free Book Online Page B

steal. They are great and noble.”
    â€œAnd stupid,” said David.
    â€œYes, that is right,” said Horace. “And stupid. But now they have found us out and we must get away again.”
    â€œI can’t leave,” said Timothy. “I have decided that I will not go. I will not leave my books or my notes, the work that I have done.”
    â€œWhat Timothy is trying to do,” Enid explained to Boone, “is get an inkling of where, and how, the human race went wrong, how it could have gotten itself into the situation that convinced the people of a million years from now to go along with the scheme of the Infinites. Timothy thinks that back here, close to the roots of our civilization, he may find a clue through a close study of history and philosophy.”
    â€œI am close to it,” said Timothy. “I am convinced I am. But I can’t carry on my work without my books and notes.”
    â€œThere won’t be room,” said Horace, “to take along all your notes, let alone your books. Our traveler capacity is limited. We have Martin’s resident traveler and I am glad we have it. We have our own small traveler and Gahan’s traveler, if it still operates …”
    â€œI doubt there is much wrong with it, if anything,” said David. “Gahan lost control of it, that’s all. It made a fairly soft landing in the flower bed.”
    â€œWe’ll have a look at it,” said Horace.
    â€œNow we are beginning to make some progress,” said Boone. “But there are decisions that have to be made. If you are convinced that we have to go, has anyone any idea where we should go?”
    â€œWe could join the group in the Pleistocene,” said Emma.
    Horace shook his head. “Not that. Athens is destroyed and Henry says something is sniffing all around us. The possibility is good the Pleistocene people have been located as well. If they have not been, our going there could lead whoever is looking for us to them. My suggestion would be to go back deeper into time, beyond the Pleistocene.”
    â€œIt seems to me we should go into the future,” said David, “and try to find out what is going on.”
    â€œBack into the hornet’s nest,” said Emma.
    â€œIf that is what it takes,” said David. “There probably are some people like us still up there, those who did not leave, who are skulking around, toughing it out, making out as best they can.”
    â€œMartin might know something about what is going on,” said Horace, “but where the hell is Martin?”
    â€œWe need some time to think it out a bit,” said David. “We can’t make decisions on the run.”
    â€œTwo days, then,” said Horace. “Two days and we’re gone.”
    â€œI hope you understand,” said Timothy, speaking slowly and decisively, “that I intend to go nowhere. I am staying here.”

5
    The Monster
    Boone sat on a low stone fence that ran between a pasture and a field. In the field, two setters ran in happy frolic, chasing one another, giving chase to the birds their gamboling flushed from the stubble. The late afternoon sun was warm, and the cloudless sky arched like a great blue dome.
    For a couple of hours, Boone had prowled the Acre, accompanied by the happy dogs. He first had set out with a solid determination to find the time bubble, to locate the wall of differentiating time that somewhere must come down to earth. He had tried to walk a straight line, stopping every now and then to realign the landmarks he had set up to insure his going straight. But after an hour or more of walking his straight line, he had found, with some astonishment, that he had come back approximately to that point where he had started out.
    The walk, however, had not been entirely pointless nor a complete failure. During the hour or more, the countryside through which he walked had seeped into him. It had been a long