.

Schatzman said, ‘Well, Mr Bodenland, you appear to have invented the long-awaited time machine, no less.’

      He looked down into his vodka. So the woman was a fool after all. He had hoped for better. This woman was going to have to present his case before her committee in Washington; if she could reach such a basic misunderstanding after studying all the documentation already sent to her over the computer line, the chances for government approval of his invention were poor.

      ‘Not a time machine, Ms Schatzman. As we’ve made clear, our new process merely halts time-decay – much as refrigeration, let’s say, slows or halts bacterial action. We found a sink in real time. The bag in the cabinet disappeared because it became suddenly stationary with regard to universal time-decay. It remained – it remains at 10.16 this morning. We are the ones who are travelling forward in time, at the rate of twenty-four hours a day. The bag remains forever where we put it, at 10.16. We can reach back and retrieve it if necessary, though the expenditure of energy increases geometrically as we progress further from entry point.

      ‘The inertial disposal process is far from being a time-machine. It is almost the reverse.’

      Ms Schatzman did not greatly enjoy being talked down to. Perhaps her remark had been intended humorously. ‘The department will need to enquire into what happens to substances isolated in 10.16, or any other time. It would be irresponsible simply to isolate considerable amounts of toxic waste in time with no clear picture of possible consequences.’

      ‘How long do you estimate such an enquiry might take?’

      ‘We’re talking about something unprecedented, a disturbance in the natural order.’

      ‘Er – not if you have an understanding of the science of Chaos.’

      She understood she had been snubbed. ‘An enquiry will of course occupy some weeks.’

      Bodenland took a generous swig of his vodka and inclined his head in her direction.

      ‘The disposal of toxic waste represents one of the world’s most pressing problems, Ms Schatzman. No one wants the stuff. Only a decade ago the cost of disposal of nuclear waste as prescribed by US law was $2,500 per tonne. It’s twenty times higher now, and rising. Only last week the death of a whole village through the dumping of an illegally manufactured pesticide, Lindane, was reported in Bulgaria.

      ‘That’s where we come in. Bodenland Industries have developed a foolproof way of ridding the world of such evils. All we need is your department’s clearance. You must persuade your committee not to stand in the way of progress.’

      She pronounced the last word at the same moment as he did. ‘Progress,’ echoing it ironically. ‘“Progress” cannot be achieved at the expense of safety. You’re familiar with that concept. It’s what we call the Frankenstein Syndrome.’ She attempted lightness of tone. ‘You know the Department will do what it can, Mr Bodenland. You also know how thoroughly this new advance will have to be investigated. We have our responsibilities – there are security aspects, too. May I suggest that meanwhile you turn your inventive mind to other matters?’

      ‘Sure,’ he said, setting his glass down and rising. ‘I’m going to turn my inventive mind to being a late guest at my son’s wedding.’

      A jazz band was playing an arrangement of ‘Who’s Sorry Now?’ when Joe Bodenland entered the main reception rooms of the Gondwana Ranch, the home in which he and Mina had lived for a decade. At present it was full of flowers and guests.

      Some of the wedding guests were dancing, some drinking, and some no doubt otherwise engaged. The caterers hired for the occasion were bearing savoury and sweet dishes to and fro, while the popping of champagne corks could be heard above the noise of the band.

      Bodenland exchanged compliments and good wishes with a number of family friends as he made his way to where Larry Bodenland stood with his bride, receiving congratulations.

      Kylie greeting Joe warmly enough, flinging her arms round his neck and kissing him on the mouth. Kylie was a beautiful girl with a round face on which good features were set wide apart, giving her a singularly open appearance. Joe had already discovered that Kylie was no mere innocent. She had – beside the considerable fortune accruing from her father’s transport business – a sharp and enquiring mind. But for the moment it was enough to feel her slender body against his as he revelled in her sunny good looks and wished her all future happiness.

      ‘Just see that Larry behaves himself,’ he said, giving her an extra hug.

      Larry overheard the remark. As he shook his father’s hand, he said, ‘How about behaving yourself, Joe? How come you were late for my wedding? Was that deliberate? We know how irrational you are on the subject of matrimony.’

      ‘Now don’t you two start in,’ Kylie said. ‘Not today of all days.’ She raised a hand half-way to her throat, as if to indicate the crucifix hanging there. ‘You know my funny religious principles, Joe, and you must honour Larry for respecting them.’

      ‘Well, bless you both, and I hate myself for missing the ceremony. Don’t blame me – blame the Department of the Environment in Washington, who nailed me to this morning’s appointment.’

      ‘Family certainly can’t compete with a whole Department of the Environment,’ Larry said, huffily.

      ‘Joe has to follow his daemon,’ Kylie said, winking at her new father-in-law.

      ‘What demon’s that?’ asked Larry.

      ‘Now, Larry – your pop is a technophile of the old school. He’s crazy about machines and you must allow him that.’

      ‘Just as you’re crazy about religion, if I can put it that way.’

      ‘Religion still has a place, even in an age of science, and —’

      ‘Spare us!’ cried Larry. ‘I need another drink. It’s my wedding day.’ As he turned away, his mother came up, smiling in a brittle way at Joe.

      ‘You missed the ceremony and hit the champagne,’ she said angrily. ‘Larry and Kylie will never forgive you for this.’

      ‘I’m sorry, Mina.’ He took her hand, looking compassionately into her green eyes. For all his kind of hasty blindness, one of his characteristics, he knew very well what was in her mind at that moment. They had had another son, Larry’s older brother Dick, killed in an automobile crash together with his young wife Molly. Dick had always been his father’s favourite, a brilliant youngster, athletic, and with a deep interest in science, particularly particle physics. Molly too had been clever and high-spirited, a redhead whose body, at the age of twenty-two, had been inextricably merged with her husband’s in the fatal crash. It was Molly, not Dick, who returned to Joe in dreams. Dick had gone beyond recall, leaving no space for his younger brother in his father’s affections.

      With the long habit of a couple who have spent years together, Mina understood something of what passed through Joe’s mind. Her mood softened.

      She said, ‘Odd how Kylie has the religious impulse, just like Molly.’ It was the first time Molly’s name had passed between them in years. ‘I hope that doesn’t mean …’

      ‘Molly wasn’t religious. She just had an intense interest in the supernatural.’

      ‘You’ve forgotten, Joe. Maybe just as well.’ She took his arm. ‘Let’s take a turn outside. It’s not too hot. I’m sorry I flew off the handle earlier. But Larry and Kylie are our only kids now. Let the dead bury the dead.’

      As they reached the terrace, he half-turned to her, smiling.

      ‘That’s kind of a dumb expression, when you think, isn’t it? “Let the dead bury the dead …” What a macabre scene that conjures up! They’d have a problem with the shovels, eh?’

      She laughed. The terrace, which overlooked the swimming pool, was roofed over with reinforced glass, the supporting pillars of which were entwined with different colours of bougainvillea. He took Mina’s