World Without End Page #4

- Huh...

- Everybody but you.

- I'm okay.

No bones broken, I guess.

- You all right, John?

- Yeah, I'm all right.

They're still down there.

At least we're safe here

for the time being.

There's an optimist for you.

A pessimist would have said

we were trapped here for the time being.

Well, the pessimist

might have a point there.

It's a cinch they're not

just gonna go away.

Did you save the food?

Yes, and the water.

Enough for a few days.

- What about guns and ammunition?

- We couldn't recover your gun.

I'd say we have maybe 30,

40 rounds of ammunition.

Doc, John, come in here.

Hank?

Yeah, doc, I got it.

- Look at this.

- Stainless steel, apparently.

No, it's some new kind of metal.

Terrific hardness.

Doc, John.

Doc, the door! John.

I couldn't stop it, doc. I couldn't stop it.

Take it easy, Hank.

There's an invitation, boys,

if ever I saw one.

A command performance.

They're not even giving us a chance

to say, "No, thanks".

Put your guns away.

Anyone who could box us in like this

could kill us just as easily.

Come on.

Receptionist stepped out

for a cup of coffee.

Hey, look at this.

It's a lens of some kind.

We're being spied upon.

Yes, there's probably a microphone

planted here somewhere.

Do not touch that.

- Can you hear us?

Yes, I can hear you.

You speak our language.

- Why don't you greet us face-to-face?

In good time.

You bear weapons?

- Yes.

Put them on the table.

Go through that door.

You may leave your burdens.

They will be sent for.

You will wait here, please.

- Which of you is the leader?

- I am Dr. Galbraithe.

I am Timmek. It was my voice you heard.

This is Mr. Ellis, Mr. Borden, Mr. Jaffe.

Why did you come here?

We took refuge in your tunnel

because we were attacked by savages.

- Mutates, we took them to be.

- Mutates?

I do not know the word.

It is from the Latin,

a very ancient language.

- It means, "The changed ones".

- Changed ones indeed.

We call them the beasts.

Your manner of speaking,

your appearance, is strange to us.

Who are you?

We left Earth on an exploratory flight

into space on the 17th of March, 1957.

And in space, you encountered

an exponential time displacement.

Yes. You are familiar

with Dr. Ellender's theory?

His is one of the great names

of our scientific past.

The world was on the verge

of proving his theories...

...when the great blow fell.

You speak of a great blow.

In our travels,

we have seen nothing but desolation.

Where are the cities, the roads,

the bridges, the great works of man?

What happened to them?

Armageddon.

The slaughter of humanity.

An atomic war no one wanted...

...but which no one

had the wisdom to avoid.

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