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Scientifictionist, issue 2, 1945
Page 15
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REDOUBLED! by James B. Harlow Bob Tucker slit the long envelope, scanned the contents, and then called across the office. "Hey, Boss! It looks like the Wolfe Electrical Company does some business tomorrow. The wholesalers have allotted us six vacuum cleaners, and they'll be delivered this afternoon." "Swell, Bob, I only wish it was sixty." Tucker knit his brows and chewed on the ersatz eraser of his pencil. "You know, Herb, I might be able to do something about that. That gadget of mine in the back storeroom -- so far, it's been only a matter of curiosity, but I might be able to make it do some really profitable work. Want to see it?" The two made their way across the shop, and opened the storeroom door. Herb contemplated the weird spider-network of wires that enclosed one half of the room on all six sides, and the large cabinet that stood in one corner of the enclosure, a scientist's nightmare of coils, tubes, switches, and transformers. "Looks kinda complicated," he said dubiously. "What's it supposed to be?" "It's a time machine, Herb," Bob replied. "I've already tested it, and I can travel up to twenty-four hours into the future." "That's wonderful, but what's it got to do with vacuum cleaners?" "Come on in, and I'll show you." Bob led the way to the big cabinet, passing through a curtain-like opening in the screen of wires. "First, you've got to promise faithfully that as soon as the cleaners are delivered this afternoon, you'll put them over there on the other side of the room, and leave them alone until tomorrow morning." "All right, I promise. Now what?" "Now we set the machine to -- let's see -- twenty hours plus: that takes us to seven A.M." Having done so, Tucker tripped the power switch. A queer flickering blankness enclosed them for thirty seconds or so, and then died away, leaving the room much as it had looked before, except for the evidence that Herb had indeed carried out his promise: six new vacuum cleaners standing against the far wall. "Help me bring the cleaners in here," and as soon as all six were standing beside the time machine, another half-minute of the flickering blankness restored them to their proper time. Carrying the cleaners out of the storeroom, Herb objected. "O.K., Bob, six cleaners are delivered this afternoon, and by using your time machine we have six cleaners now instead. So what?" "So come back in the cage, and I'll show you." Another trip through the queer darkness, another six cleaners brought inside the web of wires, and shortly there were twelve standing outside the storeroom door. "Now I am in a dither," Herb Wolfe exclaimed. "You have proved that you can bring back six vacuum cleaners from the future, but where did this second six come from? After all, the first time we went ahead, we took the six cleaners out of the room; how did they get back there?" "What's just the point, Herb. If you'll remember, for the first trip I set the time machine to land us at seven tomorrow morning. The second time, I set it for a little more than nineteen hours, which took us to six thirty. Since we first brought the cleaners back from seven o'clock, obviously they were still there at six thirty. And we can keep right on doing the same thing, landing in the future each time a half-hour earlier. "If we work steadily, we should be able to bring back seventy or eighty vacuum cleaners by the time the first six are delivered this afternoon." Finis page 15
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REDOUBLED! by James B. Harlow Bob Tucker slit the long envelope, scanned the contents, and then called across the office. "Hey, Boss! It looks like the Wolfe Electrical Company does some business tomorrow. The wholesalers have allotted us six vacuum cleaners, and they'll be delivered this afternoon." "Swell, Bob, I only wish it was sixty." Tucker knit his brows and chewed on the ersatz eraser of his pencil. "You know, Herb, I might be able to do something about that. That gadget of mine in the back storeroom -- so far, it's been only a matter of curiosity, but I might be able to make it do some really profitable work. Want to see it?" The two made their way across the shop, and opened the storeroom door. Herb contemplated the weird spider-network of wires that enclosed one half of the room on all six sides, and the large cabinet that stood in one corner of the enclosure, a scientist's nightmare of coils, tubes, switches, and transformers. "Looks kinda complicated," he said dubiously. "What's it supposed to be?" "It's a time machine, Herb," Bob replied. "I've already tested it, and I can travel up to twenty-four hours into the future." "That's wonderful, but what's it got to do with vacuum cleaners?" "Come on in, and I'll show you." Bob led the way to the big cabinet, passing through a curtain-like opening in the screen of wires. "First, you've got to promise faithfully that as soon as the cleaners are delivered this afternoon, you'll put them over there on the other side of the room, and leave them alone until tomorrow morning." "All right, I promise. Now what?" "Now we set the machine to -- let's see -- twenty hours plus: that takes us to seven A.M." Having done so, Tucker tripped the power switch. A queer flickering blankness enclosed them for thirty seconds or so, and then died away, leaving the room much as it had looked before, except for the evidence that Herb had indeed carried out his promise: six new vacuum cleaners standing against the far wall. "Help me bring the cleaners in here," and as soon as all six were standing beside the time machine, another half-minute of the flickering blankness restored them to their proper time. Carrying the cleaners out of the storeroom, Herb objected. "O.K., Bob, six cleaners are delivered this afternoon, and by using your time machine we have six cleaners now instead. So what?" "So come back in the cage, and I'll show you." Another trip through the queer darkness, another six cleaners brought inside the web of wires, and shortly there were twelve standing outside the storeroom door. "Now I am in a dither," Herb Wolfe exclaimed. "You have proved that you can bring back six vacuum cleaners from the future, but where did this second six come from? After all, the first time we went ahead, we took the six cleaners out of the room; how did they get back there?" "What's just the point, Herb. If you'll remember, for the first trip I set the time machine to land us at seven tomorrow morning. The second time, I set it for a little more than nineteen hours, which took us to six thirty. Since we first brought the cleaners back from seven o'clock, obviously they were still there at six thirty. And we can keep right on doing the same thing, landing in the future each time a half-hour earlier. "If we work steadily, we should be able to bring back seventy or eighty vacuum cleaners by the time the first six are delivered this afternoon." Finis page 15
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