'So when you discovered the probe's data,' said Rick, 'you came to stop us from playing with your fate. We're the apes in the control room, so to speak.'
'You are very perceptive,' said Jane.
'All we did was go on a vacation,' said Con. 'We're not playing with anyone's fate.'
'Everything that occurs in the past affects the future,' said Jane. 'We are in an extremely delicate situation.'
'Let us go,' pleaded Con. 'We won't change anything.'
'We must take whatever action that results in our current reality,' said Jane. 'That is what my colleagues are research-ing.'
'If our fate is already sealed,' said Con, 'can't we be left alone while we await it?' Jane said something in her own language before she spoke again in English. 'If you desire privacy, you need only to command it. I have instructed the room to comply with your wishes. You will not be seen or heard.'
'Thank you,' said Con.
'You will be left in peace,' said Jane. 'At least until my colleagues return today.' She started to go, but stopped. 'Good-bye, Con. Good-bye, Rick.' Then she quickly de-parted. As soon as Jane left, Rick said, 'Give us privacy' and the openings in the colonnade filled with a softly shimmering silvery-blue.
'She changed,' said Con.
'Yeah,' said Rick. 'It gives me hope for humanity.'
'Too bad she said she was uncommon,' replied Con. 'I don't hold much hope for Hitler or Stalin. We don't have much time left.' When Rick didn't respond, she feared he agreed. They made love, knowing it might be for the last time, and their passion was bittersweet. Afterward, Con found her thoughts turning melancholy. She thought of Joe and then of the dream. '
They dressed and made the silvery curtain vanish so they could gaze upon the world. The sky was still dark gray, but not as dark as they remembered. They stepped beyond the stone pillars to feel the cold breeze from the sea.
'The smell's gone,' said Con.
'The world's already beginning to forget,' said Rick. 'And, somewhere, our ancestors are poking their heads out from their holes and thinking, 'Whew! No nightstalkers!' '
Rick got a gleam in his eye. 'Let's go to the beach.'
'I don't have any shoes!'
'I'll carry you.' Rick swung Con up in his arms and ran toward the beach. She laughed and screamed the whole dis- tance. Rick halted at the water's edge. 'We had our first kiss here,' he said.
'I'm getting cold.'
'A kiss will warm you up.'
'Only one? Some guide. I'm colder than that.'
Rick laughed and was bending to kiss Con when she cried, 'Look!'
Rick followed her gaze into the sky. The silver disk of the descending time machine stood out against the dark clouds. The laughter departed from Rick's face. He carried Con back to his stone room. Watching from the room, they saw Hitler and Stalin returning after the time machine had landed. As they marched through the snow, they were trailed by a large, intricately textured cube that levitated a few feet off the ground. They entered the room to the left and disappeared with the cube. A minute later, the multicolored barrier ap-peared between the columns of Rick and Con's room. Rick grasped Con's hand as they watched the silver panel and waited to hear their fate.
The panel opened, and Jane and Hitler entered the room. Both were carrying weapons. Hitler pointed his at Rick and Con.
Pale and shaken, Jane began to speak. 'My colleagues have returned with the archive ...' Hitler silenced her with a burst of harsh-sounding tones. Then he addressed Con and Rick. 'Tell me the exact date you departed in the time machine.'
'February 17, 2059,' said Rick.
