Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/4671-5.790/dmg-5059/various/infinita.txt

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                   THE THIRD DIMENSION PRESENTS-
     * * *   --------------------------------------   * * *

              " V A N   G O G H   I N   S P A C E "

               Infinity City series book #1, ed28Apr94.


      International Copyright 1991-1994 By Douglas K. Bell

                This work is registered with the
                 UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE,
                    THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

                       * Reg. No. 500413 *

               All International rights reserved.
This document is copyright material and may not be reproduced
in part or whole by any unauthorised person.Permission is granted
for the Third Dimension diskmag to distribute it via PD libraries
etc but it cannot be altered/changed/copied for personal purposes.


     * * *   --------------------------------------   * * *


     This document is for use only by permission of the
     author and may not be sold, licensed, or rented.

>>>  If you would like "JASON THE RESCUER", the next
     exciting book in the series, just ask for it!!


     * * *   --------------------------------------   * * *

          Author:

                          DOUGLAS K. BELL
                       Pleasanton, California

                    Email:  [e-mail]


     * * *   --------------------------------------   * * *




     (Note:  Pretend words in all CAPITALS are really in *italics*! )



=============================================================================
PS:  I NEED A PUBLISHER or LITERAY AGENT!
      If there is any way you can help me find a PUBLISHER or LITERARY AGENT,
       I would be endlessly grateful!
=============================================================================





      N O W ,   L E T   T H E   S T O R Y   B E G I N  ! !



PROLOGUE

     SEETHING with frustration after standing for over two hours
under the sweaty summer sun of southern France, staring at the
beckoning, though blank, canvas;  really aware of nothing but
the heavy pistol weighing down his pocket -- and his soul;  the
lean, red-bearded painter noticed the tall, mysterious stranger in
the distance bouncing along the road on a bicycle across the
beautiful, rolling, green French countryside...  It was said the
stranger made all his purchases with impossibly pure gold and
flawless precious jewels.  It was also said that he had murdered
a young local man -- somehow the scandal involved the affections
of some young and pretty French girl.

     The painter was in no mood for an encounter with this
approaching man;  the painter was in no mood to encounter ANYONE
ever again at all!  He threw down his palette then jabbed his
hand into his pocket, grasping for the loaded pistol...




CHAPTER 1 - INFINITY CITY

     Infinity City is an interesting place and not just because
it happens to be located in a black hole.  Though, this of course
does affect the style if not the standard of living of the
natives.  Infinity City is wonderfully interesting because
throughout its long existence its people have always maintained a
virtual Cult of Adventure due most probably to the excitement of
living within the FIRST EVENT HORIZON of a black hole.  Adventure
dominates the lives of the men of Infinity City.  Controlling
these men, to avoid the trouble their Galactic scale Adventures
usually cause, dominates the lives of Infinity City's remarkable
women.

     Infinity City is a romantic place.  Death from aging has
been eliminated through the monthly ingestion of the PILL OF
LIFE, an hormonal protein inhibiting the human body's genetic
propensity toward immune system degradation.  Love can last an
eternity!  Feuds between some families smolder on and on.  And,
without the natural process of aging, unbearable lives can last
forever.  But, seldom do...

     The WELL OF THE WISH, a mysterious brick cistern at the very
heart of Infinity City -- located above the sparkling point of
the black hole's second event horizon -- has been the scene of
many a tragic life's ending.

     The WELL OF THE WISH!  The final solution for those with
intolerable situations, unattainable dreams, unbearable
memories...  Duels of incredibly macabre nature take place when
proud men fail to compromise over political power, business
judgments, and of course, the alluring women of Infinity City.

     Ah, the women of Infinity City!  They are free from the
looming threat of death from old age.  Many find themselves
blessed with timeless beauty.  But, they are still limited to
fertility's finite period.  And, after that?  After giving birth
and rearing as many children as are wanted (the now traditional
occupation of a woman's first 30-60 years) what follows?  The
serene, graceful peace of female political control, for some.
Business, careers, enjoyment of riches, perhaps even Adventuring
for others.  Many others follow children that have grown bored
within the confines of Infinity City and have sailed off
throughout the Galaxy to seek fame and fortune -- the inhabitants
of Infinity City "sail" through the Galaxy aboard faster-than-
light GRAVITONIC SAILSHIPS;  few other human worlds have the
sophisticated knowledge and intricate technology to allow this.
All in all, the population has remained stable near one million.
With the Grand Dames firmly in control through intricate networks
of familial alliances, the forces of power, business, male
adventurousness, and female security are all maintained in
equilibrium.

     And so, on with the saga of a mysterious man given the
chance to live again in a mysterious world, another tale of
Adventure springing from this the most fascinating city of human
future history:  Infinity City!



CHAPTER 2 - JOHN ONE

     A young man, John One, received a generous offer from his
wealthy uncle to sail a small merchant ship up and out of
Infinity City, taking it back in time to the latter part of
Earth's second Christian-era millennium in search of general items
of artistic and rare value.  John was tall and slim, clean-shaven
with short, light brown hair.  He had the peaceful looks of
someone preoccupied with inward reflections, due to the deep
influence of his days at the Militia Academy.  There, he had
developed a strong belief, even a passion, for discipline and
self-control.  His warrior training had demanded he learn to be
constantly relaxed to conserve physiological energy before and
during battle; hand-to-hand or ship-to-ship.  His high
aristocratic cheekbones and thoughtful looking gray eyes were
common in his family.  All in all, he had the appearance of
someone you could have confidence in;  someone you could trust
immediately.  And, most people he met did!

     He had just finished a five year commission with Infinity
City's Militia Guard.  With his training and experience piloting
advanced scouting ships and even a few battle skirmishes with
hostile sailships, and with nothing better in mind, he accepted
the offer from his uncle the owner of the little merchant ship,
after a long, good natured negotiation over profit margin.

     His uncle prepared and provisioned the ship for the journey
while John One was charged with the responsibility of gathering
the specifics he would need to get by in second millennia Earth:
Speech translator, automatic pistols, sophisticated first-aid
equipment, fabric and sewing equipment for making local
costumes...  And, of course, a large supply of the PILL OF LIFE
anti-aging drug (though he was really not physically old enough
yet to require it).  The technology for the production of the
PILL is unknown anywhere else in the Galaxy, the scientists of
Infinity City never successfully manufacturing the PILL outside
of the unique gravitonic radiation within the black hole.
Adventurers normally take a large supply in case they become
stranded and also for barter (though a given prescription works
for only one specific person and is worthless to anyone else
except, perhaps, as a souvenir).  Unfortunately, the molecular
structures of the proteins making up the PILL are very complex,
giving the PILL a shelf-life of only about 25 years;  if an
Adventurer is stranded even with a large supply he'll only stay
young for 25 years and then begin aging.  The PILL cannot survive
cryogenic storage.

     A few days before his scheduled departure his uncle threw
the traditional party for a young man's first grand adventure.
Hundreds of family members attended.  Wrapped up in his academic
studies, even at an early age John One never developed close ties
within his family, even with his brothers and sisters.  In spite
of this, he had always taken his familial responsibilities
seriously, had a good reputation for being helpful and was graced
with the favor of the family's Grand Dame matriarch for always
supporting her position during the inevitable family squabbles
which in Infinity City, with the number and ages of the
individuals within a family, could become immensely complicated
affairs making or breaking personal fortunes and futures.

     So he was surprised at the intimacy with which his brothers
and other male members would coach him regarding the delights and
techniques of seduction of second millennium Earth women.  Any Grand
Dame upon hearing such conversation would steer him away and
lecture him on his responsibility to alter as little as possible
the events and objects in the time that he was about to find
himself.

     At the end of the evening, on one knee with his head bowed,
various Grand Dames ceremoniously bestowed upon him ribbons and
medals of faith in his upcoming adventure.  The family matriarch
Grand Dame Deirdre herself wearing her family crown and a formal
gown of sky blue with an immense ruffled collar presented him
with a thin ribbon with spiraling rainbow colored patterns.


CHAPTER 3 - LIFT OFF

     On the day of departure, his uncle, reclusive father, and
three generations of grand-fathers, all chauffeured in one of the
family's prestigious antique electric cars, delivered him to his
ship all the way out to the far end of the launch field reserved
for private astrogation -- last minute sage advice, tips, and
tricks of the trade flowed continually until John One, with a wan
smile, a nod and a wave slid fast the main hatch.

     The ship was small, modern and shaped like a bullet with its
tip pointing toward Infinity City's sky.  The sky was currently
the same shade as Earth's, though the color of the sky of
Infinity City was artificial and controlled by the Infinity City
civil engineers.  An amendment to the Infinity City constitution
limited changing the color of the sky to only once a year, and
then only by popular vote.  Over the centuries, this yearly event
has grown into the SKY COLOR FESTIVAL in which light-hearted
political "color parties" spring up trying to convince the
populace to vote for their color.  Naturally, a great deal of
wagering goes on over the final outcome.  The most popular colors
through the years have been Earth sky blue, soft lavender and the
breathtaking chromium yellow.

     The ship had its engine room at the bottom, a cargo hold in
the middle and John One's combination living quarters and
piloting room at the top.  The three rooms were about the same
size, though the walls of the pilot room converged together.
Going about his final checkout of systems and supplies, he felt
an unusual welling of incredible excitement within himself.  He
thought about the riches he was bound to find and how proud his
family would be upon the announcement of his return and
discoveries in the "INFINITY CITY JOURNAL OF RECENT ADVENTURE."
For the first time he would be completely out of touch with
Infinity City and his family for, perhaps, several years.  He
suddenly realized how much he dearly loved both.

     John One strapped into the pilot seat, verified his
automated departure program with the on-board computer, gave the
computer the instruction to activate the launch systems, and when
all astrogation system telltales showed green he signaled launch
field control to request take-off: "Launch control, this is John
One piloting the EXCEPTION -- requesting launch synchronization."

     The communication screen lit up with the crest of the family
that managed Infinity City's main launch field.  A male voice
replied, "Acknowledged, EXCEPTION.  Switch in your computer for
flight program verify."  Partially covering the displayed crest,
a window now appeared on the screen with the title: "FLIGHT COM
STATUS" and below this, the flashing yellow message: "PROGRAM
VERIFICATION..."

     John asked launch control, "Busy up there right now?"

     Launch control answered, "Negative, EXCEPTION.  Last launch
occurred 2 hours 23 minutes ago.  None tentatively scheduled."
John realized he must be speaking to the launch control computer,
the human controller probably too busy with other duties to
bother with a private launch on a quiet day.  John thought to
himself, it would have been nice to hear one more human voice
before passing out of radio range beyond the event horizon.  He
asked, "How's your wife and kids?"

     The launch computer replied, "I have heard that one before.
The controller suggests I respond with:  Fine, how's your voltage
and checksum?"

     John chuckled.  Soon the FLIGHT COM STATUS changed to the
green message "COMPUTERS LINKED.  AWAITING GO..."  and the launch
computer ordered, "Launch program now running.  Launch field all
clear.  Raise your sails."

     John activated the overhead gravitonic launch arms that
would support the ship's launch sails between them.  As the
launch arms extended above the ship, the whine of the gravitonic
field generator rose and then fell as the couplers received a
maximum charge for launch.  Once the launch arms were extended,
he loosed the launching sail and leaned forward until he could
see it through the nose cone view port.  And, there it was,
between the launch arms, unfolding, billowing, and shimmering in
Infinity City's artificial nuclear sunlight.  The port he was
looking through was at least a foot thick but perfectly
transparent, though with liquid crystal doping for controlled
translucence and opaqueness.  It was about one foot wide and went
all the way around the cone to form a ring shaped panoramic view.

     After satisfying himself that the sail was secured to all of
the arms, John checked the flight board telltales for any
problems and seeing none he reported, "Launch control, this is
EXCEPTION.  Ready for automated take off."

     "Acknowledged.  Initiating take off now."  And, with that,
the communication screen changed to the message "COMPUTERS
LINKED.  LAUNCH GO..."

     Automated commands began to scroll across his on-board
computer's screen.  The ship creaked and groaned as the sail
couplers sent a high energy burst of special sub-atomic
particle/waves of just the right characteristic to make the sails
react to gravitons.  The gravitonic field generator rose to a
scream in response to the demand on it to overcome Infinity
City's local "storm" of gravitonic forces designed to simulate
Earth's gravity, contain a local atmosphere, and also provide
enough meteorological chaos to generate weather for agriculture.

     John gripped the levers for manual gyro-override and as he
watched the commands flying across his on-board computer screen,
the ship lurched upward, rising in a straight line.  Looking out,
he eye-balled the launch sails billowing with the peculiar
saddle-shaped launch configuration.  Looking down, he saw the
launch field drop away; saw other merchant ships, mostly tear-
drop and bullet shapes of various sizes; and several Infinity
City crab-like men-of-war down for provisioning or refitting.

     Soon, all Infinity City could be seen spreading out away
from the launch field.  He could see the tall buildings of the
nearby metropolitan sector, the quaint and colorful dwellings of
the "oldtown" at the city core, and the grid-like structure of
highways leading out toward the geometric patterns of agriculture
with green, yellow, and russet crops, and the distant, spreading
estates of the large Families.

     On the other side of the launch field the black barrier of
space at the edge of the blue atmosphere could be seen curving
around the horizon, merging with the blue artificial skies and
fluffy clouds.

     John looked down at his excellent view of the different
zones making up the immediate City.  He could see municipal zones
with mixed single and family apartments and shops, one, two, or
three storys high; the nearby prestigious Canterbury zone with
mansions and gardened grounds of some of the most powerful
families; and the industrial zone of warehouses and automated
manufacturing plants.  The closest thing to Utopia that anyone
knew of, John thought to himself.

     He neared the boundary of Infinity City's controlled
gravitonic field and could see one of the huge suspension
generators that held up the egg-shaped envelope of protective
force, keeping at bay the maelstrom of gravitonic forces coursing
between the black hole's first and second event horizons, keeping
Infinity City forever floating right in the middle of the first
cycle of the black hole's infinite singularity wave.

     He quickly began the procedure to extend the ship's mainsail
rigging.  Manipulating controls, he sent the various mainsail
yards extending out in a crown pattern about the bow of the ship.
He energized the piezoelectric plates in the molecular
laminations of the sail yards causing them all to bend inward
until they all touched.  Then, he ran up the mainsail field pump
setting its efficiency phase at 10% and backed off on the sail
yard piezopower unfurling the shimmering mainsail between all the
sail yards until a beautiful, gossamer crown-shaped mainsail was
spread before the ship.

     Evenly, he switched the gravitonic generator's power over to
the mainsail. He then reefed the launch sail back in and
retracted its sail arms.  The gravitonic generator was whining
loudly now as it filled the mainsail to its maximum thickness of
slightly less than a single millimeter.

     John checked all systems for readiness.  He was about to
leave the black hole for some point in Earth's second Christian
millennium.  He took a deep breath.  Then reported to launch
control, "This is the EXCEPTION.  Ready for arc and vector."  *1.
(See footnotes at end of chronicle.)

     "This is launch control.  Acknowledged EXCEPTION, your
request for arc and vector.  Checking for previous conflicting
use of vector...  None.  Checking for traffic due...  None.
Computers performing final vector program verification...
Completed.  Awaiting your go, EXCEPTION."

     And, John One said, "Go!".  With that, he twisted the
microelectronic phase of the mainsail to maximum efficiency and
felt the familiar vertigo as the mainsail bit into the storm of
gravitons between the two event horizons and propelled the ship
into an arc, positioning it for the vector out through the first
event horizon point that would correspond with Earth's second
millennium.  Manual guidance through the black hole's gravitonic
storm to an accurate vector was impossible by manual steering.

     John began hearing sharp whines from the gyro as the
computer made automatic directional compensations for the
vagaries of the gravitonic storm.  The static gravitonic field
left over from Infinity City was beginning to wear off slightly.
He felt lighter and checking the readout found it had dropped to
85% of 1G.  But, there would be enough remaining until he was
well out of the black hole where he could spill some of the
mainsails gravitonic effects over the ship, giving it artificial
gravity.  He preferred zero-G but it would be unhealthy for so
long a trip and he must be prepared for Earth's strong gravity.

     John switched the on-board computer's display over to an
overview of his course.  It showed a white curved line,
tangentially intersecting a short, straight line with a red dot
at the end, the first event horizon exit point.  His ship was a
green dot moving along the curved line toward the straight line.
He was used to the rugged militia ships and felt slightly nervous
about the delicateness of this merchant ship.  But, this was a
completely modern vessel, a model with a particularly excellent
reliability record.  The sail yards were even equipped with
molecular piezo-laminants over-control to reduce the turbulence
of that final, wrenching transitional swap of the time-space of
the black hole into the space-time of the universe.

     The little ship straightened out of its arc and was now
traveling along the vector, the angle of which, to the normal
line between the two event horizons, would determine the time he
would arrive at outside the black, though accurate only to plus
or minus about 500 years.

     The red disk of the first event horizon grew brighter in
intensity through the view port.  John One could now see the
strange black lines that meandered out from the center of the red
disk.  Gravitonic turbulence and eddies of "uncertainty" -- due
to matter being crushed into a different kind of existence --
required periodic adjustments to the ship's controls.  The launch
control comm. screen now showed a communication integrity
percentage that was decreasing.  At 50%, the screen changed to
the flashing message:

     EXCEPTION ON COURSE.
     USE RETURN PASSWORD: 113322
     IMPENDING LOSS OF SIGNAL.
     LINK TERMINATED.  GOOD LUCK!

     Soon the red disk of the event horizon grew so intense that
the view port automatically began to opaque.  At one second to
transition, John gripped the arms of his pilot seat, closed his
eyes, clenched his teeth, and held his breath.  Transition struck
with the immediacy of a hammer striking an anvil.  He felt
himself spread apart, but held on ignoring the feeling until
suddenly it vanished.  He opened his eyes, checked the ship's
systems, and had the computer's screen report a simulated rear
view from the ship.  The angry spiraling vortex of the black hole
was rapidly receding behind.

     John now had the on-board computer begin scanning for
familiar landmark stars and patterns of stars.  It only took the
computer a few moments to analyze and report the vector
coordinates of Earth and that the time was roughly the nineteenth
century.  (The randomness of the intervening gravitonic currents
of space made back-dating planetary positions inexact.)  John One
smiled in satisfaction.  His ship had survived the transition
without damage and he would arrive at a time that was early
enough to sneak down to the surface of Earth undetected, but late
enough to have plenty of riches to choose from.

     He spilt some of the mainsail fielding to provide artificial
gravity then settled down for the long trip to Earth.
Depending on the slowly ever-changing gravitonic currents, a trip
to Earth would take two or three months.  He was about 20 degrees
off course for Earth, but he would remain that way for a day or
so until he was sure that no unfriendly force was following.
This was an Infinity City regulation to prevent any aliens that
might be lurking around in a past era from following an Infinity
City sailship to the home planet.

     His great adventure had begun!


CHAPTER 4 - THE TRIP TO EARTH

     The trip proceeded.  John One spent much of his time
studying maps of Earth, the peoples of the various places and
eras within the second millennia, historical information
regarding ancient works of art, and the geographical locations
that would yield the greatest values for his uncle and himself.

     Periodically, the gravitonic currents, along which his ship
was sailing, would begin to veer away from Earth.  When this
occurred he would have to watch for gravitonic eddies which
indicated a nearby, usually turbulent, intersection to a current
branching off in a new direction.  He would maneuver the ship
over to the current if its course was more direct to Earth than
the one he was in.  Certain intersections were so turbulent, he
would miss them completely, and have to raise all sail, and tack
back and forth, back up the gravitonic current and try to make
the other current again.

     Also, he used the on-board computer to coach him in
pronunciation of all the language allophones he would possibly
encounter.  He would not need to really learn any of the major
languages since the on-board computer had the capability to
speak, understand, read, and write all the known languages of
Earth.  This was a standard program for any merchant ship dealing
with Earth or any remote human colony.  He would wear a remote
device inside each ear, like a hearing aid, that would be linked
to his ship's computer.  In the event of lost communication, each
remote device had enough computer processing power to carry out
the translation of a single language and perform a limited set of
utilities.  The remote devices also contained specialized sensors
to inform the wearer of location, heading, altitude, and changes
in the weather.  They also were equipped with visual scanners
with infra-red capability for night vision.  The wearer had to
turn his head sideways for the remote devices to "see" forward.

     To John's surprise, he discovered a small weapons locker
containing a hand held explosive projectile weapon, or 'handgun'
as they were still called;  an extremely destructive weapon
outlawed -- as were all hand weapons -- on Infinity City.  John
marvelled at his uncle's disregard for Grand Dame law, but
understood the need Adventurers had for such weapons on the many
lawless worlds about the Galaxy.

     Toward the end of the second month of the trip, the ship was
close enough to Earth so that it could proceed on a direct course
to Earth's solar system.  John set all sails, brought the
sailship around and pulled out of the strong gravitonic current
it had been following -- progress slowed considerably as a
result.  John, in his growing excitement and impatience, took the
helm for longer and longer periods each day, using his superior
human intuitive abilities to pilot the ship;  seeking and
exploiting the mysterious transient gravitonic fields found
between the great, never ending main currents.  John was reminded
of the soaring birds of Earth he had read about that would seek
thermal after thermal in their efforts to attain higher altitude.

     Finally, Earth's Sun could be seen.  The home star of the
home planet.  A shiver of excitement ran through John as he
realized he would be visiting the original planet of human
evolution.  Some of the people he would meet could even be remote
ancestors!

     Day by day, as the Sun grew in brightness, John scanned the
solar system for planets.  Scanning a circular area around the
Sun took several hours.  Finally, two small dots appeared on the
scan printout on either side of the Sun and were labeled JUPITER
and SATURN, automatically by the computer.  Now he was able to
calculate the angle of the solar plane.  This allowed him to
limit the scan area to an ellipse, reducing the time required to
scan considerably.

     The following day URANUS and NEPTUNE appeared.  A few days
later MARS.  And then the next day, EARTH!  The Sun's gravitonic
field was growing in strength.  Setting the ship on a broad,
tacking course, he rapidly bore down on Earth.  Three days later,
Earth was looming blue and bright before him.

     John One was struck by the majesty of the "home planet."
Chills ran up and down his spine as he beheld -- through the nose
cone view port -- the wondrous planet he had studied and heard so
much about all his life.  All the citizens of Infinity City
dreamed of visiting Earth.  An adventurous trip to Earth was
always the most prestigious accomplishment of a Adventurer's
career.

     Sailing at a significant fraction of the speed of light,
John One had not been gazing at the Earth for long when the
computer issued a request for authorization to begin the
automatic braking maneuver that John One had setup earlier.  He
typed it in.  The computer automatically reefed in the sails and
John heard the whine of the gyros rise up to maximum -- the ship
slowly rotated about.  The sails were then unfurled again.

     He could have piloted manually but the gravitonic fields
about the Earth and its sun were mild and without turbulence so
there was little chance of any trouble.  He could easily perform
manual override at any time.  Also, he did not want to take his
eyes off the beautiful shining blue planet.  How extremely bright
its colors were against the absolute black of surrounding space!
The continents were mysterious looking; veiled here and there by
bright white cloud patterns.

     The ship slid smoothly into a polar orbit from which he
would be able to scan the surface for an optimal landing site.
The ice caps reminded him of tight fitting ancient Arabian hats.

     He reefed in all the sails and ran the sail arms back in.
His artificial gravity began to dwindle so he initiated the
procedure to prevent this.  Using the gyros to swing the ship
around he aimed it directly at the Earth.  Next, he instructed
the computer to keep the gyros slowly turning in such a way to
keep the ship pointing at Earth's center.  Then he let out the
small launching sail, setting its phase to artificially generate
equivalent Earth gravity within the ship.

     But first, he had the computer scan the coordinates of
several known stars, comparing these with their locations and
velocities stored on file to determine his arrival time in local
units.  The computer reported the Gregorian date 1887 plus or
minus four years.  Looking through his families' secret list
(given him by his uncle) of time versus valuable commodities
which had been jealously accumulated by and handed down through
many generations of Adventurers, John decided to begin his
acquisition with late nineteenth century European art treasures.
He had decided on paintings.  Since they were flat, requiring
less storage room, he could bring back more value in paintings
than other artifacts.

     Using the computer, he determined that he would not be above
Europe until the night.  He spent most of the rest of the day
preparing a local costume.  The travel kit he would carry on the
surface he had prepared over a month ago -- he went through this
again anyway.

     He felt excited about the adventure ahead, and also fearful
of the risk he would be taking entering a primitive human
society...



CHAPTER 5 - DESCENT TO EARTH

     He prepared his ship for the descent to Earth.  Sails were
set and the orbit slowly braked back using the launch sail until
he hovered above late nineteenth century France.  He decided to
begin his collection of rare art with works of famous early
French impressionists or whatever else of value he could find.

     With launch sail reefed and landing sail carefully set he
began the descent.  The power of Earth's trade winds vied with
the power of Earth's gravitational field, singing through the
rigging of his gravitonic sails.  Descending aft first, he could
no longer see Earth from the nose cone view port.  He would use
the computer view screen to find his way down.  Though it was
nighttime the computer would amplify images until they were as
bright as day.

     The clouds parted and he saw land, an adjacent large body of
deep blue water, and a complex coastline between the two.

     He typed a quick command to the computer and names appeared
superimposed over the land and the water, different colors
representing bodies of water and rivers, land areas, and the
names of towns.  The land was labeled FRANCE;  the water
MEDITERRANEAN.

     The image moved closer and closer.  Soon, more names
appeared.  The closest part of the sea to the land area he was
now above was labeled GULF OF LIONS.  A river appeared which was
labeled RHONE.

     There were no clouds below him now and few above.  Below, he
began to make out green forests and the artificial boundaries and
various colors of agricultural areas.  Manipulating the viewing
angle he searched for somewhere safe and hidden to land finding
an outcropping of boulders at the top of a low hill.  They formed
a convenient crown which would easily hide his ship.

     Soon, the outcropping loomed below.  A clearing toward the
center appeared and he slowly, gently took the ship down the
final distance and landed with a gentle thud.


     He has arrived!  His heart is pounding and everything seems
to be in slow motion as the wonder of what awaits him lifts his
spirit to heights he has never experienced.

     On Earth!  John leaps from the pilot seat with a surge of
youthful excitement and heads down to the main hatch.  It is
night and he does not care about changing into local garments.
His gray coverall covers him from neck to wrists, to included
shoes.  Enough.  He wants Earth!  To walk on the Original Planet!
The most prestigious adventure imaginable.  The background of his
culture raises an almost religious fervor in his soul.

     He reaches for the main hatch controls on the adjacent
bulkhead and pauses.  The military trained part of his brain
automatically runs through possible dangers.  There are no
diseases at this time in Earth history in France that his ship's
medical supplies cannot handle.  However, he opens a supply
locker, unclips the explosive projectile hand weapon he had
discovered during the journey over, and prudently fastens it to
his belt.

     He then activates the automatic hatch cycle.  The inner door
slides to the side and he enters the tight way between the inner
and outer door.  When he is clear, the inner door automatically
closes.  There is a pause as the hatch system equalizes pressure
with the outside.  He forcibly unclenches his jaw.  He finds his
mouth has dried out.  His palms are damp.  He hears the outer
lock begin its release cycle.  His heart is now thudding like a
drum within him.  He realizes that this is the biggest step in
his life so far.  He pictures himself telling the story to his
grandchildren, great-grandchildren...  Time has turned into slow
motion.

     The outer hatch motors begin to whir and the thick outer
hatch begins sliding away.  A moment later a gap pops into being.
A growing, black vertical line into the local night.  John's
trained instincts take over and he crouches slightly, his eyes
widening, prepared for the unknown.

     As the hatch slides all the way open, he feels a cool breeze
carrying scents from the meadows and local agriculture
surrounding his rocky hideaway.  John steps out and down to the
sandy ground of the clearing around the ship.  Earth!  An amazing
feeling of safety and tranquillity sweeps over him.  This is
home!  And, he knows there will be no historic danger in this
region for many years.  The air, the temperature, the gravity,
everything he senses seems perfectly natural, delightful, normal.

     There is no moon.  The night sky is only partly cloudy and
the stars he can see shine with a clean brilliance -- there is
not enough light for him to safely maneuver through the rocks to
leave the outcropping and explore.  He could get his computer-
ears and have them guide him, but he decides to wait until
morning.  He returns to the ship...

                              * * *

     Too excited to get to sleep, John decided to put together a
costume to wear outside during his explorations.  First, he
requested any information regarding clothing around 1887 A.D. in
France from the on-board computer.  Before leaving Infinity City,
he had down-loaded from the Infinity City Library as much
information as his ship's memory could hold regarding his target
time on Earth.  The computer spent only a few moments searching
then began displaying digitally stored copies of photographs from
late nineteenth century France.

     The photographs were in poor shape, perhaps having been
handed down through Infinity City families for many centuries.
However, John One discovered an effective image enhancer in the
ship's software library which turned the poor black & white
images into sharp, colorful three dimensional representations, as
realistic as if he were looking into a hand-held window into the
past.

     Next, John brought out a sophisticated sewing machine,
supplied by his uncle, and a bolt of the generic synthetic cloth
specially designed for it.  He placed both on the deck of the
pilot room.  The sewing machine was a gray, rectangular plastic
box about three feet wide, one foot high and about half a foot
deep.  He activated the sewing machine by pressing its only
button located on the top near the carrying handle.  Its little
display screen on the other side of the handle showed the number
of the wireless communication channel and device identification
code that the sewing machine is "listening to" in bright,
blinking green numbers.  John went to the ship's computer
terminal and typed in the channel number and identification code
of the sewing machine.  He then instructed the computer to
download to the sewing machine the dimensions, color and texture
of the clothing in the photographs.

     It takes over a minute for the two machines to work out a
mutually understandable communication format.  When they
eventually do, all the information regarding the clothing is
successfully copied to the sewing machine.

     He then pulled up the spindle for the cloth and mounted the
bolt of cloth on the spindle.  Next, he pulled open the plastic
front panel of the sewing machine revealing a long slot toward
the top of the front side for the raw material cloth and another
slightly wider slot for ejecting the finished product.  John
inserted the synthetic cloth into the hopper slot.

     Next, John looks the sewing machine over for a control panel
but finds none.  He puts his hands on his hips as he leans over
the sewing machine frowning at it.  He doesn't know how to start
it.  There is no control panel, he has never used one before, and
it did not come with an instruction watch.  *2.  He presses the
activation button again but the display screen just displays
"ALREADY ACTIVATED."

     John asks, "Ship computer, how do I make this sewing machine
manufacture something?"

     The computer replies in a flat voice, "Unknown."

     John feels slightly guilty at having left on his voyage
without checking out this piece of equipment.  He had been
excited about this, his first Adventure.  Though, to those who
knew him back at Infinity City, he seemed as calm and cool as
ever.

     He once again spoke, "Computer, ask the sewing machine over
its comm channel how to start it."


     A few moments later the ship's computer reports,
"Communication acknowledged by the sewing machine, but no data
reply."

     "Computer, ask it for instructions."

     Another few moments, "Communication acknowledged, but no
data reply."

     "How do I start you?!" John asks the stubborn sewing
machine, as he looks it over once again.

     He sits back and calmly strokes his chin while staring at
the silent gray box on the deck.  He has never let uncooperative
behavior by computers anger him.  He needs a local costume that
will "fit in" here and that means he has to get this machine
working.

     Suddenly, he yells, "Computer!  Order this damn sewing
machine to start making the clothes!"

     "Acknowledged," the computer says.

     The sewing machine whirs into life and begins feeding in the
bolt of synthetic cloth.  The bolt stops feeding then starts
again, then stops, then starts.  This process continues
accompanied by all sorts of interesting sounds from the inside of
the sewing machine.  John begins to smell a slight melted plastic
odor.

     The sound of a little bell goes off and out of the bottom
slot for finished products slides a floppy, brown hat, just like
in the photograph.  The machine whirs back into life, rolling in
more raw material synthetic cloth.

     John watches with satisfaction as the machine produces one
by one: coat, trousers, socks, underclothes, a thin necktie, a
neckerchief, a belt, and boots.  BOOTS!  The boots are rather
floppy and more cloth-like than leather-like, but John discovers
they are big enough to fit over his regular foot-gear.  Some of
the clothes are the same color.  Some different.  But, all
surprisingly match.

     Amazingly, all the clothing fits just fine.  Upon quizzing
his ship's computer he learned that it had initially sent the
sewing machine only relative dimensions of the clothing in the
picture, not knowing the exact dimensions of the pictured
clothing.  The sewing machine had then asked the ship's computer
for the dimensions of the person who would be wearing the
clothing.  The ship's computer had fortunately predicted that the
person would be John.

     It had gotten quite late.  John yawned, feeling very sleepy.
He would venture forth in the morning.  He donned night clothes,
happily climbed into his bunk, and drifted into an exciting dream
about returning to Infinity City to the adoration of his family
with an incredible treasure he had brought back from France...



CHAPTER 6 - EARTH

     In the morning, the ship glints in the new sunlight.  The
outer hatch slides slowly open and a young man emerges, dressed
in ordinary (for the area and era) country clothes and a cap.
However, if anyone looked closely they would see a small, strange
object inserted inside each ear.  These are his COMPUTER-EARS.
Miniaturized, portable computers that let him understand and be
understood by the local French and also let him maintain contact
with his ship.

     His pockets contain pieces of gold, silver, and small
quantities of synthesized precious (for the time period) gems.
In a secret belt around his waist: emergency medical supplies and
food rations.  In his pocket:  the deadly explosive projectile
hand weapon.

     A little smile plays across his lips as he jumps to the
ground and jauntily sets off across the clearing.  He picks his
way carefully through the rocks and finds himself in a grassy
wild meadow with small red and yellow wildflowers waving in the
vigorous morning breeze.  The light scent of flowers, the AROMA
of Earth, almost intoxicates him.

     A dirt road, almost a trail, can be seen a short way off.
In the direction in which the road leads he sees the geometric
shapes of agricultural divisions as well as some strange long,
low object in the indeterminate distance, perhaps part of a
village.  John One decides to follow the road.

     Just as he sets out through the gently waving grasses, he
looks back and sees the sun reflecting off the silvery nose of
his ship, conspicuously sticking up from amongst the surrounding
rocks.

     Nervously, he looks around expecting to see a crowd of
pitchfork wielding villagers descending on him.  But, there is
nothing but the surrounding, rolling countryside underneath a
brilliant, clear blue sky and a few moving clouds.  He hastens
back to his ship to take care of the problem.

     Back at the base of the ship, John whispers to his computer-
ears the command to open the ship's main hatch.  It slides open,
he jumps in, smacks the "CLOSE" button, and leaps up the spiral
stairway, two steps at a time.  Once up in the pilot room, he
pulls down on a handle in the ceiling and a large section of it
tilts down to the floor revealing the inner cone full of the sail
control electro-mechanical systems.  The back of the tilted
"ceiling" has ladder rungs allowing him to climb up into the
inner nose cone.  Once there, he unscrews the restraining cone
"dogs" and deactivates the magnetic air seals.  He then flips
open a small covered button located on a thick, power hinge and
presses the button.  This causes the emergency nose hatch to
slowly swing open.

     John cautiously peeks over the edge and begins turning
completely around.  He sees nothing more than the surrounding
countryside, the rough road tangent to the small rocky
outcropping and the strange object on the far horizon.  It is a
wall surrounding a large town!  But, there is no sign of anyone
nearby.

     John then ducks back inside, backs down the rungs of the
"ceiling" ladder and goes one level down the ship's spiral
stairway to the storage hold between the pilot room and the lower
engine room.  From deep within a storage bin of various
provisions for this voyage he pulls a coil of thick, dark green
tubing which is actually a sack for a sophisticated camouflage
device.  He also pulls out its small, hand-held control box which
he leaves on a shelf beside the spiral stair.  He quickly takes
the tube back up to the nose cone.

     Once inside the nose cone, he finds enough room to brace his
feet on either side of the hole and stands up through the
emergency hatchway until he is halfway out of the ship.  He
unwinds the spiral tube, dangling it down the outer side of the
ship until it is roughly straight, then carefully he smoothly
pulls off the dark green sack to reveal the camouflage mesh.  In
the sunlight, the tiny interlocking links sparkle and reflect
like diamonds.  The liquid crystalline structure within is in its
base state, which is transparency.

     The mesh was doubled before it was rolled, like a piece of
paper folder over once and then rolled up.  John separates the
two edges and then starts unrolling the mesh with one edge
draping down over one side of the ship and the other edge
descending down the other.

     Once it is all rolled out from the top of the ship all the
way down to the ground, he carefully re-closes the escape hatch
not bothering with the mechanical hatch "dogs," but prudently
reactivating the magnetic air seal to keep out any rain.  He
descends to the pilot room and tilts the ceiling ladder closed.
He makes his way back down the spiral stairway, grabbing the
camouflage mesh's control box on the way.

     Once in the engine room, he smacks the main hatch's "OPEN"
button and waits for the hatch to slide open.  Once open, all he
sees is the shiny glassiness of the camouflage mesh rustling
slightly in the breeze.  It was "cut" to fit his ship back at an
outfitting shop in Infinity City, so he is able to grasp its
bottom edge just below the hatchway and easily lift it up and
slip through.

     He looks around at the surrounding clearing and the rocky
outcroppings jutting upwards.  He lifts the camouflage mesh
control box.  It is black and rectangular with a bulging circular
lens at one end, a display panel in the middle of one side, with
some buttons at the far end.  The panel reads in black letters on
a white background:  "Mesh Status: DEACTIVATED/TRANSPARENT."
Below that, in flashing green letters:  "Press <1> and scan."

     John, familiar with the operation of the device, through his
militia training, presses and holds the button marked <1> at the
end and walks all the way around the ship swinging the camouflage
mesh controller this way and that so the bulging lens can record
all the immediate colors, textures and shapes.

     Once around the ship, the device is so intelligent that it
emits a soft chime letting John know that it has seen everything.
The small display panel now reads in flashing yellow letters:
"Touch to mesh and press <2>."

     John holds the device up so that it is pushing the
camouflage mesh against the side of the ship and presses the <2>
button.  The device begins transmitting the color and texture
data down to the camouflage mesh. Each crystalline, hexagonal
link of the mesh covering the ship has its own tiny microcomputer
with an individual identity.  Each will be given a specific color
and texture program.  The programs will even contain time
parameters to make the color and texture fit the slant of the sun
and nighttime conditions.

     As this process takes place, John watches the little display
show percentage completion: "10%... 20%..." and finally "90%...
100%."  There is another soft chime and the ship suddenly turns
into a hard, dirty yellow.  John jerks back in surprise.  Then

looks up and backs further away.  His ship has become an
outcropping of rock!  He smiles in satisfaction.

     Going over to the "rock", he lifts up a fold of the mesh,
finds the main hatch, slides the control box inside and lets the
mesh fall back into place.  He tells his computer-ears "Tell the
ship to close the main hatch" and hears this occur.

     Walking all around the ship again, he satisfies himself that
it is safely camouflaged.  He then leaves the outcropping of
rocks and walks over to the road.  This time, looking back he
sees nothing but rocks.  He smiles and heads off down the road in
the direction of the town in the distance whistling a brisk
march, popular with the Militia Guard of Infinity City.



CHAPTER 7 - ARLES

     Surrounded by the rolling green hills, the bright blue sky
with billowing white clouds and the warm scented breeze, John
began to feel he was in some sort of enchanted land out of a
childrens' fairy tale.  Birds wheeled overhead in the late
morning sunshine.  He saw a rabbit run into its hole at the base
of a tree.  There was a small cat in the nearby grasses pouncing
after mice.  So much life everywhere!  He thought how artificial
Infinity City was in comparison.  A complete creation by man.

     Beyond the wall, the structure in the distance grew larger.
It was round and the color of stone.  Behind it, he also began to
see some of the town's church towers spring up.  Curious, he
quickened his step.

     The road went through a wide unguarded opening in the wall.
Once through the wall, he began to see people walking along a
road from the nearby town and entering the structure.  He stopped
and stared.  The structure looked like a large arena or coliseum.
It was made of stone.  This was a Roman coliseum!  There could be
no doubt.  He asked:  "Computer-ears, is the communication link
with the ship established?"

     "Yes, normal function," it replied.

     He turned his head so that one of his ears was pointed at
the coliseum and ordered, "Computer-ears, scan that building,
send the image to the ship computer and ask it if that is a Roman
coliseum."

     "Acknowledged...  Ship computer reports, 'Yes.  Earth Roman
coliseum from estimated year AD 50 plus or minus 80 years."

     John was struck with confusion.  He must be in the time of
ancient Rome, but all his celestial calculations had indicated
the nineteenth century!  He decided to investigate and continued
toward the coliseum.

     When he was only a few hundred yards away, he stopped and
could see the details of the clothing being worn by the people.
He was relieved to see similarities to his own garb.  He smiled
to himself at the excellent job of camouflaging both the ship and
himself.

     Then he squinted and frowned.  French peasants from the
nineteenth century entering a Roman coliseum?  His eyes grew
wide.  What if what the Grand Dames had been worried about had
come true?!  What if the Infinity City Adventurers' meddling with
Time had finally had a chaotic effect?  It was like universal
order was unraveling.  Maybe different points in Time were
converging!

     All the cosmological theories taught by Academy professors
had always seemed unimportant to John.  But, faced with seeming
proof of a catastrophe beyond comprehension he wished that he had
paid more attention to the endless lecturers and late night
discussions during his Academy days regarding the chaotic effect
theory.

     The last few people entered the immense structure and there
were no more.  John frowned wondering what to do next.  He
checks: "Computer-ears, is the French language translation
program ready?"

     The computer-ears replied quietly, "Program ready," using
John's own voice.

     John directed the computer-ears to slowly translate anything
he said into French.  He would then repeat the phrases.  He had
practised this on the voyage to Earth and had familiarized
himself with the current French allophones.  He once again
chastised himself for not actually learning French on the way
over.  But, he had disliked the few courses he had been required
to take in non-English languages at the academy and Infinity City
Adventurers swore by the usefulness of computer-ears which had
been around for centuries.

     He said, "How do I say, 'What is happening here, today?'"
The computer-ears immediately responded in his own voice with the
French equivalent.  He repeated the phrases, enjoying the
rolling, musical quality of the language.  The Infinity City
accent of English seemed so terse in comparison.

     "I think I'm ready," he said to himself.  The computer-ears
once again translated exactly what he had said in French.  He
smiled a little to himself and proceeded once again toward the
road leading to the structure.

     He got to the road, which was just black dirt, hard packed
from years, maybe centuries of use and walked into the coliseum
through a tall archway of some ancient kind of wood.  He was in a
passageway between the entrance behind him and a bright exit
before him to a sunlit area in the center of the building.  The
building smelled very musty and primitive.

     Suddenly, there was the sound of several horned instruments
through the sunlit opening.  He also heard the sound of metal and
wood banging and then the cheers of a large crowd.  He crept
forward.

     At the end of the passageway, a man shorter than John stood
with arms folded peering over a wooden wall a few feet in front
of him.  John looked around.  Behind the wall, and curving around
in both directions, was row upon row of primitive seating
partially filled with people.  There was also a large, shabbily
dressed man with an easel painting the scene not too far away.

     John came up beside the man in front of him.  He wore
peasant trousers and a soft, red official-looking jacket with
matching low cap.  At his waist, was slung an ornate sword.  The
man looked at him, nodding with a big grin then looked back over
the wall.  John asked in French, "What is happening here, today?"
The man spoke without looking at him, "Bullfight, of course!"

     Puzzled by the answer, John looked over the wall and was
shocked at what he saw!  A man in a bright green suit, with
flashing sequins all over, wearing a square black hat, stood at
one side of the open area facing a gigantic black bull at the
other side of the area.  A sword dangled from the man's belt.  He
was just standing there holding a large piece of material the
same green color as his suit.  The bull looked menacingly at the
man, its head lowered almost to the ground.  It had been stuck
with several small swords which dangled from its sides.  Blood
could be seen glistening in the bull's coat.

     John looked around.  The open area with the man and bull was
encircled by the wooden wall at about John's chest height.
Around this was row upon row of wooden benches, almost full of
people excitedly leaning forward, all eyes on the man and the
bull.

     Suddenly, the crowd yelled and John looked quickly to see
the bull charging forward toward the man who was still just
standing there holding the piece of material.  John felt panicked
and thought the man was going to be trampled.  He reached into
his pocket for his handgun, but hesitated.  If this was all some
chaotic problem with Time, he could make things worse by
interfering with a device from a different technological era.

     The bull was closing the gap rapidly.  Was this some kind of
sacrifice?  But at the last second the man nimbly and with almost
formal grace stepped to the side without moving the large green
piece of material.  The stupid bull roared toward the material
ignoring the man.  The man quickly lifted the material just as
the bull went into it.  Seeing the wooden wall just a few yards
away, the bull ground to a halt, coming to a stop inches from the
wall.  The crowd roared with acclaim.

     Immediately though, the bull pivoted around with amazing
agility and charged the man again who once more feinted the bull
with his piece of material.

     This went on again and again.  Charge and feint, charge and
feint, the crowd growing louder and more excited all the time.
Soon, the open area of the arena began to grow cloudy with the
dust the bull had been kicking up.  The high sides of the
coliseum prevented the breeze from blowing the dust away.

     The man in the arena led the bull to the opposite side where
he and the bull disappeared in the growing dust.  John could hear
the cheers of the crowd from the other side rising and falling.
Suddenly, the man emerged from the cloud of dust, running along
the wooden wall to John's right.  He looked scared and it was
clear that he had lost track of the bull.

     Then, catastrophe struck!  The bull came charging out of the
dust faster than John could believe any animal could run,
coincidentally heading straight for the running man.  Its head
was down and turned slightly to the side, as if it didn't care
what was in front of it.  But it saw the man and actually
increased its speed until its legs were a blur of flying hooves.

     This was so close that John could now feel the rumble of the
mighty galloping bull through his feet.  The man stumbled to a
halt and, with awe-inspiring bravery, raised the material
directly before him with his back inches in front of the wooden
wall.

     And then, with almost magical swiftness, the man once again
skipped to the side.  With a flash of bright green, the bull
burst through the material and smashed into the wooden wall with
an explosion of sound and flying wooden splinters.

     The nearby crowd, seeing what had happened, cheered and
yelled in hysterical excitement and began to applaud.  The people
on the other side of the wall screamed in panic.  As the dust
cleared, John could see the bull only a few paces away actually
now stuck halfway through the old wooden wall.  The bull was
snorting loudly and digging his hooves in the dirt, driving
himself forward.  People in front of the bull were leaping off
the benches, climbing over each other in panic, knocking over the
benches and falling over until no one was getting anywhere.

     An elegant older lady and a young girl sat on the bench
closest to the bull, staring at it with hands raised to their
faces, frozen in terror.  The girl was closest to John.  On the
other side of both of them, a small gentleman in a dark suit was
frantically pulling at the older lady.  John could hear him
shouting, "Marian!  Run!  Run!  The beast is almost free!  Come
on!"  He finally pulled the lady up and began dragging her into
the crowd trying to escape.

     John realized with shock and greater confusion that the man
was shouting in English, though with a strange accent.

     But, now the bull was pulling itself forward, out from the
planks of the wall, toward the poor frightened girl still staring
at the bull only a few feet away.

     John took a step toward the bull, his fists clenched in
frustration.  Should he interfere?  Should he use a gun from
Infinity City?

     John was a man from Infinity City, a product of his family's
timeless honor and trained by the centuries old proud and brave
Infinity City Militia Guard.  He could not stand there and watch
this girl get killed, even if this was the past where this had
already happened.

     John went into action!  He spun around, grabbed the handle
of the sword worn by the guard, who was just staring at the bull
with a wide-eyed disbelieving look.  John yanked the sword out.
The man mumbled something incoherent and stumbled away.  John
turned toward the bull.

     The bull lunged forward and people watching from the
panicked crowd screamed hysterically.  Some women were crying and
John could hear a man chanting some religious sounding litany.

     Some planks that had made up the top portion of the wall had
collapsed down, trapping the bull's hind quarters.  It crouched
its hind legs and at the same time extended its front legs,
lifting up the front part of its body to tip its rump down and
out from the restraining planks.  John saw his chance!

     Bracing the sword under his arm, with the blade parallel to
the bull's ribs, he lunged forward.  The sword stabbed cleanly
into the side of the bull's rib cage and John drove it in with
all his might.  The bull bellowed a terrifying roar!  John
slammed against his hands holding the hilt of the sword again and
again, burying it inch by inch through the beast's chest.
Finally, it came to a stop, pushing against the ribs on the
opposite side.

     The bull was now standing quite still.  John leapt back.
Looking down, he saw his handgun lying on the ground near the
bull.  He had felt it bouncing around in his pocket while he had
been lunging against the hilt of the sword, driving into the
bull.  It must have bounced out of the pocket!  The bull turned
its head to stare at John with a stupid, almost indifferent look,
then collapsed to the ground, on top of the gun, its final breath
blowing up a small dust cloud from its muzzle lying in the dirt.

     John turned toward the girl on the bench just as her eyes,
momentarily meeting his, began to close and she swayed to the
side.  But he quickly reached forward and caught her before she
could fall from the bench.  Lifting her slight form in his arms,
he looked around wondering what to do next.  He found his
thoughts distracted by the warm, soft body he held --  he had
been away from Infinity City and female companions for a long
time.  Her perfume filled his nose...

     Some of the people around him began to clap and cheer.  He
saw they were looking at him!

     Now that the bull was dead, the panicked crowd began to
regain its composure.  Men picked up their hats and shook their
fists threateningly at the motionless black body.  People began
crowding around him.  He was being clapped repeatedly on the
shoulder.

     The man, who had been with the girl and the older lady, came
over from where he had found a place for the lady to sit down.
He turned to John and said something in French which the
computer-ears translated as, "That was a very brave act, young
man!"

     John replied, "Thank you," in English, forgetting that he
only needed to whisper for his computer-ears to hear.  They
whispered "Merci," but before he could mimic this, the man
surprisingly began speaking in English:

     "Ah!  You aren't French, you're English!  Wonderful!" the
man said with delight.  He continued, "That accent sounds
American, sort of.  You just saved several lives, I believe.
Including perhaps, mine, my wife's, and her maid, there in your
arms.  Here, let me gather up my wife and let us all leave this
barbarous old place."  He left John, went over to his wife,
gently took her hand and led her back to John.  "Come, young man,
out through the passageway..."  He led his dazed and bedraggled
wife past John and into the passageway.  John followed him, still
holding the unconscious girl.

     As he followed the other two out, he looked down at the
girl.  She was very pretty, and light as a feather it seemed to
John.  She felt so warm against him.  It was a nice feeling.

     Once outside, the man speaking English led his wife and John
over to a tree where he and his wife plopped down in the grass
under the shade of the tree.  As John gently lowered the girl,
her eyes fluttered open and she stared with surprise into his
face.  She said something softly in French which John's computer-
ears translated as,  "What happened?  Who are you?"

     The man said brusquely and in English, "No need for French,
Yvette.  This is an American.  He speaks English."  And, then to
John he extended his hand and said, "How do you do, my gallant
young hero.  I happen to be Edward Rothchild, England's
ambassador to France.  Who might you be?"



     John took the man's hand and the man moved it vigorously up
and down.  Hand shaking was not an Infinity City custom, though
John had seen this ritual in old digitally recorded movies from
Earth, which his mother was fond of.  A man of Infinity City
greets another man usually by reaching forward both hands and
taking hold of the other's hands or wrists, forearms, upper arms,
shoulders, neck, or head, depending on how familiar the two are
and how excited they are to see each other.  The women of
Infinity City tend toward a more dignified embrace, with a gentle
kiss on the cheek or, with the immediate family, the mouth.
Between men and women there was no established custom.  It was
left to the mood of the moment.

     John said, "My name is John One."  His computer-ears kept
translating in French, but quiet enough so that John did not need
to turn them off.  "I'm a stranger here.  I just arrived.  Can
you tell me if this is Rome?"

     "Rome?!" the ambassador said humorously.  "Young man, I
think you had better sit down.  You must be a little befuddled."
John sat down on the soft grass near the ambassador's maid who
was smiling at him.

     John said, "I has trying to get to France," and he gestured
at the coliseum, "I came across this coliseum and thought I was
in Rome.  But, you speak English."

     "Hah!  Young man, this IS France.  This arena or 'coliseum,'
as you put it, was built centuries ago BY the Romans to feed the
locals, Christians of course, to the lions.  They use it now only
for bull fighting from time to time.  You don't have bullfighting
in America, do you?"

     John mumbled, "There's no bullfighting where I come from..."

     The Englishman chuckled.  "What a mess we all are!  Marian,
look at yourself.  You look as though the bull got to you."

     The ambassador's wife replied, "Oh, that disgusting beast!
These wretched French and their wretched customs!"

     "Spanish, dear.  Bullfighting is Spanish in origin, you
know," he admonished.

     "Well, where ever it is from, I shall never attend again!
Barbarous!  Typical of the Spanish, of course.  Oh, Edward, let's
go back to your cousin's home and get cleaned up.  Just look at
my dress!  How could I ever have let you talk me into attending a
bullfight.  A bullfight!"  She gathered herself together and
stood to go.  "Come along, Yvette!" she looked thoughtfully at
John.  "Young man, why don't you come and call this evening after
we've all cleaned up?  We are staying at the home of the
ambassador's cousin, the house just beside the little art gallery
on the main street of town.  We shall expect you at eight
o'clock!"  She looked toward her husband, raised her nose into
the air, arched her eyebrows in a regal fashion and said, "Come
along, Edward!  I think it's high time for a nice pot of tea!"
And with that, she swirled about and headed off.

     The ambassador looked at John and shrugged with a good-
natured closed-mouth smile that made his cheeks bulge out like
red apples.  "Come by later, John!  See you this evening."  And
with that, he turned to follow his wife marching away with her
maid obediently following behind.


     John said to himself, "This IS France!  And, with a Roman
coliseum!"  He chuckled and shook his head, relieved that there
was no cosmic catastrophe after all.  He looked around.  Some
people were milling around, but most were returning home toward
the town in the distance.

     He decided to return to his ship and clean himself up.  He
had an invitation from the English ambassador to nineteenth
century France.  Amazing!

     Then, John remembered their beautiful young maid. Yvette!
He hurried off toward the ship, delighted with his adventure.
What a dream come true!  How proud his family would be when he
returned with all these adventurous stories!


CHAPTER 8 - FRENCH CAFE

     The sun was high overhead when John reached his ship.  He
slipped through the camouflage netting, entered the ship, went up
to the pilot room and living quarters, and began preparing
himself a lunch of ship's rations.  Then he stopped, thinking to
himself, 'This is nineteenth century France!  They must have
restaurants by now!'  So, he put away the ship's rations, checked
the gold, silver, and gems in his pockets, then left the ship for
the local town.

     He followed the same route as before.  It was afternoon when
he walked past the coliseum where his bullfight had taken place.
No one was in sight.  John, feeling great excitement, followed
the road into the little town nearby.

     He found himself on a small street paved with rounded stones
and lined with a variety of shops, most with a second story
containing what looked to be living quarters.  Here and there,
oldsters sat on rickety old chairs in the warm afternoon
sunshine, watching John walk past with mild curiosity.  A black
enameled cart with bright red seats being pulled by a horse went
by.  It was driven by a man wearing a fine white suit with a
wide-brimmed hat.  To John, the cart made a great deal of noise
as it bounced along the stone street with its steel shod wheels.
He noted curiously that someone had nailed steel to the bottom of
the horses hooves.  The man flipped the reins controlling the
horse.  The horse flipped its tail and increased its speed.

     All in all, it was a quiet town and no one paid him much
heed.

     At the very next street corner, John found a little cafe
with three sets of tables and chairs outside on a covered porch
made of dark red painted wood.  A thick, timber post at the
corner of the porch supported the roof and was decorated with
baskets of bright flowers:  red roses, orange marigolds, white
lilies and soft blue irises.

     At the far table, a skinny man with a red beard and close
cropped hair emphatically lectured another man who was nodding
sagely.  Their voices were low, but John's computer-ears
translated bits and pieces of their interesting conversation.

     John looked around wondering what the proper custom was
here.  He decided to do what he would do at an Infinity City
cafe.  He sat down and folded his hands on the table.  He felt
self-conscious in spite of the fact that no one was paying him
any attention.  He hoped his small ingots of gold and silver

would be negotiable so he would not have to figure out the value
of local currency.

     Eventually, a portly middle-aged man wearing an apron and
wiping a glass came strolling out of the cafe.  He turned to John
with a sleepy look, his thick black wavy hair hanging down and
dangling before his eyes.  He began speaking in French with an
air of bored authority.  John's computer-ears began translating:
"Yes, sir.  Tell me what you want."

     John looked down at the ground and mumbled to himself,
"Something for lunch, please."  His computer-ears told him what
to say in French and he repeated this to the man who was the
proprietor of the cafe.

     His computer-ears translated the proprietor's response: "Ah
well, sandwiches are very popular these days.  I have several
already prepared for my afternoon guests.  Would you like a
sandwich, a bowl of soup, a bottle of our delightful local blanc
wine?..."

     "Yes, that would be fine," he replied, mumbling first to the
computers ears and then in French.

     The proprietor tilted his head and squinted at John, "Ah,
you are an Englishman, no?"

     John said, "Oui," but then thought he had better keep his
story consistent with what he had already told the ambassador.
"No, I am from America.  Far away."

     "Ah, America!  My only son left and went away to New York
last year.  We have just received a letter from him!  What tales
he tells!  Are they all true?  They must be.  He has no
imagination."  He looked up into the sky, "Ah, if I were young
again I suppose that I, too, would wish to visit another world."

     John looked up into the sky wondering what world the man was
referring to.

     The proprietor looked back at John, shrugged and asked,
"Well, I have not been young for a long time.  I will continue
spending my days feeding people.  And what brings you here to our
little town?"

     John could be honest, "I am looking for works of art to
purchase and bring back to...  my home world."

     "Ah, you are an art merchant!  Well, well," he glanced in
the direction of the two other guests, lowered his voice, "Do you
see those two gentlemen over there?  The one with the red beard
is a painter.  The one with him is a doctor... HIS doctor."  He
leaned close and whispered, "Stay away from the one with the red
beard!  He is crazy -- a crazy Dutchman!  He has been here since
the bullfight.  I ask him who he is;  he looks at me with eyes on
fire;  and he does not even know!  A crazy man!  So I telephone
the insane asylum at St. Remy.  You know what?  THAT is where he
is FROM!  They send a doctor, the man he is now with.  CRAZY
DUTCH!"  He shook his head, straightened and suggested, "For
marvelous works of art, go see Monsieur Raton!  He is our art
dealer with a fine little gallery at the end of the street," and
he pointed the way.

     John leaned forward looking in the direction he was
pointing.  "Is the house just past the art dealer where the
English ambassador is staying?"

     "Yes, yes!  How did you know this?"

     "I have an invitation for dinner there this evening."

     "Ah!  How lucky you are, my friend.  My YOUNG friend.  For
the maid of the house is the prettiest girl in all of Arles!"

     There was something familiar to John about the name Arles.
"'Arles,'" he repeated.  "Is that the name of this town?"

     The proprietor looked at him in surprise, then with an
exaggerated gesture felt John's forehead for fever.  "My young
friend, of course this is Arles!  The fairest town in all the
south of France!"  He winked and teased, "Maybe you are a little
crazy like that painter over there."  And he jerked a thumb in
the direction of the two men at the other table.

     John One improvised, "There's been so many towns I've
visited since leaving, uh, America that I just got confused."

     "Understandable!  Quite understandable for a young world
traveler such as yourself!"  He waved a finger in the air, "But
first, a magnificent lunch for you, so you will have strength for
this evening should you chance to meet the fair Yvette."  He
winked, turned and strolled back into the cafe.

     John was in the town of Arles.  He thought to himself.  What
was it about this town that he should know about?  He just could
not remember.

     Shortly, the proprietor re-appeared with a tray and laid
before John a plate of little sandwich triangles, a bowl of
steaming dark brown soup with the rich aroma of mushrooms, a
dusty bottle of white wine and a glass.  He set the tray down on
the nearby vacant table, took the wine bottle in both hands, bit
down on the exposed portion of the cork with his gleaming white
teeth and with an experienced jerk of his head, popped the cork
right out of the bottle.

     Next, he poured into the glass and while doing so amazingly
quickly lifted the bottle high above the glass and then back down
without spilling a drop.  "Enjoy, enjoy, Monsieur!"  He smiled,
bowed and went back inside the cafe.

     John ate his meal while listening to the other two men
discussing art, as translated by his computer-ears.  Eventually,
they both yawned, stretched and slowly moved off down the street.
The proprietor eventually came out and cleared away their table,
pocketing with surprise the generous number of coins they had
left behind.  He nodded to John with a friendly smile as he
carried a tray containing the remains from the table back into
the cafe.

     It was a lazy afternoon.  The soft, French wine relaxed him
and made life seem to glow.  He sat for a long, long time just
watching the simple easy life of the nineteenth century going by.
The proprietor drifted over now and then to see if there was
anything he wanted or just to chat.  For a while, he saw many
people going by carrying baskets of food stuffs, long baguettes
of French bread sticking way up out of every basket.  Then, there
was no one and the town seemed itself to fall asleep for an
afternoon nap.

     Toward midafternoon a delightful turn of events took place.
Looking across the street, John spotted the ambassador's pretty
French maid:  Yvette.  She was strolling along slowly, as if out
for a walk.  She looked over toward the cafe and saw John
regarding her.  She came to a stop and smiled.  Then, she turned
toward him, took a step, but then stopped and looked back down
the street.

     Finally, she looked back at John and with a shy smile
proceeded to cross the street.  She was wearing her maid's
uniform:  short sleeved black blouse, short black skirt, white
frills all around with a large white bow about her waist, all
fluttering in the warm, floral scented afternoon breeze.

     As she stepped up to the cafe's porch, shyly approaching
John, he rose to greet her.  Taking her hand and gazing into her
soft dark brown eyes she seemed twice as beautiful as before.
She had a wide mouth with very red lips and an easy smile.  Her
brunette hair was braided together in a circle on top of her
head, a pleasing style John had never seen before.   Her little
maid's uniform complimented her exceptional figure.  John
wondered if she were married...

     In English, forgetting to use his computer-ears, he asked
her to sit down.  However, she understood and immediately took
the chair he offered.  He asked, "Do you speak English?"

     "Oh yes, ever since I was a little girl!" she replied with
an exquisite, almost musical French accent to her English.  She
went on to explain that her father's second wife -- her mother --
was English.

     Then she asked him his name.  "I'm John.  John One", he
said, entranced by her beauty and simplicity of nature.  Her face
was without imperfection and aristocratically pale though John
noticed a slight, naturally warm hue as if it was reflecting a
golden sunset.  Her thick eyebrows, forming a straight black line
above each eye, were most alluring.  "You are Yvette?" he asked.

     "Yes," and she grew serious.  "You were so brave.
I cannot believe what you did.  That animal was terrifying!"

     "I'm lucky that man with the sword was standing nearby!
What a strange activity?"  He shook his head looking at the
table.  Then, looking at her, "What were you all doing there?"

     "What?  It was a bullfight!  You have not seen one?"

     "No, never."

     "Oh, but you could be the greatest of all bullfighters,
monsieur!  Never have I seen such courage.  You must be a
bullfighter already!  You are teasing me!"  And she turned her
head to give him a sideways glance and blinked the long lashes of
her eyes.  John felt his heart beating strongly.

     "No, I have never been to a bullfight!"

     "Yes your accent is strange.  You are a foreigner.  You are
not English?"

     "I'm...  American."

     Her eyes lit up and she lifted her face with a broad smile.
"American!  You are from America?  Oh, America!  Tell me about
it.  I would love to go there!"


     Now he was on the spot.  He hated lying.  However, the
Adventurers in his family had advised him not to tell people in
the past about Infinity City or anything that was beyond their
understanding.  He tried to remember what he had learned of
America from school.  In the Militia Guard Academy, they had
studied some American military achievements and of course the
constitution-based democratic government system;  Infinity City's
own constitution, the original one itself written by the Original
Builders, was sealed in a glass chamber rumored to be the very
one that stored the original American constitution.  There were
many ancient original documents proving that Infinity City had
been founded by the last of the Americans, fleeing from some
impending Earth disaster, long forgotten.  But, the greatest of
all Infinity City mysteries was the nature of this impending
disaster.  All electronic records of this time had been erased by
the Original Builders.  Only a few secret paper-based diaries
mentioned it, and only with terrified generalities.

     He tried to generalize, "Um, America is a wonderful place.
Very modern.  They have a constitutional government, you know."

     "Yes, but what does America look like?  What city are you
from?"

     "Well, um, I'm from Infinity City."

     "Infinity City?  I have never heard of it.  You must be from
a small town, no?"

     "It's not small.  But, it is way out in the frontier.  Are
you from this town, um, Arles?"

     She sat back and sighed, "Oui, this is my little town.  Here
I start, and here I stay.  My father was killed in Africa many
years ago.  I take care of my mother here.  She has no family in
England.  She lives with an old friend who is also a widow.  We
have many friends here in little Arles..."

     They talked about the different people around town.  She
seemed to know the most amazing facts about everyone.  The
proprietor of the cafe served them a bottle of light, festive
wine from Italy.  John had paid for his lunch in nothing less
than gold, so the proprietor had decided that here was a customer
that would expect the best.  Fortunately for John, the proprietor
had a weighing scale from an era long gone by and was able to
weigh John's small ingots of gold and exchange some for local
currency, keeping a modest 'exchange fee' for himself.

     The wonderful afternoon proceeded.  John gazed into Yvette's
eyes as she talked about Arles.  She was happy to dominate the
conversation and enjoyed John's undivided attention.  John felt a
strange excitement deep down inside and he realized that he was
falling in love with this lovely young French girl.  His serious
side told him, "YOU CAN'T FALL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL THAT DOESN'T
EXIST ANYMORE!"  But he thought to himself, "I AM AN ADVENTURER
NOW.  AND, THIS FEELS LIKE ONE OF THE GREATEST ADVENTURES ANY MAN
FROM INFINITY CITY HAS EVER HAD!"

     She was telling him of some little old man with an art shop
next to where the ambassador was staying and her hand was holding
a wine glass on the table.  John, listening with half an ear,
reached forward and gently stroked her fingers.  She stopped
talking and released the glass, allowing him to take her soft,
feminine hand in his.  They looked deeply into each other's eyes,
knowing that each was enjoying the same feeling.

     She smiled and said, "You are an interesting man."

     "You are a beautiful woman," he said with sincerity and felt
his face flush.

     She pursed her lips, her eyes twinkling, and asked slowly,
"You are not married, John?"

     "No!" he said quickly, shaking his head.  With a pang of
sadness, he thought of the girl he knew back on Infinity City
that he wanted to marry.  She, however, was not the marrying
type.  Would she ever be?  But it did not matter now...  He
looked up and said lightly, "I've never been married!  I'm too
young!"

     She laughed gayly, "Too young?!  I was already eight years
old when Papa was the age you appear to be now."  Then, she sadly
looked down.  "That is when we received the letter telling us
that he had been killed on the frontier."  She looked up and
sighed, "How nice it would be to have parents to take a young man
like you home to meet."

     "I would love to meet your mother!"

     "Ah, I would love for you to meet her, but you see, my
mother is bed-ridden and cannot be excited.  After we heard about
Papa, she grieved too much.  She took sick during a terrible
outbreak of pol...  How do you say?  'Poliomyelitis.'"  She
pronounced the difficult original term for 'polio' slowly.  "I
took a young man home to meet her once and she became hysterical
with the fear that I would leave her.  So, I can't do that now."

     A young man?  John felt his heart beating in his breast
again.  "Yvette, is there another right now?  Someone else?"

     She slowly smiled.  To John, it was like a brilliant
sunrise.  "No.  He is no more."  She paused to watch the color
return to his face.  She was delighted with such open interest he
showed in her.  She patted the hand he was still holding her
with.  "Ah, but let us not let things move too fast, my new
friend.  It grows late, now..."

     "Oh no, stay!"  John beseeched her, taking both of her hands
in his.

     "I would sit talking with you forever, but now I must hurry
away to help with dinner.  It will be nice to see you again
tonight!  Come early.  They will not mind.  I am so fond of that
silly old Englishman, and his wife is very kind to me and my
mother."  And with that, she rose suddenly, and with a smile so
bright John felt his heart bursting in his chest, she leaned over
and kissed him on both cheeks then hurried off down the street,
in the direction she had come from, turning now and then to wave
and throw more kisses.

     John thought to himself, "SHE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL
FLOWERS.  COULD I BRING HER BACK HOME?"  He decided to put off
thinking about that and just sat basking in the wonderful
feelings warming his heart.  He asked his computers ears for the
time.  Finding out it was almost evening, he frowned realizing
that he would have to go all the way back to his ship to wash
himself and build new clothes (his present attire was slightly
soiled due to the altercation with the bull), then come all the
way back.


     The proprietor noticed him frowning and perceptively asked,
"Monsieur, do you have a place in town as yet?"

     John turned to him in puzzlement, asking, "A place?"

     "Yes.  To stay.  If not, I have some very comfortable rooms
upstairs.  I even have what I call my Suite Royale with its own
private bath.  My brother works with the new lead plumbing!"

     John slowly realized with all the gold, silver and gems his
uncle had synthesized for him, life would be very easy here.  All
were molecularly accurate and no one in this century would know
they were of artificial structure.  He said slowly, "I will need
some fresh clothing..."

     "Ah!  Our tailor is right next door!  While you enjoy a hot
bath, I will purchase for you robes and another set of clothing.
Do I have your permission?  Yes?...  Good!  The tailor will come
after your bath.  He can perform miracles in the wink of an eye!
Wait right here for a short while.  My wife will arrange your
room and I will prepare a hot bath for you by simply pumping hot
water up to your room from a tank of water that is being heated
beside our stove.  Ingenious, yes?  My brother will grow rich
with such ideas!"  He winked at John, "You should take him back
with you to America!"  After receiving, with great delight, a
generous payment on account from John in pure gold, he bowed
deeply then hurried off to make preparations.

     John checked his pocket to make sure there was plenty more
gold...

     Soon, the proprietor came to lead him to his room.  The
proprietor's name was Custeau and this sounded familiar to John.
He seemed to remember this as the name of some famous Original
Builder with remarkable genius in creating the artificial
environment of Infinity City based on experience from ancient
Earth building...  What was it?  Underground or undersea cities?
Well, he could check with the computer later...



CHAPTER 9 - HOME OF THE AMBASSADOR'S COUSIN

     It was a warm and pleasant quiet evening when John stepped
off the porch of Custeau's' cafe wearing fresh clothing that the
tailor had indeed custom fit at a moment's notice.  He headed
toward the house of the ambassador's cousin.  He carried a bottle
of wine as a gift that Custeau had insisted would guarantee a
festive evening.

     He walked past several quaint buildings trimmed in glossy
red, yellow and green then finally came to the residence that had
been described to him as belonging to the Ambassador's cousin, a
rich land owner.  A fine old two story house with white stucco
facade and a little walkway bordered with colorful flowering
bushes leading up to the doorway.

     He was greeted at the door by lovely Yvette who took his
hand for a moment, smiling brightly up at him, and then led him
into the parlor where the Ambassador and his cousin were sitting
enjoying cigars and cognac.  They rose and greeted him warmly,
the Ambassador introducing John as "Our dashing American hero!".
The ambassador was dressed in a business suit of the time, and
his cousin, as old as the ambassador, in a white uniform from
some branch of the French military service.  He had cool,
piercing eyes and very short, rough gray hair.

     Next, the Ambassador's wife Marian came sweeping into the
room wearing an informal pink dress.  "Ah, our young hero!" she
said with a merry-cheeked closed mouth smile.  She offered her
hand to John who took it and on impulse kissed it as he had seen
done in some old movie from ancient Earth.  "And such a
gentleman, even though he is from America," Marian said looking
admiringly at John.  She took his proffered bottle of wine.
"Thank you, John, but you didn't have to bring anything.
Especially wine.  The basement of this house is well stocked."

     The ambassador chuckled and said, "Just something to help
keep us warm during next winter."  He chuckled and puffed up his
cigar until he disappeared behind a cloud of thick smoke.

     Mrs. Rothchild made an exasperated sound then looked over at
Yvette who stood with a wide smile, blushing, eyes all a glitter
watching John.  "Yvette!  Open these windows and let out all this
awful smoke," and then to her husband:  "Honestly, Edward, I
simply DON'T know how I put up with this foul smelling tobacco
habit of yours!"  The Ambassador just chuckled.

     They offered John a chair and a glass of cognac which he
accepted.  They talked of pleasantries and the local doings, and
whenever the conversation turned round to where John was from he
generalized and evaded much description about America.

     Yvette served a platter of little sweet treats at one point
-- she and John exchanging a warm glance.  John was surprised at
how comfortable and close people could be from completely
different backgrounds.  There was a small fire crackling in the
fireplace now.  John noticed its reflection in the cognac glasses
and also the ambassador's spectacles.

     Presently, the ambassador asked, "You are a very pleasant
and likeable young man John One.  So charming in fact that you've
been here over one hour and I have not even asked you your line
of work."  He gave John a penetrating look, reminding John of his
uncle.

     At least now John could be honest.  "I'm purchasing art...
For sale in the... new world."

     The ambassador leaned back satisfied, "Splendid!  There's
such a market for the niceties over there in America.  I've heard
they are even buying up pieces and parts of castles from all over
Europe.  I'm not sure that even Buckingham and Windsor are safe!"
His cousin and wife laughed at this.

     Then the ambassador's cousin raised a finger and exclaimed,
"Ah!  Just the man you need to see is right next door."

     The ambassador's wife said, "Of course!  Monsieur Raton the
art dealer!  Shall we send Yvette next door to fetch him 'round?"

     "Splendid idea, my darling, splendid!" the ambassador agreed
and they sent Yvette next door to invite Monsieur Raton over.

     After Monsieur Raton arrived he was introduced to John, and
provided libation, though he refused a cigar.  John explained
that he was going to travel around France using Arles as a base
of operations and acquire works of art that he felt would be
popular back in the "new world."

     The art dealer, a very lean and old man, burnt brown from
years of painting in the bright sun, asked pointedly, "What
exactly is your price range, young man?  And also, how many
pieces can you manage back to America?"

     "Well, as many as my ship will hold and as many as I can buy
with these..." and John brought forth a handful of shining, small
precious metal ingots from one pocket and a handful of sparkling
red, green, and transparent gems from another.

     "Good Lord!" shouted the ambassador leaping to his feet, the
ash of his cigar cascading down the wide lapel of his smoking
jacket.  The ambassador's wife gasped, her eyes wide with
astonishment.

     John said, "I have much more -- back in my ship!"

     The ambassador's cousin leaned close, then looked up at John
and commented suspiciously, "That is a remarkable fortune in
treasure you hold in your hands.  Was it obtained legally?"

     "Philip!" barked the ambassador.  "He's not some
Mediterranean pirate.  The integrity of this fine fellow is
unimpeachable.  He saved our very lives today at the bullfight!"

     Monsieur Raton the art dealer commented, "Yes, I heard of
that."  He stared at John's treasure with envy, commenting with a
slight bitterness, "These rich Americans are all over poor Europe
these days.  They're buying up our heritage and enticing our
youths to emigrate away."  He then sighed heavily, "Still, I am
sure Monsieur One, though American, is an honest businessman."

     John, taken aback by their reaction, quickly asserted, "Yes,
of course I am honest!  My family is one of Infinity City's most
reputable."

     "'Infinity City'?" the ambassador's wife asked.  "It sounds
like one of those gold-rush towns in far away California."

     "That's where he's from!" cried Yvette, who had been peeking
in through the doorway to the kitchen.

     Marian twisted around in her chair and directed, "Yvette!
The kitchen cannot possibly be cleaned up yet.  Away with you!"
She waved her finger and Yvette disappeared back to the kitchen.
"Well, I hope SHE didn't see these treasures.  She'll tell that
boyfriend of hers.  I'm sure he and all his friends are thieves!"

     "Now, now, Marian, my dear.  She doesn't talk to him and has
nothing to do with him.  HE just will not take no for an answer.
Had to chase the young fellow away from her window just the other
night.  Remember, Philip?  The young blade was prowling around
out back like a cat!"

     "Yes, yes.  There's so many like him these days.  They
should all be pressed into the service!"

     The art dealer had not taken his eyes from John's handfuls
of sparkling gems and gold and silver.  John put them back in his
pockets and the spell was broken.  Monsieur Raton looked up and
offered, "You must see my small inventory next door, young man.
I'm sure there will be something that interests you."

     John responded, "Yes, I'll start there.  Do you think I have
enough to pay for it right here?  I have much more in my ship..."

     "More!" exclaimed the ambassador.

     The art dealer smiled at John, "My friend, you are so
wealthy!  Not only do you have enough there in one handful for my
entire stock, but I must tell you that there is no need for you
to travel around at all.  I can arrange to purchase the finest
works from all over France and have them sent right here.  I
shall be discreet, of course, so that we do not suffer a plague
of amateurs harassing you day and night.

     John looked at the ambassador and his cousin who both smiled
and nodded.  He shook Monsieur Raton's hand.  The ambassador
said, "Well, it seems a most equitable business dealing has now
been struck.  Gentleman, and lady, let us toast to the good
fortune of both young John One here and our good friend Monsieur
Raton!"  And with that, the ambassador's cousin Philip broke out
an especially dusty old bottle of local wine and the evening
proceeded in a jolly fashion.

The next chapter (10) of this thrilling story continues next
month.....Tony