Professor Gridik's alarm clock beeped relentlessly. It was not going to give up. The professor accepted defeat and crawled out of her bed. She switched off the alarm and made a mental note to go and buy a new clock which had a more friendly manner, certainly one whose alarm did not cut through a persons ear drum with a horrible loud screeching noise. She fumbled about with a dressing gown and headed off for some food.

The professor was staring out of her kitchen window munching thoughtfully on her breakfast. She could see the sun as it crept over the horizon, emitting that clear, fresh light which so unmistakably belongs to the morning hours. Mixed emotions ran through her, as they so often did these days. She sighed to herself as she turned on her television and prepared for the usual, depressing story.

"And the main news again." it chimed at her. "After being the target of a large missile strike in which over ten thousand people are reported to have been killed, England have threatened to retaliate with atomic weapons."

The television continued it drone but this piece of news sent a shudder through the professor. She knew that this war, which now involved over two thirds of the worlds nations, was a such a scale that it atomics were used, it could signify the end of planet Earth. Even if the planet remained intact, life would be reduced to next to none. Atomics were not even supposed to exist any more, but the professor never really believed that they would be gone forever. She was lucky to be working in a nation which was, at the current time, not involved directly with the war. This situation was in no way stable. Players in the war changed often. It was next to impossible for nations to now stay neutral in all of this. Any dealings with one of the warring groups could be taken as a hostile gesture buy another.

The professor had long ago given up on the human race and its politics. She had tried to remain as impartial to these states of affairs as possible. It was not easy, she had already lost most of her family to the war and whenever she was reminded of her tragic loss, she became very bitter. Now though she was preparing to leave for her laboratory where she could dive into her research and shut out the horrors of the world, at least partially.

The professor stepped into her car and programmed the destination. Her laboratory was about one hundred miles out of Harare where she lived. It took just under an hour to get there usually. She sat back as the car pulled gently onto the street and started to head out of town. As she sat there gazing at the city around her, she became more aware than usual of the number of temples, churches and other places of worship that she passed. In the last few years, faiths of various varieties had become more widespread than ever before. Well over eighty percent of the worlds population had taken to following a religious order. These were not the type of followers who, as in the past would attend the occasional services and ceremonies. These were now people who lived every part of their lives as described to them by their faith. Even television broadcasts had been reduced to a selection of either news articles about the war, or preachings from different religions. Although the Professor held no real faith, she understood why this had arisen. The original belief in the worlds political system had slowly dwindled as the war dragged on for longer and longer. Once all the confidence had been lost, people began to look towards other sources of leadership. The Professor felt that she should explore some of these offered options. The same lack of trust in the human race to guide its own destiny was getting stronger inside herself. She did not know much about the religions offered, but on many occasions she had listened to the preaching and felt that it made much sense. Certainly more than the offerings from the human leadership. She felt that she needed more strength in herself, and faith seemed to make a very attractive offer. She wondered why she still held some resistance towards it.

The car, which had been winding its way through the city streets quickly but calmly, suddenly jerked and swerved as if it had been hit very hard from behind by another vehicle. This was accompanied by a deafening explosion and the Professor swung her head around to see what had happened. The car regained control and continued on its journey. She looked out over the destruction of the part of the city. It looked as if a number of large bombs had just been detonated in a selection of buildings behind. Probably a terrorist attack of some description. Great red tongues of flame were starting to emerge from the windows of the ruined buildings as black clouds of smoke floated into the otherwise clear sky. A column of fire emerged from the side of one of the buildings and appeared to dodge and weave erratically across the road. The professor gasped as she realised that there was a person in the middle of it, already dead for nothing could save them now. Just desperate but futile attempts to save themselves were all that were left for them to experience before their lives slipped away. The Professor felt anger swell up inside her, nobody deserved that. She then noticed that smoke was rising from a few other areas around the city. The attack looked as if it had been well co-ordinated.

The car rolled onto the freeway and gained speed. The Professor was still gazing back toward the centre of the city. She had just barely escaped with her life, again. As memories flooded back from the last time, when she lost her husband amongst others, her anger turned into despair.

The Professor felt herself losing her enforced state of calm. She activated the computer in front of her. It was linked to the computer at the laboratory and had access to all its information. She tried to organise the schedule for the day. The computer displayed a wall of words and diagrams. It was automatically scanning through her plans and notes which she had compiled previously. She stared at the screen and took none of it in. Her mind was still on other things. She was thinking of the burning figure and how badly she felt about it. Although she had seen equally terrifying events in the past, she knew that she would never get used to them as a part of every day life. The computer was still rolling a wall of continually new information up the screen. She wondered about ways by which she could escape from the war and all its troubles. The idea of moving to a remote, isolated part of the world, with no military significance pushed its way into her thoughts.

The display started to flash some information on the screen. It was obviously of some importance. Gridik still failed to focus. There was a time when she probably could have moved. In her position and with her work she stood a good chance of being relocated if she had requested it. That was what her husband had wanted to do, but they had both decided to stay because of their work. She considered what her life would have been like if they had moved to a safer part of the world. He could still be alive. Her despair was now also joined by regret. She wished she could turn back the clock and make it all right.

The display started to flash again and Professor Gridik, who realised that the regret was getting her nowhere, forced herself to look at and read what was on the screen.

'Director of the S.S.P. company visiting laboratory today. Will be assessing the work being done and evaluate funding to be given to the research from the S.S.P. company.' it said.

The Professor heart gave a little flutter. She had almost forgotten about the visitor. It was quite essential that their envoy was reasonably impressed because the S.S.P. company provided more than half of this projects funding. Gridik was going to provide them with a tour around the laboratory she worked in. She had already planned it for the most part, but there were a few aspects which she wanted to go over. She had finally managed to find something which would occupy her mind for a while. She set about organising the finishing touches.

By the time she had gone over her plans she was almost at her laboratory. It was situated near a town, but it was very deeply buried under the ground. This was necessary for two reasons. The main one was to protect it from damage as much as possible from weapons attacks, such were the times of this war. The other was so that it was kept under some secrecy.

The car approached a small parking area by the side of the road. It rolled gently to a halt in one of the marked spaces. The Professor looked out over the rocky, wooded landscape as the car sank into the ground on the lift. From above there was no clue as to what lay below the surface of that innocent looking scene. There were many other ways to the laboratory. Most of them were emergency exits, all well concealed and most of them never used. Soon the light of day was blocked off completely by a replacement piece of road surface which sealed the hole above. The glow of off white artificial light now took over where the sunlight had once ruled.

After a couple of minutes of sinking the lift stopped. The Professor climbed out of the car and walked up to a door. It slid open as she approached and she walked though into a small waiting room where Paul, her assistant was waiting.

"Good morning!" said Paul in a cheery tone. "Its good to see you today. I just heard about the attack on Harare. For a while I was quite worried." His face, which was holding an expression of great relief at seeing the Professor, fell a little and his voice became more solemn. "I wonder though if I still have a home to go to at the end of today."

The Professor had not actually considered this as yet. It was quite possible that her house was damaged or destroyed. This was not very probable due to it being located a short distance away from any likely terrorist targets. She contemplated trying to ascertain the condition of her home, but decided that getting any communication through to Harare now would be a major task. It was best left until later.

"There is a Mr. Gima waiting in your office for you. He is here about some sort of tour I believe." said Paul.

The Professor looked at Paul. He may be one of the best minds on the planet at the moment when it came to field distortion theory, but he was still so young. She felt a pang of sorrow when she thought about how cruel this world had been to him. In his lifetime he had only known war. Externally he looked fine, his powerful frame and keen bright eyes gave the impression that he could cope with whatever life threw at him. Indeed he had already been through a great deal. The professor knew that in his short history he had been through more sorrow and pain than she. She also knew that behind that image lay a deeply emotional man whom had become her closest friend. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was about the way life was treating him, and how much she respected him, but all she could manage was a short word of thanks. He looked at her, and gave a little smile as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. The respect was mutual. Paul turned back to what he was doing just before the Professor arrived. Gridik loitered for a while and then walked over to one of the doors which lead to her office where Mr. Gima was apparently waiting.

"Ah, hello. Good morning." said Mr. Gima standing up as the professor came into the room. "I am glad, and pleasantly surprised that you could make it. My name is Mr. Gima. I am the director of the S.S.P. company. I came to find out how you are doing here and whether to give you more money." His face twisted into what could possibly be a grin but the professor was not quite sure.

Mr. Gima was quite a tall man, who looked as if he had some oriental ancestry. His suit was a very dark shade of black, and it matched his hair perfectly. The professor looked through him and started to take in what she saw of her office. Although she had seen it many times before, this was the first time she really looked. What she saw was the emptiness. The white clean walls, the white clean desk and chair, the white smooth hard floor. She could hear the faint hum of the air-conditioners through the vents in the ceiling. The only things which broke the monotonous sense of order in the room were the few papers and books on the desk and the one screen in the northwards wall. She gave a slight chuckle to herself at how well this office fit the stereotypical office all scientists were supposed to have.

Mr. Gima still had the twisted expression on his face when she focused her attention back on him. The only difference was that his eyebrows had moved up a little as if he were expecting her to say something.

"I'm sorry." she said when she realised that she had kept him standing there for a minute or two while she had wandered off into her own thoughts. "Welcome to my laboratory. If you would like a drink or something?" He shook his head. "Okay then, if you will have a seat I will tell you exactly what it is we do here and how we have progressed."

She walked around the desk and sat down on her seat as Mr. Gima turned around and sat back down in the seat he had been using before the professor had arrived.

"As you know," started the professor, "we have had for a while the theories and techniques which allow us to distort the fabric of space around us. By distorting the space it has been possible to move objects in space and in time. The earliest efforts to control this distortion was quite a failure. Any objects used in tests disappeared and no one know where they went. They could have been sent to the other side of the universe, into a different point in time, or both. More recently there has been quite a lot of success in controlling the movement of objects about in 3D space with a good degree of accuracy. This is leading to the development of 'hyperdrives'. In controlling the movement of objects through time, there have been very little progress. Until this project was started the furthest controlled leap through time had been around one and a half hours into the future. The accuracy of the jump was very bad and no jumps have ever been made into the past.

"But here we have managed to surpass any previous efforts. We have sent objects over a week into the future, and are getting better and better accuracies all the time. Currently our record is eight days, three hours and 23 minutes. Our accuracy is to about one second. We believe that if we continue at the rate we have been progressing over the last six months, we will be able to send objects forward over a year or more."

"This is all quite impressive stuff," said Mr. Gima, "and if this is the case then you will have no problem with funding from our company. I would like to know more though, if that is possible, like do things just disappear for a while then reappear after a while when they are sent into the future?"

"Yes that is right. We can, if you like, give you a demonstration. I have one prepared to show when I give you a tour of the laboratory."

"I would appreciate that. What about the past? Do you think it will ever be possible to send things backwards through time? It would have a tremendous effect, it may even help us with this war."

"According to our current theories, the energy needed to send something into the past is infinitely large. This is similar to the energy needed to move masses physically at velocities faster than light, so it does seem that it is not possible. We have found ways around this speed limit by using hyperdrive technologies, and we think that it is also possible to cheat on our initial space distortion theories. In fact we have been working with a few new ideas recently but as yet we have failed to move anything back through time. We have just finished preparing for another one of these experiments. We have our test mass already. It is quite bulky but has a very low mass. This will hopefully mean that we will not need too much power. We may proceed with the experiment later today. You may get a chance to see the attempt.

"We are not sure what to expect. What exactly happens to objects sent back in time is not clear. Our theories are a little hazy, hence our previous attempts have failed, as this one will most probably do. Well, enough of this talk, if you will follow me I will show you around my lab and give you a few demonstrations."

The professor stood and walked over to the door. Mr. Gima followed her. For the next few hours the professor gave him a full tour around the laboratories. Paul was with them for most of the time. She explained that Paul and the laboratory computer were her only two assistants with the project. Paul was the genius with the computer system. He explained to Mr. Gima that the computer was an integral part of the laboratory. It controlled everything from the actual experiments run to the climate control of the rooms. It was probably the most powerful computer that existed, apart from the military machines which had become devastating in their effectiveness.

Mr. Gima, who was not very interested in computers, twisted his face into that attempt of a smile as Paul went through his explanation. "Hmm, that's nice." he said flatly and turned his attention to the professor. He untwisted his face and asked "Is it possible for me to see your attempt at sending something back into the past?"

"That should be no problem." said the professor. "We easily have enough time left to conduct the experiment, and seeing as nearly everything is ready I feel there is no reason for delay." Paul nodded in agreement and they all wandered into the next part of the lab in which the experiment was to be conducted.

After about an hour more of final preparations the professor said "Okay then, we're ready. Paul, put the test mass onto the platform." Paul walked over and picked up the box very easily from its position just beside the doorway, carried it across the room and placed it on the raised platform in the corner of the lab.

"There is a funny cross shaped mark on it. Is it supposed to be there?" Paul asked.

"No," said the professor, "but is should not make any difference. Are you ready Mr. Gima."

"Yes, but I have a question." he said looking around the room as if he was expecting to see something. "If it is going into the past, should it not already be here, somewhere?"

"If it works," said the professor "then yes I suppose you are right. In fact we are planning to send it five minutes back into the past onto the other platform in the other corner of the lab. Seeing as it is not there, it probably means that it is not going to work, as I expect at this stage. Right then, lets go. Check the time, 17:30"

The professor entered a few commands into the computer. Paul entered confirmation. "Here we go!" he said.

After a couple of silent seconds the lights dimmed drastically, a few alarms sounded and the box disappeared completely. The lights regained their former brightness. The professor and Paul looked around simultaneously at the other platform. It was still as empty as it had been previously. They looked at each other.

"Well what happened?" asked a voice from behind them both. The professor looked at Mr. Gima with a very puzzled expression on her face.

"I, I don' know." she said and fell into silence once again. After a few more seconds she turned back to the computer and started to type away. The alarm went of one by one. She kept workinig.

Paul turned to Mr. Gima and tried to explain what was going on. "According to the feedback we've got from the computer, the experiment mostly worked. We are trying to find out where exactly we sent our box. The really surprising thing was the amount of power we seemed to use. For the lights and everything else to be affected, the power used must have been absolutely enormous. I will not be surprised if we have managed to burn out part of this countries power grid. That was the reason all those alarms went off. We are now drawing power from one of our reserve lines, which comes from a neighbouring nation."

"Help me out here." said the professor. Paul turned around and looked to see what she was doing. "This does not make sense." she said. For the next twenty minutes, Mr. Gima got quite bored as the other two worked furiously trying to understand the information they were being given from the computer. A signal, which indicated that a message had arrived from the surface, interrupted their concentration.

"That with probably be someone asking about the power drain down here." said Paul as he cleared the message through.

"The low mass box has just been delivered and is ready to be collected." it read.

Paul looked at professor Gridik, frowned, and went off to collect the box. He was back very quickly with a box in his hand. It looked exactly the same as the box which had just vanished from existence.

"Is that your box then?" asked Mr. Gima. "Does it have a cross on it?"

Paul looked closely at the box. "No."

Something seemed to click in the professors mind. She started working with the computer again and after a short while said "I think I know what had happened, but it is a little hard to believe. I will have to check again as I have no idea how to account for this."

"What are you talking about?" asked Mr. Gima who had regained a lot of interest in the goings on.

"Well," began the professor, "from what I have figured out, the box was sent back into the past. It is just that we sent it a little too far. To be more precise it was sent back to yesterday morning. Our positioning was a little out too. I didn't expect it to be perfect. It was sent I think to a position just beside the doorway, about a metre above the ground. This means that the box we sent back into the past was the box which actually arrived after we sent it. Do not ask me exactly what happened. I don't know. I mean I don't know if that box ever really existed. If it did, does it exist now, or did it exist only for a day and a half, ever. Why was it even a box like the one we ordered. I just don't know. I can get nothing sensible out of this computer either about these questions. It is as if a mass were created from nothing. Maybe that is why so much energy was used, it not only had to shift something through time but also had to create it first. As I said, I just don't know."

Paul looked at her thinking hard. He dropped the box and it floated to the floor. Mr. Gima looked past them both at the equipment in the room. It looked such a mess. Sure it was ordered but chaotic. He felt very pleased to have witnessed a first. He was one of the three people in the world to have been there when it first happened. What a story to tell. He was going to advise S.S.P. to inject even more funding to these two than was originally planned. He could not believe his luck.

"Just to check," said the professor, "did you collect the box yesterday?"

"No." he replied. "I had assumed that you had."

"And I you."

"When is the next experiment then?" asked Mr. Gima excitedly.

"Not for a while yet. Probably a few days." said the professor. "We need to be able to send object about more accurately than that. I am sure we can but it will take some time. I must also be sure that the power drainage will never again be so great. I am sure a lot of people will not be happy with us for a while."

"It looks like you could be right" said Paul who had noticed the stream of messages which their system had been listening into. He scanned through them quickly. "It seems that our activities down here have been noticed by a great many people. They picked up on the enormous power surge. Some of the other nations seem to think that there must be some sort of weapons testing going on in this area. They are demanding to know what is going on. The government here are saying they don't know what is going on."

Paul paused for a while as he watched new information appear. He frowned a little. "Oh dear. It looks as if one of the other nations is threatening a missile strike on the area. Nothing definite."

"We should be quite safe here." said the professor. "This place was build to withstand most attacks. The problem is with the town above. I mean, they have nothing to do with it."

"Yes," said Paul. "I have picked up a lot of local radio signals. It seems that they do not know whether to evacuate or not. Some believe that the threat is an empty one. Other do not want to take the chance."

"We could offer them refuge down in the storage areas down here." said the professor. "I mean they are large enough to hold nearly the whole town. If we guided them through the emergency exits they would believe that this place is just a huge bunker. We would not have to reveal any of the labs. If they do fire missiles they should be safe, if not they do not have to evacuate."

Paul thought about this for a moment. He was a bit worried about unveiling the location of the lab. It had been kept reasonably well concealed until now. The other factor was that the town would not be in this situation if it had not been for the lab. "I agree." he said. "I will broadcast a message to the town giving them details of the offer. They can come if they wish."

Paul set to work transmitting all necessary details across as much of the radio frequencies as he could and the Professor opened all the emergency exits. They then went off to help guide in anybody who came. Mr. Gima, who was still buzzing with the excitement of the whole situation, accompanied them to help.

Over the next hour, hundreds upon hundreds of people came into their 'bunker'. Paul constantly monitored the goings on to see if any attack had been launched. The professor was very impressed by the calm way the massive crowd of people were handling the circumstances they had found themselves in. Panic seemed to be one of the last things on their minds. She wondered where they found their courage. She suspected it was through their faith because many of them wore religious symbols. She found that it felt like their belief was giving her more strength. It was something she admired greatly.

The endless stream of people had nearly ended when Paul broadcasted the news that a missile strike was almost definitely to be launched. The numerous exits, which had finally found a use a entrances, were sealed off and the professor, Paul and Mr. Gima all gathered in the part of the lab where they had conducted the experiment earlier.

"Well, now we just sit and wait I suppose." said Mr. Gima. He was not quite calm, but at the same time sensed the danger. They were by no means totally safe down here.

Paul sat there, eyes glued to the screen which was constantly displaying more news. "It's away." he announced after a few silent minuted. "It is estimated that it will make impact in about ten minutes. Do you think we should inform or guests?" he asked the professor.

The professor did not did not answer but turned immediately to read what was on the screen. She appeared very uneasy. "They have only fired one missile." She murmured to herself. "Why only one. To cover the whole area they usually send a number of them."

"What are you getting at?" asked Mr. Gima. "Surly one is better than many."

Paul had joined the professor at this point, also looking very worried with his eyes glued to the reports.

"Paul, I fear the worst. We could have sentenced everyone here to their death." said the professor.

"You really think they could have fired one." he said.

"What can we do. We can't do anything." The professors tone was unlike anything Paul had ever heard from her. He had always known it to be strong, even in the worst situations you could hear a glimmer of hope in it somewhere. That last statement sounded so hopeless, so final. Paul suddenly experienced fear like he had never known. It was not just from the realisation that he would almost certainly soon be dead, but something more. It was a fear of total lack of hope, feeling as if nothing you could possibly do would make any difference.

"What's wrong?" asked Mr. Gima who had picked up on the general mood of the room.

"It is atomic." said the professor. "For some reason I just know."

"I know." said Paul who had just read a confirming report. "This place has absolutely no chance of surviving if the size of the thing is anything to go by."

"What can we do." said Mr. Gima, who was overcome by a sensation he had not expected. He was feeling a great disappointment above anything else. He was not sure why.

"Nothing." stated the professor flatly. "Unless,. Paul, you and Mr. Gima, go and join the others in the storage bays. There may be a way yet."

Paul was confused. At one level he could see no way out, but on another, that strength had entered the professors voice again. He stood to leave with Mr. Gima and asked the professor if she was coming.

"No. I have to stay here." she said as she stared to work furiously with the lab equipment.

Paul looked on briefly and realised what she was doing. It was obvious in a way but they had never used living material with the distorter before. There was next to no chance of this working. The amount of mass to be sent. "I'll stay and help." he said.

"No point." she said sharply. "Only one of us need be here and I have the best chance of succeeding.

Paul knew this was right. "Where will you try to send us? Forwards or back in time, or just sent us away from here?"

"Get going." the professor demanded, glancing briefly at Paul.

Paul knew it was no use. He looked at the professor for the last time, signalled to Mr. Gima, turned and hurried out of the lab to join the rest of the towns people. Mr. Gima was not too sure of what was happening. He had realised where his disappointment stemmed from. It was because he would now not get a chance to boast to all the people he knew about being a witness to a scientific first. Unfortunately, now he knew, his disappointment was replaced with plain old fear. He followed Paul as fast as he could.

"Come on, come on." the professor said to herself. She knew that the missile could be arriving at any second from now. She was very concerned about what could happen if there was a nuclear explosion as the space distorter activated. She was almost there. Just a few more moments. She stepped back as she finished her part. Again the light dimmed, but this time to almost nothing. She knew that the power drain would be incredible. The mass she was trying to work on was larger than anything they had worked with before. It looked as if there was not going to be enough power. She then felt a shock wave thunder through the lab. She knew the missile had landed, only a fraction of a second was left to her now. Time seemed to slow down and she thought she could feel herself starting to burn. There was a strange lack of pain, only the sensation existed. She felt her consciousness slipping away, her sight then left her as she was blinded by an intense light. Then there was nothing.

Paul moved as fast as he could towards the first entrance to the storage area. He dived through the door crashing into somebody in the process. Before he had a chance to pick himself up he felt the room shudder. The air temperature started to rise. He thought that it was too late. He then was blinded by an intense light and felt the ground disappear below him. He waved his arms and legs about, trying to get a grip on something. Within a second he landed heavily on a hard surface. He lay still for a while, his arm aching a little due to landing awkwardly. He heard a mumbling around him. It sounded like there were others still alive.

His eyes started to adjust to the bright sunlight and soon he could see his surroundings. It looked like they were outside somewhere. Trees were scattered around with a lot of other vegetation. There were also large rocks here and there. Crowds of people were around him, also lying or sitting up. He heard a few horrified cries from one direction and looked around. He could see why. Someone had been pulled back into reality in the same location as another large mass, a tree. He and the professor had often wondered about that. The results were horrifying. He shut it out of his mind. Many things had to be resolved and he wanted to stay as sane as he could. He stood up and started to wander through the mass of people.

During the next hour, Paul wandered around, speaking to various people and scouting the area. He noticed that there was evidence of a lot of animal life. He saw a few movements in the trees around. He guessed that they were still in the same area of Zimbabwe as the lab had been. The sun was starting to set and orange-red streaks started to cut across the sky. In the distance he could see the silhouettes of large birds floating above the rocky landscape.

"I see you made it here Paul." said a voice from behind. "Where are we. The other people are very confused but reasonably calm. I too am very confused.

Paul turned and saw Mr. Gima sitting on a rock near by. He sat down beside him. Mr. Gima looked weary. He was gazing into the reddening distance.

"The moon seems different somehow, as if it were further away, or oriented differently." pointed out Mr. Gima.

Paul looked up. It looked much the same to him, but then he had never really taken that much interest in the moon before.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Paul asked. Mr. Gima just sat there. "I have a vague idea. I am quite sure we were pushed through time, probably back because all the equipment in the lab was already set up that way. It would have been faster to do. The problem could have been that the atomic bomb thing went off as we were being sent. This could have pushed us as far as a million year one way or the other. There was so much untamed energy."

"I think we have been sent back." said Mr. Gima. "I have seen no sign of human life around, but it is early days yet."

"What if we were the first humans on Earth." said Paul. He smiled at the thought. He wondered about Professor Gridik. She would not have made it. The equipment was not built to move itself. It may have worked, but it may also have jeopardised the rest of their chances. He could see her face perfectly in his mind, those deep brown eyes, her smooth brown skin just beginning to show the signs of age. Although he felt a great sorrow at losing her, he also felt proud of and for her. She had saved many, given these people a chance. He chuckled to himself as he realised why they were all in the air when they arrived. The professor had been good at estimating the ground height but not perfect. At least the error was in the right direction. It could have been too low.

"We could just be one continuous loop of humans." said Mr. Gima. "I wonder what happens in the war after we left. It could be terrible, especially if more atomics are used. We could be the luckiest people on Earth."

"I don't know, but I do know we are going to have great problems here. Although most of these people are skilled, their skills will not help much here. We will have to act as if we are alone until it proves otherwise. "We had better go back and try to organise ourselves somehow, and see where we will spent tonight."

"Out here under the stars." said Mr. Gima as they stood up. Paul headed off back towards the main group of people. Mr. Gima was lost in his own thoughts. His eyes drifted up to the sky and he stood there, wondering.