Horning came to rest with a heavy thud, sprawled in the center of the floor.
Behind him, there was a stir of sudden movement; a choked exclamation.
Before he could turn or regain his feet, a man's tight voice clipped, "Don't move--or you die!"
Horning froze. "There's no need to be frightened," he said quickly. "I'm merely a--a traveler. I've come here from another plane--"
"I understand perfectly!" the voice snapped back. "I happen to be an authority on such matters. That's why I say--if you move, you die!"
Horning's spine prickled. Just as he'd had the feeling he'd seen the man on the screen before, now it came to him that the voice, too, was strangely familiar.
Behind him, shoes scraped the floor. Fingers probed warily at his pockets, his belt, his armpits. Then they went away again and the voice said, "All right. Now take off that outfit."
Wordless, wooden-fingered, Horning unstrapped the transdimensional registration unit's harness.
"Now sit down on that lounge in front of you, with your hands on the arms."
Horning crossed to the divan and turned around. For the first time, he faced his captor.
It was the same man Horning had seen on the screen. He stood poised, cat-footed, back against the gleaming metaloid wall. An ugly, snub-nosed pistol of strange design was in his hand.
Horning went rigid--shocked, half unbelieving.
Some of the numbness left Horning. Cold anger came in its place. "Why ask me?" he lashed back. "I thought you knew all the answers."
The man's knuckles whitened on the pistol. "I want the truth!"
Horning laughed. Of a sudden he felt bold and reckless. "I told you the first time. I came from another world, a different plane--"
The gun moved in a flat, incisive gesture. "I know all that! The parallel worlds, the Worlds of 'If'. Parmenides and his theory of the Eternal Now. The idea that life's a book with an infinity of pages; that every event automatically creates coexisting planes, one for each possible outcome--" Horning's captor broke off. "But _why_? What drove you to cross the barrier?"
Horning shrugged. "It was Myrtle--" he began wryly.
The other started; fell back a step. "_Myrtle--?_"
"You mean--you breached the continuum for no better reason...?"
Horning laughed curtly. "For my part, I found it a very adequate reason."