Tempus Fugitive Read Online Free Page B

okay you did it.  You’re a genius.  A genius!’  She flung her arms around him and gave him a huge kiss.
    She noticed that he was not really sharing her enthusiasm.  ‘You don’t seem very excited,’ she said. 
    ‘Well, no, I am, it’s just that … well, we’re not quite there yet, are we?’
    He pointed at the screen. What file do we want?’ he asked.  They both stared at the screen. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it. 
    It was the most densely packed list of files and sub-files that was ever seen.  The type was so small, that human eyes could never have made it out. And this was evidently only the menu.
    ‘Oh my God,’ said Tamar, ‘try pressing “help”
    Denny did so.  The screen changed. It was now a representation of what was presumably the entire universe. ‘Oh, shit,’ he said, ‘now what?’
    ‘Try “help” again’ said Tamar, unable to think of anything else.
    This time the screen cleared and a message appeared
    WHICH GALAXY DO YOU WISH TO ACCESS?
    Denny rubbed his hands together in satisfaction.  ‘Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,’ he said. ‘Er, does anyone know what galaxy we’re in?’
    No one did.  Denny sat there for so long that a rather disturbing screensaver came up. A relic of Askphrit no doubt, as it depicted Tamar being brutally and rather messily chopped up into tiny bits.
    ‘Well, that’ll have to go,’ Denny observed, glancing warily at Tamar, who was laughing.  ‘Oh I don’t know,’ she said, ‘I rather like it.  It’s good to be reminded of our own mortality now and again.’
    ‘I’d rather be reminded of Askphrit’s mortality,’ grunted Denny.
    ‘Good idea,’ responded Tamar. ‘We’ll change it to a picture of him being hacked to bits.’  
    ‘Later,’ said Denny, getting rid of the picture and asking the computer for a list of galaxies to choose from.  The idea having just occurred to him.
    The list proved to be alarmingly long.
    ‘We’ll just have to go through them one by one and hope Earth’s galaxy is near the beginning,’ said Denny
    ‘It won’t be,’ said Tamar gloomily.
    ‘Oh, don’t be so negative,’
    ‘I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic.’
    ‘No you’re not, you always …’
    ‘Always what? No, you know what just shut up, and I …’
    ‘M32,’ announced Stiles triumphantly, from behind a huge encyclopaedia.
    Denny and Tamar stopped fighting. ‘What?’ they said together.
    ‘The name of our galaxy,’ Stiles told them. ‘M32.  Says so right here.’
    ‘Oh,’ Tamar was momentarily staggered.
    Denny grinned. ‘Thanks mate,’ he said, ‘glad one of us is thinking anyway.’
    He went back to the previous menu and typed it in.  ‘I just hope that’s what they call it too,’
    Tamar opened her mouth and then shut it again. Denny was right, there was no point in being negative.
    Denny had found it.  He scrolled through the solar system and was fascinated to discover that there had indeed, never been life on Mars. ‘So much for that theory then.’
    ‘Oh do get on with it,’ said Tamar impatiently.
    ‘Here it is. Earth,’ he announced, ‘what now?’ he added, as he brought up the files relating to humanity. 
    The list of files included: -
    Deleted files.
    Archives – historical – all.
    Archives – prehistorical.
    Personal files – historical.
    Personal files – current.
    Mythical files – historical.
    Mythical files – current.
    Mythical files – personal – historical/current.
    Miscellaneous.
    There were of course a lot more than these, but this is what it narrowed down to.
    ‘So, what do we want?’ asked Denny.  ‘Historical – all, or personal – historical?
    ‘That’s people I guess,’ she replied, can you imagine how many of them there’ll be?  Everybody who ever lived, and if they’re numbered, not named …’ she left the sentence hanging.  
    ‘Okay, so historical – all?’ 
    She nodded.  ‘And that’ll be bad enough.’
    Denny