Half of the tube had disappeared and, with it, half of Trella's body. The other half, containing half of the most beautiful woman on the earth, remained in the laboratory.
My spring toward Keeshwar had spoiled his aim enough to keep the bullet from striking Trella, but the bullet had struck the small silver wire that ran from the atomic motor on one side to the atomic motor on the other. The translation had been only half completed.
Half of Trella's body was on the earth, while the other was on Rihlon, four light years away!
Her single eye was open and her half-face was frozen in an expression of terror. She did not move and she was not breathing. There was no blood. It was a complete suspension of animation.
Suddenly I realized that I was losing precious seconds. Unless something was done, Trella would die.
I picked up the bit of wire that had been broken off by Keeshwar's bullet. I lifted it toward the end dangling from the motor.
Then Trella moved! It was not suspended animation, but something else--something new!
Her eye swung toward me. Her half-head visibly shook. Her half-lips moved but no sound of her voice reached me. But I understood. She was telling me not to replace the wire.
She lifted her hand and drew a right-angled triangle on the side of the tube.
I understood. Trella was alive and she would continue to live, but it would be impossible to restore her component halves merely by mending the broken wire.
Trella was linked in time. She was still whole, but half of her body was visible in one _Now_ and the other half in a _Now_ on Proxima Centaur, four light years away.
To join the halves of her body, would mean joining the two _Nows_ and to do that would form a triangle, at least one side of which would be an irrational number. Unless the riddle of time travel were solved, it would be impossible to make Trella whole.
I walked around the half-tube. Her appearance was not what I expected to see. It was not a case of sawing a woman in half. The cross section of her body appeared only as an opaque blankness. When I touched her side I felt something cold and hard. It was as if I had touched eternity.
The laboratory officials were called in for consultation. It was decided that the matter should be hushed, at least until we knew what should be done. There was too much to do now to be bothered with police and reporters. We would not have a warrant issued for Keeshwar. There would be time to deal with him later.