Myths of the Modern Man Read Free Page A

his dotage. Not a man of science but a survivor of deep cuts in military spending, the General enjoyed the press junkets more than anybody, and oddly enough courted the press in a way which would have made him blanch earlier in his career, when all a military man had to do was participate in strategic exercises, mistrust and revile the press, and wait out his hitch.
    On the last point, our long peace and the absence of the old Cold War of the previous century, not to mention the era of terrorism that had finally faded away in its repeated failure to achieve anything -- all this gave way ironically to more pressing environmental problems mankind suddenly discovered we all suddenly shared. The lack of conflict made us warriors atrophy a bit. It was partly why I left Navy flying and joined the space program. I never had any idealism to speak of, which made enduring three years in a capsule alone, and a press circus when I got back a lot easier. As far as I was concerned, there was little left to care about my work or my life or this earth.
    But, these Time Dimension studies were getting to me. I had lost a great deal of my skepticism, and that scared me. Like I said, all animals have their modes of protection.
    They blasted me alone to the era of choice, to witness mankind’s previous mistakes in the flesh, like having a repeating nightmare. A sickening little game, really. I was a little afraid of going back in time again. It played hell on you in a thousand perverse ways. I couldn’t make them understand that. Maybe I didn’t try. I can be a smart-ass sometimes.
    Brian K. Yorke, poster boy for sincerity, turned at the door, saluted everybody, turned on his heel and left, probably to get a haircut. I wondered what his place in history would be. It wouldn’t be mine. Not today.
    Eleanor had not even bothered to acknowledge his stiff upper lip. Like a little boy waiting to be noticed by the teacher on whom he has a crush, I think he was waiting for that. She couldn’t even give him her notice, or say, “I’m sorry.”
    I started to feel worse for Yorke than when I beat him up.
    Dr. Roberts stood, turned around to face us again now that Yorke had gone. She dragged two fingers through her thin, blonde hair, and stuffed her thin, cold white hands into her lab coat. She looked at me without speaking for a moment, like someone deciding on the merit of a consolation prize.
    “ Welcome aboard again, Colonel Moore,” she said in a soft voice, devoid of sincerity. She was no Brian K. Yorke. Everything was so tiresome to her. Sometimes, the thought I ever wanted her sickened me.
    “ Sorry Eleanor. I know you wanted the boy.”
    “ I wanted the best man for the mission.”
    “ I guess you got stuck with me. You know, I think that’s a real shame. You two ought to go.”
    Dr. Ford smiled and Eleanor tried to interrupt, but I wouldn’t let her.
    “ Isn’t it odd that I’m the only one of us who can be shot through the cannon? All I have is a few space missions under my belt, some G-force tremors left from long ago, and the ability to fight with a knife. Ford, you know more about history and the lives of everyday people back then, but you can’t blend in as easily where I’m going because you’re not white-skinned. Also you’re probably squeamish at the sight of blood. Eleanor can’t go to prove her own theories because she is a woman, a woman who is unprepared to risk rape, and I think she thinks that’s all she could possibly have waiting for her back there.”
    “ Colonel Moore….”
    “ You should try it and go sometime, Eleanor. I think time travel would open your eyes. I think you need to get out of this lab more and take a walk in the past. It’s not a theory. It’s a real place. It’s a fascinating, sickening, dangerous place.”
    “ I’m glad to know you take some part of these missions seriously, Colonel Moore.”
    “ Cut the crap and talk to me, Eleanor.”
    “ If the council and General English are