One night Scott brought forth a mechanism resembling the headphones of early radio sets, on which he had been working for weeks. He had not yet explained its purpose.
Pete,' he said, 'I want you to move your cot near the table and put on this helmet. When you go to sleep I'll plug it in the time-power. If it has any effect upon consciousness units, this will demonstrate it.'
He noticed my hesitation.
'Don't be afraid,' he urged. 'I will watch beside you. If anything goes wrong, I'll jerk the plug and wake you.'
So I put on the helmet and, with Scott Marston sitting in a chair beside my cot, went to sleep.
That night I seemed to actually walk in the laboratory. I saw no one, but I examined the place from end to end. I distinctly remember handling strange tools, the use of which I could only vaguely speculate upon. Flanking the main laboratory were many archways, opening into smaller rooms, which I did not investigate. The architecture of the laboratory and the archways was unbelievably alien, a fact I had noticed before but had never examined in such minute detail.
I opened my eyes and saw the anxious face of Scott Marston above me.
'What happened, Pete?' he asked.
I grasped his arm.
'Scott, I was there. I actually walked in the laboratory. I picked up tools. I can see the place now, plainer than ever before.'