YOUR TIME IS UP
BY WALT SHELDON
The Colonel was a career man; and knowing
what would happen within his lifetime promised
to be an invaluable asset.... But he had never
heard of that ancient legend of Faust....
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Worlds of If Science Fiction, June 1955.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
At first I thought it was just another wrong number. Well, it was, in a sense—but not the kind of wrong number I thought it was. The ringing signal burred against my ear in the usual way, then there was a click, and somebody said, "Office of Historical Research. Zon Twenty speaking."
"Oh. 'Scuse me," I said. "I must have dialed wrong."
That was euphemism—misplaced loyalty, maybe. I didn't dial the wrong number, and I knew it. But high brass had installed a new automatic dialing system in the Pentagon as an economy measure, and it produced so many wrong numbers and entanglements that I think it actually must have cost more money in the long run than the old-fashioned live operator system—but then that shouldn't surprise you if you've ever been connected with the military.
I was about to hang up after my apology. The voice on the other end said: "Wait! Did you say—dialed?"