"Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to witness an historic event, the first flight through time. I have been working on this machine here for six years and have at last perfected it."
He indicated the platform beside him, which contained a chair with a panel of dials and buttons in front of it. Attached to it was an enormous parachute.
"Before I make my trip into the future are there any questions?"
"Yes," said a reporter in the front row. "How does this machine compare with the imaginary one in H.G. Wells' famous novel?"
"It is quite similar in many way but there are some important differences. For example, Wells' machine gradually fades away as it accelerates through time, whereas this machine will actually jump from the present to a point in the future without actually travelling through the intervening time. In the book the time-traveler sees everything around him happening faster and faster as he accelerates through time and the same things happening backwards on his return. But as soon as I have left the present I will be at my destination - a point in the future which, of course, I can decide on before I leave.
"And what is the parachute for?" asked some one.
"Now that is something Wells didn't think of. You remember he said that of the machine stopped in a place where there was some solid matter an explosion would occur. Well, that is quite true. So I am going to start my trip up in the air. The machine will occupy exactly the same space when it appears in the future. But the level of the ground changes over a long period of time. It could be higher or lower, or perhaps there could be a tall building on this spot in the future. In the story, the machine appeared on the ground in the distant future. This would be very unlikely as it would probably be actually above or below the ground. So, although Wells remembered the horizontal change in distance when the machine was dragged to a different position, he did not consider the change in vertical directions - the new distance above or below ground. To be safe I am going to start my trip above the earth and, when I have finished my jump, I will simply float down again.
"For this first journey, I have decided to go only six months into the future. In this case I should meet myself as I will be when I am six months older. If I do not meet myself, and find that I disappeared some time ago I will know that I had better not return to you as I will probably not get back safely. So I will stay in the future and of course call you all here immediately and tell you about it. If I do meet myself, I will ask myself about all my trips for the last six months and I will know that every trip I make will be safe. This will give me an opportunity to try many dangerous experiments, knowing that I will not be hurt. If all goes well I will return to you a few minutes after I leave. I could come back to a time before I leave if I wanted to but I don't want to confuse you too much.
"Well, I had better get ready to go now. If I am not back within five minutes you will either see me in six months or never."
The professor pressed a button on the platform underneath the time-machine and climbed onto the seat. The platform began to rise, taking Professor Case and his invention with it. The group of people watched as the platform was lifted higher and higher by a thick metal pole rising from the ground. Soon it was so high they could hardly see the professor. Then they couldn't see him at all. The pole started to sink back into the ground, and as the platform came down, the amazed spectators saw that it was empty. They waited half an hour and then went home. Now they would know nothing more for six months.
* * *
Professor Case pressed the button on the machine after setting the dials for six months into the future.
Everything went dark - and stayed dark, except for bright pin-points of stars in the distance and a much brighter one, which he realised was the sun. He was six months into the future - but where was he? He was in outer space - yet the machine could only move through time. How could he end up in outer space? Had the world ended during the last six months?
"Of course!" he thought as he died. "The earth is on the other side of the sun. The machine doesn't change its position, but the earth does. If only I had set it for a year . . ."