* * * * *

A silence fell between them. After a long time Nanette spoke.

"I don't suppose, Aaron, that anything I can do or say will help
matters any. I know that our being where we are is my own fault. I'm
sorry. Truly I am."

"The harm is done," said Carruthers. "Don't say anything more about
it."

Nanette pointed at the disc of light shining high in the heavens.
"These stars are as strange to me, Aaron, as if I had never seen them
before. Saturn is the evening star at this time of year. It isn't
visible. Even the familiar craters and mountains of the moon look
different. And it glows strangely."

"I'd rather not talk about it, Nan."

Nanette placed a hand upon his arm. "I'm not a child, Aaron. I'm a
grown woman. Fear comes through not knowing. Tell me the truth."

"Let's sit down."

They sat upon the ground and both stared out at the night heavens that
arched into infinity above them. Presently Carruthers took the girl's
hand from his arm and held it gently between his own. "You've guessed
rightly, Nan. The orb shining upon us is not our moon. I'll try and
make it clear."

* * * * *

The girl smiled reassuringly in the darkness. "I'm waiting."

"Strange as it must seem," began Carruthers, "you and I are still
within the room of my laboratory. But we might as well be a million
miles away for all the good it does us. Karl sits in his chair in the
same position as when we disappeared in the violet glow of the atomic
ray. His eyes are bulging with fear and horror. For days and days
he'll continue to sit on that chair, his mind not yet attuned to what
actually took place. What has happened? He doesn't know yet, Nan."

"Oh, it's incredible," sobbed Nanette.

"I know, but it's so obviously true that I won't even trouble to check
my calculations." He pointed at the silver disc hanging low in the
strange sky. "That, Nan, is not our moon. It is nothing more than a
planetary electron very much like the one we are on at the present
moment. The firmament is filled with them. From where we sit we can
see but the half nearest to us. The glowing portion is illuminated
from distant light rays shot off from the nucleus of the atom itself.
That atom is going to be our light and heat for weeks, months, perhaps
years to come. We're prisoners on an electron, and as such we are
destined to rush through infinite space for the remainder of our lives
unless...."

"U