"Maureen, tell anyone you wish. But you won't be believed."

She sighed. I suppose so. Besides, if Brian did believe it and thereby believed that he had a charmed life-it might make him careless. I'm proud that he is going to fight for us but I don't want him to take unnecessary risks."

"I think you're right, Maureen."

"Theodore...my mind has been so busy with all these strange things that I missed something. Now that I know who you are- This isn't your country, and it's not your war-so why did you volunteer?"

Lazarus hesitated, then told the truth: "I wanted you to be proud of me."

"Oh!"

"No, I don't belong here and it's not my war. But it's your war, Maureen. Others are fighting for other reasons-I'll be fighting for Maureen. Not 'to make the world safe for democracy-this war won't accomplish that, even though the Allies are going to win. For Maureen."

"Oh! Oh! I'm crying again-I can't help it."

"Stop it at once."

"Yes, my warrior. Lazarus? You will come back? You must have some way to know."

"Huh? Dear, don't worry about me. People have tried to kill me in all sorts of ways-I've outlived them all. I'm the wary old cat who always has a tree within reach."

"You didn't answer me."

He sighed. "Maureen, I know Brian will come home; it's in the Foundation's records. He will live to a ripe old age and don't ask how long as I won't answer. And so will you, and I won't answer that either; it is not good to know too much about the future. But me? I can't know my future. It is not in the records. How could it be? I haven't finished it yet. But I can tell you this: This is not my first war, but about the fifteenth. They didn't get me in the others, and they'll have to move fast to kill me in this one. Beloved, I am your warrior-but to kill Hun for you, not for them to kill me. I'll do my duty, but I'm not going to try some crazy stunt to win a medal- not old Lazarus."

"Then you don't know."

"No, I don't. But I promise you this: I won't stick my head up when I don't need to. I won't go into a German dugout without tossing a grenade in ahead of me. I won't assume that a German is dead because he appears to be-I'll make sure he's dead; I don't mind wasting a bullet on a corpse. Especially one who is playing 'possum. I'm an old soldier, and that's how one gets to be an old soldier-by being a pessimist. I know all the tricks. Darling, having quieted your worries about Brian, it would be silly to get you worried about me. Don't!"

She sighed. "I'll try not to. If you turn down this street, we can pick up Prospect, then across Linwood to Benton."

"I'll get you home. Let's talk about love, not war. Our girl Nancy-Is the Foundation now using a pregnancy rule? For first marriages?"

"Goodness! You do know all about it."

"No need to tell me. Nancy's business; If Jonathan does go to war-I don't know-I can assure you that he won't get his balls shot off, even if he loses an arm or a leg. I did look up the breeding records on all your children even though I didn't bother with their birthdays. Jonathan and Nancy are going to have many babies. Which means he comes back-or maybe gets turned down and won't go."

"That's comforting. How many babies?"

"Nosy little girl. You're going to have quite a number yet yourself, Grandmother, and I won't answer that, either. I withdraw the question about the pregnancy rule."

"Secret, Lazarus-"

"Better start calling me 'Theodore.' We'll be home soon."

"Yes, sir, Staff Sergeant Theodore Bronson, your lecherous old great-great-great-grandmother will be careful. How many 'greats' should there be in that?'

"Sweetheart, do you want that answered? If it had not been necessary in calm your fears about Brian, I would have stayed 'Ted Bronson.' I like being your 'Theodore.' I'm not sure that being a mysterious man from the future is going to be as comfortable. Especially if you think of me as some remote descendant. I'm here beside you, not in some far future."

"Beside me. Touching me. And yet you're not even born yet-are you? And in your time...I'm long dead. You even know when I will die. You said so. You just won't tell me when."

"Oh, confound it, Maureen; that's wrong all the way through! That's what comes of admitting that I've time-traveled. But I had to. For you."

"I'm sorry, Laz- Theodore my warrior. I won't ask any more questions."

"Sweetheart, the fact that I am here means that you're not dead. And I certainly was born; pinch me and find out. All 'flows' are real; that is the basic theorem of time travel. They don't disappear; both 'past' and 'future' are mathematical abstractions; the 'now' is always all there is. As for knowing the day you died-or will die; it's the same thing-I don't. I just know that you had-have-will have-many children, and you live a long time...and your hair never gets gray. But the Foundation lost track of you-will lose track of you-and your date of death never got into the records. Maybe you moved and didn't tell the Foundation. Shucks, maybe I came back-will come back-and picked you up in your old age, and took you to Tertius."

"Where?"

"My home. I think you would like it there. You could run around all day, dressed-undressed-as a French postcard."

"I'm sure I would like that now. But I don't think I would, as an old woman."

"All you would have to do is to ask Ishtar for rejuvenation. I told you what she did for Tamara...when her breasts hung down to her waist and were empty sacks. But look at Tamara now-that 'now'-pregnant again, just like a kid. But forget it-if it did happen, it will happen. Mama Maureen- I'm durned if I'll call you 'Grandmother' again-all I'm sure of is that I'm not sure of the date of your death, and I'm glad I'm not, and you should be. Nor of my death, and I'm glad of that, too. Carpe diem! We're almost home and you started to say something and I said to call me 'Theodore' and we got off the track. Was it about Tamara?"

"Oh, yes! Theodore? When you go home to wherever your home is, can you take anything with you? Or does it have to be just you?"

"Why, no. I arrived with clothes and money."

"I'd like to send a little present to Tamara. But I can't guess what she would want...from this time to that wonderful age of yours. Can you suggest something?"

"Mmm...Tamara would treasure anything from you. She knows she's descended from you, and she's the most warmly sentimental of all my family. It should be something small enough to carry on my person, even in the trenches, as I'm always ready to abandon anything I'm not carrying- have to be. Not jewelry. Tamara would not value a diamond bracelet one whit more than a hairpin...but she would treasure a hairpin that I could tell her I had seen you wearing. Something small, somethillg you've worn. Look, send her a garter! Perfect! One of these you have on."

"Mayn't I send her a brand-new pair? Oh, I'll slip them on for a moment, so that you can tell her truthfully that I've worn them. But these- Not only are they rather old and worn but I've perspired right through them tonight. They're not fresh and clean. And they do have naughty mottoes on them."

"No, no, one of these. Sweetheart, 'naughty' today can't be naughty on Tertius; I'll have to explain any naughtiness to Tamara. As for perspiration, I hope that some trace of your sweet fragrance clings to them until I can get them to her; that would delight Tamara. You say this pair is old? Maureen, by any chance are they about six years old?"

"I told you I was sentimental, Theodore. Yes, this is the same pair. Old and faded and worn and I've replaced the elastic-but the same pair; I picked them to wear for you."

"Then I want one of them for me!"

"Beloved Theodore. I planned to offer you both of them. That's why I suggested a new pair for Tamara. Very well, dear, one for you, one for her. As soon as we're home. I'll trot upstairs, and when I come down, I'll have a present for you and will tell you not to open it until you're back at Camp Funston. You just say thank you and go straight to your room and put it into your grip. I see a light on the front porch, so now I must push my skirts down and be the prim and proper Mrs. Brian Smith. With a smoldering volcano inside her! Thank you, Staff Sergeant Bronson. You have given my son and me a most enjoyable evening."