"Well, purely fictional, of course," said Andre. "The sort of thing one might make a story of. Examining the social implications of scientific discoveries, for example."
“Ah. I see. How very fascinating that a woman should be interested in such things. You arc, I perceive, one of these progressive women. Mind you, I entirely approve. Above all. I respect intelligence in women. Especially the intelligence to strive for social reform. I regard the idea of women in the work force. treated equally, as absolutely essential to our progress. But then I perceive that I am straying from your question. No. I do not recall discussing such ideas with anyone in particular. Such things as traveling through time I regard as useful fictional devices, tricks whereby one might pretend to look ahead and sec where our present course may lead. as you suggest. However, I must confess that I am still somewhat at a loss as to what your specific interest in all of this may be."
"Well, there is a… colleague of ours," said Steiger, "a Mr. NikolaiDrakov, who has been pursuing some rather, well. I suppose you would think them farfetched experiments in the physical sciences. We thought perhaps you might have met him. "
"Drakov. A Russian gentleman?"
Delaney leaned forward intently. "You have met him?"
"No, no. I was merely commenting upon the name," said Wells. "No, it is entirely unfamiliar to me. Do you mean to tell me that Ihave inadvertently touched upon an actual topic of scientific research'? With a story such as 'The Chronic Argo- nauts"? It seems truly difficult to believe."
"Well, not specifically. Mr. Wells." said Delaney. "Let us say that you have strayed close to a somewhat peripheral field of study that our colleague is engaged in. However, it seems to have been purely coincidental."
"Indeed! How very odd! And how very intriguing. Tell me. is it possible that I might meet this Mr. Drakov?"
"Regrettably," said Delaney. "we have no idea of his current whereabouts. You see, Mr. Wells, it is a somewhat delicate matter and, well, if we may speak quite confidentially.."
"By all means," said Wells. puzzled.
"Professor Drakov has been pursuing research that is quite esoteric and frankly, more than a little dangerous. Ithas not been very well received and it has caused him some difficulties that resulted in his disappearance. He had been working very hard, you see, and we have some reason to suspect that he has suffered some distress, a lapse, if you will, which caused him to feel persecuted and well- "
"You are concerned about your missing colleague. about his health, and you are seeking information as to his whereabouts," said Wells. "And something in what I have written led you to believe that I may have discussed certain ideas with him'?"
"Apparently, we were wrong," said Steiger. "We're sorry to have taken up so much of your time. Mr. Wells."
“Think nothing of it," Wells said. "I regret that I could not be of assistance to you. but I have never met the gentleman and this is the first time that I have ever heard his name. You have reason to believe that he may seek me out?"
"We think it's possible that he may come here," said Andre. "And we are quite concerned for him. I suppose it is an unlikely possibility, but if by chance he should contact you, Mr. Wells, he may seem quite lucid, but if you were to humor him, andperhaps inform us confidentially "Without letting him know that I have spoken with you?" Wells said.
"We merely wish to sec that he receives the proper attention," Steiger said. "Or to satisfy ourselves that he has fully recovered from his collapse."
"I see. Well. I suppose there is no harm in it. How long will you remain in London?"
"Until wehave completed our inquiries," said Steiger. "In any event, we will leave word where we can be reached at the Hotel Metropole. where we are staying."
"Well, if I should hear from your friend. I will certainly let you know." said Wells.
"Thank you," said Andre. "And now we really should leave you to your work."
Wells escorted them out.
"What was that about?" said Jane, after they had left.
"Most peculiar," he said. "Something about a crank professor involved in some sort of mysterious research and disappearing after suffering a breakdown. They thought I might have knowledge of him because of something they had read in one of my stories. Something which apparently by coincidence touched upon the nature of his research. I can't imagine what that might be: they were quite reticent about it. Very strange, indeed." He shook his head. "It seems that one of the hazards of the writing profession is that one attracts all manner of disquieting individuals. I must be sure to speak to Cust and instruct him not to give out my address."
"Well, that wasa waste of time," said Steiger as they rode in their coach back to the hotel. It would be another year before Frederick Lanchester produced the first English four-wheeled car and Herbert Austin began to build his design in Birming- ham. The traffic in London was still predominantly horse- driven, although there were quite a few bicycles and many chose to travel by rail in the underground. The Industrial Resolution was still relatively young.
Finn Delaney took off his top hat, loosened his tic and unbuttoned the bottom of his waistcoat. He looked at Steiger with amazement. "You call having an opportunity to meet H. G. Wells a waste of time?"
"I'm not as overwhelmed by literary celebrities as you seem to be," said Steiger wryly, "especially when they're teatime socialists. Besides, I was referring to the fact that we're no closer to finding Drakov than we were when we started this wild goose chase. If you ask me, we're really reaching this time."
"You didn't seem to think so when General Forrester suggested the idea," said Andre. Of the three, she was clearly the most uncomfortable. She did not appreciate the tightly constricted waists of late Victorian female fashions, so necessary to the highly desired "hourglass look." She preferred clothes that provided greater freedom of movement and she found the fashions of the Victorian era too tight in some places and too long and loose in others. She also did not care for the style which called for her to wear her hair up and she absolutely loathed the hats.
"Okay," said Steiger. "I'll admit I thought it was an interesting coincidence that he wrote about time travel in The Time Machine and biological experimentation that sounded a bit like genetic engineering in The Island of Dr. Moreau, but that doesn't mean Wells had contact with people from the future."
"It's a rather uncomfortable coincidence that the scientist Drakov abducted from the Special Operations Group's genetics project is also named Moreau," said Delaney. "And that the beast-men Wells wrote about happen to resemble some of Moreau's ge
netically engineered creations. The point is that Wells hasn't yet rewritten 'The Chronic Argonauts.' The Time Machine will not be published for another year and The Island of Dr. Moreau did not appear until 1896. I think the Old Man was right. We need to satisfy ourselves that there was no temporal contamination involved in Wells' writing those stories."