feel as if I were on a train—a rather luxurious first-class express, perhaps.
After a few minutes the ship’s doctor entered the room and had a few words with the orderly who was folding up the screens. The doctor was a youngish man with a great round head and a shock of red hair. When he spoke it was in a soft Scottish accent.
“Captain Bastable is it?”
“That’s right, doctor. I’m all right, I think. In my body, at any rate.”
“Your body? What d’you think’s wrong with your head?”
“Frankly, sir, I think I’m probably dreaming.”
“That’s what we thought when you were first spotted. How on earth did you manage to get into those ruins? I thought it was impossible.” As he spoke he checked my pulse, looked at my eyes and did the usual things doctors do to you when they can’t find anything specifically wrong.
“I’m not sure you’d believe me, doctor, if I told you I rode up on horseback,” I said.
He gave a peculiar laugh and stuck a thermometer into my mouth. “No, I don’t think I would! Rode up! Ha!”
“Well,” I said cautiously, after he had removed the thermometer. “I did ride up there.”
“Aye.” Plainly he didn’t believe me. “Possibly you think you did. And the horse jumped that chasm, did it?”
“There wasn’t a chasm there when I went there.”
“No chasm—?” He laughed aloud. “My stars! No chasm! There’s always been a chasm there—for a damned long time, at any rate. That’s why we were flying over the ruins. The only way to reach them is by airship. Major Powell’s a bit of an amateur archaeologist. He’s got permission to reconnoitre this area with a view to exploring Teku Benga some time. He knows more about the lost civilizations of the Himalayas than anyone. He’s a scholar, our Major Powell.”
“I’d hardly count Kumbalari as a lost civilization,” I said. “Not in the strict sense. That earthquake could only have happened a couple of years ago, surely. That’s when I went there.”
“Two years ago? You’ve been in that God-forsaken place for two years? You poor fellow. But you’re remarkably fit on it, I’ll say that.” He frowned suddenly. “Earthquake? I haven’t heard of an earthquake in Teku Benga. Mind you...”
“There hasn’t been an earthquake in Teku Benga in living memory.” It was the sharp, precise voice of Major Powell, who had come in as we talked. He looked at me with a certain wary curiosity. “And I very much doubt that anyone could live there for two years. There’s nothing to eat, for one thing. On the other hand, there’s no other explanation as to how you got there— unless a private expedition I haven’t heard about flew there two years ago.”
It was my turn to smile. “Hardly likely, sir. No ship of this kind existed two years ago. In fact, it’s remarkable how...”
“I think you had better check him up here, Jim,” said Major Powell tapping his head with his stick. “The poor chap’s lost all sense of time—or something. What was the date when you left for Teku Benga, Captain Bastable?”
“June twenty-fifth, sir.”
“Um. And what year?”
“Why, 1902, sir.”
The doctor and the major stared at each other in some concern.
“That’s when the earthquake happened, all right,” Major Powell said quietly. “1902. Almost everyone killed. And there were some English soldiers there... Oh, by God! This is ridiculous!” He returned his attention to me. “You are in a serious condition, young man. I wouldn’t call it amnesia—but some sort of false memory. Mind playing you tricks, um? Maybe you’ve read a lot of history, eh, like me? Perhaps you’re an amateur archaeologist, too? Well, I expect we can soon cure you and learn what really happened.”
“What’s so odd about my story, major?”
“Well, for one thing, old chap, you’re a bit too well-preserved to have gone up to Teku Benga in 1902. That was over seventy years ago. This is July the fifteenth. The year,
After a few minutes the ship’s doctor entered the room and had a few words with the orderly who was folding up the screens. The doctor was a youngish man with a great round head and a shock of red hair. When he spoke it was in a soft Scottish accent.
“Captain Bastable is it?”
“That’s right, doctor. I’m all right, I think. In my body, at any rate.”
“Your body? What d’you think’s wrong with your head?”
“Frankly, sir, I think I’m probably dreaming.”
“That’s what we thought when you were first spotted. How on earth did you manage to get into those ruins? I thought it was impossible.” As he spoke he checked my pulse, looked at my eyes and did the usual things doctors do to you when they can’t find anything specifically wrong.
“I’m not sure you’d believe me, doctor, if I told you I rode up on horseback,” I said.
He gave a peculiar laugh and stuck a thermometer into my mouth. “No, I don’t think I would! Rode up! Ha!”
“Well,” I said cautiously, after he had removed the thermometer. “I did ride up there.”
“Aye.” Plainly he didn’t believe me. “Possibly you think you did. And the horse jumped that chasm, did it?”
“There wasn’t a chasm there when I went there.”
“No chasm—?” He laughed aloud. “My stars! No chasm! There’s always been a chasm there—for a damned long time, at any rate. That’s why we were flying over the ruins. The only way to reach them is by airship. Major Powell’s a bit of an amateur archaeologist. He’s got permission to reconnoitre this area with a view to exploring Teku Benga some time. He knows more about the lost civilizations of the Himalayas than anyone. He’s a scholar, our Major Powell.”
“I’d hardly count Kumbalari as a lost civilization,” I said. “Not in the strict sense. That earthquake could only have happened a couple of years ago, surely. That’s when I went there.”
“Two years ago? You’ve been in that God-forsaken place for two years? You poor fellow. But you’re remarkably fit on it, I’ll say that.” He frowned suddenly. “Earthquake? I haven’t heard of an earthquake in Teku Benga. Mind you...”
“There hasn’t been an earthquake in Teku Benga in living memory.” It was the sharp, precise voice of Major Powell, who had come in as we talked. He looked at me with a certain wary curiosity. “And I very much doubt that anyone could live there for two years. There’s nothing to eat, for one thing. On the other hand, there’s no other explanation as to how you got there— unless a private expedition I haven’t heard about flew there two years ago.”
It was my turn to smile. “Hardly likely, sir. No ship of this kind existed two years ago. In fact, it’s remarkable how...”
“I think you had better check him up here, Jim,” said Major Powell tapping his head with his stick. “The poor chap’s lost all sense of time—or something. What was the date when you left for Teku Benga, Captain Bastable?”
“June twenty-fifth, sir.”
“Um. And what year?”
“Why, 1902, sir.”
The doctor and the major stared at each other in some concern.
“That’s when the earthquake happened, all right,” Major Powell said quietly. “1902. Almost everyone killed. And there were some English soldiers there... Oh, by God! This is ridiculous!” He returned his attention to me. “You are in a serious condition, young man. I wouldn’t call it amnesia—but some sort of false memory. Mind playing you tricks, um? Maybe you’ve read a lot of history, eh, like me? Perhaps you’re an amateur archaeologist, too? Well, I expect we can soon cure you and learn what really happened.”
“What’s so odd about my story, major?”
“Well, for one thing, old chap, you’re a bit too well-preserved to have gone up to Teku Benga in 1902. That was over seventy years ago. This is July the fifteenth. The year,
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