Dr. Ernest Caldwell sat in a rocker on his porch and stared out at the foothills. In a few months, they would be covered with snow but right now they were lush and green.
His wife Mary soon joined him. Sensing his mood, she asked what was wrong. Ernest looked at distant Mount Rainier before he answered. "It's the Wilson boy. He has cancer and there's nothing I can do." "Why don't you go for a walk Ernest. That always helps after a hard day." she suggested. he nodded and headed for the woods at the edge of their property.
It was a beautiful Fall day and Ernest could feel a chill in the air. Snow would be coming soon enough he thought. After walking for about an hour, he spotted something on the trail. As he got closer, he saw that it was a mechanical device of some kind.
The device was about half the size of a cigar box with a glass screen. Ernest examined the device in detail. He had never seen anything like it and immediately sensed that it was far beyond anything from his time.
Ernest tapped the glass screen with his finger and the words "diagnosis" and "evaluation" appeared. As an experiment, Earnest pointed the device at his hand. "Rheumatoid Arthritis." A few moments later, the screen said "For treatment, point to affected area."
Ernest pointed the top of the device at the swollen knuckles of his left hand and the words "Treatment Initializing" appeared on the screen. The pain that he had lived with for so long was gone and the knuckles had returned to normal size. The words "Treatment Complete" eventually appeared on the screen.
Ernest tried to stay calm as the enormous implications of his find became clearer. Could the device cure anything? and where did it come from? He had to do more tests.
For the next two weeks, Ernest tested the device of farm animals. Each time it cured the ailment without any side effects. The Wilson boy had never left his mind, but he debated with himself for days whether he should use the device on the child.
Finally, Ernest got word that the boy was very ill and he decided to go ahead and use the device. When Ernest got to the Wilson farm, the boy was near death. With a shaking hand, he pointed the device at the boy. The diagnosis was: "Osteosarcoma." The treatment phase took several minutes, but at the end Ernest could see a vast improvement in the boy and after an examination, he could find no sign of cancer.
The boy's parents considered him to be a miracle worker and word got around the community of what had happened. Soon dozens of seriously ill and injured people were showing up at his office. Ernest was cautious about using the device, but he found out that the device apparently had few to no limits on the diseases and injuries it could treat.
After much thought, and discussion with Mary, Ernest decided that he had to turn over the healing machine to the government. The trip to the state capitol in Olympia would take several days and as he was preparing his wife Mary told him he had a visitor.
The visitor was a tall man in odd clothing who identified himself as Doctor Jones. "I believe you have something that belongs to me." Jones said in a deep voice. Ernest hesitated, "I don't know what you're talking about." Jones smiled "The healing device is mine."
"I know that you probably have many questions, Jones began, "but I can only tell you that you were part of a larger experiment to test the healing device." Ernest grew angry. "You mean to tell me that you used me and the people I treated to test this machine? What if something had gone wrong and I hurt or killed someone with it?"
Jones smile went away. "The healing device had already been extensively tested before I arranged for you to find it." Ernest grew angrier "Who are you and where do you come from?" he asked the tall stranger. "You may find this hard to believe, but I come from a distant planet. We often use humans as subjects for our experiments because our species are biologically similar." Dr. Jones replied with a smile.
Ernest took the healing device from his pocket, dropped it on the ground, and crushed it with his boot.
His wife Mary soon joined him. Sensing his mood, she asked what was wrong. Ernest looked at distant Mount Rainier before he answered. "It's the Wilson boy. He has cancer and there's nothing I can do." "Why don't you go for a walk Ernest. That always helps after a hard day." she suggested. he nodded and headed for the woods at the edge of their property.
It was a beautiful Fall day and Ernest could feel a chill in the air. Snow would be coming soon enough he thought. After walking for about an hour, he spotted something on the trail. As he got closer, he saw that it was a mechanical device of some kind.
The device was about half the size of a cigar box with a glass screen. Ernest examined the device in detail. He had never seen anything like it and immediately sensed that it was far beyond anything from his time.
Ernest tapped the glass screen with his finger and the words "diagnosis" and "evaluation" appeared. As an experiment, Earnest pointed the device at his hand. "Rheumatoid Arthritis." A few moments later, the screen said "For treatment, point to affected area."
Ernest pointed the top of the device at the swollen knuckles of his left hand and the words "Treatment Initializing" appeared on the screen. The pain that he had lived with for so long was gone and the knuckles had returned to normal size. The words "Treatment Complete" eventually appeared on the screen.
Ernest tried to stay calm as the enormous implications of his find became clearer. Could the device cure anything? and where did it come from? He had to do more tests.
For the next two weeks, Ernest tested the device of farm animals. Each time it cured the ailment without any side effects. The Wilson boy had never left his mind, but he debated with himself for days whether he should use the device on the child.
Finally, Ernest got word that the boy was very ill and he decided to go ahead and use the device. When Ernest got to the Wilson farm, the boy was near death. With a shaking hand, he pointed the device at the boy. The diagnosis was: "Osteosarcoma." The treatment phase took several minutes, but at the end Ernest could see a vast improvement in the boy and after an examination, he could find no sign of cancer.
The boy's parents considered him to be a miracle worker and word got around the community of what had happened. Soon dozens of seriously ill and injured people were showing up at his office. Ernest was cautious about using the device, but he found out that the device apparently had few to no limits on the diseases and injuries it could treat.
After much thought, and discussion with Mary, Ernest decided that he had to turn over the healing machine to the government. The trip to the state capitol in Olympia would take several days and as he was preparing his wife Mary told him he had a visitor.
The visitor was a tall man in odd clothing who identified himself as Doctor Jones. "I believe you have something that belongs to me." Jones said in a deep voice. Ernest hesitated, "I don't know what you're talking about." Jones smiled "The healing device is mine."
"I know that you probably have many questions, Jones began, "but I can only tell you that you were part of a larger experiment to test the healing device." Ernest grew angry. "You mean to tell me that you used me and the people I treated to test this machine? What if something had gone wrong and I hurt or killed someone with it?"
Jones smile went away. "The healing device had already been extensively tested before I arranged for you to find it." Ernest grew angrier "Who are you and where do you come from?" he asked the tall stranger. "You may find this hard to believe, but I come from a distant planet. We often use humans as subjects for our experiments because our species are biologically similar." Dr. Jones replied with a smile.
Ernest took the healing device from his pocket, dropped it on the ground, and crushed it with his boot.
