She swallowed hard. "Yes, sir."
Wells stood motionless in the small apartment above the apothecary shop, his face pale, his breath caught in his throat. A moment ago, he had been sitting in a teashop in Fleet Street and now, suddenly inexplicably, he was… somewhere else. He blinked several times, looking around. Moreau stood before him, watching him anxiously.
"Where are we?" Wells said.
"In my rented room in Limehouse," said Moreau.
Wells shook his head "Limehouse? No, that isn't possible." "Look for yourself." said Moreau, moving to the window and opening the drapes.
Wells looked out the window. He could see soot-begrimed buildings, factories and warehouses and the river just beyond them. "Limehouse," he said softly. "This cannot be. I must be dreaming."
"I assure you, Mr. Wells." Moreau said, "You are not dreaming. If further proof is required, I can supply it."
"No, no, wait," said Wells. "I must take this in. This is incredible. I have to think."
"May I offer you a drink?" Moreau said.
“Yes, I think I'd better have a drink," said Wells. "A strong one, if you please."
Moreau poured him a whiskey and added just a dash of soda from the gasogene on the sideboard. Wells tossed it down.
"How is this possible?" said Wells. "How did we get here?"
"This bracelet you were so curious about." Moreau said, pulling up his sleeve and showing it to him, "It is called a warp disc. Simply put, it is a sort of time machine.”
"A time machine!" said Wells.
"It is capable of broadcasting a sort of field," said Moreau, "by tapping into-well, it would be far too complicated to explain to a man of your time. However, as you can sec, it does work."
"I think I had better sit down," said Wells. He slowly eased himself into an armchair and let out a long breath. "Dear God," he said. "Are you telling me that we have actually traveled through time?"
"Only in a manner of speaking." said Moreau. "No more than a moment or two have passed since we left the teashop. However, I could just as easily have programmed-that is, instructed the disc to take us back several centuries if I had wished to. Or ahead. The method of travel is called temporal transition. A sort of teleportation, if you will. We can go from one place to another within the same time period, or from one time period to another with equal ease."
Wells shook his head. "And all this is accomplished by a device so small that it can be contained within that bracelet? Amazing! It is beyond belief!"
"And yet you have experienced it, Mr. Wells," Moreau said.
"How can you not believe it?"
"Indeed," said Wells, "unless you have somehow mesmerized me and brought me here without my knowing it…"
"Would a more conclusive demonstration satisfy you?" said Moreau.
"I… I do not know," said Wells. "That is, I-" Suddenly. Moreau was gone.
He had simply vanished, right before his eyes. Wells blinked, then shook his head, then slowly took a deep breath and let it out.
"Steady on, Bertie," he told himself. "You're not going mad. You're only dreaming. This cannot possibly be happening. There is a rational explanation for all this, there has to be-"
Moreau suddenly reappeared before him and Wells jumped about a foot. Moreau was sweating heavily and his shirt clung to him, as if he had been in intense heat for some time. He was holding his coat in his hands. Something was wrapped inside it. And it was moving.
"I have brought you something." said Moreau. "A present.”
He placed his coat in Wells' lap. There was something wriggling around inside it. Wells sat perfectly still, afraid to move.
"What is it?" he said. "Not a snake? Moreau, you wouldn't-'
"Open it and see."