"We'll try the cat first. If it works with the cat, then we'll try you."
Julia was trembling. "What do I do?"
"The first thing we have to do is kill the cat."
"What are you talking about!"
"When the cat is dead, it will become as inanimate an object as any of those books over there. In that state I should be able to transport it to my time. There the doctors will revive it. Everything is ready."
"I can't kill my cat!"
"If it works, it's only temporary."
"And if it doesn't work?" she whispered.
"I'd rather it be the cat than you."
"I never dreamed...."