Back in Alex's room, she and Deanna sat on the bed. Alex was too tired to talk much, or even to do justice to the fine meal that was waiting for them. Deanna asked, "Are you feeling nervous about tomorrow?"
"Yes, a lot," Alex answered. "Not about the time travel part, because that was easy. I'm nervous about meeting the people back there. When I saw that man today, and realized how long ago he lived, and that he was dead now, I felt really sad."
"I know what you mean," Deanna said. "Sometimes I look at old pictures of people, especially people I never knew, and think that once they were real and alive, and now they're dead, and I feel just the way you do now. I'm sure that seeing that man was even worse than seeing an old picture."
The girls said good night, and Deanna went to her own room. Alex undressed and lay in bed, but found that she couldn't sleep, despite how tired she was.
A million things raced through her mind. She thought of Susy and Sam Clemens, and the changes she might make to their lives; she had thought of them before, but now they were real people to her. She thought of the unknown opponent, and how careful she'd have to be. She thought of Deanna, of how quickly they'd become friends, and how much she'd miss her. She thought of this strange land, and its relationship to her home world. And the things she had learned about time, and space, and how they weren't always what they seemed. And the interesting and unusual people she'd met here -- Joseph, Igor, Nick, Martha, and James Bond. Somewhere in the list, she was asleep.