Brian Chaney—
researcher, translator, statistician, a little of this and that—is
unwillingly drafted as the third member of a team (which includes Major Moresby and Lt.
Commander Saltus) to
study and map the central United States at the turn of the century,
at about the year 2000.
For me, I see the tone of several later items, such as the TV
show Seven Days, as descendants of Tucker’s novel—and we finally understand why
the Terminator arrives at his destination naked.
She said: “It’s a matter of weight, Mr. Chaney. The machine must propel itself and
you into the future, which is an operation requiring a tremendous amount of electrical
energy. The engineers have advised us that total weight is a critical matter, that
nothing but the passenger must be put forward or returned. They insist upon minimum
weight.”
“Naked? All the way naked?”