The Door into Bedlam ( short story ) The Door into Bedlam was the eighth story in the Bernice Summerfield anthology " The Dead Men Diaries " . It was written by Dave Stone . Summary . Benny , on an errand for Irving Braxiatel , goes to the Repository of the Improbable to find R . F . Wilburton . Wilburton claims to be the victim of a Markov chain of events , by which no one can ever see him , though he is not invisible . Benny , constantly distracted in their conversation and therefore never actually seeing him , gives him a message from Braxiatel . After he leaves , she explores the Repository . Meanwhile , in another universe , Jason Kane is spending time at a spaceport bar when he is approached by an imp . The imp , after checking his identity , gives him a touching cloth , which Jason obligingly touches . Benny , wandering the Repository , comes across a joining stone from Goron IV . She picks it up . She experiences a brief sense of recognition that reminds her of Jason . After Jason touches the cloth , the imp hands him a business card and vanishes . Jason makes for the address on the card . He meets Agraxar Flatchlock , and angrily asks what happened to him when he touched the cloth . He felt that " something went into it " . Flatchlock explains that the cloth setup a brief connection between universes and it verified that Jason is human . Flatchlock has a job for Jason . Benny heads for Goron IV to learn more about the joining stone . She takes Joseph with her . On arrival , she is greeted by Earth Federation forces . Jason , in his new job , hopes that this is his chance to get home . He is to help with the Project , which Flatchlock explains to him . The touching cloths have the ability to set up connections with Jason ' s original universe . Flatchlock hopes to start a tourist industry , bringing people from the Infernal Regions to Jason ' s universe . Dr Grobe , a doctor of physics , explains to Benny why the EarthFed forces are on Goron IV . The native Goronian s , who have orange skin and green hair , use fragments of stone , which Benny recognises as similar to the joining stone on the Collection , to open a conduit to other universes . Benny watches the Goronians perform a ritual , whereby they chant and energy comes out of a box containing a stone fragment . One of the natives is apparently sucked into the box , and he is supposedly deposited in another universe at the other end . On the Project , testing is being done ; a weak point between time and space has been opened . However , things are not going well . For some reason , orange and green remains keep coming through the rift . Benny , appalled at the treatment of the natives by the EarthFed forces , sneaks out at night to free the Goronians from the stockade in which they are imprisoned . She is quite surprised that , after being freed , they attack her . Jason is ready to go through the rift . On Goron IV , the natives prepare to send Benny into another universe by way of the ritual with the stone fragment . The effect is intensified by the joining stone that Benny is wearing . Benny and Jason enter the conduit from opposite ends , at the same time . As they travel through it , they impact each other and bounce back to where they came . Later , Benny tries to explain to Braxiatel what happened . She tells him that the joining stone shattered . She knows that somehow she will see Jason again . Jason is miserable , having missed his chance to get home . He also knows that everyone on the Project , though they won ' t say so , blames him for its failure . He apologises to Flatchlock , who shrugs it off and says they ' ll just have to rely on Station Control , like they usually do . Jason can only respond with , " What ? " Notes . " to be added "