Butterfly 9

"Butterfly 9" by Donald Keith is a science fiction story set in the late 1950s, that explores time travel and different worlds through Jeff Elliott, a man facing problems in his life. When Jeff and his wife, Ann, meet Greet Snader, a time travel agent, they see a chance to leave their ordinary lives behind. However, they soon find themselves in a future where they are used for Jeff's knowledge of color television, a technology unknown to this new era. As the couple figures out this unfamiliar world, with its strange customs and language, Jeff uses his smarts to escape Snader’s control. In the end, he strikes a deal with important people to go back to his own time, making the reader think about what people will do to get ahead.