armchair. Now he pushed back in it, licked his lips, and braced his jaw on one fist. “Is that why you’re here?”
“Isn’t it sufficient reason?”
“Don’t tell me any more,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Trust me.” He indicated the Q-pod, which Shel had attached to his belt. “How long have you known about that?”
“A couple of days. To be honest, it’s hard to be sure. What day is this?”
“Monday.”
“Incredible. A few minutes ago it was Thursday.”
Michael’s eyes closed. “Look, Adrian, I know you’re probably upset.”
“Did you make this thing?”
“You were supposed to destroy it.”
“I’m glad I didn’t.”
“I’m sure you are.” Michael pressed his lips together. “Yes, I made it. Along with a colleague.”
“Why do you want it destroyed?”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
“Why’s that?”
“For a number of reasons.”
“Tell me about them. I don’t have a clue what’s going on.”
“I take it I haven’t turned up since the lunch?”
“No. You’ve been missing nine days.”
“Okay.”
“Where were you planning to go?”
He laughed. “You wouldn’t believe it.”
“At this point, I’m ready to believe anything .”
He smiled, casually, easily, like a man in charge of the world. “You know what the converters can do.”
“A converter. Is that what you call it?”
“Yes. But the name’s not important.”
“I guess not. So where did you go? Where are you going?”
“I’d always wanted to spend some time with Galileo.”
“Galileo.”
“Or maybe Cicero. Or Ben Franklin.” He managed a smile. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“You’ve had this thing—what?—three or four months? It’s part of that government project, right?”
“More or less.”
“How do you mean, ‘more or less’?”
“It was an accidental discovery. We were working on something else.”
“Okay. So now the government has time-travel capability.”
“No.”
“No? Why not?”
“It’s too dangerous to put in anybody’s hands. Let alone a government.”
“You keep saying it’s dangerous.”
“I don’t think we would be permitted to change the past. Though there are people who’d want to. Hell, I’d want to. You could save Lincoln. Kill Hitler. Things like that. But I’m not certain what the result would be.”
“I’m not sure I’m following.”
“We had reason to believe that the time stream has a lot of flexibility. You can go back and do things, and the continuum will adjust. As long as you don’t create a paradox. A loop. Something that can’t be absorbed.”
“What makes you say that?”
“The math suggests it. But we pushed it too far. We did an experiment.”
“I’m listening.”
“Adrian, my partner in the research was Ivy Klassen.”
“Was?”
“She’s dead.”
“What happened?”
“The experiment.”
“Explain.”
“What happens if someone goes back and rescues JFK? Prevents his going to Dallas?”
“I don’t know. We stay out of Vietnam?”
“I don’t know either. What we do know is that it didn’t happen. Look, Adrian, the standard theory is that if you go back and rescue Kennedy, you cause a split in the timeline. Another reality is created. That’s nonsense, of course, but if it happened, there’d be diverging timelines. The one we live in, and the one in which he survives.”
“And that’s what you wanted to test?”
“Yes.”
“What did you try to do? Post somebody at the Texas School Book Depository?”
“We did a different kind of test. We put a copy of a book into a briefcase.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because of the book. Anyhow, we closed the briefcase. Left it alone in Ivy’s office for fifteen minutes. Then we went in and opened it. The book was still there.”
“I would think so.”
“Then Ivy used the converter to go back five minutes, to a time before we looked in the briefcase. The intention was that she’d remove the book.”
“So it should
“Isn’t it sufficient reason?”
“Don’t tell me any more,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Trust me.” He indicated the Q-pod, which Shel had attached to his belt. “How long have you known about that?”
“A couple of days. To be honest, it’s hard to be sure. What day is this?”
“Monday.”
“Incredible. A few minutes ago it was Thursday.”
Michael’s eyes closed. “Look, Adrian, I know you’re probably upset.”
“Did you make this thing?”
“You were supposed to destroy it.”
“I’m glad I didn’t.”
“I’m sure you are.” Michael pressed his lips together. “Yes, I made it. Along with a colleague.”
“Why do you want it destroyed?”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
“Why’s that?”
“For a number of reasons.”
“Tell me about them. I don’t have a clue what’s going on.”
“I take it I haven’t turned up since the lunch?”
“No. You’ve been missing nine days.”
“Okay.”
“Where were you planning to go?”
He laughed. “You wouldn’t believe it.”
“At this point, I’m ready to believe anything .”
He smiled, casually, easily, like a man in charge of the world. “You know what the converters can do.”
“A converter. Is that what you call it?”
“Yes. But the name’s not important.”
“I guess not. So where did you go? Where are you going?”
“I’d always wanted to spend some time with Galileo.”
“Galileo.”
“Or maybe Cicero. Or Ben Franklin.” He managed a smile. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“You’ve had this thing—what?—three or four months? It’s part of that government project, right?”
“More or less.”
“How do you mean, ‘more or less’?”
“It was an accidental discovery. We were working on something else.”
“Okay. So now the government has time-travel capability.”
“No.”
“No? Why not?”
“It’s too dangerous to put in anybody’s hands. Let alone a government.”
“You keep saying it’s dangerous.”
“I don’t think we would be permitted to change the past. Though there are people who’d want to. Hell, I’d want to. You could save Lincoln. Kill Hitler. Things like that. But I’m not certain what the result would be.”
“I’m not sure I’m following.”
“We had reason to believe that the time stream has a lot of flexibility. You can go back and do things, and the continuum will adjust. As long as you don’t create a paradox. A loop. Something that can’t be absorbed.”
“What makes you say that?”
“The math suggests it. But we pushed it too far. We did an experiment.”
“I’m listening.”
“Adrian, my partner in the research was Ivy Klassen.”
“Was?”
“She’s dead.”
“What happened?”
“The experiment.”
“Explain.”
“What happens if someone goes back and rescues JFK? Prevents his going to Dallas?”
“I don’t know. We stay out of Vietnam?”
“I don’t know either. What we do know is that it didn’t happen. Look, Adrian, the standard theory is that if you go back and rescue Kennedy, you cause a split in the timeline. Another reality is created. That’s nonsense, of course, but if it happened, there’d be diverging timelines. The one we live in, and the one in which he survives.”
“And that’s what you wanted to test?”
“Yes.”
“What did you try to do? Post somebody at the Texas School Book Depository?”
“We did a different kind of test. We put a copy of a book into a briefcase.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because of the book. Anyhow, we closed the briefcase. Left it alone in Ivy’s office for fifteen minutes. Then we went in and opened it. The book was still there.”
“I would think so.”
“Then Ivy used the converter to go back five minutes, to a time before we looked in the briefcase. The intention was that she’d remove the book.”
“So it should
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