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choice than actors in a movie. But if we have free will, and can alter our future, then from the point of
view of the future we will have altered the past.'
'Deep stuff,' Kleiman said. 'Physics shading off into philosophy. But we really have to think about these
problems now, since we know that travel through time is possible. Which brings us to this other theory
about the nature of time, the multi-branching time of parallel possibilities. For instance, let us say that the
British killed George Washington as a traitor before he could win the Revolution. If that had happened,
the US today might still be a British colony. So perhaps there exists another universe where this did
happen, a world parallel to our own. There may be an infinity of such universes, each one brought about
by a probability in time, a choice, a selection made that launched a different possible world.'
'Some theory,' Troy said.
'Indeed it is,' Kleiman agreed. 'Which returns us to our starting point. If the theory of parallel probabilities
exists, then it doesn't matter to us what McCulloch did back in the past. It can't affect us. If he
accomplished nothing, then our world remains the way it is. If he got away with his fiendish plans, then he
started another branch in time and we are still not affected. But if time can be changed for us and it
hasn't changed, why then, his plans have failed.'
'You have forgotten another possibility,' Troy said. 'Perhaps his plans failed because someone stopped
him. Someone from the present time who knew what he was up to, who went back and prevented him
from carrying those plans through.'
'An interesting speculation,' Roxanne agreed, 'but one which we will never be able to answer. It's another
time paradox. Either the colonel failed because he was doomed to fail, therefore there is no need for
someone to stop him. Or he was stopped by someone from the present, but since we know he has been
stopped there is no reason to stop him. What's done is done, and it is certainly not our problem.'
'I still think that it is,' Troy said grimly. 'The colonel, I can't forget him. Nor can I forget what he has
done and what he might do. Whatever you say, I still feel that he has to be stopped.'
'If he could be stopped, fine, but how can that be done?' Kleiman asked. 'I think you will find that is not
an easy question to answer. He has escaped justice here by fleeing through time. Perhaps the best thing
for all of us to do is just to forget him. We can do that if we concentrate on the fact that as far as this
world is concerned he has long since been dead and buried in the past.'
'That's all right for us here, today,' Troy agreed. 'But what about the people whose lives he might affect?
We know that he is there, in the past, with some murderous plan. Isn't there a way that he could be
apprehended?'
'I doubt it,' Kleiman said. 'What do we do? Send a message back through time to the police? Warn them
to be on the lookout for one Wesley McCulloch wanted for murder in the next century?'
'No, that's impossible, I realize that. But you have the time machine. There must be some way it can be
utilized to stop him. If only there were some way to send a posse after him, to bring him in. It wouldn't
even need a posse. One man could do it. One determined man. McCulloch wouldn't be expecting it, not
to be tracked down through time.'
'Agreed. But what you are talking about is too much to ask any man to do. To leave the world where he
has been born, to go back in time to the past, to a more dangerous existence. And to know that this was
forever, a one-way trip. No, Troy, forget it. The colonel's gone and good riddance I say.'
'Yes, I know that he's gone from here but I can't forget that he is still causing trouble somewhere, or
somewhen, else.'
'But we have analysed that situation in great detail,' Kleiman said. 'There are no options open, no way
that it can be done. I think you will find that you have posed a question that is impossible to answer. He
has escaped justice in the present by fleeing through time. The best thing that you can do now is just to
forget him. As far as the world is concerned he is dead and buried in the past.'
'No,' Troy said. 'I won't forget him.'
He said it firmly, without emotion. He had reached a decision, something he knew that he had been
thinking about for days now at a subconscious level. The realization had finally surfaced, and with it the
knowledge that the decision had already been made.
'McCulloch is not going to escape. Because I'm going after him.'
Chapter 19
Silence greeted Troy's words. Kleiman started to say something, then changed his mind. It was Roxanne
Delcourt who finally spoke.
'That's quite a decision to make. Have you thought it through clearly?'
'No, not really. It's more of an emotional decision than a logical one. I've been on this case since the
beginning. I've met the colonel, just once, and I didn't like him, not at all. Since then I've seen what he has
done and I'm certain that he plans worse. I have grown to loathe the man. He must be stopped. And
right now, from where I stand, it looks like I'm the only one who can do it.'
'But it's irreversible,' Kleiman said. 'You can go but you can't come back.'
Troy nodded slowly. 'I know that. But I'm not going that far. It will still be the US of A. Only it will be a
few years ago. And it will certainly be a new kind of experience! Added to this is the unarguable fact that
there really isn't that much here that I am going to miss. Maybe I'm being too morbid or depressed, but,
personally, things haven't been quite the same since my wife died. Going on two years now. She had
been ill a long time. It wasn't very nice for her. And it hit me hard. I was ready for a section eight there
for a while. But the work has helped, keeps my mind off how I feel. Helps me sleep when I'm tired.
Helps with the depression. I felt suicidal for a while, but basically I'm not the suicide type. Sorry. I don't
know why I'm telling you this.'
'Because we're your friends,' Roxanne said.
'Yes, I suppose you're right. It's not easy to make friends in the military, you move around a lot,
particularly in the kind of work I'm involved in. With Lily, I suppose I didn't need any other friends. I
have no family to speak of. I might as well follow the colonel.' He had been staring down at his clasped
hands while he talked; now he looked up and smiled. 'It's no big deal. But I'm going to do it.'
'You can't!' Kleiman exploded. 'Look at what you're leaving behind. The technology, the advances in
science, the things that are happening in research& '
'Bob. None of that means anything to me. I don't live your kind of life. The kind of work I do I can do
just as well in eighteen fifty-eight or nineteen fifty-eight. And what I really want to do is nail that
son-of-a-bitch. Are you going to help me?'
'No! It's suicide. I won't be a part of it!' His anger slowly wilted before Troy's calm gaze; he lowered his
eyes. 'All right. You talked me into it. But I still don't like it.' He smiled suddenly and clapped his hands
together. 'But, by God, what an experiment into the nature of time! What we can learn! I'll do it, but you
have to promise to help. We must think of a way for you to send a message to us. What do you think,
Roxanne?'
'I think that we should help Troy, if he feels that this is what he must do. Out of gratitude, if nothing else, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]