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stock up at bargain-basement prices.
 You d use your time machine to buy wine? Greighton s voice sounded
incredulous.
Rick forgot the pterosaurs and focused on the voices behind the curtain.
 I was just using wine as an example. Buying stock would be more worthwhile.
Eastman Kodak in the
1890s . . . Microsoft in the 1980s . . . Biofab in the 2020s . . .
 Have you done this? asked Greighton, sounding intrigued.
 If I had, you wouldn t be sitting here. I d own everything worth having in
your portfolio. I d be the billionaire and you . . . you couldn t even afford
the fare to this place.
 Why are you telling me this? asked Greighton in a cold voice.  Are you
threatening me?
 No, no, not at all. On the contrary, I have an offer for you.
Rick quietly moved to a less conspicuous position.
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 I ve proven that I have a working time machine, continued Green.  With such
a machine, history is a treasure map. There are no gambles, only sure bets.
 Go on, said Greighton, sounding interested.
 But there are some difficulties. With your help, they ll be easily overcome.
 What kind of difficulties?
 I m going to trust you with a secret, said Green in a conspiratorial tone.
 I didn t invent the time machine. I acquired it.
 From whom?
 A party from the future.
 Are you telling me that they simply gave you a time machine?
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 The acquisition was more in the nature of a hostile take-over.
 I see, said Greighton.
 I m not a man to miss an opportunity, replied Green.  I suspect you re not
either. Am I right?
 What kind of help are you looking for?
 Scientific expertise, the kind a big corporate research division has. The
best brains working in absolute secrecy.
 And why do you need that? You ve already got the machine.
 The  source of this machine kept secrets from me about its operation. There
are gaps in my knowledge that need to be filled before we can put our plans
into operation.
 So it s  our plans now, said Greighton in a cynical tone.  Maybe you should
tell me what  our plans
are.
 Simply put to change history in our favor.
 And the people from the future they ll stand by while we do this? Greighton
asked skeptically.
 They ll want to stop us, admitted Green.  But they have problems we don t.
First, they have to find us.
Then they have an even bigger problem. They can t just kick in doors, guns
blazing. If they did so, they d alter their own past. Altering their past
means changing their present. They are in a very delicate position.
If we act quickly and secretly . . .
 Wait, wait, interrupted Greighton.  You re proposing to alter our own past!
We re in the same boat they are. I happen to know where my great-great-great
grandmother found gold, but if I go back to the nineteenth century and jump
her claim, I ll return to my century to find the family fortune gone!
 you came back, that might be true. But if you stayed in her century, your
future would unfold from that
If point. You could kill the bitch if you wanted. You wouldn t suddenly
disappear. Her present would be your present.
 You re talking about a one-way trip to the past. Why would I want to do
that?
 Two reasons. First, it would be a preemptive strike against the future. The
people trying to recover the time machine would no longer exist. That brings
me to the second reason the real reason. They wouldn t exist because we ll
have completely changed the world. We ll have conquered it!
 Conquer the world? said Greighton in an almost mocking tone.  Come on, that
sounds crazy!
 You can object to my wording, but listen to my plan. We arrive in colonial
America in a fleet of time machines. We have modern medicine, weaponry, and
communications, we have a complete library of technology, we know where every
undiscovered natural resource is located, and, best of all, we own a map of
history. The people speak English, they re literate, and they re used to rule
by kings. They will flock to us!
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 What if they don t? There was an American Revolution after all.
 Smallpox . . . cholera . . . Ebola virus. We ll be vaccinated, they won t.
Who needs armies with that?
 It d look like the hand of God, said Greighton.
 It would the hand of God! We ll found a state that will overwhelm the
world!
be
 And what would I get for my help?
 The vineyards of France . . . the treasures of Italy . . . whatever you want.
I m not a greedy man. My gratitude would be generously shown.
 And if I refuse? said Greighton.
 I ll find someone else. He help me rewrite history. Then, one day, you and
your world will cease to exist.
 You don t seem to offer me a choice.
 Only opportunities, John. Only opportunities.
Rick had heard enough. Whether Greighton accepted Green s offer was ultimately
irrelevant, and to listen further increased his risk of getting caught. He had
an idea of how dangerous that might be.
Quickly, but cautiously, he sneaked away.
John Greighton left Green s quarters about a half an hour later. The sunset
had painted the sky a brilliant orange, but he was oblivious to it. In his
hand was the bottle of cognac, a parting gift. He removed its cut crystal
stopper. With an unsteady hand, he held the bottle to his lips and drank
deeply.
Peter Green remained in his quarters. He already regretted the gift of the
cognac. He would have enjoyed a celebratory drink at the moment. Reaching into
a pocket of his dinner jacket, he extracted a small pistol. It had not been
necessary. He placed the pistol under his pillow and prepared for bed.
14
RICK HEADED FOR
the sea, his mind in turmoil. On one hand, Green s scheme seemed unreal and
absurd a single man proposing to alter the destiny of humanity to satisfy his
greed. It was hard to comprehend such a pathological ambition, much less see
how it could come to pass. Still, the idea of standing on the shores of the
Interior Seaway had seemed equally absurd and unreal only a week ago.
Rick was no student of history, but he knew that all evil needed to flourish
was acquiescence. Green had a time machine, and with it, he could wreak havoc.
It was a fact Rick could not dare to ignore.
The sea glowed like molten metal against the darkening sky, but it did not
calm Rick. Its unceasing motion dredged up disturbing echoes of the journey
through time. An unquiet feeling that nothing was stable or permanent seized
Rick s imagination. His very existence seemed tenuous. He might dissolve in an [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]