Nightmares & Geezenstacks by Fredric Brown

Author:Fredric Brown [Brown, Fredric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Short Story Collection
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

DARK INTERLUDE

(in collaboration with Mack Reynolds)

Sheriff Ben Rand’s eyes were grave. He said, “Okay, boy. You feel kind of jittery; that’s natural. Hut if your story’s straight, don’t worry. Don’t worry about nothing. Everything’ll be all right, boy.”

“It was three hours ago, Sheriff,” Allenby said. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get into town and that I had to wake you up. But Sis was hysterical awhile. I had to try and quiet her down, and then I had trouble starting the jalopy.”

“Don’t worry about waking me up, boy. Being sheriff’s a full-time job. And it ain’t late, anyway; I just happened to turn in early tonight. Now let me get a few things straight. You say your name’s Lou Allenby. That’s a good name in these parts, Allenby. You kin of Rance Allenby, used to run the feed business over in Cooperville? I went to school with Rance… Now about the fella who said he come from the future…”

The Presidor of the Historical Research Department was skeptical to the last. He argued, “1 am still of the opinion that the project is not feasible. There are paradoxes involved which present insurmountable—”

Doctr Matthe, the noted physicist, interrupted politely. “Undoubtedly, sir, you are familiar with the Dichotomy?”

The Presidor wasn’t, so he remained silent to indicate that he wanted an explanation.

“Zeno propounded the Dichotomy. He was a Greek philosopher of roughly five hundred years before the ancient prophet whose birth was used by the primitives to mark the beginning of their calendar. The Dichotomy states that it is impossible to cover any given distance. The argument: First, half the distance must be traversed, then half of the remaining distance, and so on. It follows that some portion of the distance to be covered always remains, and therefore motion is impossible.”

“Not analagous,” the Presidor objected. “In the first place, your Greek assumed that any totality composed of an infinite number of parts must, itself, be infinite, whereas we know that an infinite number of elements make up a finite total. Besides—”

Matthe smiled gently and held up a hand. “Please, sir, don’t misunderstand me. I do not deny that today we understand Zeno’s paradox. But believe me, for long centuries the best minds the human race could produce could not explain it.”

The Presidor said tactfully, “I fail to see your point, Doctr Matthe. Please forgive my inadequacy. What possible connection has this Dichotomy of Zeno’s with your projected expedition into the past?”

“I was merely drawing a parallel, sir. Zeno conceived the paradox proving that it was impossible to cover any distance, nor were the ancients able to explain it. But did that prevent them from covering distances? Obviously not. Today, my assistants and I have devised a method to send our young friend here, Jan Obreen, into the distant past. The paradox is immediately pointed out—suppose he should kill an ancestor or otherwise change history? I do not claim to be able to explain how this apparent paradox is overcome in time travel; all I know is that time travel is possible.

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