One way to avoid time travel paradoxes is to put limits on time travel, e.g., if it is possible to travel only into the geological past, then it is impossible to change human history. But an ingenious author can find ways around his own limits.
For the limits in "Wildcat," see Answers.
In order to project a material body any distance into the past, it is necessary to energize it;
however, it must be energized so much that the minimal period for which it can be projected is just over one hundred million years;
on the other hand, inertial resistance is much lower when projecting futureward so that, in that case, hundred-year jumps become possible.
It seems to follow that someone from the twentieth century can visit the twenty first but not report back?
No. Make enough century-long jumps forward, then one long jump backward. Herries was right when, earlier in the story, he guessed that there would after all be some roundabout, energy-consuming route into the historical past. He thought that, by exploiting such a route, US Intelligence would test the theory of an immutable timeline by trying to prevent the Russian Revolution. Maybe they did try that but something else is going on. How will it be possible to receive a report from a century hence?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
An ingenious story by Anderson!
Ad astra! Sean
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