He had been told that the Eyrie would compensate, protect and resettle the family but has come to check. In fact, Doukas has been killed and Xenia is about to be raped. Havig faces four Eyrie men, Moriarty, Hans, Coenraad and Mendoza who holds a tommygun on him. Noting positions, he decides what to do. Would it be too late to decide after his older selves have appeared? Six Havigs appear.
Havig:
travels a few minutes back in time while sidestepping;
travels forward in time while drawing his pistol;
appears by Hans and kills him,
travels back in time while crossing the room;
kills Coenraad while Moriarty disappears;
travels forward in time while Mendoza fires at him;
sees Moriarty appear;
travels back and kills Moriarty on arrival;
time travels to avoid Mendoza;
seeing Mendoza disappear, travels pastward to catch his breath;
returning, scans the period of combat in detail but sees no Mendoza beyond a very early point;
infers that Mendoza has fled uptime;
urgently gets the surviving members of the household away from the house.
When Havig returns and sees no Mendoza beyond an early point, why can he not appear and kill Mendoza at that early point? The novel is set in an invariable reality but what keeps it invariable?
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