George O. Smith

“ Peter looked at Joan weakly. "It's fratricide to kill a brother, patricide to kill a father, homicide to kill just anybody, infanticide to kill your son, but what is it to kill a grandson?"
Joan looked Hedgerly up and down and her lip curled in derision. "Insecticide," she snapped. "Ignore him. Maybe he'll go away. But Peter, what does this gravitic effect mean?" ”

“ Hedgerly smiled tolerantly. "The discoverer of the Hedgerly Effect does not become involved with space travel," he pointed out with a knowing air. "He does become the layer of the cornerstone for Time Travel, which we believe is as important."
Peter looked glumly at Joan. "Methinks of suicide," he groaned. "I invent Time Travel and for the next million years my invention becomes the curse of mankind. Pandora's Box never let out any trouble-scorpion as bad as people like my temporally-gadding grandson!" ”

“ The man to kiss the bride is her new husband and none other. You are a discerning man, sir. I don't know—"
"Hedgerly. A not-too-distant relative of Peter Hedgerly."
"Then you know the names of all of them?"
"Known then for years."
"Fine. Then you can help me with their names. Mind?"
"Not at all," smiled Hedgerly. "They are Peter Hedgerly, Marie Baker, Anthony Graydon, and Joan Willson." ”

“ Peter smiled. "Hedgerly is supposed to be my grandson," he said. "I'm to marry Marie. We are to celebrate a golden wedding. Fine and dandy. Now look: The one weak point in Hedgerly's wild story is the question of why he came back?"
"Because it is so written," suggested Joan.
"Fine," grinned Peter. "Now leaving all personalities out of this for the moment, Marie, if you were introduced to me at a party, would you be interested in me?"
"Perhaps," she said. "On the other hand, Peter, you're not a spectacular chap. One must really know you before one can see what makes you tick. ”

“ Hedgerly looked at them and smiled genially. "Have fun?" he asked. His tone was that of an indulgent father.
Peter looked vague. "We've been sitting and talking."
"No better way of becoming acquainted," smiled Hedgerly. He leaned back over the divan. "Let's go out and leave them alone," he said in a low, quiet voice.
Tony shook his head. "I live in strict bachelor quarters," he said. "And Joan couldn't have a visitor at this time of night. And I'll not go out and sit on a park bench so that some bird can make time in a comfortable living room with my fiancee." ”

“ Hedgerly leaned over the back of the divan in Peter's living room and looked from Joan to Tony, one on each side of him. "What's so wrong with it?" he asked. "People have been happy in prearranged marriages for centuries. Sometimes the participants never meet until they are introduced by the minister."
Tony looked up sourly. "Hedgerly," he said, "you may have traveled back into time. But mister, you didn't come THAT far back!"
Hedgerly shook his head impatiently. "I fail to see why people rant against their fate. It is written that Peter and Marie get married. ”

“ Peter looked up quietly. "I've evidence to the contrary," he said. "We believe that the neutron does possess a charge: that it is theoretically impossible for anything to exist without some charge, though the charge may be exceedingly minute. We believe the neutron to be possessed of a charge of plus or minus—depending upon the moment of intrinsic angular momentum—ten to the minus fifteenth electrostatic units less than that of the electron. Therefore—"
"You will find that the experimental evidence you get is impure," said Hedgerly. ”

“ Hedgerly arose carefully. "I am Joseph Hedgerly, your grandson."
Joan looked at Peter and laughed heartily. "Peter Faust Hedgerly. Having a thirty-odd year grandson is quite a record for such as you," she told him. "You will only be thirty-two next birthday." ”

“ I'm not inclined to take to being hurled at any man's head. I might add 'either.' But if this Book of Acts is the complete thing it seems to be, we'll find it out soon enough. But," she said leaning back against the divan, "I won't marry any man I do not love. And I happen to love Tony."
Peter nodded. "I happen to love Joan Willson," he said. "Until I change, we'll let it continue that way."
"O.K.," chuckled Marie Baker. "Gin Rummy!"
"Right," said Peter reaching for a deck of cards.
Graydon looked at Hedgerly across the top of his glass. ”

“ Of course, since gravitic fields do act upon mass without charge, we can now filter out, accelerate, and focus the neutron—or we will be able to as soon as we get this effect refined. And if we can generate gravitic fields at will, we can nullify the gravitic mass or gravitic attraction of masses. ”

“ Hedgerly went to his hotel and called a private airport. "I want two planes ready to be hired for a quick trip to Yuma," he said. There was answer. "No, I'm not hiring both. I'm just telling you that there will be another party inquiring. You'll see that they're satisfied. Let me know when they do. I'm going in the second plane."
Then, because he knew he'd be up most of the night and early morning, Hedgerly went to bed.
Back in Peter's living room, there was not a quiet discussion. It was an armed rally.
"I'll speak plainly if I can," said Peter, striding up and down. ”

“ Then, inside of the shielding, she saw the generator.
"This made that terrible racket?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I'd hate to be inside here when it's running," she said nervously.
"Me, too," he grinned. "But I daresay the radiation would kill you long before the noise did."
"Oh!" she gasped, getting the implication of the dangers of nuclear physics in one gulp.
"This," he said, "is brand new. In the center is a small, thin-walled brass container filled with radon gas, and suspending a cloud of finely divided beryllium. This produces neutrons. ”

“ Hedgerly ... did win a nine-horse parlay, didn't he?"
"Yeah."
"He is here."
"Indubitably—and damnably!"
"Well," concluded Marie, "it is distasteful, but it seems ordained. And when—like going to the dentist—you're faced with something distasteful, there's little point in fuming over it. Do it—and forget it!"
Joan jumped to her feet. Then she sat down dejected. "Beating my head against the wall," she said. "All right. I give up."
Peter thought for a moment. "Look," he said brightly, "sometimes people must take chances. Sometimes people gotta ride close to the edge in order to gain safety. ”

“ Marie Baker will be at your apartment this evening."
"I'll scratch her bald-headed," threatened Joan.
Hedgerly shook his head. "No, you won't," he said positively. Then he looked down at Peter and his eyes ran over the experimental setup. "It won't work," he said to Peter. "You're on the wrong track. It is impossible to accelerate and focus and direct the neutron. The neutron, possessing no charge, is therefore unaffected by either magnetic or electrostatic fields." ”

“ The reason that the limiting velocity is the speed of light is due to the fact that the mass approaches infinity as the speed of light is reached. That means that no possible energetic principle can be used to attain the speed of light since this increase of mass is a statement of the mass-energy put into the article accelerated. ”

“ It had for its moving-member a magnetic field that varied on a pure sine wave of intensity from a terrific flux-density in one direction, through zero, and thence to an equally terrific flux-density in the opposite polarity. At one newspaper interview as the machine was being built some reporter had erroneously noted that the magnetic field strength at maximum was strong enough to affect the iron in your blood. ”

“ Even Peter Hedgerly found it oppressing after an hour or two, and he of all men should have been used to it.
He removed his eye from the observing telescope and blinked to relieve the strain. He looked up at Joan, nodded affably, and his right hand snapped the main switch.
The terrible humming roar died. "Hello," he said brightly. "What brings you here?"
Joan Willson laughed sourly. She handed Peter a newspaper. Peter bent his head to read:
Personal! ”