Randall Garrett

“ No difference. For the Galactics had decided not to interfere. They had decided to let the race of Earth go on as it was—exactly as it had gone before. It made no difference, really. No difference at all. A perfect duplication of an original was the original, in every meaningful way.
"Funny," said the pilot abruptly, "I'm not getting any signal from New York."
Karnes took a deep breath and bit at his lower lip. But he did not look toward the horror that was New York. The city was gone, but the world was there—solid and real! ”

“ Lansberg shrugged. "It will get hot just as soon as the Eurasian League figures they are far enough along in spacecraft construction to get the Martian colonies if they win. Then they'll try to smash us before we can retaliate; then, and not before.
"We can't start it. Our only hope is that when they start, they'll underestimate us. Say, what's that you're fooling with?"
The sudden change of subject startled Karnes for an instant. He looked at the mind impressor in his hands. ”

“ How could a man tell the difference if all the reality of Earth turned out to be a cosmic hoax? Suppose it turned out that this was just a stage set for students of history?
When the sharp snap of a pistol shot came from the half-finished building, Karnes wasn't anywhere near the sandpile that received the slug. ”

“ Karnes looked absently at the thin line of smoke wiggling from Lansberg's cigarette.
"You know," he said, "there are times when I wish this war would come right out in the open. Actually, we've been fighting the League for years, but we don't admit it. There have been little disagreements and incidents until the devil won't have it. ”

“ Having made sure that Brittain actually had entered 523, he stepped back toward the elevator in order to notify Lansberg.
A sudden voice said: "You lookin' for-a somebody, meester?"
Karnes turned. An elderly man with a heavy mustache and a heavy body stood partway up the stairs, clad in slacks and shirt.
"Who are you?" frowned Karnes.
"I'm Amati, the supratendent. Why?" The scowl was heavy.
Karnes couldn't take any chances. The man might be perfectly okay, but—
Lansberg's steps sounded, coming up the stairs. ”

“ Upon the occasion of the opening of the Shrine, the replica of our early civilization will be begun as it was on (January 3, 1953) . The population, having been impregnated with the proper memories, will be permitted to go about their lives unhampered.
Karnes stopped again and reread the paragraph he had just written. It sounded different when it was on paper. The dates, for instance, he had put in parentheses because that was the way he had understood them. But he knew that whoever had made the mind-impressor didn't use the same calendar he was used to. ”

“ Lansberg asked.
"Not a thing." Karnes lapsed into silence. He didn't feel it necessary to mention the mind impressor just yet.
Lansberg stuck a cigarette into his mouth and talked around it as he lit it.
"We've got something you'll be getting in on, now that Avery is taken care of. We've got a fellow named Brittain, real name Bretinov, who is holed up in a little apartment in Brooklyn. He's the sector head for that section, and we know who his informers are, and who he gives orders to. What we don't know is who gives orders to him. ”

“ The League was jealous of the UN lead in space travel, for one thing, and they had neither the money nor the know-how to catch up. The UN might have given them help, but, as the French delegate had remarked: "For what reason should we arm a potential enemy?"
After all, they argued, with the threat of the UN's Moonbase hanging over the League to keep them peaceful, why should we give them spaceships so they can destroy Moonbase? ”

“ The stuff is so alien! Just a series of things I know, but can't explain. Like a dream; you know all about it, but it's practically impossible to explain it to anybody else.
At the spaceport, he was met by an official car. George Lansberg, one of the New York agents, was sitting in the back seat.
"Hi, sleuth. I heard you were coming in, so I asked to meet you." He lowered his voice as Karnes got in and the car pulled away from the parking lot. "How about our boy, Avery?"
Karnes shook his head. "Too late. Thirty million bucks worth of material lost and Avery lost too." ”

“ The pilot could hear him through the intercom system. The airlock door slid shut again.
"You and the stewardess get into a seat," the spy continued sharply. "If you try anything funny, I start shooting the other passengers if I can't hit you."
Karnes saw then what hold Brittain had on the pilot. The rocketeer couldn't afford to risk the lives of his passengers.
He and the stewardess slid into the acceleration seats and strapped themselves in. Brittain stepped down the tiered floor and took a rear seat near a frightened-looking blonde girl. ”

“ Karnes, we've found that civilian's 'copter! It's at Long Island Spaceport! Just a second, the stuff's still coming in." Pause. "Get this: A man answering to Brittain's description bought a ticket for the West Coast rocket.
"As you know, that's UN territory, and we have no jurisdiction. The rocket is sealed for takeoff, but they're holding it for us until you get there!"
"Right! I'm headed there now!" he answered quickly.
It was twelve minutes later that the police 'copter settled just outside the rocket enclosure. Karnes had already notified the pilot to be ready for him. ”

“ Karnes," said the man at the transceiver, "but we've already let one man get away."
Karnes nodded. "I know. Pure blind luck that his suit was almost the same shade as that gray uniform you guys wear, or he'd never have got away with it. All he needed was the jacket and cap."
"Have any idea which way he went?"
The cop shrugged. "He came up here and told us that three men had been shot down below and some more gassed. He said Mr. Lansberg had sent him for a hospital call. Then he jumped in a 'copter with Powers and headed northeast. We didn't pay much attention. ”

“ Because of the great energy transfer and cosmic danger involved in too frequent or unrestricted time travel, it has been decided that the best method for studying the social problems involved would be to rebuild, in toto, the ancient Earth as it was just after the initial discoveries of atomic power and interplanetary space travel. ”

“ The rocket was tilted at forty-five degrees for the takeoff, and the passenger's seats had swiveled with a section of the flooring to keep them level, which gave the effect of a stairway which climbed toward the pilot's cabin in the forward section of the ship. Brittain's position was at the top of the stairway.
Karnes raised his hands and kept them carefully away from his hip holster.
"All right," called Brittain, "Close that door and get this ship off the ground." ”

“ All right. So men can run into round gray things and vanish. Now use a little sense and look around.
There was something else in the room. Karnes knelt and looked at the little object that lay on the floor a few feet from where the gray globe had been. A cigarette case; one of those flat, coat-pocket jobs with a jet black enamel surface laid over tiny checked squares that would be absolutely useless for picking up fingerprints. ”

“ Whatsa goin' on, Lootenant Carnotti?"
"What about Apartment 523? Who lives there?" asked Karnes.
"Oh, them? Meester and Meeses Seigert. Artists. Sheesa paint pictures, heesa make statues." Then Amati's eyes widened knowingly. "Ohhh! You guys da Vice Squad, eh? I theenk theresa someteeng fonny about them!"
Footsteps sounded coming down the stairs from above.
"We watched the indicator needle on the elevator door in the lobby, and I signalled the 'copters on the roof," Lansberg whispered.
The hallway began to fill quietly with police. ”