Only on the basis of his theoretical work and predictions did Folkert Jensma and Koos van Laere the following year at the Christian Huygens Institute in the Hague prove the existence of so-called time solitons, which Thilawuntha had predicted. These disturbances traverse the flow of time in both directions, that is, they bring about with their passage momentary damming and acceleration in the temporal dimension. They thereby deform the structure of space-time, but are eo ipso not directly detectable by an observer situated within this strugture—that is, within our universe. Their existence can, however, be indirectly demonstrated, because their passage is accompanied by gravitational waves of various strength. 

 It seemed the original analytical engine, the mechanical computer designed and built by my friend and mentor, the great Charles Babbage in the 1830s, had a lethal configuration that could lock up an entire engine if it were ever presented with the right sequence of calculations. The article went on to describe how all the miniaturized analytical engines at the heart of the empire’s technology were just small versions of the original analytical engine. No one had ever changed the fundamental arrangement of cogs and gears and drive trains and clutches. They had just been made smaller and linked together in greater numbers, so here at the turn of the century, I could be driven in a cab by a man whose very thoughts were determined by the workings of beings of microscopic versions of Babbage’s original design, all operating in parallel. 

 “Don’t do it!” the first M’hall shouted to the other.
Somber M’hall startled at the sound of his own voice coming to him. “You’re from the future?” 

 There were eight good prospects back there, and I’d have had them all if this bitch hadn’t shown up. 

 They might see a vision of a dinosaur one time and on the second try get an image of a man who might be Julius Caesar getting ready for a bath, or Anne Boleyn getting her head chopped off. 

 Did you ever wish you could keep doing the same thing over and over again? 

 No, no you didn’t. Jack Starks did, and Jack Starks is dead. He’s dead. His body was found New Year’s Day, 1993, Alpine Grove. He’s dead. 

 You wouldn’t want to cause any of those nasty paradoxes, would you? 

 I'm from the Future, Says Bobble-Headed Boy. 

 The stupid git was trying to wipe out all of humanity, though he was too stupid to realize it. 

 Brad: I hate to sound like Michael J. Fox, but I’m from the future.
Terry: Who’s Michael J. Fox? 

 What? The British Empire started coming apart in the 1920s? 

 For the first time she is a little scared. She wishes that she were in her room, not in this space car with the stars glowing and exploding like the stars in Mr. Gogh’s painting. 

 No breakfast after eleven. 

 They said they were not faeries, but men, “even as yourselne,” from the far distant future, and they were journeying in time! They were most astonished to hear this was the year of our Lord 1849, for they had believed themselves in 1343 and were in great fear of being burned as witches. 

 “We’ve done it,” he said. “Three times with a mouse and five times with a monkey. The university has approved my request for a manned test run. We’re going into the future! 

 The heart of the Predictor is a circuit with a negative time delay—it sends a signal back in time. 

 Ever wonder how three kids from Brooklyn got their hands on a time-traveling book? 

 Alice’s was not the first birth I witnessed, nor even the most unusual. The first time I saw Alice’s birth, I bypassed the event, skimming ahead to the advent of the automobile. Gears fascinated me more. But on reflection, something drew me back to Alice in the garden, newborn on the rain-wet grass. The world seemed to move beneath her. 

 I used to think that, more than any man, I understood the consequences of what those ships were supposed to bring back. 

 Apparently I inherited Mama’s looks and Papa’s brains. Again and again in my life I’ve gotten the best of a bad bargain. 

 So you figured that if you kept Franklin’s biological mother and father from meeting, he would never have been born, your parents’ marriage would have remained happy, and your life would have remained wonderful. 

 Everything ends eventually. But after all is said and done, it’s waht we do in the meantime that matters, isn’t it? 

 A butterfly caused all this? 

 So when I unearthed the device from under a seriously disturbing collection of polyester sweaters, I knew it was something to treasure. I just didn’t know what. 

1. A. Diving into the Wreck (Dec 2005) Asimov’s
2. B. Room of Lost Souls (Apr/May 2008) Asimov’s
3. The Spires of Denon (Apr/May 2009) Asimov’s
4. Diving into the Wreck (Nov 2009) includes parts of A and B
5. Becoming One with the Ghosts (Oct/Nov 2010) Asimov’s
6. Becalmed (Apr/May 2011) Asimov’s
7. City of Ruins (May 2011)
8. Stealth (Oct/Nov 2011) Asimov’s
9. The Spires of Denon (Apr/May 2009) Asimov’s
10. Boneyards (Jan 2012)
11. Skirmishes (Apr 2013)
12. Strangers at the Room of Lost Souls (May 2013) Asimov’s
13. The Application of Hope (Aug 2013) Asimov’s
14. Encounter on Starbase Kappa (Oct/Nov 2013) Asimov’s
15. The Runabout (May/Jun 2017) Asimov’s

 Later, he learned that the anacapa malfunctioned, buringing him and his crew five thousand years into their future. 

 Past: Charles Dickens was a former target of ours who chose to write a book about his experiences even though we explicitly told him not to.
Jack: But it was a great book—
Past: It was crap, like everything he did! Did you ever read A Tale of Two Cities? ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst . . .’ Make up your mind, Mr. Dickens!