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certainly with more genuine reason. Slightly irritated, he seized the initiative. "Look, even I know there's a paradox involved here somewhere. The old thing about shooting your grandfather, isn't it? But if he died, you wouldn't exist yourself. Someone on the Council brought that up yesterday. We almost booted the whole idea out because of that."
    "A good point. I made the same error in a paperback in 1992. It turns out there are paradoxes and then, if you look at things the right way, paradoxes go away. I could explain, but it would take time."
    "Not now, if you don't mind. The whole point, as I understand it, is to send these telegrams and tell somebody back in the 1960s or so about our situation here."
    "Well, something like that. Warn them against chlorinated hydrocarbons, sketch in the effects on phytoplankton. Getting a lead on certain kinds of research could give us the edge we need now to–"

    "Tell me, do you think this experiment might be of any real help?"
    Renfrew stirred impatiently but said nothing. "Without being melodramatic," Markham said slowly, "I believe it would save millions of lives. Eventually."
    There was a moment's silence. Peterson recrossed his legs and picked an invisible piece of lint from his knee.
    "It's a question of priorities, you see," he said at last. "We have to take the large view. The Emergency Council has been in session since nine this morning. There has been another full-scale dieback in North Africa due to drought and lack of food reserves. You'll hear more about it in the news in due course, no doubt. Meanwhile, this and other emergencies have to take priority. North Africa's not the only trouble spot. There's a large diatom bloom off the South American coast, too. Thousands of people are dying in both places. You're asking us to put money into an isolated experiment that may or may not work–one man's theory, essentially–"
    Markham interrupted swiftly. "It's more than that. The tachyon theory is not new. There's a group at Caltech right now–the gravitational theory group–working on another angle of the same problem. They're trying to see how tachyons fit into the cosmological questions–you know, the expanding universe picture and all."
    Renfrew nodded again. "Yes, there was a paper in the Physical Review just recently, on huge density fluctuations."
    "They're having their problems in Los Angeles, too," Peterson said, considering. "Mainly the big fire, of course. If the wind changes, that could be disastrous. I don't know what effect these things have on the Caltech people. We can't afford to wait for years."
    Renfrew cleared his throat. "I thought funding of scientific experiments was to be given top priority." He sounded slightly petulant.
    Peterson's answer held a hint of condescension. "Ah, you're referring to the King's speech on television the other day. Yes, well, of course, he wants to look good in his Coronation year. So he's encouraging funding of scientific experiments–but of course, he knows nothing of science, he's not even a politician. Very well meaning fellow, of course. Our committee advised him to stick to uplifting generalities in future. With a touch of humor. He's good at that. Anyway, the basic fact is that money is short and we have to pick and choose carefully. All I can promise at this stage is that I will make a report to the Council. I'll let you know as soon as I can their decision about granting you emergency priority. Personally, I think it's a bit of a long shot. I don't know if we can afford to take chances."

    "We can't afford not to," Markham said with sudden energy. "Why keep on plugging the leaks here and there, sinking money into relief funds for drought and dieback? You can slap on patches but the dam's going to burst. Unless–"
    "Unless you tinker with the past? Are you sure tachyons can reach the past at all?"
    Renfrew said, "We've done it. Tried some table-top experiments. They work. It's in the report."
    "The tachyons are