Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition) (36 page)
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Authors: James Gunn
BOOK: Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition)
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Harlan feels that he is being tricked but cannot think of anything he can do. After Cooper has been told everything he recounted in his memoirs that he was told, Harlan is given the countdown and pulls the switch. But when Twissell comes in to congratulate him, Harlan says that the plan did not work. He used the energy cell of the neuronic whip to melt the locking mechanism on the time-gauge, moved it down blindly, and brought it back blindly when the time-thrust was over. Cooper is lost in the Primitive Era. Harlan waits for Eternity to blink out of existence.
Twissell says that they still can restore Eternity as long as they can undo the damage, by going back, for instance, to find Cooper and restore him to the right spot in Time. They must discover when that spot was, through research in Harlan's Primitive history materials, where Cooper might have left a message. An advertisement in the news magazine that Cooper knows Harlan possesses would be a good possibility, Harlan suggests.
Harlan finally discovers the message but will not tell Twissell what it is until he recovers Nos. Twissell does not know about the barrier at the 100,000th but thinks it is impossible. When they go to find Nos, no barrier stops them. En route Twissell speculates about the possibility that Reality Changes might conceal a fear among Eternals of meeting supermen and that the Hidden Centuries might hide such people. Harlan shows him Cooper's message: an advertisement for a market newsletter in front of a drawing of a mushroom cloud. The drawing would mean nothing to 1932. To reinforce the message, the newsletter is called:
All the
Talk
Of the
Market
The first letters vertically spell "ATOM." Harlan insists that Nos accompany him in the kettle to 1932 (or 19.32, as the Eternals think of it). In a cave there he confronts her with the accusation that she is from the Hidden Centuries. Perhaps she is one of the supermen that Twissell was talking about. Harlan believes that he has been manipulated from his first meeting with Nos. He believes that she whispered to him, just before they made love, the clues that led him to suspect Twissell's plans
for Cooper. He suspects that the barrier at the 100,000th had been set up by Nos and her confederates to lead him into the acts of rebellion that resulted in Cooper's being cast away in Time. He threatens to kill her with a blaster, then to take Cooper back to his correct destination and save Eternity.
for Cooper. He suspects that the barrier at the 100,000th had been set up by Nos and her confederates to lead him into the acts of rebellion that resulted in Cooper's being cast away in Time. He threatens to kill her with a blaster, then to take Cooper back to his correct destination and save Eternity.
Nos admits she is from the Hidden Centuries. People there had learned of Eternity's existence before it reached them, even before it had reached the 10,000th. The Hidden Centuries had time travel, but it was based on a different set of postulates. They viewed rather than shifted masses and were able to perceive alternate Realities. They discovered that they were in a Reality of low probability, and traced their way down to Eternity and up to the 125,000th, where humanity at last had discovered the secret of the interstellar drive and the Jump through hyperspace. But humanity found the Galaxy occupied by other intelligent races. Humanity returned to Earth and died out.
Nos says that Eternity must be destroyed. It has persistently eliminated spaceflight from humanity's Realities. The Hidden Centuries have discovered what they call the Basic State. In this Reality, humanity discovers spaceflight early, goes out to the stars, and builds a human Galactic Empire (one might call this
The Foundation Trilogy
Reality). If Eternity had not been established, Nos says, the energies that went into temporal engineering would have gone into nucleonics, the interstellar drive would have been invented, and humanity would have reached the stars more than a hundred thousand centuries earlier. At that time the stars would have been untenanted, and mankind would have established itself throughout the Galaxy.
The Foundation Trilogy
Reality). If Eternity had not been established, Nos says, the energies that went into temporal engineering would have gone into nucleonics, the interstellar drive would have been invented, and humanity would have reached the stars more than a hundred thousand centuries earlier. At that time the stars would have been untenanted, and mankind would have established itself throughout the Galaxy.
"Any system like Eternity," Nos says, "which allows men to choose their own future will end by choosing safety and mediocrity, and in such a Reality the stars are out of reach." Nos wants to send a letter to an Italian scientist (Enrico Fermi?) so that the first nuclear explosion will take place in 1945, not in the 30th century. There is a chance that Earth will end up with a radioactive crust (the
Pebble in the Sky
Reality), but before that happens a Galactic Empire can be achieved, an actual intensification of the Basic State. Nos says, ''Cooper will disappear along with his advertisement; Eternity will go and the Reality of my Century, but we will remain to have children and grandchildren, and mankind will remain to reach the stars."
Pebble in the Sky
Reality), but before that happens a Galactic Empire can be achieved, an actual intensification of the Basic State. Nos says, ''Cooper will disappear along with his advertisement; Eternity will go and the Reality of my Century, but we will remain to have children and grandchildren, and mankind will remain to reach the stars."
Before Harlan himself knows whether he will carry out his threat to kill Nos and rescue Cooper or do as Nos asks, the kettle disappears, signaling the final end of Eternity . . . "and the beginning of Infinity."
The plot, thus outlined, is reasonably straightforward. Its time se
quence has been realigned into linear form here, but as written, the novel is told in various kinds of flashbacks. A pattern of confusion about time results that is appropriate to the theme of the novel and even pleasing, though this may not be why Asimov chose to narrate the novel in that fashion. Contemporary literary critics using theories of structuralism and semiotics, who find themselves concerned about time, among other matters, might find interesting the varieties of time that exist within this novel, which deals with time, discusses time, swears by time ("Time!" and "Father Time!"), and was inspired by
Time.
quence has been realigned into linear form here, but as written, the novel is told in various kinds of flashbacks. A pattern of confusion about time results that is appropriate to the theme of the novel and even pleasing, though this may not be why Asimov chose to narrate the novel in that fashion. Contemporary literary critics using theories of structuralism and semiotics, who find themselves concerned about time, among other matters, might find interesting the varieties of time that exist within this novel, which deals with time, discusses time, swears by time ("Time!" and "Father Time!"), and was inspired by
Time.
The End of Eternity
deals with all sorts of time, from the time involved in the procession of the Centuries within Eternity (which is traveled spatially by kettle, although the kettles never move), the time that passes for the Eternals (physiotime), the times of entry into Time, the sequence of events within Time (our temporally bound definition), and the artifacts of Time that never was (that Eternity has altered out of Reality) that still are preserved within Eternity (such as the matter duplicator, the neuronic whip, and the dozens of variations of the works of a writer named Eric Linkollew). One person's time is not another person's time, of course, unless they may accidentally come together for a brief period, but each can describe it to others.
deals with all sorts of time, from the time involved in the procession of the Centuries within Eternity (which is traveled spatially by kettle, although the kettles never move), the time that passes for the Eternals (physiotime), the times of entry into Time, the sequence of events within Time (our temporally bound definition), and the artifacts of Time that never was (that Eternity has altered out of Reality) that still are preserved within Eternity (such as the matter duplicator, the neuronic whip, and the dozens of variations of the works of a writer named Eric Linkollew). One person's time is not another person's time, of course, unless they may accidentally come together for a brief period, but each can describe it to others.
In the following outline, subdivided by chapters, the kinds of time within the narrative are identified in brackets by character initials and a sequence number. A minus ( - ) before the initial or number means that this sequence has been eliminated in at least one Reality.
Chapter 1.
Harlan goes upwhen from the 575th to the 2456th to blackmail Sociologist Kantor Voy into calculating Nos's Life-Plot [H 19]. While there, he looks some twenty-five Centuries into the future to the time of electro-gravity space travel [ - 2481st 1].
Harlan goes upwhen from the 575th to the 2456th to blackmail Sociologist Kantor Voy into calculating Nos's Life-Plot [H 19]. While there, he looks some twenty-five Centuries into the future to the time of electro-gravity space travel [ - 2481st 1].
Chapter 2.
Harlan, standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th [H 20], recalls his experience as a Cub, after having spent fifteen years in Time (the 95th): his graduation, his four plus years as Observer and assignment to Finge at the 482nd, and the invitation from Twissell to be his personal Technician [H 2].
Harlan, standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th [H 20], recalls his experience as a Cub, after having spent fifteen years in Time (the 95th): his graduation, his four plus years as Observer and assignment to Finge at the 482nd, and the invitation from Twissell to be his personal Technician [H 2].
Chapter 3.
Harlan, still standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th [H 21] and still recalling his earlier experience, recalls his meeting with Cooper and a year or so of experience as Twissell's Technician in the 575th [H 3]. He remembers Cooper telling him what he was as a Timer in the 78th [C 1]. One alteration of Reality for Twissell in the 223rd [223rd 1] resulted in the elimination of a war in the 224th [ -224th 1]. Then Harlan dreams of his mother [H 1].
Harlan, still standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th [H 21] and still recalling his earlier experience, recalls his meeting with Cooper and a year or so of experience as Twissell's Technician in the 575th [H 3]. He remembers Cooper telling him what he was as a Timer in the 78th [C 1]. One alteration of Reality for Twissell in the 223rd [223rd 1] resulted in the elimination of a war in the 224th [ -224th 1]. Then Harlan dreams of his mother [H 1].
Chapter 4.
Harlan, still standing at the gateway of Time in the 2456th
[H 22] and still recalling his earlier experience, recalls his temporary assignment to Finge at the 482nd [H 4]. Finge is from an energy-centered culture in the 600s [F 1]. Harlan meets Nos [N 3] and is assigned an Observer task in the 482nd where he is to live in Nos's house [H 5].
Harlan, still standing at the gateway of Time in the 2456th
[H 22] and still recalling his earlier experience, recalls his temporary assignment to Finge at the 482nd [H 4]. Finge is from an energy-centered culture in the 600s [F 1]. Harlan meets Nos [N 3] and is assigned an Observer task in the 482nd where he is to live in Nos's house [H 5].
Chapter 5.
Harlan, still standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th [H 23] and still recalling his earlier experience, recalls his first sexual experience with Nos. She mentions a discrepancy in time in which she went into Eternity [N 2] and came out [N 4]. She has lost three months of Time but not three months of physiotime [H 6].
Harlan, still standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th [H 23] and still recalling his earlier experience, recalls his first sexual experience with Nos. She mentions a discrepancy in time in which she went into Eternity [N 2] and came out [N 4]. She has lost three months of Time but not three months of physiotime [H 6].
Chapter 6.
Harlan, still standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th, recalls that a month has passed since the night he made love to Nos [H 6]. Now he enters the 2456th from Eternity, moves a small container, and returns [H 24]. Sociologist Voy is studying the 2481st, where a rusty spaceship sits at a deserted spaceport [2481st 1]. During his talk with the Life-Plotter, Harlan thinks of Nos and the morning after their lovemaking [H 7]. Then the Life-Plotter tells him that Nos does not exist in the new Reality planned for the 482nd [H 25].
Harlan, still standing at the gateway to Time in the 2456th, recalls that a month has passed since the night he made love to Nos [H 6]. Now he enters the 2456th from Eternity, moves a small container, and returns [H 24]. Sociologist Voy is studying the 2481st, where a rusty spaceship sits at a deserted spaceport [2481st 1]. During his talk with the Life-Plotter, Harlan thinks of Nos and the morning after their lovemaking [H 7]. Then the Life-Plotter tells him that Nos does not exist in the new Reality planned for the 482nd [H 25].
Chapter 7.
Harlan leaves the 2456th [H 26] and recalls sending his report to Finge [H 8] on his observations in the 482nd and going back to his room [H 9]. There Finge contacts him by vision plate and then comes to see him in person [H 10].
Harlan leaves the 2456th [H 26] and recalls sending his report to Finge [H 8] on his observations in the 482nd and going back to his room [H 9]. There Finge contacts him by vision plate and then comes to see him in person [H 10].
Chapter 8.
Harlan goes back to the 482nd to take Nos up when to the 111,394th [H 11]. While there, Harlan remembers his early Cubhood when he learned that his Hometime and even his family might not exist as he remembered them [H 2]. Then he tells Nos about Reality [H 12].
Harlan goes back to the 482nd to take Nos up when to the 111,394th [H 11]. While there, Harlan remembers his early Cubhood when he learned that his Hometime and even his family might not exist as he remembered them [H 2]. Then he tells Nos about Reality [H 12].
Chapter 9.
Harlan moves his effects from the 482nd to the 575th where he picks up his duties with Cooper and Twissell. He shuttles back and forth to spend time with Nos in the 111,394th [H 13]. He goes back to Nos's house in the 482nd to pick up some books [H 14] and recalls [H 16] having been there before [H 15] to get some clothing and feeling that someone else was in the house, hearing a loud noise, and feeling that a door had closed behind him. Now [H 16] he hears someone laugh and drops his knapsack.
Harlan moves his effects from the 482nd to the 575th where he picks up his duties with Cooper and Twissell. He shuttles back and forth to spend time with Nos in the 111,394th [H 13]. He goes back to Nos's house in the 482nd to pick up some books [H 14] and recalls [H 16] having been there before [H 15] to get some clothing and feeling that someone else was in the house, hearing a loud noise, and feeling that a door had closed behind him. Now [H 16] he hears someone laugh and drops his knapsack.
Chapter 10.
Harlan opens a door, sees a man's back and the man starting to turn. As Harlan closes the door, he realizes that the man is himself. He had accidentally misadjusted the controls into the 482nd [H 14] to almost the previous time [H 15] . (This experience then can be identified as just after H 11 in the 482nd, but in Harlan's physiotime as H 14, H 15, and H 16; or, since H 15 and H 16 are identical times, they could be identified as H 15 and H 15.) Harlan returns to Eternity and
studies scheduled Reality Changes until he comes up with the faulty one planned for the 2456th [H 17]. Twissell tells him by vision plate that the Reality Change in the 482nd was entirely successful and that he will see Harlan tomorrow in the Computing Room [H 18]. Harlan goes to the 2456th [H 19] to have Nos's existence Life-Plotted [H 20-26]. He goes racing upwhen to tell Nos and slams into the barrier at the 100,100th [H 27]. He returns, with the neuronic whip, to confront Finge.
Harlan opens a door, sees a man's back and the man starting to turn. As Harlan closes the door, he realizes that the man is himself. He had accidentally misadjusted the controls into the 482nd [H 14] to almost the previous time [H 15] . (This experience then can be identified as just after H 11 in the 482nd, but in Harlan's physiotime as H 14, H 15, and H 16; or, since H 15 and H 16 are identical times, they could be identified as H 15 and H 15.) Harlan returns to Eternity and
studies scheduled Reality Changes until he comes up with the faulty one planned for the 2456th [H 17]. Twissell tells him by vision plate that the Reality Change in the 482nd was entirely successful and that he will see Harlan tomorrow in the Computing Room [H 18]. Harlan goes to the 2456th [H 19] to have Nos's existence Life-Plotted [H 20-26]. He goes racing upwhen to tell Nos and slams into the barrier at the 100,100th [H 27]. He returns, with the neuronic whip, to confront Finge.
Chapter 11.
Harlan returns to his quarters in the 575th, tries to see Twissell and fails, finally goes to sleep, and is awakened the next morning for lunch with the subcommittee of the Allwhen Council. Finally, he confronts Twissell with his conclusion that Cooper is returning to the 24th to teach the Lefebvre equations to Mallansohn. Twissell tells him that Cooper is Mallansohn [H 28].
Harlan returns to his quarters in the 575th, tries to see Twissell and fails, finally goes to sleep, and is awakened the next morning for lunch with the subcommittee of the Allwhen Council. Finally, he confronts Twissell with his conclusion that Cooper is returning to the 24th to teach the Lefebvre equations to Mallansohn. Twissell tells him that Cooper is Mallansohn [H 28].
Chapter 12.
Harlan expresses his concerns about Nos, and Twissell tries to reassure him [H 29]. Then Twissell tells Harlan about the memoir Mallansohn left behind [E (for Eternity) 1] and its description of how Cooper was inducted into Eternity [C 3], trained in mathematics by Twissell and in Primitive sociology by Harlan [H 3], and sent back to teach Mallansohn [C 4] but became Mallansohn and left the memoir [C 5, M 1]. Twissell tells Harlan how the memoir passed down through Eternity until it reached him when he became a Senior Computer [T 3]. He leads Harlan into the room with the enclosed kettle and then into the control room where Harlan finds himself locked in [H 30].
Harlan expresses his concerns about Nos, and Twissell tries to reassure him [H 29]. Then Twissell tells Harlan about the memoir Mallansohn left behind [E (for Eternity) 1] and its description of how Cooper was inducted into Eternity [C 3], trained in mathematics by Twissell and in Primitive sociology by Harlan [H 3], and sent back to teach Mallansohn [C 4] but became Mallansohn and left the memoir [C 5, M 1]. Twissell tells Harlan how the memoir passed down through Eternity until it reached him when he became a Senior Computer [T 3]. He leads Harlan into the room with the enclosed kettle and then into the control room where Harlan finds himself locked in [H 30].
Chapter 13.
As Harlan watches [H 31], Twissell tells Cooper [C 6] what Cooper later [C 7] will write in his memoir in the 24th [C 2]. Twissell also describes what his experimental group did to calibrate the energy thrust necessary to transport Cooper [T 4]. With Harlan's hands at the controls, Cooper is sent back [H 32] and Harlan awaits the end of eternity. Then Harlan tells Twissell [H 33] what he did with the controls [H 32].
As Harlan watches [H 31], Twissell tells Cooper [C 6] what Cooper later [C 7] will write in his memoir in the 24th [C 2]. Twissell also describes what his experimental group did to calibrate the energy thrust necessary to transport Cooper [T 4]. With Harlan's hands at the controls, Cooper is sent back [H 32] and Harlan awaits the end of eternity. Then Harlan tells Twissell [H 33] what he did with the controls [H 32].
Chapter 14.
Twissell and Harlan [H 34] discuss the causes of Harlan's actions and the reasons for their misunderstanding [H 28-29]. Twissell also tells of Finge's request for Harlan's services and Finge's communication about Harlan to the Allwhen Council that came automatically to Twissell [T 5]. He also recalls a liaison he once enjoyed with a woman when he was a Junior Computer [T 1] and the child she bore before her death. He watched the child grow and even visited him when the son was 34 [T 21], and he describes the Reality Change he agreed to that as a side effect turned his son into a paraplegic at the age of four [T 22].
Twissell and Harlan [H 34] discuss the causes of Harlan's actions and the reasons for their misunderstanding [H 28-29]. Twissell also tells of Finge's request for Harlan's services and Finge's communication about Harlan to the Allwhen Council that came automatically to Twissell [T 5]. He also recalls a liaison he once enjoyed with a woman when he was a Junior Computer [T 1] and the child she bore before her death. He watched the child grow and even visited him when the son was 34 [T 21], and he describes the Reality Change he agreed to that as a side effect turned his son into a paraplegic at the age of four [T 22].
Chapter 15.
Harlan tries to duplicate his spastic movement of the thrust control and then searches his news magazines for a message
from Cooper [H 35]. After discovering the advertisement, he tells Twissell about the barrier at the 100,000th and what happened to him [H 27].
Harlan tries to duplicate his spastic movement of the thrust control and then searches his news magazines for a message
from Cooper [H 35]. After discovering the advertisement, he tells Twissell about the barrier at the 100,000th and what happened to him [H 27].
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