“But if I can choose any period, it means that I can alter history at will—which presumes that the present can also be changed.”
“That is what the Komitet believes, and that is why the C.D. is so ruthless and brutal with unlicensed time travellers. The real answer is that in the final analysis your decision to choose a certain time period is already made, and the things you will do are already determined. Free will is an illusion; it is synonymous with incomplete perception.”
“Then send me into the 20th century. As an engineer I would be able to make some sort of living there.”
“Dangerous. Don’t practice your profession. Study some field which is completely alien to you so that should you come across a C.D. agent he would not recognize the work of a 25th century man.”
“You mean like an
