Virginia mentioned a few items of history. Both then got their own history books and started to compare closely. They agreed on everything up to the moment of the atomic bomb at Alamogordo. And at that moment, the histories diverged. "Nature," said Ed Bronson, "must have been perplexed. So she took both roadways. One in which the earth is engulfed with atomic flame and one in which the thing worked." "What do we do next?" asked Virginia. "We get in touch with the respective authorities of our worlds," said Bronson. "Alone we can do little. Together we can do something to aid you." "Tomorrow night at seven, then?" asked Virginia. "Right." The contact was broken. "And there," said Peter Moray, "is our answer!" CHAPTER III _Earth Three_ Harry Maddox turned from his laboratory table as the tall, dark man entered. Maddox greeted the taller man obsequiously, but the other's reply was curt. "They've done it, you say?" asked Kingston. "They've done it," replied Maddox gloatingly. "That proves it then," replied Kingston with interest. "Though it has always been a common enough theory." "Within the past thirty-six hours," said Maddox, "there have been two transmissions. The latter one is now going on. Want to hear it?" "Not particularly," replied Kingston. "It will be recorded for my leisure." "Yes," nodded Maddox. His nod was toward a rather attractive girl, who was riding herd on a large wire recorder. From time to time she would reach out and adjust the volume of the recording. Over long blond hair she wore earphones to monitor the conversation directly. Kingston made a mental note that he could trust Maddox to adorn his laboratory and workshop with the most attractive human decor that he could find. Instead of commenting on this he smiled in amusement and continued to speak. "Rather dramatic, isn't it?" Maddox nodded. "Thirty years to the moment. That Alamogordo affair had three possibilities. It could either have gone off normally--it could have started an atomic fire in the earth--or it could have fizzled. And so, thirty years later, the three temporal possibilities are meeting." "No, my dear Maddox," said Kingston with the air of a savant correcting a student who was not too careful of his facts. "Just two of them. We sit by--remember?" "I know," said Maddox, rebuffed. "Remember--and never for a moment forget--that the possibility of the Alamogordo bomb starting an atomic fire in the earth was a remote possibility. That means that the tensors which maintain that line of temporal advancement are very shaky. "Time, you know, consists of following the Laws of Least Reaction, which simply means that in any reaction wherein a number of possibilities occur, that which will happen with the least energy will take place. This is statistically true, and need not hold for specific instances.