"It is my business. If the Agents are going to sit by and let the biggest case of time-tinkering go on right in front of their noses, it's got to be someone's business. I take it you know my father's theory. All the most powerful dictators through history have not worked alone. Someone in our own time--we don't know who--has been helping them. If he could control the most powerful rulers in history, he could control the entire time-stream from the dawn of civilization to our own age. Labor, raw material, armies--all the world would be under his control. You found something in the twentieth century which substantiates that." "Maybe," said Tedor. "Maybe nothing. You found the Russians were getting outside aid--from our century." "Even if I did--all right, I did--1955 is still the crucial year. I'm no different from anyone else. I can't enter 1955." "Not in a time-conveyor, you can't. But you could set yourself down in the latter part of '54 and simply wait for '55 to roll around." Tedor gasped audibly. "I never thought of that! No one did." "My father did. He's there now. Listen to me, Barwan! There's so much going on that you Century Agents either know nothing about or do nothing about." "What do you mean by that?" "Clearly, this monopolist is a big-shot in our own day, with plenty of power." "Dorlup?" "I never heard of him." "Solidio writer, but never mind. And this talk won't get you anywhere. You're going back with me." "I didn't think it would. But I want to show you a few things." Laniq stood up, crossed the floor to him even though he waved the atomic pistol in warning. "Oh, put that thing away. If the fact that you're armed and I'm not stands between free world and slave world, you might as well go ahead and shoot me if it will make you happy." * * * * * Laniq came so close Tedor could have reached out and touched her. The zipper on her blouse had been closed hastily half-way, revealing white throat and curving breasts. "Give me the pistol," Laniq said. Tedor looked at her, snorted in disbelief. But he put the weapon in his pocket and told her, "Go ahead and talk." Laniq grasped his shoulder impulsively. "Barwan, you've got to listen! We can make a quick tour through time, just hitting the high spots. I can show you things; I can show you a man from our own time behind every important dictator in history. We've beaten them all along the line, so you don't have to worry about it. Except for the twentieth century. It's a crucial age, Barwan, and we're not winning. The whole course of future history might be changed if we don't. "That's crazy. Future history already _is_."