«As a paleontologist you study the wildlife here.»
«For the last ten years,» said Sutton. «I guess a bit less time than that. It was strange at first; it still seems a little strange. A paleontologist, you understand, ordinarily works with bones and fossil footprints and other infuriating evidence that almost tells you what you want to know, but always falls short.
«Here there is another problem. From the viewpoint of prime world, many of the reptiles, including the dinosaurs, died out sixty-three million years ago. Here they did not die out. As a result, we are looking at them not as they were millions of years ago, but as they are after millions of additional years of evolutionary development. Some of the old species have disappeared, others have evolved into something else in which you can see the traces of their lineage, and some entirely new forms have arisen.»
«You sound as if your study of them is very dedicated,» said Latimer. «Under other circumstances, you would probably be writing a book …»
«But I am writing a book,» said Sutton. «I am hard at work on it. There is a man here who is very clever at drawing and he is making diagrams for me and there will be photographs …»
«But what’s the point?» asked Latimer. «Who will publish it? When will it be published? Gale told me that no one ever leaves here, that there is no going back to prime world.»
«That is right,» said Sutton. «We are exiled from prime world. I often think of us as a Roman garrison stationed, say, on Britain’s northern border or in the wilds of Dacia, with the understanding that we’ll not be going back to Rome.»
«But that means your book won’t be published. I suppose it could be transmitted back to prime world and be printed there, but the publishing of it would destroy the secrecy of the project.»
«Exactly how much do you know about the project?» Sutton asked.
«Not much, perhaps. Simply the purpose of it—the trapping of people in time—no, not time, I guess. Alternate worlds, rather.»
«Then you don’t know the whole of it?»
«Perhaps I don’t,» said Latimer.
«The matter of removing potentially dangerous personnel from prime world,» said Sutton, «is only part of it. Surely if you have thought of it at all, you could see other possibilities.»
«I haven’t had time to think too deeply on it,» said Latimer. «No time at all, in fact. You don’t mean the exploitation of these other worlds?»
«It’s exactly what I mean,» said Sutton. «It is so obvious, so logical. Prime world is running out of resources. In these worlds, they lie untouched. The exploitation of the alternate worlds not only would open new resources, but would provide employment, new lands for colonization, new space for expansion. It is definitely a better idea than this silly talk you hear about going off into outer space to find new worlds that could be colonized.»
«Then why all the mummery of using it to get rid of potential enemies?»
«You sound as if you do not approve of this part of the project.»
«I’m not sure I approve of any of it and certainly not of picking up people and stashing them away. You seem to ignore the fact that I was one of those who was picked up and stashed away. The whole thing smells of paranoia. For the love of God, the big business interests of prime world have so solid a grip on the institutions of the Earth and, in large part, on the people of the Earth, that there is no reason for the belief that there is any threat against them.»
«But they do take into account,» said Sutton, «the possibility of such threats rising in the years to come, probably based upon events that could be happening right now. They have corps of psychologists who are pursuing studies aimed against such possibilities, corps of economists and political scientists who are looking at possible future trends that might give rise to antibusiness reactions. And, as you know, they are pinpointing certain specific areas and peoples who could contribute, perhaps unwittingly, either now or in the future, to undesirable reactions. But, as I understand it, they are hopeful that if they can forestall the trends that would bring about such reactions for a few centuries, then the political, the economic, and the social climates will be so solidly committed in their favor, that they can go ahead with the exploitation of some of the alternate worlds. They want to be sure before they embark on it, however, that they won’t have to keep looking over their shoulders.»
«But hundreds of years! All the people who are engaged in this project will have been long dead by then.»
«You forget that a corporation can live for many centuries. The corporations are the driving force here. And, in the meantime, those who work in the project gain many advantages. It is worth their while.»
«But they can’t go back to Earth—back to prime world, that is.»
«You are hung up on prime world,» said Sutton. «By working in the project, you are showered with advantages that prime world could never give you. Work in the project for twenty years, for example, and at the age of fifty—in some cases, even earlier—you can have a wide choice of retirements—an estate somewhere on Auk world, a villa on a paradise world, a hunting lodge in another world where there is a variety of game that is unbelievable. With your family, if you have one, with servants, with your every wish fulfilled. Tell me, Mr. Latimer, could you do as well if you stayed on prime world? I’ve listed only a few possibilities; there are many others.»
«Gale told me it would be possible to send me back to Auk House. So people can move around these alternate worlds, but not back to prime world?»
«That is right. Supplies for all the worlds are transported to this world and from here sent out to other stations.»
«But how? How is this done?»
«I have no idea. There is an entire new technology involved. Once I had thought it would be matter transmitters, but I understand it’s not. Certain doors exist. Doors with quote marks around them. I suppose there is a corps of elite engineers who know, but would suspect that no one else does.»
«You spoke of families.»
«There are families here.»
«But I didn’t see …»
«The kids are in school. There aren’t many people about right now. They’ll be showing up at the cocktail hour. A sort of country-club routine here. That’s why I like to get up early. Not many are about. I have this park to myself.»
«Sutton, you sound as if you like this setup.»
«I don’t mind it,» Sutton said. «It’s far preferable to what I had in prime world. There my reputation had been ruined by a silly dispute I fell into with several of my colleagues. My wife died. My university let me stay on in sufferance. So when I was offered a decent job …»
«Not telling you what kind of job?»
«Well, no, not really. But the conditions of employment sounded good and I would be in sole charge of the investigation that was in prospect. To be frank with you, I jumped at it.»
«You must have been surprised.»
«In fact, I was. It took a while to reconcile myself to the situation.»
«But why would they want a paleontologist?»
«You mean, why would money-grabbing, cynical corporations want a paleontologist?»
«I guess that’s what I mean.»
«Look, Latimer—the men who make up the corporations are not monsters. They saw here the need for a study of a truly unique world—a continuation of the Cretaceous, which has been, for years, an intriguing part of the planet’s history. They saw it as a contribution to human knowledge. My book, when it is published, will show this world at a time before the impact of human exploitation fell upon it.»
«When your book is published?»
«When it is safe to make the announcement that alternate worlds have been discovered and are being opened for colonization. I’ll never see the book, of course, but nevertheless, I take some pride in it. Here I have found confirmation for my stand that brought about condemnation by my colleagues. Fuzzy thinking, they said, but they were the fuzzy thinkers. This book will vindicate me.»