Then it came to him.
Hieronymous Gleister stood up and ran to the stage. "Grab that man!" he shouted. "He's Mingus! He's the Emperor!"
Egon hesitated for a moment, then made his decision. He and Hieronymous moved toward Mordecai Gleister. Several other Gleisters were on their feet and climbing on to the stage. Then everyone stopped.
Mordecai Gleister had taken a blue-steel automatic out of his pocket and was aiming it at Egon.
"Please resume your seats," Mordecai said. "All except Chairman Egon and this young man, whose lives depend upon your good behavior. I have a statement to make."
Everyone sat down except for Egon and Hieronymous. Mordecai said, "This weapon I am holding is not a projectile weapon, though it is housed in the case of a Colt .45 automatic. It is an invention of mine---or ours---which operates on a laser-diffusion principle. At fifteen feet its first effect is paralysis; death follows seconds later if the beam is not turned off. Whatever you decide to do now, you should take this weapon into your calculations."
Mordecai paused to let his words take effect. Then smiling, he said, "My worthy brothers and loyal subjects, the Emperor Mingus greets you."
Main Lines Junction No. 2:
"My reading of the situation," Mingus said, "is that I invented a time machine and went to a point in the distant future. I underwent various experiences there which shaped my subsequent decisions. The world I came to was a sad, brutish place, depleted of its physical and mental resources, divided into tiny, squabbling kingdoms. I took over. The time machine gave me matchless power, of course. But my success was due to more than that: the times were right for organization, and I was the right man for the job.
"Those of you who have seen a little of my empire don't think much of it. But you judge too quickly. You forget the materials I had to work with. I assure you that I aim toward peace and prosperity for everyone; yes, and political freedom as well, as soon as men have the intelligence and self-control to use it.
"You think that my empire looks like a twentieth-century Latin American or African dictatorship. Granted. But when I took over, this world was in chaos. There was no peace, and strength was the only recognizable law. I have given people a measure of security and continuity from which to rebuild a civilization.
"All of us here are products of American democracy. 'Empire' and 'Emperor' are dirty words to us. But I earnestly request that you not judge my work by political reflex. What would you have had me do? Extend the vote to the serfs and slaves and abolish the robber-barons? Even with the time machine I wouldn't have lasted a week.
"Should I have lectured them on all men being equal? Those people knew that all men were not equal, and that justice was the exclusive prerogative of the ruling class. They viewed all egalitarian ideas as devilish perversions, to be resisted to the death.
"Democracy is not natural law. Men must be educated to it. Democracy is a difficult and advanced concept for men whose instinct is to band together in wolf packs under a single leader. Effective democracy requires the exercise of responsibility and fairness to others. For the people of the future Earth, this was an outlandish concept; others were there only to be used.
"Given this state of affairs, what would any of you have done? Would you have witnessed the misery and squalor of the world and turned away from it, returning to your own happier times? Or would you have stayed and put together a token democracy, to be overwhelmed as soon as you were no longer in physical control? Or would you have done as I did---formed the only political organization that the people could understand, and then tried to educate them in the difficult practices of freedom and responsibility?
"I did what I thought was best for the people, not for myself. I took over. But then you Gleisters---my alter egos, my brothers---kept coming up from the past, bent upon assassinating me. I tried to kidnap some of you and re-educate you. But there were too many Gleisters, the dynamics of the situation were against me.
"I learned about your organization. I came back here and infiltrated it. I have taken it over now.
"I have explained the situation as fairly as I can. I most sincerely beg you to cooperate with me, assist me, help me to change a regressed and savage Earth into the sort of place we have all dreamed of."
There was a long silence. At last Chairman Egon Gleister said, "I believe there may be considerable merit in what you have explained to us."
Hieronymous asked, "Have you forgotten already what you saw in his future? All of the suspicion and misery, and all those police!" He turned to Mingus. "Why don't you just leave them alone? I really don't care what your motives are. Hasn't Earth had enough emperors, dictators, generalissimos, war lords, Great Khans, Shahinshahs, Caesars, whatever you want to call them? Some of them had admirable motives---but the only people they really helped were themselves."
"I suppose you feel that a state of anarchy is preferable?" Mingus asked.
"I think it probably is," Hieronymous said. "The main defect of anarchy is its vulnerability to people like you."
There was no sound at all from the audience. Hieronymous went on: "In any event, it's not your age your tampering with, it's someone else's. You come here from the happy and enlightened twentieth century and impose your obsolete political solutions on them. Really, Mingus, you're acting just like any other colonizer."
Mingus appeared shaken. "I must think about this. I honestly believed..." He shook his head irritably. "It is strange," he said, "that all of us are one person, yet we represent widely differing viewpoints."
"It's not so strange," Egon said. "One person is many people even under normal circumstances."
Hieronymous said, "Perhaps we should call for a vote on what the Gleisters are to do---if you think we are civilized enough to vote."
"Taking power is a responsibility," Mingus said. "But giving power up is equally a responsibility. This will require careful thought on my part."
"Perhaps not," Egon said. "Perhaps you won't have to think about it at all."
"Why do you say that'" Mingus said.
The Chairman smiled and said, "I think you have made a fatal misreading of the sequence of events. By coming back here, you have ceased to be the Emperor. So there is nothing for you to think about."
"Explain yourself," Mingus said. "Who is the real Emperor then?"
"There is no 'real' emperor," Egon told him. "There is only a Gleister who went to the future, seized power and became Emperor. He found himself opposed by an organization, returned to the past in an attempt to take over the organization. He was killed in the attempt."
"Be careful," Mingus said.
"There's nothing to be careful about," Egon said. "We know that time travel necessarily involves duplication. One law we are sure of, governing time travel and its events, is: nothing happens for the first time. You, my dear Mordecai, have the honor of having been the first Emperor. But it can't remain that way. Since time travel is involved, there must be a second Emperor for the Emperor-line of probability to take place at all."
"And you think that the first Emperor dies?" Mingus asked.
"Or goes into retirement, perhaps," Egon said. "Give me the gun."
"You crown yourself Emperor?"
"Why not? I'm a Gleister, and therefore a legitimate heir to the royal line. Give me the gun and I'll let you go in peace."
Hieronymous said urgently to Mordecai-Mingus, "Do it. Give him the gun. He's right, time travel necessitates the overdetermination of events. There must be a second Emperor."
"Very well," Mordecai-Mingus said. "I'll give you the gun. And since you are the future Emperor, you won't mind which end you get first."