Mind Brothers 1: The Mind Brothers

by Peter Heath

“Sign your ticket and come on,” he said to Adam. “We’ll stay at the Ambassador, this time.”

  A few hours later, Jason and Adam were sitting inside a bar overlooking the swimming pool. Adam was sampling his first Scotch and soda and Jason was thinking about the CIA’s offer to reinstate him with the RAND Corporation. “It’s the very least we can do to rectify our error, Mr. Starr,” the Deputy Director had told him. “And I think you should consider it carefully. The government needs men like you . . . even though it sometimes fails to listen to them.” It was a fair admission, thought Jason, looking down at a long-stemmed girl in a bikini that didn’t leave much of her trim body to the imagination. But he had all but made his decision. The RAND Corporation was a splendid place to spend a lifetime of desk sitting and theorizing. But too much had happened too swiftly for him to go back to it.

  “Well, Adam, now that your work is finished, I guess you will be—returning,” said Jason. Yes, he thought. Returning fifty thousand years to seek out other trouble spots in history and try to rectify the mistakes before they changed the pattern.

  His Mind Brother’s face was absorbed in the investigation of the strange-tasting liquor. He looked up and Jason saw the corners of his lips break into an ironic smile.

  “I’m afraid, my friend, that is impossible,” he said. “There is no one to operate the dilation apparatus . . . It was a one-way trip, as you say here in the twentieth century. Besides, I would like to work with you.”

  “Then you can’t go back. You’re here forever . . .” said Jason.

  His Mind Brother smiled. “Yes,” he said. “But forever is not such a long, long time.”