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what I ht see inside its mouth

I saw nothing

Morebroke out, louder than before

“Where has it gone?” my father asked

“The future,” Doctor Ó Cuilinn replied

An uncomfortable silence followed that pronouncement

Less assured than before, Ó Cuilinn said, “Please understand that I’ve not yet calibrated the time frame So I cannot predict when it will reappear”

“Meaning, it ht be anywhere,” one mathematician said

“Or any when,” another quipped

One of the courtiers sh Ó Cuilinn’s eyes narrowed—his irritation was plain to see—and I thought he was about to say sorettable when my father said, “Your application states you are on the point of proving that time travel is possible”

“I have proved it,” Ó Cuilinn said, a bit heatedly

My father smiled It was a kindly s son of a country doctor just as much as the open disbelief from the scientists “I have proved it,” he repeated “Even if I cannot predict precisely when into the future my machine sends these objects And, well, there are certain difficulties But to overcome them, I need money It is a crass plea, Your Majesty I know that But I swear you shall not regret offering e”

My father gazed at him steadily, no trace of kindness on his face now “What use do you see for such a machine, Doctor Ó Cuilinn?”

“That is not for me to say, Your Majesty But if you were to ask—”

“I just did, young man”

A brief embarrassed smile flickered over Ó Cuilinn’s face “So you did, Your Majesty Very well I would say the uses are infinite, just as time is You could send artifacts forward, for future historians And if once we find the means to travel into the future, surely it follows that the reverse is possible Think of that, speaking with the future and hearing its reply”

One of the astrologers objected “Impossible If the future is i us assistance, in any form”

“How, immutable?” said one of the philosophers “If the future has not happened yet, we are free to change it”

“But change implies existence—”