A Footnote to History

“Time is just an idea that we invent to help us describe what we think the universe is really like ... Which is real? Real or imaginary Time? It is simply a matter of which is the more useful description.”
- Stephen Hawkin

“It is well known that none of the basic equations of physics include an Arrow of Time. In classical physics, in quantum theory, in relativity theory--the equations run just as well forwards as backward.”
- Ben Goertzel

An ambitious science fiction novel that makes time double back on itself. As we know, Helical Time is flexible. The human narrative in this universe can only be understood by careful attention to historic footnotes. If the armadillo hadn’t crossed the moonlit road at that specific moment in 1967, the newlywed couple would not have died in a car crash. The 3092 search algorithm would not have substituted a perfect clone for the husband in the moment of his fiery death. He would not have been taken out of Time to be trained for a lethal mission by the last, best leader of the Terran Service. But the rule of unintended consequences governs. Cascading anomalies proliferated around that moment on the moonlit highway and the orderly flow of Time would never be the same ... if it ever was to start with.

William R. Burkett, Jr. is known for his legendary science fiction novel, Sleeping Planet. Other novels include Blood Sport, Blood Lines, A Matter of Logistics, Skook, After August, and Mean Grey Old Morning. He is also the author of The Duck Hunter Diaries. He lives in the Pacific Northwest where “the duck hunting is good.” He has a dog named Hunter.