And he'd worked towards this one for so long.
Now, there was nothing left to do but face the facts: he'd never have a chance at Crete; never really know for sure why Knossos fell.
Unless—
Burke stopped short.
What had The Professor said? That he'd destroy the time inverter first thing tomorrow morning?
Which still left tonight, didn't it?
It was a thought to appall any man in his right mind. For while The Professor admitted to small progress with the machine, he also said frankly that he was completely stymied in the most vital area: while he had succeeded in transporting objects from present to past on an experimental basis, he couldn't move them even an instant into the future.
Carrying this a step further, anything sent into the past stayed there. It couldn't be returned to the present.
And that meant that if anyone named Dion Burke should prove so mad as to send himself back to Bronze Age Crete, there he'd stay, with no chance ever of return to Twentieth Century United States.
It was a thought to numb a man.