"And no provision for emergency?"
"Only by the consent of the licensed company."
"Then you'd better call a conference at once. Scyth isn't going to last long enough for you to comb the galaxy for us."
"That's why it might be better to let the barytrine field run to completion."
Dusty's voice grew hard. "I wish you birds would stop tossing off a thousand years of our life with the flick of a finger," he said.
"What difference does it make? You'd not notice it, and—"
"Who says so?" snapped Dusty, his irritation mounting.
"Time is of importance only when its passage can be measured in reference to outside events. You have no contact with outside events. Therefore it makes no difference whether you come in contact with us now or a thousand years from now, so long as the same people of your culture are involved."
"Now see here—"