"Your gadget is effective," admitted Johnson. "Just how powerful is it?"
"Fifty years seems the limit it can probe. I've tried increasing the power, but beyond fifty years things quickly fade away into a gray fog. That's why I wanted to see you so urgently. Another few weeks, and this particular event in your life will be irrevocably lost." He glanced at the crippled hand. "Considering the direct consequences, I thought it would be a good place to start."
"Assuming that I want to have anything to do with this at all."
"Of course," said Cavendish, blandly. "Everything is always an assumption."
"Your machine. It can actually send me back through time?"
"In effect, yes."
"I don't believe it."
"I think you do, Mr. Johnson. You want to believe it, therefore you do believe it. A man like yourself, aware of missed opportunities...."
"I haven't missed many chances in my day," said Johnson. "If I had, I'd never have become what I am today."
"Rich."