TYRANTS OF TIME
By Milton Lesser
Do dictators rise to power by accident? What
if their ascendency is planned throughout history
by men of the future who play with time as if it
were a toy. And what if 1955 is their key year....
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
March 1954
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Something buzzed in Tedor Barwan's right ear, driving the throbbing hum of the Eradrome momentarily away. In the sea of sound the rasp of the radio receiver buried in Tedor's mastoid bone was still unmistakable, and it alarmed him. He tongued the transmitter in his palate and said, "This is Barwan. Go ahead."
There was nothing but the noise of the Eradrome, the shouts of the hawkers of a dozen centuries, the constant droning of the tourists garbed in costumes of fifty generations, the couriers noisily arranging guided family tours, the school teachers shepherding their squealing charges primly but still unable to hide their own eagerness. Tedor repeated, "Go ahead. Go ahead!" He'd dialed for a closed connection between himself and Fornswitthe previously; thus it was Fornswitthe who had tried to contact him.
Why?
"Tedor—help!" The voice hissed in his ear once, then was silent. It was Fornswitthe, all right. Silent now.