Guaranteed Tenure
In the year 2052, Inspector Johnny Keeler tells the story of why he’s now on the skids
due to that alien Qualu who’s set up a time-travel business with a myriad of strict
rules, the strictest of which is that he’s always available to the highest bidder
(namely Joe Balton, the city’s crime boss).
Horace Browne Fyfe, Jr., was a prolific
author, one of Campbell’s stable from 1940 (at age 22) through 1967. He died in 1997,
so it would be interesting to hear how the editors of the Megapack ebooks tracked down
this story of his, which is listed in the third time travel Megapack as previously
unpublished.
“You see, Inspector,” he says, looking me up and down like I was dressed up for
Halloween, “we are not permitted to adjust local-time affairs, for the simple reason
that laws vary with time. The legal or moral, I am sure you understand, is a matter not
only of place but also of time.”