"Simon Hawke - Time Wars 01 - The Ivanhoe Gambit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

"Hasn't this Irving character already changed the past, just by interfering with history?"
"Not yet. So far, there has been no paradox. The situation, as it stands, is as follows: Irving has
clocked back into this period. So far, no paradox. He has not yet interfered with history. He has
managed to intercept Richard on his way back to England. A potential paradox, but so far the timestream
remains unaffected. My job is to keep it that way."
"Good luck," said Delaney.
"Yes, quite," said the referee, dryly. "I see you understand the situation, Mr. Delaney. However, let's
make certain that we all understand it. The fact is, our fake Richard can kill the real one and take his
place, even regain the throne of England as Richard Plantagenet. With all that, the timestream still remains
unaffected. There is a Richard on the throne of England. It's not the real one, but that creates no paradox
in and of itself. What would create a paradox is if Irving were to take some action that would significantly
alter the course of history. Let's set up a hypothetical situation. Suppose we're out of the picture.
Suppose, also, that Irving takes the place of Richard and acts in exactly the same manner as the real one
did, according to our history ... up to a point. Let's pick Chaluz for the purpose of this discussion. The
real Richard the Lionhearted died at Chaluz. Knowing this, the fake Richard will obviously avoid that
fate, probably by the very simple expedient of staying out of France. It's still possible that the inertia
inherent in the timestream could work against him, but that's all highly theoretical and I wouldn't want to
bet on that. So now, we have a paradox. The real Richard was killed at Chaluz in 1199, but Irving, as
Richard, lives on. Suppose he remains king for a long time after that. Suppose John never ascends to the
throne. Suppose the Magna Carta is never even written, much less signed. Now we're talking about
major paradoxes, gentlemen.
"The past is absolute. Irving's past is absolute. His timelineтАФand oursтАФhas Richard dying at
Chaluz, John becoming king, etc. That cannot be changed, it already happened. The moment Irving takes
an action that is significantly contrary to our history to create a paradox, he splits the timestream and
creates a parallel timeline. And that means we've lost. If I clock back at a point beyond which he has
done that, I'll only wind up splitting it again, creating yet another parallel timeline, which will only make
things worse. I have only one course of action open to me and that is to proceed in a linear fashion
through this mission. The first team failed. At the point I became aware of that, I sent ahead for another
team. When that team failed, I put in a call for yet another team and you men arrived. Should you fail, I
will try to get yet another team, providing that Irving has not yet split the timeline.
"You see, gentlemen, in a way it's very much like playing Russian roulette. All it takes is for that one
possibility to arise in which I am not sent another team and Irving will have won. I have absolutely no idea
what action he may take that would result in a change significant enough to create a parallel timeline. Nor
do I know when he will take that action, when he will have the opportunity. It might even be happening
right this very moment, in which case this is all a pointless exercise. In that event, I haven't the faintest
idea what we would do. I don't even want to think about it."
He paused again, observing the men. They were grimly silent, all save Delaney, who groaned and put
his head in his hands.
"There is, of course, another possibility," said the referee. "Once Irving splits the timeline, it is
theoretically possible to clock back to a point before that split occurs and attempt to prevent it from
occurring. However, that raises some very unpleasant possibilities. Split timelines must eventually rejoin.
The moment Irving succeeds in creating the split, its effects show up in the future. It isn't possible to
prevent the future from happening, but it is possible to warp our history and hurt a great many people. A
great many. The moment the split occurs, from the standpoint of the future, an entire separate timeline
already exists, incorporating God only knows how many lives. To go back and prevent it means to
destroy everyone within that separate timeline. That would be nothing less than the most massive
genocide in the history of the human race," said the referee, "and there's no telling how that would affect
the future. Allow me to illustrate with yet another hypothetical situation. Suppose I send for another team,
unaware that by that time, Irving has already created the split. Suppose I am sent a team. It could
happen. The people who clock back could very well be coming from a future already affected by the