Americus, a despondent time traveler, comes to the 1st century Roman Empire (726 AUC) to
introduce clocks, steam engines and other marvels.
The original publication of this story
is followed by a Shane Tourtellotte article, “Tips for the Budget Time-Traveler,” about
the economics of trading through time.
He argued to the scribes that they were naturals for typesetting jobs: literate,
intelligent, good at fine work and at avoiding mistakes.
“Most of us </i>thought<i> we knew. There were many congenial mealtime
arguments about which overarching theory of time travel was the true one. I had my ideas, but
they dismissed them. I wasn’t one of them; I didn’t understand.” He ounded a fist
into his thigh, a startling burst of violence. “But their theories were such violations
of common sense!”