Without completely forbidding it, the government allows limited time travel: Each person may
send a single letter from himself or herself at age 50 back to age 18 with information about
a single event, though not everyone sends the letter and not everyone approves of the
procedure. Our narrator did not receive the letter when she was young, and now she approaches
50 as a counselor for others who do not receive a letter.
You know the arguments: If God had wanted us to travel through time, the devout claim, he
would have given us the ability to do so. If God had wanted us to travel through time,
the scientists say, he would have given us the ability to understand time travel—and
oh! Look! He’s done that.
DEBUT
“Red Letter Day,” in Analog,September 2010.
VARIANTS
Debut. “Red Letter Day,” in Analog,September 2010.
You know the arguments: If God had wanted us to travel through time, the devout claim, he
would have given us the ability to do so. If God had wanted us to travel through time,
the scientists say, he would have given us the ability to understand time travel—and
oh! Look! He’s done that.
1 English variant