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The Edge of the Knife by Henry Beam Piper
page 23 of 66 (34%)
that on one of the planets of the Beta Hydrae system, in the Fourth
Century of the Atomic Era. There were so few things, in the history of
the past, which did not have their counter-parts in the future. That
evening, too, he stayed at home, preparing for his various classes for
the rest of the week and making copious notes on what he would talk
about to each. He needed more whiskey to get to sleep that night.

Whitburn gave him no more trouble, and if any of the trustees or
influential alumni made any protest about what had happened in Modern
History IV, he heard nothing about it. He managed to conduct his
classes without further incidents, and spent his evenings trying, not
always successfully, to avoid drifting into "memories" of the
future....

* * * * *

He came into his office that morning tired and unrefreshed by the few
hours' sleep he had gotten the night before, edgy from the strain, of
trying to adjust his mind to the world of Blanley College in mid-April
of 1973. Pottgeiter hadn't arrived yet, but Marjorie Fenner was
waiting for him; a newspaper in her hand, almost bursting with
excitement.

"Here; have you seen it, Doctor Chalmers?" she asked as he entered.

He shook his head. He ought to read the papers more, to keep track of
the advancing knife-edge that divided what he might talk about from
what he wasn't supposed to know, but each morning he seemed to have
less and less time to get ready for work.

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