[Transcriber note: This etext was produced Science Fiction Stories 1953.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright
on this publication was renewed.]
[Sidenote: _The idea of sending a man back in time to re-do a job he's
botched, so that a deadline can still be met--added to the thought of
duplicating a man so there'll be two doing the same work at the same
time--adds up to a production-manager's dream. But any dream can
suddenly shift into a nightmare...._]
[Illustration]
The receivers, two of them lawyers, had long faces when they sat down
across from my desk in the office of the Imperial Printing Company.
"Frankly, Mr. Shane," said the older one, "it is a very grave question
in our minds whether we should try to continue to operate the business
or whether we should close the plant and liquidate the machinery and
equipment the best we can."
I was stunned. "I don't understand," I said helplessly. "We've been
doing a nice business--and at a profit--in the year I've been here." It
was my first big job, and I wanted to make good. I thought I had made
good, but here they were jerking the floor out from under me, and I
couldn't make any sense out of it.
"Well," said one, "the business isn't showing the profit we expected."
"What you need is a used-car lot," I said pointedly.
The elder man cleared his throat. "Now look, Mr. Shane, suppose we say
three months."
"What do you mean--three months?"
"We'll allow you to go ahead for three months. If the business doesn't
show a distinct upturn by then--" He raised his eyebrows.