Short Fiction · Chapter
I explained
Hradzka, a deposed dictator from the Hundredth Century, escapes via a sabotaged time machine but crash-lands in the First Century of the Atomic Era, stranded without his knowledge stores.
What happens
Hradzka, a deposed dictator from the Hundredth Century, escapes via a sabotaged time machine but crash-lands in the First Century of the Atomic Era, stranded without his knowledge stores. The chapter opens with the revolt against him and closes with his determination to conquer this primitive age.
Themes in this chapter
Power and Corruption
Hradzka's tyrannical rule and his obsession with revenge illustrate the corrupting influence of absolute power.
Time Travel and Temporal Displacement
The chapter centers on Hradzka's use of a time machine and his unintended displacement to the First Century.
Survival and Resilience
Stranded without resources, Hradzka immediately plans to adapt and conquer the primitive world, showing resilience.
Characters to notice
- Hradzka
The deposed dictator who escapes via time machine, only to be stranded in the First Century after sabotage.
- Zarvas Pol
General leading the revolt; insists on hunting Hradzka through time to eliminate the threat permanently.
- Kradzy Zago
Old scientist who allowed Hradzka to escape; implies the time machine was sabotaged.
- Zoldy Jarv
Young man killed by Hradzka while trying to stop his escape.
Key passages
“I do not kill for revenge; I kill because dead men do no harm.”
Zarvas Pol justifies his pursuit of Hradzka not out of vengeance but as a pragmatic measure to eliminate future threats.
Highlights the theme of violence and justice, and the cold logic of the general.
“Hradzka will do us no more harm... He is a thing of yesterday; of a time long past and half-lost in the mists of legend.”
Kradzy Zago dismisses Hradzka as a relic of the past, no longer a danger.
Contrasts with Zarvas Pol's view, setting up a philosophical debate about the persistence of evil across time.