The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Cards, by Alan Cogan

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: In the Cards

Author: Alan Cogan

Illustrator: EMSH

Release Date: June 17, 2010 [EBook #32853]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE CARDS ***

Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

In the Cards

By ALAN COGAN

Illustrated by EMSH

[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction
June 1956. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.]

[Illustration]

[Sidenote: It is one thing to safeguard the future ... and something
else entirely to see someone you love cry in terror two years from now!]

The first thing I did when I bought my Grundy Projector was take a trip
to about two years ahead and see what was going to happen to me.
Everyone was doing it around that time; students were taking short trips
into the future to learn whether or not they would pass their exams,
married couples were looking ahead to see how many kids they were going
to have, businessmen were going into the future to size up their
prospects.

I took the trip because I was getting married and I couldn't resist the
temptation of finding out how things would work out with my fiancee
Marge and myself. Not that I had any doubts about Marge, but the Grundy
Projectors were guaranteed harmless and there's no point in taking
chances with a serious step like marriage.

Everybody was looking ahead then. Within a week after the Grundy
Projectors were introduced, you could walk past homes every evening and
see people with those shimmering bird-cages around them. Their bodies
were there, but heaven knows when their minds were--months and often
even years ahead of time.

I knew exactly when to go on my first time trip. I even knew where: I'd
already put a down payment on a home in the new dome housing area where
Marge and I would be living after the wedding. Knowing where to go on a
time trip is important. On