Guards Guards - Causality

Then he stared at the darkness.

It was his darkness. He was asleep out there somewhere. Somewhere out there a thief was heading for this place, to steal this book. And then someone would read this book, read these words, and do it anyway.

His hands itched.

All he had to do was hide the book, or drop on to the thief's head and unscrew it by the ears.

He stared into the darkness again . . .

But that would be interfering with the course of history. Horrible things could happen. The Librarian knew all about this sort of thing, it was part of what you had to know before you were allowed into L-space. He'd seen pictures in ancient books. Time could bifurcate, like a pair of trousers. You could end up in the wrong leg, living a life that was actually happening in the other leg, talking to people who weren't in your leg, walking into walls that weren't there any more. Life could be horrible in the wrong trouser of Time.

Besides, it was against Library rules. The assembled Librarians of Time and Space would certainly have something to say about it if he started to tinker with causality.

***

Guards Guards - p232