Time and Time Again (46 page)

But thought is quicker than speech.

He never said a word.

And at that moment in space and time, Hugh Stanton was taken out of the loop.

ISAAC NEWTON STARED
at the spinning wheel.

It was nearly midnight and he was utterly exhausted, having spent many hours in a coach returning from his trip to Cambridge.

Now he was home in his niece’s house and she had prepared him hot milk because he professed himself too preoccupied to sleep. And so they sat together, she spinning thread on her wheel and Newton staring into it. Round and round it went, returning after each revolution to the place it started and then spinning around again.

Newton saw space and time in that wheel. He saw it spinning round and round but never progressing. In constant motion but also stationary. Never moving beyond its fixed course.

Was he right to have arranged to pass on the benefits of his insight? Was it
always
better to know? That had been the guiding principle of his life. Better to know. To shed light on the mysteries of the universe.

But this time? To offer men yet unborn the chance to cheat fate? To shape a different destiny to the one God had created for them?

Isaac Newton was a Christian man. He had spent a lifetime trying to understand God but he had never desired to
be
God.

He decided that he had made a mistake. Sometimes it was better to simply leave well alone.

Time was not the spinning wheel.

Time was the thread it made.

In the morning he would go back to Cambridge and demand that Master Bentley return his box. Having made the decision, Newton felt that he would sleep more easily.

And he did, for when his niece shook him gently to usher him to bed she discovered that the old man was dead.

Ben Elton
is one of Britain’s most provocative and entertaining writers. From celebrity to climate change, from the First World War to the end of the world, his books give his unique perspective on some of the most controversial topics of our time.

He has written fourteen major bestsellers, including
Stark, Popcorn, Inconceivable
(filmed as
Maybe Baby
, which he also directed),
Dead Famous, High Society, The First Casualty
and
Two Brothers
.

Elton’s multi-award-winning TV credits include
The Young Ones, Blackadder
and
The Thin Blue Line
. His stage hits include the Olivier Award winner
Popcorn
and the global phenomenon
We Will Rock You
.

Stark
Gridlock
This Other Eden
Popcorn
Blast from the Past
Inconceivable
Dead Famous
High Society
Past Mortem
The First Casualty
Chart Throb
Blind Faith
Meltdown
Two Brothers

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First published in Great Britain
in 2014 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers

Copyright © Ben Elton 2014

Ben Elton has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473508323
ISBN 9780593073568

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