Will Barrent had no memory of his crime . . . but he found himself shipped across space to a brutal prison-planet. On Omega, his only chance to advance himself -- and stay alive -- is to commit an endless series of violent crimes. The average inmate's life expectancy from time of arrival is three years. Can Barrett survive, escape, and return to Earth to clear his name?

Short story that first appeared in the February 1960 issue of Galaxy magazine.

The theft started in the hardware store. Wanting to catch the robber, the shopkeepers discover a court demon from the past.

The fate of the whole world depends on whether Ben Baxter lives or not, and no matter what, he decided to die! But if he had not died, then in the future large forested areas would have been preserved on the American mainland, and the people of the future would not lack oxygen. But, as it turns out, there is a solution to the problem – there are only three time lines in which it is still possible to prevent Ben Baxter's death. Therefore, three teams of agents are sent from the future to the past.