My husband wants to find a short story he read in Analog magazine about Israeli scientists using a time-travelling device to go to the time of dinosaurs. (The device is not precisely accurate as to time.) While there they have adventures. When they try to come back to the present, something is wrong with the device and they are stuck in the past. Finally, Israeli scientists fix the problem and the travelers return to their present time.
My husband does not remember the author or title.
Date of publication - from 1974 to 2010, but probably early 2000’s or 1990’s.
Setting - probably Israel
He remembers a quote from the end of the story, said by one of the scientists or possibly the narrator:
“I’d like to see the expressions on the faces of the Roman 10th Legion when they break into the Temple Mount and find it occupied by Israeli paratroopers.” (This is in reference to future time travel.)
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If the question has been answered to your satisfaction, you can "accept" an answer by clicking on the check mark next to it.– user14111Jul 19, 2021 at 0:36
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This isn't it, but your husband may like Deathbeast by David Gerrold.– CGCampbellJul 19, 2021 at 14:12
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+1 for the final quote alone!– Null ♦Jul 19, 2021 at 18:39
1 Answer
It wasn't published in Analog, but otherwise this description is very similar to Time Safari by David Drake. In this story the Israeli government has developed a method of time travel, and as in the question, it is only approximate, with a margin of error of a few thousand years. Additional funding is obtained by running time safaris to the Cretaceous, allowing hunters to bag various kinds of dinosaurs. Unlike Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder, which also involved a company called "Time Safari", there is no discussion of the possible time paradoxes this might involve. I don't recall a quote about the Roman 10th Legion meeting Israeli paratroopers, but it is quite some time since I read this, and I have not been able to find a copy online.
Thanks to user14111 in comments, I can confirm that the paratroops quote does appear in the story:
"Not precise enough to . . . put a battalion of paratroops in the courtyard of the Temple in 70 AD, you mean?” suggested Adrienne Salmes with a trace of a smile herself.
The story is available online from the Internet Archive.
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My husband is not sure that this is the story he remembers, but appreciates the answers. He thought the quote was at the end, and the people did fix the problem with the time travel device.– MmarrJul 20, 2021 at 6:07