The Skull

In Short

This story is a tight, philosophical science fiction piece about the futility of escaping one's fate. It follows a man named Conger, a skilled hunter plucked from prison by a cold, technocratic government. His mission: travel back to the mid-twentieth century to kill a figure known only as "the Founder," whose pacifist teachings eventually toppled their war-driven society. By blending the grim mechanics of a time-travel assignment with a haunting, circular destiny, the story explores the inevitability of history and the personal cost of becoming a legend.

The Story

The government of a future, war-torn society presents Conger with a choice: rot in prison or hunt down a man dead for two centuries. They provide him with a Slem-gun and a skull, which serves as the only means of identifying the target—the Founder of a religious movement that dismantled the machinery of war by preaching non-violence. Conger, a hunter by trade, accepts the mission and enters a "crystal cage" to be transported to a field outside Denver in 1961.

Once he arrives in the past, Conger struggles to blend in with the locals. He acts with the cold pragmatism of a man who has hunted in Martian deserts, yet he is constantly unnerved by the suspicious, gossiping townspeople. As he closes in on the date of the Founder’s arrest, he grows increasingly confident in his ability to execute his mission before the target can ever utter a word. However, as the date approaches, he begins to notice strange signs: a woman who stares at him with inexplicable recognition, and the feeling that he is being watched as he prepares his ambush at the field.

While waiting on the ridge, Conger finally unwraps the skull he brought with him to identify his target. He compares the teeth and the shape of the bone to his own reflection in a mirror. In a moment of devastating realization, he understands that he is not the hunter; he is the Founder. He is the man who will be arrested, killed, and eventually venerated by the very church he was sent to destroy.

Recognizing that he cannot escape his own history, Conger abandons his weapon. He walks out onto the field to meet the crowd of onlookers and the police who have come to stop the "agitator." He speaks to them, offering a cryptic, paradoxical message about life and death. He understands that his death is the catalyst for the faith that will eventually grow, just as his own upbringing in a Martian trading village—which he now realizes is his future—is part of the loop. He stands calmly before the approaching authorities, accepting his end as the mechanism by which he will eventually be born again to fulfill his cycle.

How It Unfolds

The recruitment A desperate convict, Conger, is offered a chance at freedom by a ruthless Council. They task him with traveling back in time to assassinate a man whose pacifist teachings have ruined their society.

The preparation The Council provides Conger with the Founder’s skull as a tool for identification. Conger enters a specialized time-travel device, confident in his ability to track down and kill his target before the man can speak his message.

The infiltration Conger arrives in 1961 and begins navigating the small town of Cooper Creek. He finds himself struggling to mimic the social cues of the era while searching historical records for the exact time and place of the Founder's arrest.

The discovery While awaiting the Founder at the appointed field, Conger holds the skull up to his own reflection. He realizes the horrifying truth that he is the person he was sent to kill, and his death is the cornerstone of the movement he was sent to stop.

The final confrontation Conger rejects his weapon and walks toward the crowd and the police. He speaks his final, paradoxical words to the townspeople, fully accepting that his death is the necessary step to complete the loop of his life.

The People

Conger A cynical, hardened hunter and trader who has survived in the harsh conditions of the Moon and Mars. He values his own cunning and skill above all else, but he undergoes a profound transformation from a tool of the state into a man who accepts his role as a historical catalyst.

The Speaker The cold, calculated representative of the Council who manages Conger. He represents the "scientific" society that values war for its ability to eliminate the "unfit" and views the pacifist Founder as a threat to their control.

Lora Hunt A local girl in the 1961 timeline who is drawn to Conger’s difference. Her curiosity and interaction with him highlight the suspicious, clannish nature of the townspeople, who are quick to view any outsider as a threat.

The Townspeople A collective presence—including the storekeeper Ed Davies, the plumber Joe French, and the suspicious Mrs. Hacket—who represent the mundane, often cruel curiosity of humanity. They are the audience for Conger’s final act, providing the atmosphere of judgment that leads to the Founder's arrest.

In Its Own Voice

"Conger agreed to kill a stranger he had never seen. But he would make no mistakes because he had the stranger's skull under his arm." This appears at the very beginning of the story, establishing the ironic nature of the mission.

"He held the skull up, looking in the mirror. He pressed the skull against his cheek. Beside his own face the grinning skull leered back at him, beside his skull, against his living flesh." This moment marks the climax of the story, where Conger realizes his identity.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book is a meditation on the paradox of determinism. It asks whether a person can ever truly change their path when that path is woven into the fabric of history. The story argues that the state’s attempt to use "objective science" to control the future only serves to finalize the very past they fear. It contrasts the cold, utilitarian logic of a technocracy with the irrational, faith-based nature of human belief, suggesting that martyrdom is a force that no amount of advanced technology can effectively suppress or erase.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy intellectual puzzles and the "closed-loop" style of time-travel fiction will find much to admire here. It reads with the crisp, efficient pacing of mid-century pulp science fiction, moving quickly from the grim, sterile halls of a future government to the snow-dusted, mundane reality of 1961.

The story is particularly effective at capturing the feeling of alienation; Conger is a man out of time in every sense, and his struggle to pass as a "normal" citizen while harboring his secret is both tense and poignant. However, readers should be prepared for the mid-century perspective; the narrative reflects the gender dynamics and social anxieties of the era, such as the period's obsession with "Red" infiltration. The ending is stark and avoids the sentimentality often found in modern time-travel tales, choosing instead to focus on the cold, beautiful geometry of a life that is destined to repeat. What stays with you is the final image of Conger standing on a snowy field, accepting his own death as a "good little paradox," and the unsettling suggestion that some truths are only realized when one is forced to look at their own mortality.