Monday 27 July 2015

Time Patrol Supporting Characters

Mr Gordon:

interviews Everard when the latter, not yet knowing what is involved, has answered the Time Patrol's newspaper ad;
shows Cynthia Denison the analysis of a critical milieu.

Cynthia, an Attached clerk, also says that "'...the boss...obliged me by querying himself a week ahead...'" (Time Patrol, p. 61) but I do not know whether this boss is Gordon.

Nick:

lets Everard and Wanda meet in his bookshop;
phones Everard about Marlow.

And that is it for supporting characters. Everard, Unattached, has no direct superior and is answerable only to his peers and the Danellians. The following characters, introduced in Time Patrol, reappear in The Shield Of Time:

Manson Emmert Everard;
Keith Denison;
Merau Varagan;
Raor;
Wanda Tamberly -

- hero, hero's friend, villain, villainness, heroine.

In fact, in the second book, Wanda rescues Keith from the alpha timeline, thus demonstrating that the characters can indeed interact without necessarily involving Everard. Guion becomes a new continuing character in the second volume:

"...Guion...was at least of own rank. Probably higher. Above its lowest echelons, the Patrol didn't go in for organizational charts and formal hierarchies of command. By its nature, it couldn't. The structure was much subtler and stronger than that. Quite likely none but the Danellians fully understood it." (The Shield Of Time, p. 5)

But the Unattacheds must know how they make and implement decisions! They use the phrase, "'...the Middle Command...'" (ibid, p. 68). Specialists can be held to account by Coordinators (Time Patrol, p. 385). And there are uniforms although they are "...seldom worn." (Shield, p. 296) We want to know more.

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