Everywhere And Everywhen

When Mr Gordon recruits Manse Everard to the Time Patrol, he tells him that he is:

"'...going to be a kind of policeman...Everywhere. And everywhen.'" ("Time Patrol" IN Time Patrol, p. 5)

Not necessarily. Everard, undergoing basic Patrol Academy training with other recruits, is told:

"'Your work will be mostly within your own eras, unless you graduate to unattached status. You will live on the whole, ordinary lives...'" (p. 11)

- like Cynthia Denison, "'...a clerk in Engineering Studies...'" (p. 59), which is a front for the Patrol.

However, on their very first mission, Everard and fellow recruit Whitcomb, function like Unattached agents, going, just the two of them on a single time hopper, to apprehend an armed time criminal in 464 AD with the approval of Mainwethering in the Patrol London office. Clearly, Gordon and Mainwethering know something that Everard does not, yet.

At the end of this introductory story, yet another Patrolman tells Everard:

"'You'll want more training, of course. Your type of personality goes best with Unattached status - any age, any place, wherever and whenever you may be needed.'" (p. 53)

- which was exactly what Gordon let slip in the first place. But a procedure had to be followed. Everard had to receive basic training, then be put to the test on an active mission, then promoted to Unattached after further training. After that, his status remains unchanged for the remainder of the series - except that he gains seniority even among the Unattached because he is responsible for restoring their timeline.