Pursued by Manse Everard, Merau Varagan rides toward a landmark castle-like crag and notes the time while waiting for Everard to arrive. Then Varagan engages Everard in conversation until his older self arrives to rescue him.
What else might have happened?
Negative Circular Causality
The older Varagan does not arrive to rescue his younger self.
Therefore, Everard is able to arrest Varagan.
Therefore, the older Varagan spends the rest of his life on the exile planet.
Therefore, that older Varagan is unable to acquire a timecycle with which to rescue his younger self.
Therefore, the older Varagan does not arrive to rescue his younger self.
Time Patrol Intervention
Knowing that Varagan had escaped by generating a causal loop, the Patrol intervenes to prevent the loop, e.g., while Varagan is still riding toward the crag, a Time Patrol agent arrives, stuns him and transports him to the exile planet.
However, it is against Patrol policy to prevent what has happened.
What In Fact Happened
A timecycle appeared twenty feet above.
Varagan from his horse waved at his older self.
The rider on the timecycle fired at Everard who dived to the ground.
Everard's horse was hit by an energy bolt.
Everard fired back from behind the dead horse.
The timecycle swerved.
Everard jumped clear and continued firing.
Varagan leaped from his horse behind the crag.
Everard signalled Mayday on his communicator.
The timecycle dropped behind the crag.
A Patrol vehicle arrived, too late.
Knowing that this had happened, the older Varagan knows that he has rescued his younger self and therefore sets out to rescue him.
2 comments:
As Poul's narrator says often, English grammar doesn't deal with time travel well -- linear time assumptions are built into its structure.
Or to put it another way, time travel plots give writers headaches. I've used them, but I make it easier on myself by -limiting- the amount of time traveling. One time travel event in a book is not too difficult; the more, the worse.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Or you sidestep the problems posed by time traveling by using the alternate worlds hypothesis.
And your last comment, about how time traveling gives writers headaches brings home how WELL Anderson was able to handle multiple incidents of time traveling in the Time Patrol stories.
Ad astra! Sean
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