-James Blish, "Beep" IN Blish, Galactic Cluster (London, 1963), pp. 93-128 AT p. 128.
"'...The date of death of a sentient entity must never be mentioned in a Dirac 'cast.'"
-James Blish, The Quincunx Of Time (New York, 1973), p. 128.
(Coincidentally, the same page number.)
In Quincunx..., the viewpoint character, having been told that the Service is not a thought police but an Event Police, reflects that it also must not be an Assassins' Guild. The Time Patrol is an Event Police but one that might sometimes hire an Assassins' Guild.
If Manse Everard departed 1990, died in 1307 and therefore did not return to 1990, then his death and consequent failure to return would be matters of record in milieu HQ, 1890-1910. Someone would know of his death. HQ has a department that authorizes missions and a department that knows their outcomes. How does it keep these departments apart?
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