22 May 1987

Poul Anderson, Time Patrol (New York, 2006).

So far, up to p. 713 (this will change), the rule in "The Year Of The Ransom" is that, when Wanda Tamberly is on stage, she narrates but otherwise the narration is in the third person whether the viewpoint character is Castelar, Stephen Tamberly or Manson Everard.

In the section headed "22 May 1987", pp. 698-713, Wanda is Castelar's prisoner. Her Uncle Stephen had thought that a cavalier must be fitter than an Olympian champion. Wanda goes further:

"...he's a superman, or pretty close to it. Natural selection, back in his day. If you weren't physically tough, you didn't live to have kids. And a peasant could be stupid, might even do better if he was, but not a military officer who didn't have a Pentagon to plan his moves for him." (p. 699)

So Wanda deduces that Castelar is not only strong but also astute. And, like HG Wells' Time Traveler reflecting on the Morlocks and Eloi, she automatically applies a Darwinian analysis unknown to all previous ages.

Castelar makes telling observations about the contents of Wanda's apartment:

he is surprised that she has so many books - "'You cannot be a cleric...'" (p. 704);
but they are poorly bound - paperbacks;
magazine covers are garish;
he admires the gas range but comments on the vacuum cleaner, "'Give me a charwoman...She doesn't howl like a mad wolf.'" (p. 705)

Because of the time travel involved, it is important to be clear about when they are:

after Everard interviewed Wanda on 30 October 1986;
before Castelar kidnapped Wanda on 10 September 1987;
while the Wanda of May 1987 is visiting family for the weekend and will not return to this apartment until Monday evening.

Back in October, Wanda had wondered whether Uncle Steve was with the CIA. We could almost say TIA, Temporal Intelligence Agency. She has learned from Castelar that there is a guarda del tiempo and that Stephen works for that. She deduces that Everard must work for it as well and that determines her next move.