(i) studying prehistoric life on the unpolluted Earth;
(ii) no harm to family;
(iii) secret help you can give them;
(iv) centuries of life (why not millennia or more?);
(v) no illness;
(vi) friendships within the Patrol;
(vii) experiences - the Parthenon, Chrysopolis, pre-Columbian Yellowstone, Nijinsky dancing, Garrick playing Lear, Michelangelo painting.
I wonder whether longevity, perfect health and their different experience of time allow Patrollers to remain human?
3 comments:
Hi, Paul!
I am frankly skeptical that Time Patrol anti aging technicques could lead to its beneficiaries living for many millennia. Because, as I think Manse Everard said somewhere, SOMETHING will get you, if only by accident. And, of course, I'm sure quite a large number of TP agents died of violence, one way or another, while on assignment to any number of periods.
It would be amusing to think of Wanda Tamberly listening in as Michelangelo and his patron Pope Julius II, both hot tempered, strong willed men, argued over his pay and what he would paint! (Smiles)
Sean
Sean,
But many TP agents stay at home in admin, records, data coordination etc and many must teach at the Academy or work in scientific bases as in "Gibraltar Falls." Only Unattacheds and field agents go into potentially violent environments. Given enough time, I suppose that everyone will die from an accident but how much time is enough when age and illness have been eliminated and when Patrollers know which periods to avoid, e.g., the London office is in 1890-1910, not in 1930-1950.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Granted, that the administrative staff of the Time Patrol would seldom have occasion to go to "potentially violent environments. But, even peaceful resorts or scientific bases would sometimes see situations where an agent might die. That was precisely the point of the plot in "Gibraltar Falls."
And I still think any milieu offices set in eras to the past of the discovery of time travel and the founding of the Patrol would, by definition, always have some risks for Patrol officers (whether Unattacheds, Specialists, or agents assigned permanently to a single period).
Sean
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