The Patrol can pay Cro-Magnon guides with steel knives because:
"...the metal would rust away and the strangers be forgotten in a few centuries." (Time Patrol, p. 174)
By contrast, Seahaven Engineering in Nantucket has a sales shop selling metalware not only to islanders but also to mainland Indians who barter pelts, herbs etc for:
knives
spearheads
axes
hatchets
fishhooks
lead sinkers
metal traps
pots
pans
awls
scissors
cloth
needles
copper necklaces
mirrors
Whereas:
"The Patrol could act quite freely, this far back in time; there was no danger of upsetting the past..." (ibid.) -
- the Nantucketers can act even more freely because their mere arrival in 1250 B.C. has already initiated a divergent timeline, thus nothing that they do here can possibly upset the past of their original timeline.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm not surprised Indians who survived the common cold plague were so eager to barter pelts and herbs for the products manufactured by Seahaven Engineering. Those metal tools, weapons, pots, pans, etc., meant a VAST improvement in their way of life. Incidentally, it would also encourage the Indians near Nantucket to quite probably accept the city state as their leader.
Your last paragraph: I agree. A split off, divergent timeline.
Sean
Post a Comment