"'Your work will be mostly in your own eras, unless you graduate to unattached status. You will live, on the whole, ordinary lives, family and friends as usual; the secret part of those lives will have the satisfactions of good pay, protection, occasional vacations in some very interesting places, supremely worthwhile work. But you will always be on call. Sometimes you will help time travelers who have gotten into difficulties, one way or another.'" (Time Patrol, pp. 11-12)
Cynthia Denison is a clerk in Engineering Studies Co. Carl Farness' wife is not in the Patrol. Do all these ordinary members and relatives receive the longevity treatment? Dard Kelm does not mention it here. He goes on to say:
"'Sometimes you will work on missions, the apprehension of would-be political or military or economic conquistadors." (p. 12)
That does sound like missions through time? We have plenty of conquistadors in the 1850-2000 period but none that have come from other times - I don't think - unless the Patrol has managed to cover them up. Any ordinary conquistadors who are successful have to be protected by the Patrol.
"'Sometimes the Patrol will accept damage as done, and work instead to set up counteracting influences in later periods which will swing history back to the desired track.'" (ibid.)
That sounds like work well beyond the range of ordinary members. It also sounds highly questionable. Does it imply that some major historical event did not happen as we think it did but the Patrol controlled the consequences, including historical records, so that the event has been changed but not subsequent events?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I think some of the wives and husbands of Patrol agents were given the longevity treatments. Probably mostly to those who came from later, more advanced eras. I don't think Pummairam's two wives were given the longevity treatment, because to do so might cause serious problems.
Sean
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