"...if one is born into an era of decadence, one may as well enjoy it while it lasts." (Chapter I, p. 343)
However, while talking to Emperor Hans, he thinks:
"Was that always my real desire? Not to chase down enemies of the Empire so I could go on having fun in it, but to have fun chasing them down?" (Chapter III, p. 382)
Flandry does not fully know himself.
At one stage, Manse Everard of the Time Patrol realizes:
"...that what he needed was not surcease but the completion of the hunt."
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), Part One, p. 8.
However, Everard needs "completion" to get the job done, not to "have fun" at it the way Flandry does.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
But I'm sure both Flandry and Everard took personal pleasure in doing or completing a mission or job well and competently. That would be one way of them both having "fun." And they both did have some ideals and principles. However cynical he was, Flandry did have some loyalty and even patriotic feeling for the Empire, when push came to shove.
Sean
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