No Flandry

Targovi says that he is a secret Intelligence agent although "'...no Flandry.'" (Flandry's Legacy, p. 331) Someone claiming involvement with British Intelligence might say, "...no Reilly," (see also here) or, if they preferred fictional references, "...no Bond," or "...no Smiley."

Reilly was a real guy with real exploits who also invented yarns about himself. In the Technic History, stories are afterwards told about van Rijn, Falkayn, Adzel and Flandry and not all of these stories will be true. Hloch tells us that van Rijn lives in folk memory either as hero or rogue. Thus, Reilly, a real person with a partly deserved and partly contrived legend, seems like an appropriate precursor of Flandry.