Dominic Flandry goes alone to Altai in an Alfzarian ship.
Daven Laure goes alone to Serieve in his own ship.
The Time Patrol, Terran Naval Intelligence and the Commonalty are all understaffed: a common complaint. Laure says:
"'Our service should increase its personnel, even if it means raising dues. We're spread too thin across - how many stars?'"
-Poul Anderson, "Starfog" IN Anderson, Flandry's Legacy (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 709-794 AT p. 71.
The cybernetic brain of his ship replies:
"'The last report in my files estimated ten million planets with a significant number of Commonalty members on them. As for how many more there may be with which these have reasonably regular contact -'" (ibid.)
The Patrol guards the history of a single planet.
The Intelligence Corps guards the peace and security of a four hundred diameter sphere of space at the end of one spiral arm of the galaxy.
The Service provides scientific and technical support to civilized planets throughout an entire spiral arm.
Three vast and different organizations.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And the Ranger Service of the Commonalty will work only as long as it's not faced with problems beyond its ability to handle. Let a really dangerous crisis arise and I will have doubts that the Rangers can handle it. Such as, say, a barbarian invasion or the rise of a civilized but hostile and aggressive power. The Service simply would not be able to handle either of them. The Commonalty, like it not, would have to build up a Navy and Intelligence Corps.
Sean
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