Guion talks about tracing a disturbance back up the threads of the web of world-lines even though the source of the disturbance might not be in our "yet" or reality. Within "our reality," if he traces the disturbance back as far as he can, then the possible objects of his search are:
(i) the arrival of a temporal vehicle that has not departed from any earlier or later moment of the current timeline;
(ii) a quantum fluctuation causing a minor anomaly;
(iii) a randomly changed event in the life of a personal causal nexus.
A personal causal nexus is a person whose world-line intersects with so many others than a minor change in his life might cause major changes for others, the effects multiplying instead of damping out, thus, e.g., the career of a single knight affecting the outcome of the medieval church-state conflict and thus altering the course of all subsequent history. (Stalemate is essential if either theocracy or autocracy is to be avoided. Here again, temporal physics and historical turning points intersect.)
When Guion speaks to Wanda, he knows of (i) and might be learning of (ii) but has not yet encountered (iii). A personal causal nexus initiates a major temporal crisis requiring emergency measures from Everard, Wanda and other surviving Patrol agents.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I would have liked to have seen more of Guion, in chapters of THE SHIELD OF TIME where he was the viewpoint character, instead of just when he was interviewing Manse and Wanda.
And I wonder what Frank Tipler might have said about the Time Patrol stories if he was commenting in this blog?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I think that Guion was meant to be and to remain an enigma.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Probably! And one thing I remember about Guion was Manse thinking the former came from an era near enough to the Danellians that Guion would know more about them than most other Patrol agents. Enough to be frightened by the Danellians?
Ad astra! Sean
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