"An Unattached agent of the Time Patrol drew on unlimited funds."
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), PART ONE, 1987 A. D., p. 4.
"The Temporal Bureau doesn't care how much you spend (it costs nothing)..."
-Robert Heinlein, "'- All You Zombies -'" IN Heinlein, The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag (London, 1980), pp. 126-137 AT p.134.
The Patrol sends time criminals to an exile planet whereas the Bureau can exile its own court-martialed members to a year in, e.g., 1974 when there is strict rationing and forced labor. In Poul Anderson's "My Object All Sublime," (see here) a future civilization exiles criminal to unpleasant past periods.
The Temporal Bureau is named once in a single short story whereas the Time Patrol fills two long volumes.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I have a somewhat grim APPRECIATION of that future civilization exiling esp. dangerous criminals to unpleasant periods in the past (in "My Object All Sublime." Compared to that the exile planet used by the Time Patrol seems rather prosaic if not too EASY for at least some temporal criminals.
However, I can think of reasons why the Patrol's exile planet might be better than the method seen in "My Object." The most dangerous time criminals would also be esp. INTELLIGENT and able. Even in an unpleasant past time, some criminals might survive and still be able to make trouble or do harm. Sending them to an exile planet where they would meet few or none others would prevent that danger.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Sean!
That’s a good point, but I would reply that the world of “My Object All Sublime” is unchangeable, so that, as “Todd Michaels” says, any crimes they commit in the past will already have been done. We don’t know much about the exile planet, but I agree that if nothing else, the Time Patrol could dump one criminal on the north continent in the fifty-eighth century B.C., and another on a tropical island in 23,800 A.D., so they would have no opportunity to join forces or to hurt each other.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Kaor, Nicholas!
True, assuming an immutable timeline, crimes committed by temporal criminals in the past could not be undone.
Exactly, convicts sentenced to the Time Patrol's exile planet could be deposited at widely different times, making it impossible for them to either harm each other or cook up dangerous schemes.
Ad astra and regards! Sean
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