Poul Anderson's "Death and the Knight" is a minimalist short story, economically recounted in just four sections:
PARIS, TUESDAY, 10 OCTOBER 1307 (pp. 741-746)
Fulk de Buchy arrests Hugues Marot.
SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, 8 MARCH 1990 (pp. 746-752)
Everard tells Wanda that he must rescue Hugh Marlow (Marot).
HARFLEUR, WEDNESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 1307 (pp. 752-758)
Everard discusses the rescue with the local Patrol chief.
PARIS, WEDNESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 1307 (pp. 758-765)
The rescue.
Everard says:
"'I hope we won't hurt any innocent bystanders too badly.'" (p. 758)
The omniscient narrator comments:
"Sometimes the Patrol must be as ruthless as history itself." (ibid.)
Your blogger comments: I have problems with the morality of the Patrol.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteI too can have problems with what the Patrol sometime does, as well as as well as what every gov't set up by fallible and imperfect men have done. That said, I do believe that sometimes it is necessary to be hard. To avoid or prevent a greater evil.
Ad astra! Sean