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.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I 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
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