After the mythological narrative of section I, section 1 is historical fiction. A barbarian prisoner invokes Woen, Donar and Tiw. The Roman legate, Munius Lupercus, identifies these gods with Mercury, Hercules and Mars. If this story were a historical fantasy, then these gods might have intervened in the action. However, we know that "Star of the Sea" will turn out to be historical sf because it is published in the Time Patrol collection. Human characters will enact what they think the gods want but the gods themselves will not appear except in the mythological interludes, I-IV.
Lupercus finds local nature terrifying because the Rhine is in drought so that the hostile barbarians can cross it easily and can also capture grounded supply vessels. War has made farms dust. Houses have been burned. From the Roman Old Camp, Lupercus looks out across the besieging barbarian camp and also sprawled corpses now being eaten by insects and crows. His prisoner quotes the sibyl Veleda who has called on every tribe to rise. The goddess says that Rome is doomed. But Rome was not overthrown by a simultaneous rising of all German tribes led by Claudius Civilis and inspired by Veleda. As when Hannibal sacked Rome, this is a job for the Time Patrol. The nature of time travel is such that the problem begins to be addressed:
"In the closing decades of the twentieth century..." (2, p. 477)
After such a long build-up, the narrative at last reaches the Patrol and Manson Everard.
2 comments:
Though if the change -had- "propagated" the Patrol might have assigned the same personnel -- but by seeking them out in downtime "locations"!
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And Paul has made detailed arguments for thinking "deleted" timelines were not snuffed into nothingness, which seems to have been Anderson's original thought, in the earliest Time Patrol Stories. Rather, they became inaccessible to time travelers to and from the universe leading to the Danellians.
Ad astra! Sean
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