Sunday, 5 October 2025

The Time Patrol As An Organization

"Star of the Sea."

We have not yet exhausted all the differences between an individual temporal explorer and a time travelling organization. 

See:

Civilized Time Travel

Janne Floris, based in late twentieth century Amsterdam, does field research in the Netherlands and in neighbouring parts of Belgium and Germany during the Roman Iron Age. Other Specialists do similar work in the centuries before and after Floris' special period and as far apart as Russia and Ireland. Still others remain in the twentieth century to correlate and analyze the data gathered by field agents. When it becomes necessary to investigate inconsistencies found in a chronicle by Tacitus, Floris, born in 1950, must work with Unattached agent, Manse Everard, born in 1924. Not too big a gap between their birth years makes them almost contemporaries.

After an initial visit to the first century, Everard relaxes in twentieth century Amsterdam where he also spends time at the Time Patrol office retrieving data on history, anthropology, political and physical geography etc and imprints any essential information. Even the Patrol knows little about Germanic prehistory which had seemed to be unimportant. Floris lived with the Frisii from 22 to 37 AD because the Patrol had needed to know about Roman influence among the tribes. Only Floris and Everard have researched Claudius Civilis who led the Northern revolt.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Paul!

Iow, the Time Patrol had at least a necessary minimum of a bureaucracy and support staff.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Given the crucial role of the Germanics later, I'd have thought complete research would be necessary -- to spot changes, if nothing else.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

I could argue the Patrol was overworked and undermanned, and had to pass over some eras/regions in favor of more urgently needed tasks.

Ad astra! Sean

Jim Baerg said...

Without time travel the birth years make Floris about the right age to be Everard's daughter. So cultural changes wouldn't be too extreme.

S.M. Stirling said...

Jim: however, people are usually acutely conscious of the cultural changes during their lifetimes. And Everard joined the Time Patrol in the 1950's, so they'd be more obvious to him -- he didn't live through the 1960's.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

While I agree with what you wrote, those cultural changes, unless touching on matters he had strong views about, might not matter much to Everard.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Sean: yeah, but people usually have strong feelings about sexual mores.

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

I agree, but I was thinking of mores in general not just sexual mores.

Ad astra! Sean