Another Advantage Of Time Travel

"Star of the Sea," 4.

Manse Everard not only wants to speak with Buhrmund the Batavian but also is able to choose the most convenient moment in Buhrmund's career:

"Preliminary scouting suggested the Batavian would be most easily accessible when he accepted the surrender of Castra Vetera; and the occasion would add a chance to meet Classicus." (p. 516)

(Classicus, Buhrmund's ally, was with him at Castra Vetera.)

Whoever did that preliminary scouting, probably Everard himself, might even have glimpsed Everard in conversation with the two rebel leaders although Time Patrollers try to avoid foreknowledge of their own actions.

Everard and Floris know that Classicus has the prisoners slaughtered soon after the surrender. They hope to be gone before that happens but unfortunately Floris witnesses it and cannot intervene: a disadvantage of time travel.

Turning the page, we find that section 5 opens with:

"Wind rushed bitter, driving low clouds like smoke before it. Spatters of rain flew slantwise past unrestful bows." (p. 518)

Wind and weather, as ever. The past means not only history but also exposure to the elements. 5 also ends with the wind as it rocks a hanged man "...to and fro." (p. 520)

In 6, Everard and Floris rest and recover in twentieth-century Amsterdam.