Friday 28 February 2014

Everard's Apartment


Poul Anderson, Time Patrol (New York, 2006).

Manson Everard lives in a New York apartment when, at the age of thirty, he is recruited into the Time Patrol in 1954 and still lives there when we last see him in 1990 but by then he is much older than sixty six because of all his time traveling. However, this affects neither his appearance nor his energy because he has benefited from the Patrol's longevity treatment.

From his window, he sees a crowded street though not "...the towers of Manhattan..." (p. 17). The apartment has a bookshelf (p. 18) and a bar (p. 55). Above the latter:

"He had hung two crossed spears and a horse-plumed helmet from the Achaean Bronze Age..." (ibid.)

On the floor is "...the polar bear rug, which Bjarni Herjulfsson had once given to Everard..." (pp. 129-130). Standing on this rug and looking out the apartment window, John Sandoval sees that:

"Towers were sharp against a clear sky; the noise of traffic was muted by height." (p. 130)

By 1980, there is dirt, disorder, danger and decay in New York but Everard needs a twentieth century pied-a-terre and "...had grown used to these lodgings..." (p. 352).

"On a high floor, [the apartment] was an oasis of quiet and cleanliness." (p. 353)

Bookshelf-lined walls, three excellent pictures, Bronze Age spears and a polar bear rug from tenth-century Greenland. A local saloon serves a free lunch in the 1890's.

Later in 1980, snow falls outside while Everard and his guest hear a recorded medieval Japanese koto (traditional stringed instrument) performance (p. 385).

On 24 May 1987, Everard sits "...in his shabby old armchair." (p. 726) The apartment is "...comfortable with souvenirs..." (ibid.), including:

" - Bronze Age helmet and spears above the bar, polar bear rug from Viking Age Greenland on the floor..." (ibid.)

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