David,

I don’t think there is anyone to root for in that story. The scientists from the future may be the closest things to a “ hero” in the tale but they are truly impotent past a certain point. Benson is pure anti-hero. It’s a very dark tale, really.

I have tended to look at the time loop stuff, and the events of the story, as being the main point - that you really can’t change history, at least not in a writ-large sense. Benson is unwittingly trapped in a never ending cycle where minor details may change but where he will never get any closer to changing history or even improving it. Kind of a history-based version of Zeno’s paradox - the sum of all his actions as their limit approaches infinity makes no real difference and he never will reach the goal outlined in the story. I think that aspect is mostly McGuire talking but Piper certainly had his darker side, too.

Tom

> On Apr 4, 2026, at 5:50 PM, David Johnson <xxxxxx@zarthani.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Tom.
>
>>> I have to admit up front that Beam's collaborations with McGuire -- except for "The Return" -- are among my least favourite of his yarns.
>>
>> What?!!   No love for Hunter Patrol!
>>
>> Blasphemy!
>>
>> 🤣🤣🤣
>
> 🙃
>
> I never could figure out who I was supposed to be "rooting for" in that yarn and the whole time loop thing simply left me confused.
>
> I mean, Evri-Flave will only take you so far. . . .
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
> --
> "Ravick had been in power too long, and he was drunker on it than Bish Ware ever got on Baldur honey-rum. As an intoxicant, rum is practically a soft drink beside power." - H. Beam Piper, Four-Day Planet
>
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