o "The Defenseless Dead": Time period of the story includes passage
of Second Freezer Bill by Security Council on Feb. 3, 2125. Garner
is "180-odd" years old, which is consistent. First Freezer bill
passed in 2122 and Chamberses were kidnapped March 21, 2123; these
are loosely described as "two years ago"; again, consistent.
o "ARM": Date of murder is specifically given as June 4, 2124.
Events of "The Defenseless Dead" are in the past, specifically
"early last year" (see introduction of Jackson Bera). Above date
is therefore inconsistent. Note Hamilton says he became an ARM
about 3 years earlier, so this is about 10 years after he left for
the Belt.
o "Patchwork Girl": No date specifically given. However, (1) Naomi
Mitchison's daughter Miranda was born January 4, 2117 and was
killed at age 4 1/2, around mid-2121. Soon after, Mitchison
visited the moon, and she applied for Belt citizenship on Sept. 6,
2121. Events of the story take place about 4 years later,
suggesting a date around 2125. These dates are consistent with the
date given in "ARM". (2) April 13 falls on a Wednesday. Assuming
the Gregorian calendar, the most likely year would be 2129. (The
next earlier candidate year is 2118; the next later is 2135). (3)
Hamilton says it was 14 years ago that he became a Belter. He also
says he and Taffy had been roommates for 3 years, up to about 2
1/2 months ago.
o "The Woman in Del Rey Crater": Garner is 188, suggesting a date of
2127. Shreve retired in 2125, "Two years ago". Hence 2127. Events
of "Patchwork Girl" take place earlier.
There must be an error somewhere. I can see no room for doubt about the
order of the stories. There are no internal inconsistencies within the
first two stories. There is one internal inconsistency within the later
three -- the Wednesday, April 13 problem. There are gross
inconsistencies between the two sets of stories. Not only do the
explicit dates conflict, but Hamilton's biographical data do not add
up: If "Patchwork Girl" takes place fourteen years after Hamilton
became a belter, and ("Death by Ecstasy") he became an ARM about 7
years after leaving for the Belt, and "ARM" takes place about 3 years
after that, then "Patchwork Girl" takes place about four years after
"ARM" -- which conflicts with the dates given, and with the statement
that he and Taffy had been living together for three years (apparently.
Unless, contrary to appearances, Taffy was not living with Hamilton
until after ARM.)
Pick one. I choose, fairly arbitrarily, to believe the dates in the
later stories and to assume that the first two stories take place two
years earlier than stated (and that "Wed. April 13" is either a mistake
or the result of some unmentioned calendar reform).
* The following four stories are linked:
o "The Warriors": (1) 2360 according to TOKS timeline. "The last
murder occurred in twenty-one something, just a hundred and sixty
years ago." If this is accurate, the date is later than about
2125+160=2285 and earlier than 2200+160=2360. Given that there is
