(urth) Gideon

[Dave Tallman]

I'd like to expand on the possibility of temporal clones. It seems 
probable that Bill Reis came back from his trip to Woldercan while he 
was "still there" from the point-of-view of Earth time. This gives him 
more time to set up his financial empire and have his gigantic palace 
constructed as king. It also makes his multiple identities more 
confusing for his enemies. Temporal clones are hinted at when Klauser 
talks of a robin fighting its reflection (p. 298).

At the end of /An Evil Guest/ Cassie is heading to Woldercan with a 
strong desire to bring Wally back. Suppose she learns the secret of how 
to properly execute hops from there which will take her back in time, so 
that she arrives before she started. Suppose also that she cannot 
restore her enhanced star power. She might attempt to get close to her 
original self in order to have a chance to warn Reis and save his life. 
She may have become a werewolf as a disguise.

Here are some indications:

   1. Werewolves redistribute their mass (p. 99). Margaret is a small
      woman (54). Cassie in the end is thinner than she used to be (p.
      299).
   2. Other forms than wolves, dogs, and leopards are possible (p. 99).
      How about a different-looking human?
   3. Coming back to the part she wouldn't have access to much money,
      other than selling the hopper without a legitimate registration.
      Margaret was poor.
   4. Margaret gets Cassie's sandwich too fast (pp. 54-57). There's only
      a little dialog and no wait time before she appears with the white
      bag. If she knew in advance what the order would be she could get
      it before they spoke.
   5. She also found Chase too fast, getting answering machines at both
      his apartments in almost no time (pp 63-64). Again, it seems like
      she was prepared ahead of time.
   6. She exaggerates her truthfulness, playing a role that differs from
      Cassie (pp. 82-83).
   7. She knows Cassie can sing. Saying she can tell from how Cassie
      talks seems a bit silly (p. 83).
   8. Her churchgoing persona (p. 84) may be derived from the role of
      Mariah Brownlea. She has kept those initials in the name Margaret
      Briggs.
   9. "Have you ever wanted to help out somebody you loved, and known
      the only thing you could do for him was some tiny stupid thing
      that was a lot of trouble? And done it anyway? Any of you?"
      Margaret nodded. (p. 112).

There is contrary evidence in her standard breakfast of yougurt and 
fruit (p. 186), since Cassie said she never wanted to eat fruit again 
(p. 288). However, she might endure that as part of her role and to keep 
her weight and expenses down.

Cassie's hope to change the past seems to have been defeated by time 
paradoxes. If she warned Reis she wasn't believed. Chase seems to have 
spotted her for a werewolf and gotten the FBI to arrest her, keeping her 
from doing more at a critical time. At least she got the chance to see 
Wally one more time, when he came to retrieve the gold bracelet. She got 
to try the "tiny stupid thing" that was "a lot of trouble."

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