The two agents stared at Hunter with grim determination as they stumbled through the crowd.
To prevent them from taking the human members of his team, Hunter could allow himself to be taken. He felt he could manage to get away later if they arrested him. His team members would still be in some danger without him, but totally avoiding significant risk was now impossible.
To help the rest of his team escape, he would have to lead the NKVD agents away from them.
Hunter got to his feet suddenly. The two agents both stopped in surprise, looking up at him; maybe his height startled them. Instead of running, however, Hunter strode toward them, imitating the scowls on both their faces.
The two Russians recovered from their surprise.
“Stop, comrade,” said one. “I am Agent Raskov. You must come with us.”
Since Hunter wanted to keep their attention on him, he did not bother to answer. He suddenly darted to his right, stepping over a sleepy, puzzled elderly man. As the two agents moved to block his way, he jumped over someone else to a small open spot on the floor.
“Halt! I command you!”
More people were sitting up, blinking in the light and looking around.
Hunter, of course, could have easily leaped through the crowd, throwing the two agents aside with his greater strength. Instead, he was hoping to make them work to capture him, so that they would forget about arresting his team members. He hesitated, giving the agents a chance to maneuver closer.
“You will not be hurt, comrade,” said Agent Konev, as he came forward, pulling a handgun out of his overcoat. “Not unless you force us to get angry.”
Around him, those who were awake gasped and squealed in sudden fear. Some scuttled away from him, still on the floor. Others lay flat, their eyes wide.
Hunter had been prepared to move toward the front door again. Now he stopped, staring at the gun aimed at him. He wondered if these agents would actually risk opening fire in the crowded room. From what Judy had said about this society, he estimated that they would.
The Third Law prevented him from taking an unnecessary risk to himself, of course, but the First Law completely prevented him from fleeing now, for fear that bystanders would be shot by mistake. He raised his hands slowly and did not move. The other agent also drew a gun.
“Do not fire,” said Hunter. “Do not endanger anyone else here.”
“Turn around,” said Agent Raskov.
“Agreed. Please do not fire.” Hunter obeyed. He felt himself being frisked. With the demands of the First Law dominating his thoughts, he fully expected that they would next go after the humans on his team-probably forcing Steve to take them all back to their own time.
Instead, to his surprise, each agent took one of his arms and they walked him forward through the warehouse.
Ishihara and Wayne had been left out in the backseat of the car each time that Raskov and Konev went inside another building. Their hosts had found them each a long, black woolen overcoat, but no other clothes to wear. Wayne kept his cloak bundled carefully under his arm.
For almost two hours after reaching Moscow, they had gone to one facility after another, looking for MC 4 and Hunter among the people displaced by the war. Ishihara had already told Wayne what he had overheard with his enhanced hearing about Raskov and Konev interrogating them when morning arrived, whether or not they located the two enemy agents tonight.
Ishihara knew that the interrogation would involve torture. Under the First Law, he could not allow Wayne to take that risk of harm. They had to escape sometime tonight.
“When are we going to make our move?” Wayne asked. “Wouldn’t this be a good time to get away from them? We’re just sitting here.”
“I fear that simply jumping out of the car and running would put you in danger of freezing to death, without improving our chances of avoiding recapture.”
“Yeah. Well…if we don’t escape to begin with, we won’t have to worry about being recaptured at all.” Wayne sighed. “I don’t want to freeze out there, either, but if we’re going to go, shouldn’t we just do it?”
“Yes, you have a point.”
“Hey-they’ve taken a lot longer in this one than the others. Before, they just talked to a few people at the door, got the lights turned on, and came back out. You think that means something?”
Ishihara turned up his hearing to maximum. Suddenly he recognized Hunter’s voice telling someone not “to fire.” Ishihara knew a weapon was being held on him.
“Get in the driver’s seat,” Ishihara said suddenly, opening his own door. “Now, quickly!” He got out and closed the door as quietly as he could.
Wayne climbed over the front seat and rolled down the window so he could speak to Ishihara. “But now what? I don’t know how to work this thing.”
Ishihara ran around to the driver’s side “They are bringing Hunter out. We must avoid him for the good of your own mission.”
“Okay! But what do I do?”
Ishihara leaned inside, pointing. “Push down that pedal, the clutch, with your left foot. Hold on to the steering wheel.” He grabbed the gearshift and moved it. “Hold this right here and, let up with your left foot.”
“Got it.” Wayne did as he was told. “How do you know how to work this thing?”
“I observed the driver carefully as we were riding before, and listened to the engine and gear sounds.”
“But he used a key to turn it on, didn’t he? And he must have taken it with him. It’s not here.”
“I realized that this vehicle is one I have some knowledge about. It will start a couple of other ways than by normal use of the key.”
“It will?”
“Use your other foot on the other two pedals. Those are the brake and accelerator.”
“All right. That’s the same as in our electric vehicles back home.”
Ishihara hurried to the rear of the car. His hearing revealed three sets of footsteps inside the warehouse walking resolutely toward the front door. Hoping that his information about this car was reliable, he leaned against the back of the car and used all of his strength to push it. Slowly, the car rolled forward.
The vehicle was on a fairly level stretch of pavement. In a moment, Ishihara had it moving faster. Suddenly the car jerked a couple of times and the engine made a coughing noise. Finally it roared to life.
“Halt! I order you to stop!” Agent Konev’s voice came from the front door.
Ishihara ran around the right side of the moving car. He yanked the passenger door open and jumped inside. Then he slammed it shut.
“Now what?” Wayne asked frantically, pushing the accelerator to the floor. “It won’t go very fast!”
“Push down the clutch.” Ishihara reached over at the same time and put his hand over Wayne’s on the gearshift, moving it for him. The engine roared and jerked; then the car sped up as it moved into second gear.
“Halt!” A gunshot followed the shout.
Wayne yanked the steering wheel to turn a corner, making the tires squeal.
Ishihara turned to look behind them just before they completed the turn. In the shadows, Agent Raskov held his gun pointing into the air. Next to him, Agent Konev was holding Hunter by one arm.
14
“Now what do I do?” Wayne shouted over the roar of the engine as he gripped the steering wheel. “This can’t be right! It’s going a little faster, but it doesn’t sound like it did before!” He was driving down a city street now, but much too slowly.
“Push down the clutch again.” As before, Ishihara grabbed his hand over the gearshift and moved it into third gear. Instantly, the engine noise lowered and the car sped up.
“Okay,” Wayne muttered. “I’m getting some idea about how this works now. But where am I going?”
Ishihara pointed into the shadows ahead. “Turn left at the next corner.”