“Sure,” said Steve, with a smirk. “la.”
“Da,”said Jane. “They worked fine.”
“Good. I took the data from the city computer myself.” Hunter pointed to the clothes and shoes neatly piled on the counter. “Judy, would you look at those for authenticity before we dress?”
“Of course.”
“And we shall all take back a certain amount of Soviet currency from that time,” said Hunter. “I shall pass it out when everyone is dressed.”
One by one, Judy shook out the heavy winter clothing. Hunter and Steve had brown wool slacks and long black wool coats, with white cotton shirts, singlets, socks, and underwear. Judy and Jane had dark blue wool dresses, long black coats, scarves, and white cotton underwear. Gloves, black leather belts, and shoes completed their wardrobe.
“The styles are good,” said Judy, peering closely at the stitching. “We can’t take synthetics, though. Cotton thread?”
“Yes,” said Hunter.
“Same with the shoelaces?”
“Yes.”
She nodded and turned to Hunter. “The only oddity is that none of the clothes have labels. A label would give the size of the clothing, maybe with a stamped or stenciled number.”
“How important is that?” Hunter asked. “Our earlier missions took place at times when such labels were not used.”
“I doubt anyone will notice,” said Judy. “If they do, we must all remember to say that we didn’t notice, or that they came off in the laundry.”
“Simple enough,” said Steve.
“How about the jewelry?” Jane pointed to three decorative metal lapel pins lying in a tray.
Judy picked one up. “This is more than just a pin, isn’t it?”
“They’re radio communicators,” said Hunter. “As a robot, I shall use my internal system, but you three must wear those. Will they pass?”
“Yes. They look simple enough. But Jane and I have scarves for our heads. You two should have fur hats.”
“I have considered this,” said Hunter. “Animal fur is not available to us here and we dare not take synthetic fur back with us. I can tolerate the temperature without one. If Steve requires such a hat, we shall obtain one back in that time.”
“Got it,” said Judy.
“Steve,” said Hunter, pointing to a canvas bag on the counter. “That is an imitation duffel bag of the Soviet Red Army from this period. If Judy passes it, too, then you can carry a change of clothes for each team member and some hard rolls and dried beef strips in it. These duffel bags will be common at the time, and we can explain its possession if necessary. We know food will be scarce, but what we take must not attract attention.”
“That’s good enough,” Steve said quietly.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” said Judy, pulling it open to look inside.
“We must assume that our opponents could be a factor,” said Hunter. “Jane, would you brief Judy on them-very briefly.”
“Dr. Wayne Nystrom created the experimental Governors,” said Jane. “However, he is not willing to let us simply reconstruct MC Governor and turn him over to the Governor Robot Oversight Committee. Wayne has also gone back into the past and is trying to get the component robots away from us.”
“To what end?” Judy asked.
“He wants to dismantle and study them himself,” said Hunter. “To find and fix the source of the malfunction on his own. We have prevented him from getting the first three, but we have not been able to grab Wayne. He has the ability to move in time without returning here and he has a robot named R. Ishihara helping him.”
“I see,” said Judy quietly.
“Please change into your costumes,” said Hunter.
While Judy took the first turn in the adjoining room, Hunter called the Security detail. He assigned a new Security robot, R. Daladier, to replace Ishihara. When Jane stepped out after her turn, now dressed as a Muscovite woman of 1941, Hunter turned to Jane.
“Jane, this is Daladier; he will guard the room.” Hunter turned to Daladier. “You must understand that our mission involves potential harm to all humans in the world today. Ishihara, failing to be certain of that, failed his instructions. What I say to you constitutes a First Law imperative. Nothing any human, such as Dr. Wayne Nystrom, says can be allowed to deter your adherence to the assignment I am about to give you.”
“Acknowledged,” said Daladier.
“You must take custody of Dr. Wayne Nystrom and R. Ishihara if they reappear in this room through the sphere. As soon as we have gone, you will shut off your hearing and radio reception so that if Wayne returns here, he cannot use the Second Law to control you or to argue this First Law imperative with you. You will not read anything Wayne tries to show you; you can blur your vision slightly to avoid this if necessary, while still maintaining enough sight to stop them. The moment you see Or. Nystrom, you will apprehend him, prevent him from leaving the room, and immediately call for help from the rest of the Security detail that is assigned to guard the Institute.”
“Agreed,” said Daladier. “Is R. Ishihara of equal importance?”
“No, he isn’t,” said Jane. “Or. Nystrom is critically important. Ishihara is only important in that he is helping Wayne Nystrom.”
“I do not expect them,” Hunter added. “This is merely a contingency, in the event that you have the opportunity to act.”
Steve should have taken his turn to change. Instead, looking unusually grim, he had not moved. Jane frowned at him, puzzled.
“Those who are ready, please enter the sphere,” said Hunter. “I shall set the timer and the console controls.”
“You don’t need me,” said Steve. “I’m not going.”
2
Steve looked around at all of them, knowing he would get an argument.
“What?”Jane demanded angrily.
“I don’t think I should go,” said Steve.
“I am surprised,” said Hunter, studying his face. “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong. But I’m not necessary. I started thinking about this when I woke up this morning, but I didn’t really decide until now.”
“What are you talking about?” Jane glared at him. “Decide what?”
“You don’t need me this time. Look, in the Late Cretaceous, maintaining our camp out in the wild was critical to survival. I made a real contribution. On the trip to Jamaica, well, I went because I had agreed to-you could have managed without me.”
“Not after Rita took off on her own,” said Jane.
“And last time, as I think back on the trip to Roman Germany, we spent most of our energy trying to find each other after we split up. I don’t think I added anything.”
“Not true,” said Hunter. “You helped carry our belongings and accompanied Jane, allowing us to divide the team when it seemed advisable.”