“I do not like separating from you. I must protect you, as well.”
“In the absence of a clear danger under the First Law, you should have no problem. Cadbury will be safe for me. Do you agree?”
“Yes.” Ishihara lowered his voice. “If you wish this to remain private, we must change the subject. Jane is coming back.”
Hunter sat down in a small tavern with Bedwyr, Harriet, and Steve. Harriet asked Bedwyr many detailed questions about life in his village; Hunter could hear the historian behind her questions. Steve listened politely, sipping from a goblet of mead, sprawled back in his seat comfortably.
A bell began to ring loudly, clearly, and rhythmically outside. Bedwyr promptly put his goblet down on the table and got up. Then he looked in surprise at the others, who had not moved.
The other patrons in the tavern, and the tavern-keeper, hurried out the door.
“It’s the village bell,” he said. “Aren’t you coming? Important news must have come.”
Steve started to get up.
“No,” said Hunter, gently placing a hand on Steve’s arm. “Please inform us of the news.”
“As you wish.” Bedwyr shrugged and hurried out of the tavern.
Outside, Hunter heard many feet from allover the village moving quickly up and down the streets.
“What’s wrong, Hunter?” Steve asked.
“The three of us have not had a chance to confer freely for some time,” said Hunter. “We can talk now and find out what the news is later.”
“Well, what do you want to talk about?” Steve set down his goblet.
“If MC 6 has not returned to full size, or if we cannot find any clue to his location, Steve and I may have to consider leaving the troop we have joined. If we do, I judge that we cannot expect to be welcome in the village any longer. Is this accurate?”
“Yes, if you just quit or disappear,” said Harriet thoughtfully. “No army tolerates deserters, though in this time, organization is not very formal. Quitting now probably would mean that you would simply not be welcome back. Deserting on campaign, however, is likely a hanging offense. But I wonder if you can arrange to be reassigned to garrison duty here in the tor.”
“Is that likely?” Hunter asked.
“No. New arrivals are not likely to be trusted. But I can ask Gwenhyvaer if she can help.”
“If we go out on campaign, we could be wasting valuable time,” said Hunter. “But suppose this is necessary. Will you be safe here?”
“Yes. Gwenhyvaer seems to like me. And if my husband has gone out to fight with Artorius, I will look better to everyone in the palace.”
“I asked a couple of sentries last night if they had seen anyone of MC 6’s description in the palace,” said Steve. “I guess if you’d heard anything like that, you would have said so already.”
“Yes, I would have.” Harriet shook her head. “MC 6 may not be in the palace, though. He could be working in the village during the day and either spending the night hidden away in the village or out in the countryside nearby.”
“He could still be microscopic,” said Hunter. “We are searching in a relatively small area with a modest population. If he had returned to full size and had remained in the village, we should have found someone who has seen him by now.”
“We haven’t offered a reward here, like we have before,” said Steve.
“I can do that,” said Harriet. “If I remain here to cover the village, then you can see if he appears with the riders at some point.”
“You seem very comfortable here,” said Hunter.
“Hunter, I might as well tell you something,” said Harriet slowly. “As I mentioned before, I do not believe in chaos theory at all. I’m willing to fulfill my commitment to you in finding MC 6, but then I want to stay in this time.”
“Forever?” Steve sat up in his chair, startled. “Are you crazy?”
“Maybe.” Harriet smiled. “But I used to dream about living in this time-the focus of my professional research. And when Hunter told me about the mission to travel back in time, I knew I wanted to do it.”
“You accepted this job with the intention of staying here?” Hunter asked.
“Yes. I admit it. But I waited to make my final decision until after I had seen what my prospects would be. Since I have the advantage of hindsight, I can use it to improve my chances. For instance, I know before Gwenhyvaer and Artorius themselves that they will marry. I intend to position myself as a mentor and friend to her. After my husband disappears, maybe in battle against the Saxons, I will be an honored widow. I hope she will accept me as a personal servant.”
Hunter said nothing. On the second mission, which took the team to Jamaica in the seventeenth century to capture MC 2, he had hired a historian named Rita Chavez. Rita had decided to go out on her own only on impulse, after the team had arrived there. Her leaving the team had endangered the mission, but she had eventually changed her mind and returned to the team. Harriet remained willing to fulfill her duties, apparently, but she seemed to have made a much more calm and studied decision not to return to their own time.
“Have you really thought this through?” Steve demanded. “What kind of doctors do they have here? What happens if you get sick, or get hurt?”
“Yes, I’ve thought it through. I’m not one to romanticize this era-if anything, I know it better than most people from our time.”
“Before we left, you said this was a time of social and political transition,” said Hunter. “The border between the Britons and the Saxons fluctuates. Why do you want to live in a time that is so unstable?”
“In terms of scholarly study, this time is unstable. Very little from these years will last for as long as another century, when the Saxons conquer and settle throughout all of what will become England. But for one middle-aged woman like me, life in a village far from the military front will be very routine, day in and day out.”
“What will you do when the Saxons come?” Steve frowned. “That time can’t be very routine.”
“Again, I’m using the advantage of historical hindsight. The efforts of Artorius and his men will hold off the Saxons for the rest of my lifetime. My presence won’t change that. Even under the worst circumstances, I’ll be gone before the Saxons reach this area.”
Hunter did not respond. The First Law required him to take Harriet back both for her own safety and because of his own belief in chaos theory. The harm to her in returning would be virtually nonexistent, yet in his opinion, the potential harm to the future if she stayed remained very large. If necessary, he would take her back under duress, and he did not want to tell her that; she might decide to run away, as Rita had. In any case, this matter would have to wait until the team was ready to leave this time again.
The now-famous prototype of the highly successful “Hunter” class robot first demonstrated his remarkable abilities in the Mojave Center Governor case. The following images are drawn from the Robot City archives of Derec Avery, the eminent robotics historian.
R. Hunter’s different incarnations.The Hunter robot is able to assume different forms, including those pictured here: human form, standard robot mode, and full battle array.
MC robots merged.The final independent component of MC Governor is captured by R. Hunter in the distant past and merged with the remaining five.
The Bohung Institute.A security robot patrols the Institute’s perimeter.
MC Governor confronts R. Hunter.Following MC Governor’s capture and reintegration, R. Hunter confronts him in his office.