Wayne came up next to him.
Chad was sitting against the base of a tree trunk, reading and entering information into his belt computer. Jane was standing in a small open area, looking up at a pterosaur gliding lazily across the sky. Steve was not visible.
“Your First Law concerns should be satisfied,” Wayne whispered. “Right?”
“I do not see one member of the party.”
“Maybe he’s in the tent or out at the latrine or something,” said Wayne.
“I cannot be sure he is safe.”
“Then tell me if you have any reason to believe he is in danger.”
“I have no specific reason, no.”
“Then the Second Law is still in force. Come with me.” Wayne turned and crept away.
Hunter felt a twinge of uncertainty under the First Law, but nothing in the behavior of Chad and Jane suggested that they were worried about Steve. The imperative of the Second Law was clear and direct. He slipped through the brush after Wayne, wondering where they were going and why Wayne wanted his companionship.
Jane loved watching the flying creature circling overhead against the blue sky. It was so much like a bird and yet strange and different at the same time. She could hardly see it because of the heavy forest canopy, but she watched it for as long as she could before it finally glided out of sight.
Under a tree, Chad yawned and frowned at the little screen on his belt computer.
“What were the flying ones like?” Jane asked.
“Hm? Oh, the pterodactyls?”
“I guess so.”
“Well, the pterodactyls aren’t actually dinosaurs, for one thing.” Chad squinted up at the sky, but none were in sight at the moment.
“What are they?”
“They’re actually a suborder of pterosaurs, or flying reptiles. The pterosaurs are cousins, you might say, of dinosaurs.” He referred to his belt computer. “Let’s see what we have here on them.”
“Are birds descended from them?”
“No. Birds have a separate ancestry. Here we are. Early pterodactyls were as small as a sparrow. By this time, though, in the Late Cretaceous, some of them were huge. They could have wingspreads up to twelve meters.”
“Wow.”
“They had long, curved necks and long faces. Some had teeth and some didn’t. They either had short tails or none at all and some had big crests on their heads.”
“There it is again. What kind is that?” Jane pointed excitedly.
“Again?” Chad jumped up. “You mean you saw it before? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well-I don’t know. I was just so caught up in watching it, I forgot-”
“Thanks a lot,” he snapped, hurrying to the open area where he could see the sky.
Jane backed away a little and looked up again.
Chad looked up at the shape in the sky and quickly entered some of its traits, muttering to himself. “No tail. Very long, sharp crest on the back of its head.”
“It glides, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s not flying real hard or anything.”
Chad nodded. “We can’t see if it has teeth from here, of course. Can’t really judge its size, either, without a reference point in the sky.”
“It’s definitely not sparrow-sized,” said Jane. “I think that wingspan could be three or four meters or more.”
“Yes, it could.” Chad studied the screen for a moment. “Well, I don’t have enough detail to give us an exact species. We just can’t see it well enough.”
“Do you have any educated guesses?” Jane suppressed a smile, remembering his earlier argument with Steve about educated surmises of this sort.
“Could be a pteranodon,” Chad said slowly. “Except that those fossils have been found in Kansas, not Alberta. It ate fish, back when Kansas was under water. This one might be a close relative, though.”
“Kansas? That’s a long way.”
“The pteranodon weighed about fifteen kilograms and had wingspreads of up to eight meters. It was probably endothermic and may have had fur.”
“Fur! Really?”
“Maybe.”
“I wish we could see one up close,” said Jane, still watching the flying reptile glide through the sky.
“Me too,” said Chad. “Still, at least we’ve seen one. Maybe pteranodons lived in Alberta. I’ll consider the possibility anyway. The ocean isn’t too far from here in this time period, just as in our own, so it would have plenty of fish.”
Jane nodded, watching as the creature drifted out of sight again. Chad certainly knew his subject. Still, she felt he was somehow missing the experience.
She turned to look at Chad, who was still referring to his belt computer. He was so concerned over gathering and classifying data that he just didn’t seem to be enjoying the sheer wonder of watching the pterodactyl. Maybe that was the quality in him that seemed to bother Steve.
16
When Wayne had led Hunter safely out of sight and hearing of the camp, he stopped again. “Tell me if you have any reason to believe the humans in your party noticed our presence.”
“I have none.”
“Good. We’ll talk longer a little later. However, for the moment, you will lead us deeper into the forest. You will make every attempt to avoid the notice of the humans. If you become aware of any sign of Mojave Center Governor’s whereabouts, you will inform me without alarming him. For that matter, do you know where he is now?”
“No.”
“All right. R. Hunter, lead the way into the forest. Pick a direction away from camp and stop when you find a place that is fairly safe from predators.”
Hunter obeyed. Wayne was obviously counting on him to provide First Law protection from predators. Since Jane could still call him with her transmitter if necessary, staying with Wayne had become a more immediate First Law imperative.
Hunter adjusted his senses to set new priorities. Now they would warn him first of predatory animals instead of searching for MC 1‘s tracks. Patiently, he moved at a pace through the forest that was comfortable for Wayne. At this point, without more information about Wayne, Hunter was simply gathering data and obeying instructions under the Second Law.
After half an hour, Hunter stopped. They were near the stream again, though farther upstream than Hunter had ever been before. It was a shady spot with slightly less underbrush than usual, providing more visibility.
“We stopping here?” Wayne asked.
“Yes. This is fairly safe, I believe.”
“Okay.” Wayne glanced around, then sat down on a large rock. ‘(I’m a little out of shape to go hiking around all day long, so I’ll sit.”
Hunter waited, saying nothing.
“Tell me if you have made any progress in finding Mojave Center Governor.”
“I have made some limited progress.”
“Explain it to me.”
Hunter hesitated very briefly, even by fast robotic standards. He didn’t know what Wayne wanted, but so far he was not aware of any First Law objection that could override the Second Law. He would have to answer.
“I have been following the track of one of MC Governor’s component robots.”
“Ah! Really?” Wayne grinned. “Interesting. So MC Governor chose to split up and become six fugitives instead of one. Very clever.” Then he frowned thoughtfully. “More trouble for us, though. What else?”
“MC 1 has chosen to remain nearby. I have followed his track on evasive patterns, and he disrupted the camp yesterday when everyone was out, within the confines of the First Law of Robotics.”
“I see. Tell me the likelihood of capturing him soon.”
“That remains unclear.”
“You should be able to calculate probabilities.”
“Too many variables make the calculation meaningless at this time.”
“Tell me what they are.”
“I brought a team of three humans with me. I hired two of them for their knowledge and a third to provide life support for all three. That may have been a mistake. My need under the First Law to protect first them, and now you, is interfering with my freedom to pursue MC 1.”
“Hm. Of course. Yes, I see.” Wayne nodded and let out a long breath.
Hunter said nothing, waiting. He could not avoid revealing information when the Second Law was in effect, but he did not have to volunteer anything.