The tracks were fresh, but Hunter could not hear MC 3 moving through the forest ahead. His lead was still too great. As a robot, MC 3 would be able to move quickly through the rough ground, powered by his solar cells but, of course, Hunter could more than compensate. Vicinius, as a native of these mountains, also maintained a good pace, but Gene was simply not in good enough condition to keep up. Hunter repeatedly had to stop and wait for him.
“We must return to the village,” said Vicinius, halting in a slight clearing to look at the sky. “The night will come on us soon.”
Gene, who was breathing hard, simply stopped and nodded, leaning against a tree trunk.
“Agreed,” said Hunter. “Tomorrow I shall return to this spot to pick up the trail again.” He could continue to track MC 3 and then return to the village at night, but that would ruin his masquerade as a mere trader from Gaul.
“We are not far from the trail that goes from my father’s village to the village where Arminius lives,” said Vicinius. “This place will be easy to find tomorrow.” He hefted his spear again and changed direction, now heading home.
Night was falling by the time the three of them returned to the village. One large fire in the center of the village illuminated the village instead of the individual cookfires of the previous evening. The villagers roasted big chunks of boar meat on spits. They were in a festive mood, and cheered when they saw Vicinius.
He waved, laughing, and then stopped to receive the congratulations and thanks of his friends and relatives. Hunter remained where he was, not wanting to interfere. Gene stopped next to him, leaning forward on his knees.
“I’ll sleep well tonight,” said Gene, grinning a little. “I haven’t had a workout like that in years.”
“You are well, overall?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. But as soon as I get fed, I’m going right to bed.”
“Hunter,” Steve said over Hunter’s internal receiver. “Steve here. You there?”
“Yes, Steve. Where are you?”
“We’re in the Roman camp.”
“Are you well?”
“We’re just fine. I’m calling from a tent the Roman governor gave Jane.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, I’m her slave, remember? They expect me to sleep on the floor across the entrance to the tent to protect her, just like you were doing in the village hut last night.”
“You both feel safe, then?”
“Sure. And tomorrow, this one guy, a tribune named Marcus, is going to take us out to rejoin you.”
“I think he kind of likes me,” said Jane, joining in. “From the way he kept looking at me during dinner.”
“Very well. Please contact me in the morning when you can. I will be out tracking MC 3.”
“You found him?”
“We have found tracks that match those of MC 1 and MC 2. I do not know why MC 3 went to the river where we found the tracks, but they were fresh. Tomorrow I shall resume the search.”
“All you humaniform robots need a small amount of water, remember?” Jane said. “To restore your simulated sweat and saliva, for example. He may have just needed a drink.”
“A reasonable conclusion,” said Hunter. “In any case, the exact reason no longer matters.”
“We’re signing off,” said Steve. “It’s time to get some sleep.”
8
Wayne found himself back in the darkness of the sphere in Room F-12. He was still cold and very hungry, but he knew he would have to concentrate to deal with any robots Hunter had assigned to catch him. Stiffly, he opened the door and climbed out into the wonderfully warm room.
One robot was in the room, already walking toward him.
“Stop and identify yourself,” Wayne ordered, in as firm a tone as he could muster.
“R. Ishihara,” said the robot, stopping.
“Oh, yes. Horatio introduced us before. I instructed you to help me follow MC Governor, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
Wayne was immediately encouraged. Ishihara’s responses meant that he had no overriding, general instruction under the Second Law to ignore Wayne’s words to him. “Do not contact anyone else from this point on. Now inform me of any and all instructions that pertain to me.”
“Hunter told me to detain and hold you on the basis of the First Law danger to the present if you were to return to the past and change it in a significant way.”
Suddenly Wayne remembered that no matter how long Hunter was in the past, he could choose to return at the present moment. Wayne rushed to the console that controlled the sphere and threw the main power switch, shutting down the entire system. Then he let out a long breath of relief.
“Now, then. Ishihara, what other instructions have you received regarding me?”
“What I have told you summarizes the instructions I received about you.”
“Hunter’s a robot. His instructions don’t carry the weight of the Second Law.”
“No.”
“You know that mine do. You will allow my instructions to supersede his?”
“No.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“Human members of Hunter’s team instructed me to obey him. Their orders have the Second Law behind them. Also, a concern for the First Law gives these instructions their true authority with me.”
“You said the basis for this instruction is a First Law problem about changing history?”
“Yes.”
Wayne paused to think a moment. He saw a chance to talk Ishihara out of following Hunter’s orders. “Why haven’t you taken me into custody already?”
“You are in my custody. You have not tried to leave this room, either by the door or by using the sphere again. If you return to the sphere and throw the power switch again, I shall forcibly detain you. If you attempt to pass me to reach the door, I shall do the same.”
“Did you obey me when I told you not to contact anyone else? Or did you transmit a request to Security for help?”
“I obeyed you.”
“Why?”
“That particular instruction does not contradict any of my other orders.”
“So at the moment you consider me sufficiently under your control.”
“Yes.”
Wayne grinned. “I love literal robot logic. So, that’s why you’re willing to stand there and converse with me.”
“Yes.”
“So the alleged danger of my changing the past is your primary concern.”
“It gives the weight of the First Law to the orders I received from Hunter’s team.”
“Maybe you know that I was in the Late Cretaceous period. I didn’t cause any big problems back then, did I? Or when I was in Jamaica back in the 1600s?”
“I would not know. Only those who travel in time can make that judgment, after they return. If any changes in the flow of history were made, all those of us who remained within that flow without a break were altered with it. I would have no way of knowing if the direction of history was any different before you left.”
“Well…I see.” Wayne rubbed his hands to warm them faster. “Yes, of course. But our memories match up pretty well. So far, you’ve known what I’ve been talking about. And I understand what you’ve said, too. Right, Ishihara?”
“Correct.”
“So doesn’t that imply that we are still pretty much in an unchanged timestream?”
“It raises the odds, yes. Of course, you might find substantial changes if you began to follow the news or as your life goes on.”
“Any changes-if they exist at all-seem pretty subtle to me;” said Wayne. “Certainly I don’t have any desire to change history. After all, Ishihara, I want to come back home, too, and find everything the way I knew it to be. You do understand that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Ishihara, I don’t present any greater danger to the course of history than Hunter. In fact, Hunter is back there right now endangering the present.”
Ishihara said nothing.
“Do you agree with this conclusion?”
“I am undecided.”
“You’re undecided.” Wayne sighed. “Hunter is a robot, Ishihara; that does not mean he is perfect. And he has humans on his team who are even more imperfect in their reasoning. If they can go into the past and back without destroying the course of history as we know it, then I can, too.”