“What is it?”
“After we get away, we’ll radio Hunter and tell him we’re okay.”
“I don’t want to-”
“Or else I’ll yell to him right now.”
“All right.” Steve couldn’t help grinning. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Vicinius was still baiting the boar with his calls and shouts. That meant Hunter’s attention was still riveted by the First Law imperative. Gene had not noticed Steve and Jane’s departure, either. They hurried down the trail.
They reached the edge of the forest quickly. Steve turned to his right and started hiking along the edge of the trees. Jane kept up, looking behind them every so often. They couldn’t hear anything.
“If Hunter had noticed that we left, he would have yelled or something,” said Steve. He looked at the river, which looked narrow and calm under the gray sky. “I’ll bet it’s running real fast, up in the mountains like this.”
Steve and Jane kept up a good pace. Light rain began to fall again and they moved under the canopy of trees, pulling their cloaks tight around them. They had heard no sign of Hunter.
“This should be far enough,” said Jane, stopping. “Let’s radio him.”
“All right.” Steve halted and switched on the radio in the small pin on his cloak. “Hunter, this is Steve.”
“Steve, I have been calling you and Jane,” Hunter said promptly. “Is she with you?”
“Yes. We hadn’t turned on our radios. How are Vicinius and the wild boar?”
“Vicinius killed it. What happened to you?”
“We’re fine, Hunter. I want to go see if MC 3 is with the Romans and I knew Vicinius wouldn’t want to go. We’re going, Hunter.”
“We should remain together.”
“Sorry, Hunter. We’ll contact you again later. Maybe we’ll have MC 3 with us when we do.” Steve shut off his communicator again, so that Hunter could not argue with him.
“He could follow us,” said Jane. “We’ve left a real easy trail in this damp ground.”
“He might,” Steve said slowly. “Hard to say. Certainly we can’t outrun him if he wants to join us.”
“He won’t want to leave Gene behind,” she pointed out. “He can’t go faster than Gene.”
“Good point. And Vicinius will want to get the boar back to his village. He can’t carry it alone and Hunter won’t reveal that he can, either.”
“Can they carry it together? All three of them?”
“Maybe. If they do, that will delay them for a long…” He was interrupted by the sound of a horn. It came from the direction where the boar had been.
“What was that?” Jane jumped in surprise.
“Vicinius’s horn,” said Steve. “The one he’s been carrying on a strap.”
“What’s he doing? Calling his warriors?”
“I guess so. Or maybe the women of the village and the older men, too. They could bring a pack animal for the boar.”
“Does that mean Hunter is free to follow us?”
“Maybe. But let’s just go and see if he catches up to us or not.” Steve started walking again.
“I just don’t want to do what Rita did to us on the last mission, when we had to spend all our time trying to find her instead of looking for MC 2.”
“We aren’t doing anything like that,” Steve said testily. “Come on, Jane. She was just out seeing the sights, adventuring on her own. You and I are looking for MC 3 and we’re still in touch with Hunter.”
“Well, we can’t risk changing history, either. We’ll have to be more careful than usual without Hunter around to remind us.”
“Even Hunter has changed his mind, remember? Back in the dinosaur age, he thought that almost any action could change the future drastically. That hasn’t proved out at all.” He looked at her, blinking drizzle out of his eyes.
“Yes, I know.” Her tone told him that she had run out of arguments, whether she was convinced or not.
Soon, up ahead on a nearby slope above them, Steve could see part of the twisting mountain road that the Romans were using. The wooden palisade of the Roman camp was visible on a ridge and the last of their wagons was just driving through the open gate. Getting to the road would require a tough hike, but at least their route was clear.
In the middle of the afternoon, under a light drizzle, Marcus Gaius Aemilianus had just finished supervising the unloading of the wagons inside the Roman camp when he heard a voice calling to him.
“Tribune! Over here, Tribune!” One of the sentries standing at the gate was waving his arm. The gate was open very slightly. “We have visitors.”
Marcus frowned. Unexpected visits from the Germans here were rare. However, this was his first assignment as a tribune and finding out what they wanted was one of his duties.
Mid afternoon was late in the day for traders. They usually finished their business in time to return home before sundown. Puzzled, he turned, causing his red cloak to swirl behind him, and walked quickly to the gate.
“What is it, Flavius?” Marcus asked.
“This lady is from a trading family in Gaul,” said Flavius, indicating a woman with long, straight brown hair standing in a fur cloak just outside the opening in the gate. “She has become separated from her party and seeks shelter.”
“Good day,” said Marcus. “I am Marcus Aemilianus, tribune and personal aide to Governor Publius Quinctilius Varus of this province. You must be in need of shelter.”
“Yes, we are.” She spoke Latin with an odd accent. “I am Jane Maynard and this is my slave, Steve.”
“You are welcome, of course.” Marcus stood back and gestured for her to enter. He had expected to see her slave carrying baggage of some sort. Flavius closed the gate behind the two visitors. “You have no belongings with you?”
“No. We, um, were out looking for another friend of ours and got lost. So when we saw you up here, we decided to ask for your help.”
“I am glad to be of service. In this new province, taking care of civilians is a serious duty for those of us in the Roman army. Come inside with me, out of this constant drizzle.” He began to walk with them, back toward the officers’ tent.
He took another glance at her slave. “Where are you from? Not Egypt?”
“No,” said Steve, with an easy grin as he walked a step behind Jane. “From a distant land called ‘Sina.’ “
“Sina.” Marcus shook his head.
“Have you seen any other strangers?” Jane asked. “I mean, neither German nor Roman.”
“This would be the other friend you were seeking?”
“Yes.”
Marcus shook his head. “No. But sit down with me and I will have wine warmed for us. You may describe him to me.”
Hunter only told Vicinius and Gene that Steve and Jane had gone ahead, without elaborating. However, he had lost several hours by the time the villagers came to fetch the boar that Vicinius had killed. Vicinius blew his horn at intervals to make sure they could follow the sound. Then, while they waited, Vicinius set to work cleaning and quartering the boar. Hunter and Gene helped, taking direction from Vicinius.