“Bring him close. Everyone stand together.” Hunter was ready to trigger his control unit. Ishihara, his arm still in Hunter’s grasp, was no longer struggling. Hunter was anxious, surrounded by humans killing and wounding each other. He had to get his team out as fast as possible.
“Okay,” said Steve, as he, Jane, and Gene shuffled on the muddy ground to bring MC 3 over to Hunter. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Wait,” said Jane, raising her head to look back toward the struggling Roman column. “Hunter, have you seen Marcus? What’s happened to him so far?”
“Marcus is at the head of the column with Governor Varus,” Hunter said quickly. “He is out of sight from this spot. And we cannot help him, anyway.”
“I…know.”
Just as Hunter activated the control unit, Ishihara wrenched free and flung himself away.
The instant that Hunter found himself back in the darkness of the time travel sphere, he listened for the breathing of his companions. His team was with him, as was MC 3. Ishihara had escaped, not so much by physical strength as by surprising Hunter when his attention had been focused on removing his team and MC 3 safely from the battlefield.
Hunter opened the sphere and helped everyone out. He held MC 3’s arm firmly. The component robot would not lull him into carelessness the same way Ishihara had.
“Ishihara escaped?” Gene looked around, easing off his rain-soaked, filthy fur cloak. “Jane, didn’t you tell him to obey Hunter?”
“Yes,” said Jane. Her drenched brown hair was plastered against her head. She wiped some of it from her face. Her voice came in an unhappy monotone, but she was too professional not to explain what she could. “However, in our hurry, neither of us actually told him to stay with us. And I would say that he was driven by the First Law to help Wayne, so that would have superseded any Second Law orders, anyway.” She sighed, staring at the floor as she slipped off her soggy fur cloak.
“I was careless,” said Hunter. “I was so focused on the First Law imperatives to return all of you and MC 3 safely that I failed to be sufficiently watchful of Ishihara.”
“How did he get there, anyhow?” Steve asked, also shucking his fur cloak.
Everyone looked at Jane.
She looked up belatedly. “Oh-Wayne must have used some sort of First Law argument to persuade him to disobey our orders.”
“We shall have to consider that on our next mission,” said Hunter. “For now, please change your clothes. I shall call Horatio, the Security robot, to take us to MC Governor’s office.”
“I’d like to be dry for a change,” said Steve. “Good idea.”
While the humans took turns changing in the other room, Hunter reviewed the data in the control console, still gripping MC 3 firmly. MC 3 was passive, however, and did not cause a problem. Hunter began to monitor the news, to learn of any alterations in current events since they had started their last mission.
By the time the team members had finished changing, Horatio had arrived outside the building with a Security vehicle. The trip to MC Governor’s office was uneventful. When they reached the small room, Hunter instructed Horatio to resume his Security duty outside.
Jane moved in front of MC 3, where he could see her. Mouthing the words clearly, so he could not avoid reading her lips, she said, “Activate all your senses.”
“Can you hear me?” Hunter spoke aloud instead of using his communication link.
“Yes,” said MC 3.
“Jane, have him merge with the first two.”
“MC 3, merge with MC 1 and MC 2.”
Hunter noticed that Jane’s voice still reflected disappointment and sadness.
MC 3 obediently walked over to the spot where MC 1 and MC 2 stood entwined like a complex piece of abstract sculpture. He moved close and then seemed to wind around the first two in a flexible, almost fluid motion. When he stopped, the three component robots had formed half of MC Governor.
“MC 3, shut down,” Jane ordered.
“Three down, three to go,” said Steve cheerfully.
“I think I understand why MC 3 was drawn to that time period,” said Jane. “If you remember, his specialty within Mojave Center was security. I believe he was drawn to northern Germany in part because it has been a center of historical turmoil in many eras. When he found himself at full size once again, he was drawn to the source of ultimate stability, meaning Prince Arminius.”
“Wait a minute,” said Gene. “Prince Arminius was the source of rebellion.”
“His victory stabilized the border for centuries,” said Jane. “I believe MC 3 knew that.”
“Yeah, I see.”
“Thank you for your professionalism, Gene,” said Hunter. “Your fee will be automatically transferred to your account. You were extremely helpful.”
“And easy to get along with,” Steve added. “Not everybody who joined us has been.”
“It was a wonderful experience for me, to have seen those people and to have experienced those situations,” said Gene. “But right now I want to dry off and get a hot shower. I know you have more missions to worry about. I’ll leave you to it.”
“Gene,” said Jane quickly. “I remember what you said about history not mentioning Marcus. But if you can find anything that might suggest whether he survived the battle or not, will you let me know?”
“It’s not very likely-but of course I will.”
“Thank you.” Jane gave him a quick hug.
When everyone had said good-bye, Gene departed. Hunter closed the door again, turning to Jane and Steve grimly.
Hunter looked carefully at Jane. “Are you all right?”
“Uh-yeah.” She shrugged.
“It’s funny,” said Steve. “No matter how long Marcus lived, he’s now been dead for over two thousand years.”
“Yeah.” Jane smiled wistfully. “Even though we just saw him a short time ago.”
“You really okay?” Steve asked.
“Yes. I’m okay.”
Steve turned to Hunter. “I suppose you’ve monitored the news again already. What’s the situation?”
“Our third mission succeeded, of course,” said Hunter. “No explosion took place in Germany. However, another explosion of nuclear force has taken place in the Russian Republic.”
“In Russia?” Jane looked at him. “It’s a big place. Was it out in Siberia, by any chance?”
“No. Moscow, with its historic Kremlin and churches and museums, is gone.”
“Wow,” Steve whispered.
“Most importantly to me, in regard to the First Law, millions of Russians are gone, too.”
“Did you find out what year we’re going to visit next?”
“Yes,” said Hunter. “The information was in the console that controls the sphere. Our next mission will take us to Moscow in the winter of 1941, during the Battle of Moscow between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.”