Asimov's Future History Volume 3

by Isaac Asimov

  Timur simply nodded casually. “We shall escort you back through the gate.” He turned his horse, and his men imitated his movement. The rough circle of men around Steve and Marcia began to ride south at a walk.

  Steve exchanged a glance with Marcia, and they kept pace. He felt safe from Marcia’s kidnappers, but he also knew that Timur was not giving them any options. Their host wanted them returned to where they belonged. In any case, they were now safe from Marcia’s kidnappers, even if that group did turn around and come back.

  “You’re okay?” Steve asked Marcia quietly in English. He was not asking for information. Instead, he wanted to convey a message to Hunter, who undoubtedly had heard the entire conversation with Timur.

  He would still be listening, concerned about their condition.

  “I’m fine,” she said clearly.

  “So am I.” Steve grinned, sure that she understood what he was doing.

  Tired after a long day of riding, Steve would not have minded moving faster. His mount was weary, however, and he decided that asking the Mongols for more speed might lead to a full gallop. He definitely had had enough breakneck riding for one night. So he said nothing and simply gazed up at the Great Wall in the moonlight as they returned to it.

  Under the watchtower, Timur reined in. As his companion raised the torch high, the other riders also stopped. In the windows of the watchtower, sentries looked out, their silhouettes outlined against the light of their own fire inside the watchtower.

  “Open the gate,” Timur shouted in his accented Chinese. “Open for two lost travelers.”

  “The gate opens in the morning,” a sentry called back. “Who is there?”

  “You know me,” Timur growled angrily. He rose up in his stirrups. “Open this gate now!’

  The man with the torch held it so that the light fell clearly across Timur’s face. The sentry who had spoken disappeared from sight. Several of the Mongols had already nocked arrows to their bowstrings.

  Steve held himself motionless, hoping that no violence would begin. Next to him, Marcia gasped slightly.

  He saw now just how arrogant and quick to anger the Mongols could be toward the Chinese.

  After several moments, the gate opened with a creak. A single Chinese sentry drew it open, staring at the Mongols fearfully. Timur rode forward, as did the man holding the torch, and stopped right in front of the open gateway.

  “Our friends must return to their inn,” Timur said with cold authority. “Tomorrow I may return through this gate to visit with them again. When I do, I will want to hear that all has gone well for them.”

  The sentry nodded quickly.

  Still looking down at him, Timur waved Steve and Marcia forward.

  Steve rode carefully, glancing at Marcia to make sure she was coming with him. They passed without a word through the arched gate. On the other side, Steve turned.

  “Thank you, Timur,” he called in Mongol. “Good evening to you all.”

  “Farewell!” Timur waved once, then turned his mount and trotted away in the torchlight of his companion. The other Mongols rode after him, and they all vanished quickly into the darkness.

  The sentry sighed loudly, letting his shoulders sag, and closed the gate again.

  Steve reached into his pouch for a coin. Timur’s warning to the sentry would probably carry a great deal of weight, but a modest token of generosity would not hurt, either. He tossed a coin to the sentry, who fumbled for it with a surprised look and then had to pick it up off the ground. The sentry gave him a nod of thanks.

  As the sentry hurried back up inside the watchtower, Steve rode toward the inn. The stable was dark; the hostler had either gone to bed or was hiding. Steve hung up the paper lantern where he had found it.

  “Wait a minute,” said Marcia, following him reluctantly. “We can’t go back to the same inn.”

  “Hunter, Steve and Marcia here,” Steve said quietly. “Where are you?”

  “Here,” said Hunter aloud, stepping out from behind one corner of the inn. He held the reins to his tired mount and Jane’s, as well. “I am relieved to see that you are both well. I continued to receive your transmission, so I knew you were coming back safely.”

  “But now what are we going to do?” Marcia asked. “I’m so tired.”

  “So are all the horses,” said Steve. “They’re probably ready to drop.”

  “The inn is unsafe,” said Hunter. “The people who have now kidnapped three of us may still be able to return tonight.”

  “That’s right,” said Marcia.

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” said Steve. “So let’s go back to my original idea — use the sphere to follow Wayne and Ishihara back to Khanbaliq.”

  “Can we?” Marcia asked hopefully.

  “Why not?” Steve said. “We can get a good night’s sleep.”

  “I like the sound of that,” said Marcia, smiling weakly. “I’m really cold. And I hurt from all the riding. I’d love to skip the ride back.”

  “I do not like the sound of it,” said Hunter firmly. “We must ride.”

  “Why?” Steve asked. “If we jump back, we won’t have to worry any more about a bunch of guys who were last seen riding off north of the Great Wall in the dark. And Wayne won’t have an advantage over us after all. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be right back in the search for MC 5.”

  “We must return the horses to the city,” said Hunter. “So we must ride them.”

  “That’s a two-day advantage for Wayne and Ishihara,” said Steve. “Not to mention that we don’t know where to spend the night.”

  “I will protect you now from further harm,” said Hunter. “We will remain together. We will not be surprised or overpowered again.”

  “But what if Wayne finds MC 5 during the next couple of days?” Steve demanded.

  “We must return the horses,” said Hunter. “They cannot fit in the sphere with us safely.”

  “You know we could be throwing away the entire mission,” said Steve urgently.

  “Riding back is not ideal,” said Hunter. “Of course I realize this.”

  “Look, we all got suckered into coming up here,” said Steve. “The Polos never came this way at all.

  Wayne and Ishihara have given themselves a free hand.”

  “We bought the horses,” said Marcia. “Why can’t we sell them here?”

  “Or even give them away,” said Steve.

  “We would be leaving a potentially serious change behind that we can prevent,” said Hunter.

  “Hold it right there,” said Steve. “How serious can the horses be?”

  “We cannot know,” said Hunter. “That fact is the crucial point.”

  “Well, then, as you like to say, what is the likelihood? I don’t think it can be very great.”

  “I disagree,” said Hunter. “Horses are very important in this time.”

  “I think I may regret this,” said Steve, with a sigh. “But would you explain exactly what harm we can do by selling our horses here?”

  “If we leave ours here, they may provide transportation or additional income to people in this town who would not otherwise have had them. Conversely, we may at the same time deprive people in Khanbaliq of those advantages. We must return them to where we found them.”

  “I was right,” Steve muttered.

  “About what?” Marcia asked.

  “I do regret asking.”

  “Then you accept my argument?” Hunter asked.

  “Maybe not,” Steve said slowly. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “It’s only four horses,” said Marcia thoughtfully. She rubbed her folded arms harder.

  “Hunter, horses are important here — but they’re also very common,” said Steve. “They’re everywhere.”

  “That’s true,” said Marcia, with sudden enthusiasm. “In a society that uses horses all the time, they actually have somewhat less value than in our society. In our own time, owning a horse is a luxury, either for the very wealthy
or for people like Steve, who live in a rural area where it’s affordable. But in neither case is it a necessity.”

  “That’s right,” said Steve.

  “I agree that the relative value is different in this society than in ours,” said Hunter. “However, within the context of this society, horses are expensive and important to the people who own them or need them.”

  “Well, yes,” Marcia said reluctantly.

  “You know we’ve proven that the ordinary changes we’ve caused don’t matter,” said Steve. “On previous missions, we bought weapons in Port Royal and abandoned them in Panama. We took fur cloaks and moved weapons in ancient Germany, too. In the Soviet Union, we caused guys in cars to drive around looking for us and use up gas. We’ve already talked about how consuming food and water and air hasn’t changed anything important in our own time. The horses just aren’t much bigger than the changes we’ve already made.”

  “Your list of our past changes is correct, but I judge these horses to be more important. Weapons and clothing were undoubtedly moved in large numbers even without us in Morgan’s mission from Jamaica to Panama and in the Battle of Teutoburger Wald. The mechanical resources and fuel used in the Battle of Moscow also far outstripped the consumption we caused. In each of those cases, our influence was subsumed by the larger events. However, in this case, the effect of leaving our horses would stand alone.”

  “Debating with you is exhausting,” said Steve. “I see the logic in all the particulars. But if I look at the whole picture, I’m just not convinced that moving four ordinary horses will matter in the long run.”

  “I have no idea how these horses will spend the remainder of their lives,” said Hunter. “I do know that leaving them here might help someone here, or hinder someone in Khanbaliq, at some indeterminate point in the future.”

  “I can’t believe we’re arguing endlessly about this in the middle of the night on the edge of Mongolia,”

  said Marcia. “Where are we going to sleep? And when?”

  “Why can’t we do what Wayne did?” Steve asked suddenly. “However he managed to do it.”

  “What, exactly?” Hunter asked.

  “We’ve already figured out that Wayne has somehow rigged his belt unit to move him and Ishihara in time without returning to the institute.”

  “That is the case,” said Hunter.

  “Well, can’t you adjust our unit the same way?” Steve asked. “If Wayne could do it, you must be able to. Then we can all return, even with the horses, because the sphere won’t be involved at all.”

  “Yes, I assume I can figure it out,” said Hunter. “However, I do not want to further develop time travel technology. If humans gain wide use of it, they will do irreparable harm to themselves.”

  “You mean that’s the only reason you haven’t done it already?” Marcia asked in amazement.

  “Yes. The First Law imperative.”

  “I don’t get it.” Steve sighed loudly. “Hunter, the technology already exists; we agreed a long time ago Wayne knows how to do it.”

  “Even so, the more this knowledge is confined, the better off humans will be.”

  “Hunter, look,” Steve said impatiently, “the faster we grab Wayne and MC 5, the better off humans will be. How about that line of argument?”

  “It is also logical.”

  “Good,” said Steve. “Hunter, the time travel technology is going to be a problem no matter what we do tonight. You acknowledge that?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Then suppose you figure out how to make us competitive with Wayne now, and we worry about how to handle the secret of time travel after we’ve finished our missions?”

  “This has some logic, too,” said Hunter.

  “Now that Wayne has a two-day head start on us, I’d say it’s extremely logical.”

  “All right.” Hunter said nothing more, remaining completely motionless.

  18

  “WHAT’S WRONG?” MARCIA asked, staring at Hunter’s immobile form.

  “I don’t think anything is wrong,” said Steve. He understood that if a robot paused long enough for humans to notice, it meant he had a substantial amount of data to process. “He’s probably studying the design of the sphere and the belt unit. Then he has to figure out what changes to make.”

  “Yes,” said Hunter. “I see how to do it now. However, I require several minutes, at least, to alter the belt unit. I suggest you dismount, as well. Moving the horses with you on them is potentially dangerous.”

  “That’s true,” said Steve. “We don’t want them falling on us.” He dismounted. Until now, he had remained mounted in case they were going to continue riding.

  Marcia did so, as well, and hugged herself with both arms. “I’m really cold.”

  Hunter also dismounted and gave his reins to Steve.

  “We’ve had two very long days,” said Steve. He watched Hunter as the robot opened the belt unit.

  The shape of Hunter’s right index finger stretched and reformed itself so that the end became a very finely shaped tool. Then he worked with it on the intricate insides of the unit. In less than a minute, he closed the unit and returned his finger to its normal shape.

  “You finished already?” Steve asked.

  “Yes, but I must test it first on myself.”

  “Wait a minute,” said Steve. “You mean you’re going without us?”

  “Not to Khanbaliq.”

  “Huh? Where are you going, then?”

  “I will simply jump about ten meters and half a minute into the future. Please remain where you are.”

  Hunter walked a short distance away from Steve and Marcia. “The range of field may have changed without my realizing it. I want to make sure you are not carried with me.”

  Steve watched as Hunter vanished. For a long moment in the waning moonlight, Steve and Marcia stood silently holding the reins of their horses. A slight breeze rustled the trees.

  Then Hunter appeared ten meters away, stumbling to catch his balance.

  “It worked,” said Marcia, with obvious relief. “Are you okay, Hunter?”

  “I am fine,” said Hunter, as he walked toward them. “However, I will take the horses to Khanbaliq first.

  If they stumble or fall, I will have the best chance to avoid them. Then I will return for you.”

  “Okay.” Steve held out his reins. “What time are we jumping to?”

  “Just one minute forward. That way, you will have time to get plenty of sleep.” Hunter took the reins of all four horses and led them away from Steve and Marcia.

  “And where are we going?” Marcia asked. “I mean, will we land outside the city again? And have another long ride back to the inn?”

  “No. I recall a small stand of trees at the city market, not far from the inn by horseback ride. At this hour, I expect no one to be on the street there.”

  “Good,” said Marcia, yawning.

  Hunter and the animals vanished.

  Then, almost instantly, Hunter reappeared.

  “That was quick.” Steve grinned.

  “Not to me,” said Hunter, walking up to them. “All the horses stumbled but did not fall. No one saw us arrive. I took the time to see that no one was coming from any direction, and to tie them to a tree. We will return only a moment after I left, again unseen by others.”

  “Sounds great to me,” said Steve. He yawned, too. “Now?”

  “Now,” said Hunter.

  Jane slept most of that first day back in the village near Khanbaliq. After the exhausting night out on the road by the Great Wall, she slept soundly even in the room with Wayne and Ishihara. On waking, she found Wayne gone but Ishihara sitting on the floor by the door of the room.

  As soon as she stirred, the robot looked at her.

  “How long have I been asleep?” Jane asked, sitting up. She stretched. The air in the room was hot and stuffy now; she had been sweating in her sleep.

  “Eight hours, seventeen minutes, and twelv
e seconds,” said Ishihara.

  “So, I guess it must be the middle of the afternoon by now, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me where Wayne is.”

  “He rose about an hour ago. I believe he was hungry. He is somewhere in the village.”

  “Look, I need a trip to the latrine and I’m hungry, too. You know these are First Law concerns, even if it’s not an emergency yet. What can you do about them?”

  “I will make sure you have all your necessities,” said Ishihara. “I must escort you, however. I have been instructed not to let you leave.”

  “Well, at the moment, that will do. I also want some water to wash up a little.”

  “Come with me.”

  Jane followed Ishihara outside.

  In the shade near the door, a number of elderly villagers glanced up at her curiously as they threshed rice in small, hand-held wicker strainers.

  Ishihara paused. “Food, please, for her.”

  An old woman nodded and got up. She hurried inside the house. The others returned to their work.

  “She will need a few minutes to prepare it.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Ishihara led her to the latrine and then to the village well, where he raised a bucket of cool water for her.

  “You may wash in it safely,” said Ishihara. “Do not drink it unless it has been boiled. Some water inside has already been boiled for Wayne.”

  “All right.”

  “I wish I had my change of clothes,” Jane muttered. “And a hairbrush.”

  Ishihara said nothing.

  When Jane had washed her face and hands, and smoothed out her hair with her fingers, she glanced around. Some small children were running and laughing together as they played; others had stopped to stare at her. She smiled at them, then looked out at the fields surrounding the village, where she saw older children and adults working.

  “Where can I eat?” Jane asked.

  “This way.”

  Ishihara led her back into the house where she had slept. This time, they went back into the kitchen area, where the old woman squatted on a stone hearth. She stirred something sizzling in a pot that hung over the fire on a hook.

  Jane moved closer and saw strips of meat and chopped greens sizzling in hot oil. She could not identify the meat or the vegetable by looking at them, though. She decided that perhaps she would rather not know. The food smelled good enough.