Asimov's Future History Volume 2

by Isaac Asimov

  Major Bach handed the pass to his aide, who in turn gave it to Ishihara.

  “Thank you, Major,” said Ishihara. “Surely you won’t mind if Leutnant Mohr drives us to the edge of camp.”

  Major Bach stood up for the first time, his face suddenly impatient.

  “We will remember your cooperation,” Wayne said quickly but calmly.

  The Major hesitated, studying his face again. Then his shoulders sagged. “Of course. Leutnant Mohr?” He gestured wearily and then squatted close to the fire again.

  10

  JANE HUDDLED IN the corner of the warehouse. Gradually, other people around them stretched out to sleep for the night. Soon the overhead lights were turned out, leaving only one lamp burning at a table in the front and a single bare bulb over the rest room door. The two guards talked with a couple of women at the front table. The rear of the warehouse was almost completely dark.

  “We must leave before the NKVD agents return here seeking Judy or someone who could tell them where to find her,” said Hunter quietly. “The rear door is in almost complete darkness.”

  “It’s quiet in here,” said Steve. “As soon as we get up and start moving, those guys in the front will hear us. Especially if the door creaks.”

  “Yes,” said Hunter. “I have been looking for a diversion we can create.”

  “Do you see something, Hunter?” Jane asked, looking around the shadowed warehouse herself.

  “I believe so,” said Hunter. “The electrical wiring here is primitive, with the insulated cords along the base of the wall fully exposed. A small door in the wall by the rest room almost certainly houses fuses and circuit breakers.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Judy asked.

  “The circuit breakers can be triggered without any long-term harm to the system or to the safety of the humans here,” said Hunter. “If one of us moves the switches, then the light in front will go out.”

  “Sounds good to me,” said Steve. “That should create just enough surprise and confusion for us to slip out the back door. Is that what you want to do?”

  “Yes, but we must plan this carefully, since that light bulb will illuminate anyone near the circuit breaker. One of us can go use the rest room without causing undue concern. However, I prefer that I not be the one. I should be near the door in case it must be forced open.”

  “I’ll go,” said Judy, glancing around the warehouse. “Steve might attract attention, since he doesn’t resemble the Slavic Russians.”

  “I’ll go with you,” said Jane. “If we have to improvise, two will be better than one.”

  “Okay.”

  “You cannot take your overcoats without being noticed,” said Hunter. “I shall carry them and give them to you when we are safely outside.”

  “I’ll take the duffel bag,” said Steve.

  “All right,” said Judy. She got up and began to pick her way directly across the warehouse to the rest room.

  Jane stood up and slowly followed Judy. Her heart was pounding with tension, but she moved slowly and casually. They worked their way among the sleeping Russians, careful not to disturb any of them.

  When they reached the rest room, Judy turned the knob. Jane saw it move in her hand, but Judy pretended it was locked, shrugging theatrically. They stood patiently, pretending to line up.

  Trying to act bored, Jane glanced toward the front table. One of the women there, perhaps distracted by the movement of Jane and Judy, looked up. Then the woman yawned and returned her attention to her companions. No one else had taken any notice of them.

  Judy took Jane’s arm and pulled her a couple of steps to one side, so that she blocked the front table’s view of the circuit breaker. Jane could not see the rear door in the darkness at the back of the warehouse. Hunter and Steve were also invisible, but she supposed they were moving toward the door by now.

  The only path from here to the door ran along the wall. They would have to walk in the dark down this side wall, turn at the back corner, and then cross part of the rear wall to reach the door. The floor was clear all the way, since everyone had tried to keep away from the cold exterior walls when choosing places to sleep.

  Jane heard a quiet metallic clink as Judy opened the door to the circuit breakers. Then she heard snapping noises and the warehouse darkened. Exclamations of surprise came from the front. Then a chair scraped on the floor as someone got up to find the problem.

  “Around the wall,” Jane whispered frantically. “Come on, quick.”

  Jane hated walking blindly, but trailing one hand on the side wall in the darkness kept her oriented. She held her other arm out in front of her so that she wouldn’t bump into the rear wall. Judy shuffled behind her.

  Just as Jane’s hand touched the rear wall, she heard the door creak. Only a slip of pale moonlight revealed the doorway. She walked faster now that she could see it, and recognized the silhouettes of Hunter and Steve as they moved soundlessly outside.

  “Close that door!” One of the men who had been sitting at the front table shouted from about halfway across the room behind them, as he neared the circuit breaker.

  More people murmured in the warehouse, disturbed by the shout. Jane ran for the doorway and ducked out; Hunter was bracing it open with one foot while he held Steve’s overcoat out for him to take. Judy followed right behind Jane.

  “Follow me,” Hunter whispered firmly. He turned and took off at a jog.

  Jane saw the other overcoats bundled under his arm. She and Judy would have to wait to put them on. Jane ran after Hunter, instantly cold in the frigid night air. They ran through a narrow alley in the dark, silent city. Alongside them, light suddenly came on around the edges of the blackened windows.

  “Who’s out there?” One of the guards yelled from the rear door. “The city is under curfew! Where are you going? Come back here!”

  Hunter turned at the corner of another alley. He waited for Jane and Judy to catch up; Steve brought up the rear. Hunter shook out two overcoats and threw them over the shoulders of the women. Then, instead of moving toward the street, Hunter led them up the other alley.

  Jane, holding the coat awkwardly over her shoulders as she ran, wondered if anyone was chasing them. She didn’t hear anything. The team turned another corner. Then Hunter stopped, merely a looming shadow in front of Jane, as everyone gathered around him.

  “I hear no pursuit,” Hunter said quietly, as he put on his own overcoat. “We must not linger for long, but you may pause to catch your breath. Judy, do you think someone will chase us farther?”

  “I have no idea,” said Judy, shucking her overcoat and throwing her arms into the sleeves. She shrugged it back onto her shoulders. “We’d better assume they will. I don’t know how important they consider this curfew, or how much authority those guys have. One thing this society stifles very hard is personal initiative.”

  “You mean if they weren’t told to report or chase people who break the curfew, they won’t do anything?” Steve asked, between rasping breaths. He had the duffel bag slung over one shoulder.

  “It’s unlikely,” said Judy. “But they might have been given such orders.”

  Jane had her own coat on properly now and fumbled the scarf out of her coat pocket with stiff fingers.

  “Come on,” said Hunter. As before, he jogged up another shadowed alley.

  Still holding her scarf, Jane ran after him. As before, they still turned corners frequently, always keeping to back alleys. Finally, Hunter led them out of an alley onto a deserted side street. In the open space, the weak moonlight illuminated their surroundings a little better than before. Hunter stopped and waited for his team to catch their breath again.

  “Hunter?” Jane asked, tying on her scarf. “Where are we going?”

  “I do not know exactly. However, we can certainly find other buildings of the same kind housing other people displaced by the war.”

  “How do we find one?” Steve asked.

  “I am not sure,” said Hun
ter. “Judy, can you suggest a way to do this?”

  “Uh — I’m not sure. I have to think about it.”

  “All right,” said Hunter. “In any case, Judy, you will be safe as long as the NKVD agents don’t see you. Now that we are away from the warehouse where they first found you, our chances of avoiding them are much improved.”

  “True,” said Judy. “But I think we’d better keep moving — to stay warm if nothing else.”

  “Use your hearing as we walk,” Jane said to Hunter. “On maximum.”

  “For what?” Hunter asked, leading them down the dark sidewalk. “What am I listening for?”

  “The sound of a lot of people sleeping in one big room,” said Jane.

  “That won’t be very loud,” said Steve. “Even to you.”

  “I am turning up my aural sensitivity,” said Hunter. “If we come within my hearing range of such sounds, I shall recognize them.”

  “Good luck,” Steve muttered doubtfully.

  Wayne and Ishihara followed Leutnant Mohr away from Major Bach’s fire. Ishihara had managed to get the Major’s permission for the Leutnant to drive them out of the German camp and beyond German lines, but that would still leave many kilometers of open, frozen ground to cross. On the other side, of course, they could expect to find thousands of Soviet soldiers, expecting only the enemy to come across that stretch of territory.

  Leutnant Mohr said nothing as he led them to his patrol’s armored car. All three of them crowded into the cab. It started with a loud roar and jerked forward.

  “How far is it to go past the most forward of the German lines from here?” Ishihara asked casually.

  Leutnant Mohr shrugged. “I am not certain. Not far. It will take maybe fifteen minutes, since we must go around so many emplacements.”

  “Thank you for your courtesy, Leutnant.” Ishihara unfastened his fur cloak and shifted in his seat so that he could pull it off.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “This cloak is quite warm. With the tunic and our leggings, it is not really necessary for me.”

  Leutnant Mohr glanced at him in surprise.

  Wayne stifled a smile. He was pretty sure he knew where Ishihara was leading. Just in case he was wrong, however, he decided to say nothing until he was sure.

  “I might be induced to trade this cloak,” said Ishihara, holding a portion of the cloak in front of him where Leutnant Mohr could see it.

  “You would trade this cloak?” Leutnant Mohr asked carefully, struggling to hold the wheel as the vehicle bounced across the frozen ground.

  “I would consider it.”

  “I don’t have much to trade,” said Leutnant Mohr. “What would you want for it?”

  “A favor.”

  “Yes? What is this favor?”

  “It will take great courage, Leutnant.”

  Leutnant Mohr’s face tightened. “Are you suggesting that I lack courage?”

  “You tell me,” said Ishihara.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want you to drive us across the neutral zone,” said Ishihara.

  “You mean the no-man’s-land?”

  “Yes.”

  “Toward the Red Army? You’re insane. We will be blasted into nothing in this armored car.”

  “Maybe not,” said Wayne, feeling that he could participate now. “One car alone will not be mistaken for a major military advance that would get a lot of attention.”

  “You’re both insane.”

  “As I said, it will take great courage,” said Ishihara, in an offhand tone.

  Leutnant Mohr said nothing.

  “You don’t have to shake hands with the Russians,” said Wayne. “Just get us as far across the open area to the other side as you can.”

  “We would have to anticipate enemy patrols,” said Leutnant Mohr slowly.

  “Most of that terrain is empty,” said Wayne. “If we see any sign of the enemy, you can let us get out and then you can run for it.”

  “That’s a long way. I could get into trouble with my superior.”

  Wayne heard some indecision in the Leutnant’s voice for the first time. He took the cloak from Ishihara and reached over to put it on Leutnant Mohr’s lap. It was all Wayne could think of to help convince him.

  “This is only December,” said Ishihara. “Most of the Russian winter still lies ahead.”

  “We shall take Moscow shortly,” said Leutnant. Mohr, just as he had said once before.

  “Then you will not need the cloak,” said Ishihara. “Please return it.”

  “Um — wait.”

  “Yes?” Ishihara hesitated.

  “I will do it for both cloaks,” said Leutnant Mohr, with sudden firmness.

  “What?” Wayne was startled.

  “I will drive as close to the Red Army as I can get,” said Leutnant Mohr. “In exchange, you will give me your cloak, as well. This is my offer.”

  Wayne grinned. “There’s nothing wrong with his courage, Ishihara. He’s just been bargaining with us.”

  “What is your answer?” Leutnant Mohr asked.

  “Sorry,” said Wayne. “Ishihara may be warm enough without his cloak, but I won’t be. I have to keep mine.”

  “As you said, it will be a very long walk.”

  “No deal,” said Wayne. “I keep my cloak no matter what. I’ll freeze without it.”

  “One cloak in exchange for the ride,” said Ishihara. “Take it or leave it.”

  “I accept,” said Leutnant Mohr.

  11

  WAYNE RELAXED, DEEPLY relieved that Leutnant Mohr had given in to their terms. Of course, Leutnant Mohr was as cold as every other soldier in the German army, and the fuel he was using belonged to the army, not to him personally. As he drove, he pulled the heavy fur cloak from Germany, almost two thousand years earlier, over his lap.

  Leutnant Mohr was not taking as much of a risk as he believed. Wayne knew that Ishihara would be monitoring the Soviet radio traffic. He would know if any Soviet patrol reported by radio that they were coming this way long before they were in sight.

  No one challenged them as they drove close to the most forward German lines. Wayne decided that the entire army was just as cold and discouraged as the soldiers he had seen himself. None of them wanted to take any initiative. As long as the armored car did nothing particularly offensive, he guessed they would not be stopped.

  Leutnant Mohr did not immediately drive straight through the lines out into the open front.

  “Will the soldiers here let us go through their lines?” Ishihara asked.

  “We must not be seen heading straight for the enemy,” Leutnant Mohr said.

  Wayne saw that they were gradually moving to the left, going north behind the lines.

  “What is your plan?” Ishihara asked.

  “Yeah — can you really get us past them?” Wayne looked out the window at the darkness, broken only by their headlights and a few small, weak fires along the lines.

  “Yes,” said Leutnant Mohr. “The north flank is not far. Going out past the flank will mean that we will pass only a few sentries. They may not bother to stop us.”

  When the armored car finally reached the north flank, Wayne was surprised to see that it was not really anchored in any way. He knew that armies usually wanted some feature in the terrain to protect their flanks, such as a mountain, a river, or even a slight rise in the ground. Here, the German lines simply came to a halt on the level steppe. It was another sign that weariness, cold, and exhaustion had undermined the efficiency of this army.

  Suddenly the headlights struck a couple of soldiers waving their arms. Leutnant Mohr sighed and halted their vehicle in front of them. Then he rolled down the window and waited for them to approach him.

  One sentry came up to the armored car. He looked at all three of them carefully and then spoke. Wayne could not understand his German, of course, but he could judge the man’s tone. The sentry spoke respectfully, aware that he was addressing an officer. Leutn
ant Mohr answered quietly and confidently as he handed his pass to him.

  The sentry moved so that he could read the pass in the glow of the headlights. He showed it to his partner, who nodded and stepped back. The first sentry returned it to Leutnant Mohr and pointed off into the blackness ahead, saying something else. Then he, too, backed away.

  Leutnant Mohr put the vehicle into gear and drove forward, beyond the flank.

  “What did they say?” Wayne asked.

  “They assumed I was lost,” said Leutnant Mohr. “I explained that we were on a special reconnaissance mission and showed them the pass.”

  “What will you say on the way back?” Wayne asked. “When you’re alone?”

  “I will circle around this spot and return to the lines farther to the rear. Major Bach’s pass will serve with other sentries, who did not see me in your company.”

  “They must have seen we aren’t in uniform,” said Wayne. “Did they ask about it?”

  “Yes. I told them I was not allowed to reveal your identities.”

  “Hey, not bad.” Wayne grinned. “You’re a sharp guy, Leutnant.”

  Instead of answering, Leutnant Mohr simply pushed the accelerator, taking them faster over the hard ground. They were now moving out into pure darkness slashed only by their own headlights. After a while, he turned to the right.

  For the first time, now, they were driving east, toward Moscow and the Soviet lines protecting it. Wayne looked back over his shoulder. The last fires from the German lines were out of sight. That was how Leutnant Mohr had decided the time had come to start across the open area between the lines.

  No one spoke for a long time. Wayne could not see the speedometer, if the vehicle had one. In the darkness, he had no way to judge their speed by the passing terrain, either. He did not feel that they were moving very fast, but did not want to raise the subject. At this point, he was just glad they had a ride across the cold, barren countryside.

  Wayne glanced up and suddenly realized that he could see powerful beams of light stretching high into the sky in the distance ahead. They started from somewhere on the ground, over the horizon, and swept upward into the sky. He suspected that he should already know what the lights were, so he did not dare ask. Maybe they were looking for enemy aircraft over Moscow. They had probably been visible for some time before he had noticed them.