Ishihara looked at another man, standing in the wagon moving small kegs around. “I need help. Can you spare this man for a moment?”
“Eh? Who are you?”
“I drove a wagon behind one of the veteran troops. We just arrived in camp.”
“You know this man?”
“No.”
“Well, we teamsters should stick together. Hey, you.” The man waved his arms to get MC 6’s attention. “He’s a real cooperative little fellow, but no one can figure out what language he understands.”
MC 6 glanced up at the man in the wagon.
“Go with him. Help him.” The man in the wagon pointed from MC 6 to Ishihara.
MC 6 nodded.
“Thank you.” Ishihara nodded to MC 6 and walked away from the wagon. MC 6 walked with him.
Ishihara could only hope that MC 6 would not think to magnify his hearing or sight and examine Ishihara closely.
Hunter had located Artorius at the head of his column with no trouble. Artorius had responded to Hunter’s scouting report by choosing to follow Bedwyr’s route for the day. Hunter and Steve rode with him at the head of the column to point out the way.
Late in the day, Bedwyr spotted them and led his patrol back to meet the column. He recommended a place to camp and Hunter and Steve rejoined the scouting patrol. The day had remained uneventful for the scouts, as well as for the main column.
As the other riders dismounted and tended their horses, Steve spoke quietly to Hunter from the saddle.
“Before we dismount, can’t we do something about our mission? I enjoyed today’s ride, but we don’t want to keep this up all summer.”
“I agree. However, we have earned some greater respect today, and we are considered more a part of the troop now. Perhaps we can approach the baggage train again and complete our task.”
“You told me this morning you heard Jane last night. Can we look for her somehow?”
“I doubt that she remains nearby. Wayne and Ishihara almost certainly have kept their distance since she revealed her presence. First I suggest we attempt to reach MC 6 again. Then we will look for a sign of Jane’s presence.”
“All right. Got any ideas about how to avoid that Gaius again?”
“Yes. In this forest, I expect the wagons will have to stop in a line alone the road. We should ride parallel to the road on horseback, keeping our distance from the baggage train. I will look and listen for Gaius and for MC 6, as well.”
“Sounds good to me. Lead the way.”
Hunter reined his mount around the road away from the camp, through the trees, ducking under branches. He heard the hoofbeats of Steve’s mount following him. Hunter selected a route that would carry them down the line of the column, close enough for him to hear and see the men at the wagons through the trees but far enough to avoid immediate notice by the wagonmaster.
Jane sat behind Wayne on the mule, riding at a walk away from the camp and the road. At first, they did not bother to turn around as they wove through the trees. They did not run across anyone else, nor did anyone behind them show any interest in where they were going.
After a while, Wayne turned the mule so they could look behind them. By this time, the trees hid the camp from view, though they could hear men shouting orders and horses walking. Without a word, Wayne turned and continued riding away.
As they rode Jane looked back over her shoulder several times, but saw no one. If Ishihara was bringing MC 6, the two robots would have to catch up after Wayne decided to stop and wait. She decided not to do anything until she learned whether or not Ishihara succeeded.
Wayne, following Ishihara’s plan, kept the mule moving through the forest. He glanced back over his shoulder every so often, but neither of them spoke. In order to avoid riding directly into tree branches, Wayne had to face forward most of the time.
Jane realized that she had an advantage in riding behind him; she could turn her head and look back without Wayne knowing. The motion of Wayne’s shoulders when he turned told her when he was looking behind them even if she had already looked back. She turned her head and continued to look back, despite the awkward angle, as they rode.
As the mule plodded on, Jane finally saw a motion through the trees behind them. Ishihara was jogging after them, closely followed by MC 6. The forest was so dense here that they had come close without being seen; on the damp earth, their footsteps had not been loud enough for her to hear.
If Ishihara had induced MC 6 to come with him somehow, instead of grabbing him and bringing him by force, Jane figured that MC 6 had his hearing turned on. That meant she could call to him in English. Suddenly encouraged, she looked for a soft spot on the ground among the trees.
Suddenly Jane slipped off the mule, pretending to lose her balance. She allowed herself to fall on the ground, where she judged she could land safely. Startled, Wayne reined in and looked back at her.
“Ishihara, help me!” Jane shouted. Then, as Ishihara ran toward her, she looked at the other robot. “MC 6, run! They’re going to dismantle you!”
The small component robot instantly darted to one side and ran through the trees. He took off at an angle away from both them and the column to their rear. His actions were driven by the Second Law to obey her instruction to run and by the Third Law to protect himself.
“Hey!” Wayne shouted, finally seeing MC 6 for the first time. “Stop! I order you! Stop, robot!” He wheeled the mule around and rode after MC 6, leaning low to avoid tree branches. “Halt! I need you under the First Law!”
MC 6 did not seem to believe that. Jane did not see him come back. He might have turned off his hearing once he understood the danger present to him.
Jane had not been sure her ruse would work; MC 6 might have felt required by the First Law to come forward with Ishihara to help her. However, he had apparently judged that Ishihara would take care of her adequately. She had gambled on that. If she had told MC 6 that she was unharmed, Ishihara would also have been freed of the need to help her and he might have captured MC 6.
Instead, Ishihara now hesitated where he stood. He was momentarily undecided between the immediate need to care for Jane and the First Law issue requiring him to capture MC 6 for Wayne’s long-term welfare. Every moment helped MC 6 escape.
“Help me up, Ishihara,” said Jane, to stall him further. She remained on the ground.
Ishihara hurried toward her and knelt down. “Are you injured?”
Jane decided that telling extreme lies would be a mistake; teaching him not to trust her could backfire if she was in real trouble. Stalling, on the other hand, seemed safe enough. she said nothing. Behind Ishihara, Wayne came riding back, scowling. MC 6 had escaped him.
“Ishihara! Go get him!” Wayne yelled.
“Are you injured?” Ishihara repeated.
“Not seriously. Please help me up.”
“Of course.”
“Ishihara, she’s faking!” Wayne dismounted near them. “Track that robot now, before he gets back to the wagons! I couldn’t ride fast enough in this stupid forest to keep up, but he hasn’t gone far.”
Jane remained passive as Ishihara put one arm under her shoulders and raised her up. Then he shifted his position and helped her stand. She took a deep breath and leaned on Ishihara’s shoulder.
“I’ll take care of her!” Wayne yelled. “Ishihara, go get him!”
“You seem unharmed,” Ishihara said to Jane.
“Yes, I’ll be all right.”
“Now!” Wayne grabbed Ishihara’s arm and pushed after MC 6. “I’ll watch her!”
Ishihara finally turned and jogged in the direction MC 6 had gone.
Wayne watched him go.
18
As soon as Wayne turned away, Jane ducked under a branch and ran.
“Hey!” Wayne yelled behind her. “Oh, no, you don’t! Come back here!”
Jane darted around a sapling and bent down to avoid another low-hanging branch, but she felt Wayne grab her hair from behind. H
e yanked, pulling her head back. She threw her arms around the branch and hung on, but could not move her head.
“Ishihara!” Jane yelled. Then she let out a loud, long, scream, much more exaggerated than the situation really warranted.
“Shut up!” Wayne put his other hand over her mouth and tried to pull her away from the tree branch.
Jane struggled, but she was not really angry or scared. She was still deliberately provoking Wayne and forcing Ishihara to protect her instead of catching MC 6. She bent her knees, dropping to the ground as she thrashed in his grasp. Wayne had to fall, too, in order to hang onto her.
Neither of them spoke. Jane let go of the branch, but tried to pull his hand away from her mouth. In a moment, she heard footsteps running toward them. Then suddenly Wayne released her. She let herself fall back onto the grass, looking up.
Ishihara had pulled Wayne away and now held him firmly as they both stood over her.
“I told you to catch MC 6,” Wayne growled, but he did not sound as angry as before.
“You know I cannot allow this,” said Ishihara. “If I release you, will you remain calm?”
“Yeah, yeah, all right. But you’ve been manipulated. She’s done it to both of us.”
Ishihara let go of him. “You didn’t have to grab me,” said Jane, remaining where she lay. “You could have let me go.” That, too, was for Ishihara’s benefit
“Are you harmed?” Ishihara asked.
“Not really. But I didn’t like it much.” She looked at Wayne. “Keep your hands to yourself from now on.”
“She’s fine,” Wayne wearily. “And I’m not going to hurt her. You still might have a chance to get MC 6, if you hurry. You can track him.”
“No, you can’t,” said Jane. “As soon as you leave again, I’m running away. And Wayne will try to stop me again and we’ll wind up wrestling around again. Ishihara, you either have to stay here and protect me from Wayne or let me go.”
“I won’t hurt her,” said Wayne. “I’ve never wanted to hurt her. But we can’t let her tell Hunter where we are-or where MC 6 has gone, either.”
“You can’t trust him,” said Jane. “You just saw him grab me and pull me down.”
“If you promise not to run away, I can trust him,” said Ishihara.
“I refuse to promise,” said Jane. “In fact, I promise to run away every chance I get from now on.”
“Ishihara, can’t you see what she’s doing?” Wayne demanded. “This whole argument is set up to stop you from getting MC 6, and that’s all it is.”
“The First Law has no exceptions,” said Ishihara. “I must make my own interpretation of priorities. Unless you decide to let Jane go find Hunter on her own, I must remain with both of you.”
Wayne sighed with resignation. “I can’t do that. We might as well give up as do that.”
“Then I suggest we move somewhat farther from the camp and make our own camp for the night,” said Ishihara. “The sun will go down soon.”
“All right,” said Wayne. “But if you’re staying here instead of chasing MC 6, make sure that she stays, too.”
Jane indulged in an impish grin, relieved that she had foiled the capture of MC 6. “Why, of course, Wayne. Anything you want.”
Steve rode up and down a route roughly parallel to the road with Hunter. Neither of them spoke. Steve could hear the men and horses of the baggage train and occasionally saw them through the trees.
Finally Hunter reined in and turned to Steve.
“I have heard and seen no sign of MC 6. While I grant that he may not be speaking, I should be able to hear his footsteps, which are of a distinctively light weight among grown men. If he was helping others, I should hear them talk about him as they work, if they do not address him directly.”
“You think he figured out that we came from his time to get him?”
“I must consider it possible. He may have studied my skin with magnified vision while we spoke with Gaius last night. Also, he may have been approached by Wayne and Ishihara, in which case they could have revealed their purpose.”
“I guess if you’d heard any sign of them, you would have told me.”
“I have not. As we discussed before, I expect that after Jane shouted for my help, Wayne and Ishihara took her a safe distance away from the column.”
“If they know MC 6 came with the column, they must have followed. Let’s go look for tracks.”
Hunter looked through the trees at the position of the sun. “I do not estimate we have enough light to pursue any tracks for long.”
“Wait a minute. Didn’t you say a while ago that if we couldn’t find MC 6, we could look for Jane?”
“We have taken more time than I expected in searching for MC 6. I cannot allow you to miss dinner. Nor can we wander too far from the camp before darkness falls.”
“I can miss a meal if I have to. Besides, we don’t have to be gone long. Let’s look around.”
“Agreed.”
Hunter rode back up the route they had taken before, but now he examined the ground. Steve said nothing. He felt trapped by their need to perform duties in the column.
“Here.” Hunter stopped and pointed to hoofprints, accompanied by smaller depressions in the grass and soft earth.
“You found him?”
“I have found the tracks of one mount and the footsteps of Ishihara and another set of the right size to be MC 6.” Hunter looked through the trees away from the road. “I surmise that Wayne and Jane rode double on the animal.”
“You mean they got him?”
“I see that they have him, but only since the baggage train halted. Wayne has not had time to dismantle MC 6 yet.”
“Let’s go!”
“No,” said Hunter. “I will go. I suggest you return to the squad and tell Bedwyr that a personal matter arose for me. Assure him that I will not need dinner and that I will return in time to do my duties tomorrow.”
“He’ll expect you to come back in time to get a night’s sleep. I can’t tell him you don’t need it.”
“Listen carefully for my voice. If I call you from the camp, it will mean we are ready to leave the column permanently. Otherwise, I will simply return during the night to resume my position.”
“I should go with you. Maybe I can help.”
“We must maintain our goodwill with Bedwyr.”
“Yeah, all right. Good luck. Get going.” Steve kicked his mount and rode up the line, hoping that Hunter would get MC 6 quickly.
Hunter leaned low and rode at a quick walk, dodging trees. The tracks in the soft earth were clear and fresh. This was the best opportunity to get both MC 6 and Jane that he had yet seen.
When Hunter reached a spot where the grass and some small bushes had been crushed, he studied the tracks and the marks carefully. He saw that MC 6 had run away from this spot alone, without reaching the area where the ground cover had been disturbed. He guessed that Jane had somehow freed MC 6, though he could not tell how.
Because the hoofprints and Ishihara’s tracks led in a different direction from those of MC 6, Hunter had to decide which way to go.
Jane had apparently remained in Isihara’s company, so Hunter judged that finding MC 6 was more urgent. He decided to track MC 6 as long as the waning daylight held out. As he did so, he observed that the component robot did not make any effort to hide his tracks, probably relying on speed and agility to avoid human pursuit.
The forest darkened quickly, however, and Hunter realized that he could not continue tracking MC 6 for long. Even if he used the maximum light receptivity of his vision, too much of the moonlight would be blocked by the canopy of leaves overhead for him to see fine details. For now, his infrared vision could still perceive the faint warm spots on the ground left by MC 6’s feet, but the heat was dissipating quickly. Hunter would not catch MC 6 before it vanished.
He saw no point in riding on. However, before he returned to the camp, he reviewed MC 6’s route in hope of finding a pattern. The
component robot seemed to be moving roughly parallel to the road, going ahead of the main column in anticipation of its journey tomorrow.
Hunter guessed that MC 6 still hoped to prevent the violence of the coming battle, as unlikely as that seemed. Since Wayne and Ishihara had located him in the baggage train, Hunter felt certain that MC 6 would not return there. Still, Hunter might be able to pick up his trail tomorrow.
He turned and rode back to the camp.
As Steve ate bread and mutton again by the patrol’s campfire, he noted that Bedwyr kept glancing into the gathering darkness. Bedwyr had not objected to Hunter pursuing a personal errand, but he seemed uncomfortable. When Hunter finally arrived, however, Bedwyr simply offered him his dinner.
During a walk to the latrine, Steve asked Hunter what he had found. Hunter explained and Steve resigned himself to another wait. During the evening, Steve hoped Jane would yell for help again, but if she did, even Hunter did not hear her.
As Steve lay rolled in his blanket near the dwindling campfire, he felt trapped again by their presence in the column. At this point, Hunter knew both Jane and MC 6 to be nearby but not actually traveling in the column. Tomorrow, Steve and Hunter would have to ride out with the patrol instead of searching for either of them; in the meantime, Ishihara would probably start tracking MC 6 in earnest.
Steve wondered, as he drifted off to sleep, if Hunter would consider deserting tomorrow. He would ask when he got Hunter alone. Then, tired from the long day in the saddle, he slept soundly.
A hand on his shoulder shook him awake.
Steve rolled over, blinking groggily. The night was still black. He heard other men in the squad stirring. By the faint glow of the embers nearby, he saw a man’s shadow standing over him.
“We must ride,” Bedwyr said grimly. “Move fast.” He walked away and bent over someone else.
Steve forced himself up. He could feel that he had only slept a few hours at most. His eyes adjusted to the faint moonlight and he saw that Hunter had already brought their horses up.
Sleepily Steve rose and slid his sword into his belt. He stumbled to his saddle where it lay on the ground. As he threw it on his mount he spoke quietly, his voice rough with sleep.
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