Dictator

8

Hunter knew that the walk back into Moscow was a long one for his human companions. Even he was using more energy than the weak winter sun could restore on the microscopic solar power cells in his skin. The activity helped keep the humans warm, but they needed a rest by the time they reached the edge of the city.

He did not see a place nearby where they could get warm. They settled for a bench on a sidewalk. A few other Muscovites walked past them.

“We should be able to find a bus line, I think,” said Judy. “I think some of them are still running.”

“Excellent,” said Hunter.

“Hunter,” said Steve. “Where are you going to look for MC 4, anyhow?”

“Not too far from here,” said Hunter. “My calculation of where MC 4 will likely return to his full size is out in a certain neighborhood that I will show you. He should return within a range of a couple of blocks.”

“After we find Jane, then, are we just going to stake out the area?”

“That will be a good beginning, of course,” said Hunter. “However, he may have already returned, or he may simply slip past us as the other component robots have on earlier missions. If we lose him that way, our search will be even more difficult than before.”

“Why?” Judy asked.

“He has more places to hide,” said Hunter. “In the middle of this large city, he can find shelter and company fairly quickly and can get lost in the crowds.”

“He won’t have a job or a place to live,” said Steve. “And when he first shows up, he won’t even have any clothes. That will make him stand out in a crowd.”

Judy laughed.

“Clothes can be found in a city,” said Hunter. “Further, with so many displaced people, I believe that fewer questions are being routinely asked of strangers than usual.”

“That’s right,” said Judy.

“Yeah, I see,” said Steve. “In the dinosaur age, all we had to do was find MC 1‘s footprints or broken twigs to pick up his trail. And even in Port Royal, Jamaica, and on the Roman frontier, a single stranger was pretty obvious to everybody. This is a much more sophisticated urban area, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” said Judy emphatically. “And, remember, the government is very dangerous. Don’t underestimate them.”

“Got it,” said Steve. “Hunter, I’m starting to get cold, just sitting here.”

“Judy, are you rested enough to continue?” Hunter asked.

“Might as well get it over with.”

“We shall look at the area where I expect MC 4 to appear on our way back to the warehouse,” said Hunter, rising.

“Let’s look for a major thoroughfare,” said Judy. “The city has reduced bus service, but the biggest streets will have what’s left.”

As they began to walk again, Judy looked up and down the blocks and suggested directions. Soon they were in a queue at a bus stop behind seven Muscovites. When the bus to the center of the city arrived, it was a very old, creaking vehicle puffing black smoke out of its exhaust pipe. As Hunter led his team into the bus, he imitated the woman in front of him, paying the team’s way with coins. The bus was only half-full, so they found seats in the rear, away from other people.

Hunter sat without speaking, looking out the windows. When he saw that the bus had reached the area where he had estimated MC 4 would appear, he stood up and pulled the horizontal cord running across the wall of the bus over the windows. A little bell rang by the driver, who pulled over at the next bus stop.

Hunter gestured for Judy and Steve to leave the rear door first. When they were safely on the sidewalk again, he followed them. The bus creaked and rumbled away, blowing black smoke over them into the chilly air.

“Doesn’t look like much, does it?” Judy looked up and down the street.

“What kind of buildings are these?” Hunter asked, surveying the architecture.

“These are all residential apartment buildings. Most of them are empty in the daytime.”

“Where is everybody?” Steve asked.

“Oh, you missed my explanation before, didn’t you?” Judy turned to him. “Men who can serve in the military left a long time ago and lots of people have fled to avoid the advancing Germans. I think that’s where many of the children went; families got them out of town. The remainder are working overtime to keep the city functioning or to prepare defenses.”

“That means MC 4 could appear here and duck into a fairly empty building, doesn’t it?” Steve looked up at the rows of windows in the building above them.

“Yes,” said Hunter. “He can also find clothing, if he locates something he judges the owner can lose without harm.”

“We can’t knock on every door,” said Steve. “What do you want to do?”

“I do not have a plan yet,” said Hunter. “I fear that finding him here will be difficult. We shall not be able to watch this area constantly without attracting the notice of the authorities.”

“That’s right,” said Judy.

“I want to find Jane,” said Steve. “Then we can concentrate on MC 4.”

Hunter magnified his hearing to the maximum, listening for footsteps suggesting the weight of MC 4, or his voice speaking English. He turned slowly in different directions, but heard no signs of the component robot. This failure meant very little, however, considering the density and size of the buildings. MC 4 could be quite close, or could still be microscopic, or might have already left the area at full size.

“I agree, Steve,” said Hunter. “We shall remain here at this bus stop and find a bus going toward the warehouse to look for Jane.”

“Is the NKVD looking for you two?” Steve asked. “You think they’ll go back to the warehouse?”

“It is possible,” said Hunter. “Since I have changed my appearance back to normal, they will not recognize me. However, they did see Judy clearly.”

“We’d better sleep somewhere else tonight,” said Steve, looking up the street. “How much time is there between buses, anyway, Judy?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know. That’s too much detail for the history I studied.”

Hunter looked at her. “Once we get there, Judy will have to hide in the crowd in case the NKVD returns. We shall leave as soon as we have Jane with us again. Please be very careful and very aware of people noticing you.”

“Count on it,” said Judy, smiling wryly. “I’ve seen enough of them already. I’ll be careful.”

By the time the sun was low on the flat western horizon, Jane was already exhausted. For the last couple of hours, she had shoveled slowly, with very little dirt on the blade of her shovel. As long as she continued moving, however, no one else in the work brigade seemed to care.

She had not been able to get enough privacy to call Hunter. Except in the outhouse, which had no water to flush, she had not been alone all day. She had not dared use her lapel pin for fear of being overheard by the people waiting in line outside.

During the course of the day, the ditch had grown. Since Judy had told the team that the Battle of Moscow would involve the Soviet armies counterattacking the Germans, Jane knew that the ditch she was digging was probably not important. She knew she was not altering history by participating.

Finally she heard the rumble of trucks. Everyone looked up to see the welcome sight. She fell into line with the others, climbing out of the ditch and queuing for the ride back to the warehouse.

In the back of the truck as it jerked and drove away, Jane leaned against the side and slid down to a sitting position. She had not been this tired in a long time. As a roboticist, she was simply not used to an entire day of the kind of physical labor that robots would do in her time. The cold had taken a toll on her, as well; the daytime temperature here had been much colder than even the mountains of central Germany on their previous mission.

Even when the truck finally stopped, she did not stand right away. She waited while the back was opened and the rest of the work brigade began to climb out. Finally she stood up, stiff with the cold, and followed them out of the truck.

Jane joined the crowd moving toward the door of the warehouse. Then she glanced up and saw Hunter just inside the door, towering over the others. A wave of relief swept over her, but she knew better than to call out. To those around her, she had to look as resigned as they were about this difficult routine. As before, two burly men stood by the door, watching as everyone entered. When she finally got inside, she could see Judy and Steve for the first time.

“Good evening,” Steve said in Russian, grinning. “You okay?”

“Worn out,” said Jane. “How did you get here? Hunter, where have you been all this time?”

“We can confer in a moment,” said Hunter. “Now we must leave the warehouse.”

“All right.” Jane accepted his judgment. “I’m ready.”

Hunter, moving against the current of people still plodding into the warehouse, slipped around the edge of the doorway. Steve waited for Jane and Judy to file after him, so Jane pushed her way after Hunter.

“Where are you going, comrade?” One of the guards put his hand against Hunter’s chest.

“We must find some friends,” said Hunter. “Please excuse us.” He started to moved around the man, but the guard shifted with him, still blocking the way.

“It is dark, comrade, and cold. Come inside for the night.” He gestured back toward the doorway.

“This is very important,” said Hunter.

“Then you must explain it to me.”

Hunter hesitated, then glanced over his shoulder at his team. Then he moved back inside. Hunter led the team back to the familiar corner in the rear of the warehouse. Jane and Steve exchanged puzzled glances but did not argue.

“What’s wrong, Hunter?” Jane spoke quietly, seeing that no strangers were close to them. “We have to get out of here.”

“The NKVD knows what Judy looks like now and may return here for her,” said Hunter. “We cannot risk remaining here.”

“Exactly,” said Steve. “We could have rushed out of here. You could have pushed past that guy.”

“I do not want to force our way out past the guards, either,” said Hunter. “That would be disruptive and would attract even more attention to us.”

“You aren’t just going to sit here and wait for the NKVD,” said Steve. “So what are we going to do?”

“For now, please prepare to sleep,” said Hunter. “I shall consider the options that we shall have after the lights are out.”

Wayne let Ishihara do most of the work in their day’s search. He knew that Ishihara could turn up the sensitivity of his sight and hearing to find MC 4 and nothing Wayne could do was the equal of that. So he spent most of his time just holding his cloak as tight as he could.

Leutnant Mohr rarely spoke as he dutifully led his guests through the tents and up and down the lines. Wayne became sure that the Nazi command had ordered Leutnant Mohr to be very careful with them. If they proved legitimate, then Oberst Schepke wanted to be able to prove later that he had cooperated with them fully. At the same time, he wanted to distance himself from the strangers in case they were phony. As a result, Leutnant Mohr did not spend much time talking to soldiers or letting them see inside tents. He gave them a perfunctory tour of the grounds that did not accomplish very much.

At one point late in the day, Ishihara stopped and looked east. Wayne saw only open, frozen ground. He waited to see what Ishihara would do.

“Lieutenant,” said Ishihara, in English.

“Yes?”

“How far is the actual front line?”

“This encampment is roughly a half kilometer from the front,” said Leutnant Mohr, squinting into the distance himself. “We are in Panzer Group 3, a mere twenty kilometers or so from Moscow itself.”

“Straight east of here?” Ishihara asked.

“So we are told.”

“How long since anybody moved?” Wayne asked.

“Excuse me?” Leutnant Mohr stiffened.

“How long have you held this position, without advancing?” Wayne turned to look at him pointedly.

“We are searching for a spy, not discussing military matters.” Leutnant Mohr fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Lieutenant.” Wayne used his most authoritative tone of voice and tried to think like one of the German military men. “I want to know if that spy is gaining information of value-how fresh it is, or how old. It bears directly on our purpose. Now answer my question.”

“Well-the front moved slowly during the fall. The camp doesn’t move as often, of course. We advance the camp after the front is secure.”

Wayne looked around again. He could see the German tanks lined up in rows, sitting cold, with looked to him as if it was freezing in place.

“Have you received any orders about advancing?” Ishihara asked.

“We have been told we will spend the winter in Moscow,” Leutnant Mohr said cautiously. His young face looked unsure as he glanced toward the empty horizon again.

Wayne caught Ishihara’s glance and understood the point behind his question. They had come here because Wayne had expected MC 4 to attempt stopping the German advance. Wayne considered it a likely imperative under the First Law. However, if the German offensive had already stalled, then MC 4 had no need to influence them.

MC 4 might not be here at all.