Dictator

20

Hunter led his team away from the door, then he turned to Judy.

“You are well?” Hunter asked. “Sure, I’m fine.”

“Good. Since you radioed me, have you gained any additional information about MC 4?”

“No.”

“From what you said, it appears that MC 4 is heading for the German lines. Do you agree?”

“Well, I don’t know,” said Judy. “I saw him running straight west across the steppe, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t double back later.”

Hunter turned to Jane. “As our roboticist, what do you think?”

“Judy, was he running away from you personally?” Jane asked.

“No. He couldn’t have been. I didn’t reveal myself in any way as someone from our time. Actually, I never even got very close to him.”

“Then I think he must be leaving the Soviet lines for reasons of his own,” said Jane. “Some new interpretation of one of the Laws of Robotics must have dictated his actions. Otherwise, the Third Law would force him to take care of himself with shelter, which the work brigade offered.”

“So something unknown caused him to leave the work brigade for the German lines,” said Hunter.

“Yes, that’s my best guess.”

“I agree,” said Hunter. “He may have learned that radio transmission was in use here. If so, he may have monitored the same NKVD radio traffic that I heard. It has told him that he is being sought, though he cannot possibly know why.”

“He will find all sorts of humans in the German lines to save from harm if he can,” said Judy. “Behind the lines, the Nazis have prisoners of war and political prisoners they have gathered during their campaign.”

“The First Law could keep him busy there, then,” said Jane. “Hunter, what are we going to do? He could start interfering with history as soon as he reaches those prisoners.”

“Those lines are a long way from here, aren’t they?” Steve asked. “And he’s on foot.”

“Yes,” said Judy.

“A robot of his type can walk that distance in a night without stopping, though,” said Jane. “He would be very low on energy by the time he arrived, but he can count on the sun to recharge him at dawn.”

“So, without a vehicle of some kind, we don’t have a chance of catching him,” said Steve. “He had a head start out at the ditches and now he’s been hiking for a couple of hours already.”

“I dare not steal a vehicle, as Wayne and Ishihara did,” said Hunter. “I fear it could cause a significant disruption in events.”

“Well, we have one more problem now,” said Judy. “If my memory serves, the Soviet counterattack will begin at dawn. Anything we do now will happen during actual battle conditions.”

“I see,” Hunter said stiffly. “That eliminates any choice of crossing the neutral zone between the armies. I cannot risk that much harm to you.”

“You have a plan?” Steve asked.

“Once again, I must make a concession I do not like,” said Hunter. “We shall have to return to our own time and then come back to this time, but behind the German lines. Please stand close to me. Steve, please give me the belt unit.”

As his team members crowded around him, Steve pulled the unit out of his shirt and offered it. Hunter glanced around to make sure that no local people could see them. Then he triggered the unit.

Wayne finally began to relax as Ishihara drove through the smallest back streets in Moscow to reach their destination. For the first time, they had a real lead on MC 4. Then, without speaking, Ishihara slowed down and stopped the car by the curb.

“Something wrong?” Wayne felt a sinking sensation.

“Yes,” said Ishihara. “A new report has just gone out on the NKVD band.”

“What did it say?”

“MC 4 is not at the location where his work brigade is spending the night. Some other agents who interrogated people in the work brigades got a lead on MC 4 by using his description, at about the time the brigades got on the trucks to go home. The agents figured out which work brigade he had worked in and reached them ahead of us. I fear that our need to take evasive measures delayed our arrival until it was too late.”

“What happened to him?”

“They do not know for sure. Those agents questioned people in the work brigade and reported that MC 4 never got on the truck back at the antitank ditch. They think he may be hiding out in the ditch tonight.”

Wayne thought a moment. “Just spending the night there? That doesn’t make sense. They’ll all be back tomorrow.”

“Of course, they believe he is limited by human abilities.”

“So we came all the way back to Moscow for no reason? He stayed out there all along?”

“Do not forget that the NKVD spotted us out there. We had to make this run back into Moscow in order to lose the pursuit. It was not wasted time.”

“Well-all right.”

“I think MC 4 is probably now fleeing back across the neutral territory to the German lines. They know no human would attempt that on foot.”

“Yeah! He has to flee the entire Soviet -held territory now. And that means we can still get him first! Even the NKVD won’t go all the way to the German lines. Let’s go!”

“We can attempt it,” Ishihara said calmly. “I must warn you that we have only a quarter tank of gasoline left. We have no money with which to acquire more and attempting to get some by stealth would probably also bring renewed pursuit.”

“Well…how far can this thing go on a quarter tank?”

“From our driving so far, I estimate that we might reach the German lines. I am certain that we would get within walking distance.”

“I want to go after MC 4 now, while we have a chance to snatch him out in open territory. Will the First Law let you try it?”

“Yes,” said Ishihara. “The Germans were not exactly happy with us, but they will certainly be more hospitable than the Soviets.”

“Then let’s go.”

Ishihara drove away from the curb.

“We can pick up his trail back at the ditch,” said Wayne.

“Our first problem is getting around the antitank ditches,” said Ishihara. “Those ditches are too deep and steeply dug for this car to cross. There are no bridges or causeways across them; that would defeat their purpose. We shall have to go around one end. Then we can search for MC 4’s trail.”

Wayne nodded.

“The greatest gasoline expenditure will be another evasive pattern through the city to escape the NKVD’s notice. Once we are past the ditches, I can slow down to conserve gasoline usage and still maintain greater speed than MC 4 has even at his fastest.”

Wayne said nothing. His earlier elation had been dampened by the need to reverse direction, but the news was not really that bad. In fact, if they could find MC 4 out on the open steppe with fuel in the car, then chasing him down and grabbing him would be even easier than apprehending him in the middle of a work brigade.

As before, Ishihara took them safely out of Moscow by a long, involved route with many turns. They reached the same unpaved road that they had taken to the ditches earlier. At first, Wayne did not see any other headlights as they left Moscow behind. After a while, however, he saw Ishihara glance into the rearview mirror.

“Trouble?” Wayne looked over his shoulder and saw headlights far behind them, but on the same road.

“Yes, but they are not aware of it yet.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

Ishihara reached out and switched on the car’s communication system.

Wayne heard static crackling first, followed by a man’s voice speaking a couple of Russian phrases. The man waited, then spoke again. Wayne could not understand the words, but he could tell that the speaker was repeating the same phrases again.

“I first heard him over a minute ago on my internal receiver,” said Ishihara.

“What’s he saying?”

“He is just trying to get me to respond. It is merely a standard NKVD opening; I have learned that they all use it. He must have recognized this car as an NKVD vehicle, but is too far back to see our license plate. For this reason, he has not yet realized that we are in the fugitive NKVD car. He and his partner are almost certainly going to look for MC 4 at the ditches and he simply assumes that we are doing the same.”

Wayne grinned. “Well, we are.”

“True. However, I dare not respond. Instead of confirming to him that we are the fugitives, I shall wait for him to figure it out.” Ishihara turned off the car speaker again.

“What are we going to do about them?”

“I shall just keep driving. We have a good lead. Once we find a way around the ditch, we shall take off west across the open steppe.”

“Okay.” Wayne looked back again. The other car seemed to be just a little closer.

Steve felt the same familiar time shift as before. The team suddenly found itself jammed together in the dark, curved bottom of the sphere they used to travel in time. It opened and he could see Hunter climbing out.

“Please remain where you are,” said Hunter. “I shall program the console and rejoin you immediately.”

“Hold it, Hunter,” said Steve. “There’s no need to hurry right back, is there? I mean, we can go back to whatever moment we want whether we leave now or in a couple of hours, right?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Well, look. We’re all tired and we could use some good food for a change. You’re low on energy, and ought to recharge. Then we can return to the German lines in the morning, with our sleep schedule matching their time zone.”

“Sounds great to me,” said Judy. “Especially about getting a really nice dinner. Something with dessert.”

“Yeah, Hunter,” said Jane. “We can split up for now and come back fresh.”

“I agree that we should take some time here,” said Hunter, as he helped Judy get out of the sphere. “However, I do not want us to leave the Institute. I am concerned that unexpected distractions and unpredictable problems might arise.”

Steve jumped out and unbuttoned his coat. “You want us to sleep here? We can do that. What about food?”

“I can help, of course.” R. Daladier, the security robot who had been left here originally, was still standing motionless by the door that opened onto the hall.

“I will arrange for Daladier to bring whatever food or personal items you wish from anywhere in Mojave Center,” said Hunter. “Steve, after dinner, I suggest you sleep on the couch here. I shall help Judy and Jane find another room with couches elsewhere in the building.”

“Sounds okay to me,” said Jane, shrugging. “Go ahead and plug into the building’s power system to recharge, Hunter.”

“I shall do so,” said Hunter. “It will not take long. Then I shall arrange different costumes for all of us. We should not wear Soviet clothes to visit the Germans.”

“Now, then,” said Steve. “What are the choices for dinner?”

Wayne stared forward into darkness as Ishihara drove over rough, frozen ground at the southern end of the antitank ditches. From now on, Wayne knew, they had no road to follow. The car bounced hard, jarring him, and he grabbed the back of his seat to steady himself.

“Are they turning back?” Wayne asked.

“See for yourself,” said Ishihara.

Wayne looked back. Now four sets of headlights were following them. The NKVD car that Ishihara had refused to answer over the radio had obviously figured out that they were the fugitives. Other cars had been called and they had converged on the trail.

The chase continued over the open steppe. The car bounced and veered hard; at times Ishihara had to slow down to keep control.

After a while, Wayne looked back again. The pursuers were slowly gaining. Their headlights, too, jumped and jerked in the darkness.

“Why aren’t we gaining? When you drove over open ground last time, you left them behind.”

“This car has sustained damage from the hard use we have given it. I have to drive more slowly now or else it may not last for the entire distance. The cars behind us have apparently not suffered as much. However, their gain on us has been very gradual.”

“Well…how far do we have to go?”

“We have covered seven of the approximately eighteen kilometers to the German lines.”

“How about this-radio forward to the Germans. They still believe we’re German spies, so they should help. What do you think? We can tell them that we’re bringing back important information.”

“We have none.”

“I know, but…it might help. We’ll think of something when the time comes.”

“We still cannot risk precipitating a battle.”

“That isn’t the Soviet military behind us; it’s a bunch of civilian cars. And German patrols must be out this way already.”

“I agree. I shall call.”

Wayne watched him in silence for several minutes.

“I have made contact,” Ishihara said finally. “I explained our dilemma and approximate position to the German radio operator who responded. I also told him we have spoken with Major Bach, whose name may help us.”

“You told him we have critical military information about the Soviets, right? What did he say?”

“Yes, I told him. I have been instructed to stand by.”

Wayne looked back again. The headlights behind them looked a little bigger than before. “Do you think we’re going to make it?”

“I do not know. As I said before, the First Law will require me to take you to another time and place before I allow you to be taken by the NKVD.”

“I don’t want them to get me, either. But maybe we could just jump forward a few hours. And behind German lines? Not so far into the future that Hunter will grab MC 4 in the meantime.”

“It is possible, but we would again have much explaining to do. They would want to know how we got back there, especially without their sentries noticing. We shall have a considerable challenge already in giving them any information about the Soviet military important enough to impress them but unimportant enough so that it will not alter the course of history.”

“Yeah. Just don’t make any move unless we just can’t get away from the NKVD any other way.”

“I agree. Further, I have good news. The German operator has just radioed back. He called the German patrol on duty in this sector. An armored car is coming out to meet us.”

“Great!” Wayne glanced again at the headlights behind them. They were closer than ever. “I hope they get here in time.”

“I suspect that only our claim to have military information has caused anyone to go to this much effort for us.”

“Yeah, well, whatever it takes.” Wayne grinned.

“I fear your history is poor. You do not realize just how horrible the Nazi regime was. We run the risk of angering them.”