Invader

12

Bedwyr ran back into the tavern, out of breath. Behind him, Hunter could see other people running through the street. Shouts came from allover the village.

“What is it?” Steve asked, looking up.

“A scouting patrol just came back from the Saxon border.” Bedwyr paused to catch his breath. “A new fleet of Saxons has crossed the Channel. With their brethren already in Britain, they are preparing to march soon.”

“What will Artorius do?” Hunter asked.

“He already came out to speak. That’s why the bell rang. He has issued orders for us to march tomorrow.”

“Most of his army is not here,” said Hunter.

“That’s right,” said Bedwyr. “His personal troop and Lucius’s green recruits are the only ones. But couriers are being sent to the countryside to tell all the veterans to meet us on our line of march.”

“Can they arrive in time?” Steve asked.

“Of course.” Bedwyr laughed. “Remember, we are all mounted. The Saxons march on their own sorry feet. We will gather long before we meet them.”

“When do we leave?” Hunter asked. “Tonight?”

“No, no. Attack is not imminent, only the need to open the campaign. The baggage train must be assembled and that work will go on late into the night. In the morning, we will ride.”

Hunter turned to Harriet. “Will you be welcome in the palace indefinitely? If not, we must find another place for you. We should begin now.”

“I’ll talk to Gwenhyvaer about it right away,” said Harriet, standing. “She must have heard the bell, too. I imagine the whole palace is buzzing.”

“What about us?” Steve asked Bedwyr. “Do we have to report to the camp right away?”

“Of course not!” Bedwyr laughed and sat down in his chair again. “Every man not on sentry duty will be coming to the taverns soon! It’s our last night of freedom! Now where’s that tavernkeeper-still out in the street?”

Jane knelt by the fire, setting out bowls on the hearth. Just as Ygerna began to ladle mutton stew into the bowls, hoofbeats sounded outside. Emrys and Ishihara went out into the twilight to see who was coming. Wayne remained on a stool near the door, which was left ajar.

Ygerna paid no attention as she ladled out the stew. Jane feigned disinterest but listened carefully. A single horse cantered right up to the front of the hut.

“Does anyone here ride with Artorius?” An unfamiliar man’s voice called out.

“No,” said Emrys. “Why?”

“Artorius rides tomorrow! Spread the word to anyone who rides with him. The Saxons are marching!” The hoofbeats cantered away.

Emrys came back inside. At the same moment, Wayne got up and slipped outside, blocking Ishihara from entering. He closed the door behind him.

“I sold my sheep just in time.” Emrys grinned. “Did you hear?”

“Artorius rides tomorrow,” said Ygerna. “That’s good. He will defeat the Saxons again this year.”

“The other shepherds will have to leave at dawn to drive their sheep to the tor,” said Emrys, coming to take a bowl of stew from Ygerna. “Even then, they may not arrive until after he has left. If they want to sell their sheep to him after that, they will have to chase the baggage train.”

Jane tensed, wondering what this would mean to her. If Hunter and Steve had to maintain the goodwill of those around them, she supposed they would have to go. She knew that Wayne was conferring with Ishihara at that moment about the same question. They would have to decide what to do and, in particular, what to do with her.

The central issue remained the same as before, the whereabouts of MC 6. If MC 6 went on campaign with Artorius, then Hunter and Steve would also go. Wayne could not possibly find out if MC 6 was going before tomorrow, but he might decide that if Hunter went, he should go.

Jane tried to figure out what Ishihara would do if Wayne decided to follow Artorius. In her judgment, Ishihara could neither let Wayne follow a troop of riders going to war alone, nor could he leave Jane here indefinitely. Therefore, Ishihara would have to take her, too.

She still did not know for sure if Hunter and Steve would go with Artorius or attempt something else.

Early the next morning, Steve sat by the campfire next to Hunter, eating a bowl of hot cereal. The night before, Hunter had told Steve that Harriet had called him to report that Gwenhyvaer would give her lodging for as long as her husband was gone on campaign. Now, everyone around them spoke excitedly of riding out today. As soon as each squad had finished breakfast, they put out their fire and hurried to the other side of the tor to prepare their horses.

When Cynric led his squad around the slope, Steve moved close to Hunter and spoke quietly.

“You want to take one more quick walk through the village? If MC 6 isn’t going with Artorius, either microscopically or at full size, we really are wasting our time.”

“I dare not,” said Hunter. “We must maintain our standing here.”

This time, as the riders lined up to get their tack and their weapons, teamsters hitched horses to wagons. Baggage handlers loaded spare weapons and armor into some of them. Some teamsters drove empty wagons up to the village; others drove loaded wagons back.

“I see MC 6,” said Hunter softly, looking out over the slope from his place in line.

“What? Where?” Steve fought to remain calm. “Maybe we can get him before we leave.”

“He is riding in the back of the second wagon coming down the slope from the village.”

“Yeah, I guess I see him now. I couldn’t have recognized him for sure at this distance.” Steve hesitated. “You’re sure that’s him?”

“Yes. When we see where the wagon goes, we can decide whether or not to approach it immediately.”

“You mean, we’ll just grab him right now?” Steve asked in surprise.

“We should move as soon as we can do so safely and successfully.”

“But what about Jane? We can’t grab MC 6 and just walk away from here to get her. If we don’t jump right back to our own time, we’ll have to go on campaign. And if that’s the case, I don’t think we should alert MC 6 to the fact that we’re after him.”

“We must take MC 6 immediately back to their own time, leave him securely in MC Governor’s office, and then come back for Jane.”

“What about Wayne’s threat?” Steve asked. “He can order Ishihara away from Jane, so she won’t be protected.”

“Our first responsibility remains returning MC 6 to our own time. Further, I do not believe that Wayne truly would endanger Jane. I judge him to be a man who would threaten this in the hope of influencing me under the First Law, but who would not carry out the threat.”

“I’m not so sure.”

The wagon in which MC 6 rode pulled up near the main gate of the outer rampart, behind some other loaded wagons.

“We’re moving to the front of the line,” said Steve. “Are we going to get our tack first, or just go now?”

“We should waste no more time,” said Hunter decisively. “Come.”

Hunter stepped out of the line and angled quickly across the slope, down toward the loaded wagons. Most of the teamsters sat holding the reins, simply waiting, but a few of them stood on the ground, adjusting harnesses or ropes holding cargo.

“Can’t he tell somehow that you’re a robot?” Steve asked. “Didn’t we have to consider this on earlier missions, too? What did we do?”

“If he studies me with magnified vision or hearing, he will detect that I do not have human skin or a heartbeat. We must gamble that he will not bother, since he has no reason to expect another robot here in this century.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right.”

Steve followed Hunter, keeping an eye on MC 6. The component robot sat in the rear of a wagon watching his surroundings alertly, but of course he had no idea that Hunter and Steve had come from their time to get him. He glanced at them casually and then looked past them, toward the paddock.

“Since he is not afraid of us, we can walk right up and speak to him,” said Hunter. “Give him a direct instruction to cooperate fully with us.”

“What do we do after we get him?” Steve asked. “We don’t want to vanish with him in front of these other people. What should I say?”

“Your second instruction must be to jump down out of the wagon and come around behind it with us. we will hurry out the main gate. As soon as we turn the corner and stand out of sight, I will trigger the belt unit.”

“Got it.” Steve glanced at the gate, just on the other side of the wagon, and looked at MC 6 again.

“Ho! You there! What do you want?”

Steve stopped, startled. Hunter turned in surprise. A tall, burly man wearing a tanned leather tunic marched up to them. He scowled through a bushy brown beard.

“I say, what do you want here?”

“We must have a moment with this man,” Hunter said firmly, gesturing toward MC 6. “Who are you?”

“I am Gaius, the wagonmaster.” He glared suspiciously at Hunter. “What do you want with him? He doesn’t speak British or Latin. The only way we can communicate with him is through gestures.”

“We speak his language,” said Hunter.

Steve almost called out to MC 6 in English, to order him to cooperate. He thought better of it, realizing that they might not get a chance to take MC 6 away from the sight of the wagonmaster. In that event, he did not want to alert MC 6 to the fact that they had come from his time to take him back.

“And I asked, what do you want with him?” Before Hunter could answer, Gaius turned to MC 6. “You know these men?” He jerked a thumb toward Hunter.

MC 6 looked back and forth between them. He obviously did not understand the question. He shrugged lightly, shaking his head.

“You men get back to your horses,” said Gaius angrily. “Now. I have wagons to line up.” He moved to block Hunter’s path to MC 6.

Hunter turned and walked back up the slope. Steve hurried to keep alongside. At least they had not revealed their true intentions to MC 6.

Jane said nothing about Wayne’s plans the next morning. She helped Ygerna tend the fire, waiting to see what Wayne and Ishihara were going to do. They all ate breakfast, the same hot cereal as every other morning. Then Wayne and Ishihara stepped outside again, this time with Emrys.

The suspense for Jane finally ended when Ishihara came back inside alone.

“Emrys will drive us to the village again today,” Ishihara said to Jane. “Wayne instructed me to explain that we must search for an acquaintance there. Emrys expressed his gratitude again for my help in cutting the firewood and, by chance, causing him to drive his sheep to sell before his neighbors. So he will send his eldest son to tend the flock again and help us today, as well.”

Jane nodded. She did not want Ishihara or Wayne to know that she was glad to be going, too. On her way out of the hut, she gave Ygerna a quick smile and pat on the shoulder. Jane hoped to join Hunter somehow today, which would mean she would not be back, but of course she could hardly say so.

This time, Emrys did not have firewood to load or sheep to drive. Ygerna gave them some bread and cold cooked mutton to take with them, wrapped first in a clean cloth, then put into a heavier cloth bag. Ishihara lifted Jane into the back of the empty cart, as before, and climbed in with her. Emrys waited for Wayne to join him in the front, then shook the reins and started out.

Today, other shepherds with their flocks clogged the road to the tor. Most of them walked, with a dog or two to drive the sheep. A few others also drove mule carts, carrying either butchered carcasses or, in some cases, an entire family going for an outing.

Emrys, the only shepherd without sheep or a full cart, drove a little faster. With a big grin, he waved to some of his friends as he drew near, calling out greetings occasionally. He drove off the road to pass them and their flocks, taking the cart over the sod on one side or the other.

Jane watched the tor closely, hoping to arrive before the riders left the tor. Today, however, they did not make it. The troop rode out well ahead of their arrival. Instead of breaking formation to begin maneuvers, however, the troop rode straight out along a different road, one that angled eastward across the rolling hills.

When she saw they were leaving, she tensed, hoping to spot whether Hunter and Steve rode with them. She did not see either of them, though she realized they might be lost in the crowd of riders. However, she decided that even if she spotted Hunt er by his height, she could not risk trying to attract his attention from this distance. Hunter might not hear her and Wayne would get angry at the attempt. She wanted to reserve her efforts for a move that would work.