Warrior

15

Jane rejoined Marcus, Gene, and the cavalry patrol with a cheerful smile and they all rode on. She had not had time to ask Hunter how he felt about the fact that Marcus had ordered the patrol to join them. Of course, she realized that the German rebellion was the major event that had to remain unchanged. This little patrol probably could not prevent that.

Marcus had ordered the decurion, the commanding officer of the patrol, to concentrate on the chore of finding their way. Meanwhile, Marcus had been talking with Jane. Normally, she would have been flattered by his attention, but she was so afraid of saying something she shouldn’t that she did not want to speak.

“I have never been to Gaul,” said Marcus. “Do you like it there?”

“Yes,” said Jane. “What’s it like?”

“Well…” She tried to remember what she could about the climate, but she had only visited France for a short time. “The south of Gaul is very warm.”

“Along the Mediterranean, yes, it would be. Much like the Italian coast, I expect.” Marcus looked up at the gray sky. “The drizzle should start again any time, I suppose. I wish we had the climate of the southern coast here.” He grinned at her. “ A lady like yourself should not have to suffer through this constant cold and dampness.”

Jane smiled politely but said nothing.

“I hear Gaul has few towns, as we Romans would know them, except for the ones we built.”

Jane glanced uncomfortably at Gene.

“That’s true,” said Gene. “Gaul is not too unlike Germany, except for Roman influence.”

Marcus nodded politely, but turned to Jane again. “What sort of family do you come from? Do you have many brothers and sisters?”

“I’m one of nine,” Jane said truthfully. “Five brothers and three sisters.”

“Ah! No deaths in childbirth? And you have all lived to adulthood?”

“That’s right.” She suppressed a smile of amusement.

“You come from strong, healthy stock.” He grinned at her in obvious approval.

“Yes, I guess so.” She was tempted to reciprocate by asking him about his own family, but she decided against it. Marcus clearly liked her, and she could not encourage his friendship without risking a change in his behavior toward his duties.

“So tell me,” said Marcus. “Do you come from a town in Gaul? Or a small tribal village?”

“I’m from a town,” said Jane.

“Was your father a trader, also?”

“Oh, no.”

“Tribune,” Gene interrupted. “We’ve been riding over half a day. I thought we probably would have seen some German warriors by now.”

“Yes, where are they?” Jane glanced at Gene gratefully. He apparently understood her predicament and was still trying to distract Marcus for her.

“I am sure they have seen us,” said Marcus. “Our horses make enough noise to give them plenty of warning, especially in these numbers.”

“Why haven’t they come out to speak to us?” Jane asked, to prevent him from turning the talk to her again.

“They don’t want to reveal themselves because today we have too many armed men with us.”

“Wait a minute,” said Jane, trying to sound as naive as she could. “You mean they’ve been watching us in secret?”

“Indeed they have.”

“How do you know?”

Marcus pointed to a flock of birds suddenly fluttering out of the trees into the sky up ahead. “I believe some German scouts are withdrawing ahead of us, simply watching to see what we will do. The birds give them away sometimes.”

“Maybe we’ll join up with Hunter and Steve soon,” said Jane. “Then we can stop troubling you.”

“We should probably go back to Gaul,” said Gene. “And not get in your way.”

“Don’t worry about the Germans today,” said Marcus, with a grim smile. “Whatever the Germans are planning, I believe it is very big, even if Governor Varus won’t listen to me. If the scouts watching us wanted to cause trouble, they would have started already, I think. And we’re ready for them now.”

Jane and Gene exchanged an uncomfortable glance but said nothing more.

They all rode in silence for a while. The cold wind rose again, and the gray clouds above them darkened. Drizzle began to fall, blowing directly into their faces.

“Perhaps someday I can take you to the coast of Latium, down the Tiber River from Rome,” Marcus said to Jane. “It is so much nicer than this on an autumn day. I would like to show it to you.”

Just as Jane lifted the hood of her cloak and tugged it forward, she heard a chorus of yells from the forest. In the same instant, a Roman bugler behind her sounded an alarm. When she looked around, she saw German warriors leaping and running out of the trees toward them, hurling spears and shooting arrows. She recognized the man in the lead as Julius, who had confronted Marcus the previous day.

Jane yanked her reins to move away. At the same time, the Roman patrol moved up to surround her and Gene. Their shields deflected the volley of spears and arrows. Marcus shouted orders she could not understand in all the other yelling.

She fumbled for her lapel pin and switched it on, knowing that none of the Romans or Germans were paying any attention. Before she could speak, a small figure, dressed in rags, caught her attention in the trees behind the line of Germans. MC 3, who was identical to MC 1 and MC 2, was trying to wrestle a spear away from a much larger German warrior.

“What’s wrong?” Gene yelled. “Doesn’t it work? Do you want me to call Hunter instead?”

“Hunter!” She kept her eyes on MC 3. “It’s Jane! Emergency! Hunter?”

“Yes, Jane.” Hunter’s voice was calm but authoritative. “I am on my way, following your signal. Please explain. And do not disconnect, as I shall need a continuing signal from you in order to find you as quickly as possible.”

Jane’s mount was still prancing in the center of the struggling Romans. Everyone around her was shouting. She yanked on the reins, fighting to keep control. “Our group is being attacked by a bunch of German warriors-”

“How do the numbers match up on each side?” Hunter interrupted.

“Uh, almost equal. There are more Germans, I think, but not a lot more, and they don’t have horses or armor. But, Hunter-MC 3 is with the Germans!”

“I am coming,” Hunter said firmly. “Keep your pin switched on. You do not need to continue speaking; I have enough noise coming through.”

“Did you get him?” Gene shouted. He ducked as an arrow whistled near his head. “What did he say?”

“He’s coming!” Jane leaned down low, not sure of what to do. Between the moving, clashing bodies around them, she could still glimpse MC 3 in the trees, still trying to interfere with a German warrior.

“What should we do?” Gene was also down low against his horse’s neck.

“Just wait! And hang on!” Jane saw MC 3 again and straightened up in her saddle. “MC 3! Stop and move aside! That’s an order!”

MC 3 did not respond. She knew he probably had not heard her voice in the shouting of all the fighting men and the clanging of swords against shields. In any case, he was now responding to the First Law in a feeble attempt to minimize the violence occurring in front of him. A Second Law instruction would not deter him at the moment.

Around her and Gene, the outnumbered Romans still fought to protect them.

Steve was riding double with Vicinius, following Hunter through the forest, when Hunter suddenly whirled around.

“I need your horse,” said Hunter, striding back to them. “I must go.” He tapped his shoulder in the same spot where Steve had worn his lapel communicator.

“Uh-of course,” said Steve, understanding that Hunter had received a call from Jane or Gene. “But, maybe we should all go together?”

“No, Steve. I must hurry. You will remain with Vicinius.” Hunter reached up to take Steve under his arms; the big robot lifted him to the ground as if he were a small child.

Taking the hint, Vicinius jumped to the ground on his own.

“Vicinius,” said Hunter. “I do not have time to explain. But you will protect Steve for me?”

“Of course,” said Vicinius, clearly puzzled. “Of course.”

“You may follow at your own pace, provided you are very careful. I shall rejoin you as soon as I can.” Hunter mounted quickly and rode away through the forest, leaning low to avoid tree branches.

“I heard nothing,” said Vicinius, with a mystified expression on his face. “I saw nothing. What is he doing?”

“I, uh, didn’t hear anything, either,” said Steve. “And I didn’t see anything.”

Vicinius turned to look him in the eye. “Then I ask you, what is he doing? What is so important that he must leave us this way?”

“Well…sometimes Hunter reads omens that the rest of us do not notice.”

“Omens?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Steve shrugged. “Not real often. But sometimes he just has to, uh, act on them.”

“Your friend is more than a little strange,” said Vicinius. “I like him, but he is quite strange.”

“Come on,” said Steve, hoping to change the subject. “We can follow him. Let’s go.”

As Hunter rode through the heavy forest, he radioed MC 3 again. He received no response, which did not surprise him. Jane no longer spoke to him directly, but her communicator was still transmitting. He heard the shouts of many men, the whinnying of horses, and the clanging of metal.

Before he got close enough to hear the sounds of struggle with his own hearing, rather than the communication link, the sounds of struggle coming over the radio stopped as well. For several moments, he heard only the clopping of horse’s hooves.

“They’re gone,” Jane muttered quietly. “Gene and I are okay. Right, Gene?”

“Yeah,” said Gene, his voice sounding distant in the background.

“Decurion,” Marcus ordered, his voice even fainter. “Give me an injury report.”

Hunter could hear the decurion respond, but the signal was now too faint even for him to interpret. He was deeply concerned about harm to any humans who would not have been injured without the presence of his team. For now, however, all he could do was hurry in their direction as fast as he could.

Before Hunter drew near the site of the attack, the source of the signal began to move, as Jane rode away with the patrol. Now that the sounds of battle no longer covered his voice, he did not dare speak to Jane again, nor could she say anything to him directly. However, she did continue a stream of small talk with Gene, which provided him with a clear, strong signal to follow. The Roman patrol had clearly changed direction; Hunter guessed that they were returning to the main body of Roman legions to avoid further trouble with hostile Germans.

Steve and Vicinius hurried after Hunter, but of course they had no chance of catching up until he stopped somewhere. When Hunter’s tracks began to curve in a new direction, Steve guessed that Jane and Gene had begun to move, but he had no idea where they were going. As his determined strides gradually faltered from weariness, Steve decided to take a break.

“Sorry, Vicinius.” He stopped near a fallen log. “I’m not used to this kind of mountain country. I have to rest for a few minutes.” He sat down.

“Well…of course.” Vicinius reluctantly joined him on the log. “Not too long, eh? Hunter is still gaining ground on us even while we’re walking.”

“All right. Not too long.” Steve was sure that either Jane and Gene were in trouble or else MC 3 had been found; nothing else would have taken Hunter away like that. In either case, the imminent German rebellion might have influenced events. “Vicinius, do you know of any danger that might be out in the forest today?”

“The forest always has dangers-an angry wild boar, a mother bear protecting her cubs in the spring… in winter, a hungry wolf.” He shrugged. “Even a challenge from another warrior, maybe over a woman.”

“Uh-yeah. Well, I meant…” He trailed off, not sure what to say.

“You are wondering what omens Hunter saw?”

“I wish I knew, yeah.” Steve grinned. “But that’s not what I meant. We know the Roman legions are marching near here. I was wondering if trouble is on the way with them.”

“The Romans brought trouble with them a generation ago,” said Vicinius casually, looking away from Steve at nothing in particular.

“I guess you know they came to Gaul long before that.”

“So I have heard.”

“But the Gauls are used to the Romans now. Many even like the peace and prosperity they have brought.”

“The Gauls are…not strong enough. With respect to your masters, of course. Hunter is a fine man.”

Steve suppressed a grin. “He’s quite a…specimen, all right. But I have the feeling that the Cherusci tribe are not as tame as the Gauls, where Romans are concerned. What do you say?”

“Yes! Yes, we Cherusci are becoming impatient. I will grant you that.” Vicinius turned to look directly at Steve. “You are not a Gaul, but your masters are. They are my friends, but perhaps they are too fond of Romans for my own taste.”

“Trouble is starting, isn’t it?” Steve knew it was, of course, but in order to discuss the subject with Vicinius, he had to induce Vicinius to acknowledge the fact.

“Prince Arminius has been visiting each village for the past week or two,” said Vicinius. “He has been our leader in dealing with the Romans.”

“And?”

“He is rousing all the Cherusci villages. The men of my village will be moving soon. I will join them.” His voice lowered. “I am telling you this as a friend. Maybe you can keep your masters away from trouble when it starts.”

“I appreciate your trusting me.”

Vicinius stood up. “I believe I can judge whether to trust a man or not. Let’s go.”

“Good idea.” Steve got up and followed him through the forest.