William Wu - Emperor

“What else might he do?” Hunter asked.

“Well, he could get caught up in more mundane First Law activities, I suppose.”

“Huh? Like what?” Steve asked.

“Such as helping laborers avoid accidents. Or stopping fights he happens to see. Any sort of individual incident that might attract his attention.”

“Sounds to me like we should start spreading the word, like I suggested before,” said Steve. “Once we’ve offered a small reward to anyone who leads us to MC 5, we can just take casual strolls up and down the streets.”

“I agree,” said Hunter. “You and Marcia will pick the people to approach.”

Steve glanced at Marcia. “Let’s get started.”

“Excellent,” said Marcia. “I suggest we offer a graduated system of rewards. To most people on the street, a single copper is worth enough to get their attention. Suppose we offer one copper for someone who reports a sighting of MC 5, two for someone who can lead us to him, and three for someone who brings him to us. If they bring him soon-”

“Hold it, will you?” Steve demanded. “Why do you have to make it so complicated? We can just-”

“Make it up as we go along?” Marcia raised one eyebrow haughtily. “Maybe you’re offended that I’m developing your own precious idea.”

Startled, Steve fumbled for something to say.

“Please proceed,” said Hunter. “Both of you.”

The villagers had already postponed their normal routine in order to visit the good spirits who had graced their village. Wayne urged Ishihara to explain that they wanted to dress as fellow villagers for their walk into Khanbaliq. The villagers seemed amused and honored by this request.

Two men agreed to work in the fields bare to the waist so their guests could wear their shirts and hats. After some consultation, a couple of women reluctantly brought out some old, tattered pants that had been discarded even by the peasants. Ishihara assured them that these clothes were sufficient, and the two of them changed clothes in their room.

Wayne was willing to go barefoot like the peasants, but Ishihara refused to allow this under the First Law. Instead, Ishihara borrowed a knife and cut both pairs of boots he had prepared for Roman Germany down into a sort of makeshift shoes. Then they joined the small group of peasants making the journey into the city. The strongest and healthiest men and women of the village returned to work in the fields for the day.

Lao Li, the village elder in whose house they had stayed, led the others to Khanbaliq. Most of the other peasants who accompanied them were elderly, too, except for Lao Li’s twelve-year-old grandson, Xiao Li. Ishihara told Wayne that “Lao,” which meant “old,” and “Xiao,” meaning “little,” were common honorific nicknames.

Wayne walked in silence, of course, since no one but Ishihara could understand him. The robot talked with the villagers, often with everyone waving, gesturing, and sometimes laughing as they tried to communicate. Ishihara was learning the language as fast as he could.

As they finally drew near the walls of the city, Ishihara turned to Wayne. “I am making good progress now. One of the villagers has told me that in many of their old fairy tales, good spirits come to earth like this in human form to travel in secret among people.”

“That means we fit right in.”

“Yes. I am very relieved that we are not, in fact, introducing new ideas to this culture but simply demonstrating existing ones.”

“Well, that helps explain why they’ve been so cooperative, too.”

“Still, we must remain very alert to the possibility that we may truly interfere historically with these peasants in some significant way.”

“I don’t think we have much to worry about,” said Wayne. “They’re going to market like they do every day, aren’t they? We’re just tagging along.”

By mid-morning, Hunter had led his team up and down every street in the foreign quarter. They passed more Turks and Arabs in colorful, embroidered Chinese gowns, Koreans wearing their topknots and with slightly different embroidery on their gowns, and stocky Mongol soldiers wearing their armor, swords, and daggers. Chinese citizens owned and worked in most of the shops, however, and they were the people most likely to cooperate.

Steve and Marcia spoke briefly to people on every block, describing MC 5. They approached many who worked in shops, but they also spoke to peddlers pushing their carts and to children who were old enough to remember their description of MC 5. Hunter had heard Steve grudgingly agree to Marcia’s system of rewards. While they spoke to passersby, Hunter and Jane hung back slightly in their pose as foreign visitors.

They passed merchants of all sorts. The shops and stalls sold fabrics and sturdy, simple furniture on one street and fine porcelains and iron cookware on the next. The third block they visited held stall after stall of different crafts, including a family that was boiling big vats of plant fibers to make paper. On every street, small children ran and played and peddlers pushed carts of small trinkets.

When Hunter realized that the team had seen the entire foreign quarter, he stopped and turned to his companions.

“We have saturated the neighborhood with our offers of rewards,” said Hunter. “Since we have been walking for some time, I suggest that we find a place to sit so that you three can rest. We can consider what to do next.”

“There’s a place back up this block,” said Steve. “They’re selling tea under the shade of two big trees.”

“A tea garden,” said Marcia. “That’s what the sign over the front entrance said.”

Steve glared at her in annoyance. She always seemed to show him up, no matter what he said. For the sake of the team, he decided not to make a scene about it.

“Good idea,” said Jane. “I could use a rest.”

“I’m hot,” said Marcia. “But they don’t have cold drinks here, unless you’re out in the country and find a mountain stream or something.”

“That is fascinating,” Hunter said quickly. He found Marcia’s spontaneous lectures on local history interesting, but he realized that Steve, in particular, really disliked listening to them.

“Come on.” Steve started for the tea shop at a brisk walk and the others followed.

“Shall we just rest up and wait for someone to find MC 5?” Jane asked as she hurried along.

“That is one possibility,” said Hunter. “For the first time since our trip to the Late Cretaceous, we have staked out the location where our quarry should return to full size. With the reward we have offered, the number of people around, and the stable nature of life here, we have far more potential help than usual.”

“I hear a ‘but’ coming,” said Jane. “I think I know what it is, too. You still can’t be sure if MC 5 has already returned to full size.”

“That is true,” said Hunter. “However, because of his European appearance in a society with very few Europeans, we are not likely to lose track of him completely with our offer of a reward circulating.”

Steve turned and waited for them to catch up. “I heard that. We could, you know…split up.” He grinned.

“That is unwise,” said Hunter. “You will remember that in the past-”

“It’s a joke, Hunter,” said Jane, grinning. “Every time we split up, we regret it. We both know that.”

“I see,” said Hunter. “Was this joke funny?”

“Skip it,” said Steve. “Look, it wasn’t totally a joke; I just didn’t think you’d go for it. But think about it. Maybe splitting up won’t be as bad this time.”

“Why not?”

“Well, as you said, life is pretty stable here. Two of us could sit down in a prominent place and wait for someone to bring the good news that MC 5 has been found. The other two could keep up a more active search.”