William Wu - Emperor

In any case, as Steve and Marcia hiked down the road, they saw no sign of them.

“Steve,” Hunter called from the trees. “This way. Follow my voice.”

Steve turned carefully toward the sound, picking out the direction. Hunter called out repeatedly so that they could find him. Steve glanced back to see that Marcia followed him through the branches and underbrush, then pushed forward.

After a few minutes of hiking on rough, uneven ground, they reached Hunter. Hardly enough moonlight to see anything reached them here. Steve looked up high at the silhouette of Hunter’s head.

“Aren’t you even taller than usual?”

“Yes. I made myself as tall and thin as I can, to loosen the chains. However, I was still not able to get free. I can move my arms somewhat, though. Do you have any more information now about Jane?”

“Not really,” said Steve. “Except that she didn’t scream for immediate help.”

“Ishihara will protect her, of course. You have the poker you told me about?”

“Yeah. But I don’t suppose I’m strong enough to do much with it.”

“Give it to me. I have enough freedom of my arms now to use it.”

Steve felt for Hunter’s hand and placed the poker in it. “You want me to do anything?”

“Yes. I have felt the individual links of the chain I can reach already. In my other hand, I am holding the weakest one. These are not, after all, mass produced. As I hold the handle of the poker, please fit the point of it into the middle of this other link.”

“Okay. Let’s see…Got it.”

“Please stand back. I will use the curve of the tree trunk as a fulcrum and attempt to pry the link open.”

Steve backed away, moving Marcia with him. If the end of the poker slipped out of the link by accident, the point could swing around and club them both. Steve could barely see Hunter’s movements, but after a long moment, he heard the chain fall, clinking, to the ground.

“Finished,” said Hunter. “I will return to my previous appearance.”

“Now what are we going to do?” Marcia asked.

“I shall attempt to locate Jane,” said Hunter. “I believe that Wayne and Ishihara arranged to have me trapped in order to break up our team and waste our time and energy. However, I am certain that they expected me to remain isolated much longer. They will not expect you to have released me so soon.”

“The trouble is, now that they have Jane, we’re still split up,” said Steve.

“How are you going to find her?” Marcia asked. “Her lapel pin is turned off.”

“I am turning up my hearing to maximum,” said Hunter. “As we walk on the road, I believe I should be able to hear Xiao Li’s donkey. If they are moving through the underbrush, the donkey will make more noise than the humans. If the boy rides him on the road, I may hear his hoofbeats.”

“Let’s get back out on the road,” said Steve.

The now-famous prototype of the highly successful “Hunter” class robot first demonstrated his remarkable abilities in the Mojave Center Governor case. The following images are drawn from the Robot City archives of Derec Avery, the eminent robotics historian.

The Mojave Center.An aerial view of the Center, including the Governor’s Building (foreground left), complete with stadium on top; the Bohung Institute (background center), which is surrounded by a park in front and a gorge with redwood forest and waterfall in the rear; and the Residential Building (right), with its water park inset on the wall: lake, river, watersides and kayaks, trees, and grass, plus a sculpture garden on the side.

MC robots merged.Four of the MC Governor’s six independent component robots are shown here. After capturing them in the remote past, R. Hunter merged and deactivated the robots temporarily.

Governor ’ s Building.The bank of elevators in the “Transition Plane” level. The “90°” label indicates the direction relative to North one is facing (in this case East: ninety degrees from North).

R. Hunter ’ s hand.Here we see the versatility of R. Hunter’s manual extremity. Clockwise from top left: as a normal human hand; extended and upturned to be used as a crowbar or pry; as an awl, which can be used as a pick or as a weapon; and as a flathead screwdriver.

The Mojave Center.A ground’s eye view of the Center’s “downtown,” including (l.-r) the Residential Building, the Central Computer Memory Building, the Communications Station, the Genetic Engineering Center (a.k.a “The Helix Building”), the Office building (with park atop), and the Governor’s Building.

The Gate to the Forbidden City.R. Hunter, Steve, and Marcia are led by Marco Polo into the grounds of Kublai Kahn’s palace.

The Cliffs. A mall in the Mojave Center, located in the lower portion of the Governor’s Building, complete with escalators and moving sidewalks. It is from here that the clothes and supplies needed by the time travelers are procured.

Mojave Center Security Vehicle, Type W5, Model ME-BJ.Equipped with a low-level positronic brain, this vehicle can adapt its shape and wheels to fit any terrain and transport up to eight people or robots. It has a maximum speed of 325 kph. The roof protrusion contains full-spectrum scanning equipment. The body is capable of withstanding heavy fire from any known hand-held weapon or ground assault vehicle.

Jane said nothing as Ishihara led her slowly through the dark forest by a gentle but firm grip on her arm while Wayne walked beside them. She heard Xiao Li following them, walking the horse and donkey now that they were moving among the trees once more. Ishihara walked slowly, changing direction to avoid trees, boulders, and dense clumps of underbrush. When they finally stopped, she had no way of judging how far from the road they had gone, but she doubted it was very far. She waited to see what Wayne and Ishihara would do next.

“Have you heard any communication between Hunter and Steve?” Wayne asked Ishihara.

“No. I am surprised. I would expect Hunter to send a constant signal, so that he could be found. Or else I would expect ongoing conversation between them. I do not understand what they are doing.”