William Wu - Emperor

In Mojave Center Governor’s office, Hunter closed the door and turned to Steve.

“Please instruct MC 5 to merge with the others.”

Steve pointed to the figure standing in the corner. The first four component robots stood merged there. “Join with them,” he said to MC 5. “Then remain motionless here, just like the other component robots now are.”

The small robot walked over to them. In a slow, slithering motion, his shape became fluid and he merged with the other figure. Now it nearly resembled the large, humanoid shape of Mojave Center Governor.

“We are doing well,” said Hunter. “We have only one more piece of the puzzle to find.”

“You must have checked the news by now,” said Steve. “Did we really get away with vanishing in front of Marco Polo and Kublai Khan?”

“In my monitoring of the news, I have not detected any sign of change in our world,” said Hunter. “And Mojave Center appears to be the same as before. That is only a superficial review, of course. I am also accessing historical references in the city library as we speak. So far, they confirm my initial conclusion.”

“I think we got away with it,” said Marcia. “I thought this through before I started talking to Kublai Khan, but I didn’t have any way to explain it to you.”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked.

“As I mentioned before we left, Marco Polo said on his deathbed that in his book, he had not told half the wonders he had seen on his travels. I think he also omitted witnessing spirits who vanished before his eyes.”

“But what about Kublai Khan and all those other people standing around us?” Steve frowned. “I was glad to get out of there, but wouldn’t at least a few of them change their beliefs about the world or religion?”

“That’s the other part I had to consider,” said Marcia. “But most of the people there-maybe all of them-believed in some form of Chinese or Mongol animistic religion. Even the Buddhists and Taoists in China had open attitudes toward folk deities and spirits. Kublai Khan himself instituted state tolerance of all religions and seemed to consider them equally valid. I don’t think we altered anyone’s beliefs because they already believed that spirits in human form came and went around them.”

“Kublai Khan said he didn’t want anyone to think he was crazy,” said Steve.

“If the great khan did not want the incident mentioned again, I can guarantee that no one in the palace grounds spoke of it openly,” said Marcia. “A few whispers in private or some rumors outside the walls in the city after hours would simply get lost among other unprovable reports of spirit visitations.”

“Your explanation seems sound,” said Hunter.

“What about MC 6?” Steve asked.

“The news headlines report a nuclear explosion in southern England near the Welsh border,” Hunter said grimly. “Like the others, it has killed millions of people.”

“Did you get the date we’re going to visit from the sphere console?” Steve asked.

“Yes. MC 6 will return to his full size in A.D. 460. At that time, a man named Arturius, upon whom the legend of King Arthur was based, was the most powerful individual in Britain.”