William Wu - Dictator

“Why are you dressed this way?”

“We have had to travel alone, with little money and no support, through much of Europe. In the wild mountains of Carpathia, our normal traveling clothes were reduced to rags. We accepted these clothes from Slavic peasants in a remote mountain village, where civilization has barely reached.”

“Yes. I have seen such places. We have no clothes to spare here, either.”

Ishihara nodded his acknowledgment. “Oberst, may we get on with our task? This spy must not be allowed to report your positions to the enemy.”

Oberst Schepke studied Ishihara for a long moment without speaking. Wayne could see that he was torn between the fear of a spy in his camp and the fact that his visitors had no proof to back up their story. The Oberst, too, had to fear the reprisals of his own superiors if he made a mistake-regarding either possibility. Then he spoke again, briefly.

“Leutnant Mohr-that is, I-will escort you about the lines within the area under my command,” Leutnant Mohr translated. “If your quest leads you into the command of another Oberst, you must return to me for an introduction.”

“Thank you, Oberst,” said Ishihara.

Oberst Schepke nodded sharply and barked an order. All the soldiers snapped to attention, angled their right arms up, palms forward, and spoke in unison: “Heil Hitler. ”

The soldiers did an about-face and marched out, but Oberst Schepke eyed Wayne and Ishihara suspiciously.

Suddenly Ishihara imitated the salute. Following his lead, so did Wayne. “Heil Hitler.”

Ishihara followed the soldiers out and Wayne stayed close to him. Outside the tent, Wayne let out a long sigh and relaxed for the first time since they had walked in. Most of the soldiers dispersed, but Leutnant Mohr remained.

“You were slow with the salute, my friends,” said Leutnant Mohr, looking pointedly at both of them.

“I fear, Leutnant, that we are out of practice,” said Ishihara. “As intelligence officers in neutral countries, and sometimes behind enemy lines, we must be careful not to speak too quickly.”

Leutnant Mohr shrugged uncomfortably. “Where shall we begin? Do you have a particular place?”

“No,” said Ishihara. “Let us start simply by walking through the lines, asking questions of the soldiers. As we go, I shall describe our quarry to you. Perhaps he can be found among refugees or POWs.”

“Very well.”

As they began to explore the lines, Wayne surmised how Oberst Schepke had made his decision. Finding the spy was too important to ignore. Since only his visitors could identify him, they had to be given some chance to do so.

At the same time, he could not allow the strangers to wander around his camp unsupervised. Wayne also suspected that the Oberst had decided not to assign a higher ranking officer for this, for fear he would be embarrassed later if their story was not true. Yet he could not trust an enlisted man with this task. For that reason, as well as his ability to speak English, Leutnant Mohr had received the chore.

Hunter knew that the walk back into Moscow was a long one for his human companions. Even he was using more energy than the weak winter sun could restore on the microscopic solar power cells in his skin. The activity helped keep the humans warm, but they needed a rest by the time they reached the edge of the city.

He did not see a place nearby where they could get warm. They settled for a bench on a sidewalk. A few other Muscovites walked past them.

“We should be able to find a bus line, I think,” said Judy. “I think some of them are still running.”

“Excellent,” said Hunter.

“Hunter,” said Steve. “Where are you going to look for MC 4, anyhow?”

“Not too far from here,” said Hunter. “My calculation of where MC 4 will likely return to his full size is out in a certain neighborhood that I will show you. He should return within a range of a couple of blocks.”

“After we find Jane, then, are we just going to stake out the area?”

“That will be a good beginning, of course,” said Hunter. “However, he may have already returned, or he may simply slip past us as the other component robots have on earlier missions. If we lose him that way, our search will be even more difficult than before.”

“Why?” Judy asked.

“He has more places to hide,” said Hunter. “In the middle of this large city, he can find shelter and company fairly quickly and can get lost in the crowds.”

“He won’t have a job or a place to live,” said Steve. “And when he first shows up, he won’t even have any clothes. That will make him stand out in a crowd.”

Judy laughed.

“Clothes can be found in a city,” said Hunter. “Further, with so many displaced people, I believe that fewer questions are being routinely asked of strangers than usual.”

“That’s right,” said Judy.

“Yeah, I see,” said Steve. “In the dinosaur age, all we had to do was find MC 1‘s footprints or broken twigs to pick up his trail. And even in Port Royal, Jamaica, and on the Roman frontier, a single stranger was pretty obvious to everybody. This is a much more sophisticated urban area, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” said Judy emphatically. “And, remember, the government is very dangerous. Don’t underestimate them.”

“Got it,” said Steve. “Hunter, I’m starting to get cold, just sitting here.”

“Judy, are you rested enough to continue?” Hunter asked.

“Might as well get it over with.”

“We shall look at the area where I expect MC 4 to appear on our way back to the warehouse,” said Hunter, rising.

“Let’s look for a major thoroughfare,” said Judy. “The city has reduced bus service, but the biggest streets will have what’s left.”

As they began to walk again, Judy looked up and down the blocks and suggested directions. Soon they were in a queue at a bus stop behind seven Muscovites. When the bus to the center of the city arrived, it was a very old, creaking vehicle puffing black smoke out of its exhaust pipe. As Hunter led his team into the bus, he imitated the woman in front of him, paying the team’s way with coins. The bus was only half-full, so they found seats in the rear, away from other people.

Hunter sat without speaking, looking out the windows. When he saw that the bus had reached the area where he had estimated MC 4 would appear, he stood up and pulled the horizontal cord running across the wall of the bus over the windows. A little bell rang by the driver, who pulled over at the next bus stop.

Hunter gestured for Judy and Steve to leave the rear door first. When they were safely on the sidewalk again, he followed them. The bus creaked and rumbled away, blowing black smoke over them into the chilly air.

“Doesn’t look like much, does it?” Judy looked up and down the street.

“What kind of buildings are these?” Hunter asked, surveying the architecture.

“These are all residential apartment buildings. Most of them are empty in the daytime.”

“Where is everybody?” Steve asked.

“Oh, you missed my explanation before, didn’t you?” Judy turned to him. “Men who can serve in the military left a long time ago and lots of people have fled to avoid the advancing Germans. I think that’s where many of the children went; families got them out of town. The remainder are working overtime to keep the city functioning or to prepare defenses.”

“That means MC 4 could appear here and duck into a fairly empty building, doesn’t it?” Steve looked up at the rows of windows in the building above them.

“Yes,” said Hunter. “He can also find clothing, if he locates something he judges the owner can lose without harm.”