William Wu - Dictator

Hunter lay motionless in the darkened warehouse. He had not shut himself down, but was conserving energy by not moving. Of course, he pretended to sleep at the same time. When a firm, resounding knock sounded at the main door, he did not move, but instantly magnified his hearing. He checked his internal clock and found that the time was 3:17 A.M.

The knocking was repeated, loudly, as someone from the front went to answer it.

“Who’s there?” One of the guards spoke cautiously from inside the door.

“Agents Raskov and Konev, NKVD.”

As the door was opened, Hunter reached out and gently woke Steve.

“Steve, can you hear me?” Hunter whispered.

“Yeah.”

“I believe the NKVD is looking for Judy. You and Jane move closer to her. Cover her face with something. I will try to create a diversion.”

“What?” Steve opened his eyes, startled. “The NKVD is here after all?”

Hunter slipped his belt unit into Steve’s hand. He knew Steve would not leave for their own time without him except in an extreme emergency. “I have already set the controls. Use it if you must.”

Steve nodded and moved over to wake up Jane and Judy, whispering to them quietly.

Hunter listened to the two NKVD agents ask the guards about Hunter by both his name and his description. The overhead lights came on, causing a number of people in the crowd to stir. Hunter looked up and saw one of the guards pointing directly toward this corner.

The two agents began working their way down the length of the warehouse. Their way was blocked by all the sleeping and newly awakened people on the floor. Hunter had a few seconds to consider what to do.

He was puzzled by their possessing his description but not Judy’s. Still, he expected that these agents would take the entire team if they found the group together. He had to separate himself from the others immediately.

Hunter did not want to return his entire team to their own time in front of so many witnesses. Two such events would definitely be discussed and would influence the local authorities in some way. Having everyone flee out the rear door again might not be as effective this time; the NKVD agents would maintain pursuit, where as the ordinary guards in the previous warehouse had not bothered.

The two agents stared at Hunter with grim determination as they stumbled through the crowd.

To prevent them from taking the human members of his team, Hunter could allow himself to be taken. He felt he could manage to get away later if they arrested him. His team members would still be in some danger without him, but totally avoiding significant risk was now impossible.

To help the rest of his team escape, he would have to lead the NKVD agents away from them.

Hunter got to his feet suddenly. The two agents both stopped in surprise, looking up at him; maybe his height startled them. Instead of running, however, Hunter strode toward them, imitating the scowls on both their faces.

The two Russians recovered from their surprise.

“Stop, comrade,” said one. “I am Agent Raskov. You must come with us.”

Since Hunter wanted to keep their attention on him, he did not bother to answer. He suddenly darted to his right, stepping over a sleepy, puzzled elderly man. As the two agents moved to block his way, he jumped over someone else to a small open spot on the floor.

“Halt! I command you!”

More people were sitting up, blinking in the light and looking around.

Hunter, of course, could have easily leaped through the crowd, throwing the two agents aside with his greater strength. Instead, he was hoping to make them work to capture him, so that they would forget about arresting his team members. He hesitated, giving the agents a chance to maneuver closer.

“You will not be hurt, comrade,” said Agent Konev, as he came forward, pulling a handgun out of his overcoat. “Not unless you force us to get angry.”

Around him, those who were awake gasped and squealed in sudden fear. Some scuttled away from him, still on the floor. Others lay flat, their eyes wide.

Hunter had been prepared to move toward the front door again. Now he stopped, staring at the gun aimed at him. He wondered if these agents would actually risk opening fire in the crowded room. From what Judy had said about this society, he estimated that they would.

The Third Law prevented him from taking an unnecessary risk to himself, of course, but the First Law completely prevented him from fleeing now, for fear that bystanders would be shot by mistake. He raised his hands slowly and did not move. The other agent also drew a gun.

“Do not fire,” said Hunter. “Do not endanger anyone else here.”

“Turn around,” said Agent Raskov.

“Agreed. Please do not fire.” Hunter obeyed. He felt himself being frisked. With the demands of the First Law dominating his thoughts, he fully expected that they would next go after the humans on his team-probably forcing Steve to take them all back to their own time.

Instead, to his surprise, each agent took one of his arms and they walked him forward through the warehouse.

Ishihara and Wayne had been left out in the backseat of the car each time that Raskov and Konev went inside another building. Their hosts had found them each a long, black woolen overcoat, but no other clothes to wear. Wayne kept his cloak bundled carefully under his arm.

For almost two hours after reaching Moscow, they had gone to one facility after another, looking for MC 4 and Hunter among the people displaced by the war. Ishihara had already told Wayne what he had overheard with his enhanced hearing about Raskov and Konev interrogating them when morning arrived, whether or not they located the two enemy agents tonight.

Ishihara knew that the interrogation would involve torture. Under the First Law, he could not allow Wayne to take that risk of harm. They had to escape sometime tonight.

“When are we going to make our move?” Wayne asked. “Wouldn’t this be a good time to get away from them? We’re just sitting here.”

“I fear that simply jumping out of the car and running would put you in danger of freezing to death, without improving our chances of avoiding recapture.”

“Yeah. Well…if we don’t escape to begin with, we won’t have to worry about being recaptured at all.” Wayne sighed. “I don’t want to freeze out there, either, but if we’re going to go, shouldn’t we just do it?”

“Yes, you have a point.”

“Hey-they’ve taken a lot longer in this one than the others. Before, they just talked to a few people at the door, got the lights turned on, and came back out. You think that means something?”

Ishihara turned up his hearing to maximum. Suddenly he recognized Hunter’s voice telling someone not “to fire.” Ishihara knew a weapon was being held on him.

“Get in the driver’s seat,” Ishihara said suddenly, opening his own door. “Now, quickly!” He got out and closed the door as quietly as he could.

Wayne climbed over the front seat and rolled down the window so he could speak to Ishihara. “But now what? I don’t know how to work this thing.”

Ishihara ran around to the driver’s side “They are bringing Hunter out. We must avoid him for the good of your own mission.”

“Okay! But what do I do ?”

Ishihara leaned inside, pointing. “Push down that pedal, the clutch, with your left foot. Hold on to the steering wheel.” He grabbed the gearshift and moved it. “Hold this right here and, let up with your left foot.”

“Got it.” Wayne did as he was told. “How do you know how to work this thing?”

“I observed the driver carefully as we were riding before, and listened to the engine and gear sounds.”

“But he used a key to turn it on, didn’t he? And he must have taken it with him. It’s not here.”