William Wu - Dictator

After dinner, the exhausted work brigade members settled in for the night. Some were still talking quietly among themselves about the anticipated German attack. Steve sat against the cold wall, anxiously waiting for Hunter.

Finally he heard a knock at the front door. Steve and Jane both watched as the guards spoke to the visitor. When they backed up and let him in, Steve straightened in surprise.

Hunter had kept his body unchanged, but his face was longer and narrower than before. Even at his height, no one who had seen his face before would believe this was the same person. Most importantly, he plodded wearily, as though he had just finished a long day of physical labor. He worked his way down the wall toward Steve and Jane.

“I’m sure glad to see you,” Steve said with a smile. “I would have thought you’d make yourself shorter, though.”

Jane was looking at Hunter carefully. “Hunter, are you okay?”

“I am extremely low on energy,” said Hunter. “I did not receive any sunlight from which to recharge my solar cells today. I have been using my stored energy through all of last night, during the day, and now tonight.”

“Wait a minute,” said Jane. “You can store immense amounts of energy. What happened?”

“You are correct. Until I escaped the NKVD a short time ago, I was using very little energy and still had much to spare. However, I left without my winter coat and had to flee through the city without any insulation. Further, I am conserving my energy for the remainder of the night because I feel we should leave here immediately and make our way somehow to MC 4. At dawn, of course, I will begin to recharge.”

“We don’t know exactly where to find MC 4,” said Steve. “Or Judy.”

“We can ask someone,” Jane added.

“No need,” said Hunter. “Judy called me and told me where she is. But MC 4 is not there.”

“What?” Jane asked. “What happened?”

“MC 4 never got on the trucks to return to the city. He slipped out of the crowd and disappeared. She saw him heading westward across the steppe, but it was too late for her to get off the truck. She rode back to the school used by that particular work brigade for shelter.”

“So we should start by joining up again,” said Steve. “Or do you want to have us spend the night where we are and start again tomorrow?”

“No, I do not dare risk that now,” said Hunter. “Judy does not have your experience with living in other times. Also, we now know something about MC 4’s location and direction. Last, I fear that the NKVD may yet come back here searching for me again. They might take you two for questioning this time.”

“Then let’s get out of here,” said Jane. “How should we do it this time?”

“The lights will be turned off in a few minutes,” said Hunter. “We can afford to wait that long. I suggest we leave the same way as last time, from that other warehouse.” He nodded toward the rear door, then toward the circuit breaker box. “This establishment has the same basic design as our previous residence.”

“Good idea.” Steve glanced around. “I guess it will work again. But I hope we don’t need another shelter. If we keep sneaking out of every place we can spend the night, then pretty soon we’ll use up all the public housing.”

As Hunter had said, the overhead lights were turned out shortly; leaving only a small table lamp burning in the front. Steve and Jane worked their way across the crowded room and flipped the circuit breaker, while Hunter opened the rear door in the sudden darkness and held it. The procedure worked just as well this time as it had before. In a few moments, the team again ran up a back alley out in the cold, clear, night air.

When they were sure no one was chasing them, Hunter stopped to allow his team members to put their coats on and catch their breath.

“Are you both all right?” Hunter asked. His appearance had now returned to normal.

“Yeah,” said Jane, as she buttoned her coat. “Wow, it’s cold out here.”

“I’m fine,” said Steve. “Which way do we go?”

“Please simply follow me. It will be faster and quieter than explaining.”

Hunter led them at a brisk walk through the darkened city. He kept to alleys and side streets as much as possible, ducking into shadows on the rare moments when vehicles appeared nearby. When they reached the school Judy had told him about, Hunter knocked on the door.

A tall, stocky man opened the door and looked at Hunter coldly. “We are full, comrade. Sorry.” He started to close the door.

“We are not seeking shelter.” Hunter grabbed the edge of the door in one hand and held it fast. His tone was firm and authoritative. “Please tell Judy Taub to come to the door.”

The guard made one more attempt to jerk the door shut. His eyes shifted to Hunter in surprise when he realized that he could not move it even slightly. He turned and called Judy’s name over his shoulder.

Judy, with a big smile of relief, was already hurrying to the door.

“We shall relieve you of your overcrowding,” Hunter said, as Judy slipped out past the guard. “Thank you.”

The guard slammed the door loudly.

Hunter led his team away from the door, then he turned to Judy.

“You are well?” Hunter asked. “Sure, I’m fine.”

“Good. Since you radioed me, have you gained any additional information about MC 4?”

“No.”

“From what you said, it appears that MC 4 is heading for the German lines. Do you agree?”

“Well, I don’t know,” said Judy. “I saw him running straight west across the steppe, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t double back later.”

Hunter turned to Jane. “As our roboticist, what do you think?”

“Judy, was he running away from you personally?” Jane asked.

“No. He couldn’t have been. I didn’t reveal myself in any way as someone from our time. Actually, I never even got very close to him.”

“Then I think he must be leaving the Soviet lines for reasons of his own,” said Jane. “Some new interpretation of one of the Laws of Robotics must have dictated his actions. Otherwise, the Third Law would force him to take care of himself with shelter, which the work brigade offered.”

“So something unknown caused him to leave the work brigade for the German lines,” said Hunter.

“Yes, that’s my best guess.”

“I agree,” said Hunter. “He may have learned that radio transmission was in use here. If so, he may have monitored the same NKVD radio traffic that I heard. It has told him that he is being sought, though he cannot possibly know why.”

“He will find all sorts of humans in the German lines to save from harm if he can,” said Judy. “Behind the lines, the Nazis have prisoners of war and political prisoners they have gathered during their campaign.”

“The First Law could keep him busy there, then,” said Jane. “Hunter, what are we going to do? He could start interfering with history as soon as he reaches those prisoners.”

“Those lines are a long way from here, aren’t they?” Steve asked. “And he’s on foot.”

“Yes,” said Judy.

“A robot of his type can walk that distance in a night without stopping, though,” said Jane. “He would be very low on energy by the time he arrived, but he can count on the sun to recharge him at dawn.”

“So, without a vehicle of some kind, we don’t have a chance of catching him,” said Steve. “He had a head start out at the ditches and now he’s been hiking for a couple of hours already.”

“I dare not steal a vehicle, as Wayne and Ishihara did,” said Hunter. “I fear it could cause a significant disruption in events.”

“Well, we have one more problem now,” said Judy. “If my memory serves, the Soviet counterattack will begin at dawn. Anything we do now will happen during actual battle conditions.”