Asimov's Future History Volume 2

by Isaac Asimov

  With a new focus, Hunter changed direction. He shoved aside a couple of buccaneers, then lifted a fairly short fellow and gently but firmly handed him to a surprised larger man, who collapsed under the sudden weight. When he reached Roland, he did not join the fight around him. Instead, Hunter grabbed Roland around the waist and lifted him up, away from the bearded man and his companions.

  “Whoa! Ahoy! What’s this?” Roland demanded in surprise, kicking and flailing in the air.

  “I am helping you,” said Hunter. He shifted his grip and raised Roland high over his head. Then he began a long, difficult walk through the brawling crowd.

  MC 2, now free of the specific chore of protecting Roland, got in the way of the buccaneers who were still going after Roland. Maneuvering became easier for both robots because most of the buccaneers seemed to think Hunter was fighting with Roland, and shouted encouragement to Hunter to fling Roland across the room.

  Hunter worked his way to the door patiently, still holding Roland high. Finally, turning sideways, he burst outside into the tropical sunlight and quickly strode away from the tavern. He did not hesitate, but walked quickly to the corner of the block and hurried up an alley. By that time, his hearing told him that none of the humans were following them.

  “I am in an alley,” Hunter radioed to MC 2. “Out the door and to the right. Home in on my signal and join me.” Then he spoke aloud to Roland. “Are you harmed?” Hunter carefully bent down and set Roland on his feet.

  “Not to speak of. Thanks, mate.” Roland looked at him curiously. “I don’t think I know you. Why the rescue, then? Not that I mind, you understand.”

  “I want to know where the woman named Rita Chavez is.”

  “Rita? I don’t believe I know anyone —”

  “Lying to me is not wise. You went on board the Hungry Hawk with her. Where is she?”

  “Uh — well, I do owe you a favor. Sure, I know her a little. But I lost track of her during the fight on shipboard. I haven’t seen her since then.”

  Hunter was watching Roland’s face carefully and listening to the tone of his voice as he spoke. From his data about human behavior, he concluded that Roland was telling the truth. He nodded his acceptance.

  “Uh, look, mate — thanks for the lift, so to speak, but I think a few of those blokes may still be under full sail back there. I ought to make myself scarce for a bit.”

  “Yes, I agree.”

  “All right, then. So long!” Roland jogged away from Hunter, up the alley.

  Hunter then realized that MC 2 should have already joined him. He walked back down to the main thoroughfare. “MC 2, respond. Are you in trouble?”

  On the waterfront, he looked around in all directions. MC 2 was not in sight. The sounds of struggle from the tavern had ended; some buccaneers were singing again.

  “MC 2, respond.”

  When Hunter received no answer, he hurried back to the doorway of the tavern. One of two possibilities had occurred; either MC 2 had been damaged and trapped in the tavern, or he had run away. In the doorway, Hunter’s enhanced sight and hearing told him instantly that MC 2 was no longer inside.

  Hunter stopped where he was. He realized that he had misjudged the power his First Law interpretation had over MC 2. Apparently MC 2 had decided that once Roland was safely outside in Hunter’s care, the First Law imperative on MC 2 was no longer in effect. So MC 2 had taken the opportunity to flee from Hunter under the Third Law while Hunter was in the alley with Roland.

  If MC 2 had passed the mouth of the alley where Hunter had been, Hunter would have heard him. That meant MC 2 had gone in the opposite direction when he had first left the tavern; on the waterfront, there were only two possible directions from this doorway. Hunter walked quickly after MC 2, running through the new situation in his mind.

  “I know that he is nearby,” Hunter said to himself. “I know he is aware of my presence. Roland knows that MC 2 will follow his orders, short of harming humans, though he apparently has no idea why; Roland does not seem to know that I must do the same.”

  With MC 2 so close, Hunter felt a resurgence of his efficiency. A residual effect of his earlier malaise might have accounted for his misjudgment about MC 2’s response to the First Law imperative concerning Roland. Still, he knew what to do next.

  First he sent out his radio signal to Steve, Jane, and Rita again. Maybe he could finally get an explanation of why Jane had clubbed him over the head. Then he began a systematic search of the waterfront and the side streets leading inland. He turned up his hearing and vision and began to move at a light run.

  Before Wayne took one of the longboats from the Old Laughing Lady back to the docks, he checked on Rita. He found her well, though cautious with him. She reported that Captain Tomann had not tried her door. Wayne was convinced that he would not bother Rita as long as he believed she was worth a ransom. Then Wayne had to wait for the longboat to be rowed back since he had missed the first wave of departures.

  Finally on the waterfront again by midmorning, Wayne looked around for Hunter. He could hear the singing and shouting of celebration from the nearest taverns. Other buccaneers were wandering up and down the waterfront laughing and talking, or shopping at the small booths. Wayne wanted to find Hunter to talk business, but of course Hunter could find him more easily than he could find Hunter.

  “Well,” Wayne muttered aloud to himself. “Might as well enjoy it a little.” He decided to have breakfast. His pockets were heavy now with coins he had received as his share of the loot from the brief voyage.

  Wayne went to a booth right across from the docks. He would be in plain sight there if Hunter came walking along the waterfront. Wayne bought a couple of rolls, a small smoked fish, and some fresh, cool water. Then he sat down on a nearby rock to eat.

  Just as Wayne was finishing his first roll, someone slipped quietly behind him and sat down on another rock.

  “Good morning to you,” Roland said softly, glancing around. “Fine day, isn’t it?”

  “What — Roland! Come around beside me.” Wayne was startled, but tried to cover it. Wayne decided to stay calm and find out what Roland wanted.

  “No, sorry. I had a spot of trouble a while back. I’ll just keep my head down and sit behind you.”

  “Oh. Something serious?”

  “Nay!” Roland laughed lightly. “Not at all, mate. Too much rum early in the morning and a bit of celebration was all. I doubt anyone’s carrying a grudge, but I’ll watch out for myself a little longer.”

  “Here.” Wayne handed him a roll, phrasing his next question carefully. “Have you learned anything about the people I paid you to find?”

  “That little guy you’re looking for,” said Roland, taking a bite out of the roll. “He’s real strong for his size and basically does what people tell him?”

  “That’s right. So you’ve seen him?”

  “Aye.” Roland nodded. “But he got away from me again. He’s here on the waterfront, though, or at least he was not very long ago.”

  “Good work. If you can grab him again, will you bring him to me? I’m staying out on the Old Laughing Lady.”

  “Ah! You’re on the crew with the wild man, eh?” Roland grinned. “Don’t make Tomann mad, now. I’d hate to lose you as a source of employment, even with my share of booty from the last voyage.”

  “We’re getting along just fine.”

  “You know …” Roland trailed off, looking at Wayne. “That is, could there be another one of these blokes?”

  “Another one? Of the same stature?”

  “No, no! Just the opposite. I got myself into a brawl, see, and the little fellow stopped someone from hitting me. Then a minute later this gigantic man rose up from a table and charged into the group.”

  “Gigantic, you say. Maybe about, oh, six and a half feet tall? Brawny?”

  “You got it, mate. He picked me up like I was a little shaver and carried me out of the tavern over his head.”

  “Blond hair, squa
re jaw, clean-shaven-good looking man?”

  “Well, no. Maybe I have the wrong fellow. This one has brown hair and a beard, and a narrow face.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “Well — yes. He asked me about Rita.”

  “Rita!”

  “That’s right.”

  “It must be Hunter,” said Wayne. “The same, uh, man but in disguise. What did you tell him?”

  “I told him I couldn’t help him.”

  “Very good. All right, I tell you what. For now, forget about looking for Rita and distracting her.”

  “As you please. Is there anything you would like me to do — that is, anything worth a bit of coin?”

  “Yes.” Wayne leaned to one side to stick his hand in his pocket. He pulled out some more coins. “Take this. Stay on the lookout for MC 2 and bring him to Tomann’s ship if you can.”

  Roland took the coins. “He’s important to you, all right; I can see that. But what’s it all about?”

  “Sorry,” said Wayne. “I can’t explain it. But it’s very important — more important than you can imagine. I have to get my hands on him.”

  Roland glanced around quickly and drew away. “I’ll remember that.”

  Steve and Jane had spent the previous night at the same inn as before. It had seemed odd without Hunter, but the night passed without incident. They ate breakfast on the waterfront while they watched the ships sailing into port. When the longboats began rowing the crews to shore, Steve had found a spot at one end of the docks where they could look down the length of the waterfront. They were searching for Hunter most of all, but Roland, Rita, or MC 2 would do for a start.

  At one point, Steve had pointed to a very tall, brawny figure standing uncertainly on the docks after climbing out of a longboat. “Hey, there’s Hunter.”

  “No, wait,” Jane had said. “See the beard? And the brown hair? I think that’s the guy who was coming after you when you were sword fighting. He’s the one I clubbed with a belaying pin. And he might remember me.”

  They had continued to watch the waterfront until most of the buccaneers were in the taverns, drinking and singing. Then, having nothing better to do, they had begun to walk around again, hoping either to see or be seen by someone they wanted to find.

  By midday, they had not seen any of the people or robots they sought, but the buccaneers began wandering out of the taverns again, looking for more excitement. Many were at the booths, crowding the waterfront and making any search more difficult.

  “Look,” said Jane. “A lot of people seem to be heading for that one tavern up ahead.”

  “Isn’t that where Morgan bought us dinner last night?”

  “I think you’re right. It looks different in the daytime. Do you think he’s back there?”

  “One way to find out,” said Steve. “Maybe he’s signing up those crews he mentioned.”

  “Watch out for that guy named Nick,” said Jane. “He might want to finish that fight with you.”

  Steve and Jane worked their way through the crowds to the tavern. The doorway was jammed with onlookers, but Steve stopped to peer through a window. Inside, Captain Morgan was seated at the same big, round table he had taken the previous night. A number of other buccaneers were sitting with him, talking.

  “What is it?” Jane asked, coming up next to Steve.

  “I’m sure he’s planning that voyage. But I don’t see anyone we’re looking for.”

  “I guess we might as well keep going.”

  “Yeah.”

  They turned away from the window and walked on up the waterfront.

  Late in the day, Wayne sat down at a small outdoor booth for a tankard of ale. It was on one of the side streets leading away from the waterfront Shortly after Roland had left him, he had seen Steve and Jane walking around, obviously looking for someone, and he had spent the afternoon avoiding them as well as searching for MC 2.

  “Good day, friend,” Roland said quietly behind him.

  Startled, Wayne turned and found Roland at the head of a small group of buccaneers. Roland was smirking; the others had suspicious, wary expressions. As Wayne looked at them, the group formed a semicircle around him, trapping him against the booth.

  “Good day, Roland,” said Wayne cautiously.

  “Your friend is well,” said Roland. “My mates found him for me, after I put out the word.”

  “Well! That’s great. You had a real advantage over me, knowing so many people.”

  “Aye, that I did. And we have your short friend in a place of our own.”

  “Let’s go see him,” Wayne said with forced cheer, sliding off his stool.

  Roland moved sideways to block his way. “Not just yet. You have my pay?”

  “I will pay on delivery,” said Wayne.

  “Indeed, you will,” said Roland. “We will accept his weight in evenly mixed gold and silver coin in exchange for him.”

  “What?” Wayne stared at him. “I don’t have anything like that much.”

  “Get it” Roland turned away.

  “That’s crazy.” Wayne started to reach for Roland’s arm.

  In response to the motion, five of the nearest buccaneers all tensed. Two reached for their swords and another drew a pistol from his sash. Wayne froze, his heart pounding.

  Roland glanced back over his shoulder and laughed. Then, shaking his head, he walked away without deigning to turn. His companions followed him, first walking backward to watch Wayne before finally turning and hurrying away.

  Wayne let out a quivering breath and relaxed. At least he had a lead on MC 2’s whereabouts. Roland probably had him imprisoned on the Hungry Hawk. However, Wayne saw no reasonable way that he could acquire the ransom the buccaneers wanted.

  He remained where he was for a few minutes longer, then started walking in the opposite direction from the one Roland had taken. As he thought over his new problem, he saw two possibilities. He could either try to team up with Hunter and almost certainly lose MC 2 to him permanently, or he could enlist Captain Tomann’s help.

  Captain Tomann was his first choice, but of course he was still on board his ship. Wayne would have to visit the taverns and find some crew members who would row him back out to the Old Laughing Lady as soon as he could arrange it. He headed down the waterfront one more time.

  Steve and Jane sat on a couple of empty, discarded kegs at the shore end of a pier as the sun turned red in the west. They had spent the entire day searching for a familiar face from their own time and had not seen one. Their task had become more difficult as the day wore on, because of the increasing activity up and down the entire waterfront.

  All day, buccaneers had brought supplies out of warehouses. Rope, pitch, and canvas were easy to identify as they were $tacked on every pier. Steve knew from his one previous voyage that food, fresh water, gunpowder, and cannon shot had to be in the barrels men rolled down the street and in the crates he saw loaded onto wagons. Even so late in the day, the men doing the work jammed the waterfront, shouting and cursing as they worked. Other buccaneers filled their longboats with supplies and rowed them out to their ships, then returned for another load.

  “I count the nine ships Captain Morgan told us about,” said Steve. “I think that’s a very big voyage for a town this size. And I think he may have ordered them to be ready to sail by dawn.”

  “Why didn’t they plan ahead? They could have loaded the ships in advance.”

  “Remember how important secrecy was to him? He probably wants to get under way before word starts to spread to other ports.”

  “Say, is that — no, never mind.” Jane shook her head. “I thought I saw Hunter, but it’s a false alarm.”

  “Where?”

  “It’s that guy I hit over the head.”

  “Him again? We’ve been avoiding him all day. He might not even remember you.” Steve looked at the figure moving through the crowd, towering head and shoulders over the people around him. “There aren’t many guys that big,
are there?”

  Suddenly Jane gasped. “Steve, look.”

  “Where?”

  “At that guy. He just came through the crowd into an open space. You can see all of him.”

  “What about him?”

  “I think it is Hunter.”

  “How can he be Hunter?”

  “Ignore his face for a minute. Look at the rest of him — his build, the way he moves, his walk.” She shook her head. “Steve, in the excitement of the fight on board ship, I forgot — he can change his appearance.”

  “He can?”

  “Yes, that’s one of his more sophisticated abilities.”

  “You mean he can actually alter the shape of his face like that?”

  “Yes, that’s what I mean. Within limits; he can alter his body shape as well. And I clubbed him! Come on!” She jumped up and ran.

  19

  “HUNTER! HUNTER!” JANE ran toward him, shouting and waving.

  Caught by surprise, Steve got up and followed her. Up ahead, the tall buccaneer had instantly turned at the sound of Jane’s voice. Then he waved back and moved to meet her.

  “Hunter! So it is you.” Jane smiled with relief as she caught up to him.

  “Yes, of course,” said Hunter stiffly, in a flat monotone. “I have tried to reach you both through the communicators I gave you.”

  “We lost them,” said Steve. “We’ll tell you about it later.”

  “I have an urgent question to ask Jane,” said Hunter. “What did I do wrong?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why did you strike me?”

  “On shipboard, you mean?” Jane’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hunter, I didn’t recognize you!”

  Hunter’s hesitation was barely perceptible to Steve, but that meant it was very long by robotic standards.

  “I made a careless mistake,” said Hunter. “I altered my appearance so that I would not alert Wayne Nystrom or Rita that I was nearby on board ship.”

  “And then you forgot?” Jane looked at him skeptically. “Robots don’t just forget. What happened?”

  “My efficiency had dropped below normal even before that moment,” said Hunter. His voice was no longer a monotone, though he still spoke in a tentative, stilted fashion. “When the fighting began, I was focused tightly on sorting out which First Law imperatives to pursue, such as protecting you, and which ones I had to ignore, such as allowing buccaneers to fight each other so that I would not alter the course of history.”