Emperor

7

Hunter waited patiently while his companions rested in the shade. Since he regenerated his energy by converting sunlight through the microscopic solar cells on his skin, he had benefited from the walk in the direct sunlight. Certainly this climate, in the summer, was easier on him and his human team members than the Russian winter had been during their last mission.

The little boy who had asked him questions a few minutes earlier walked back, looking at Hunter shyly. He stopped several meters away. Hunter waited for him to speak, but he remained silent.

“May I help you?” Hunter asked.

“I have information for you,” said the boy with a polite bow.

Steve looked up from his teacup. “What is it?”

“I have heard that the Polo family went north this morning to the Great Wall.”

“Yeah?” Steve grinned. “Hunter, that’s great. We know where to find them. And MC 5 probably hasn’t had time to reach them yet.”

“Are you certain of this?” Hunter asked.

“This is what I have been told,” the boy said carefully.

“Who told you?” Steve asked.

He hesitated. “Two men.”

“I see,” said Hunter. “What is your name?”

“Xiao Li.”

“Give him a tip,” said Steve.

“A tip is appropriate at this time? What if his information is inaccurate?”

“We’ll have to take some risk. Don’t give him the whole reward yet. If he’s right, we’ll pay him the rest.”

“Is this acceptable?” Hunter asked Xiao Li.

“Yes, sir.”

Hunter reached into his gown and gave Xiao Li a couple of small copper coins.

“Thank you.” With another bow, the boy turned away.

“Wait a minute,” said Steve. “You might be able to help us with more information.”

Xiao Li paused, looking at them all.

“You have more questions for him?” Hunter asked.

“Not yet,” said Steve. “But exactly what are we going to do? If we need to change our plans, he might know where we should go to find other people.”

“Agreed,” said Hunter.

“What is our plan now?” Marcia asked.

“I would like to hear all of your opinions,” said Hunter. “I am not certain what to do now.”

“This is a stroke of luck,” said Jane. She paused to sip her tea. “We could have spent hours trying to find the Polo family and they aren’t even here.”

“If MC 5 can’t find them, then why do we need them?” Marcia asked.

“Good question,” said Jane. “But at least we won’t waste time looking for them here in the city.”

“I think we should go after them,” said Steve. “They only left today-probably just a few hours ago. Maybe MC 5 is even with them or following them, too. In order to get some kind of introduction through them to the government, he will have to establish some kind of friendship with them.”

“Well, Hunter?” Jane shrugged. “What if MC 5 is here in town, instead?”

“That is a point to consider,” said Hunter. “MC 5 is our quarry, not Marco Polo.”

“I hate to repeat the obvious,” Steve said with a grin. “Especially when I know you don’t like it. But this is a stable town and we have no enemies here. Why not split up? Maybe, to reduce your worries, we three should stay here and you can go north to look for the Polos.”

“I accepted such logic on earlier missions,” said Hunter. “In most cases, I came to regret it. This time, we will stay together.”

“Okay.” Steve shrugged. “So what’s it going to be? Are we staying here to look for MC 5?”

“I remain undecided,” said Hunter. “Marcia, how far is the Great Wall from here?”

“About sixty-five kilometers. The road goes north from Khanbaliq through some mountains to a major gate in the wall.”

“We would need horses to make the trip efficiently,” said Hunter. “On horseback, that is a two-day ride each way, I estimate.”

“That’s right,” said Steve. “At least, depending on how rugged the road is.”

Marcia eyed him skeptically. “Oh, you know all about horses, do you?”

“No,” Steve said stiffly. “But I have some experience with them. I’ve owned a couple in the past and used to ride them out in the desert. I can take care of them and I know how far they can travel in a day.”

“We rode horseback in Roman Germany,” said Jane. “As long as the horses are calm and well trained, we’ll be fine.”

Hunter was studying Marcia. “Have you ridden horseback before?”

“No,” said Marcia uncomfortably…

“Jane is right that safety is largely a matter of matching the horse to the rider,” said Hunter. “I will not allow us to go unless we can find one you can ride.”

“We wouldn’t have to make the whole trip to the Great Wall,” said Jane. “If we leave soon enough, we’ll catch up to them when they stop for the night.”

“That’s right,” said Steve. “We’ll take the rest of today to reach them, talk to them tonight or tomorrow morning, and then return tomorrow.”

“This is acceptable,” said Hunter. “Spending two days is not extravagant.”

“What about Wayne?” Jane asked, “What if MC 5 is still in town?”

“This is a reasonable point,” said Hunter. “We could be leaving Wayne and Ishihara two days to find MC 5 here without competition from us.”

“The most logical move is to separate, Hunter,” said Steve, “no matter how you figure it.”

“My interpretation of the First Law at this time does not accept that logic,” said Hunter. “My need to protect you overrides the distant possibility that we will find MC 5 by splitting up atthis time.”

“If the chance of getting MC 5 was clear and immediate, you would allow us to split up?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” said Hunter. “The First Law imperative to catch him is stronger than unclear risks to you three.”

Steve sighed and finished his tea. “All right. So what are we going to do, then?”

“We must choose between two risks,” said Hunter. “If we stay here, we have no current lead to find MC 5. If we follow the lead we have, we may leave Wayne and Ishihara a free hand here to find him first.”

“Doing something is probably better than nothing,” said Marcia. “I suggest we follow the lead we have to find the Polos.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Steve said grudgingly, with an annoyed glance at Marcia. “For this reason, Hunter. We’ve told everybody around here that we’re offering a reward. These people, as a group, have a better chance of grabbing MC 5 than Wayne and Ishihara.”

“Yes,” said Hunter. “We are leaving some help for ourselves behind.”

“Good!” Steve got up. “Let’s stop wasting time talking about it.” He turned to Xiao Li. “Where can we get some horses-four, to be exact?”

“Nowhere in this neighborhood,” said Xiao Li. “But I can take you to some stables several blocks from here near the north gate.”

“I do not want to take you away from your home neighborhood,” said Hunter. “Please give me directions. We will find the location.”

Within an hour, Steve rode out of the north gate of Khanbaliq on a small mare, leading the rest of the team. Following Xiao Li’s directions,’ they had found a number of commercial stables in business just inside the north gate. As before, the bargaining fell to Steve. Since no one would lease horses to be ridden out of the city, they’d had to buy them, and of course saddles and bridles, as well.

Hunter had enough money to do so, and the man who sold the horses also told them where to find inns along the way where they could spend the night. Steve had mounted each horse they’d considered buying, to make sure that it was well trained and calm enough for the less experienced riders.

When Hunter’s concern for everyone’s safety had been satisfied, Steve had found a shop that sold water skins and meat buns they could take with them. Another shop had sold them each long leather coats trimmed with fur for the cold nights in the mountains.

Immediately outside the north gate of the city, the road was deserted in the middle of the day. Steve could see that it wound up into the forested mountains ahead. He turned to look back over his shoulder.

Marcia sat stiffly upright on a seven-year-old gelding, holding the reins gingerly. Hunter rode next to her, giving her instructions. Jane kicked her mount and, came up next to Steve at a trot.

“I just thought of a problem I hadn’t considered before,” said Jane.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“The man who sold us the horses said we could find inns along the way to spend night, right?”

“Sure. What’s the matter with that?”

“Well, the idea was to catch up to the Polos when they stop for the night. But if this road has a lot of inns, we’ll have to look for them at every single one.”

“I guess we can do that.”

“I guess.” Jane shrugged. “I just hope we don’t find too many inns tonight.”

“We’ll have lunch in the saddle,” said Steve. “The Polos will probably stop by the side of the road to eat, like anyone ordinarily would. If we’re lucky, we might even get close enough this evening to see them up ahead. Then we’ll see where they stop.”

“I guess we can hope.”

Steve looked behind them again. Marcia remained tense but said nothing. He considered teasing her about her nervousness, but then decided that he preferred having her quiet. The last thing he wanted was to start her talking again.

The road grew more rugged less than an hour out of Khanbaliq. Tall trees shaded the road as it began to wind up the slope of the foothills. Two riders passed them on the way south, as did one large wagon full of firewood, but traffic was light.

On the road itself, the ground was dry and dusty. Many hooves, wheels, and feet had left their imprints, but to Steve’s eye, a few fresh tracks of horses and wheels overlaid the older ones. They had been left by the people who had most recently preceded them. He assumed that some of the tracks had been made by the Polos; he hoped that at least one set were MC 5’s. If the team was on the track of MC 5 already, this mission could be really short.

At intervals, Steve offered the buns and a quick drink of water to the others. In order to close the gap between themselves and the people ahead of them, they stayed in the saddle and kept moving.

The air grew cooler as they rode higher into the mountains. Late in the afternoon, Steve paused to put on the long coat he had bought; Marcia and Jane decided to wear theirs, too. The shade of either the trees or the mountains covered them most of the time at this hour.

Finally they rounded a bend and came to an inn. Steve dismounted and asked if any foreigners had stopped for the night; in exchange for a coin, the innkeeper told him that none had. The team rode on.

A much larger inn lay a short distance up the road from the first one. Steve decided that the two inns had been been positioned about a day’s ride from both Khanbaliq and the Great Wall. Night was falling quickly now, and the air at this altitude was chilly. He reined in and turned to Hunter.

“See the stable here? This inn has quite a few guests. And it’s getting cold pretty fast. I think we should spend the night here, whether the Polos are inside or not. If they found another inn up the road, we can start early tomorrow morning and try to catch them on the road.”

“I agree,” said Hunter.

“I’ll be glad to quit riding for the day,” said Jane, “Marcia, how are you?”

Marcia started to dismount, then paused with a grimace. “I think I need help getting down.”

Hunter dismounted quickly and reached up to lift her off. He gently set her on her feet. “Are you injured?”

“No. Just sore.”

A hostler came out of the stable and Steve arranged for him to take care of the horses. Then they went inside the inn. Entering last, Marcia walked stiffly but without help.

Inside the door, Steve found a large room with a fire roaring in a stone fireplace set into the opposite wall. People were seated around several tables near the fire, eating and drinking. To the left of the door, a slender man with gray hair looked up from the counter where he was carefully writing with a narrow brush.

Steve identified himself again as a scholar seeking an appointment. He requested two rooms for the team as two married couples. The innkeeper took them up to the second floor and showed them the rooms, which were across the hall from each other. They were small but clean and tidy.

Each room had two beds, a large pitcher of water, wash basins, and a chamber pot. Steve glanced at each of his companions; they all nodded. Hunter paid for the rooms.

Then Hunter remembered the group of people sitting near the fire. “Do you have any foreign guests tonight?”

“Foreign guests? No, sir. Not tonight.”

“Are all your guests right here?”

“No. A few have finished their dinners already and gone to their rooms.”

“I see. Are there other inns nearby?”

“One small inn lies south of here a short distance. The lodgings there are not nearly as comfortable as ours, however, and-”

“We saw it on the way. Are there others?”

“Not within half a day’s ride.”

“All right. We will be right down in a minute to have dinner for four.”

The innkeeper bowed and went back downstairs.

“I’ll just leave the bag of clothes up here,” said Steve. He tossed it onto one of the beds. “Let’s go get some hot food. I’m starved.”