Invader

2

Steve looked around the familiar room. Room F-12 was a large facility that housed an opaque sphere about fifteen meters in diameter. With its console, the sphere could both miniaturize humans and robots to microscopic size and also send them back through time, in either normal or microscopic condition. Countertops lined the rest of the room, filled with computers, monitors, a communication console, and miscellaneous office equipment.

Hunter introduced Harriet to R. Daladier, a robot he had left in the room to apprehend Wayne Nystrom and Ishihara if they returned unexpectedly.

Steve waited anxiously, knowing the team would have to discuss the mission further and change clothes before Hunter would actually take them back in time.

“I arranged to have period costumes made for us earlier today,” said Hunter. He pointed to four neatly folded stacks of clothing on one counter. Four sets of leather boots stood next to them. “Please check them for authenticity. No synthetics have been used.”

“I see four outfits,” said Steve. “We only have three of us this time.”

“We will take a full costume for Jane,” said Hunter. “I expect to find her, but she may need period clothing. She left China in the time of Kublai Khan wearing a robe and trousers from that culture.”

“Right.”

Harriet lifted a long, brown tunic and shook it out. “Tunics for you two. Wool, of course; that’s right. A rope belt. Loosely cut, longer than kneelength. It looks fine.” She lifted another. “This white undertunic is made of cotton. It was expensive in ancient Britain. A sign of prosperity. And I see the shift I will wear under my wool gown is also made of cotton.”

“Underclothing of cotton will be fur more comfortable for you two than wool, fur, or any other acceptable choice,” said Hunter. “I believe the comfort will increase your efficiency. Besides, suggesting a hint of prosperity can be part of the roles we will play.”

“As you decide.” Harriet lifted her gown, also of brown wool. “Full-length, loose, and blousy… long sleeves. Yes, this will be fine, too.”

“What about the boots?” Steve asked.

Harriet picked up one of them. “About these roles, Hunter. What are they?”

“From the historical data I have taken from the city library, I suggest that I play the role of a horse trader from Gaul. You two will masquerade as my wife and servant. Unless you find a flaw in this plan, I would like to say that I wish to move away from the crumbling, unstable Roman Empire in Gaul and raise my horse herds in Britain.”

“Go on.” She put down the first boot and studied another one.

“I learned that southern England in this time has ideal horse-grazing land and that Artorius, the man upon whom the legend of King Arthur was based, led a troop of cavalry. He would have to be concerned about a reliable source of mounts for his men.”

“Hold it,” said Steve, grinning in spite of his eagerness to get on their way. “We aren’t taking any horses with us. You can’t horse-trade without them.”

“I propose to say that I am looking for land in Britain before bringing my herd over the Channel,” said Hunter. “Would this sound reasonable?”

“The boots are acceptable, too.” Harriet paused thoughtfully as she put the last boot down. “Yes, your story will be plausible, though you could improve on it. However, bringing something to trade would be more convincing. You could be an ironworker, a trader in silver, a soldier…the list of possibilities is very long.”

“I chose the role after due consideration,” said Hunter. “I must playa role that will carry some prestige without having to take material objects into the past. We must take some coins and our clothing, but every item we take increases the chance of influencing history in a way we do not intend and cannot predict. The role of soldier might put Steve into greater danger than I would prefer.”

“Ah-you’re a believer in chaos theory as applied to the events of history.” She smiled, amused.

“I no longer believe in the most pure and extreme form of chaos theory,” said Hunter. “My team has made five missions into the past without altering our own time in any way that I can detect.”

“Good. Then you’re coming around to my way of thinking about this.”

“Not entirely,” said Hunter. “I tell each historian I hire that I do not know where the threshold of significant change lies. If I can go into the past as a horse trader so that we do not have to take any merchandise with us, then we take the least risk.”

“I do not believe in it at all,” said Harriet, casually. “But you’re the boss. I accept your priorities.”

“I still say a horse trader would take horses with him,” said Steve. “Even just one stallion to show off. The people we see are going to expect that.”

“We can claim we brought a couple of horses that were lost in a storm as we sailed across the Channel,” said Harriet. “That was not unheard-of in these times.”

“Am I correct in concluding that Artorius must value the source of his mounts?” Hunter asked.

“Oh, yes. The single greatest advantage the Britons have over the Saxons is their training in Roman cavalry strategy and tactics. You see, the Saxons in this time are unmounted but numerous. Artorius had to keep his men supplied with good, healthy horses.”

“Good,” said Hunter. He pointed to three cloth pouches on the counter. “We also have a small pouch of coins from this period for each of us to carry.”

“Late Roman coins?” She pulled one open and drew out one of the coins. “Since we will claim to have come from Gaul, that would be our currency. Britain primarily still uses the same, but some native coins had to be minted, too.”

“Our coins are all late Roman. Also, we have a small bag for Steve to carry. It contains a change of underclothing for each of you and some bread, cheese, and dried meat. I do not know how long it will take us to find food for you.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard,” said Harriet. “Southern England remained heavily Romanized culturally and densely populated for many years after the Romans left Britain on its own.”

Steve picked up the bag and looked inside. “Okay. I’ll put Jane’s clothes and boots in here.”

“I will prepare the console. Please take turns changing your clothes in the next room.”

Steve waited while Harriet changed first. Hunter walked to the console that controlled the sphere and altered the settings. Steve began to pace again.

“Are you taking us back at night again?” Steve asked, glancing up at Hunter. “Since we’re leaving in the evening?”

“I feel this works best,” said Hunter. “We arrive in near-darkness to avoid notice.”

“I’d rather go back in daylight so we can start looking for Jane right away.”

“You will be ready to sleep in several more hours,” said Hunter. “If we go back at a time that conflicts with your own sleep schedule, then you and Harriet will be inefficient. Matching your schedule to arrive in daylight would now require waiting until tomorrow morning to leave.”

“Well-forget it, then. Let’s just go.”

Harriet returned from the other room, wearing her long gown and leather boots. “How do I look?”

“Very authentic,” said Hunter.

Harriet laughed lightly. “I don’t think that’s what I was asking, but thanks, anyway.”

Steve grinned but said nothing as he went to change in the adjoining room. He emerged wearing the long tunics and boots, which felt similar to the tunic he had worn to ancient Germany in Roman times.

“The console is ready,” said Hunter. “Harriet, you should know that I have the belt unit that will trigger it, even from the time to which we are going. After we arrive, I will carry it in a hollow space within my torso.”

“All right.” Harriet nodded, tugging at her gown to straighten it over her rope belt. “Hunter, when we first discussed the mission, you told me we would visit the site of the archaeological dig now known as Cadbury Castle in the time of Artorius. How about telling us now exactly when in time our destination is?”

“And tell me where Cadbury Castle is,” Steve added. “I’m still in the dark.”

“Cadbury Castle lies in Somerset, in central southern England,” said Hunter. “The modern town of South Cadbury lies immediately to the north. Farther north, but within sight, is the city of Glastonbury. We will arrive on the evening of April 21, in A.D. 459.”

Steve grinned. “I still don’t know where we’re going, except that we’ll be in England.”

“It won’t be the England most people think of,” said Harriet “The Roman Empire left Britain to fend for itself against invading barbarians in A.D. 410. The same Celtic tribes who lived there before the Romans arrived still remained, but now they had a strong Roman cultural and military influence. By A.D. 459, when we’ll arrive, the Britons will have been resisting the Saxons who had invaded and settled along the Humber and Wash rivers in southeastern Britain for half a century. The failing Roman Empire still just barely exists across the English Channel in Gaul.”

“I think I got the gist of that.” Steve shrugged, still grinning.

“I’m sure we’ll all manage just fine.”

Hunter opened the sphere. He helped Harriet climb inside first. By this time, the routine was familiar to Steve; as always, he slid down the curved interior surface to the bottom, where Harriet already sat. Hunter climbed in, closing the sphere after him to leave them in darkness.

Jane Maynard landed with a thump on wet grass. A cold drizzle fell from a dark, overcast sky. She pushed herself up and brushed her long, brown hair out of her eyes. Wayne Nystrom got up on her right; Ishihara, still holding her right arm in one hand, remained on her left.

“Foul weather,” Wayne muttered.

“Where are we now?” Jane demanded. A few moments ago by subjective measuring, Wayne and Ishihara had forcibly taken her away from the palace grounds of Kublai Khan in thirteenth-century China. First, to escape Hunter, they had simply jumped a few hours ahead, to the peasant village where they had been staying. Then Wayne had taken a few moments to reset his belt unit before bringing them here, wherever it was.

“We’re in Britain, two-thirty in the afternoon of April 19, A.D. 459,” said Wayne.

Ishihara stood, then helped Jane to her feet. “This cool, damp weather is potentially harmful to humans. We must find shelter for you, especially before nightfall.”

Jane looked around, tugging her Chinese robe tightly around her. Beneath it, she also wore matching baggy trousers. Shepherds sat huddled under trees in the distance, surrounded by their flocks in the drizzle; none were looking this way. Most of the terrain was open, rolling grassland, with clumps of trees scattered here and there. Some tilled fields lay among them, with young shoots too small to identify from here. In the distance, she could see two high hills, one much farther away than the other. A small village lay on the plateau of the nearer hill, and an outer wall of earth and wood surrounded its base.

“That’s why I brought us here in the middle of the afternoon,” said Wayne. “We have some time before sundown.” He smiled suddenly. “We have even more time before Hunter gets here.”

“What do you mean?” Ishihara asked.

“I guess it doesn’t matter if Jane hears this. I estimate that MC 6 will return to his full size in a couple of days. Hunter has repeatedly arrived within twenty-four hours of the time when the component robots return to normal size.” Wayne handed the belt unit to Ishihara.

“What about it?” Jane asked casually, as though the point meant nothing. She watched Ishihara put the belt unit inside his Chinese peasant blouse. Then, under the cloth, he opened his torso and hid the unit inside.

“Therefore, we should have a few days to learn our way around, establish some contacts, and be prepared for both MC 6 and Hunter’s team before they arrive.” Wayne shook his head. “I should have tried this before, but in places like a buccaneer town and the Russian front in World War II, I didn’t want to stay any longer than I had to. And in the dinosaur age and in ancient Germany, I hadn’t figured it out yet.”

“But you planned to make friends with those peasants in China?” Jane asked.

“No, it just worked out that way,” said Wayne. “But now, when Hunter arrives, he must consider your welfare, too. Combining some earlier preparations with that problem for him gives me the best chance I have had yet. Ishihara, I instruct you to shut off your radio reception now and keep it off until I order otherwise.”

Jane understood. When Hunter arrived, he might attempt to communicate directly with Ishihara. Wayne did not want any communication between them.

Wayne looked around. “Ishihara, suggest where we should go.”

“I propose we walk to the nearest peasant hut.” He pointed to a hut from which a narrow, lazy trail of smoke drifted low in the air. A narrow road meandered among the hills, passing by the hut. “Before we can communicate with more than gestures, I will have to begin learning the local language. If the response is hostile, we can walk along the road to meet someone else, perhaps in that village.”

“Maybe we should try the village first. That looks a more likely place for MC 6 to show up.”

“A village offers more potential harm, as well,” said Ishihara. “If we can find lodging elsewhere, then we can visit the village later.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Ishihara led them through the drizzle toward the hut he had chosen. He did not bother to take Jane’s arm. She walked behind him, with Wayne next to her.

Jane knew Ishihara had no reason to fear she would run away from them right now. Until she knew that Hunter and Steve had arrived, and where they were, she had nowhere to go. She would certainly be safer in Ishihara’s company than anywhere else here, and she saw no chance she could get the belt unit out of Ishihara’s torso.

For now, she would just have to bide her time.