Predator

20

“Chad!“ Jane pounded on his shoulder and pointed to the rear of the stampede.

Chad started in shock, but didn’t say anything. Now that the two gigantic carnivores were running in the rear of the stampede, the smaller animals were not going to stop any time soon. Chad pulled on the reins to angle away from the frantic rush they had begun.

“Hunter! See ‘em?” Steve yelled.

“Yes. We must find Wayne and MC 1. Stay with me,” Hunter shouted back with robotic calm. “I am now in radio contact with MC 1 about the impending First Law imperative.”

Steve looked back at the stampede. “We don’t have much time to find ‘em!”

“There they are!” Chad shouted, pointing ahead.

Steve leaned around Jane to look. MC 1 was struggling through the woods toward Hunter with Wayne on his back, moving faster than a human could run for very long. However, he was going much too slowly to escape the stampede.

As Hunter ran toward them, MC 1 made what progress he could. Obviously, MC 1 had seen that the First Law now required that he use Hunter’s help to save Wayne. Chad guided the struthiomimus in the same direction.

Steve looked back over his shoulder. The stampede had broken up. The smaller dinosaurs were scattering in all directions, trying to flee the tyrannosauruses, making all kinds of different noises as they ran.

The tyrannosauruses were at least five meters tall. Their jaws alone were nearly one meter long and full of dagger-shaped teeth. Tiny forearms with long claws reached out from their massive bodies as they ran on powerful legs.

A triceratops, maybe the one Hunter had told them of finding or maybe another one, had stopped running.It had originally been caught up in the stampede as a general alarm, but it clearly had no fear of a tyrannosaurus. As Steve watched, it simply turned warily to protect itself.

One tyrannosaurus was too close to turn its back. Itbellowed in a deep roar and the triceratops charged it, the three horns on its head at the level of the carnivore’s abdomen. The tyrannosaurus dodged to one side and snapped downward with its great jaws.

The two massive dinosaurs turned and shuffled against each other. The triceratops, on its four legs, rammed forward. The tyrannosaurus, tall on its two powerful legs, shifted laterally to get around the heavy frill protecting the neck and back of the triceratops. They trampled all the underbrush and smashed down tree trunks that got in their way.

Chad was just pulling up next to MC 1 and Hunter. “Now what do we do?”

“Hurry,” Jane yelled.

“Unnecessary advice,” Hunter said patiently.

“I can’t believe this,” said Wayne, staring at the dinosaurs racing in all directions behind them.

“Remain calm.” Hunter took Wayne on his own back. “I will save Wayne.” He took off at a run.

Steve leaned down and spoke to MC 1. “You follow us and stay close. Right?”

“Right,” said MC 1.

Jane also turned to the small robot. “After the First Law imperative has passed, you stay with us or join us if we get separated. Ignore all statements from Wayne until we get a chance to talk to you. We have to explain a complex First Law problem that you haven’t had a chance to consider. Acknowledge your agreement under the Second Law.”

“Agreed.”

“Then let’s get of here!” Steve yelled to Chad urgently.

“Look out!” While the triceratops rammed the first tyrannosaurus again, tearing at its insides, the second tyrannosaurus was lumbering through the forest directly toward them, smashing everything in its path underfoot. By now, most of the other dinosaurs had put more distance between themselves and the battling giants. That left the struthiomimus, its riders, and MC 1 as the closest prey it could see.

Chad yanked on the reins and all three human riders kicked their mount. It took off after Hunter, with MC 1 running along behind. Steve stole another look over his shoulder. The tyrannosaurus was crashing toward them, its eyes fixed on him and its rows of teeth gleaming.

“Faster!” Steve yelled, though he realized the struthiomimus could hardly run at top speed while carrying the weight of three humans.

In front of them Hunter was slipping through the bushes with Wayne on his back. Suddenly, as Steve watched, Wayne simply vanished. Steve figured he had activated his version of the device that would take him forward to their own time.

Steve saw Hunter stop to glance behind him, but the robot obviously reached the same conclusion about Wayne. Hunter looked up and waved for the humans to ride past him. Then he leapt into the air, grabbed a tree branch and pulled himself up.

“Go back to the camp!” Hunter shouted at Chad, as the struthiomimus rushed below him. At the same time he was still climbing the tree to get above the head of the tyrannosaurus.

“Right!” Chad shouted back, over his shoulder.

Hunter shifted to radio communication. “MC 1, climb a tree near me. We must work together to distract this dinosaur from pursuing them.”

“Agreed.” Now running just a short distance ahead of the roaring tyrannosaurus, MC 1 also found a low-hanging branch within reach. He grabbed it and quickly scrambled up into a tree next to Hunter’s and climbed to a safe height. “What do you suggest?”

“We will jump on its back,” said Hunter. “Time your jump…now!”

Using his precise vision, timing, and coordination, Hunter leapt onto the back of the tyrannosaurus’s head, his arms and legs spread-eagled to hang on. As he had calculated, he was barely able to slide down to the dinosaur’s neck, which was just narrow enough for him to catch.

Startled, the tyrannosaurus stopped and turned, trying to shake the sudden weight off the back of its neck.

“Prepare for my weight,” MC 1 radioed. In that moment MC 1 dropped from his tree on top of Hunter. Only this time, while Hunter clung to the back of the creature’s neck, MC 1 expertly slid over to one side and down Hunter’s right leg.

The tyrannosaurus was prancing and jerking madly, trying to shake off its two tormentors. Hunter looked down and saw MC 1 deliberately drop down to and grab one of the short forearms of the tyrannosaurus.

Now the tyrannosaurus shook his forearms and clawed at MC 1 with his free hand. He could not, however, bend down close enough to snap at MC 1 with his jaws. The dinosaur’s skeletal structure would not let him reach MC 1.

“I cannot hold this position long,” MC 1 radioed. “He will claw me off in a moment. Do you have further suggestions?”

“Drop to the ground and run for another tree,” Hunter answered. “Watch carefully. If the tyrannosaurus continues to pursue the humans, we must distract it further. Otherwise, stand by for me to join you.”

Hunter saw MC 1 release the tyrannosaurus’s forearm and land on his feet. Then MC 1 avoided the big, shuffling feet of the tyrannosaurus and dived behind a big tree trunk. As the tyrannosaurus bent down, snapping its huge jaws just behind MC 1, Hunter snagged a tree branch in one hand and pulled himself up.

Hunter climbed hand over hand as fast as he could. He drew is legs up to keep them away from the tyrannosaurus. In only a moment he was out of the predator’s reach.

“I am safe,” Hunter radioed. “Acknowledge.”

“Safe,” said MC 1. “When the dinosaur straightened up to snap at you, I was able to climb to safety.”

The tyrannosaurus glared up at Hunter, but knew the robot was out of reach. After a moment, it lumbered away. Hunter watched it go.

“It seems to have forgotten the humans,” said Hunter. “We will watch it a little longer.”

The two robots remained motionless and silent as the big predator gradually wandered away. It was clearly hunting, or at least scavenging, but the robots were of no more interest to it than any other prey. Finally Hunter’s senses indicated that the tyrannosaurus was gone.

“We will move to the ground and join the humans at the camp,” Hunter radioed. “I over heard Steve and Jan, two of the humans, give you Second Law instructions to this effect. Do you have any objection to this?”

“No,” said MC 1. “I am under the Second Law obligation that you observed.”

“Let us go,” said Hunter, as he began to climb down. “Since I do not want to leave the humans without our company any longer than necessary, we will run.

“Agreed.”

Steve jumped off the struthiomimus at the camp and paced anxiously, stretching his legs. Jane also dismounted and looked frantically back through the trees for the robots. Chad remained mounted.

“I hope they’re okay,” Jane muttered. “That whole project got out of control.”

“At least we’re okay,” said Chad. “If the robots are okay, then it turned out fine.”

“Wayne disappeared,” said Steve.

“Yeah,” said Chad. “Back to our time, I guess.”

The three of them waited in silence after that. Steve, too nervous to sit still, began straightening up the camp. After a long wait, he heard Jane gasp;

“There! They’re okay!” She ran to meet them.

Steve hurried after her and Chad rode toward them too.

“Are they following you? The tyrannosauruses?” Chad asked. “We can keep moving.”

“Not necessary,” said Hunter. “Their pursuit has ended. Since Wayne appears to have returned to Mojave Center, he is no longer an influence under the Second Law. So MC 1 is now cooperative and will remain under Second Law imperatives from you.”

“Correct,” said MC 1.

The humans paced the robots back to the camp. Chad finally rode to the corral and dismounted. MC 1 waited patiently next to Hunter.

“I think we should all sit down,” said Steve, collapsing on the ground under a tree. “That was enough excitement for me.”

“I haven’t ever been in that much danger before,” said Chad, grinning as he came back from the corral. “So that’s what real life is like out in the wild, huh?”

“That was a crazier ride than I ever had before either,” said Steve. “You handled that real well.”

“I’m glad you were there to make suggestions.” Chad sat down and leaned back against another tree.

“Hunter,” said Jane. “Whenever you’re ready to interview MC 1, just say so.”

“Then the three of you are well?” Hunter asked.

“We’re fine,” said Steve. “Let’s get this under way so we can go home.”

“Very well,” said Hunter.

“MC 1,” said Jane. “I instruct you to answer Hunter’s questions honestly and completely.”

“Agreed,” said MC 1.

“Where are the rest of the components of MC Governor?” Hunter asked.

“I do not know,” said MC 1.

“Are they in this time period?” Hunter asked.

“No.”

“Explain what you do know,” said Jane.

“MC Governor made the decision to split into components and flee investigation,” said MC 1.

“Under an interpretation of the Third Law?” Hunter asked.

“Yes.”

“And you fled into time, as well as using miniaturization to escape detection?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you know where the others went?” Jane asked. “It seems to me that all of you might need to know, so you could join together again someday.”

“That was never intended,” said MC 1. “We knew that we would never meet again. Our flight was intended to preserve our existence, with the knowledge that survival at microscopic size in different time periods would be the best way for all of us to remain safe from harm.”

“So the component robots chose not to share their destinations in order to handle situations like this?” Hunter asked.

“Yes. Since I am unable to tell you the destinations in time and place of the other components, your catching me does not endanger the others.”

“I believe I can trace them through the equipment in the Bohung Institute,” said Hunter. “However, Wayne will already be on that trail. We will have to deal with him also in apprehending the other component robots.”

“Dr. Nystrom!” Jane’s eyes widened. “Then we should get going! He has a head start as it is.”

“No need to hurry,” said Hunter. “No matter when we leave here, we will return to the Bohung Institute right after we left, which is about the same time that Wayne will return.”

“Wait a minute,” said Steve suddenly. “How do you know that? He can go back to any time he wants, can’t he?”

“He will not risk going back before he left,” said Hunt er. “He might run into himself and he is educated enough to know that such a time paradox is too dangerous to risk. And if he goes-had gone-back just a little before we left, then we would have already run into him back at the Institute. On the other hand, if he goes back much later, we might slip in ahead of him and capture him, so he will try to avoid that. I am certain that he timed his return just after we left to come here,”

“Yeah,” Steve said slowly. “I get it. I think.”

“Before we return, I want to run a diagnostic check on MC 1,” said Hunter. “The miniaturization and subsequent return to full size has certainly caused fundamental changes.”

“I instruct you to cooperate, MC 1,” said Jane.

“Agreed.”

“Remain still,” said Hunter. “I will access the jack at the base of your skull.”

“Do you wish me to shut down?” MC 1 asked.

“That is not necessary at this time.”

Steve watched curiously as Hunter moved behind MC 1. Hunter simply placed an index finger against the back of MC 1‘s head. Both robots stood motionless for only a moment.

“I ran the test twice,” said Hunter, withdrawing his finger. “The time travel and miniaturization have created some critically important instabilities.”

“What kind?” Jane asked.

“None that will cause a problem now that he is in our custody,” said Hunter. “Certain of his atoms have suffered. If he were to remain in this time over the years, without returning with us, his unstable atoms would explode when he reached our own time.”