Predator

16

When Wayne had led Hunter safely out of sight and hearing of the camp, he stopped again. “Tell me if you have any reason to believe the humans in your party noticed our presence.”

“I have none.”

“Good. We’ll talk longer a little later. However, for the moment, you will lead us deeper into the forest. You will make every attempt to avoid the notice of the humans. If you become aware of any sign of Mojave Center Governor’s whereabouts, you will inform me without alarming him. For that matter, do you know where he is now?”

“No.”

“All right. R. Hunter, lead the way into the forest. Pick a direction away from camp and stop when you find a place that is fairly safe from predators.”

Hunter obeyed. Wayne was obviously counting on him to provide First Law protection from predators. Since Jane could still call him with her transmitter if necessary, staying with Wayne had become a more immediate First Law imperative.

Hunter adjusted his senses to set new priorities. Now they would warn him first of predatory animals instead of searching for MC 1‘s tracks. Patiently, he moved at a pace through the forest that was comfortable for Wayne. At this point, without more information about Wayne, Hunter was simply gathering data and obeying instructions under the Second Law.

After half an hour, Hunter stopped. They were near the stream again, though farther upstream than Hunter had ever been before. It was a shady spot with slightly less underbrush than usual, providing more visibility.

“We stopping here?” Wayne asked.

“Yes. This is fairly safe, I believe.”

“Okay.” Wayne glanced around, then sat down on a large rock. ‘(I’m a little out of shape to go hiking around all day long, so I’ll sit.”

Hunter waited, saying nothing.

“Tell me if you have made any progress in finding Mojave Center Governor.”

“I have made some limited progress.”

“Explain it to me.”

Hunter hesitated very briefly, even by fast robotic standards. He didn’t know what Wayne wanted, but so far he was not aware of any First Law objection that could override the Second Law. He would have to answer.

“I have been following the track of one of MC Governor’s component robots.”

“Ah! Really?” Wayne grinned. “Interesting. So MC Governor chose to split up and become six fugitives instead of one. Very clever.” Then he frowned thoughtfully. “More trouble for us, though. What else?”

“MC 1 has chosen to remain nearby. I have followed his track on evasive patterns, and he disrupted the camp yesterday when everyone was out, within the confines of the First Law of Robotics.”

“I see. Tell me the likelihood of capturing him soon.”

“That remains unclear.”

“You should be able to calculate probabilities.”

“Too many variables make the calculation meaningless at this time.”

“Tell me what they are.”

“I brought a team of three humans with me. I hired two of them for their knowledge and a third to provide life support for all three. That may have been a mistake. My need under the First Law to protect first them, and now you, is interfering with my freedom to pursue MC 1.”

“Hm. Of course. Yes, I see.” Wayne nodded and let out a long breath.

Hunter said nothing, waiting. He could not avoid revealing information when the Second Law was in effect, but he did not have to volunteer anything.

“Tell me the names and skills of the humans in your party,” said Wayne.

Hunter did so.

“Do you know who I am?” Wayne asked.

“No.”

“If you were programmed with data regarding the Governor robots, you probably have my picture in it somewhere. Search for it.”

Hunter had not bothered to do this before. Now he found the data. “You are Wayne Nystrom, inventor of the Governor robots and many other significant innovations in robotics and robotic municipalities.”

“That’s me, all right. Well, I’m glad someone gave you something nice to say about me.”

Again Hunter waited without speaking.

“You and I have to discuss our separate missions,” said Wayne. “We will do it amicably. In order to know where you stand, though, I also need to know about any hidden priorities you interpret regarding the First Law. Tell me about any that you feel are in effect.”

“A clear First Law concern over your being out here alone. A slightly lesser concern over the humans in the camp, since they have a transmitter they can use to call me in an emergency. I am still wondering if Steve is in camp or elsewhere, without the transmitter, since Jane has it. The largest problem is that of our presence here changing history.”

“Changing history. You mean by altering evolution, or something of that sort?”

“Yes, even indirectly by leaving behind substances that poison animals or consuming too much food and oxygen. It may already be too late, but the effort to return MC 1 to our own time remains worth the continuing risk.”

Wayne smiled broadly. “I’m glad to hear you say that. You see, our missions aren’t really that different at all. I want to take MC Governor-or his components-home with me, too. So we can work together without a problem over that large-scale First Law concern of yours. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Hunter noted to himself, however, that this agreement only applied to getting MC 1 and everyone else back to their own time. Wayne and Hunter were not necessarily in agreement over other priorities. However, he kept that opinion to himself.

“You said you were tracking MC 1,” said Wayne. “Are the other component robots in this time period?”

“I do not know,” said Hunter.

“Why not? What data do you have?”

“I have no data pertaining to whether MC Governor split before coming to this time or after arriving. In addition, of course, he might have split in Mojave Center but still sent all the components here anyway.”

“Yes, Yes. I see. Well I am instructing you to lead me on the trail of MC 1,” said Wayne. “Tell me if you have a First Law objection of fulfilling that instruction faithfully.”

“No, I have none.”

“Let’s go.” Wayne stood up. “Which way?”

“The human party could help,’ said Hunter. “Why do you want to keep them uninformed of your efforts?”

Wayne stiffened.

Hunter waited, not moving.

“Go,” said Wayne. “Do not ask any more questions.”

Hunter turned and took several steps through the forest toward the last known spot on MC 1’s trail. Then he stopped, feeling a First Law concern.

“I said go,” growled Wayne.

“The First Law demands that I know where I stand regarding the other humans.” Hunter turned and looked down at Wayne, who was substantially shorter.

Wayne glared up at him, clearly angry. “All right,” he said after a moment. “All right. One reason I love robots is that they’re consistent within the Laws and their own data.”

Hunter waited.

“I will be harmed if the Governor Robot Oversight Committee gets their hands on MC Governor before I do,” said Wayne carefully. “You can understand that. Those humans won’t. That’s why I don’t want them to know I’m here or what I’m doing.”

“In what way will you be harmed?”

“In what way? They’ll ruin me. Destroy my career. Economically, personally, emotionally…” He shook his head. “The Governor robots virtually are my career.”

“Not entirely,” Hunter said quietly.

“All right.” Wayne took a deep breath and spoke more calmly. “I know that the Governor robots have a basic design flaw, maybe more than one. Follow me?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Wayne watched him intently. “Now, I also know that the Oversight Committee has all the other Governors in its possession. My only chance to save my career is to participate in correcting those flaws.”

“Why don’t we all work together?”

“They won’t let me! The only way I can prove myself is to get my hands on MC Governor and fix him. Then I can patent the corrections and show everybody that the gestalt Governors are still the wave of the future in their field.”

“I see. This is why the hunt for MC 1 is so important to you.” Hunter considered the larger situation. “How did you come back to this time?”

“Huh?” Wayne eyed him carefully. “What does that have to do with the First Law?”

“If other robots or humans from our time can follow us here, then the sequence of evolution and history is in very grave danger. To prevent others from arriving in the same manner you used, I would have to postpone the search for MC 1 and eliminate that possibility immediately.”

“Wait a minute, robot. If it’s all that important, why didn’t you ask me this before?”

“I was too tightly focused in my thinking. My concentration on MC 1 distracted me.”

“You mean, until now, you hadn’t thought of it.” Wayne grinned wryly.

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s great.” Wayne rolled his eyes. “The great and mighty robot. All right. I got here with the help of one R. Ishihara in the Bohung Research Center. That’s how MC Governor got here, or at least his component, and I’m betting you did, too.”

“Yes, that is right.”

“I ordered Ishihara not to volunteer any information,” said Wayne. “I had privileged information about MC Governor that helped me track him. Did the committee program you with data about him?”

“Yes.”

“Of course they did,” Wayne said with exaggerated patience. “No one else will have it and no one else will find it. And when we’re finished here, we’ll return just a few minutes after we left. Do you see what I’m getting at?”

“I understand. That procedure will give others no time and opportunity to acquire or figure out the necessary information to follow us.”

“Exactly. Now, can we start following MC 1 again, or do you have any more First Law objections?”

“I have no more at this time.”

“Finally! Let’s go.”

Hunter nodded and led the way through the forest. Behind him, Wayne was muttering short, angry words that Hunter had not heard before. His stored data informed him that these words were considered by humans to be extremely impolite.

Steve finally plodded back to camp late in the day. He had not tried to jump on another dinosaur, but he had spent the rest of the afternoon hiking around, keeping an eye out for predators. Nothing eventful had happened.

Chad was looking up into a tree and entering information into his belt computer. Jane was pacing along the perimeter of the empty corral. Then she saw him.

“Steve! Are you okay?” She waved and hurried toward him.

“Sure.” Steve grinned and shrugged wearily. “I could use some water though.”

“So the prodigal returns,” said Chad, turning around. “Have a nice little walk? You don’t think Hunter’s rules apply to you, eh?”

“Nothing happened,” Steve said sourly. “No evolution is going to change because I took a walk today.”

“Oh, well, I guess that fixes everything,” Chad said sarcastically.

“Forget it,” said Jane. “He’s back and nothing happened. Let’s all just forget it.”

“What about next time?” Chad shook his head, glaring at Steve. “Hunter had good reason for wanting us to stay safely here and you know it.”

“I know you’re just a good little boy who doesn’t dare do anything you’re not told to do,” said Steve. “Just like a robot under the Second Law.” Steve walked around Chad to one of the water containers and got a drink, pointedly ignoring him.

“Hunter was right,” Jane said quietly, joining Steve at the water. “Did you see him?”

“No. I guess he’ll be back any time.”

“So what did you do? Where did you go?”

Steve decided to skip his attempt to ride the dinosaur at the stream. “Well, I just wandered around.”

“You must have seen more dinosaurs.”

“Well, sure. Lots of them. But I don’t know what they all were.”

“What were they like?”

“A lot of them are these two-legged guys. The ones with faces like ducks.”

“Hadrosaurids,” said Chad, who was still standing where he had been before. “ A family of dinosaurs that includes many different species.”

Steve shrugged. “You should have come. You might have seen some new ones.”

Chad shook his head in disgust and walked away.

“Youwould have enjoyed it, though, wouldn’t you?” Steve asked Jane. “I can tell.”

“Yeah.” She smiled reluctantly. “I sure would.”

“Maybe you should come with me next time.” He grinned, challenging her.

“Well…Hunter knows what he’s talking about. We still shouldn’t take any risks.”

“Neither one of you has any sense of adventure. I guess I’ll just make dinner.”