Part 10 (1/2)

Ryan maneuvered the s.h.i.+p. They hung above the road, the two of them peering out. The column was dark brown, a marching file making its way steadily along. Men, a column of men, marching silently through the landscape of ash.

Suddenly Kastner gasped. 'They're identical! All of them are the same!'

They were seeing a column of claws. Like lead toys, the robots marched along, tramping through the gray ash. Ryan caught his breath. He had expected such a sight, of course. There were only four types of claws. These he saw now had all been turned out in the same underground plant, from the same dies and stampers. Fifty or sixty robots, shaped like young men, marched calmly along. They moved very slowly. Each had only one leg.

'They must have been fighting among themselves,' Kastner murmured.

'No. This type was made this way. The Wounded Soldier Type. Originally they were designed to trick human sentries to gain entrance into regular bunkers.'

It was weird, watching the silent column of men, identical men, each the same as the next, plodding along the road. Each soldier supported himself with a crutch. Even the crutches were identical. Kastner opened and closed his mouth in revulsion.

'Not very pleasant, is it?' Ryan said. 'We're lucky the human race got away to Luna.'

'Didn't any of these follow?'

'A few, but by the time we had identified the four types and were ready for them.' Ryan took hold of the power switch. 'Let's go on.'

'Wait.' Kastner raised his hand. 'Something's going to happen.'

To the right of the road a group of figures were slipping rapidly down the side of a rise, through the ash. Ryan let go of the power switch, watching. The figures were identical. Women. The women, in uniforms and boots, advanced quietly toward the column on the road.

'Another variety,' Kastner said.

Suddenly the column of soldiers halted. They scattered, hobbling awkwardly in all directions. Some of them fell, stumbling and dropping their crutches. The women rushed out on the road. They were slender and young, with dark hair and eyes. One of the Wounded Soldiers began to fire. A woman fumbled at her belt. She made a throwing motion.

'What-' Kastner muttered. There was a sudden flash. A cloud of white light rose from the center of the road, billowing in all directions.

'Some kind of concussion bomb,' Ryan said.

'Maybe we better get out of here.'

Ryan threw the switch. The scene below them began to waver. Abruptly it faded. It winked out.

'Thank G.o.d that's over,' Kastner said. 'So that's what the war was like.'

'The second part. The major part. Claw against claw. It's a good thing they started fighting with each other. Good for us, I mean.'

'Where to now?'

'We'll make one more observation stop. During the early part of the war. Before claws came into use.'

'And then Schonerman?'

Ryan set his jaw. 'That's right. One more stop and then Schonerman.'

Ryan adjusted the controls. The meters moved slightly. Across the map the cable arms traced their path. 'It won't be long,' Ryan murmured. He gripped the switch, setting the relays in place. 'This time we have to be more careful. There'll be more war activity.'

'Maybe we shouldn't even-'

'I want to see. This was man against man. The Soviet region against the United Nations. I'm curious to see what it was like.'

'What if we're spotted?'

'We can get away quickly.'

Kastner said nothing. Ryan manipulated the controls. Time pa.s.sed. At the edge of the board Ryan's cigarette burned to an ash. At last he straightened up.

'Here we go. Get set.' He opened the switch.

Below them green and brown plains stretched out, pocked with bomb craters. Part of a city swept past. It was burning. Towering columns of smoke rose up, drifting into the sky. Along the roads black dots moved, vehicles and people streaming away.

'A bombing,' Kastner said. 'Recent.'

The city fell behind. They were over open country. Military trucks rushed along. Most of the land was still intact. They could see a few farmers working the fields. The farmers dropped down as the time s.h.i.+p moved over them.

Ryan studied the sky. 'Watch out.'

'Air craft?'

'I'm not sure where we are. I don't know the location of the sides in this part of the war. We may be over UN territory, or Soviet territory.' Ryan held on tight to the switch.

From the blue sky two dots appeared. The dots grew. Ryan watched them intently. Beside him Kastner gave a nervous grunt. 'Ryan, we better-'

The dots separated. Ryan's hand closed over the power switch. He yanked it closed. As the scene dissolved the dots swept past. Then there was nothing but grayness outside.

In their ears the roar of the two planes still echoed.

'That was close,' Kastner said.

'Very. They didn't waste any time.'

'I hope you don't want to stop any more.'

'No. No more observation stops. The Project itself comes next. We're close to Schonerman's time area. I can begin to slow down the velocity of the s.h.i.+p. This is going to be critical.'

'Critical?'

'There are going to be problems getting to Schonerman. We must hit his continuum exactly, both in s.p.a.ce as well as time. He may be guarded. In any case they won't give us much time to explain who we are.' Ryan tapped the time map. 'And there's always the chance the information given here is incorrect.'

'How long before we rephase with a continuum? Schonerman's continuum?'

Ryan looked at his wrist.w.a.tch. 'About five or ten minutes. Get ready to leave the s.h.i.+p. Part of this is going to be on foot.'

It was night. There was no sound, only unending silence. Kastner strained to hear, his ear against the hull of the s.h.i.+p. 'Nothing.'

'No. I don't hear anything either.' Carefully, Ryan unbolted the hatch, sliding the locks back. He pushed the hatch open, his gun gripped tight. He peered out into the darkness.

The air was fresh and cold. Full of smells of growing things. Trees and flowers. He took a deep breath. He could see nothing. It was pitch black. Far off, a long way off, a cricket chirruped.