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complain; wherever they were taking her, she hoped the trip took a
very long time.
The road curved as it skirted the edges of the forest, rising and
dipping steeply at times. Ahead and to her left, Marcia could see lights
clumped together in the distance; she decided they were torches or
camp fires at the Mongol camp. She could not tell how far the camp
was, but her captors clearly had no intention of going any closer.
Marcia had no idea if she could realistically expect any help. Hunter
might still be too far to receive the sound of hoofbeats through her
lapel pin. Even if he were receiving them right now, he could be too
far back down the road to catch up before something horrible
happened to her.
Steve, for all she knew, could still be enjoying his dinner with the
Mongols. He certainly had to keep his lapel pin turned off while he
remained in their company. Besides, when he did discover that she
was missing, he would be alone without a robot to help rescue her.
The riders around her pulled up for a moment on the crest of small
hill; the man holding Marcia s reins drew her mount to a stop with
them. In the pale moonlight, she saw that the road forked, one branch
angling to the left toward the Mongol camp. The other branch
continued north.
What are we going to do? One man, merely a shadow to Marcia,
turned in his saddle to look at the others. Which way shall we go?
I say we are far enough, said another. We must do what we are
going to do.
Marcia felt herself go cold deep inside.
I do not like it, said a third man in a high, whiny voice. She will be
found here, and the sentries at the wall will remember us.
She deals with evil spirits, someone else reminded him. We must
kill her and return to the inn before evil spirits come to save her and
kill us all.
We have to kill her friend as well, said the first man. We must
finish with her in time to return for him and bring him back out
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here.
At least we must take her away from the road, said the man with the
whiny voice, into the trees where her body will not be found until we
are far away, if ever.
Who will do it? The first man asked. One of you soldiers? You have
the swords.
I am a soldier, not a murderer, someone said stiffly. Anyone of us
can do the job.
We are all in this together now, said another, no matter who
actually does it.
No one spoke for a long moment. Marcia could hardly believe she was
listening to them discuss killing her. She could not believe she was
going to die in this year, centuries before she had been born.
Either all of us must kill her or none of us, said the first man.
Marcia understood their dilemma. They were not murderers by
nature. However, they were highly superstitious and were driven by
their fear of her.
We cannot let her live now, said one of the others. She will call evil
spirits down on us.
I have an idea, said the man with the whiny voice. We can leave her
out in the woods, tied, without her outer robes. The heat of the day
and the cold of the night will do the work, or maybe wild animals.
This is good, said the first man. We shall be equally responsible.
Marcia could see the heads of all her captors nodding in the
moonlight. None had the stomach for killing her outright. They
wanted to take the easy way out.
Yes, I agree, said another man. Nature can do the job for us. And
we can return for her friend.
Fine, said the first man. Now we must move away from the road
and find a place to leave her.
Marcia tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry.
Steve rode north from the Great Wall at a trot. That speed was risky in
the moonlight on a bad road, but it was his only chance to catch up to
Marcia and her kidnappers. He hoped that they had been traveling at
a walk ever since they had left. If not, he had no chance of catching up.
He held the lantern forward as he rode, to see the fresh tracks he was
following. While those tracks were not much newer than the other
tracks left by the day s travelers, they overlaid the earlier tracks with
clear imprints on the dry, dusty road. He knew they might leave the
road at any time, and he had to spot the location immediately if they
did. Since Hunter, with his enhanced vision, had failed to notice
where Wayne s group had left the road last night, Steve was acutely
aware of how easy it would be to miss this.
Through the shadows in the moonlight, Steve kept his gaze on the
road. He left his lapel pin turned on. It provided him with the sounds
of hoofbeats of the riders ahead of him. Gradually, he heard those
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hoofbeats grow louder as he gained ground on the steep, rolling
slopes.
When Steve heard voices coming from his lapel pin, he listened
carefully. He heard Marcia s captors discuss their plans for her. From
his own point of view, having Marcia tied up and abandoned was not
bad at all. If he could avoid her kidnappers on their return trip, he
could find her through the lapel pin and free her.
However, he did not like the uncertainty in their voices. He was
afraid they might change their minds and kill her outright after all.
That meant he still had to rescue her if he could.
Steve wanted to form a plan, but he was not sure how to proceed.
From the volume and clarity of the hoofbeats coming through his
lapel pin, he knew that he was not too far behind them now. He
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