 The Time Traders by Andre Norton. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For further information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by RJ Davis. The Time Traders, Andre Norton. The Time Traders by Andre Norton, Chapter 1. To anyone who glanced casually inside the detention room, the young man sitting there did not seem very formidable. In heights, he might have been a little above average, but not enough to make him noticeable. His brown hair was cropped conservatively. His online voice face was not one to be remembered unless one was observant enough to note those light gray eyes and catch a chilling, measuring expression showing now and then for an instant in their depth. Neatly and inconspicuously dressed, in this last quarter of the 20th century, his life was found on any street of the city ten floors below, to all outward appearances. But that other person under the protective coloring, so ostaciously cultivated, could touch heights of encased and controlled fury, which Murdoch himself did not understand and was only just learning to use as a weapon against a world he had always found hostile. He was aware, though, he gave no sign of it, that the guard was watching him. The cop on duty was an old hand. He probably expected some reaction other than passive acceptance from the prisoner, but he was not going to get it. The law had rossed soaring up tight this time. Why didn't they get about the business of chipping him off? Why had he had that afternoon session with the skull pumper? Ross had been on the defensive then, and he had not liked it. He had given to the others questions all the attention his rude mind could muster, but a faint, very faint apprehension still clung to the memory of that meeting. The door to the detention room opened. Ross did not turn his head, but the guard cleared his throat as if their hour of mutual silence had dried his vocal cords. On your feet, Murdoch, the judge wants to see you. Ross rose smoothly with every muscle under fluid control. It never paid to talk back to allow any sign of defiance to show. He would go through the motions if he were a bad little boy who had realized his errors. It was a meek and mild act that had paid off more than once in Ross's checkered past. So he faced a man seated behind a desk in the other room with an uncertain, diffident smile, standing with voice awkwardness, respectfully waiting for the other to speak first. Judge Ord Raul. It was his rotten luck to pull Old Eaglebeak on his case. Well, he would simply have to take it when the old boy ditched it out. Not that he had to remain stuck with it later. You have a bad record, young man. Ross allowed his smile to fade, his shoulders slumped, but under concealing lids, his eyes shone an instant of cold defiance. Yes, sir, he agreed in a voice carefully cultivated to shake convincingly around the edges. Then suddenly all Ross's pleasure in the skill of his act would wipe away. Judge Raul was not alone. That blastered skull-thumper was sitting there, watching the prisoner with the same keenness he had shown the other day. A very bad record for the few years you have had to make it, Eaglebeak was staring at him too, but without the same look of penetration luckily for Ross. By rights, you should be turned over to the new rehabilitation service. Ross froze inside. That was a treatment. I see rumors of which had spread throughout his particular world. For the second time since he had entered the room, his self-confidence was jarred. Then he clung with a degree of hope to the phrasing of that last sentence. Instead, I have been authorized to offer you a choice, Murdoch. One which I shall state, and on record, I do not in the least approve. Ross's twins of fear faded. If the judge didn't like it, there must be something in it to the advantage of Ross Murdoch. He'd grab it for sure. There is a government project in need of volunteers. It seems that you have tested out as possible material for this assignment. If you sign for it, the law will consider the time spent on it as part of your sentence. Thus, you may aid the country for which you have heretofore disgraced. And if I refuse, I go to this rehabilitation. Is that right, sir? I certainly consider you a fit candidate for rehabilitation. Your record, he shuffled through the papers on his desk. I choose to volunteer for the project, sir. The judge snorted and pushed all the papers into a folder. He spoke to a man waiting in the shadows. Here, then, is your volunteer major. Ross bottled in his relief. He was over the first hump. And since his luck had held so far, he might be about to win all the way. The man, Judge Raleigh, called major, moved into the light. At the first glance, Ross, to his hidden annoyance, found himself uneasy. To face up to Eaglebeak was all part of the game. But somehow, he sensed one did not play such games with this man. Thank you, Your Honor. We will be on our way at once. This weather is not very promising. Before he realized what was happening, Ross found himself walking meekly to the door. He considered trying to give the major the slip when they left the building, losing himself in a storm-darkened city. But they did not take the elevator downstairs. Instead, they climbed two or three flights up the emergency stairs. And to his humiliation, Ross found himself panting and slowing, while the other man, who must have been a good dozen years his senior, showed no signs of discomfort. They came out into the snow on the roof, and a major flashed towards Skyward, guiding in a dark shadow which touched down before them, a helicopter. For the first time, Ross began to doubt the wisdom of his choice. On your way, Murdoch, the voice was impersonal enough, but that very impersonality got under one's skin. Bundled into the machine between the silent major and an equally quiet pilot in uniform, Ross was lifted over the city, whose ways he knew as well as he knew the lines on his own palm. Into the unknown, he was already beginning to regard dubiously. The lighted streets and buildings, their outlines softened by the soft wet snow, fell out of sight. Now they could mark the outer highways. Ross refused to ask any questions. He could take this silent treatment. He had taken a lot of tougher things in the past. The patches of light disappeared, and the country opened out. The plane banked. Ross, with all the familiar landmarks of his world gone, could not have said if they were headed north or south. But moments later, not even the thick curtain of snowflakes could blot out the pattern of red light on the ground and the helicopter settled down. Come on. For the second time, Ross obeyed. He stood shivering engulfed in a miniature blizzard. His clothing, protection enough in the city, did little good against the push of the wind. A hand gripped his upper arm, and he was drawn forward to a low building. A door banged, and Ross and his companion came into a region of light and very welcome heat. Sit down over there. Two bewildered to present orders, Ross said. There were other men in the room, one wearing a queer suit of padded clothing. A bullpuss headgear hooked over his arm was reading a paper. The major crossed to speak to him, and after they conferred for a moment, the major beckoned Ross with a crooked finger. Ross trailed the officer into an inner room lined with lockers. From one of the lockers, the major pulled a suit like the pilots and began to measure it against Ross. All right, he snapped, climbed into this. We have an all night. Ross climbed into the suit. As soon as he fastened the last zipper, his companion jammed one of the dome's helmet on his head. The pilot looked in the door. We'd better scramble Kilgaris, or we may be granted for the duration. They hurried back to the flying field. If the helicopter had been a surprising motor travel, this new machine was something straight out of the future. A needle-slim ship poised on fins, his sharp nose lifting vertically into the heavens. There was a scaffolding along one side which the pilot scaled to enter the ship. Unwillingly, Ross climbed the same ladder and found that he must wed himself in on his back. His knees hunched up almost under his chin. To make it worse, cramped as these quarters were, he had to share them with the major. A transparent hood snapped down and was secured, signaling them in. During his short lifetime, Ross had often been afraid, bitterly afraid. He had fought to toughen his mind and body against its fears, but what he experienced now was no ordinary fear. It was panic so strong that it made him feel sick. To be shut in this small place with the knowledge that he had no control over his immediate future brought him face to face with every terror he had ever known. All of them combined into one horrible whole. How long does a nightmare last? A moment, an hour? Ross could not time his, but at last the weight of a giant hand clamped down on his chest and he fought for breath until the world exploded about him. He came back to consciousness slowly. For a second he thought he was blind. Then he began to sort out one shade of draped light from another. Finally, Ross became aware that he no longer rested on his back but was slumped in a seat. The world about him was rung with a vibration that beat in turn through his body. Ross Murdock had remained at liberty as long as he had because he was able to analyze a situation quickly. Seldum in the past five years had he been at a loss to deal with any challenging person or action. Now he was aware that he was on the defensive and was being kept there. He stared into the dark and thought hard and furiously. He was convinced that everything that was happening to him this day was designed with only one end in view to shake his self-confidence and make him pliable. Why? Ross had an enduring belief in his own abilities and he also possessed a kind of fruit understanding Seldum granted to one so young. He knew that while Murdock was important to Murdock he was none too important to the scheme of things as a whole. He had a record. A record so bad that Rawl might easily have thrown the book at him but it differed in one important way from that of many of his fellows. Until now he had been able to beat most of the wraps. Ross believed this was largely because he always worked alone and taken pains to plan a job in advance. Why now had Ross Murdock become so important to someone that they would do all this to shake him? He was a volunteer. For what? To be a guinea pig for some bug they wanted to learn how to kill cheaply and easily? They'd been in a big hurry to push him off base using the silent treatment. This rushing around in planes they were really working to keep him groggy. So alright, he'd give them a groggy boy all set up for their job, whatever it was. Only, was his act good enough to fool the major? Ross had a hunch that it might not be and that really hurt. It was deep night now. Either they had flown out of the path of the storm or were above it. There were stars shining through the cover of the cockpit but no moon. Ross's formal education was sketchy but in his own fashion he had acquired a range of knowledge which would have surprised many of the authorities who had had to deal with him. All the wealth of a big city library had been used to explore and he had spent much time there soaking up facts in many odd branches of learning. Facts were very useful things. On at least three occasions assorted scraps of knowledge had reserved Ross's freedom once perhaps his life. Now he tried to fit together the scattered facts he knew about this present situation into some proper pattern. He was inside some new type of super super atom jet a machine so advanced in design that it would not have been used for anything that was not an important mission which meant that Ross Murdock had become necessary to someone somewhere. Knowing that fact should give him a slight edge in the future and he might well need such an edge. He'd just have to wait, play dumb and use his eyes and ears. At the rate they were shooting along they ought to be out of the country in a couple of hours. Didn't the government have bases half over the world to keep the cold peace? Well, there was nothing for it. To be planted abroad someplace might interfere with plants for escape but he had handled that detail when he was forced to face it. Then suddenly Ross was on his back once more the giant hand digging into his chest in middle. This time there were no lights on the ground to guide them in. Ross had no intimation that they had reached their destination until they sat down with a jar which snapped his teeth together. The major wiggled out and Ross was able to stretch his cramped body but the other hand was already on his shoulder urging him along. Ross crawled free and clung digitally to a ladder-like disembarking structure. Below there were no lights, only an expanse of open snow. Men were moving across that blank area, gathering at the foot of the ladder. Ross was hungry and very tired. As the major wanted to play games he hoped that seduction could wait until the next morning. In the meantime he must learn where here was. If he had a chance to run he wanted to know the surrounding territory but that hand was on his arm drawing him along towards a door that stood half open. As far as Ross could see it led to the interior of a hillock of snow. Either the storm or men had done a very good cover-up job and somehow Ross knew the camouflage was intentional. That was Ross's introduction to the base and after his arrival his view of the installation was extremely limited. One day was spent in undergoing the most searching physical he had ever experienced and after the doctors had poked in pride he was faced by a series of other tests no one bothered to explain. Thereafter he was introduced to solitary that is confined to his own company in a cell-like room with a bunk that was more comfortable than it looked and an announcer in a corner of the ceiling. So far he had been told exactly nothing and so far he had asked no questions stubbornly keeping up his end of what he believed to be a tug of wills. At the moment safely alone and lying flat on his bunk he eyed the announcer a very dangerous young man and one who refused to yield an inch. Now here it is! The voice transmitted through the grill was metallic but its rass held overtones of Kilgoree's voice. Ross's lips tightened. He had explored every inch of the walls and knew that there was no trace of the door which had admitted him. With only his bare hands to work with he could not break out and his only clothes were the shirt, sturdy slacks and a pair of soft-soled moccasins that they had given him. To identify Drone Devoyce Ross realized that he must have missed something not that it mattered he was almost determined not to play alone anymore. There was a click signifying that Kilgoree's was through brain but the customary silence did not close in again. Instead Ross heard a clear, sweet trilling which he vaguely associated with a bird. His acquaintance with all feathered life was limited to city sparrows and plump parked pigeons neither of which raised their voices in song but surely those sounds were bird-nose. Ross glanced from the mic in the ceiling to the opposite wall and what he saw there made him set up with the instant response of an alerted fighter. For the wall was no longer there and steered there was a sharp slope of ground jutting down from the peaks where the dark green of fir trees ran close to the snow line. Patches of snow clung to the earth and sheltered places and the scent of those pines was in Ross's nostrils real as a wind touching him with a skill. He shivered as a howl sounded loudly and echoed bearing the age-old warning of a wolf pack hungry and a hunt. Ross had never heard that sound before but his human heritage subconsciously recognized it for what it was death on four feet. Similarly he was able to identify the gray shadows slinking about the nearest trees and his hands balked into fist as he looked wildly about him for some weapon. The bunk was under him and three of the four walls of the room enclosed him like a cave but one of those gray skulkers had raised his head and was looking directly at him. Its reddish eyes alight. Ross ripped the top blanket off the bunk with a half-form idea of snapping it at the animal when it sprung. Stiff legged, the beast advanced. A guttural glial sounded deep in its throat. To Ross the animal, larger than any dog he had ever seen and twice as vicious was a monster. He had the blanket ready before he realized that the wolf was not watching him after all and that its attention was focused on a point out of his line of vision. The wisp muzzle wrinkled in a snarl, revealing long yellow white teeth. There was a singing twang and the animal leaped into the air fell back and rolled on the ground biting desperately at a shaft recruiting from just behind its ribs. It held again and blood broke from its mouth. Ross was beyond surprised now. He pulled himself together and got up to walk steadily towards the dying wolf and he wasn't in the least amazed when his outstretched hands flattened against an unseen barrier. Slowly he swept his hands right and left sure that he was touching the wall of his cell yet his eyes told him he was on a mountainside and every sight, sound and smell was making it real to him. Puzzled he thought a moment and then finding an explanation that satisfied him he nodded once and went back to set an ease on his bunk. This must be some superior form of TV that included odors the illusion of wind and other fancy touches to make it more vivid. The total effect was so convincing that Ross had to keep reminding himself that it was all just a picture. The wolf was dead. Its pack mates had fled into the brush but since the picture remained Ross decided that the show was not yet over. He could still hear a click of sound and he waited for the next bit of action but the reason for his viewing it still eluded him. A man came into view crossing before Ross. He stooped to examine the dead wolf catching it by the tail and hoisting his hind quarters off the ground. Comparing the beast's size with the hunter's Ross saw that he had not been wrong in his estimation of the animal's unusual large dimensions. The man shouted over his shoulder. His words distinct enough but unintelligible to Ross. The stranger was oddly dressed. Too lightly dressed if one judged the climate by the frequent snow patches and the biting cold. A strip of coarse cloth extending from his armpit to about four inches above the knee was wound around his body and pulled in at the waist by a belt. The belt, far more ornate than the cumbersome wrapping was made of many small chains linking metal plates and supporting a long dagger which hung straight in front. The man also wore a round blue cloak now swept back on his shoulders to free his bare arms which was fashioned by a large pin under his skin. His footwear which extended above his cast was made of animal hide still bearing patches of shaggy hair. His face was beardless though a shadow line along his skin suggested that he had not shaved that particular day. A fur cap concealed most of his dark brown hair. Was he an Indian? No. For although his skin was tanned it was as fair as Ross's under that weathering and his clothing did not resemble any Indian apparel Ross had ever seen. Yet in spite of his primitive trappings the man had such an aura of authority of self-confidence and competence that it was clear he was top dog in his own section of the world. Soon another man dressed much like the first but with a rust brown cloak came along pulling behind him two very reluctant donkeys whose eyes rolled fearfully at side of the dead wolf. Both animals wore packs laced on their backs by ropes of twisted hide. Then another man came along with another brace of donkeys. Finally a fourth man wearing skins for covering and with a mat of beard on his cheeks and chin appeared. His uncovered head a bush of uncombed flaxen hair shone whitish as he knelt beside the dead beast. A knife with a dull gray blade in his hand and set to work skinning the wolf with a preachable skill. Three more pairs of donkeys all heavily laden were led past the scene before he finished his task. Finally he rolled the bloody skin into a bundle and gave the flayed body a kick before he ran lightly after the disappearing train of pack animals. End of Chapter 1 The Time Traders by Andre Norton Chapter 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by R.J. Davis The Time Traders Chapter 2 Ross, absorbed in the scene before him, was not prepared for the sudden and complete darkness which blotted out not only the action but the light in his own room as well. What? His startled voice rang loudly in his ears too loudly for all sound had been wiped out with the light. The faint swoosh of the ventilating system of which he had not been actively aware until it had disappeared was also missing. A trace of the same panic he had known in the cockpit of the atom jet tingled along his nerves. But this time he could meet the unknown with action. Ross slowly moved through the dark. His hands outstressed before him and poured off contact with the wall. He was determined that somehow he would discover the hidden door, escaped from this dark cell. There, his palms struck flat against a smooth surface. He swept out his hand and suddenly it passed over emptiness. Ross explored by touch. There was a door and now it was open. For a moment he hesitated, upset by a nagging little fear that if he stepped through he would be out on the hillside with the wolf. That's stupid. Again he spoke aloud and just because he did feel uneasy he moved. All the frustrations of the past hours built up in him a raging desire to do something. Anything. Yet as long as it was what he wanted to do and not at another's orders. Nevertheless, Ross continued to move slowly for the space beyond that open door was as deep and dark a pit as a room he left. To squeeze along one wall using an outstressed arm as a guide was the best procedure he decided. A few feet further on his shoulder slipped from the surface and he half tumbled into another open door. But there was a wall again and he clung to it thankfully. Another door. Ross paused trying to catch some faint sound. The slightest hint that he was not alone in this blind man's maze. But without even air currents to stir it the blackness itself took on a thick solidity which encased him as a congelling jelly. The wall ended. Ross kept his left hand on it flailed out with his right and felt his nails scrape against another surface. The space separating the two surfaces was wider than any doorway. Was it a cross quarter? He was about to make a wider arm sweep when he heard a sound. He was not alone. Ross went back to the wall flattening himself against it trying to control the volume of his own breathing in order to catch the slightest whisper of the other noise. He discovered that lack of sight can confuse the ear. He could not identify those clicks. The whisper fluttering sound that might be air displaced by the opening of another door. Finally he detected something moving at floor level. Someone or something must be creeping not walking toward him. Ross pushed back around the corner. It never occurred to him to challenge that crawler. There was an element of danger in this strange encounter in the dark. It was not meant to be a meeting between fellow explorers. The sound of crawling was not steady. There were long pauses and Ross became convinced that each rest was punctuated by heavy breathing as if the crawler was finding progress a great and exhausting effort. He thought the picture that persisted in his imagination that of a wolf snuffling along a blacked out hall caution suggested a quick retreat but Ross's urge to rebellion held him where he was. He was shouting, straining to see what crept toward him. Suddenly there was a blinding flare of light and Ross's hands went to cover his dazzled eyes and he heard a despairing choke declination from near the floor level. The same steady lights that normally filled hall and room were bright again. Ross found himself standing at the juncture of two quarters. Momentarily he was absurdly pleased and produced that correctly. And the crawler, a man at least a figure was a two-legged two-armed body reasonably human in outline was lying several yards away but the body was so wrapped in bandages and the head so totally muffled that it lacked all identity. For that reason it was a more startling. One of the mitten hands moved slightly raising the body from the ground so it could squirm forward an inch or so. Before Ross could move a man came running into the quarter from the far end. Murdoch recognized major Kilgaris. He wet his lips as a major went down on his knees beside the creature on the floor. Hardy, Hardy that voice which carried the snap of command whenever it was addressed to Ross was now warmly human. Hardy man the major's hands were on the bandage body lifting it easing the head and shoulders back against his arm. It's all right Hardy you're back safe. This is a base Hardy he spoke slowly soothingly with the steadiness one would use to comfort a frightened child. Those mitten paws which had beat feebly into the air fell onto the bandage breath chest. Back safe. The voice from behind the face mask was a rusty croak. Back safe. The major assured him. Dark, dark all around again protested the croak. Just a power failure man everything's all right now we'll get you into bed. The mitten pawed again until it touched Kilgaris arm then it flexed a little as if the hand under it was trying to grip. Safe. You bet you are. The major's tone carried firm reassurance. Now Kilgaris looked up at Ross as if he knew the other had been there all the time. Murdock, get down to the end room call Dr. Farrell. Yes sir. The sir came so automatically that Ross had already reached the end room before he realized he had used it. Nobody explained matters to Ross Murdock. The bandit's hearty was claimed by the doctor and two attendants and carried away. The major walking beside the stretcher still holding one of the mitten hands in his. Ross hesitated. Sure he was not supposed to follow but not ready either to explore further or return to his own room. The sight of Hardery, whoever he might be had radically changed Ross's conception of the project he had two speedily volunteered to join. That what they did here was important. Ross had never doubted that it was dangerous. He had early suspected but his awareness had been an abstract concept of danger not connected with its concrete evidence as Hardery crawling through the dark. From the first Ross had nursed vague plans for escape. Now he knew he must get out of this place at least he end up a twin for Hardery. Murdock having heard no warning sound from behind, Ross whirled ready to use his fists his only weapons but he did not face the major for any of the other tachyteran men he knew held positions of authority. The newcomer's brown skin was startling against the neutral shade of the walls. His hair and brows were only a few shades darker but the general sameness of color was relieved by the vivid blue of his eyes. Expressionless the dark stranger stood quietly his arms hanging loosely by his sides stood against Ross as if the younger man was some problem he had been assigned soft. When he spoke his voice was a monotone lacking any modulation of feeling. I am ash he introduced himself baldly. He might have been saying this is a table and that is a chair. Ross's quick temper took spark from the other's indifference. All right so you're ash. He strove to make a challenge of it and what is that supposed to mean? But the other did not rise to the bait. He shrugged for the time being we have been partnered. Partnered for what? demanded Ross controlling his temper. There were compares here. The machine sourced us. He answered briefly and consulted his wristwatch. Messed call soon. Ash had already turned away. And Ross could not stand the other's lack of interest. While Murdock refused to ask questions of the major or any others on that side of the fence surely he could get some information from a fellow volunteer. What is this place anyway he asked? He glanced back over his shoulder. Operation retrograde. Ross swallowed his anger. Okay but what do they do here? Listen I just saw a fellow who had been banged up as if he had been in a concrete mixer creeping along this hall. What sort of work do they do here? And what do we have to do? To his amazement Ash smiled. At least his lips quirked faintly. Hardy got under your skin, eh? Well, we have our percentage of failures. They are as few as is humanly possible to make. And they give us every advantage that can be worked out for us. Failures at what? Operation retrograde. Somewhere down the hall a buzzer gave a muted word. That's mess call and I'm hungry even if you're not. Ash walked away as if there was nothing else to exist. But Ross Murdock did exist. And to him that was an important fact. As he trailed along behind Ash, he determined that he was going to continue to exist. In one piece and unharned Operation retrograde or no Operation retrograde. And he was going to pry a few enlightening answers out of somebody very soon. To his surprise he found a meeting for him at the door of a room from which came the sound of voices and a subdued clatter of trays and tableware. Not many in tonight, as commented in a take it or leave it tone. It's been a busy week. The room was rather sparsely occupied. Five tables were empty while the men gathered at the remaining two. Ross counted ten men. Either already eating or coming back from a camping hatch with well-filled trays. All of them were dressed in slacks, shirts and moccasins like himself. The outfits seemed to be a sort of undressed uniform. And six of them were ordinary in physical appearance. The other four differed so radically that Ross could hardly conceal his amazement. Since their fellows accepted them without comment, Ross silently stole glances at them as kind as for a tray. One pair were clearly oriental. They were small, lean men with thin brackets of long black mustache on either side of their mobile mouse. Yet he had caught a word or two of their conversation and they spoke his own language with the faculty of the native born. In addition to the mustaches, each wore a blue tattoo mark on the forehead and others of the same design on the backs of their agile hands. The second duo were even more fantastic. The color of their flaxen hair was normal but they wore it in braids long enough to swing across their powerful shoulders. A fashion unlike any Ross had ever seen. Yet any suggestion of effemency certainly did not survive beyond the first glance at their rugged masculine features. Gordon, one of the braided giants came around from the table to halt Ash as he came down the aisle with his tray. When did you get back and wear a sand fruit? One of the orientals laid down a spoon with which he had been vigorously stirring his coffee and asked with real concern. Another loss. Ash shook his head. Just reassignment. Sandy is holding down out post gobbled and doing well. With an expression of empty humor Ross would not have believed possible. He'll end up with a million or two if he doesn't watch out. He takes the trade as if he were born with a beaker in his fist. The oriental laugh and then glanced at Ross. Your new partner Ash? Some of the animation disappeared from Ash's brown face. He was non-committal again. Temporary assignment. This is Murdock. The introduction was flat enough to dot Ross. Hodaki. Bang. He indicated to two Easterners with a nod as he put down his tray. Janssen. That accounted for the blond. Ash? A man arose at the other table and came to stand beside theirs. Then with a dark, narrow face and restless eyes. He was much younger than the others. Younger and not as well-controlled. He might answer questions if there was something in it for him, Ross decided, and filed the thought away. Well-curt. Ash's recognition was as dampening as it could be, and Ross's estimation of the younger man went up a fraction. When the snub appeared to have no effect upon him. Did you hear about Hardy? Bang looked as if he were about to speak and by unwicked brown. He made a deliberate process of chewing and swallowing before he replied. Naturally. His tone reduced whatever had happened to Hardy to a matter of fact proceeding far removed from Kurt's implied melodrama. He smashed up. Kuput. Kurt's accent slight in the beginning was thickening. Torturing. Ash regarded him leveling. You aren't on Hardy's run, are you? Still, Kurt refused to be squashed. Of course I'm not. You know the run I am in training for, but that is not saying that sits cannot happen as well on my run or yours, or yours. He pointed a stabbing finger at Fang and then at the blond man. You can fall out of bed and break your neck too if your number comes up that way, observed Janssen. Go cry on my large shoulder if it hurts you that much. I told the store at your briefing. You know why you were picked. Ross caught a faint glance aimed at him by Ash. He was still totally in the dark, but he would not try to pry any information from this crowd. Maybe part of their training was this hush-hush business. He would wait and see until he could get Kurt aside and do a little pumping. Meanwhile, he ate solidly and tried to cover up his interest in the conversation. Then you are going to keep on saying, yes sir, no sir, to every order here? Hodaki slammed his tattooed hand on the table. Why this foolishness, Kurt? You well know how and why we are picked for runs. Hardy had the deck stacked against him through no fault of the project. That has happened before. It will happen again. Which is what I have been saying. Do you wish it to happen to you? Pretty games those tribesmen on your run play with their prisoners do they not? Oh, shut up, Janssen got to his feet since he loomed at least five inches above Kurt and probably could have broken him in two over one massive knee. His order was one to be considered. If you have any complaints go make them to Millard and little man. He poked a massive forefinger into Kurt's chest. Wait until you make that first run of yours before you sound off so loudly. No one is sent out without every ounce of preparation he can take. But we can't set up luck in advance and Hardy was unlucky. That's sad. We got him back and that was lucky for him. He'd be the first to tell you so. He stretched. I'm for a game. Ash Hodaki always so energetic mother dash but he nodded as did the small Oriental fangs filed at Ross always these three try to beat each other and so far all the contest are draws but we hope yes we have hopes. So Ross had no chance to speak to Kurt instead he was drawn into the not a man who having finished their meal entered a small arena with a half circle of spectator seats at one side and a space for contestants at the other. What followed absorbed Ross as completely as the earlier scene of the wolf killing. This too was a fight but not a physical struggle. All three contenders were not only unlike in body but as Ross came to understand they were also unlike in their mental approach to any problem. They seated themselves cross-legged at the three points of a triangle then Ash looked from the tall blonde to the small Oriental territory he asked Crispy inland plains that came across in course and each man looking at his opponent began to laugh. Ash himself chuckled trying to be smart tonight boys he inquired all right plains it is he brought his hand down on the floor before him and to Ross's astonishment the area around the players darkened and the floor became a stretch of miniature countryside grassy plains rippled under the wind of a fair day red blue yellow the choices came quickly from the dust masking the players and upon those orders points of the designated color came into being as small lights red caravan Ross recognized Jansen's boom blue raiders Padaki's choice was only an instant behind yellow unknown factor Ross was sure the sigh came from Jansen is the unknown factor a natural phenomenon no tribe on the march ah Padaki was considering that Ross could picture his shrug the game began Ross had heard of chests of war games played with miniature armies or ships of games on paper which demand from the players a quick wit and a train memory this game however was all those combined and more as his imagination came to life the moving points of light were transformed into the raiders the merchants caravan the tribe on the march there was ingenious deployment a battle a retreat a small victory here to be followed by a bigger defeat there the game might have gone on for hours the men about him muttered taking sides and arguing heatedly in voices low enough not to drown out the moves called by the players Ross was thrilled when the red raiders avoided a very cleverly laid ambush and indignant when the tribe was forced to withdraw or the caravan lost points it was the most fascinating game he had ever seen and he realized that the three men ordering those moves were all masters of strategy their respective skills made of each other so equally that an outright win was far away then Janssen left and the red line of the caravan gathered in a tight knot camped at a spring he announced but with plenty of centuries out red sparks showed briefly beyond that center core and they'll have to stay there for all of me we could keep this up until doomsday and nobody would crack no a docky counterdicted him someday one of you will make a little mistake and then whatever bully boys you're running will clobber us asked Janssen that'll be the day anyway truce for now granted the lights of the arena went on and the plane vanished into a dark tile floor any time you want a return engagement it'll be fine with me said ash getting up Janssen grinned that off for a month or so Gordon we push into time tomorrow take care of yourselves you too I don't want to have to break in another set of players when I come back Ross finding it difficult to shake off the illusion which had held him entranced felt a slight touch on his shoulder and glanced up Kurt stood behind him apparently intent upon Janssen and a docky as they argued over some point of the game see you tonight the boys lips hardly moved a trick Ross knew from his own past yes he would see Kurt tonight or whenever he could he was going to learn what it was this odd company seemed determined to keep as their own private secret this is the end of chapter 2 time traders by Andre Norton chapter 3 this is a Libra box recording all Libra box recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Libra box.org recording by RJ Davis the time traders Andre Norton chapter 3 Ross stood cautiously against the wall of his darkened room his head turned towards a slightly open door a slight shuffling sound had awakened him and now is ready as a cat before her spring but he did not hurl himself at the figure now easing the door for the rope he waited until the visitor was approaching the bunk before he slid along the wall closing the door and putting his shoulders against it what's the pitch Ross demanded in a whisper there was a ragged breath maybe two then a little laugh out of the dark you are ready this accent left no doubt as to his identity Kirk was paying him the promised visit did you think that I wouldn't be no the dim figure set without invitation on the edge of the bunk I would not be here otherwise Murdoch you are plenty have plenty on the ball you see I have heard things about you like me you were tricked into this game tell me is it not true that you saw Hardy tonight you hear a lot don't you Ross was noncommittal I hear I see I learn more than these big mouths like the major with all his do's and don'ts that I can tell you you saw Hardy do you want to be a Hardy is there any danger of that danger Kirk snorted danger you have not yet known the meaning of danger little man not until now again do you want to end up like Hardy do you want to end up like Hardy they have not yet looped you in with all the big talk that is why I came here tonight if you know what is good for you Murdoch you will make a break before they tape you tape me Kirk's laugh was full of anger not amusement oh yes they have many tricks here they are big brains eggheads all of them with their favorite gadgets they put you through a machine to get you registered on a tape then my boy you cannot get outside the base without ringing all the alarms so if you want to make a break you must try it before they tape you Ross did not trust Kirk but he was listening to him attentively the other's argument sounded convincing to one whose general ignorance of science led him to be as fearful of the whole field as his ancestors had been of black magic at all his generation he was conditioned to believe that all kinds of weird inventions were entirely possible and probable usually to be produced in some dim future but perhaps today they must have you taped Ross pointed out Kirk laughed again but this time he was amused they believe that they have only they are not as smart as they believe the major and the rest including Malard no I have a fighting chance to get out of this place only I cannot do it alone that is why I have been waiting for them to bring in a new guy I could get to before they had him pinned down for good you're tough Murdock I saw your record and I'm betting that you did not come here with the intention of staying so here's your chance to go along with one who knows a ropes you will not have such a good one again the longer Kurt talked the more convincing he was Ross lost a few of his suspicious he was true that he had come prepared to run at the first possible opportunity and if Kurt had everything planned so much the better of course it was possible that Kurt was a stool pigeon leading him on as a test but that was a chance Ross would have to take look here Murdock maybe you think it's easy to break out of here do you know where we are boy we're near enough to the North Pole as make no difference are you going to leg it back some hundreds of miles through thick ice and snow a nice jaunt if you make it I do not think that you can not without plans and a partner who knows what he is about and how do we go steal one of those atom jets I am no pilot are you they have other things besides AJ's here this place is strictly hush hush even the AJ's do not sit down too often for fear they will be tracked by radar where have you been boy don't you know the Reds are circling around up here these fellas watch the red activity and the Reds watch them they play it under the table on both sides we get our supplies overland by cats cats snow sleds like tractors the other answered impatiently our stuff is dumped miles to the south and the cats go down once a month to bring it back there is no trick to driving a cat and they tear off the miles how many miles to the south inquired Ross skeptically granted Kurt was speaking the truth travel over an Arctic wilderness and a stolen machine was risky to say the least Ross had only a very vague idea of the polar regions but he was sure that they could easily swallow up the unwary forever maybe only a hundred or so boy but I have more than one plan and I am willing to risk my neck do you think I intend to start out blind there was that of course Ross had early sized up his visitor as one who was first of all interested in his own care he wouldn't risk his neck without a definite plan in mind well when you say Murdoch are you with me or not I'll take some time to chew it over time is what you do not have boy tomorrow they will tape you then know over the wall for you suppose you tell me your trick for fooling the tape Ross counter that I cannot do seeing as how it lies in the way the brain is put together do you think I can break open my skull and hand you a piece of what is inside no you jump with me tonight or else I must wait to grab the next one who lands here Kurt stood up his last words were spoken matter of factly and Ross believed he meant exactly what he said but Ross hesitated he wanted to try for freedom a desire fed by his suspicions what was going on here he neither liked or trusted Kurt but he thought he understood him better than he understood as for the others also with Kurt he was sure he could hold his own he would be the kind of struggle he had experienced before to night he repeated slowly yes tonight there was new eagerness in Kurt's voice for he sensed that the other was wavering we have been preparing for a long time but there must be two of us we have to take turns driving the camp there can be no rest until we are far to the south I tell you it will be easy there are food catches arranged along the route for emergencies I have a map marked to show where they are are you coming when Ross did not answer at once the other moved closer to him remember Hardy he was not the first and he will not be the last they use us up fast here that is why they brought you so quickly I tell you it is better to take your chance with me than on a run and what is a run so they have not yet briefed you well a run is a little jump back into history not nice comfortable history such as you learned out of a book when you were a little kid no you are dropped back into some savage time before history that is impossible yes you saw those two big blond boys tonight did you not why do you think they sport those braids because they are taking a little trip into the time when he men wore braids and carried axes big enough to crack a man open and Haddocky and his partner ever hear of the Tartars maybe you have not but once they nearly overran most of Europe Ross swallowed he now knew where he had seen braids pictured on warriors the Vikings and Tartars yes that movie about someone named Khan Genghis Khan but to return into the past was impossible yet he remembered the picture he had watched today with the wolf slayer and the shaggy haired man who wore skins the picture of these was of his own world could Kurt be telling the truth Ross's vivid memory of the scene he had witnessed made Kurt's story more convincing suppose you get sent back to a time where they do not like strangers Kurt continued then you are in for it that is what happened to Hardy and it is not good not good at all but why Kurt snorted they do not tell you until just before you take your first run I do not want to know why but I do know that I am not going to be sent into any wilderness where a savage may run a spear through me just to prove something or another for Major John Kilgarys or for Millard either I will try my plan first the urgency in Kurt's protest carried Ross past the wavering point he too tried the cat he was only familiar with this time and world he had no desire to be sent into another one once Ross had made his decision Kurt hurried him into action Kurt's knowledge of the secret procedures at the base proved excellent twice they were halted by locked doors but only momentarily for Kurt had a tiny gadget concealed in the palm of his hand which had only to be held over a latch to open and recalcinate door there was enough light in the quarters to give them easy passage but the rooms were dark and twice Kurt had to lead Ross by the hand avoiding furniture or installations with the surety of one who had practiced that same route often Murdoch's opinion of his companion's ability underwent several up for gravitas during that tour and he began to believe that he was really in luck to have found such a partner in the last room Ross willingly followed Kurt's orders to put on the fur clothing Kurt passed to him the fit was not exact but he surmised that Kurt had chosen as well as possible a final door opened and they stepped out into the polar night of winter Kurt smitten love grass Rosses pulling him along with a hanger shed to get at their escape vehicle the cat was a strange machine but Ross was given no time to study it he was shoved into the cockpit a bubble covering settled down over them closing them in and the engine came to life under Kurt's urging the cat must be travelling at his best pace Ross sought yet the crawl which took them away from the mounted snow covering the base seemed hardly better than a man could make a foot for a short time Kurt headed straight away from the starting point but Ross soon heard him counting slowly to himself as if he were timing something at the count of 20 the cat swung to the right and made a wide half circle which was copied at the next count of 20 by a similar sweep in the opposite direction after this pattern had been repeated for six turns it was difficult to guess whether they had ever returned to their first course when Kurt stopped counting he asked why the dance fatter would you rather be scattered in little pieces all over the landscape the other snapped the base doesn't need pincers two miles high to keep us in or others out they take other precautions you should thank fortune we got through that first minefield without blowing Ross swallowed he refused to let Kurt know that he was rattled so it isn't as easy to get away as you said shut up Kurt began counting again and Ross had some cold apprehensive moments in which to reflect upon the folly of quick decisions and wonder bleakly why he had not thought things through before he leaked again they sketched a weaving pattern in the snow but this time the arcs formed acute angles advanced now and then at the intent man at the wheel how had Kurt managed to memorize this route his urge to escape the base must certainly be a strong one back and forth the crawl gaining only a few yards in each of these angle strikes to right or left good thing these cats are atomic powered Kurt commented during one of the intervals between minefields we had to run out of fuel otherwise Ross fought down the impulse to move his feet away from any possible contact point with the engine these machines must be safe to ride in but the bogey of radiation was frightening luckily Kurt was now back to a straight track with no more weaving we are out Kurt said with exhalation but he added no more than just the reassurance of their escape the cat crawled on to Ross's eyes there was no trail to follow no guidepost yet Kurt steered ahead with confidence a little later he pulled to a stop and said to Ross we have to drive turn and turn about your turn Ross was dubious well I can drive a car but this is foolproof Kurt caught him up the worst was getting through the minefields and we are out of that now see here this hand made a shadow on the lighted instrument panel this will keep you straight if you can steer a car you can steer this watch he started up again and once more swung the cat to the left a light on the panel began to blink at a rate which increased rapidly as they veered further away from their original course see you keep that light steady and you are on course if it begins to blink until it steadies again simple enough for a baby take over and see it was hard to change places in the seal cabin of the cat but they were successful and Ross took the wheel gingerly following Kurt's directions he started ahead his eyes focused on the light rather than the white expanse before him and after a few minutes of strain he caught the hang of it as Kurt had promised it was very simple after watching him for a while his instructor gave a grunt of satisfaction and settled down for a nap once the first excitement of driving the cat wore off the operation tended to become monotonous Ross caught himself yawning but he kept at his post with dogged stubbornness this had been Kurt's game all the way through so far and he was certainly not going to resign his first chance to show the use also if there had only been some break in the eternal snow some passing light or gold to be seen ahead it would not have been so bad finally every now and then Ross had to jiggle off course just enough so that the warning blink of light would alert him and keep him from falling asleep he was unaware that Kurt had awakened during one of those maneuvers until the other spoke he was driving the long clock Murdoch okay, I do not quarrel with anyone who uses his head but you had better get some shut eye or we will not keep rolling Ross was too tired to protest they changed places and he curled up as best he could on his small share of seat only now that he was free to sleep he realized he no longer wanted to Kurt must have thought Ross had fallen asleep for after perhaps two miles of steady grinding along he moved cautiously behind the wheel Ross saw by the trace of light from the instrument panel that his companion was digging into the breast of his parka to bring out a small object which he held against the wheel of the cat with one hand while with the other he tapped out an irregular rhythm to Ross the action made no sense but he did not miss the other sigh of relief he lowered his treasure to hiding once more as just some difficult task was now behind him shortly afterward the cat ground to a stop and Ross set up rubbing his eyes what's the matter, engine trouble Kurt had told us his arms across the wheel no, it is just that we are to wait here wait for what Kilgarious to come along and pick us up Kurt laughed the major Bruce said he would arrive presently what a surprise he would receive not too little mice to be put back into their cages but the tiger cat all claws and fangs Ross set up straighter this now had the bad smell of a frame a frame with himself planted right in the middle he figured out the possibilities and came up with an answer which would smear Ross Murdoch all over any map waiting to meet friends out here they could only be of one brand for most of his short life Ross had been engaged in a private war against the restrictions imposed upon him by a set of legal rules to which something within him would not conform and he had during those same years filled with attacks, retreats and strategic maneuvering formulated a code of rules by which to play his dangerous game he had not murdered and he would never follow the path Kurt took to one who was supremely impatient of restraint the methods and aims of Kurt's employers were not only impossibly fantastic and illogical they were to be opposed to the last ounce of any man's energy your friends late he tried to sound casual not yet and if you now plan to play the hero Murdoch it is a matter of it Kurt's tone held the crack of an order that note Ross had so much disliked in the major's voice this is an operation which has been most carefully planned and upon which a great deal depends no one shall spoil it for us now the reds planted you on the project Ross wanted to keep the other talking to give himself a chance to think and this was one time he had to think clearly and with speed there is no need for me to tell you the sad tale of my life Murdoch and you would doubtless find much of it boring if you wish to continue to live for a while at least you will remain quiet and do as you are told Kurt must be armed for he would not be so confident unless he had a weapon he could now turn on Ross on the other hand if what Ross guessed were true this was a time to play the hero when there was only Kurt to handle better to be a dead hero than a live captive in the hands of Kurt's dear friends across the pole without warning Ross threw his body to the left striving to pin Kurt against the driver's side of the cabin his hands clawed at the fur rough boarding the other's hood trying for a throat hold perhaps it was Kurt's over confidence which betrayed him and left him open to a surprise attack he struggled hard to bring up his arm but both his weight and Ross's held him tight Ross caught at his wrist noticing a gleam of metal they dressed about the bulkiness of the fur clothing hampering them Ross wondered fleetingly why the other had not made sure of him earlier as it was he fought with all his vigor to keep Kurt in mobile to try and knock him out with a lucky blow in the end Kurt aided in his own defeat when Ross relaxed somewhat the other pushed against him only to have Ross flinched to one side Kurt could not stop himself and his head cracked against the wheel of the cat he went limp Ross made the most of the next few moments he brought his belt from under his parka twisting it around Kurt's wrist with no gentleness then he wiggled about changing places with the unconscious man he had no idea of where to go but he was sure he was going to get away at the cat's top speed from that point and with that in mind and only a limited knowledge of how to manage the machine Ross started up and turned in a wide circle until he was sure the cat was headed in the opposite direction the light which had guided them was still on taking his process taking him back to the base lost in the immensity of the cold wilderness he made the only choice possible and gunned the cat again this concludes Chapter 3 The Time Traders by Andre Norton Chapter 4 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer LibriVox.org recording by RJ Davis Time Traders by Andre Norton Chapter 4 once again Ross set waiting for others to decide his future he was as outwardly composed as he had been in Judd Groll's chambers but inwardly he was far more apprehensive out in the wilderness of the polar night he had had no chance for escape heading away from Kurt's rendezvous Ross had run straight into the search party from the base had seen in action that mechanical helm that Kurt had said they would put on the fugitive's trail the thing which would have gone on hunting them until it's metal rusted into powder Kurt's boasted immunity to that tracker had not been as good as he had believed though it had won them a start Ross didn't know just how much it might count in his favor that he had been on his way back with Kurt a prisoner in the cat as his waiting hours wore on he began to think it might mean very little indeed this time there was no show on the wall of his cell nothing but time to think too much of that had no pleasant things to think about but he had learned one valuable lesson on that cold expedition Gilgarys and the others at the base were the most formidable opponents he had ever met and all the balance of luck and equipment lay on their side of the scales Ross was now convinced that there could be no escape from this base he had been impressed by Kurt's preparations knowing that some of them were far beyond anything he himself could have devised he did not doubt that Kurt had come here prepared with every ingenious device the Reds could supply at least Kurt's friends had had a rude welcome when they did arrive at the meeting place Gilgarys had heard Ross out and then had sent ahead a team before Ross's party had reached the base there had been a blast which split the Arctic night wide open and Kurt, conscious by then had shown his only sign of emotion when he realized what it meant the door to Ross's cell room clicked and he swung his feet to the floor setting up on his bunk to face his future this time he made no attempt to put on an act he was not in the least sorry for he had tried to get away had Kurt been on the level it would have been a bright play that Kurt was not was just plain bad luck Gilgarys and Ash entered and at the side of Ash the top building in Ross's middle loosened a bit the Major might come by himself to pass sentence but he would not bring Ash alone if the sentence was a really harsh one you got off to a bad start here Murdoch the Major sat down on the edge of the wall shelf which doubled as a table you're going to have a second chance so consider yourself lucky we know you aren't another plant of our enemies a fact that saves your neck do you have anything to add to your story no sir he was not adding that sir to curry any favors it came naturally when one answered Gilgarys but you had some questions Ross met that with the truth a lot of them why don't you ask them Ross smiled thinly an expression far removed and years older than his best for boys grin of the shy act a wise guy doesn't spill his ignorance he uses his eyes and ears and keeps his trap shut and goes off half caulked as a result the Major added I don't think you would have enjoyed the company of Kurtz Paymaster I didn't know about him then not when I left here yes and when you discovered the truth you took steps, why for the first time there was a trace of feeling in the Major's voice because I don't like the line up on his side of the fence that single fact has saved your neck this time Murdoch step out of line once more and nothing will help you but just so you don't have to worry about that suppose you ask a few of those questions how much of what Kurtz fed me is a truth Ross murdered out I mean all that stuff about shooting in time all of it the Major said it so quietly that it carried complete conviction but why how you have us on a spot Murdoch because of your little expedition we have to tell you more now than we tell any of our men before the final briefing listen and then forget all of it except what applies to the job at hand the Reds shot up Sputnik and then Mutnik 25 years ago we got up our answers a little later there were a couple of spectacular crashers on the moon then that space station that didn't stay in orbit after that stalemate in the past quarter century we've had no voyages into space nothing that was prophesized too many bugs too many costly failures finally we began to get hints of something big bigger than the football roaming the heavens any discovery in science comes about by steps it can be traced back through those steps by another scientist but suppose you were confronted by results which apparently had been reduced without any preliminaries what would be your guess concerning it Ross stared at the Major although he didn't see what all this had to do with time jumping he sensed that Kilgaris was waiting for his answer that somehow Ross would be judged by his reply either that the steps were kept strictly secret he said slowly or that the result didn't rightfully belong to the man who said he discovered it for the first time the Major regarded him with approval suppose this discovery was vital to your life what would you do try to find a source to have it within the past five years our friends across the way have come up with three such discoveries one we were able to trace duplicate and use with a few refinements of our own the other two remain rootless yet they are linked with the first we are now attempting to solve that problem and the time grows late for some reason though the Reds now have their super super gadgets they are not yet ready to use them sometimes the things work and sometimes they fail everything points to the fact that the Reds are now experimenting with discoveries which are not basically their own where did they get them from another world Ross's imagination came to life had a successful space void been kept secret had there been contact made with another intelligent race today it's another world but the world of time, not space seven years ago we got a man out of East Berlin he was almost dead but he lived long enough to record on tape some amazing data so wild it was almost amissed as the ravings of Valyrium but that was after Sputnik and we didn't dare disregard any hits from the other side of the Iron Curtain so the recording was turned over scientists who proved it had a core of truth time travel has been written up in fiction it has been discussed otherwise as an impossibility then we discover that the Reds have it working you mean they go into the future and bring back machines to use now Major Shikki's head, not the future the past was this an elaborate joke somewhat somewhat heededly Ross snapped out the answer to that look here I know I haven't the education of your big brains but I do know that the further back you go into history the simpler things are we ride in cars only a hundred years ago men drove horses we have guns go back a little and you'll find them waving swords and shooting guys with bows and arrows those that don't wear tin plate you'll find them to stop being punctured only they were after all come in a dash look at a gun cork melade and remember what arrows did to the French knights and armor Ross disregarded the interruption anyway he stuck doggily to his point the further back you go the simpler things are how are the Reds going to find anything in history we can't meet today that is a point which has baffled us for several years now the major return only it is not how they are going to find it but where because somewhere in the past of this world they have contacted a civilization able to produce weapons and ideas so advanced as to baffle our experts we have to find that source and either mine in ourselves or close it off as yet we're still trying to find it Ross shook his head it must be a long way back those guys who discover tombs and dig up old cities couldn't they give you some hints wouldn't a civilization like that have left something we could find today it depends race remark upon the type of civilization the Egyptians built in stone grandly they used tools and weapons or copper, bronze and stone and they were considered enough to operate in a dry climate which preserved relics well the cities of the fertile crescent built in mud brick and used stones copper and bronze tools they also chose a portion of the world where climate was a factor in keeping their memory green the Greeks built in stone wrote their books kept their history to bequeath it to their successors and so did the Romans on this side of the ocean the Incas the Mayas the onerown races before them and the Aztecs of Mexico all built in stone and worked in metal and stone and metal survived but what if there had been an early people who used plastics and brittle alloys who had no desire to build permanent buildings whose tools and artifacts were meant to wear out quickly perhaps for economic reasons what would they leave us considering perhaps that an Ice Age had intervened between their time and ours with glaciers to grind into dust what little they did possess there's evidence that the poles of our world have changed and that this northern region was once close to being tropical any catastrophe valid enough to bring about a switch on the poles of this planet might well have wiped out all traces no matter how superior we have good reason to believe that such a people must have existed but we must find them and as you they convert from the skeptics the major slip down from his perch on the wall shelf he is an archeologist one of your tune discoverers and knows what he is talking about we must do our hunting in time earlier than the first pyramid earlier than the first group of farmers built by the Tigris River but we have to let the enemy guide us to it that's where you come in why me that is a question to which our psychologists are still trying to find the answer my young friend it seems that the majority of the people of the several nations linked together in this project have become too civilized the reactions of most men to given sets of circumstances have become set in regular patterns and they cannot break that conditioning or if personal danger forces have to change those patterns they are afterwards so adrift they cannot function at their highest potential teach a man to kill as in war and then you have to recondition him later but during those same wars we also develop another type he is a born commando the secret agent the expendable man who lives on action there are not many of this kind and they are potent weapons in peacetime that particular collection of emotions nerve and skills becomes a menace to the very society he has fought to reserve during a war he is pressured by the peaceful environment to become a criminal or a misfit the men we send out from here to explore the past are not only given the best training which will fly for them but they are all of the type once heralded as a frontiersman history is sentimental about that type when he is safely dead but the present finds him difficult to live with our time agents are misfits in the modern world because their inherited abilities are born out of season now they must be young enough and possess a certain brand of intelligence training and to adapt and they must pass our tests do you understand? Ross Nutted you want crooks because they are crooks no, not because they are crooks but because they are misfits in their time and place no, I beg of you Murdoch think that we are operating a penal institution here you would never have been recruited if you hadn't tested out to suit us but the man who maybe was murderer in his own period might rank as hero in another an extreme example but true when we train a man he not only can survive in the period to which he is sent but he can also pass as a native born in that era what about Hardy? the major gaze into space there is no operation which is foolproof we have never said that we don't run into trouble there is no danger in this we have to deal with both natives of different times and if we are lucky and hit a hot run with the reds they suspect that we are casting about hunting their trail they managed to plant Kurt Vogel on us he had an almost perfect cover and conditioning now you have it straight Murdoch you satisfy our test and you'll be given a chance to say yes or no before your first run if you say no and refuse duty it means that you must become an exile and stay here no man who has gone through our training can return to normal life there is too much chance of being picked up and sweated by the opposition never? major shrug this may be a long term operation we hope not but there is no way of telling now you will be an exile until we want or fail entirely that is the last card I have to lay on the table he's stressed you're slated for training tomorrow think it over and then let us know your answer when the time comes meanwhile you are to be teamed with Ash who will see to putting you through the course it was a big hunt to swallow but once down Ross found it digestible the training opened up a whole new world to him judo and wrestling were easy enough to absorb and he thoroughly enjoyed the workouts but the patient hours of archery practice the strict instruction in the use of the long bladed bronze dagger were more demanding the mastering of one new language and then another the intensive drill in unfamiliar social customs the memorizing of strict taboos and ethics for difficult Ross learned to keep records and not on high thones and was inducted into the art of primitive bargaining and trade he came to understand the worth of a cross shaped ingot compared to a string of amber beads and some well cured white fur he now understood why he had been shown a trader's caravan during that first encounter with the purpose behind operation retrograde during the training days his feelings towards change materially a man could not work so closely with another and continue to resent his attitude either he blew up entirely or he learned to adjust his awe at Ash's vast amount of practical knowledge freely offered to serve his own blundering ignorance created a respect for the man which might have become friendship had Ash ever relaxed in the field of impersonal efficiency Ross did not try to breach the barrier between them mainly because he was sure that the reason for it was the fact that he was a volunteer he gave him an odd new feeling he avoided trying to analyze he had always had a kind of pride in his record now he had begun to whoosh sometimes that it was a record of a different type men came and went Rocky and his partner disappeared as did Janssen and his one lost track of time within that underground warm which was a base Ross gradually discovered that the whole establishment covered a large area under an eternal crust of ice and snow there were laboratories a well appointed hospital armories with stock weapons usually seen only in museums but which here were free of any signs of age and ready for use there were libraries with mile upon mile of tape recordings as well as films Ross could not understand everything he heard and saw but he soaked up all he could so that once or twice when drifting off to sleep at night he thought of himself as a sponge which had nearly reached his total limit of absorption he learned to wear naturally silk tunic he had seen on the whoops layer to shave with practice assurance using a leaf shaped bronze raider to eat strange food until he relished the taste making less in time serve a double duty he lay it under sun mats while listening to tape recordings until his skin darkened to a weathered hue resembling ashes there was always talk to listen to important talk which he was ready to miss bronze ice weighted danger it is had one day it's hilt made of dark orange studded with an intricate pattern of tiny golden nail heads had a gleam not unlike that of the blade do you know Murdoch that bronze can be tougher than steel if it wasn't that iron is so much more plentiful and easier to work we might never have come out of the bronze age and easier found and when the first smiths learned to work it and end came to one way of life a beginning to another yes bronze is important to us here and so are the men who worked it smiths were sacred in the old days we know that they made a secret of their trade which overrode the bounds of district tribe and race a smith was welcome in any village his person safe on the road in fact the roads themselves were under the protection of the gods there was peace on them for all wayfarers the land was wide then and it was empty the tribes were few and small and there was plenty of room for the hunter the farmer the trader life was not such a scramble of man against man but rather of man against nature no wars as cross then why the bow and dagger drill wars were small affairs disputes between family clans or tribes as for the bow there were formal things in the forest giant animals, wolves, wild boars cave bears ash side was wary patience get it through your head myrtle that history is much longer than you seem to think cave bears and the use of bronze weapons do not overlap no you will have to go back maybe several thousand years earlier and then hunt your bear with a flint tip spear in your hand if you are fool enough to try it or take a rifle with you Ross made a suggestion he had longed to voice for some time ice grounded on him swiftly and Ross knew him well enough now to realize that he was seriously displeased that is just what you don't see in Murdoch not from this base as you well know by now you take no weapon from here which is not designed for the period in which your run lies this is you do not become embroiled while on that run in any action which might influence the course of history Ross went on polishing the blade he held what would happen if someone did break that rule ice put down the dagger he had been playing with we don't know we just don't know so far we have operated in the friends territory keeping away from any district with a history which we can trace accurately maybe someday his eyes were on a wall of weapon racks he plainly did not see maybe someday we can stand and watch the rise of the pyramids witness the march of Alexander's armies but not yet we stay away from history and we are sure that the reds are doing the same it has become the old problem once presented by the atom bomb nobody wants to upset the balance and take the consequences let us find their outpost and we will withdraw our men from all the other runs at once what makes everyone so sure that they have an outpost somewhere couldn't they be working right at the main source sir they could for some reason they are not as for now we know that much it's information received ice found thinly no the source is much further back in time than their halfway post but if we find that then we can trail them so we plant men in suitable ears and hope for the best that's a good weapon you have there Murdoch are you willing to wear it in earnest the inflection in that question cut Ross's full attention his gray eyes met those blue eyes this was it at long last right away ice picked up a belt of bronze plates strung together with chains a twin to that Ross has seen worn by the wolf slayer he held it out to the younger man you can take your trial run any time tomorrow Ross drew a deeper breath where to win an island which will later become Britain win about 2000 BC beaker traders were beginning to open their stations there this is your graduation exercise Murdoch Ross fitted the blade he had been polishing into the wooden sheath on the belt if you say I can do it I'm willing to try he caught that glance ice shot at him but he could not read his meaning annoyance impatience he was still puzzling over it when the other turned abruptly and left him alone this concludes the reading of chapter 4