The Time Traders

above average, but not enough to make him noticeable. His brown hair was cropped conservatively; his unlined boy's face was not one to be remembered-unle

low-to all outward appearances. But that other person under the protective coloring so assiduously cultivated could touch heights of encased and c

going to get it. The law had Ross sewed up tight this time. Why didn't they get about the business of shipping him off? Why had he had that afternoon session with the skull thumper? Ross had been on the d

the guard cleared his throat as if their hour of mutual silence had dri

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 the ma

his case. Well, he would simply have to take it when the old boy

bad record

ders slumped. But under concealing lids h

ly all Ross's pleasure in the skill of his act was wiped away. Judge Rawle was not alone; that blasted s

staring at him, too, but without the same look of penetration, luckily for Ros

is particular world. For the second time since he had entered the room his self-confiden

u a choice, Murdock. One which I shall state

like it, there must be something in it to the a

ible material for this assignment. If you sign for it, the law will consider the time spent on

to this rehabilitatio

te for rehabilitation. Your record-" He

lunteer for the

to a folder. He spoke to a man waiting in the

first hump. And since his luck had held so f

, to his hidden annoyance, found himself uneasy. To face up to Eagle Beak was all

l be on our way at once. This

, 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

skyward, guiding in a dark shadow which touched down before them. A hel

as impersonal enough, but that very

n 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

arks of his world gone, could not have said if they were headed north or south. But moments later not even the th

me

ough in the city, did little good against the push of the wind. A hand gripped his upper arm, and he was drawn for

wn-over

a bulbous headgear hooked over his arm, was reading a paper. The major crossed to speak to him and after they conferred f

pilot's, and began to measure it against Ross. "All rig

ion jammed one of the domed helmets on his head. The pilot looked in the door

hine was something straight out of the future-a needle-slim ship poised on fins, its sharp nose lifting ver

s knees hunched up almost under his chin. To make it worse, cramped as those quarters were, he ha

xperienced 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 h

ime his. But at last the weight of a giant hand clamped down on his

shade of grayish light from another. Finally, Ross became aware that he no longer rested on his back, bu

l 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 furious

e was none too important in the scheme of things as a whole. He had a record-a record so bad that Rawle might easily have thrown the book at him. But it differed in one important way from

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, all

e path of the storm or were above it. There were stars

had to deal with him. All the wealth of a big city library had been his to explore, and he had spent much time there, soaking up facts in many odd branche

ne 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, s

nment have bases half over the world to keep the "cold peace"? Well, there was nothing for it. To be planted ab

This time there were no lights on the ground to guide them in. Ross had no intimation that the

But the other's hand was already on his shoulder, urging him along. Ros

lank area, gathering at the foot of the ladder. Ross was hungry and very tired. If the

hand was on his arm, drawing him along toward a door that stood half-open. As far as Ross could see, it led to the interior of a

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 ex

ned. 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 w

that he must have missed something, not that it matter

associated with a bird. His acquaintance with all feathered life was limited to city sparrows and plump park pigeons, neither of which raised their voices in song, but surely t

e the dark green of fir trees ran close to the snow line. Patches of snow clung to the earth in sheltered

hat sound before, but his human heritage subconsciously recognized it for what it was-death on four feet. Similarly, he was able to id

ose gray skulkers had raised its head and was looking directly at him, its reddish eyes alight. Ross r

any dog he had even seen and twice as vicious, was a monster. He had the blanket ready before he realized that t

ng, and the animal leaped into the air, fell back, and rolled on the ground, biting despairingly

amazed when his outstretched hands flattened against an unseen barrier. Slowly, he swept his hands right and left, sure that he was touc

e on his bunk. This must be some superior form of TV that included odors, the illusion of wind, and other fancy touches to m

, Ross decided that the show was not yet over. He could still hear a click of sound, and

arters off the ground. Comparing the beast's size with the hunter's, Ross saw that he had not been wrong in his estimation of th

, far more ornate than the cumbersome wrapping, was made of many small chains linking metal plates and supported 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 fastened by a large pin un

g did not resemble any Indian apparel Ross had ever seen. Yet, in spite of his primitive trappings, the man had such an

h 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 wo