The Time Traders

ut 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 see

er had not been as good as he had bel

in the cat. As his waiting hours wore on he began to think it might mean very little indeed. This time there was

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 th

ut and then had sent ahead a team. Before Ross's party had reached the base there had been a blast which split the ar

future. This time he made no attempt to put on an act. He was not in the least sorry he had tried to get aw

oss's middle loosened a bit. The major might come by himself to pass senten

bled as a table. "You're going to have a second chance, so consider yourself lucky. We know you aren't

sir" to curry any favor; it came na

ave some q

ith the truth.

't you a

his bashful boy's grin of the shy act. "A wise guy doesn't spill

the major added. "I don't think you would h

out him then-not

took steps. Why?" For the first time there

e the line-up on his

of line once more, and nothing will help you. But just so we won't

ruth?" Ross blurted out. "I mean all t

d it so quietly that it ca

why-h

to tell you more now than we tell any of our men before the final briefing

s 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

eps by another scientist. But suppose you were confronted by a result which apparently

to do with time-jumping, he sensed that Kelgarries was waiting fo

he said slowly, "or that the result didn't rightf

with approval. "Suppose this discovery w

find the

her 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, the

ion came to life. Had a successful space voyage been kept secr

enough to record on tape some amazing data, so wild it was almost dismissed as the ravings of delirium. But that was after Sputnik, and we didn't da

as been discussed otherwise as an impossibility.

the future and bring b

is head. "Not the

do know that the farther 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 b

"Look at Agincourt, m'lad, and remember wha

his point-"the farther back you go, the simpler things are. How a

here. Because somewhere in the past of this world they have contacted a civilization able to produce weapons and ideas so advanced as

ver tombs and dig up old cities-couldn't they give you some hints? Wou

and stone, and they were considerate enough to operate in a dry climate which preserved relics well. The cities of the Fertile Crescent built in

ico all built in stone and worked in metal. And stone and metal survive. 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 w

y catastrophe violent enough to bring about a switch in the poles of this planet might well have wiped out all traces of a civ

our tomb discoverers, and knows what he is talking about. We must do our hunting in time earlier than the first pyramid, earlier tha

y m

roject 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

re are not many of this kind, and they are potent weapons. In peacetime that particular collection of emotions, nerve, and skills becomes a mena

ory 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

want crooks becaus

here. You would never have been recruited if you hadn't tested out to suit us. But the man who may be labeled murderer in his own period might rank as a hero in ano

about

he 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, Murdock. You satisfy our tests, and you'll be given a chance to say yes

ev

what we want or fail entirely. That is the last card I have to lay on the table." He stretched. "You're slated for training tomorrow. Think it ov

ng-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 were difficult. Ross learned to keep records in knots on hide thongs and was inducted into the art of

, freely offered to serve his own blundering ignorance, created a respect for the man which might have become friendship, had Ashe ever relaxed his own shield of impersonal efficiency. Ross did not try to breach the barrier between them mainly because he w

f ice and snow. There were laboratories, a well-appointed hospital, armories which stocked 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

azor, to eat strange food until he relished the taste. Making lesson time serve a double duty, he lay under sunlamps while listening to tape recor

that of the blade. "Do you know, Murdock, 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

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 th

ss. "Then why the b

s or tribes. As for the bow, there were formidable thi

e be

think. Cave bears and the use of bronze weapons do not overlap. No, you will have to go back maybe several thous

oss made a suggestion he had

ss knew him well enough now to real

no weapon from here which is not designed for the period in which your run lies. Just as you do

e he held. "What would happen i

eyes were on a wall of weapon racks he plainly did not see-"maybe some day 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

ave an outpost somewhere? Couldn't they

o, the source is much farther back in time than their halfway post. But if we find that, then we can trail them. So we plant me

oss's full attention. His gray eyes met

ht a

a twin to that Ross had seen worn by the wolf slayer. He held it out

eper breath. "

housand b.c. Beaker traders were beginning to open their

ng into the wooden sheath on the belt. "I

ad its meaning. Annoyance? Impatience? He was still puzzlin