The Time Traders

ow" proved to be several days later. The cover was that of a Beaker trader, and Ross's impersonation was checked again and again by e

ation from the norm, as more race-conscious tribes might be. For they lived by trade, leaving to Ross's own time the mark of their far-flung

master bowmen. A roving people, they pushed into new territory to establish posts, living amicabl

harsh to the skin and poorly fitting. But the workmanship of their link-and-plate bronze belts, the sleek bow guards strapped to their wrists, and the bows themselves approached fine art. Ashe's round cloak was the blue of a master trader, and he wore wealth in a

ep from the polar regions of the Western Hemisphere to the island of Britai

there curled about in a solid core, shutting one off from floor and wall. Ross gasped for breath as the air was sucked out of his lungs. He experienced a mome

ved. But men from that point must be moved swiftly and secretly to their appointed stations. Ross, knowing the strict rules concerning the transportation of objec

Ashe balanced on the rounded back of a whale. It was a whale which would deceive anyone who did not test its hi

til his partner joined him. The day, misty and drizzling, made the shore they aimed for a half-seen line across the water. With a

y settled. The first wave of hunter-fishers to establish villages had been joined by other invaders who built massive tombs and had an elaborate religion. Small village-forts had been linked from hill to hill by trackways. There were "factories," which turned out in bulk such fine flint weapons and too

pression in the bank, heaping stones and brush about for its concealment

as one. All other memories must be buried under the false one he had learned; he must be interested in the present rate of exchange and the cha

air. Yet Ashe bore steadily on across the land with the certainty of one following a marked trail. His self-confidence was rewa

The peace of the road held-at least by day. By night only the most harden

d his guide, sniffing strange wet smells from the brush, the trees, and the damp earth; piecing togeth

ought to them a sour odor, blanking out all normal scents. Ashe halted so suddenl

ed that he had not. It was wood-burned wood-and something else. Since this was no

f dead grass, taking full advantage of all cover. They crouched at the top of the hi

f the valley. Charred posts still stood like lone teeth in a skull to mark what must have once been one of the

Ross asked i

impress every important detail upon his mind. That the place had been burned was clear

hing. They had made a complete circle of the destroyed post and Ashe stood in the shado

were, the attackers covered their

led a trail if they had won. No, this was no regular attack.

t?" deman

s that. Or-" Ashe's blue eyes were very cold and bl

s dared to

ntact with the Reds

thin web of men strung out through centuries of time with orders to seek out that which did not fit properly into the pattern of the past: to lo

, inexperienced as he was in such matters, could not mistake the signs of the explosion. There was a crater on t

e R

. This damage was

e attack had destroyed their one link with the post on this ti

added, "and it seems we may be able to use them to better advantage than just letting you learn how it feels to w

the mess. "D

ging is i

sick with the evidences of death they had chanced upon

veryone here. Men don't trust a night filled with ghosts, and our agents conform to l

dren. No Beaker trading post was large, and this one was unusually small. The

o?" Ross wan

e. He had no suspicions at all; his last reports were all routine, which means that if they

do we

lage. We are frightened, grief-stricken. We have found our kinsmen dead under strange c

trackway toward the neighboring village with

ngs with a wolflike ferocity. But it was smaller than a wolf, and it barked between its wa

speak with Nodren-

rm across his face, the gesture of a weary and heartsic

ferent twist to the pronunciation of som

he one who gave into his hand the friendship gift of

You who are hunted by the evil s

s, facing into the bushes

a who asks. We have drunk blood together and faced the white wolf and the wild boar

air, striking a rain pool and spattering mud on

ar arrows passed between the place of the traders and the town of Nodren? Is that why you hide in

ight to eat us up with a noise of many thunders. Lurgha speaks in such thunders; Lurgha's hand smites with suc

Perhaps the very method of attack on the post would defeat Ashe's attempt to learn anything from these neighbors. Th

Ashe prodded the ground with the tip of his bowstave. "Yet Assha walks, as you see him; Assha

n," retorted the man in hiding. "It may

and he reappeared, dragging into the gray light of the rainy day a wrigglin

topknot secured by a hide loop. He wore a skin tunic, now in conside

of this Wrath of Lurgha from the night skies and what has happened to Sanfra, who was my brother, and those others of my kin. I am Assha, and you know of the wrath of Assha and how it ate up Twist-tooth, the outlaw, when he came

s from his lightning bow. It was the Wrath of Lurgha which smote the place on the hill, first the thun

saw with your

is no chief who can stand and look upon the wonders of Lurgha's mi

ep to their homes and leave the outer world to th

rting to the bushes and the freedom they prom

I know in what way or for what reaso

eak to Assha with a straight tongue. If he is a spirit, he will know that you do not tell him the tr

th of Lurgha in its descent upon the outlanders so that Nodren and the men of Nodren would truly

voice of Lurgha sound in Nodren's ear al

on the ground, his

y of some importance in her own group. Walking with a proud stride, her eyes boldly met Ashe's. A shining disk hung about her nec

There was a formal note in Ashe's voice.

o no longer walk in their bodies." Cassca placed her fingers momentarily on Ashe's outstretched palm before she nodded. "No spirit are you, As

message from Lur

n, yet it is in the Great Mother that the seed lies. Upon her business only women may go into the Inner Circle." She gestured again. "But as we met to make the first sacrifice there came music out of the air such as we have never heard, voices singing like birds in a strange tongue." Her face assumed an awesome exp

a sound?" Ashe

iting of the hill with thunder and lightning, and Nodren fled, for the Wrath of Lurgha is a fearsome thing. Now do t

r. May the sowing prosper and the reaping be good this year!"

the protecting hand of the Mother and so do not fear, yet there are ot

ain thanks be

e, and Ross fell in beside him as t