The Time Traders

ossible three weeks earlier, Murdock now stood sullenly surveying the man who, thou

understand. "You will answer me or else others shall ask the questions,

then common sense cautioned. His initial introduction to this village had left him bruised and with one of his headaches. Ther

th a carefully measured stare. "I came into this land in s

nge tongue, and Ross merely stared stolidly back. His words were short and explosiv

ome?" He was a quiet-faced, slender man, not like his companion, who had roped Murdock from behi

d the golden tears of the sun to be gathered and bartered. The traders move in peace, and their hands are raised aga

had a trading post in the warm lands along the big river. This was Rossa's first trip to open new territory. He had come with his father's blood brother, Assha, who was a noted

th them through the cold season. Gurdi and Assha had mingled blood after he pulled Gurdi free from the river in flood. Assha had lost his boat and trade goods in that rescue, so Gurdi had made good his loss this year. Detail by detail he gave the story. In spite of the fact that he provi

o the one behind the table-"that this

ughly and sent him toward the door with a shove. Once again the leader gave an order in his own l

eaned against the wall, rubbing the pain of returning circulation away from his wrists and trying to understand what had happened to him and where he was. Having spied upon i

mush of meal and drinking the water from the jug avidly. His headache dulled, and from experience Ross knew that this bout was almost over. If he slept, he would waken wit

ss sat up, flexing his arms and shoulders to combat the stiffness which had come with his cramped sleep

d Macna, for the three of them could surely discover a way

which could happen to him here, and he must be free before the worst did come. The question was, How could he escape? H

h speculatively in one hand. A masterpiece of craftsmanship, it consisted of patterned plates linked together with a series of five finely wrought chains and a front buckle in the form

s a proud thing to be a trader in the wilderness, a thought that warmed Ross now as he waited in the dark for what luck and Ba-Bal of the Bright Horns would send. Were he ever t

false graft. He could wait as he had waited many times before-quiet, and with outward ease-for t

rom the newcomer for that necessary instant or two. If his attack was to be successful, it must occur inside the room. H

wn his single garment in a roll which might just resemble, for the needed second or two, a man curled in slumber. The man in the doorway too

t and belted it around him after he had made a hurried examination of the body now lying at his feet. He was not sure that the man was dead, but at

ked the portal open, and dagger in hand, sprang out, ready for attack. He closed the door, slipping the bar back into its br

of rooms occupied by the enemy was far more difficult. Although he had no idea in which of the village buildings they might be con

ong as close to the wall as he could, ready to freeze at the slightest sound. But this portion of the building might well have been deserted, for he saw or heard no one. He tri

oss was doubly on guard now as he wriggled to a point from which he could see be

hat was surely Assha's brown hair, his slender wiry body draped with a Beaker's kilt. A familiar tilt of the head convinced Ross, though he could not

o desperate action by some fear he did not understand, leaped after him. His left hand fell upon

he other on the side of the throat, and then the world came apart about them. There was a churning, whirling sickness which griped and bent Ross almost do

mind accepted it as a phenomenon he had experienced before. He came out

te and began binding and gagging him with lengths torn from his kilt. O

rs bowed to those ghosts which were the plague of lesser men and tribes, but anything which suddenly appeared and then disappeared without any logical explanation, needed thinking on. Murdock pulled the prisoner, who was now reviving, to the far end of t

e heavy hilt of his dagger. Deciding against it because he might need a guide, he freed the victim's ankle bonds and pulled him to his feet, holdi

ier. Instead they entered a short passage with walls of some smooth stuff which had almost the sheen of polished m

ssa of the traders marveled and stared, but again, he realized that what he saw was not altogether strange. Part of one wall was a board on which small li

ne of the metal boxes. Then he made the rounds of the room, touching nothing, but studying what he could not understan

rns. Ross now heard a buzzing, as if a swarm of angry insects were gathered for an attack. Cro

nd a man entered the room, crossing purposefully to the chair. He sat down and drew the wire-and-di

clothing and equipment. He was neither a shaggy tribesman nor a trader. He wore a dull-green outer garment cut in one piece to cover his arms and legs as well as his body, and his hair was so short that his round skull might have been shaven. Ross rubbed the back of his wrist across his eyes,

ewcomer in detail. The loose overshirt of thick fur with its hood thrown back, the high boots, and all the rest were not of any primitive fashioning. And

lights continued to flash and the buzzing died away. Ross's captive wriggled with renewed vigor and at last thrashed free a foot to kick at one of the metal in

promised, even as he prepared for battle. He pushed his captive across the path of the man in fur and threw

tunately presenting a poor target to the third man coming down the hall. Ross's shoulder hit the newcomer at

match and at last Ross was flattened, in spite of his desperate efforts. He was whirled over, his arms jerked behi

nd. One of them disappeared and returned with Ross's former captive, his mouth

ike Assha leaned over Murdock, patches of red on hi

he read in the other's expression with a ready defiance. "I was a pris

rself ill, my young friend. We have a better prison

uring the short march Ross used his eyes, noticing things he could not identify in the rooms through which they passed. Men called que

hat warren of rooms and halls bit into his half-clad body. He was certain of only one thing about this place; he could not po

were equipped with rods along which all the colors of the rainbow ringed. Here was a round door, and when one of the guar