William F. Wu - Isaac Asimovs Robots in Time: Invader

Invader - Isaac Asimov's Robots In Time - William F Wu

Dont miss the first five books in Isaac Asimovs Robots In Time

PREDATOR

The robot called Hunters first target is hiding somewhere in the age of dinosaurs. He must catch a robot forced to fight for survivala robot turned Predator.

MARAUDER

Hunters second mission sends his team to an age of pirates and cutthroats. Their target is a robot determined to survivea robot branded Marauder.

WARRIOR

In the chaos of theRoman Empires collapse, Hunter and his team search for a robot who will risk all of history to escape thema robot Warrior.

DICTATOR

In the midst of the Second World War, Hunter and his team must outwit Nazi soldiers and Soviet agents to accomplish their missionin the time of the Dictator.

EMPEROR

Hunter and his team chase their prey to ancientChinaduring the reign of Kubla KhanChinas greatest Emperor.

ISAAC ASIMOVS

ROBOTS

IN TIME

by

WILLIAM F. WU

THE LAWS OF ROBOTICS

A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

ISAAC ASIMOVS

ROBOTS

IN TIME

INVADER

WILLIAM F. WU

Copyright 1994

Databank by Matt Elson

This novel is dedicated to the memory of my maternal grandmother,

Mae Franking,

Who passed her English and Scottish descent to me and became the first novelist in the family.

Special thanks are due during the time of writing this novel to Dr. William Q. Wu and Cecile F. Wu, my parents, for indulging my lifelong interest in history; Riucia Mainhardt; Bridgett and Marty Marquardt; Michael D. Toman; and John Betancourt, Leigh Grossman, Keith R. A. DeCandido, and Byron Preiss.

R. Hunter, a humaniform robot, waited as Steve Chang looked up at him angrily. They stood in the small office ofMojaveCenterGovernor, in the underground city ofMojave Center. Steve began to pace.

I hardly slept at all, Hunter, Steve growled. Jane could be anywhere in the world, at any time in history. Thats the toughest kidnapping to solve anyone could imagine. We have to start looking for her. Once we get going, Ill get back to normal.

You know that R. Ishihara cannot allow her to be harmed under the First Law of Robotics, said Hunter. That will not change, no matter where they are.

I know, I knowA robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, Steve droned impatiently. But Ishihara is working for Wayne Nystrom, renegade roboticist, said Steve. That tells us how great Ishiharas judgment must be. I dont trust him to follow the First Law responsibly.

Dr. Nystrom apparently convinced Ishihara to help him under the First Law, said Hunter. Once he had done that, Ishihara had no choice but to obey him under the Second Law. However, Ishihara will protect both Jane and Dr. Nystrom from immediate harm.

So who cares if the Second Law of Robotics says, A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law, if the human giving orders cant be trusted?

I do not predict that Jane will be with them long, said Hunter. Wayne Nystrom will be searching for MC 6 in the same time and place we will. That narrows the search for Jane considerably. Our search for MC 6 will take us to them.

Well, we know about when and where to find them, then, said Steve. So lets go!

Not so fast. Hunter turned and eased his body into the desk chair.

Why not?

We must prepare this mission with the same care we used in the others. Since we are going back to fifth-centuryBritain, I will retain my present appearance. It is consistent with the gene pool of the local people we will meet. A brawny six feet six inches tall with short blond hair and blue eyes, Hunter had been designed with the ability to change his shape and appearance at will.

All right, fine. Thats your department; it wont matter to me. What else do we have to do? Steve put both fists on his hips and glared at Hunter. Ive already taken the vaccines you arranged this morning. I assume youve prepared period clothing, just as you did before.

Yes. I took the clothing to the Bohung Institute while you were trying to sleep. However, I have hired

Well, where is she?

She is due here in a few minutes; I arranged for her to receive her vaccines from R. Cushing, the medical robot who tended your head injury after our fourth mission. Together, we will have to decide how to explain your Chinese descent to Britons who have never heard ofChinaor seen anyone of your race and ethnicity.

Well, we told the ancient Germans in Roman times that I was a slave from the easternMediterranean. That should be good enough.

Perhaps. My internal clock says the time is 7:38 P.M. While we wait for Harriet, I must report to the Governor Robot Oversight Committee.

All right, Ill shut up. Steve folded his arms across his chest and continued pacing anxiously. I just hope she shows up soon.

Nodding, Hunter called the city computer and instructed it to contact the four members of the Governor Robot Oversight Committee for him. Then he waited while they were located for the conference call. In front of him, Steve still stomped back and forth across the small room.

Hunter could not avoid making reports to the Oversight Committee. He had been designed and built specifically for the committee in order to search forMojaveCenterGovernor, one of six experimental gestalt robots who were supposed to be running certain cities. All the other Governor robots had mysteriously shut themselves down. However, MC Governor had suddenly divided into the six component gestalt humaniform robots out of which he was comprised and vanished. No one knew why.

Dr. Wayne Nystrom, an eccentric roboticist, had designed and built the Governor robots. However, the Governor Robot Oversight Committee had been studying their performance and judging their efficiency. When the Governors began to fail, Wayne Nystrom had apparently felt that his career was in danger. He had been trying to beat Hunter to each of the component robots of MC Governor in order to dismantle and examine them for the mysterious flaw that had shut down the first five Governors before Hunter could reassemble MC Governor and turn him over to the Oversight Committee to complete their study.

When Hunter had arrived inMojaveCenter, he had learned that MC Governor had modified an existing piece of technology in the Bohung Institute into a time travel device. Then each of his component robots had miniaturized themselves to microscopic size and fled back in time to a different era, intending to hide forever. Jane believed their motivation was the Third Law of Robotics, A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Unknown to them, however, a flaw in the miniaturization caused each of them to return to full size at different times, wherever they happened to be.