“We have guns,” said Gunther.
“You would perhaps be able to kill one, or two, and then they would remain, beyond range, until dark. Then they would hunt you by scent. And in the darkness they could from many paces detect your presence by your breathing. I would not wish to be their enemy.”
“They will run at the sound of a gunshot,” said Gunther.
“They do not run from thunder, or from lightning,” said Hamilton, “though they take shelter.”
“We will put fear into their simple brains,” said Gunther.
“They are tenacious and intelligent,” said Hamilton. “They are as likely to be curious, as fearful. If you make them angry, they are not likely to be afraid.”
“They might envy us our weapons, and want them” said William.
“Be quiet!” snapped Gunther. He looked angrily at Hamilton. “We will teach them fear,” he said.
“They will teach you terror,” said, Hamilton.
“Among such savages,” snarled Gunther, “with these,” indicating the guns, “we will be as gods!”
“As nearly as I can determine,” said Hamilton, “these men do not have the concept of gods. They do regard the world as animate, and think of many things, strangely perhaps to us, as being individual and alive, trees, flowers, grass, stones, water, animals. They will speak to animals, for example, and sing to them, and sometimes ask their permission to kill them. Too, they sacrifice sometimes meat, though to what or for what purpose I do not know.”
“Why do you not know?” demanded Gunther.
“Why should I know?” asked Hamilton. “I am only a female.”
“What is your purpose in telling us these things?” asked Gunther.
“To suggest to you,” said Hamilton, “Gunther, that they have few superstitions which you will be likely to be able to exploit.”
Gunther glared down upon her, angrily.
“If you displease them,” said Hamilton, “they are less likely to be frightened than angry. They will regard you as a problem to be solved, probably by killing you.”
Gunther swallowed, uneasily.
Hamilton looked up at him and smiled. “Is it not the human way?” she asked.
“We have no intention of displeasing them,” said Gunther.
“It seems to me you are already risking their displeasure,” said Hamilton.
“How is that?” asked Gunther.
“You are holding one of their females,” she said.
“Perhaps I should kill you here, now,” said Gunther.
“They would still follow you,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton looked into the muzzle of Gunther’s pistol. She saw the finger tense on the trigger. Then Gunther thrust the pistol into the holster, and flung her to her feet, turning her about. He freed her wrists, and placed the handcuffs in the pouch on his belt.
“That you are here,” said Hamilton, “indicates that Herjellsen has solved the retrieval problem.” She smiled. “It would be one thing to maroon a female, a mere experimental animal, in time, but quite another to maroon his two esteemed male colleagues. When are you to be retrieved, and from what point?”
“Do you wish to be retrieved with us?” asked Gunther.
“No,” said Hamilton.
“You are mad,” said William.
“Perhaps,” laughed Hamilton.
“You whore!” snarled Gunther.
“Perhaps,” said Hamilton.
“We can take you with us by force,” said Gunther.
“I would not advise the attempt,” said Hamilton.
“Here,” said William,” “you are only a slave.”
“Was I less a slave, even when putatively free, in my own world?” asked Hamilton.
“What if Herjellsen,” said William, “Brenda, has not solved the retrieval problem?”
Brenda looked at him, puzzled.
“Your joke, William,” said Gunther, “is a poor one.”
William did not meet his eyes. He was silent.
“The retrieval problem, as you conjectured, Brenda,” said Gunther, “is solved, else we would not have undertaken this journey.”
“What is your purpose here?” asked Brenda.
“As a female, it is not yours to inquire into the purposes of men,” said Gunther. “It is yours to obey. Do you understand, Brenda?”
“Yes, Gunther,” she said.
“You will take us to your group,” said Gunther. “In this we are determined. On this we will not compromise.”
“And if I do not?” she asked.
“You will be stripped and tied to a tree in the snow, and lashed with my belt,” said Gunther.
“And if, even then, I do not?” she asked.
“I shall strangle you,” he said, “and leave you in the snow.”
“Are bullets so precious?” she asked.
“Our supplies are limited,” said Gunther, “until the rendezvous for retrieval.”
“You leave me little choice, Gunther,” she said.
“I leave you the choices of a female slave,” he said, “which is what you are, absolute obedience or the shameful death of a slave girl who has failed to be pleasing.”
“I shall try to be pleasing,” she said. She smiled.
“Good,” said Gunther.
“I will help you if I can, Gunther,” she said, “but, truly, I think it would be best for you to avoid these men, at least those among whom I find myself slave. They are highly intelligent, dangerous men, and you, Gunther, and William, are strangers. I am a female. They found my body of interest, and so made me a slave, but you, you they might simply kill.”
“She is right,” said William. “Let us go away.”
“But she will intercede for us,” said Gunther.
“How weighty, Gunther,” she asked, “do you feel will be the intercession of a slave?”
“We will shoot our way out, if necessary,” said Gunther.
Hamilton smiled.
“Let us go away,” said William.
“She will speak for us,” said Gunther.
“Your lives would be in my hands,” said Hamilton, “for you do not know the language. Will I translate accurately for you? Will I tell them truly what you say, or you what they say?” Her eyes became hard. “Do not forget that it was you who by force cruelly exiled me to this time and place.”
“Please, Brenda,” said William. “Conjecture our situation.”
“You two, too, are now exiles in time,” said Hamilton. “Why should I help you?”
“Please, Brenda,” said William. “Our ammunition and food is limited. If we cannot make contact with some self-sustaining human group we shall surely, sooner or later, die.”
“No,” said Hamilton, “you can learn to hunt, too, with primitive weapons. You, too, can learn to live in this world.”
“But only as savages,” said William.
“Yes,” said Hamilton, “only as savages.”
“You must help us, please, Brenda,” said William.
Gunther again unsheathed the Luger. “. Kneel,” be said.
Obediently, commanded by a man, Brenda knelt.
“Open your mouth, bitch,” said Gunther.
She did so.
“Close your mouth,” said Gunther.
She did so, on the Luger’s barrel.
“You must clearly understand,” said Gunther, “that you are to help us. You will take us to the human group of which you are a member. At the first sign of any insubordination or treachery you will be immediately shot. I will blast the back of your neck out. Is this understood?”
He permitted her to open her mouth, and he removed the pistol from her mouth.
“Perfectly,” said Hamilton. “May I rise?”
“Get up,” said Gunther.
Hamilton got to her feet.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
Gunther seemed angry. “We entered this time, this place, at coordinates similar to yours. We then assumed you would travel south. We followed, for two days, certain natural geodesics. We saw, from a distance, cliffs. We made our way toward them. We found a trail, a woman’s trail, in the snow. We followed it. It was yours.”