“Inland, huh?” Steve said.
“Aye, mate. We’ll visit their back door.” Captain Morgan winked and strolled away.
Rita moved again, to remain out of his sight.
“Rita,” Hunter said quietly. “Do you know where MC 2 is now? Is he with the fleet at all?”
“I don’t know for sure,” said Rita. “But Wayne said I was a hostage. I asked him what he wanted with me and he said he would trade me to you in exchange for MC 2 and a promise not to interfere with him. He kept saying he didn’t want to hurt me. He only wanted his robot back.” She hesitated. “You know, when he and Captain Tomann first locked me up, Wayne was very forceful-he seemed to know what he was doing. The last time he talked to me, I got the feeling he wasn’t too sure anymore.”
Steve looked at Hunter. “So Wayne doesn’t have MC 2 yet. But MC 2 could be anywhere.”
“Maybe Roland has him again,” said Hunter. “Roland knows that MC 2 will follow his instructions. Maybe they are together on a ship in the fleet.”
“Rita, how well does this voyage go?” Steve asked. “Does Morgan do okay?”
“Yes, he does very well.”
“I am continuing to radio MC 2 occasionally,” said Hunter. “No response, of course, or I would have told you about it. Still, we should turn our attention to the Hungry Hawk again.”
“Do you want to swim over there and look for him?” Steve asked.
“No. The captains will be back on their ships soon. So will the foraging crews and I do not want to be caught sneaking around over there while you three are still on board here. We could all row there, but we might not find MC 2 on the ship after all. Then we would still have to answer to the buccaneers for our presence if they found us there.”
“They wouldn’t take kindly to that,” said Rita. “Treachery is common among buccaneers and they aren’t too patient when they believe they’ve found it.”
“I understand,” said Hunter. “For now, I will have to wait. I believe that my next opportunity will arrive when we anchor south of Portobelo.”
The foraging crews brought back as many birds and bananas as they could carry on the longboats, along with the kegs refilled with fresh water. On land, it would not have been a remarkable meal, but after a week on shipboard, the buccaneers considered it a welcome change. As the sun went down, they roasted the birds on deck. Captain Morgan broke out some carefully measured rations of the rum that had been kept in reserve. They ate and drank and sang, preparing themselves for the fight that would be coming soon.
Hunter, Steve, and Jane kept Rita away from the buccaneers at first. As twilight fell, and the buccaneers drank more, the team brought Rita closer to them. They shared quietly in the meal and none of the buccaneers took any special notice of Rita.
Hunter observed that Captain Morgan drank little himself and had served rum rations that were quite modest. The reason became clear later that night, when the captain used signal lanterns to order the fleet to sail on the night tide. The crew was in condition to respond, and Hunter saw the lights of the other ships follow them.
The voyage remained uneventful until the fleet anchored once again, two days later. They stopped off a jungle-covered coast that was little different from that of Costa Rica. As before, Hunter compared his internal map with the direction and speed of the ship and confirmed that they were off the coast of Panama.
The sun blazed low in the west. Captain Morgan gave orders to row supplies and crew members ashore in the longboats. Some buccaneers on every ship eagerly began lowering the boats. Others ran to fetch crates of weapons or kegs of gunpowder and shot.
“Hunter,” said Steve, quietly. “What shall we do?”
“I am radioing MC 2 again, but he is still not answering. I am not sure what to do. Rita, what will happen next?”
“Unloading all the ships will take several hours. Then Captain Morgan will leave a substantial rear guard camped on shore to protect the ships from any unforeseen threat. He will take the majority of the buccaneers north up the coast, to the mouth of a river. Portobelo is a short distance upstream on the river.”
“Our best move will depend on MC 2,” said Hunter. “If he remains on the Hungry Hawk, then we will have to go there. If he goes ashore, then we should too. Or maybe he is not with the fleet at all.”
“The Hungry Hawk is lowering its longboat,” said Jane, pointing. “Hunter, can you make out any individuals on deck over there?”
Hunter looked, magnifying his vision. Most of the crew was on deck, and two of the small figures by the rail were familiar. “Yes! I can see both Roland and MC 2. They are preparing to go ashore. We will do so too.”
“Let’s get to work, then,” said Steve. “I think our best chance to get MC 2 is coming up.”
The team joined the buccaneers who were loading supplies into longboats. As each longboat was filled, a buccaneer would sit down with each oar and begin rowing away. By then, longboats from all the anchored ships were heading for land.
Hunter and his team eventually took their turn joining buccaneers in the crew of a longboat. Hunter sat in the stern, with Rita next to him and Steve and Jane behind them. The waves were moderate, and the wind helped carry them as they rowed.
While Hunter drew on his oar, he kept an eye on Roland and MC 2 in the distance. He had not yet seen Wayne leave the Old Laughing Lady. Wayne, of course, might remain on board during the entire raid on Portobelo.
Soon Roland and MC 2 were also rowing toward shore as part of a longboat crew. Hunter saw that they would not arrive for several minutes after his own boat. Other buccaneers had already landed, beaching their boats and unloading them again.
When Hunter felt the bottom of the boat scrape the sand, he and the others jumped out into the surf to lighten the load. The buccaneers in the front took the bowline and pulled; Hunter and his team pushed the stern until the longboat ran aground again, this time in the breaking surf. As the water splashed all around them, they began to unload the crates and kegs.
When the longboat was empty, the crew pulled it completely out of the water and tied it securely to a tree with the others. Most of the buccaneers had broken into the kegs and were taking shares of gunpowder and shot for themselves. Hunter drew his team aside, unnoticed.
“Rita, I want your opinion about buccaneer values,” said Hunter.
“What do you mean?”
“Suppose that all four of us were to jump on MC 2, so that I can trigger our immediate return to our own time. Would the buccaneers join the brawl? If so, I would not be able to return us without the danger of taking some of the buccaneers, too. I cannot risk that.”
“I can’t tell,” said Rita. “They’re just too unpredictable. No ship captains have come ashore yet, so they aren’t here to give orders. And they’ve known Roland longer than they’ve known any of us.”
“Then we cannot risk rushing MC 2,” said Hunter.
“Hasn’t MC 2 seen you already?” Steve asked. “Won’t he just take off into the jungle when he lands?”
“I do not believe he has that choice,” said Hunter. “I am certain that Roland has once again taken over control of MC 2 under Second Law instructions. Since those override the Third Law imperative for MC 2 to save himself, he has to obey Roland rather than flee from us.”
“Wait a minute,” said Jane. “What if Roland hasn’t told him he can’ t run away?”
“If he runs, I can catch him,” said Hunter. “It may be best for us if he does. In that event, you three should follow us as best you can. I do not expect a problem with your safety if you do not participate in assaulting Roland; in any event, I will be very close. Rita, turn on your lapel pin now so that I can hear whatever takes place around you. I will return if the First Law requires it.”