'Too bad. The two weeks we spend here will also pass in the twenty-first century. They're gone. Once a link's established, it determines which destinations are acces-sible.'
'We're getting side tracked,' said Rick. 'How do you know all this? What's your involvement?'
'That's easy to explain,' said Joe. 'Green and Sam didn't trust each other. Green refused to come here unless he had his own pilot. I got mixed up in this because I was the guy Sam trained.'
'So he trusted you.'
'Hardly. I pieced together most of what I know from things he let slip. If he hadn't thought I was as dumb as a dog, he might have been more guarded. As far as trust-ing me—he taught me as little as possible. I only learned how to shuttle between Montana Isle and our time. Those are the only coordinates I have.'
'Green spoke about 'gaps' in his knowledge',' said Rick. 'That's what he must have meant.'
'Fat chance of filling them,' said Joe. 'Ignorance sees easy solutions for all problems. Sam thought he could control Green by keeping him in the dark. In doing so, he underestimated Green's capacity for self-delusion. A fatal error, I suspect.'
'You mean ...'
'Green decided Sam was unnecessary. One day Sam was gone and the time machine was still there,' said Joe. 'You do the math.'
'And you work for him,' said Rick with disgust.
'Yeah, I do,' said Joe with resignation. 'But not for long. Soon, I'll be free of him. Sam's people will see to that.'
'I thought their hands were tied, that's what Green said.'
'That's his ignorance talking. They'll get him, all right. They know they have to. That's why Sam was so anxious to hide out here. Our own time is much more accessible to them. Even as we speak, they're scanning history for clues . . . sending probes . . . employing tech-nologies we can't even imagine ... and on top of all that, they have time. They can take centuries to track down Green, then show up the instant he returns to our time.'
The moonlight reflected off Joe's eyes as they bored into Rick's. 'You don't have to stop Green,' he said.
'Others will do that. All you have to do is bide your time.' Joe continued studying Rick's face. 'You'd like to believe me,' he said, 'but you're not sure you can.'
'I believe you,' said Rick.
'Ever play poker?'
'No.'
'Good thing. You'd be lousy. I can read your face like a book.'
Rick looked away. 'You're not the first to say that.'
'Soon as I saw you on the beach, I knew something was up. After that, it was only a matter of waiting for you to make your move.'
'Why did you interfere?'
'If I thought you could have pulled it off, I probably wouldn't have stopped you.'
'So, it was to save my life?' asked Rick dubiously.
'Not just yours. Once Green took care of you, he would have tidied up. Other people could get hurt.'
'Including you.'
'Me?' said Joe cynically. 'I'm the only one that's safe. Green needs me. I'm his pilot.' Rick was seized by a sudden sense of failure, that he had been called to face evil and had not measured up.
Joe read his downcast expression. 'Don't be hard on yourself. Be proud you're not a killer,' said Joe.
