Other Time

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1984 by the literary estate of Mack Reynolds.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

  A Baen Book Baen Enterprises 8-10 W. 36th Street New York, N.Y. 10018

  First printing, December 1984.

  ISBN: 0-671-55926-5

  Cover art by Kevin Johnson Printed in the United States of America Distributed by SIMON & SCHUSTER MASS MERCHANDISE SALES COMPANY 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, N.Y. 10020

  A MESSAGE TO THE READER Before his death in 1983 after a long illness, Mack Reynolds had taken several novels to first-draft stage and then, perhaps driven by a sense of mortal urgency, gone on to the next. When it became clear that Mack would be unable to bring them to completion, I, with Mack's and later his estate's approval, commissioned Dean Ing to take the entire group to a fully polished state. Dean's purpose has not been to collaborate posthumously, but to finish them exactly as Mack Reynolds writing at the utter top of his form would have done.

  We believe that Dean has succeeded to an almost uncanny degree. For any writer, and particularly one of Ing's stature, to so subordinate his own authorial personality is a remarkable achievement.

  Requiescat in pacem, Mack.

  —Jim Baen

  I liked Mack; I liked the way he lived; and I liked his tequila. That's why...

  —Dean Ing

  Chapter One

  Donald Fielding went through the barrier and from his own spacetime continuum to the other time without knowing it.

  He had left the Land Rover camper, possibly two hours earlier, to strike out on foot over territory where even that rugged vehicle couldn’t go. Although it was early August, the mornings in the area of Mexico where the States of Tlaxcala and Vera Cruz meet can be cold and he had left his sun helmet back in the car, not thinking he would need it. But now the sun was nearly overhead and he could definitely feel its rays. Old Sol can be brutal in the clear Mexican air at an altitude of ten thousand feet.

  So it was that he blamed his feeling of faintness and the nausea on sunstroke. There seemed to be a sort of shimmering effect in the air, a hazy blurriness, and for a time, he decided, he must have blanked out. He looked about him and couldn’t recognize his surroundings. He must have stumbled around a bit, only semiconscious. His brain felt melted.

  He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, brought forth his bandana, and tied it over his short cropped hair. He had better get back to the Land Rover and drive into nearby Jalapa, or possibly Vera Cruz, if he could make it.

  He had evidently got quite a bit of sun and it wouldn't hurt to check it out with a doctor before continuing his explorations. He had been a fool not to bring his hat; he had been on enough field expeditions in various parts of Mexico to know better. However, he hadn't figured on being away from his vehicle this long. One thing had led to another.

  His theory was that the archeologists had miscalculated on their maps the extent of the domains of the Tlaxcala Confederation and portrayed the area the four tribes occupied as considerably smaller than these traditional enemies of the Aztecs really occupied. He was seeking proof that some of their towns had extended down this far toward the coast and into what was now the State of Vera Cruz. With luck, he hoped to run into ruins of one of the minor Tlaxcalan villages. But thus far the luck eluded him and his Mexican vacation was about over. He would have to get back to his teaching job in Austin.

  Assistant Professor Donald Fielding had taken his doctorate in ethnology and was a specialist in Mexican cultures. He had also studied quite a bit of archeology and usually spent his vacations in various areas of Mexico.

  He came to a rise in the ground and stared out over the barren countryside. He still couldn't place his location. And he couldn't spot the Land Rover. Damn it, how far had he wandered while under the effect of the sun?

  He looked out over the horizon and distinguished the almost nineteen-thousand-foot former volcano, Mt. Orizaba, some miles to the south and west. Well, that gave him direction. He had walked west from the car. He brought out his small pocket compass and double-checked. All right, the Land Rover must be over that way.

  Don Fielding had always prided himself on his sense of direction. So it was that he must have spent two hours looking for his camper before admitting he was hopelessly lost.

  Well, not hopelessly. He knew the area he was in enough to be able to strike out in the general direction of the town of Coatepec which he was using for his base. Sooner or later, he would run into a path or minor road. Sooner or later, he would get to Coatepec where he could hire a truck or something to take him to get his camper. It was damned irritating was all, and he still felt nauseated.

  He hadn't even had the good sense to bring his canteen along on his tramp. Undoubtedly, the touch of sun had brought on his current thirst. Lank and on the lean side—he looked like Gary Cooper but didn't know it—Don Fielding didn't usually perspire very much. Well, in an hour or so he'd probably run into some sort of human habitation. He'd have to take his chances with the water, running the risk of getting the Aztec two-step-, since it hadn't occurred to him to carry his halazone tabs along with him.

  Even as he walked toward the east, he checked what he did have. His clothes, of course. Good heavy-duty stuff, including a khaki bush jacket. His friends laughed at him, claimed he wanted to look like Papa Hemingway, especially when he wore the sun helmet. However, he was interested in the practicality. The bush jacket had four big pockets and you could stash almost as much in them as you could in a small pack.

  Right now, there was precious little in them. He hadn't carried any food at all. Not even a candy bar for quick energy. He had a pack and a half of cigarettes, two folders of book matches, his wallet with both Mexican and American money, his wristwatch, a Swiss-army-type pocket knife with its multiplicity of blades and tools and minor gadgets, and his pocket compass. On his left hip he carried an army surplus entrenching tool in its khaki case and on his right a holstered .22 automatic, the very small Italian Beretta type. The entrenching tool unfolded in such a manner that you could utilize it either as a spade or a hoe. He used it for digging around such ruins' as he found. The gun was for snakes. He had a box of shells for it in his shirt pocket; about forty-five rounds were still left, counting those in the gun.

  He came to a dirt path, mentally flipped a coin, then turned right on it.

  Fifteen minutes later he came over a hill and discovered a village next to a minor stream.

  Calling it a village was stretching a point. It was actually one large building, reminiscent of some of the ruins of the Pueblo Indians in the American Southwest. It was obviously adobe, quadrangular, about two hundred feet to the side, with a courtyard in the center. One story high, the fifty or so rooms all opened into the courtyard.

  He stood there for a moment and took it in. It was unbelievably primitive. No windows, no doors, no chimneys. In one comer of the courtyard was an improvised outdoor kitchen, women bustling around it. Other women were coming up from the stream, carrying water in the pots on their shoulders or atop their heads. He had seen similar dress in the back areas of Yucatan and Chiapas, but never this far north. They all wore the cueitl, an ankle-length undershirt, and the poncholike huipil, a rectangular piece of cloth with a slit through which the head passed, the sides sewn except for armholes.

  There was a multitude of children running and screaming in their play or rolling about in the dust. There were a few dozen turkeys pecking around, but, to Don's surprise, none of the moth-eaten dogs, which usually abounded in a Mexican vi
llage, to come forth and bark and growl their defiance of the stranger, though not usually brave enough to attack. The children were naked, and as he approached he noted that they were almost universally afflicted by an eye disease.

  There were but a few men around, most of them old. Don imagined that the able-bodied were out in the fields.

  As he came closer, he realized that he could not see a single item of store-bought clothing or shoes—surprising even this far back in the hills. Denims and work shoes had come to Mexico with a vengeance years before. You seldom witnessed the picturesque homemade costumes of the past. Automated textile factories had taken over.

  So far as shoes were concerned, everyone went barefooted. No, that old man, seated up against the wall, wore what looked like sandals made of maguey fibers.

  A ten-year-old spotted him and sent up a cry. All eyes zeroed in on the stranger and activity slid to a halt. He came to the large gate which opened into the courtyard and stood there politely. The Mexican, even the most backward, is long on the amenities.

  A younger man came out of one of the rooms, a staff in one hand. When he came closer, his eyes popping at Don Fielding, it could be seen that the end of the staff had been sharpened and charred in the fire. It was, Don supposed, meant to be a weapon, a spear. Evidently these people were too poverty-stricken to afford even a few shotguns for game.

  Don said in Spanish, "Good afternoon; I have lost my way. Could you tell me how to get to Coatepec?"

  The other stared at him blankly. He took in Don's clothing. He had obviously never seen such an outfit, including the paratrooper-type boots Don wore.

  It came to Don Fielding that they were even. He had never seen an outfit like the other's either, even in the backwaters of Chiapas or the Yucatan jungles where the natives still lived as had their ancestors and still largely dressed the same. He recognized the other's garb, but only through his studies. The man wore a maxtli, the Mexican version of the loincloth, a cincture that was passed between the legs and brought up about the waist, its two ends hanging in front and back. This one was embellished fairly attractively. He also wore a tilmantli, a mantle, which was a rectangular piece of woven cloth tied over one shoulder.

  It was probably made from the coarse fibers of the maguey, Don decided.

  He decided also that he had hit upon an absolute treasure. He would wow them up in Austin. They would send an expedition down to research the place. This was by far the most primitive settlement he had ever seen in Mexico. In the backwaters of the country were some fabulously primitive communities, but he had never seen anything like this. It was an anthropologist's dream.

  He said again, in Spanish, "Good afternoon."

  He doubted that he was in any physical danger, even if he hadn't had the gun. The Mexican peon is a passive type. The crime rate in the smaller hamlets was all but nonexistent. Except in Guerrero, of course, and some parts of Chihuahua.

  The other was still blank.

  It came to Don Fielding, with another thrill of surprise, that he had stumbled upon one of those communities where Spanish was not spoken. He had heard about them, had even been in one or two where Spanish was little understood, compared with the old Indian tongue, but if this young man didn't have Spanish, he doubted if anyone else in the village did.

  Texas University at Austin supported the world's finest array of pre-Columbian studies. Even so, Don's Nahuatl dialect was tentative and ragged.

  He said carefully in Nahuatl, "I am a stranger. I have become lost and wish to have directions to Coatepec."

  The other said, in Nahuatl, "Magician, this is Coatepec."

  Don shot a quick look around. Possibly the whole area was called Coatepec, as well as the town, something like the name "Travis County" back home. Or possibly he wasn't getting through. However, on some of his other field expeditions he'd had no difficulty using Nahuatl among Indians. There were tens of thousands of people within a hundred miles of Mexico City who spoke no other language even in this day. He wasn't particularly happy about the other calling him a magician. It was the equivalent of witch or warlock. They still believed in witches in wide areas of Mexico, and feared them. And a fearful man is a dangerous man.

  Don said, "I am not a magician, only a stranger from los Estados Unidos, the United States. I seek only some water, perhaps something to eat, and the directions to the big town of Coatepec."

  By this time at least two hundred others—women, children, and a few elderly men—had gathered and were pop-eyeing him. They were largely silent and, it came to him, fearful. Fearful of a solitary stranger? Inwardly, he shrugged.

  The other made a gesture that would have done credit to a gentleman of the Renaissance. "You are a traveler. Coatepec is yours."

  He turned and led the way and Don Fielding followed. Almost ten years before, while he was still a student, he had made a trip through Turkey, spending a summer researching the Hittites. He had found incredible hospitality in isolated villages. Invariably he had been taken to the local headman's home, and invariably all the hospitality available had been extended to him. He was a traveler, and hence a gentleman, and was put up at the headman's home, fed, and otherwise refreshed, the otherwise including the presence of one of the maids to warm his bed at night with such treatment as he had never known in his own land. In primitive societies hospitality is the rule. It must be. The host today might be a traveler tomorrow.

  His guide said, "I am Cuatlazol, Magician."

  Don had expected him to be Manuel, or Jose, or even Jesus, but he said, "I am Don Fielding."

  "A rare name," Cuatlazol said, nodding his head politely. "I will take you to the Tlachochcalcatl."

  Don Fielding knew the term, though he had never been exposed to it before in a Mexican town. It meant, roughly, the head chief, but he hadn't expected it to be applied to as small a settlement as this. He would really wow them in Austin when he reported this community. Jerry Black would go green.

  The Tlachochcalcatl sat, cross-legged, on a mat in a room which was probably larger than most of the others in the pueblo. The only light was that which came through the doorway. He was a man of forty-odd which, Don Fielding knew, was beyond par for a Mexican in these primitive towns. He was gray of hair, wrinkled, and had an air of apprehension when Don was presented.

  What was there about the aborigine that his eyes shifted in discomfort upon meeting the more civilized man? Don Fielding had run into it before. There is often a dignity, possibly beyond that of a city-reared sophisticate, but there is also a discomfort.

  Cuatlazol said, respect for his chief in his voice, "The stranger magician is named Don Fielding, O Tlachochcalcatl. He says that he seeks Coatepec."

  The older man nodded, but a frown came to his wrinkled face. "But this is Coatepec, Magician. Why should you seek us?"

  Damn. It would seem unlikely that two villages would have the identical name in the same vicinity. Don grimaced and thought about it.

  He said finally, "I am no magician, simply a traveler. But then where is the nearest big town?"

  The old man nodded again and pointed. "A day's journey toward the sea, Zempoala."

  Cempoala! The chief had given it the old Nahuatl pronunciation. Why, it must be thirty miles.

  "Not Jalapa?"

  The village chief looked over at Cuatlazol, who shook his head, then back at Don Fielding.

  "I have never heard of this Jalapa, Magician."

  Don sighed and gave up. He said, "May I have water and perhaps a little to eat? Then I'll go on."

  Behind them, the inhabitants of the community building had crowded not too far from the doorway; though highly curious, they evidently did not wish to be too unsafely near the mysterious stranger.

  The old man clapped his hands. "Food and drink for the magician!"

  Evidently they were sticking to their guns. A magician he remained, no matter how he might deny it.

  Several of the women scurried away to return in moments with an earthenware jug of water, a
platter of the largest tortillas that Don had ever seen, and a bowl which, by the aroma, contained chili and beans.

  There was no furniture in the room whatsoever, not to speak of table and chair, nor were there any utensils. Don brought forth his Swiss gadget knife and opened up the spoon. He took the jug of water first and, with a sigh for his halazone pills, drank down a considerable quantity. He could worry about getting turista later. He needed the water, particularly if he was going to take off across the country again.

  They watched, wide-eyed, as he took up one of the tortillas, folded it into fours, dipped into the bowl of beans and peppers with his spoon, and began to eat. It came to him that they were probably so backward that they had no eating instruments and probably dipped up their food with a tortilla. Well, he had seen that before, further to the south.

  The beans were surprisingly good and well flavored, although there didn't seem to be any meat or fat whatsoever. He wondered at the fact that they didn't seem to have pigs. He couldn't recall ever having seen a Mexican settlement, no matter how small, without a host of scrawny, tick-ridden hogs rooting around.

  He stood there, eating out of the bowl which the Indian woman still held for him, until he was satisfied. He folded two more of the large tortillas into small rectangles and put them into a top pocket of his bush jacket just for luck. He folded the spoon back into the overgrown knife, returned it to his pocket, and turned to the chief.

  He brought his wallet forth and extracted a ten-peso note. That should be plenty, a few cents American but probably a small fortune here. He handed it to the chief.

  The other looked at it and blinked. He turned it over and looked at the other side, then up at Don again.

  "But what is this, O Magician?"

  Don said, "A slight gift, in return for your hospitality."

  "But what is it, Magician?"

  Then it came to Don. He had run into this once in the rear areas of Chiapas where he had been investigating some Mayan ruins. They didn't trust paper money. He took the bill back and fished into his pants pocket and came up with four pesos, a fifty-centavo piece, and three twenties. He handed them over. It was the total of the change he had.