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ISAAC ASIMOV?S
ROBOTS
IN TIME

by
WILLIAM F. WU



THE LAWS OF ROBOTICS

1.
A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2.
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3.
A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.




ISAAC ASIMOV?S
ROBOTS
IN TIME

EMPEROR

WILLIAM F. WU
Copyright й 1994

Databank by Matt Elson




This novel is dedicated to

The memory of my paternal grandfather, Yuan San Wu, who passed the story of the building of the Great Wall to me through my father


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; Ricia Mainhardt; Robert L. DeCandido of the New York Public Library (Research) Preservation Division, for assistance with the descriptions of papermaking; and John Betancourt, Leigh Grossman, Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Byron Preiss




1

R. Hunter sat in the office chair of Mojave Center Governor, the robot he had been assigned to reassemble. Hunter had to decide what appearance to use on his next mission. He wore his usual northern European physiognomy now, with short blond hair and blue eyes. A brawny six feet six inches tall, he had been designed with the ability to change his shape and appearance at will and might have to do so for the next trip back into the past, to China in 1290.