Wayne let Ishihara do most of the work in their day’s search. He knew that Ishihara could turn up the sensitivity of his sight and hearing to find MC 4 and nothing Wayne could do was the equal of that. So he spent most of his time just holding his cloak as tight as he could.

Leutnant Mohr rarely spoke as he dutifully led his guests through the tents and up and down the lines. Wayne became sure that the Nazi command had ordered Leutnant Mohr to be very careful with them. If they proved legitimate, then Oberst Schepke wanted to be able to prove later that he had cooperated with them fully. At the same time, he wanted to distance himself from the strangers in case they were phony. As a result, Leutnant Mohr did not spend much time talking to soldiers or letting them see inside tents. He gave them a perfunctory tour of the grounds that did not accomplish very much.

At one point late in the day, Ishihara stopped and looked east. Wayne saw only open, frozen ground. He waited to see what Ishihara would do.

“Lieutenant,” said Ishihara, in English.

“Yes?”

“How far is the actual front line?”

“This encampment is roughly a half kilometer from the front,” said Leutnant Mohr, squinting into the distance himself. “We are in Panzer Group 3, a mere twenty kilometers or so from Moscow itself.”

“Straight east of here?” Ishihara asked.

“So we are told.”

“How long since anybody moved?” Wayne asked.

“Excuse me?” Leutnant Mohr stiffened.

“How long have you held this position, without advancing?” Wayne turned to look at him pointedly.

“We are searching for a spy, not discussing military matters.” Leutnant Mohr fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Lieutenant.” Wayne used his most authoritative tone of voice and tried to think like one of the German military men. “I want to know if that spy is gaining information of value-how fresh it is, or how old. It bears directly on our purpose. Now answer my question.”

“Well-the front moved slowly during the fall. The camp doesn’t move as often, of course. We advance the camp after the front is secure.”

Wayne looked around again. He could see the German tanks lined up in rows, sitting cold, with looked to him as if it was freezing in place.

“Have you received any orders about advancing?” Ishihara asked.

“We have been told we will spend the winter in Moscow,” Leutnant Mohr said cautiously. His young face looked unsure as he glanced toward the empty horizon again.

Wayne caught Ishihara’s glance and understood the point behind his question. They had come here because Wayne had expected MC 4 to attempt stopping the German advance. Wayne considered it a likely imperative under the First Law. However, if the German offensive had already stalled, then MC 4 had no need to influence them.

MC 4 might not be here at all.