"Morning, Malcolm."

He turned to find Skeeter Jackson, clad elegantly in a Greek-style chiton. He held back a groan and forced a smile. "Morning, Skeeter." After the brief handclasp, he counted his fingernails.

Skeeter nodded to Malcolms tunic. "I see you're trying the slave-guide routine." Brown eyes sparkled. "Great stains. I'll have to get your recipe sometime." Skeeter's wide smile, which was, as far as anyone had ever been able to tell, the only genuine thing about him, was infectious.

"Sure," Malcolm laughed. "One quart liquefied mare's dung, two quarts sour Roman wine, and three pints Tiberian mud. Spread carefully with an artist's brush, let dry for two weeks, then launder in cold water. Works wonders on raw wool."

Skeeter's eyes had widened. "Gad. You're serious." His own garments, as always, were fastidiously neat and apparently new. Where he'd obtained them, Malcolm didn't want to know. "Well, good luck," Skeeter offered "I have an appointment to keep." He winked. "See you around."

The slim young man grinned like an imp counting damned souls and slipped off into the growing crowd, Malcolm surreptitiously checked his belt pouch to be sure the battery-powered engraver and business cards were still there.

"Well," he told himself, "at least he never seems to roll one of us 'eighty-sixers." He glanced at one of several dozen chronometers which depended from the distant ceiling and checked the countdown on Gate Six.

Time to get to work.

The crowd was growing denser. The noise volume increased exponentially. Hired baggage handlers worked to balance awkward loads comprised of odd-sized parcels and sacks and leather satchels, while Time Tours guides double-checked their customer lists and gave last-minute instructions. Ticket takers at the entrance to Gate Six's main ramp waved through a couple of company executives on their way to check the upper platform. Already Malcolm estimated the crowd at some seventy-five people.

"Too big for a tour group," he muttered. Time Tours, Inc. was getting greedy. The noise of tourist voices and baggage handlers grunting at their work bounced off girders high overhead and reverberated, creating a roar of confused echoes. At least with a group this size, he ought to be able to find something. He plastered a hopeful smile on his face, fished into the leather pouch at his waist for business cards, and got busy.

"Hello," he introduced himself to the first prospect, extending a hand to a tall, robust man whose tan and fair hair said "California tycoon." "Please allow me to introduce myself. Malcolm Moore, freelance guide."

The man shook his hand warily, then glanced at the business card he'd proffered. It read:

Malcolm Moore, Time Guide

Rome AD 47 3 London 1888 3 Denver 1885

Other Destinations Available upon Request

Experience Adventure without the Hassle of a Tour Schedule!

Private Side Tours and In-Depth Guide Services for

Individuals, Families, Students, Business Groups

Best Rates in Shangri-la

Contact: TT-86 Room 503, #111-1814

The tycoon scanned his card and glanced back up. "You're a freelancer?" The tone was more dubious than ever.

"My specialty is ancient Rome," Malcolm said with a warm, sincere smile. "I hold a Ph.D. in Classics and Anthropology and have nearly seven years experience as a guide. The formal tour," he nodded toward uniformed Time Tours employees taking tickets and answering questions, "includes the Circus Maximus chariot races and gladiatorial combats, but Time Tours is bypassing the extraordinary experience of the..."

"Thank you," the man handed back the card, "but I'm not interested."

Malcolm forced the smile to remain. "Of course. Some other time, perhaps."

He moved on to the next potential customer. "Please allow me to introduce myself..."

Begging never got any easier.

Given the chill of this crowd, Time Tours had been poisoning their customers against freelancers. Skeeter Jackson, drat the boy, seemed to be doing fine, whatever he was up to in that far corner. His smile glowed brighter than the overhead lights.

By the time the countdown clock read T-minus-ten minutes, Malcolm had begun to consider offering his services as a baggage handler just to pick up enough cash for a few meals, but a man had his pride. Malcolm was a guide and a damned good one. If he lost what was left of his reputation as a professional, his life here would be over. He scanned the crowd from one edge, counting heads and costumes, and decided glumly that he had, in fact, talked to everyone.

Well ...damn.

A desperate attempt to hold onto the shreds of his dignity sent Malcolm in retreat. He retired from the immediate vicinity of Gate Six, accompanied by a return of nagging worries about how he might pay for his room and the next few meals. Overriding that; Malcolm suffered a keen disappointment that had very little to do with money or the loss of his old, full-time job. Malcolm Moore had no idea how guides for the big outfits like Time Tours felt; but for him, stepping through a portal into another century was a thrill better than eating regularly, almost better than sex.

It was that thrill which kept him at TT-86, working every departure, no matter the destination, for the chance to try it again.

Malcolm headed for the shadows of a vine-draped portico, close enough to Gate Six to watch the fun, but far enough away to avoid attracting attention from friends who would want to sympathize. Montgomery Wilkes, looking very out of place in his dark, up-time uniform, strode through the crowd with the singular intensity of a charging rhino. Even tourists scuttled out of his way. Malcolm frowned. What was Wilkes doing out of his inner sanctum? La-La Land's head ATF agent never attended a Gate opening. He glanced again at the nearest overhead chronometer board and found the answer.

Ah...

Primary, too, was due to cycle. He'd forgotten in the hustle of trying to line up a job that a new batch of tourists would be arriving today from a time. Malcolm rubbed the tip of his nose and smile A double-gate day ...Maybe there was hope, after all. Even without a job, it ought to be fun.

Down at Gate Six, last-minute purchases we're in full swing. Strolling vendors worked the crowd efficiently, burdened down with everything from ropes of "safe sausages to extra leather satchels for souvenirs, the latest "must-have" survival junk, and local coinage for those stupid enough to leave money exchanges to the last minute.

Malcolm wondered if he should consider a career as a vendor? They always seemed to do well and it would be steady work. Connie, maybe, would give him a job. He shook his head absently as he watched everything from last-minute mugs of coffee to tawdry bits of jewelry exchange hands. Nah, he'd get bored too quickly trying to hold down a mundane job, even here. Setting up his own shop was out of the question. Besides the question of higher rent for business space and all that hideous government paperwork to cope with, where would he get the capital to buy inventory? Investors weren't interested in ex-guides, they wanted shrewd business acumen and plenty of sales management experience.

Of course, he could always go back to time scouting.

Malcolm glanced involuntarily toward the nearest barricades. The area had been fenced off because the gate hadn't yet been explored or was inherently unstable. Malcolm had risked down-time explorations into unknown gates as a freelance time scout only twice. A stray shiver crawled up his spine. Kit Carson, the first and best-of all the time scouts, was famous all over the world. And damned lucky to be alive. Malcolm wasn't exactly a coward, but time scouting was not Malcolm's idea of a sane career. He was more than happy to settle for rubbing shoulders with giants and sharing war-stories with the real heroes of TT-86 over beer and pretzels.