Read Online Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future by Mike Resnick - Free Book Online Page A

long time ago,” he replied.
    “Anyway,” said the Sargasso Rose,
sipping her drink, “Duncan liked dealing with people more than I did, so he
became our front man for places like Port étrange and people like Stern.”
    “Then you made the initial contact with Santiago, not Black.”
    “Actually, Santiago made the
initial contact with me, ” she answered him. “Though
it took a few years before I knew beyond any doubt that I was dealing with
him.”
    “Have you ever met him?” asked
Cain.
    She shook her head. “No. Or
perhaps I should say, not to my knowledge.”
    “But you might have?”
    “Who’s to say?” she replied with a
shrug of her shoulders. “I met any number of people who delivered goods that
Santiago may have stolen—though in truth I can’t imagine why he would have
risked exposure by coming here.”
    “Do you know anyone who has
actually met him face to face?” persisted Cain.
    “Yes, I do.”
    “Who?”
    “Before I tell you, Mr. Cain,”
said the Sargasso Rose, “there are a few things I would like to know, just to
satisfy my own curiosity.”
    “Such as?”
    “You spent most of your young
manhood fighting to overthrow various governments. Santiago, to the best of my
knowledge, has primarily attacked and looted those enterprises that are owned
or controlled by the Democracy, or are at least vital to its well-being. You
were branded as a revolutionary, and once had a price on your head. The
magnitude of his actions is certainly far greater, but he might also be
considered a revolutionary, insofar as most of his crimes are against the State.
You have so many things in common with him that I’m just a little puzzled about
why you want so desperately to kill him.”
    “The bulk of his crimes are
committed against the Democracy simply because the Democracy has more assets
than any other potential target,” said Cain. “As for his being a revolutionary,
you might say the same for any train robber back on old Earth who ever robbed a
government payroll. The man’s a criminal, plain and simple.”
    “Have you ever known him to kill
anyone?” she asked.
    “He killed seventeen colonists on
Silverblue just last year,” replied Cain.
    “Rubbish!” said the Sargasso Rose.
“He hasn’t been to the Outer Frontier in years.”
    “You know that for a fact?” he
asked sharply.
    “Why else would the Angel have
moved into this area?” she replied.
    “Maybe he’s chasing him,”
suggested Cain.
    “You don’t believe that for a
moment. The Angel catches anyone he chases.”
    “He’s just a bounty hunter, not a
superman.”
    “You still haven’t told me why you
want to kill Santiago.”
    “Why does anyone want to kill him?” replied Cain with a smile. “There’s a hell of a big reward.”
    “That is not an acceptable
answer,” she said. “You are a very wealthy man, Mr. Cain, so surely money is
not your primary objective.”
    “Money is always an objective,”
said Cain. “And,” he added thoughtfully, “it would mean something.”
    “What would it mean?”
    “That I made a difference,” he
replied. “That just once, something I did mattered .”
    “How about the men you helped
place in positions of power?” asked the Sargasso Rose.
    “They were the wrong men,”
answered Cain wryly. “They won’t even be footnotes in the history books.”
    “And the criminals you’ve hunted
down?”
    “Even I hadn’t heard of most of them before I went after them.” He paused. “But
Santiago is different. He matters, so the man who brings
him down will matter, too.”
    She smiled. “So you want to be
written up in song and story yourself.”
    “I’ve been in a song. I don’t like it much.” He finished his drink. “I don’t care who else
knows what I did—just so long as I know it.”
    “Well, it’s a novel approach, I’ll
grant you that,” said the Sargasso Rose.
    “Now let me ask you a question,”
said Cain.
    “We haven’t settled on a price
yet,” she