The Return of Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future (21 page)

      
"May I join you?" he asked.

      
"Do you know Mikhail Mikva's whereabouts?" asked Dimitrios.

      
"No."

      
"Then no, you may not join us."

      
"But you
are
Dimitrios of the Three Burners, are you not?"

      
Dimitrios stared at him. "What's it to you?"

      
"We are in the same poem."

      
"Do you know the Rhymer?" asked Matilda suddenly.

      
"I know Dante Alighieri, who calls himself the Rhymer. It is he who put me in his poem."

      
"Sit down," said Matilda, ignoring Dimitrios' obvious annoyance.

      
The alien pulled up a chair and sat on it.

      
"Who are you?" asked Matilda.

      
"My name when I walk among Men is Blue Peter. And who are you?"

      
"My name is Matilda."

      
Blue Peter stared at her. "Waltzin' Matilda?"

      
"Sometimes."

      
"How very interesting that three of us from what is, after all, an obscure little poem so new almost no one has encountered it, should find ourselves on the same planet."

      
"Dimitrios is here on business. May I ask why
you
are here?"

      
"I was requested to leave Bowman 17, and since most of your spaceliners will not carry non-Men, I booked passage on a cargo ship. This was as far as my money took me."

      
"So you're stuck here?" asked Matilda.

      
"Until I obtain more money."

      
"How will you do that?"

      
"There are ways," said Blue Peter. He turned to Dimitrios. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

      
Dimitrios stared at the alien with an expression of distaste, then got to his feet. He turned to Matilda. "I'm going back to the hotel for a couple of hours before I make my rounds."

      
He walked out of the restaurant.

      
"He does not like me," said Blue Peter.

      
"He doesn't like most aliens."

      
"He has much in common with the rest of your race."

      
There was a momentary silence.

      
"I hope you're not waiting for me to apologize for him," said Matilda at last.

      
"No. I am wondering why you are here, since none of the establishments has advertised the presence of a dancer."

      
She looked at him, then shrugged. "What the hell, why not tell you? I'm looking for someone."

      
"You have become a bounty hunter too?"

      
She shook her head. "No."

      
"Who do you seek?"

      
"I don't know."

      
Blue Peter stared at her expressionlessly, his deep blue alien eyes unblinking. "That
does
make it harder," he said.

      
"You've seen many men on the Frontier," she began.

      
"That is true."

      
"Which of them is the most dangerous?"

      
"I am not sure I understand," said Blue Peter.

      
"The most deadly. The one man you would fear to fight more than any other."

      
"I fear to fight all men," said Blue Peter with an obvious lack of sincerity. "I fear Dimitrios. I fear Tyrannosaur Bailey. I fear Trader Hawke. I fear Mongasso Taylor. I fear Jimmy the Nail."

      
She sighed deeply. "Forget it. I'm sorry I asked."

      
"I fear the Plymouth Rocker. I fear Deuteronomy Pierce."

      
"You can stop now," said Matilda.

      
"But above all others," continued Blue Peter, "I fear the One-Armed Bandit."

      
"Oh?"

      
"Yes. He is the most terrifying of all Men."

      
"Why do you think so?"

      
"Because he is the deadliest."

      
"Tell me about him."

      
"I just did," said Blue Peter.

      
"Do you know where he is?"

      
"I know where he is when he is not elsewhere."

      
She frowned. "You mean his headquarters—his home planet?"

      
"His headquarters," agreed Blue Peter. "I do not think anyone except the One-Armed Bandit himself knows his home planet."

      
"And of all the men and women you've seen on the Inner Frontier, you consider him the most dangerous?"

      
"Yes."

      
"Even more dangerous than Dimitrios?"

      
"There is no comparison. If Dimitrios is your friend, pray that he never has to face the One-Armed Bandit in combat."

      
"He sounds interesting," said Matilda.

      
"He is deadly."

      
"The man I'm looking for must be deadly."

      
"You are already traveling with a deadly man," noted Blue Peter.

      
"Still, I'd like to meet this One-Armed Bandit."

      
"I will give you the location of his headquarters," said the alien. "I will not accompany you there. He has promised to kill me the next time he sees me."

      
"Why?"

      
"I did something to Galpos that he disapproved of."

      
"Galpos? Who's he?"

      
"Galpos is a world," said Blue Peter. "Or, rather, it was."

      
She stared at expressionless alien and decided she didn't want to know the details. "Where can I find him?"

      
"If he is not elsewhere, he will be on Heliopolis II."

      
"Thank you, Blue Peter. Can I buy you a drink?"

      
"My metabolism cannot cope with human intoxicants." He got to his feet. "There is a tavern that caters to non-Men. I was on my way there when I recognized Dimitrios of the Three Burners."

      
"I'm sorry you have to go alone," said Matilda.

      
"I will not be alone for long," Blue Peter assured her.

      
He stood up and walked to the door. Matilda was about to follow him out when she realized that she'd been left with the check. She placed her thumb on the table's computer, waited for it to okay her credit and transfer payment, and then returned to the hotel.

      
Dimitrios was sitting in the lobby when she arrived. She walked over and stood in front of him.

      
"What did the little blue bastard want?" asked the bounty hunter.

      
"He just wanted to meet us," she replied. "He's all alone here."

      
"Don't go feeling too sorry for him. He was kicked off Bowman 17, in case that got by you."

      
"I know." She paused.

      
"And he had two, maybe three, screechers hidden under that baggy outfit he was wearing."

      
"I know. I spotted them all."

      
"Five'll get you ten there's a price on his head."

      
"Probably," agreed Matilda. She paused. "What if you don't find Mikva tonight?"

      
He shrugged. "There are four more cities on Gandhi III. I'll check them out, one by one."

      
"That could take awhile."

      
"I've got plenty of time."

      
"I don't."

      
Dimitrios looked up at her curiously. "What are you getting at."

      
"I'm leaving here first thing in the morning," answered Matilda.

      
"Where to?"

      
"Heliopolis II."

      
"That's a couple of hundred light-years away—and you came here in my ship," he noted. "Just how do you plan to get to the Heliopolis system?"

      
"I'll get as close as a spaceliner will take me, which is probably the mining colony on Gregson VI."

      
"And then?"

      
"Then I'll rent or charter a small ship," said Matilda.

      
"You think you've found a candidate?"

      
"I've found one worth looking at."

      
"Care to tell me who it is?"

      
"The One-Armed Bandit."

      
"Yeah, I figured you'd go out after him sooner or later," said Dimitrios.

      
"Do you care to tell me anything about him?"

      
"I never met him. But they say he's formidable."

      
"So I hear."

      
"Well, as soon as I find Mikva, I'll hook up with you again."

      
"I'll look forward to it," she said, knowing full well that even if he found the man he was hunting for, some new ladykiller would take precedence over his joining her on Heliopolis.

      
Still, it didn't really matter. The Frontier needed a Santiago more than she needed a traveling companion. Maybe this would be the one.

14.

      
      
      
Heliopolis is its name;

      
      
      
Death and mayhem is its fame.

      
      
      
Death of hope and death of dreams,

      
      
      
Death of men and all their schemes.

      
That verse was true a thousand years before the first man set foot on Heliopolis II. It was true when Matilda arrived there. It was true when Dante Alighieri visited the place. It would be true a thousand years after both were dead. That's the kind of world it was.

      
To begin with, it was hot. The daytime temperature often reached 135 degrees Farenheit. At night it cooled done to a bone- melting 100.

      
It was heavy. At 1.18 Galactic Standard gravity, it meant you felt like you were carrying an extra 18 pounds for every 100 pounds of actual body weight.

      
It was thin. The oxygen content was 87% of Galactic Standard. Even strong fit men often found themselves gasping for breath, especially after exerting themselves in the Heliopolis II gravity.

      
It was dusty. The wind whipped across the barren surface of the planet, causing dust devils to rise hundreds of feet high as they swept through human and alien cities alike.

      
It was dry. Oh, there was
some
water, but hardly enough for the planetary populace. The natives made do with what was there; a water ship landed twice a week to make sure that the Men didn't run out of the precious stuff.

      
It was hostile. The native inhabitants, a humanoid race known as the Unicorns, doubtless due to the single rudimentary horn that grew out of each forehead, didn't like each other very much, and they liked Men even less. Almost everything Men did seemed to give offense, and no matter how often they lost their battles against the humans, they never tired of regrouping and fighting again.

      
So why did Men risk their lives and sacrifice their comfort to stay on Heliopolis II?

      
Simple. It possessed two of the most productive diamond pipes in the galaxy. The diamonds couldn't be mined with water, of course, not on Heliopolis II, but they could be separated from the rocks in which they were embedded by carefully-focused bursts of ultrasound. It was a delicate operation: not enough strength in the bursts and nothing was accomplished, too much and even the diamonds could be shattered.

      
It never occurred to the miners that the ultrasound, which was beyond human hearing, might be what was driving the Unicorns to such violent states of aggravation—and, in truth, it probably wasn't, since they were a violent sort even before Men began mining. Probably the ultrasound merely served to remind them that Men were still working on the planet, and that knowledge was more than enough to work them into a killing frenzy every few weeks.

      
Matilda hadn't spent as much as five minutes' researching Heliopolis II before she decided to rent a ship. It was more expensive than chartering one, but at least she would have the comforting knowledge that the ship was there if she needed to leave in a hurry.

      
As she approached the planet, she wondered why the One-Armed Bandit was there. Was he there to rob the mines? Well, if he was, she had no serious problem with that. The Democracy owned the mines, which meant he'd be robbing the Democracy, just as Santiago had done so many times more than a century ago.

      
Of course, if he was there to rob the mines, he'd probably accomplished his mission already and gone on to some other world. After all, her information wasn't current; all she knew is that he was on Heliopolis II six days ago.

      
On the other hand, the mines could be so well-guarded that he was still casing the job, still studying the opposition. If that was the case, she'd have a chance to see how he performed against overwhelming odds.