The Return of Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future by Mike Resnick Read Free Book Online

largest shrub undetected, then circled it, walked through the neighbor's yard—not undetected, but unhindered by an orange-skinned native gardener who stared at them for a moment and then went back to work—and then they were on the next street.
           They walked to a corner and summoned an aircab, then rode in silence to the spaceport. Dante waited while the robot driver scanned the cash he'd given it and made change. He looked around for the Duchess and saw that she was walking toward the spaceport's entrance. He quickly caught up with her, linked his arm with hers, and turned her so they were walking parallel to the large departure building.
           "What's the matter?" she complained.
           "If they're watching houses, they're watching the spaceport too," he said. "Don't be in such a hurry to walk right into their hands."
           "You've spotted them?" she asked as they walked past an upscale luggage store flanked by a pair of restaurants, one catering to humans, one to aliens.
           "I don't plan to get close enough to spot them. It's enough that I know they're there."
           "Then how are we going to get on the spaceliner that takes us away from here?" demanded the Duchess.
           "We're not going to take a spaceliner."
           "We're not?"
           "We never were," said Dante. He glanced carefully around to make sure they weren't being followed. "It's too dangerous to book passage on it—and why tell them where to find us? Even if God drops everything else and we make it out of here on a liner, they'll simply signal ahead to wherever it's bound and have their counterparts waiting for us."
           "I thought most Frontier worlds don't have police forces," she said.
           "So you'll be met by a couple of bounty hunters," he replied with a grimace. "Is that any better?"
           "Come on, Danny," she said, annoyed. "Why are you trying to scare me? You know we didn't do anything to put a dead-or-alive price on our heads."
           "You know it and I know it, but I don't think they're real fussy about that on the Frontier. If the reward isn't big enough, it's not cost-effective to keep you alive and deliver you back into the Democracy. That's another reason we want a private ship: we don't want anyone knowing where we're going."
           She frowned as the logic of his answer registered. "What the hell have you gotten me into?" she asked in panicky tones. "All I did was trip a man—and suddenly we're leaving Bailiwick and you're telling me that bounty hunters may want to kill me!"
           " I didn't get you into anything at all," said Dante. "I'm grateful that you tripped Balsam, but it was your idea. I think it was a fine idea, and it kept me out of jail, but it wasn't mine." He paused. "Try to calm down. Neither of us was doing all that well here. Maybe it's time to go to the Frontier and start over."
           "I was doing just fine!" she snapped.
           "Well, you can stay if you want . . ."
           "No!" she shouted.
           "Well, that's settled."
           "Some hero!" she muttered.
           "I'm no hero. I'm just a guy who's trying to get the hell off the planet before the police catch up with me." He spotted a small hotel that catered to travelers who were changing flights on Bailiwick, and began walking toward it. "And it's time I started putting the wheels in motion."
           "What are you going to do?" she asked, unable to slow down while their arms remained linked.
           "I thought I'd warn the spaceport that we're coming in," he said with a smile.
           "You're kidding, right?"
           "I was never more serious in my life."
           They reached the hotel, and Dante approached the front desk.
           "May I help you?" asked the robot clerk in obsequious tones.
           "Yeah. I want to contact the spaceport about my connecting flight.