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

with the Duchess. A moment later they were inside the room, and she was starting to assemble her list of possible ships on Dante's computer while he stood by the window, looking out at the rows of private ships across the street. There was a sparkling force field surrounding the area, but he spotted the entrance, recognized the locking mechanism, knew he could break its code, and nodded in satisfaction.
           Then he walked over to the large bed and lay down on it, cupping his hands behind his head. He wanted to read more of the poem, but he knew it would only annoy the Duchess, so he simply stared at her as she worked. Finally she put the computer down and turned to him. "I've got the perfect ship," she announced.
           "Perfect in what way?" asked Dante.
           "It's a six-man ship, so there will be plenty of room. Three sleeping cabins and a fully-equipped galley. Owned by a mining baron from Goldstrike, which is 'way into the Inner Frontier. Refreshed its atomic pile this morning, but it's not due to leave until tomorrow afternoon." She paused. "And best of all, it's close ! You can see it from the window!"
           He walked over.
           "See that row?" she continued. "It's the fourth one back from the fence. We won't have to walk 100 yards once we're inside the fence."
           "Okay," said Dante. "Let's go for a walk."
           "Now? I thought you wanted to steal it after dark."
           "I do. But if I can disable that lock on the fence right now, it'll be even easier tonight."
           "You can't just kneel down and work on a computer lock in broad daylight!" protested the Duchess.
           "I don't plan to," he said. He walked to the door and ordered it to open. "Come on."
           They emerged in the lobby a moment later. He stopped by the desk to speak to the robot clerk, then rejoined her.
           "What was all that about?" she asked.
           "I told it we're going shopping."
           "Why does a robot care?"
           "It doesn't—but if the police start searching all the hotels near the spaceport, and it won't be too long before the thought occurs to them, I don't want it to respond that it doesn't know where we are. It should take them a day to figure out that I used a phony ID to register—but if they have a reason to want to learn more about us, they'll break that identity in five minutes." He looked out into the street, then slung the bag containing Orpheus' poem over his shoulder. "Okay, let's go."
           "Are you planning on stealing the ship now?" she asked, indicating the manuscript.
           "No, I'm just not willing to leave it in a spaceport hotel."
           They walked out, arm in arm, and began window-shopping up and down the street. Dante kept looking for an excuse to cross to the spaceport's side of the thoroughfare if anyone was watching them. He needed a stray animal, a child who might step into traffic while his parents were concentrating on each other, anything like that—but nothing turned up.
           "Okay, we'll do it the bothersome way," he said after about ten minutes.
           "What way is that?"
           "We walk about a mile down the road, far enough that no one from the spaceport is still watching us, and then cross the street and walk back. We're no longer window-shopping; now we're taking our afternoon constitutional."
           They walked away from the spaceport for ten more minutes. Then, as they reached the outskirts of the small city, they crossed the street and began walking back.
           As they neared the spaceport, Dante, looking straight ahead, said, "When we get opposite the entrance through the force field, twist an ankle."
           "What?"
           "Twist an ankle. Fall to one knee. Make a bit of a fuss about it. I'll kneel down and examine it."
           "What does this have to do with the lock?"
           "Just trust