different.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s the Angel.”
Terwilliger walked over to the coffeepot and poured himself another cup.
“Besides, everybody knows he’s just here for Santiago. You can hardly call it
poaching if nobody knows where Santiago is hiding. Which brings up another
subject,” he added carefully. “You came a pretty fair distance just to talk to
Jonathan Stern. Usually a bounty hunter doesn’t go that far beyond his own
territory unless he thinks he can get a lead on Santiago. So my question is: Is
there some tie-in between Duncan Black and Santiago, or not?”
“I don’t see that it’s any of your
business,” said Cain.
“Look at me,” said the little
gambler. “Do I look like a goddamned rival?”
“No,” said Cain. “You look like a
goddamned salesman.”
“Just answer my question. I
promise you I won’t sell it to anyone else.”
“Somehow, I get the distinct
impression that your promises aren’t exactly coin of the realm.”
“Damn it, Cain—it’s important!”
“To who?”
“To both of us.”
Cain stared at him for a long
minute, then nodded. “Yes, he’s a link to Santiago.”
“Good!” breathed Terwilliger with
a sigh of relief.
“Why is that good?”
“Well, first I want you to
remember that I still owe you a debt of twenty-one hundred credits, and that I
can’t pay it off if I’m dead.”
“Get to the point.”
The little gambler took a deep
breath.
“The reason I know where to find
Duncan Black is because I know where he’s buried.” Terwilliger held up his hand
quickly, as if to fight off any possible interruption. “I should have told you
back on Port étrange, I know that. It was absolutely, positively wrong. But if
I had, you wouldn’t have taken me, and ManMountain Bates would be having me for
dinner right about now.”
“I may just take you back there
and turn you over to him,” said Cain.
“But everything’s all right now!”
said Terwilliger quickly. “Everything’s all right,” he repeated. “That’s why I
had to know if Black was a link.”
“Explain,” said Cain ominously.
“You see, if he had owed you money
or something like that, you were out of luck and I was in big trouble. I mean,
hell, the poor bastard has been dead for almost three years now.” He paused for
breath. “But now that I know what you needed him for, I can still help you
out.”
“How?”
“There was this woman he used to
live with,” said Terwilliger. “She handled a lot of his business for him. She
probably knows everyone he knew, and can tell you
what his connection was with each of them.”
“And she’s still alive?” asked
Cain.
“She was two months ago.”
“Where can I find her?”
“Right where we’re heading—the
Clovis system.”
“On Bella Donna?”
“Not exactly,”
answered Terwilliger.
4.
She lives in a
graveyard of shattered ships.
She floats
through the void with her broken dreams;
But though she
may long for a lover’s lips,
The Sargasso Rose isn’t what she seems.
Black Orpheus took one look at the
Sargasso Rose and knew there was more to her than met the eye.
How he found her in the first
place is a mystery, since he wasn’t likely to have had any business up there,
six thousand miles above Bella Donna. Probably it was the ships that attracted
him, strung out in space like glittering fish on a line, some dying and some
already dead. He named the station, too: he hated names like Station Number 14,
and so he called it Deadly Nightshade, which was a fitting sobriquet for a
graveyard of spaceships, especially one that circled Bella Donna.
He spent a couple of days up
there, talking to the Sargasso Rose, jotting down her story the way he did with
everyone he met. Some people say he even slept with her, but they were wrong;
Black Orpheus never slept with anyone after his
Eurydice died. Besides, the Sargasso Rose wasn’t the type of woman who’d jump
into bed with just anybody.
In fact,
“Why?”
“Because he’s the Angel.”
Terwilliger walked over to the coffeepot and poured himself another cup.
“Besides, everybody knows he’s just here for Santiago. You can hardly call it
poaching if nobody knows where Santiago is hiding. Which brings up another
subject,” he added carefully. “You came a pretty fair distance just to talk to
Jonathan Stern. Usually a bounty hunter doesn’t go that far beyond his own
territory unless he thinks he can get a lead on Santiago. So my question is: Is
there some tie-in between Duncan Black and Santiago, or not?”
“I don’t see that it’s any of your
business,” said Cain.
“Look at me,” said the little
gambler. “Do I look like a goddamned rival?”
“No,” said Cain. “You look like a
goddamned salesman.”
“Just answer my question. I
promise you I won’t sell it to anyone else.”
“Somehow, I get the distinct
impression that your promises aren’t exactly coin of the realm.”
“Damn it, Cain—it’s important!”
“To who?”
“To both of us.”
Cain stared at him for a long
minute, then nodded. “Yes, he’s a link to Santiago.”
“Good!” breathed Terwilliger with
a sigh of relief.
“Why is that good?”
“Well, first I want you to
remember that I still owe you a debt of twenty-one hundred credits, and that I
can’t pay it off if I’m dead.”
“Get to the point.”
The little gambler took a deep
breath.
“The reason I know where to find
Duncan Black is because I know where he’s buried.” Terwilliger held up his hand
quickly, as if to fight off any possible interruption. “I should have told you
back on Port étrange, I know that. It was absolutely, positively wrong. But if
I had, you wouldn’t have taken me, and ManMountain Bates would be having me for
dinner right about now.”
“I may just take you back there
and turn you over to him,” said Cain.
“But everything’s all right now!”
said Terwilliger quickly. “Everything’s all right,” he repeated. “That’s why I
had to know if Black was a link.”
“Explain,” said Cain ominously.
“You see, if he had owed you money
or something like that, you were out of luck and I was in big trouble. I mean,
hell, the poor bastard has been dead for almost three years now.” He paused for
breath. “But now that I know what you needed him for, I can still help you
out.”
“How?”
“There was this woman he used to
live with,” said Terwilliger. “She handled a lot of his business for him. She
probably knows everyone he knew, and can tell you
what his connection was with each of them.”
“And she’s still alive?” asked
Cain.
“She was two months ago.”
“Where can I find her?”
“Right where we’re heading—the
Clovis system.”
“On Bella Donna?”
“Not exactly,”
answered Terwilliger.
4.
She lives in a
graveyard of shattered ships.
She floats
through the void with her broken dreams;
But though she
may long for a lover’s lips,
The Sargasso Rose isn’t what she seems.
Black Orpheus took one look at the
Sargasso Rose and knew there was more to her than met the eye.
How he found her in the first
place is a mystery, since he wasn’t likely to have had any business up there,
six thousand miles above Bella Donna. Probably it was the ships that attracted
him, strung out in space like glittering fish on a line, some dying and some
already dead. He named the station, too: he hated names like Station Number 14,
and so he called it Deadly Nightshade, which was a fitting sobriquet for a
graveyard of spaceships, especially one that circled Bella Donna.
He spent a couple of days up
there, talking to the Sargasso Rose, jotting down her story the way he did with
everyone he met. Some people say he even slept with her, but they were wrong;
Black Orpheus never slept with anyone after his
Eurydice died. Besides, the Sargasso Rose wasn’t the type of woman who’d jump
into bed with just anybody.
In fact,
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