Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future (36 page)

“What does that have to do with
Santiago?”

Cain stared at her, amazed by her
ignorance. “He’s the most wanted outlaw on the Frontier.”

“You must be wrong, sir,” said
Moonripple, leaning forward so that the door could sense her presence and slide
back to admit her. “Santiago is a hero.”

“To who?” asked Cain.

She laughed as if he had just told
a joke, and before he could question her further she was inside the kitchen,
leaving him to sip his beer thoughtfully and stare at the door that quickly hid
her from view.

She emerged a moment later,
carrying a large serving dish filled with potatoes au gratin.

“Tell me about Santiago,” said
Cain as she walked over to Father William’s table.

“I don’t know him, sir,” said
Moonripple.

“What makes you think he’s a
hero?”

“Everybody says so.”

“Who’s everybody?” persisted Cain.

“Oh, just lots of people,” she
said with a shrug. “Can I get you another beer, sir?”

“I’d rather you talked to me about
Santiago,” said Cain.

“But I don’t know him,” protested
Moonripple.

“He’s eleven feet tall and he’s
got orange hair,” said a deep voice from the doorway. “What else do you want to
know?”

Cain turned and saw a large,
extremely heavy black-clad man, his twin laser pistols clearly visible,
standing in the doorway.

“You’re Father William?” he asked.

“At your service,” said Father
William, walking over and extending a huge hand. “And you are...?”

“Sebastian Cain,” said Cain,
surprised by the strength in the pudgy fingers.

“Ah!” said Father William with a
smile. “You’re Virtue MacKenzie’s friend!”

Cain nodded. “And you’re the man
who saved her life back on Goldenrod.”

“The Lord was her savior,” replied
Father William. “I am merely His instrument.”

“What’s His instrument doing on an
out-of-the-way little world like Safe Harbor?” asked Cain.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told
you,” said Father William with a smile.

“Probably not—but suppose you tell
me anyway and let me make up my own mind.”

“Well, the truth of the matter is
that when I found out what wonderful food this child cooks”—he smiled at
Moonripple—”I decided that it was time to take a vacation, and since I’m a man
who likes his comforts, what better place than right here?”

“Do you really cook the food
yourself?” asked Cain.

“Yes, sir,” said Moonripple.

He turned back to Father William.
“You still haven’t told me what you were doing here in the first place.”

Father William smiled again, and
the fingers of his right hand drifted down toward the hilt of a pistol. “I
wasn’t aware that I was obliged to do so.”

“Just trying to make
conversation,” said Cain with a shrug.

“As long as you aren’t insisting,
then I have no objection to telling you,” said the preacher. “I set down here a
few days ago because my ship needed some minor repairs.” He walked over to his
table. “I’ll be happy to continue our conversation, but it would be sinful to
let this magnificent repast get cold. Will you join me?”

“I’ll sit with you,” said Cain,
getting up and walking over. “But I’m not very hungry.”

“What a shame,” said Father
William insincerely. He picked up an oversized napkin, tied it around his neck,
pulled the serving platter toward him, and sliced off a few large pieces of
meat. He then impaled one of the pieces on his fork, brought it to his mouth,
and began chewing noisily. “Perhaps you’ll allow me to ask
you
the same question you asked me: What is a famous bounty hunter like Sebastian
Cain doing on Safe Harbor?”

“Just sitting around drinking
beer.”

“God has little use for liars,
Sebastian,” said Father William. He turned to Cain. “And
I
have even less.”

“I came here looking for Billy
Three-Eyes.”

“Was there paper on him?”

“Probably,” answered Cain.

“Probably?” repeated Father
William, wolfing down still more food and following it up with a large glass of
beer.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t here to
kill him; I was after some information.”

“About Santiago?”

“Why should you think so?” asked
Cain.

“Because you were talking about
him when I came in.”

“I thought everybody out here
talks about Santiago.”

“I also know of your partnership
with Virtue MacKenzie,” Father William pointed out. He finished the last of the
meat he had sliced, considered giving himself a second helping of potatoes au
gratin, decided against it, and attacked his roast with renewed vigor. “What
did you think you could learn from Billy Three-Eyes?”

“Where to find him.”

“So you plan to be the man who
kills Santiago?” asked Father William between mouthfuls.

“I plan to try,” answered Cain. He
paused. “I have a feeling that I’m getting pretty close to him.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Because the worst crime anyone is
likely to commit on Safe Harbor is robbing a store—but three bounty hunters
have landed here in the past four months: you, me and Peacemaker MacDougal.
That must mean
some
thing.”

Father William frowned.
“MacDougal? Is
he
here?”

“Not anymore. He killed Billy
Three-Eyes.”

“Well, there you have it,” said
the preacher decisively.

“There I have
what
?”

“Coincidence. You and MacDougal
were both after Billy Three-Eyes, and I’m here because my ship had a problem.”

“Why was Billy Three-Eyes here?”
asked Cain.

Father William shrugged. “Who
knows?”

“Somebody must,” said Cain. “He
was a killer. What was he doing on a world like Safe Harbor?”

“Hiding out, in all likelihood.”
Father William took a final mouthful of meat. “Moonripple!” he called out.

“That’s her name?”

The preacher nodded. “Lovely,
isn’t it? It evokes images of Stardust and ethereal beauty.”

“I’ve heard it somewhere before,”
said Cain, frowning.

“Yes, sir.” said Moonripple,
emerging from the kitchen.

“I think it’s time for the cake, my
child,” announced Father William.

Moonripple stared at his plate and
frowned. “I keep telling you, sir, that if you insist on finishing your meal
this fast, you’ll make yourself sick.”

“Who says I’m through?” Father
William laughed. “I’ve still got most of the potatoes and half a pitcher of
beer. But the cake would make a pleasant change of pace.”

“Wouldn’t you rather rest a bit
and give yourself time to digest what you’ve eaten?” asked Moonripple.

“It’ll be digested by the time you
return with the cake.” He paused. “You layered it with that fudge frosting we
talked about yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

He tossed a platinum coin to her.
“That’s my girl!”

She caught the coin, placed it in
a pocket, and went back into the kitchen to fetch the cake.

“Delightful child,” said Father
William. “She’s wasting her time here. I’ve offered her a job as my personal
cook, but she turned me down flat.”

“Maybe she thinks you’re not
likely to provide long-term employment at the rate you put food away,”
commented Cain dryly.

“Nonsense!” said the preacher.
“The Lord’s got important work for me, Sebastian. I plan to live a long, long
time—which,” he added, “is more than can be said for bounty hunters who try to
kill Santiago.”

“You’re a bounty hunter, too,”
Cain noted.

“Ah, but I’m one of the smart
ones. I’m not after Santiago.”

“Why not? The price on his head
could build a lot of churches.”

“People have been trying to find
him for thirty years or more without any success,” replied Father William.
“He’s not worth the effort.”

Moonripple reemerged from the
kitchen, carrying a rich-looking chocolate layer cake.

“This has been a very interesting
afternoon,” remarked Cain as she set the cake down on the table.

“Has it indeed?” asked the
preacher, looking down at the cake with the happy air of a child opening a
present.

Cain nodded. “Yes, it has. So far
I’ve met two people on Safe Harbor. One of them thinks Santiago is a hero, and
the other is a bounty hunter who has no interest in him whatsoever.”

“Moonripple, my dear,” said Father
William, ignoring Cain’s comment, “do you think if you looked high and low you
might be able to find me some ice cream to go with this luscious cake?”

“I think you finished all our ice
cream yesterday, sir,” she replied.

He looked crestfallen. “Check
anyway, just in case.”

She shrugged and headed off to the
kitchen.

“Moonripple,” repeated Cain.
“Didn’t Orpheus write her up a couple years ago?”

Father William nodded. “She’s told
me about him. I gather
he
offered her a job, too,
and she didn’t take it. She’s a very independent young lady.”

“And a very well-traveled one,
too,” said Cain. “I wonder what she’s doing here?”

“Why don’t you ask her?” suggested
Father William, finishing his beer. “As for me,” he added, rubbing his pudgy
hands together, “I don’t think I can wait for her to find that ice cream.” He
picked up a knife. “Would you like me to cut you a piece?”

“No, thanks,” said Cain as the
preacher cut a third of the cake away and placed it on his plate.

Father William stared at the cake
for a moment, then picked up a piece and tasted it.

“Sebastian,” he said, his face
reflecting an ecstasy usually reserved only for his communications with God,
“you don’t know what you’re missing!”

“Twenty thousand calories, at a
rough guess,” said Cain.

“I preach hard and I kill hard,”
said Father William seriously. “God understands that I’ve got to eat hard, too.
You can’t have a weakling doing the Lord’s work, not out here on the Frontier.”

“
I
believe you,” said Cain. “I just hope your heart and kidneys do, too.”

“The Lord is my shepherd,” said
the preacher, attacking the cake in earnest. “I’ll make out just fine.”

Moonripple approached the table
again.

“I’m sorry, Father William, but
there really isn’t any ice cream left.”

“You’ll remember to get some by
tomorrow, won’t you?” asked Father William with childlike urgency.

“I’ll try.”

“Good girl!” he said, returning
his attention to the cake.

“Would you like me to take the
potatoes away now, sir?”

He placed a huge hand over the
container. “I’ll get to them, child, never fear.”

“Have you ever thought of becoming
a chef for the navy?” asked Cain with a smile.

“Oh, no, sir,” replied Moonripple
seriously. “I like my work just as it is.”

“Father William suggested that I
ask why you came to Safe Harbor,” said Cain.

“I don’t know,” she said with a
shrug. “I’d heard about it, and it sounded like a nice place.”

“How long have you been here?”

She stared at the ceiling and
moved her lips silently, totaling up the days and months.

“Two years next week, sir.”

“That’s a long time for you to
spend in one place, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“Orpheus says you’ve been to more
than a hundred worlds.”

“He was a very nice man,” she
said. “He put me into his song.”

“And he said you liked to travel
all over the galaxy.”

“I do.”

“But you stopped here,” Cain
pointed out.

“I like this world.”

“And you disliked all the others?”

She shrugged. “Some of them.”

“And the rest?”

“They were nice enough. I suppose.
I just like this one better.”

“What’s so special about it?” asked
Cain.

She looked puzzled. “Nothing.”

“Then why do you like it better?”

“I don’t know. The people are
nice, and I like my job, and I have a nice place to live.”

“That’s enough,” said Father
William.

“You told me to ask her.” replied
Cain.

“There’s a difference between
asking and badgering. Leave her alone now.”

Cain shrugged. “I’m sorry if I’ve
upset you, Moonripple.”

“You haven’t, sir,” she replied.
“You and Father William have both been very nice to me.”

An elderly man entered and walked
over to a table next to the one Cain had left, and Moonripple went off to wait
on him.

“Well, Sebastian,” said Father
William, finishing the piece of cake on his plate and cutting the remaining
two-thirds in half, “I guess you’ll be on your way, now that the man you came
to see is dead.”

“I guess so,” said Cain.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure
meeting you and talking to you.”

“How long will you be staying
here?” asked Cain.

“The way that girl cooks, I could
stay forever,” replied Father William. “But I think I’ll be on my way in
another two or three days. There are still a lot of souls to be saved out
here—and a few that need to be sent on ahead to Satan.”

“But not Santiago’s?”

Father William smiled. “I suppose
if I were to bump headfirst into him, I might give some serious thought to it,”
he answered. “But I’ve got better things to do than chase all over the galaxy
after a will-o’-the-wisp.”

“To each his own,” said Cain,
getting to his feet.

Father William extended a
chocolate-smeared hand, and Cain took it.

“You’re an interesting man,” said
Cain. “I hope I’ll see you again someday.”

“Who knows?” replied the preacher.
“The Lord works in mysterious ways.”

Darkness had fallen when Cain
walked out into the humid Safe Harbor atmosphere, and it took him a moment to
get his bearings. The planet’s three tiny moons were clearly visible but
provided very little illumination, nor was there any lighting on the deserted
street.