The grin vanished. Of all the answers Balsam had expected, that was the least likely, and it troubled him. "How do I know that's really Simon Ten Broek?"
"How do I know you're really a licensed bounty hunter?" Silvermane shot back.
"This is ridiculous!" snapped Balsam, his courage slipping away in the face of this totally confident stranger. "I've wasted enough time! You want a trade? All right, we'll trade! Just take them and get the hell out of my sight."
"You've made a wise decision," said Silvermane. He turned to Dante and Matilda. "Come on."
They fell into step behind him as he began walking back to the Jong Palace. As they did so, Balsam went over to Simon Ten Broek and delivered a powerful kick in his ribs. "Get up!" he bellowed.
Silvermane was beside Balsam before he realized it. "And that," he said, "was a foolish decision." He grabbed Balsam' wrist before he could reach for his weapon. They stood motionless for a moment. Then there was an audible crack!, and Balsam screamed. Silvermane released his grip, and Balsam dropped to one knee, holding his wrist.
"I gave you a prisoner, not a toy," said Silvermane sternly.
"You broke my wrist!" snarled Balsam.
"You'll have time to think about abusing your fellow man while it heals."
"Abusing my fellow men? You threw him through that fucking window!"
"I met him on equal terms," said Silvermane. "You didn't. If I hear he was further abused, I'll come looking for you. You'll live a lot longer if I don't."
Silvermane stood and stared down at the bounty hunter.
"I heard you," grated Balsam.
"Make sure you remember."
Silvermane turned and walked to the Jong Palace, followed by Dante and Matilda.
"Thank you," said Dante once they were inside.
"There's no need," said Silvermane. "I took an instant dislike to your officious Democracy associate. Besides, it makes no difference whether I kill Simon here or they put him to death back in the Democracy. The important thing is that he dies."
"What did he do?" asked Matilda.
"More than I hope a lovely lady like yourself can imagine," said Silvermane.
"He's the reason you came to New Pategonia?"
"He's the reason."
"What will you do now?"
"I haven't decided."
"Have you thought about what we discussed last night?" asked Dante.
"Why else would I save you from a bounty killer?" replied Silvermane with an amused smile.
"And have you reached a decision?"
"I'm working on it."
30.
Billy Green-Eyes, bold and brave,
Would never be a hero.
And now our Billy seeks the grave:
His prospects total zero.
Silvermane announced that he had one more world to visit before he made his decision. It was the mining world of Trentino, the seventh planet in the Alpha Bellini system, and they had no choice but to follow him in their own ship.
The journey took three days. Virgil opted for 70 hours in the Deepsleep Chamber, but Dante and Matilda chose to remain awake most of the time, discussing their options, wondering if they'd found their Santiago or if they could do better with a little more searching.
"It doesn't really make much difference if there's a better man out there," said Matilda after they'd gone over the possibilities for the tenth time. "We have an immediate problem, or we wouldn't be here. We've got to stop the Bandit before he kills more innocent people."
"We could hire an assassin if that's all that matters," responded Dante. "I think our original idea was right. We just chose the wrong man."
"Maybe it's not time," said Matilda. "Maybe events choose the man. You and I are just people, not events. Maybe it's simply not yet time for Santiago to cast his shadow across the galaxy."
"How much worse do things have to get?"
"I don't know. But do you ever get the feeling that we're like journalists who stop reporting the news and start creating it?"
"I'm not a journalist, and neither are you."
"You know what I mean. Maybe we're not supposed to hand-pick a Santiago. Maybe he'll step forward on his own. Maybe until he does, until it's his idea to be Santiago, we're being premature about the whole thing."
"I thought you wanted a Santiago," he said accusingly.
"I did," she said. "And I got one. And look at what's happened."
"That's because he's not Santiago."
"Make up your mind. Is he Santiago because you say he is, or because we set him up in the Santiago business, whatever that is,—or is he Santiago because he's an historic inevitability at this time and place?"
"Oh, come on. Next you'll be telling me that only God can anoint him."
"I'm just saying that maybe God is working on a different deadline, and that He might do a better job of choosing a Santiago than we've done."
"We have it within our grasp to do some good, to make a difference," said Dante adamantly. "You don't get more than one or two such opportunities in a lifetime. I'm not turning my back on it."
"It's not a question of turning your back, but of pursuing it too vigorously," replied Matilda.
"Damn it!" exploded Dante. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"
"The Frontier's," she answered. "And I want to make sure that what I do doesn't bring it even more hardship and misery."
He stared at her for a long moment. "It's time. In fact, it's past time. Santiago's reign ended on a fluke. To this day the Democracy doesn't even know they killed him."
"You're absolutely sure you're right?"
He paused for just an instant. "I'm absolutely certain that I hope I'm right."
"Maybe he'll take the decision out of our hands and turn us down," she said hopefully.
"He won't."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I've been watching him. He's not a fanatic, he's no One- Armed Bandit—but he's got an ego as big as all outdoors. The more difficult we make the job sound, the more we explain that he'll be fighting a holding action, that he can never hope to overthrow the Democracy, the more he'll want to prove that we're wrong, than he can bring the whole thing down."
"And you want that quality in a Santiago?" she said dubiously.
"The odds are a billion to one against him," said Dante. "He's got to be a bit of an egomaniac even to consider taking the job on."
"Well, I've never known you to be wrong about anyone," she said. Then she added: "Except the Bandit. How did you miss what he would become?"
"You don't want to know."
"Yes, I do."
"I let your opinion influence me," said Dante.
"Bullshit!"
"You vouched for his character, so all I concentrated on was his ability. And he does have the ability; otherwise we wouldn't be trying to find ways to stop him."