A Gathering of Widowmakers (The Widowmaker #4) Read Online Free
Author: Mike Resnick
replied the man. "As for who I am, I'm the guy who's not going to let any harm come to an innocent man."
"An innocent man who pays you to protect him."
"With people like you after him, he needs all the protection he can get," was the response.
He's so familiar, thought Kinoshita. The way he carries himself, even his choice of words. Where the hell have I seen him before?
"Enough talk," said Jeff ominously. "You're standing between me and the man I've come to collect."
"I've already told you: you don't want him."
"What gives you an insight into what I want?" said Jeff sardonically.
Newman looked amused. "Tell him, Ito."
"Omygod!" exclaimed Kinoshita.
3.
Jeff turned to Kinoshita, puzzled.
"It's you , isn't it?" said Kinoshita, never taking his eyes from the man facing them.
Jason Newman nodded. "It's me."
"But . . . but you look so different!"
"The last time we saw each other I told you that I was going to change my face," said Newman. "And of course this "—he held up his left hand—"is prosthetic, thanks to our friends back on Pericles. And since so much else was new, I thought I might as well take a new name too."
"Jason, son of Jefferson," said Kinoshita. "And Newman for the new identity. I approve."
"Are you who I think you are?" said Jeff.
"Probably," replied Newman. "It all depends on who you think I am."
"The clone who survived—the one who overthrew Cassius Hill on Pericles IV."
"That's right. And since the first clone died before I was born, I have to assume you're a new one."
"I was created, to quote our progenitor, to take over the family business."
Newman looked at Kinoshita. "How's he been doing?"
"He's the Widowmaker," said Kinoshita, as if that was answer enough.
"The galaxy can use one," said Newman.
"Why did you stop?" asked Jeff.
"Being the Widowmaker, you mean?" replied Newman, as a sudden wind blew clouds of dust through the air. "I completed my assignment. I was created to earn enough money to keep the original alive and frozen in his cryogenic cocoon until they came up with a cure for his disease. Once I'd done that, I figured I'd earned the right to live my own life." He stared curiously at the younger clone. "Haven't you ever felt that way?"
Jeff shook his head. "This is my own life. Your mission was performed with the knowledge that if you were successful, the original Widowmaker would be revived and live again, so your term as the Widowmaker had a finite limit. Me, I'm here so that he could retire from the Widowmaker business. My mission is permanent; there's no time limit on it."
"So are you just a bodyguard called Jason Newman now?" asked Kinoshita, brushing the dust from his tunic as the breeze died down as suddenly as it had begun.
"Not exactly."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"After I recovered from the injuries I suffered on Pericles, I got myself a new face and a new identity, and Cassandra and I moved to the Outer Frontier, way out by the Rim. It seemed a good place to start a new life."
"How did you tean up with Jubal Pickett?" asked Jeff.
"A man named Willis Nordstrom tried to hold me up at gunpoint out on a world named Mistover."
"Not smart," commented Kinoshita.
"I killed him. And two weeks later I saw that there was paper on Jubal Pickett for killing Nordstrom and half a dozen others. I flew to Mallachi VII, where the warrant was issued, to explain that whatever else he'd done, he hadn't killed Nordstrom." Newman paused. "They didn't give a damn. They wouldn't even take Nordstrom's name off the warrant."
"Why not?" asked Kinoshita.
"I wondered about that too," said Newman, "so I began looking into the matter. I learned that Pickett was a very wealthy man, that his primary residence was on Mallachi VII, and that a handful of local politicians had tinkered with the tax code so that the government—all seven members of it—could confiscate the entire holdings, even the off-world holdings, of any citizen convicted of a felony. And a month after the
"An innocent man who pays you to protect him."
"With people like you after him, he needs all the protection he can get," was the response.
He's so familiar, thought Kinoshita. The way he carries himself, even his choice of words. Where the hell have I seen him before?
"Enough talk," said Jeff ominously. "You're standing between me and the man I've come to collect."
"I've already told you: you don't want him."
"What gives you an insight into what I want?" said Jeff sardonically.
Newman looked amused. "Tell him, Ito."
"Omygod!" exclaimed Kinoshita.
3.
Jeff turned to Kinoshita, puzzled.
"It's you , isn't it?" said Kinoshita, never taking his eyes from the man facing them.
Jason Newman nodded. "It's me."
"But . . . but you look so different!"
"The last time we saw each other I told you that I was going to change my face," said Newman. "And of course this "—he held up his left hand—"is prosthetic, thanks to our friends back on Pericles. And since so much else was new, I thought I might as well take a new name too."
"Jason, son of Jefferson," said Kinoshita. "And Newman for the new identity. I approve."
"Are you who I think you are?" said Jeff.
"Probably," replied Newman. "It all depends on who you think I am."
"The clone who survived—the one who overthrew Cassius Hill on Pericles IV."
"That's right. And since the first clone died before I was born, I have to assume you're a new one."
"I was created, to quote our progenitor, to take over the family business."
Newman looked at Kinoshita. "How's he been doing?"
"He's the Widowmaker," said Kinoshita, as if that was answer enough.
"The galaxy can use one," said Newman.
"Why did you stop?" asked Jeff.
"Being the Widowmaker, you mean?" replied Newman, as a sudden wind blew clouds of dust through the air. "I completed my assignment. I was created to earn enough money to keep the original alive and frozen in his cryogenic cocoon until they came up with a cure for his disease. Once I'd done that, I figured I'd earned the right to live my own life." He stared curiously at the younger clone. "Haven't you ever felt that way?"
Jeff shook his head. "This is my own life. Your mission was performed with the knowledge that if you were successful, the original Widowmaker would be revived and live again, so your term as the Widowmaker had a finite limit. Me, I'm here so that he could retire from the Widowmaker business. My mission is permanent; there's no time limit on it."
"So are you just a bodyguard called Jason Newman now?" asked Kinoshita, brushing the dust from his tunic as the breeze died down as suddenly as it had begun.
"Not exactly."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"After I recovered from the injuries I suffered on Pericles, I got myself a new face and a new identity, and Cassandra and I moved to the Outer Frontier, way out by the Rim. It seemed a good place to start a new life."
"How did you tean up with Jubal Pickett?" asked Jeff.
"A man named Willis Nordstrom tried to hold me up at gunpoint out on a world named Mistover."
"Not smart," commented Kinoshita.
"I killed him. And two weeks later I saw that there was paper on Jubal Pickett for killing Nordstrom and half a dozen others. I flew to Mallachi VII, where the warrant was issued, to explain that whatever else he'd done, he hadn't killed Nordstrom." Newman paused. "They didn't give a damn. They wouldn't even take Nordstrom's name off the warrant."
"Why not?" asked Kinoshita.
"I wondered about that too," said Newman, "so I began looking into the matter. I learned that Pickett was a very wealthy man, that his primary residence was on Mallachi VII, and that a handful of local politicians had tinkered with the tax code so that the government—all seven members of it—could confiscate the entire holdings, even the off-world holdings, of any citizen convicted of a felony. And a month after the
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