The Widowmaker: Volume 1 in the Widowmaker Trilogy Read Online Free

extended his hand, and Blue wrapped his six fingers around it. “Howdy, Jeff. You been out here to the Frontier before?"
    "No,” answered Nighthawk.
    "Well, if you're half the man your pal is, you'll make out just fine,” said Six-Finger Blue. He stared again. “Damn! I could swear I've seen your face somewhere!"
    He wandered off to greet other patrons, and Kinoshita turned to Nighthawk. “An old holograph, probably,” he suggested as a possible explanation. “I could almost guess when and where, because by the time you were 23 you were wearing a huge handlebar mustache. It didn't look like much, but it added ten years to your appearance."
    "It wasn't a holo of me ,” answered Nighthawk. “You're confusing me with him ."
    "You are him, in a way,” said Kinoshita. “Now that I've worked with you, in a lot of ways."
    Nighthawk shook his head. “He's an old man, dying of some horrible disease. I'm a young man with my whole life ahead of me. Once I take care of this business on Solio II, I've got a lot of places to see and things to do."
    "What kind of things?” asked Kinoshita.
    Nighthawk tapped his head with a forefinger. “As real as these things seem to me, I know they can't be my memories. I'm going to replace them with real ones. There's a whole galaxy out there to see and experience."
    "It sounds like you've been giving it some serious thought."
    "Well, I've been working all my life—all 48 days of it.” Nighthawk smiled awkwardly at his rudimentary attempt at humor. “I'm looking forward to my first vacation.” He paused thoughtfully. “Though for the time being, I'll settle for just one night of sleep when I'm not plugged in to an Educator Disk."
    "It was necessary,” replied Kinoshita. “You've been force-fed the equivalent of twenty years of living in little more than a month. We couldn't send you out there with no knowledge and no social skills. Hell, you wouldn't even be able to speak yet if it hadn't been for the Disks."
    "I know, and I'm grateful,” said Nighthawk. “But I still have my life to live, once I'm through saving his life.” He looked around the room, over the mounted heads on the wall, then back to Kinoshita. “I want to see him before I leave."
    Kinoshita shook his head. “He might not survive being awakened again—at least, not until we have a cure for him."
    "I don't have to talk to him,” persisted Nighthawk. “I just want to see him."
    "They say he looks pretty awful."
    "I don't care. He's the only family I've got."
    "They won't allow it, Jeff. Why not plan on seeing him after you've done your job and science has found a way to cure him?"
    "Science hasn't made any progress in a century. Why should I expect them to find a cure now?"
    "I'm told they're getting close. Just be patient."
    Nighthawk shook his head. “I don't have a father or a mother. All I've got is him."
    "But there's more to it than that, isn't there?” said Kinoshita.
    "Why should you think so?"
    "Because I've already told you what an unpleasant experience it will be to see him. Now, what's the real reason?"
    "I want to see what's in store for me if they don't come up with that cure."
    "You've got enough things to think about, Jeff. You don't need to carry around an image of what this disease can do to you."
    " Will do."
    " Can do. You might not contract it."
    "Come off it, Ito. I'm not his son; I'm his clone . If he got it, I'll get it."
    "They could have a vaccine in two years, or ten, or twenty. You're physically 20 years old. He didn't contract it until he was in his late 40s."
    "That's not that far off,” said Nighthawk.
    "It's far enough."
    "You won't let me see him?"
    "It's not up to me,” said Kinoshita.
    Nighthawk sighed. “All right.” He paused. “I'll have another Dust Whore. They kind of grow on you."
    You gave in too easily, Jeff. The real Nighthawk would have demanded what he wanted, and then if I hadn't helped him, he'd have taken it himself. If he wanted to see a frozen body, God