UNFINISHED BUSINESS
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After the encounter with the Ripper and his captors, Davy Crockett quit talking about Santa Anna and revenge. Evidently, the frontiersman started having second thoughts about his mission. A number of times during the next week, Bowie spotted his friend engaged in deep conversation with Socrates. Crockett never smiled during those talks.
The whole purpose of their adventure came into question a thousand miles farther down the River. The Unfinished Business was docked in a Chinese village for the usual reasons. The Spartans, under Lysander, had marched off down the beach to compete in athletic contests. Crockett and Mason, Socrates and Thorberg remained on board, playing bridge with a deck of handmade cards. The historian had taught the others the game a few weeks back, and ever since they played whenever possible. Isaac, silent as ever, watched.
As usual, Bowie spent most of his time meeting with the village elders. Each stop on the River fueled his desire to discover what lay farther on. For all of the dangers and uncertainties of the trip, he was no longer bored. And, on Riverworld, that meant a great deal.
Returning back to the ship late that afternoon, Bowie found himself in the company of a short, slender male Caucasian. “M’sieur Bowie, I am led to believe?” the
stranger asked. Though he spoke Esperanto, there was no question he was a Frenchman.
“That’s me,” the Texan answered. “Do I know you?”
“Not in the least,” the Frenchman replied. “I am Maurice LeBlanc, formerly a mathematician from Tours, France, circa 1900.”
“Interesting enough,” said Bowie, continuing toward the boat. “But what’s it to me?”
“This morning I saw your vessel arrive. Later, from a friend on the high council, I learned your story. You and your friends are engaged on a noble enterprise, to be sure! It would be a great honor if you would allow me to join on this voyage.”
“Sorry,” said Bowie. “No hitchhikers.” He had learned the phrase from Mason and used it frequently. Half the people they met wanted to sail on the Unfinished Business. “We don’t have the room.”
“Of course, of course,” said LeBlanc. “But I have, as you say, unfinished business along the River. And, to that end, I am willing to pay for my passage.”
Bowie smiled, impressed in spite of himself with the Frenchman’s pluck. “Only thing worth much on the River is metal,” he declared, looking LeBlanc up and down with a critical eye. “Which you don’t got.”
“A-ha,” said LeBlanc with a sly smile of triumph. “Your materialism betrays you, mon ami. On this strange new world of ours, one thing is worth more than iron and steel. Information.”
“Keep talkin’,” said Bowie. They were in sight of the ship now, but he was in no hurry to get there. “What do you know that I want to hear?”
“According to my friend on the council, you require news of a certain Mexican politician named Santa Anna.
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I am acquainted with the whereabouts of the General. In trade for transportation, I will gladly tell you all I know about him. Including his present location.”
Bowie laughed. “Who you lookin’ for on the River, Frenchie?”
“Another mathematician,” replied LeBlanc, “by the name of Pierre de Fermat. I would like to discuss with him a certain theorem, his last theorem, which perplexed Earthly mathematicians, myself included, for centuries. I must know the truth.”
“Odd sort of reason to head off down the River,” said Bowie, shaking his head. “But I was never one much for numbers. Come with me and let’s see what the others think.”
No one objected to LeBlanc’s terms. On a planet with thirty-five billion people, searching for one man was akin to looking for a single grain of sand on the beach. The Frenchman was right. Knowledge was worth more than anything else on the Riverworld, even iron. They unanimously voted him a member of the expedition in return for his cooperation.
“Six times I have died since Resurrection Day,” LeBlanc declared, making himself comfortable on the poop deck. “By nature, I am the quiet, retiring type. I dislike fighting and violence of any kind. However, I am also a Frenchman, and from time to time, I find myself forced to make a stand against the barbarism of my fellow man. Above all, I believe in liberty, fraternity, equality.”
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