Robert Asprin – Tambu

“You see, I’m not Tambu.”

“Really?” Ramona gasped, mimicking his manner. “Well, while I am shocked and horrified, I must compliment you sir, on your excellent impersonation. You look, talk, walk, drink and make love just like him. I never would have guessed if you hadn’t revealed yourself.”

“I’m serious,” he replied with no trace of levity. “I’m not Tambu.”

Ramona studied him thoughtfully for a moment.

“Okay, I’ll play your game. If you aren’t Tambu, who are you?”

“I’m a space bum,” he announced. “A space bum who had an idea to get himself and his friends out of a bad situation. Part of the idea-a very small part-was to take on an assumed name: Tambu. By itself, the new name created no problems. But them something happened. The space bum and his friends-and a few new friends-decided to build a mythical figure around the name Tambu. You remember, love. You were there at the time.”

Ramona nodded dumbly.

“It was ridiculously easy to do,” he continued. “We’ve been conditioned by literature, Tri-D adventures, and other entertainment forms to recognize a heroic figure. All we had to do was provide a few high points and hide any contradictory information, and people would complete the picture themselves. They would see Tambu as a powerful, omnipresent, charismatic leader they could trust and follow. He must be! Otherwise, why is everybody else following him?”

Ramona dropped her eyes and gnawed on her lip. She looked up again as Tambu laid a gentle hand on her arm.

“Don’t feel bad, love,” he chided. “You didn’t force me into anything I didn’t want to do. It was a con game, and one I went along with willingly. Why not? It was fun. It was kind of like having the lead in a play, and I played my role to the hilt.”