His great frame shook as he laughed again. Then he blew smoke and raised his right arm in a gesture of mock salute.
"But thanks," he said. "It may be a good thing for me to know."
He turned and started back toward his truck. "One thing more," the other called after him. He halted and turned his head. "What's that?"
"You could have been a great man. Good-bye." "Auf wiedersehen."
Red mounted to the cab and started the engine. Soon the sky was blue again.
Two
As dawn worked its way above the still and shattered skyline, Strangulena stirred on her barge in the East River. Slowly, gently, she pushed back the fur that covered them, and brushed a strand of flaming hair from her brow. Her fingertips touched the more sensitive spots on her throat, shoulders and breasts, where the signs of her lover's ardor were already becoming visible. Smiling then, she flexed her fingers and turned slowly onto her left side.
Toba, as heavy and dark as the departing night, his cheek resting on his right palm, grinned at her.
"Gods! Don't you ever sleep?" she said.
"Not with a lady who has strangled over a hundred lovers once they'd dropped off beside her."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Then you knew! All along you knew! You led me on!"
'"Thank God and amphetamine, yes!"
She smiled and stretched.
"You are very fortunate. Actually, I don't normally wait for them to drop off. I generally choose a certain moment and they come and go at the same time, so to speak. You were going to get it now only because I was distracted by architecture then. However..."
She reached out and manipulated the control unit. Silently, the barge began to move.
She turned onto her other side.
"Look how the light hits the Manhattan ruins! I just adore ruins!" She sat up suddenly and raised an oblong rectangle of carved and polished wood. She held it at arm's length and stared through it. "That group right there... Isn't that a fine composition?"
Toba raised himself and leaned forward, his chin brushing her left shoulder.
"It's—uh—interesting."
She held a small camera in her left hand, sighted through it, through the frame, leaned forward, leaned back, pressed a button.
"Got it."
She deposited the frame and the camera off to her right
"I could spend my life viewing picturesque ruins. In fact, I do. Most of the time. They're always best from the water. Did you ever notice that?"
"Now that you mention it..."
"You were too good to be true, you know? Dressed in rags, poking through junk at the water's edge, unscrubbed and unlettered, a product of civilization's decay—just as I drifted by. You conned me. What are you? An archaeologist?"
"Well..."
"....nd you knew about me. Keep your right arm up like that, but raise your head."
She rolled over onto her stomach, raised her own right arm, and clasped his hand.
"All right. Mister Toba. Start pushing as if your life depended on it. Maybe it does."
"Hey now, lady-"
His arm began bending backward. He tightened his grip, strained. It halted for a few moments. He clamped his jaw, leaned left
Suddenly he was slammed back, his arm pinned to the deck.
She smiled down at him.
"Want to try it with your left?"
"No, thanks. Look, I believe everything I've heard about you... You have—uh—exotic tastes and you're strong enough to satisfy them. I've got to admire anybody who gets what they want. This was the only way I knew to meet you, though. I've got a once-in-a-lifetime offer you can't afford to miss."
"Does it involve a good ruin?"
"You'd better believe it!" he said quickly.
"... And a good man?"
"One of the best!"
She seized his hand and jerked him to his feet
"Quick! Look at the sunlight on that broken tower!"
"Sure is something!"
"Whats his name?"
"Dorakeen. Red Dorakeen."
"That sounds familiar..."
"He's been around a lot"
"Is he picturesque?"
"Need you ever ask?"