She eyed Gianfranco. His people-watching wasn’t all pretty girl-watching. She appreciated that.
He pointed across the street. “Look! That shopfront that’s been empty forever is finally going to get somebody new in it.”
“You’re right.” She squinted, trying to make out what was below the big letters that spelled out OPENING SOON! She didn’t have much luck. “Can you read it?”
Gianfranco squinted, too. Then he shook his head. “No. Too small. Shall we go over and look?”
“In a bit,” Annarita said. “Not yet.”
After they finished their sundaes and talked for a while, they did cross the pedestrian-filled street. The sign read, RARE AND UNUSUAL BOOKS TO INTEREST EVERY TASTE. A SHOP FOR THE PERSON WHO THINKS.
Annarita stared at Gianfranco. He was staring at her, too. “You don’t suppose—?” he said.
“I don’t know,” she said. “We’ll just have to find out, won’t we?”
Tor Books by Harry Turtledove
Between the Rivers
Conan of Venarium
The Two Georges (by Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove)
Household Gods (by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove)
The First Heroes (edited by Harry Turtledove and Noreen Doyle)
Darkness
Into the Darkness
Darkness Descending
Through the Darkness
Rulers of the Darkness
Jaws of Darkness
Out of the Darkness
Crosstime Traffic
Gunpowder Empire
Curious Notions
In High Places
The Gladiator
Writing as H. N. Turteltaub
Justinian
Over the Wine-Dark Sea
The Gryphon’s Skull
The Sacred Land
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE GLADIATOR
Copyright © 2007 by Harry Turtledove
All rights reserved.
Edited by Teresa Nielsen Hayden
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eISBN 9781429965651
First eBook Edition : July 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-5379-5 ISBN-10: 0-7653-5379-2
First Edition: June 2007
First Mass Market Edition: October 2008
The Gladiator Page 26
