“You mean that was really Pablo pretending to be you pretending to be Pablo and so on?”
“Yes and no,” she said.
“So what would have happened if Frank hadn’t pulled me out of there before you could show me how the datapants worked?”
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
Part of me had known all along it would be like this. In my line of work, the woman must always remain a mystery, and she must always leave. I was happy Prudence wasn’t leaving in a body bag.
Pablo came back with his soda.
There wasn’t anything else to say. Prudence stood up. I came around the desk.
Pablo shook my hand.
Prudence gave me a peck on the cheek.
I watched them walk away, and I wondered if they were off to catch a cybertrain and if that train left Eugene traveling east at 79 mph.…
About the Author
Ray Vukcevich was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and grew up in the Southwest. He now lives in Eugene and works as a computer programmer in a couple of brain labs at the University of Oregon. His short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including Asimov’s, Twists of the Tale, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Rosebud, and Pulphouse. He is hard at work on a new novel.
THE MAN OF MAYBE HALF-A-DOZEN FACES. Copyright © 2000 by Ray Vukcevich. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Edited by Gordon Van Gelder
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ISBN 0-312-24652-8
First Edition: February 2000
eISBN 9781466876019
First eBook edition: June 2014
The Man of Maybe Half-a-Dozen Faces Page 24
