“Why didn’t you just pay him what he wanted?” Virtue asked irritably, opening a window to let in some air as they began driving the ancient vehicle down a narrow dirt road toward the Great Sioux Nation’s headquarters. “Certainly we can afford it.”

“Of course we can, my dear,” he agreed amiably. “But this is Sitting Bull’s world, just as Goldenrod is mine. By now he already knows we’re here, and since he’s not in the business of giving information away for free, it’s not a bad idea to let him know that we don’t always agree to pay the first price that’s proposed to us.”

“Will he offer a second one?”

The Swagman nodded. “And a third, and a fourth. He’s a wholehearted believer in the barter system.”

“He sounds like an interesting character,” she commented, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the sweat that was already starting to roll down her face.

“He’s a dangerous character.” the Swagman corrected her. “In fact I think it would be best if I did the talking and the negotiating for us.”

“What makes you any better at it than me?” she demanded. “If you’d have let me bargain for the landcar, I’d have gotten us one with air-conditioning—or at least something with better shock absorbers.”

“This was the only one available.”

“You didn’t answer my question: What makes you think you’re better qualified than me?”

“Because he’s an alien,” said the Swagman.

“So what?”

“I was raised by aliens. I know how his mind works.”

“Are you trying to tell me you were raised by members of Sitting Bull’s race?” she said skeptically.

“No.”

“Then what difference does it make?”

“I’m used to dealing with aliens.”

“Apples and oranges,” she replied. “That’s like saying that since you’re used to firing pistols, you’d be good with a saber.” She grunted as the vehicle swerved to avoid an enormous pothole, then turned to him. “How the hell did you ever wind up living with aliens in the first place?”

“When I was three years old, my family was aboard a colony ship that crashed on Pellinath Four. There were only two survivors, and the other one died a couple of days later. The Bellum took care of me until I was seventeen.”

“The Bellum?” repeated Virtue. “I’ve never heard of them.”

“Most people haven’t,” replied the Swagman. “They keep pretty much to themselves.”

“Why didn’t they notify the Democracy that they had you?”

“Strange as it may seem to you, they didn’t even know the Democracy existed. So I stayed there until a team from the Pioneer Corps landed and started charting the planet, and then they took me back with them.”

“What was it like, growing up without any other members of your own race?” she asked curiously.