“What was that all about?” asked Virtue.

“ManMountain Bates,” said Terwilliger. “He’s landed on Sunnybeach—and he’s got someone keeping tabs on me, or he wouldn’t have known I was here.”

“Your friend Bates isn’t very long on brainpower,” commented Virtue, pouring her beer into a glass. “Why announce his presence if he’s hunting for you?”

“You haven’t seen him.” said Terwilliger unhappily. “There’s no way he can hide his presence.”

“But calling ahead, for God’s sake!” she snorted contemptuously.

“He’s just letting me know that he knows I’m here,” said Terwilliger. “It’s his idea of a joke. He thinks it’ll terrify me.” He paused and smiled wanly. “He’s right.”

“What are you going to do about him?”

He laughed nervously. “I’m going to have a couple of drinks, and then I’m going to run so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

“Back to Cain?”

“He’s my guardian angel.” He paused thoughtfully. “Unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Cain’s a few thousand light-years from here, and you’ve got an angel of your own. I’ll forget about my report if you’ll get him to protect me.”

“For how long?” she asked.

“Until I’m safely out of this system.”

“There’s one condition.”

“What?” he asked suspiciously.

“Before you leave, you contact Cain and tell him that I’m delaying and misleading the Angel, and that I’m still loyal to him,” said Virtue.

“Just in case he gets there first?” asked the gambler sardonically.

“It’s always a possibility.”

“I don’t know,” said Terwilliger dubiously. “If he finds out, I’ll lost my piece of the action.”

“Bates is between you and your ship,” she pointed out. “What’s ten percent to a dead man?”

He stared at the backs of his cards for a moment, then nodded. “It’s a deal,” he said at last. “You can get the Angel to protect me, can’t you?”

Virtue flashed him a confident smile.

“He’ll do anything I say,” she assured him.

17.

He’s bigger than big, he’s taller than tall,

He’s meaner than mean, and that isn’t all—

He drinks straight from morning right through to the night,

He’s ManMountain Bates, and he’s anxious to fight.

His real name was Hiram Ezekial Bates. He was born on the colony planet of Hera, and when he was eight years old he stood six feet two inches tall.

His parents consulted with numerous specialists. The incompetent among them suggested that he had merely done his growing early; the others knew he had a pituitary system gone berserk, but after subjecting him to countless examinations and tests could recommend nothing to stop it. Finally, when he was twelve years old—he stood seven feet three inches tall by then—they found a doctor who could arrest his growth.