“I’m ManMountain Bates!” he roared. “My father was a whirlwind and my mother was a lightning bolt! I’m Leviathan, the great beast of the murky deep!” He began pacing back and forth in front of the terrified Terwilliger. “I’m half cyclone and half tornado! I’m Behemoth, the giant hellcat of the Frontier! I was spawned in a supernova and baptized in a lake of lava! I can outfight and outdrink and outfuck and outswear any man or alien that was ever born or whelped or hatched!”

Terwilliger, tears running down his face, turned to the Angel, who had moved a few feet away from him.

“Please!” he whined.

“You think this midget is going to help you?” demanded Bates. He threw back his huge head and laughed. “Why, I’d crush him like an insect! I’d bite off his arms and legs and spit out the bones!”

The Angel stared at him with an expression of mild interest but made no comment.

“I’ve traveled half the galaxy to find you, you skinny little worm!” shouted Bates, turning his attention back to Terwilliger. “I’ve gone without food and without sleep and without women, just waiting for this moment.”

He reached out with surprising swiftness for so large a man and grabbed the gambler by the front of his tunic, pulling him close.

“Now you’re going to learn what happens to anyone who thinks he can cheat ManMountain Bates!”

He lifted Terwilliger high above his head with a single hand.

“Virtue!” wailed the gambler. “For God’s sake, make him do something!”

The Angel watched, expressionless, as Bates wrapped his immense arms around Terwilliger and squeezed. There was a single agonized shriek, followed by a sharp cracking noise, and then Bates threw the gambler’s lifeless body onto the lobby floor.

The huge man glared at the faces around the room, then placed a foot on Terwilliger’s neck.

“I’m ManMountain Bates, and I’ve claimed my just and terrible vengeance!” he bellowed defiantly. “Now you’ve all got something you can tell your grandchildren about!”

He pivoted slowly until he was facing Virtue and the Angel.

“You!” he thundered, pointing an enormous finger at her.

“Me?” asked Virtue.

“He called to you,” said Bates. “Why?”

Virtue tried to formulate an answer, found that her mouth was too dry to speak, and shrugged.

“He owed me two hundred thousand credits. What’s your connection to him?”

“I hardly knew him,” she managed to say.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, nobody very important,” she said, taking a frightened step backward.

“If I find out that you’ve lied to me, I’ll be back for you,” he promised.

She swallowed once and nodded.

“Well?” he demanded, turning to glare at the desk clerk.

“Well what, sir?” asked the man, his voice shaking.

Bates pointed to the corpse at his feet. “Aren’t you going to clean this mess up?”