“I won’t let him kill Santiago,” said Cain doggedly.

“Nobody can stop him. Believe me, Cain—I’ve seen him in action. I know what he can do.” She suppressed a shudder. “He’s inhuman!”

Cain stared at her. “If you’re that afraid of him, why are you working for him?”

“Because he can get what I need,” she said with a tight smile. “And because I’m that afraid of him.” She stared directly into Cain’s eyes. “Have you got anything else to say, or can I have another drink?”

He stared back at her, seemed about to speak, thought better of it, and led her back inside. Jacinto and Silent Annie were still in the living room, waiting for them.

“Is he on his way back yet?” asked Jacinto.

“I didn’t see him,” said Cain. “What’s he doing out there, anyway—communing with the dead?”

“That’s in very bad taste, Mr. Cain,” said Jacinto. “The men in those graves were fine men.”

“Then maybe they’ll talk a little sense to him,” said Cain. “He’s got to know this is a trap.”

“He knows.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Jacinto sighed wearily. “Billions of people in the Democracy may fear his name, but there are tens of thousands out here who practically worship it, who know that he’s the only thing that stands between them and their oppressors. He’s all they’ve got, he and the myth that has grown up around him—and he doesn’t want them to think that he’s betrayed their faith in him by becoming a coward.”

“There’s nothing cowardly about running away from a fight you can’t win,” said Cain.

“When you’re Santiago, there is.”

“No one will ever know.”

Jacinto nodded toward Virtue. “We’d have to kill her to keep the story from spreading, and he won’t do it.”

“Then you and I will have to stop him,” said Cain decisively.

“How?”

“By force, if necessary.”

“You’ll do whatever Santiago tells you to do,” interrupted Silent Annie. “He’s your leader.”

“We’re trying to keep him our leader,” answered Cain.

She stared harshly at him. “When you make a commitment to follow a man, you make a total commitment. You don’t just obey those orders you approve of, and disregard the rest.” She paused for emphasis. “Whatever he decides, we’ll support it.”

“We’ll see,” said Cain noncommittally.

There was an uneasy silence which Virtue finally broke.

“Does anyone mind if I pour myself a drink?”

Jacinto gestured toward the bar. “Fix it yourself.”