Tzadi sighed. "Then there's nothing more to be said. I will give you as long as possible--until next Monday. Then I shall inform the proper people." "Big deal," Derrence said, his heart sinking, his stomach twisting. "Better out of work than in the electric chair." "Oh, but I can assure you of successfully escaping detection." "You can," Derrence said, smiling thinly. He caught the waiter's eye. "And how can you do that?" "I ... I can't tell you." "I thought so. Why don't you do the job yourself, if you're so sure of getting away with it?" "I am incapable of such things--just not built for ending life." * * * * * The waiter came. Derrence asked for the bill. The waiter glanced at the plates half full of food and asked if anything was wrong. Derrence said no, they were merely in a hurry. The waiter said, "But, sir, the management would be willing to give you credit for a meal if, indeed, the food were not absolutely...." Tzadi said, "Will you stop this theatrical nonsense? Don't you know there's no audience left to appreciate it?" The waiter looked at him. "Truly, sir?" Tzadi hesitated; then said, "Except for one. Just one. And does it make sense to expect that one to come to this place of all the places in the world?" The waiter's face was grim. "I ... I find it a very painful concept, sir. I know it was bound to happen, that it was the logical goal, and still...." "Yes," Tzadi said. "Now please give us the bill." The waiter wrote quickly and tore the sheet from his pad. He said, "That one, sir ... is he protected?" "No," Tzadi said. "The majority say he must go." "Well, they surely know what is best. But I...." He sighed and walked away. "I too," Tzadi murmured. "I too." "What was _that_ all about?" Derrence asked. He was preoccupied with his own problem, but had heard enough to be puzzled. "You two sounded like a bad mystery movie; members of the underground meeting in enemy territory." "Something like that," Tzadi said. "One what?" Derrence asked. "You said there was only one. And what did he have to do with a waiter offering us credit on an unfinished meal? And why...." "We are members of a rather strange religious order," Tzadi said, looking at Derrence with unblinking intensity. "The objects of our worship are just about extinct. Except for one. I recognized this waiter as practicing a certain ritual ... well, suffice it to say I told him we have run out of gods." "Except for one?" "Yes. One. Just one. And soon that one...." "One what? Is it an animal?" "Yes, an animal." "How could he expect an animal to come to a restaurant?" "As man is an animal." "Then it's a man?" "Yes, a man." "To hell with this!" Derrence said, getting to his feet. "You're playing with me! I don't know why, but you're...." * * * * * Tzadi was also standing. "Please do not shout, Der." His eyes darted around the room. "No one here is shouting. You will be noted."