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trying to make friends with them.
C mon, he thought, don t let me down. Do it for the Service.
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He felt a heat rise in his face and he grinned.
He was going to win.
He flung them hard against the bulkhead and they bounced back rattling onto
the plastic surface of the crate, giving him a score of twenty-one, a
 natural. Peter barely restrained an exultant  Yes! and with an effort of
will held back the wattage on his smile as he looked around at the stunned and
silent faces.
Hey, guys, he thought, it s a game of chance. Sorta. I ll probably lose the
next one.
Jack Ayers licked his lips slowly, and said with a forced cheerfulness,
 That s what I like to see, beginner s luck. The kind that doesn t last.
Vic s thin face looked woebegone as he nodded and muttered,  Yeah.
Peter raised one dark brow.
 Boy, you guys sure know how to take the pleasure out of winning.
Look, he stood up and brushed off his knees,  I m just looking for a way to
break the monotony. I don t want to push myself in where I m not wanted. So
just say the word and I ll take back my stake and we ll pretend that I ve
never been here. He shrugged.  It s up to you.
He d briefly considered saying,  I ll take my winnings and go. But deemed it
not worth the aggravation of dark looks and hostile mutterings for the next
three weeks. Life was too short to make a battle out of everything.
That s one thing I ve learned anyway.
Silence greeted his suggestion, you could almost hear the rumble of thoughts
being mulled over. Finally a woman who looked like an Indian
temple statue or would have without the jowls and the bandanna knotted around
her hair muttered:  Play.
Raeder squatted and flung the dice without preamble. They came up nineteen. A
gaunt-faced woman gathered them up and passed them back to him. He rattled
them briefly, felt the blush rise in his face, and tossed.
They came up nineteen again, making his point and winning him a cool hundred
and twenty at least.
Every eye was on him; no one was smiling.
Well, I ve sure taken the joy out of this gathering, Peter thought, chuckling
to give the lie to the thought.
I ve been in accidents that were more fun.
Aloud he said:  Wow.
For a moment the mood in the room balanced on a knife edge between hostility
and the excitement of gambler s fever. Greed won as the crewmen calculated
what they might win if Peter lost the next toss.
 Play! the Indian temple statue demanded again. She was breathing heavily
with excitement, which did interesting things to her coveralls, especially the
worn spots.
Raeder tossed and got a five, tossed again and made his point. Five times he
threw and felt the flush that told him he would win.
 Hey, that hand s prosthetic, someone said.  Use the other.
Peter grinned and complied. The dice flew out of his left . . . and he won
again.
 Hey, switch back! the voice complained.
 My pleasure, sports, Peter said, and did so.
Finally he said:  This is spooky, and handed the dice to the woman beside
him. He bet on her and won. By the end of the shift he d cleaned them out and
had gained four completely filled money chits as well as his original twenty.
As they were filing out Jug-ears glowered at him and said,  You gonna give us
a chance to get even?
 Anytime, Raeder told him.  Anyplace.
After all, the honor of Space
Command is at stake, as my father used to say to Uncle Den.
Jug-ears nodded.  Alec ll bring yuh.
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As they climbed back to their bunks, Peter confirmed this with Alec.
 Oh, yeah, the older man said.  It ll be in a different place.
 Nobody seemed too happy with me, Raeder observed.
Alec grinned, but then he was always grinning.
 Don t worry about it, Vic told him.  That was just beginner s luck.
Tomorrow we ll skin ya proper. His dour face brightened almost to melancholy
at the thought.
Trouble is, Raeder thought, if I win again tomorrow, I think they ll do it
literally.
And they d be more cautious next time, now that they knew he wasn t a novice.
Consider it their just reward for all the wet-behind-the-ears
Space Command lieutenants they ve no doubt fleeced of everything but their
eyelashes.
And, after all, he was giving them a chance to get even. Even so, it was a
good thing that Ontario Base was only a Transit jump away. . . . [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]