The Seer (Tellaran Series) (12 page)

Folding his arms, Jolar threw her a mock exasperated look and muttered: “‘Oh, but Jolar, I don’t know
how
to play tongo!’”

Arissa spared him a glance, then counted out ten chips from the growing pile in front of her and moved them into the pot.

The Gensoyan across the table narrowed dark eyes as hard as duracrete at her as if he could glean the values of the cards she held by glaring. He was a heavy-set man, and like so many from his homeworld, he was dark haired with an olive cast to his skin. Jeweled rings adorned his fat fingers, the stones flashing as he examined his cards. By the tightness of the gold bracelets against his wrists and the now too small necklaces under the rolls at his neck, a good deal of that jewelry had likely been purchased when he was a younger, and much slimmer, man.

He drank Utavian desert spirits straight up and either his girth or his annoyance had him grunting every few minutes. With his heavy dark brows pulled low over his glittering black eyes he had the ill-humored look of a man who was dangerous when crossed.

And he couldn’t bluff to save his life.

But then again apparently neither could anyone else, at least, not against her. Jolar had thrown in his last hand two hours ago, declaring that there was no point in continuing to lose to his own wife. A number of players had come and gone in the time she’d sat here and all the poorer for it.

She didn’t win every hand. Sometimes her cards just weren’t good enough to stay in but she followed the elation, disappointment or angry discouragement of her competitors and played accordingly, folding when her cards weren’t good enough, driving the bet insanely high when another player’s bravado wasn’t backed up by the cards he held.

I can’t believe I was lifting billfolds in the market, running from place to place, terrified, when I could have been sitting in a nice comfortable casino instead.

The Gensoyan pursed his thick lips. Grunting again, he leaned forward and counted out ten chips. Feigning nonchalance, he threw them into the huge pot.

The Sertarian to Arissa’s right, the only other player at the tongo table with them, took another look at his cards and shook his head. “Nope, I’m out.”

The Sertarian put his cards in front of the dealer and handed the woman a couple chips as a tip. He collected his drink he headed off, leaving just Arissa and Gensoyan in the game.

The Gensoyan smiled—not a pleasant thing by any means—then lifted his hand and extended his sausage-like fingers in invitation. “The bet is to you.”

Arissa looked at her cards. It wasn’t a great hand. Three ladies, a mage and two of the lesser suit.

She kept her eyes on her cards and
reached
. . . past Jolar’s amusement, the dealer’s growing fatigue and just brushed the Gensoyan’s mind . . .

She counted out twenty chips.

Jolar’s surprise rippled. “You’re going to bet that?”

She placed the twenty in front of Jolar. “No.” Arissa shoved the rest of her little mountain of chips into the pot. “I’m going to bet
that
.”

There was burst of shock from all three and they all, the dealer, Jolar and the Gensoyan, regarded her in stunned silence.

The dealer cleared her throat. “Will you see the bet, sir?”

The Gensoyan’s jowls were shaking as he stood. He threw the cards on the table and stormed away.

“Damnedest luck I ever saw.” Jolar grinned, then kissed her cheek. “Sweet, I think you could break the bank.”

The dealer began to push the pile toward her but Arissa held up a hand. “No, I think I’m done.”

“Hey, I don’t mind,” Jolar protested. “I mean, sure, my manhood is threatened but I could get used to my wife supporting me.”

“No,” Arissa demurred. “I’m done for today.” She reached to the stack of twenty chips and put them in front of the dealer. “For you.”

The woman blinked then gave a wide smile. “Thank you, ma’am. Do you want to cash out or shall I get a basket for your chips?”

“More like an anti-gav unit,” Jolar said eyeing her winnings.

“I want to cash out,” Arissa said to the dealer.

It took a few minutes for the dealer to count it all. “Shall I add it to your shipboard account?”

“No,” Jolar said. “Cash.”

Arissa’s lips parted at the sight of the stack of rainbow hued credits placed in front of her. There were nearly twenty-five thousand credits sitting there.

For an instant she was back in that alley, ready to sell her innocence to Jolar for a hundred credits and a chance to sleep in a bed . . .

“Arissa?” Jolar brushed a curl away from her face. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. It’s just a lot of money.” She looked down at her expensive new clothes and gave a short laugh. “I don’t have any pockets. Will you carry it for me?”

“I think my own winnings have left me a little room,” he joked, scooping it up.

She took his hand as they left, a little surprised when the lights and the noise of the casino came back into her awareness. She could feel the sea of emotions around her now, a turbulent ocean of disappointments, anger, elation and loneliness. It was astonishing that she had been able to shut them out and focus for so long.

“What now?” he asked as they exited the casino. “Are you hungry or do you want wait till dinner?”

“I’m surprised they didn’t offer us anything to eat in the casino. They certainly were generous with the drinks.”

“Eating might help sober you up. They don’t want players thinking straight if they can help it.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m not hungry.” She smiled. “Not yet anyway.”

“Well, let’s spend time somewhere a little more wholesome than a gambling den. How about the activity center?”

She brightened. “I’d love to! I’ve never—I haven’t been to the one onboard.”

“Well, then.” Jolar smiled. “Let’s go play with the other kids.”

“What about this is supposed to be fun?” Arissa demanded, the room pitch black around them. “I can’t see a starblasted thing.”

“Actually, this could be a whole lot of fun,” Jolar murmured, his hands going around her waist to pull her against him. He was warm against her back and the timbre of his voice sent a tightening between her thighs.

“I know you’re teasing.” She caught her breath as his hands slid lightly over her breasts.

His mouth touched the side of her neck as he cupped her breasts. “It
is
awfully dark in here . . . Maybe if we were quiet too . . .”

“Jolar,” she warned breathlessly as his tongue traced her skin. “There are dozens of people in the activity center.”

He gave a low frustrated half-growl. “And not even a door, just a curved passageway into this game room. Couldn’t you warn me if someone were coming our way?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Ordinarily, I could but I might not if I were – uh . . .”

“Busy making those sounds you make when you find your pleasure?” he asked huskily.

“Oh.” Her cheeks went hot. “I didn’t realize I did anything like that.”

“You do. The sweetest little cries . . .” Jolar gave a soft groan. “Gods, this is
not
helping. We need to start the game
now
or risk getting put off the ship.”

He wasn’t the only one who was wondering if they might actually be able to get away with it. “How do I play?”

“Give me a sec. I’m not sure I have any blood left in my head to think with,” he said, laughing a little. “Game—set up!”

Arissa gasped at finding herself hurtling through space.

There was no floor under her feet, no walls, no ceiling above, just light-years of open space around her. She gripped at Jolar’s arms, still wrapped against her waist, in terror.

“Are you okay?” Jolar asked, his surprise and concern vibrating against her mind.

“I didn’t know that would happen!”

“Haven’t you ever played a—” He broke off and his sense grew heavy. “You haven’t, have you? You’ve never played a hologame. Just like you’d never been to a restaurant. Like you never went to school.”

“No.” Her throat was tight. “I’m sorry.”

“Why should
you
be sorry? It’s the rest of us that should be sorry, everyone who forced you to—” He broke off, his anger humming. His sense calmed as if he were forcing himself to it. “Game—level one.”

The view shifted. Two warships, each miniaturized to the size of a man, now flanked her. It was utterly disconcerting to have everything change and not even to be able to see the floor beneath her feet, even though her eyes registered plenty of light.

“How does it do that?” she asked, turning her head towards where she knew Jolar was. “I can’t even see you right behind me.”

“The sensors track your eye movements and adjust the holoprojectors to fool your perception.” He hesitated. “I guess you haven’t been to a holotheater either.”

“No. We had holos at home but it wasn’t as . . . immersive as this.” If it weren’t for Jolar’s arms around her, the familiar feel of his mind, she would be completely undone. “And this is your favorite game?”

“Yeah, well, you spend a lot of downtime on a Fleet cruiser trying to stave off boredom. The quarters are made up of a bunk, a private ‘fresher and shower, if you’re lucky, and a table with a chair bolted to the floor. You hit the gym, read whatever you can get your hands on, bet on stupid things like how much radiation a particular asteroid will give off.
Star Quest
here got me through a four-month rotation with my sanity intact. Are you ready?”

“Wait! What do I do?”

“The game responds to your body movements.” Jolar took her by either wrist and lifted her arms in front of her. Her flying speed increased. He turned her a bit and her direction changed. “Now, just fight the bad guys.”

“Fight? Oh!”

A ship came hurtling right at her, energy cannons blasting.

“What the hell!” She ducked; instinctively throwing her arms up to protect her face. “Ships just
attack
me?”

“You
are
a ship.”

“Why the hell is it so starblasted loud?” she demanded trying to be heard over the cacophony of firing ships. “Why is it making any noise at all when we’re supposed to be in a fucking
vacuum
?”

She could feel his body shaking with laughter but the sound of it was drowned out by the holoships roaring past and firing.

Suddenly the ships were gone and she was flying through space again alone.

“What happened?” she asked, startled by the sudden quiet.

“Level reset.”

“How do I shoot back anyway?”

“Raise your hands in front of you and curl your fingers into a loose fist.”

She did, this time prepared for the increase in speed. “Okay.”

“Now you just kind of flick your fingers.”

She tried it and gave a start when a bolt of blue energy seemed to blaze from her palm. “So they fly in and shoot at me and I shoot at them?”

“Yes. Ready?”

This time as the ship came from her lower right, she managed to fire back. It came around for another pass, spattering blue light all around her and the level reset again.