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"Uh-huh," said Sushi, peering intently at the screen. He spoke a soft command, and the text scrolled backwards. He leaned closer, muttering softly.

"Uh-oh," said Super-Gnat "This looks like one of those minutes that turns out to be all night long. Hey, Soosh, are you comin' or not?"

"He standing still, looks like to me," said Tusk-anini.

"Yeah," said Sushi, turning around to meet their gazes. "Look, guys, something really interesting just came up. It'll take me a little while to figure out. Why don't you go ahead and I'll catch up with you."

"Sure," said Super-Gnat, shrugging. "We'll save you a seat Just don't expect us to save you any beer."

"Yeah, OK," said Sushi, obviously only half-listening. Then he said, more to himself than to any listener, "Why didn't I think of this before?"

But Super-Gnat and Tusk-anini were already gone.

"Where in Ghu's name are they?" Tullie Bascomb stared through bloodshot eyes out the window of his office at the neon-lit landscape of Lorelei. He and Lola had been waiting for Victor Phule and Ernie to come back for over, six hours. Several discreet (but increasingly urgent) searches of the hotel and surrounding area had produced no sign of the two delinquents.

"Yow guess is as good as mine," said Lola. "I'd have bet on the nearest bar, but we've tried that-the nearest dozen bars, I think. And you say they're not in Mr. Phule's room."

"Security says so, and I trust my security people," said Bascomb. "More than I trust Victor Phule-let alone your guy."

Lola set down her drink-she really didn't need any more, not if she wanted to have some semblance of her wits about her when Ernie and Phule Sr. returned with whatever crazy deal they'd agreed on-assuming they did agree on something. She looked Bascomb directly in the eye and said, "Look, my guy just wants you to deliver what you said you were gonna pay to the jackpot winner-a partner's share of the casino stock." She paused. "I don't see how it's our problem if you didn't intend for him to win. Not if you're running an honest business, the way you claim you are."

Bascomb drew himself up straight, and said, with as much dignity as he could muster after four stiff drinks, "I wish I had any reason to believe you two are as honest as 2 Fat Chance Casino. We're as honest as anybody in this business-a lot more honest than most-and if you've done your homework, you ought to know that"

"All right, I'll give you that much," said Lola. "The point is, my client Mr. Erkeep is entitled to the jackpot for the machine he played. The casino has no rules posted concerning any eligibility for prizes or jackpots other than having to be of legal gambling age-which on Lorelei means tall enough to reach the handles of the slots. My client qualifies."

"What if he obtained the winning chip fraudulently?" said Bascomb. "We've got precedents covering that."

Lola shook her head emphatically. "Fraudulent? How do you get fraudulent? Vic Phule gave Mr. Erkeep a chip to gamble with, he played and won, and gave Mr. Phule back half his winnings-as agreed up front. The remaining chips were his to do with as he wanted. He could've thrown them into a trash disintegrator if he'd wanted--in fact I bet you'd like that."

"Nab, not really," said Bascomb. "There's always a small percentage of chips that never get cashed in. The customers take 'em home for souvenirs, or lose 'em down a drain or someplace else where they never get found. Sure, it's money we don't have to payout, but the legal beagles and the bean counters get headaches about it. They always worry that somebody's gonna show up one day with a huge spacechest full of chips and clean out the bank. Outstanding liabilities, they call it. And when they worry, that gives me headaches."

Lola stared hard at him for a long moment, then nodded. "OK, I guess I do believe you," she said. "But if you're so worried about what the bean counters and the shysters think, why'd you even offer a deal like the one Ernie won? Didn't they scream bloody murder?"

"We never asked 'em," said Bascomb. "I thought it up, and Captain Jester approved it himself, and that was good enough. We didn't expect anybody but the captain's father to play at such lousy odds. And if by some quirk of the odds, the damn machines did payoff, the captain didn't see anything wrong with passing a share of the casino to his old man. As long as it stayed in the family, he figured he wouldn't have to worry about how it was being run."

"What, he thinks his whole family has the golden touch ?"

"No, he just thinks they're smart enough to leave something to the professionals when they can't do it themselves," said Bascomb. He shook his head, and continued, "Now that I've put him in the hole this way, I wouldn't blame him if he decided to get in some new professionals to run the joint." He sighed and took another sip of his drink.

"Well, you're not fired yet," said Lola. "Look, as long as my guy gets a fair shake out of this, he's not going to let them cut you loose."

"Easy for you to say," said Bascomb. "You think you're going to have any influence on what Captain Jester decides to do? Your guy may think he's won a partner's share, but control of the casino still rests with the majority of the stockholders. And I wouldn't bet on them listening to anybody but the captain."

"Hey, I don't want to see you in the ejection pod," said Lola, reaching over and putting her hand on his forearm. "We just have to find something the two of us can agree on, and when Phule and Ernie come back, we convince them it's what they really wanted all along. If you can get Mr. Phule on board, I'm sure his son will listen to what he says."

"If he does, it'll be the first time in years," said Bascomb. "But I agree, we've got to be ready with something sensible before our principals come back with their proposition. What do you think of this idea..." The discussion went on into late hours.

15

Journal #732

The rationalist is convinced that every sophont is at bottom predictable, acting according to consistent (if not necessarily already well-known) rules. The mystic, for his part, believes that every creature conceals within its breast some element of the wild and unpredictable. Of the legionnaires who play parts in this ongoing chronicle perhaps young Sushi best characterizes the former point of view, with Rev perhaps the most obvious advocate of the latter.

The realist (a label I believe I may fairly apply to myself) is aware that both of these philosophies have merit. Most of us are predominantly creatures of habit and pattern; but even. the quietest of us has depths, from which the most unexpected actions can sometimes emerge...

Tonight, Thumper was standing perimeter guard duty for the first time. Brandy led him out to the position he'd be occupying, to show him the ropes and give a word or two of advice.

"The biggest thing to remember is that you've got instant comm contact with Mother, if anything weird happens," said Omega Company's Top Sergeant. "Don't worry about bothering her-first of all, she loves to talk, and second, whatever's going on, she's probably talked to a lot of legionnaires in exactly the same spot you're in-so she may have a pretty good idea what's happening. And third, if you really do need help, she can get it to you faster than anybody else. Got the picture?"

"Yes, Sergeant," said Thumper, peering out into the formless surrounding the base. He felt small and alone, even with the Zenobian stun ray he cradled in his arms.

Brandy nodded. "And the second thing to remember is, even though we're on a strange planet light-years away from your home or mine, there's not really much that can go wrong. The only other humans on the planet are the AEIOU team, over there, and the hunters who brought you. And none of them are going to invade the camp-though if those hunters get boozed up, they might do something stupid. The Zenobians are our allies-in fact, they're the ones who- invited us here. And the Nanoids, the microscopic colony intelligence that the captain and Beeker found out in the desert-nobody's seen them since the captain sent his robot double to deal with them. Not much chance they'll decide to come back on your watch.