Gambler (13 page)

Nova smiled and closed her eyes, feigning
exhaustion so they wouldn't see the tears glistening at the corners
of her eyes.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Nova took three days on Crusader to rest and
recover from her wounds. Cal's tutting echoed throughout the ship
whenever she winced or showed any sign of pain. Even so, he took
the time to repair her mech suit and return it to the cupboard.

On the third day, Nova hobbled into the
storage bay.

"Cal," she said. "Where's my dress?"

"Where did you leave it?"

"Here on the floor."

"Exactly," he said with a huff. "I hung it
up in the cupboard."

Nova rolled her eyes as she hunted through
the closet. Tears welled in her eyes and she groaned as she pulled
the black dress over her head.

Another night 'blending' at the casino. She
couldn't think of anything worse.

"Keep scanning those photos, and all the
other images we have. I don't want to waste one second more in
there than I have to."

"Confirmed," Cal said.

She nodded and strode out of the ship, her
movements completely at odds with the tight black dress. She threw
on her customary trench-coat as she walked through the night air.
The thick material warmed her skin against the chill and hid her
from prying eyes.

Once inside the casino, she stopped to look
around. She nodded to a couple of guards who had become familiar to
her and walked deeper inside the casino. She noted the de-emo who
had dealt for her on the first night. Behind the cash counter was
the woman who had all but told her to shove off.

At a far table, Nova spotted the elderly man
she had sat next to on the first night and she couldn't help but
smile to herself. The universe just kept spinning.

Nova took a seat to the man's right and
smiled at him. "How's it going tonight?"

The man looked up at her through cloudy
eyes. "Oh hello. Not so good I'm afraid." He gestured to the meagre
pile of tokens sitting in front of him.

"There's always time to get it back," Nova
said, waving for the young man holding the cards to deal her
in.

"I don't mean to offend you, but you weren't
much luck last time."

"Ah. I'm feeling much luckier tonight," Nova
said as she lifted the cards up. "What's your name anyway,
friend?"

"Call me Ted. Everyone else does." Ted's
tone was bleak as he turned back to his own cards.

"Well, Ted, fingers crossed that tonight is
your night."

It wasn't.

Nova played, but her attention was spread
out over the rest of the casino. As with the other nights she could
see nothing strange or suspicious. She was so preoccupied that she
barely noticed when Ted ran out of tokens.

"That's me," he said with a sigh, pushing
away from the table.

Nova looked up at him with a hint of
concern. "Already?"

"I told you, you're bad luck," Ted said with
a smile.

"Can I give you ten to make up for it?" she
asked, holding up a blue edged token. A part of her felt bad for
the man. What if that had been all of his life savings?

"Thank you, pretty lady, but a wise man
knows when to fold 'em." Ted grimaced and shuffled away.

Nova watched him go before turning back to
her cards. As her gaze swept the room her eyes locked onto a
cascade of red hair. Vicki. The woman bent over a roulette table,
her breasts brushing against the surface. She batted her eyelashes
at the ball jockey who flushed red and seemed utterly lost.

Nova sneered at the display and tossed her
cards onto the table at the end of the hand.

Despite the pain in her side, she stalked
around the card tables, searching for anything suspicious. The
first table she stopped at was filled with players. These were the
high-rollers. They watched the cards with intense concentration.
She doubted any of these stole the money; the high-rollers
respected the art of gambling almost as much as Cracos himself
did.

The bets at the centre of the table grew
bigger until the total was much more than Nova would earn in an
entire year. Her eyes lit at the pile of tokens. She imagined what
she would do if she could just win that hand. But of course, she
wouldn't even try a hand at this table. The players here knew every
card counting trick there was, and then some.

Nova wandered to the next table. A lone man
played at this table and the de-emo dealing didn't look up as Nova
stood off to the side. The man wore a black coat and torn jeans.
His messy black hair hung over his face, partially shielding his
stubbled face. A part of Nova was surprised that the casino had let
such a scruffy man through the doors.

It was then she noticed the gold-rimmed
chips. He had money. Nova narrowed her eyes. What was a man who
looked like he should be in the farthest reaches of Outer Tabryn,
be doing in a casino with that kind of money?

He seemed to be breaking even on most hands,
so she guessed he wasn't making money off the tables.

"Cal, get me a history of this guy," Nova
said under her breath.

She waited and watched as the ragged man
tossed thousands of credits into the centre pool, sometimes to lose
them and sometimes to win them back.

"Dustin Feders. Son of billionaire and
planet founder Geron Feders." Cal's voice came through to Nova's
ears.

"That's Geron Feders's son?"

Geron Feders was known through most of this
galaxy, and the next, and probably the one after that. Geron had
made his fortune as a young man by exploring unchartered planets.
He would claim these as his own and then sell them off piece by
piece to development companies. It was dangerous work, but it had
paid off for him many times over.

"What's Geron's son doing here? And like
that?" Nova asked, her eyes still fixed on the scruffy man.

"The specifics I don't know, but the Cloud
says Dustin has always been a thrill-seeker and chose not to follow
in his father's footsteps. There's not much information about him
in the Cloud other than a picture and a few irrelevant facts,
birthday, etcetera." Cal's drone filled Nova's ears and she shook
her head.

If only she had been given the opportunities
Dustin had been given! She would have become a planet founder
herself. She still might if she saved up enough money. The only
undiscovered planets now were many light years away and that was an
expensive trip. Not to mention she'd have to cross the
Confederacy's damned border.

"I doubt he would need to steal money from
the casino," she said.

"Quite right. Despite their falling out,
Dustin still receives a healthy sum from his father, according to
the Cloud."

"I guess it's not him then," Nova said,
looking away from the solitary man.

The next table sported a young woman in a
dark suit. Her blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders in curls and
created a stark contrast against the dark fabric. Thin stripes
covered the jacket which came down to her wrists.

To either side of the woman were young men.
They bent over the table and fought for position next to the woman
as she continued to play, uncaring. The men wore tight-fitting
black shirts and similarly tight black pants. Every strand of hair
on each of their heads sat perfectly in place as they jostled
amongst themselves.

Nova couldn't help but shake her head as the
men fawned over the woman. It was quite a common sight in places
such as the Lucky Coin. 'Hangers', Nova liked to call them. They
trailed around after the wealthy and successful, hoping to be taken
in, ideally married, and live out the rest of their days in luxury.
Nova had had to restrain herself from striking hangers on many
occasions.

She eyed the group. She dismissed the
hangers immediately; while they probably needed the money, she
doubted they had the collective brainpower to pull off a casino
heist, let alone individually. The woman caught Nova's attention
though. She sat with confidence and seemed unfazed by the men
around her. She barely spoke to the dealer, but gestured to him for
another card.

Nova sat at the bar and studied the woman.
She had simple pearl earrings and her face was plain. Nova
suspected the woman was 'all original', a rare occurrence in a
place like the Lucky Coin. Her fingernails were short and her mouth
remained a firm line. Nova watched the woman for nearly an hour,
but in the whole time the woman did nothing to raise concern.

Nova shrugged and moved on, she would keep
the woman in mind, but for now it was a dead end. Similarly, the
rest of the casino had little to offer; ordinary people sat at
tables and machines, but they all seemed to be doing what they were
supposed to be doing: losing money and feeding the casino
machine.

Nova walked around the edge of the floor to
get a look at the other side. The soft green carpet bounced
underfoot and she took the time to enjoy the flawless wooden
decorations. Halfway around the casino, a firm hand grasped her arm
and pulled her through the crowd.

She let out a yelp of surprise mixed with
pain, but before she could stop herself she was dragged into a
small side room. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the dim
lights and the smoky air. She coughed and waved her hand in front
of her face. The grasping hand on her arm was gone.

She looked up; her hand already resting on
her stunner. To her left was a burley security officer, obviously
the one who had pulled her in. Across the room, Nova was surprised
to see Cracos and Zodac, the Zine addict, whom she had accosted
just a few nights ago.

Cracos sat in a large armchair with his
customary cigar leaning out of the side of his mouth. The addict
stood with his arms folded across his chest as he glared at Nova.
Cracos's usual jovial expression was gone, his thick eyebrows drew
together.

Nova's stomach sunk as she looked around the
room.

"Nova," Cracos began. "Nova, Nova,
Nova."

Nova expected more but Cracos stopped
speaking and went back to staring at her. She shifted on her
feet.

"Um… Yes?" she said. Her hand moved from her
stunner to rest on her gun.

"Can you please explain to me why poor Zodac
here came home to find you in his apartment?" Cracos asked. Zodac
glared at her.

"You told me to investigate. That's what I
was doing."

"From what I hear, you weren't so much
investigating as accosting," Cracos said.

"She threatened me!" Zodac swung his arm up
to point at Nova before returning it to its position across his
chest. Cracos gestured for him to stay still.

"He's obviously on Zine; he will need money
from somewhere. What makes you think he's not the one stealing from
you?" Nova asked, incredulous that Cracos could be mad at her for
investigating as he'd instructed.

"He wouldn't do it," Cracos said, shaking
his head.

Nova stared with her mouth wide open. How
could someone like Cracos be so foolish? Then she remembered one of
Fenton's photos. Hadn't it shown Cracos naked with Zodac, before he
was high on Zine.

"Look, you told me to do whatever was
necessary. I was completely within my rights to question him." Nova
waved her hand at Zodac.

"Breaking and entering one of my employee's
homes is not within your rights," Cracos said, his voice getting
louder with each word.

Nova's eyes flashed with rage and she
clasped her hand around her gun.

"Don't you dare. You'll be dead before you
can get it out of your belt," Cracos said. "I knew I shouldn't have
hired you. Vicki warned me, but did I listen?"

"Vicki." Nova's skin went cold as she
thought of the other woman whispering into Cracos's ears.

"Yes, she told me all about you."

"Everything she said to you is a lie. She's
a venomous, conniving bitch and—"

"Enough!" Cracos yelled, slamming his fist
onto the wooden desk. "What would make you feel compensated?"
Cracos said more gently as he turned to Zodac and placed a hand on
the other man's arm.

Zodac stuck out his bottom lip and pouted as
he looked between Cracos and Nova. His hands shook and his lips
were covered in scabs from where he had chewed at them.

"The Hole," Zodac said after a few
moments.

"You're right. It's nearly show time."
Cracos nodded to the large security officer and before Nova knew
it, her arms were pinned behind her back. She fought with all her
might but his hands were like vices about her arms. She kicked and
yelled, but all she managed to achieve was to knock over one of
Cracos's chairs.

She ripped her arm free and shot her elbow
up at the security officer's nose. He grunted but didn't miss a
beat as he grabbed hold of her arm again.

Nova yelled until a meaty hand covered her
mouth, blocking all noise. She tried to bite down on the flesh, but
the man behind her twisted her arm so far it felt like it might
break so she released her teeth.

He half carried, half dragged her through
the door and onto the casino floor, then across to the other side
of the room and a broad set of double doors. The room beyond had an
odd scent to it; like sweat and blood, a rowdy crowd gathered in
the centre, yelling obscenities at one another.

Nova tried to look around, but her head was
held tight and she could barely see over the thick fingers covering
most of her face. Fingers jabbed her in the ribs, sending agony
through her fresh wound, and jeers cast after her as the security
officer hauled her through the crowd.

Tension crackled through the air and she
knew that trouble was coming. The noise of the crowd beat at her
eardrums. Then, in one quick motion, the security guard tossed her
forward. She expected to be stopped by the wall of people, but she
kept falling. Then, she expected to be stopped by the floor, but
that didn't happen either. When her eyes finally focused she saw
herself falling into the bottom of a circular cement pit.