Gambler (15 page)

"Start re-running footage from last night.
Look for anything out of the ordinary. If someone sneezes, I want
to know about it," Nova said, standing.

She shuffled to her investigation board
where she now had three photos with red crosses over their faces.
There was little other information on the board. What else did she
have? She'd already been here many more days than she'd planned and
so far all she had were dead ends. Not that that mattered much
anymore; now her mission was simple. Revenge.

She reached up and, using her finger, wrote
the words The Hole on the board and dragged it off to the side. It
probably wasn't important, but it was definitely something she
wanted to remember. Justice would come to everyone in the end.

She turned away from the board and back to
her chair, where she watched four separate video feeds from
different areas of the casino.

"Cal, bring me an icepack would you?" she
asked as she propped her bruised legs up onto the control panel.
Her black dress hung down in limp tatters about her legs.

Cal hovered away and came back within
minutes with a blue cloth bag which was chill to the touch. Nova
grabbed hold and placed the bag over her eye. She couldn't even
remember how she'd managed to injure that part of her, but now it
throbbed and her cheek was beginning to swell.

The cool bag soothed the growing pain and
she let out a sigh of relief as she turned her attention to the
screens. The rest of her ached, but she didn't have time for that
now. She wanted to get away from this planet as soon as possible,
but not before she put Cracos in his place.

As if reading her thoughts - which with the
mind-chip he possibly could - Cal brought over a pile of chips and
a can of soft drink and placed them on the controls. Nova smiled at
him and popped open the can, before gulping down a fizzy mouthful.
The bubbles made her eyes sting but the taste was good. It was
exactly what she needed after the events of the day.

Sitting in her command pod with Cal, she
actually started to feel better; this was her home after all.

"Camera four has sighted Cracos and Vicki,"
Crusader's voice filled the pod. Nova's stomach churned and all
good feeling disappeared.

"Zoom in," she said. The video from camera
four filled the entire screen and just off centre were Cracos and
Vicki. Vicki leant against the casino wall and gazed up at Cracos
with her ridiculous eyelashes. Cracos rested his hand up against
the wall and bent over Vicki.

"Turn up the volume," Nova said, filled with
reluctant curiosity.

The noise of the casino filled the ship's
speakers. It pounded at Nova's eardrums until Crusader adjusted the
input and Vicki's laugh drowned out the other sounds.

"I wish I'd been there to see it," Vicki
said, tossing her red hair back as she giggled. The tips of her
fingers brushed her lips as she looked up at Cracos.

"It was quite a fight. A shame my last
cyborg had to go," Cracos said. He didn't look too upset as his
eyes traced down Vicki's shoulders to her chest.

"Yes. Nova is known for her… brutishness,"
Vicki said, turning her nose up.

Nova's eyes narrowed and the corners of her
mouth turned down as she stared at Vicki through the casino's
camera.

"I don't think you'll be seeing her back
here. She looked pretty pissed when she left," Cracos said. He
turned away from Vicki to light a new cigar and inhaled deeply.

"I hope so. I can't stand working near her,"
Vicki said with a dramatic tone.

"How has your investigation been going?"
Cracos asked, giving Vicki the courtesy of blowing the thick blue
smoke out of the corner of his mouth instead of directly into her
face.

"Nothing new to report. I must say your
staff are strange, but none of them have taken your money." Vicki
tossed her head and gazed about the casino.

Nova leant in close to the screen, eager to
catch any information Vicki might let slip. The ice-bag hung
loosely at Nova's side, forgotten.

"Where will you look next?" Cracos asked.
His cigar smoke clouded around both of their heads.

"Look," Vicki said, pushing against his
chest. "Let me do my job. You do yours." She stalked away from the
casino manager.

Nova was taken aback by Vicki's response.
Maybe she had already gotten everything she could from Cracos and
had no need for him anymore? Vicki disappeared from the video's
frame and Cracos stared after her, his mouth hanging open. He held
the cigar in his ham fist where it burnt itself out.

Cracos shook himself and headed for the
marble stairs and his private quarters. He looked tired and
frustrated. Halfway up the stairs he stopped to look out over the
floor.

"What's he seeing?" Nova asked.

The image on Crusader's screen changed to
show the main floor. At the very centre three security guards held
down a brown haired man of medium build.

"You know the penalty pal," a security
officer said as the sound from the casino filtered through
Crusader's speakers.

"Look, it was just one time. I'm sure this
is unnecessary," the man said as he tried to pull away from their
beefy hands. Their fingers didn't loosen from his arms.

"What's going on?" Cracos said as he reached
the small group. His eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into
fists. "Why are you making a scene in my casino? People come here
to forget the real world!"

"Cards up his sleeves," the first security
officer replied.

Cracos's eyes widened at the response. The
penalties for hiding cards on Tabryn were in no way worth the small
advantage a player gained. Many casinos killed offenders, which
wasn't much different to what the law would do anyway.

They wrestled the man through the casino,
Cracos following just behind. But the man wasn't led out of the
casino, as he would have been on any other planet. They hoisted him
into the adjoining room that Nova knew all too well. The Hole.

A hot flush crept up her cheeks and a rock
fell through her stomach as she thought of what was to become of
the man. He didn't look like the type who would survive the Hole.
Not for long anyway. A part of her wanted to run into the casino,
kill Cracos and his security guards, and release the man herself,
but she'd be dead before the first body hit the ground. So she dug
her fingernails into the armrests of her chair and stayed where she
was.

Fifteen minutes later, Nova pushed herself
up from the chair and stomped away from the command pod. She made a
direct line for the decontamination room where she peeled off the
torn black dress and tossed it with disgust into a pile on the
floor. Her underwear went next, adding to the heap, until she stood
naked.

"Water," she said.

Hot jets shot at her from the ceiling and
walls of the chamber. She relished in the feeling of the filth of
the Hole being washed from her skin. The warm streams took the
grime and washed it down the drain.

"Soap," she said.

Between the water jets, new sprays emitted a
foamy substance. Nova ran her fingers through her hair with the
sweet scented gel. It was almost as if the bad memories of the
cyborg were washed away along with the more visible dirt.

She stood in the streaming jets, leaning
against the wall and letting the warm water soak into her skin and
her muscles relax. Only when the skin of her fingers wrinkled into
soft ridges and Cal tapped on the door to check if she was okay,
did Nova open her eyes and step out of the streams of water.

"Dry off," she said.

Gusts of warm air replaced the water and
brushed over her. In only a few moments, the water was gone and
Nova felt more refreshed than she had for some time.

She reached into the shelves set into the
side of the ship and lifted out a pair of grey pants followed by a
simple black singlet. She kept her injured shoulder immobile as she
pulled the top over her head.

"Yes, I'm coming!" Nova yelled through the
door as Cal continued to tap and call through in his metallic
voice. The knocking stopped and under her breath Nova muttered
about computers and how Cal's wireless link with Crusader should
have made it clear that she was fine.

She kicked her torn dress and other items
into a corner of the room; Cal would deal with it later; before
pressing the button to open the metal door. It slid with a hiss and
she stepped into the ship's main corridor. Cal waited just
outside.

"Okay. Now I'm ready for first aid," Nova
said, nodding at the robot.

She led the way through the ship to her bunk
and sat down with her left leg stretched out in front of her. Cal
hovered to the end of the bed and pulled medical supplies from the
upper cupboards. He then went to work on Nova's wounds, first her
legs and then on up her body.

The cuts across Nova's body stung as he
sprayed the antiseptic Second-Skin. She bit her lip and glared up
at the ceiling, channelling all of her pain into plans for revenge.
For some of the more severe injuries, Cal used glue to hold the
separated pieces of flesh together, before spraying on the
Second-Skin.

Once her legs and torso were finished Cal
turned his attention to Nova's injured shoulder. Cal's projector
eye flickered and moved over her shoulder, his sensor switching to
X-ray and ultrasound mode.

"Image indicates mild dislocation; no
breakage," Cal said.

With no more ceremony, he grabbed hold of
Nova's upper body and pushed her shoulder and chest together. Her
shoulder cracked as it moved back into place and she let out a
small cry.

Cal scanned the area again. "Dislocation
solved, recommend resting and no movement."

Nova rolled her eyes at the robot, like that
was ever going to happen. Cal ignored her gesture and moved his
scan to her face where her left eye was almost closed due to the
swelling.

"Bruising; no fracture; no permanent damage,
but temporary loss of function," Cal said.

"Yes, I know all of that. Can you fix
it?"

Cal turned to his medical supplies. He
pulled out what looked like a piece of cloth and with utmost
delicacy he placed it over the left side of Nova's face. She
furrowed but didn't move as the robot smoothed the material over
her face. She winced at the slight pressure on her bruised
skin.

Just as she was about to rip the material
off and yell at the robot, something moved in the side of her face.
She reached up to feel what had happened but Cal's small metallic
clamp snapped out and stopped her.

"You mustn't interfere," he said.

"What is that thing? It feels like it's
eating my face!" she said. She clenched her fist, resisting the
urge to rip whatever it was off her cheek.

"It is a new product. Healseal. It's a
rather simple technology, but it has its place," Cal said as he
watched the progress on Nova's face.

She couldn't resist and turned to stare into
the small mirror opposite her bed. The white cloth lay atop her
face like a second skin. The cloth rippled and the swelling in her
face went down. It was almost as if the material was somehow
sucking the swelling out.

"How does it do it?" she asked in
wonder.

"It induces the blood which has swollen into
your face to return to the bloodstream. As I said, rather simple
technology."

Cal packed up the medical supplies. "Your
face will probably be fixed before you go to bed."

"Cool," Nova said. She watched with
fascination until her face returned back to its normal shape and
the blue-black colour was gone. Her unobstructed eye blinked back
at her in the mirror.

"It has to come off now," Cal said, hovering
over to peel the white cloth from Nova's skin.

"Or what?" she asked, sarcastic.

"Or it will cause all the rest of the blood
to leave your face. Your skin will die, and your nose will drop
off," Cal explained, matter-of-factly.

Nova's eyes went wide. "Hurry up then!"

Cal peeled the material free.

As soon as the robot moved clear, her hand
rushed to her face, feeling for missing chunks of skin and
squeezing her nose to make sure it was still there. She scowled at
Cal as he tossed the Healseal into the waste disposal unit and
hovered back to her.

"How does it feel?" Cal asked, ignoring her
expression.

"Better," she said, and it did. The swelling
had disappeared and the pain had faded away. "What time is it?"

"Approximately one hour until dawn," Cal
replied.

"Shut everything down. I need some
sleep."

Cal put the last of the medical supplies
away and hovered away from Nova's bed. She lay down on the thin
mattress and closed her eyes. All around her the ship powered down.
The lights turned off and the noise from the engine faded away
until there was just a dull hum. Only then did she fall into an
exhausted sleep.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

"I need a drink," Nova said, holding her
head in her hands. She stared down at Crusader's controls and
willed them to give her answers.

"You called?"

The familiar voice crackled through
Crusader's speakers. Nova's head whipped up and she stared at the
front screen. Aart grinned back at her.

"What the hell are you doing?" she
asked.

"I heard you needed a drink and happened to
be in the area," Aart said with a shrug.

"How exactly did you hear that?"

Nova was furious. She'd specifically told
Aart to leave Tabryn and go back to The Jagged Maw.

"Aart requested communication half an hour
ago," Cal said.

Nova whirled on the robot. "And you're only
telling me now?"

"He said he'd wait until you were ready,"
Cal said. The tone of his voice made Nova think of the small robot
shrugging with indifference.