Stalker's Luck (Solitude Saga Book 1) (12 page)

“I feel like a little blackjack. Would you show me the way?”

The girl wrapped her arm around his and beamed. “Certainly, Mr Black. I can tell you’re a man with a lot of luck.”

“You have no idea.”

12

Dom eyed the security station over her barely touched cocktail. “I hate being sneaky. I don’t do sneaky.”

“Really?” Knox said dryly, looking her up and down. “But you seem so spry and nimble.”

“Shut up.” From her position a couple of metres behind a roulette table she could see through the reinforced glass windows into the security station. There was only one staff member inside the room in front of the bank of security monitors, but plenty of security guards walking the floor nearby. They’d see her if she tried to force the door.

“Looks like we need a distraction,” Knox observed.

“Preferably one that isn’t going to put the place in lockdown. Some of these guys look a little jumpy. I don’t want to kill anyone I don’t have to.”

“A noble sentiment,” the augment said. “I’ve got an idea. Follow me.”

He moved around to the side of the security station, heading for several long rows of slot machines. Only a handful of gamblers played, each pulling the levers of two or three adjacent machines at a time. She followed Knox down the row until he reached the end.

“Is anyone watching us?” he asked.

She glanced around. They were in a blind spot between a couple of security cameras. This section was too deserted to receive much staff attention. “We’re clear. What are you doing?”

He bent down next to the last in the row of slot machines and pulled a thin metal panel off a box affixed to the side. “All these casinos control the slot machines centrally. That way they can adjust the odds up or down as they need to.” He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the cables disappearing into his skin. He selected a pair of them and plugged them into two jacks inside the box.

“That’s disgusting,” she said.

“Typical Luddite from the House of Man.”

“I don’t follow the House.”

“But you were raised by them. And that counts for a lot.”

He pulled a chunky grey tab out of his pocket and plugged a third cable from his arm into it. The monochrome green screen lit up. The machine clicked rapidly as it powered on.

“Nice tab,” she said.

He shifted slightly, like he was embarrassed. “Shut up. It’s a hunk of shit piece of new tech. I used to have an Engage 4, pristine condition, latest model from before the Fall. Except the Feds seemed to think I shouldn’t have it anymore when they arrested me.” He pressed an analogue button on the side of the tab and shuddered as if he’d been shocked. “Christ, it’s like jacking into a toaster.”

She didn’t know much about augments, only the urban legends the Fed-controlled media couldn’t suppress. Most of them came out of the Radiance, the fringe group of Pre-Fall tech hoarders that made their home on Uriel. The Feds made them out to be some sort of cult, worshipping old tech and trying to coax new life out of it. She’d heard rumours that human augmentation used to be fairly common in the Core systems before the Fall. Not so much out here at the Fringe, where the Solar Federation hadn’t trusted its citizens with more advanced technology. That didn’t make it any less disturbing watching Knox plug into the tab, connecting it to himself on some level she couldn’t even begin to understand.

She swallowed her unease. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing.”

“Adjusting the odds.” Knox’s fingers flew across the tab, faster than she could keep track of. His remaining eye stared blankly ahead, while the electronic replacement hummed quietly. “You still got those chips Skinny gave you?”

She glanced down the row of slot machines and got the idea. “Want me to start playing some slots?”

“See, all the other kids say you’re slow, but I knew you’d catch on eventually.”

“Gee, thanks. I’ll leave you and your department store tab alone.”

His cheeks flushed. “It’s a temporary tab. Temporary. Get on with it, Tarzan.”

She moved down the row and fed chips into three different machines. With a glance back, she saw that Knox had unplugged himself from the panel and was slinking slowly back towards the security station. He met her eyes and gave a quick nod. She licked her lips and pulled each of the slot machine levers, one by one.

The dials spun and spun. She backed up a little bit, away from the machines.

The first machine burst out with a victorious melody of beeps. “Jackpot! Jackpot!” it yelled.

Eyes glanced towards the slot machines from nearby. Flashing lights lit up the machine as chips began to pour into the tray, overflowing onto the floor.

The next slot machine over stopped its spinning and joined in the victory song. “Jackpot! Jackpot!”

Then the next one. “Jackpot! Jackpot!”

Gamblers were drifting away from the roulette table now, coming to see the commotion. A couple of red-suited security guards spoke urgently into their tabs. None of them looked at her as she quickly slipped away.

One of the women further down the line of slot machines gave a delighted shriek. “Jackpot! Jackpot!” her machine declared.

There was a moment’s pause as every nearby gambler stared at the rows upon rows of slot machines. The overlapping shouts of “Jackpot!” and whistles and pouring chips rang in Dom’s ears. She could see the flashing lights reflected in the gamblers’ stares.

Then the stampede started all at once, as if it’d been choreographed. Men and women dressed in tuxedos and gowns elbowed each other out of the way in a rush to fill the slot machine seats. Soon the cacophony was accompanied by shouts and the clunk of slot levers being pulled and dials spinning.

“Jackpot!”

“Jackpot!”

“Jackpot!”

Security guards and staff members ran around wildly, yelling into tabs and trying to tug gamblers away from the machines. Dom smiled to herself and slipped away through the growing crowd, heading for the security station.

Knox moved alongside her, using her bulk as a buffer against the crowd. “Did I do good, Mummy?”

“That is the creepiest thing I’ve heard you say yet. Never ever call me that again.” She pushed her way out of the crowd and glanced at the security station. The staff were all distracted, but she could see one security guard still inside the station, standing up and watching the chaos on his monitors.

“That security booth’s door is locked,” Knox said as they approached the station.

She brushed past a security guard hurrying towards the chaos. When he’d passed, she held up the electronic key she’d swiped from his belt.

The augment gave her an appraising nod. “I’m impressed. They teach you that in between
Poisoning Public Water Supplies
and
Propaganda 101
?”

“Yeah, right after
How to Twist the Legs Off Annoying Augments
. I got an A in that one.”

“Still a guard inside,” he said. “Got a plan to deal with him as well?”

“Just the one.”

She glanced around once more. No one looking her way. Inside the booth, the guard rubbed his forehead as he stared at the monitors. Dom slid the electronic key into the lock and pulled open the door.

The guard started to turn. Dom kicked him in the back of the knee, wrapped her arm around his neck, and squeezed.

“Jesus Christ,” Knox said as he came in after her.

“Close the door, for the love of Man,” she said through gritted teeth. The guard’s fingers clawed at her face. She had ten kilograms and a head’s height on him. He could claw all he liked. He wasn’t going anywhere.

She heard the door click as the electronic lock reengaged. The man’s face was going purple in her arms.

She glanced at Knox. “Can anyone see?”

The augment peeked out the window. “I don’t think so. You’re going to kill him.”

“I’m not going to kill him.” The guard’s struggles grew sluggish. His tongue protruded grotesquely from his mouth. His legs faltered and then she was taking all his weight. He went still.

She lowered him carefully to the floor and released him. His breathing started again, but his eyes remained closed.

“See,” she said. “He’s fine.”

“Yeah. He looks just dandy. Get on lookout.”

She positioned herself near the door and divided her attention between looking through the window and watching the casino’s security feeds on the bank of monitors. She could still hear the calls of “Jackpot!” drowning out everything else.

When she glanced back at Knox, he was lying on the floor under the security computer, plugging himself into some hidden port. Like Knox’s tab, the computer here was new and bulky. Mechanical clicks chattered from the machine as he hooked some sort of plastic chip into place.

“What are you doing?” she said.

“Computer stuff. You wouldn’t understand.”

“This’ll let you access their security remotely?”

“That’s why I’m doing it, isn’t it?” He kicked the limp body of the security guard. “Move him out of the way, will you? I need to get over here.”

She put her boot under the guard and rolled him so Knox could shuffle over. He pulled his tab out and plugged in another cable.

“Seems a bit strange,” she said as she returned her attention to the window.

“What does?”

“Someone like you ending up in the Bolt. Most hackers don’t end up in a supermax.”

“Most hackers don’t jack into the prisoner transport vessel they’re in and vent the crew compartment’s oxygen into space.”

She grunted.

“What?” he said. “You don’t approve of killing Feds, New Calypsan?”

“When I killed Feds it was war.”

“I’m sure that’s a real comfort to them.” He glanced at her while his fingers continued to poke rapidly at his tab. “You know the real difference between you and me? When they caught me, they saw a midget and an old-tech cultist. So they threw away the key. When they caught you, they saw a weapon. So they figured out how to use you.”

“Well, now I’m using you. And you’re using me.”

“Ain’t this one big happy family?” he said. “What’s the skinny guy’s deal? Why’s a writer hanging around with you?”

“You’ll have to ask him.”

“Pass. I’m not in the mood to go making any friends.” He unjacked himself and clambered out. “All done.”

“You’ve got it?”

“I’ve got it all, sweetcheeks.” He nudged the guard with his shoe. “What are we doing with him?”

“Leave him. Can you wipe any security vid feeds that might’ve recorded us coming in here?”

“Already done. Can we get out of here? I think this guy pissed himself.”

She glanced out the window once more, waiting for a pit boss to pass, then pulled open the door. “After you.”

“So polite, for a terrorist.” He slipped through the door.

She held her tongue and followed him out.

Eddie tapped the table. The dealer slipped a card off the top of the deck and laid it on the table in front of him. Jack of hearts. Shit.

“Twenty-two,” the dealer said. “Player busts. Sorry, sir.”

He took Eddie’s stack of chips and sequestered them in his tray.

“It seems like your luck is turning bad, Mr Black,” Brittany said as she stood behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s not my money,” he said as he set up another bet. He was the only one at this table now. The middle-aged woman he’d been sharing the game with had started bleeding chips and went off in search of more booze a few minutes ago.

As the dealer dealt him his cards—a queen and an eight—his earpiece crackled back to life. Dom’s voice whispered in his ear.

“We’re in. Floor plans say there’s another private elevator behind a staff door off the main corridor. It’s locked electronically, but Knox says he can override it. That should take us to the upper floors. Leone’s offices and the central command room. See if you can find the elevator. Then we’ll see about getting Knox up to you. Cough to confirm.”

He cleared his throat as he signalled to stay. The dealer revealed his own hand: fifteen. He took another card. Eight of clubs.

“Dealer busts,” he said. “Well done, sir.”

Eddie pushed his chips across the table and stood. “Too much excitement for me. Colour me up.”

The dealer nodded and traded in his chips for higher value ones. Eddie slipped them into his pocket, leaving one on the table. “Buy yourself a drink.”

“Thank you, sir.” The dealer smiled as he took the chip.

Brittany clung to his arm as he turned away from the table and returned to the entrance hall. He put his hand on hers.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to use the facilities. Can I meet you in the restaurant for the show?”

“I’ll save us a table,” she said, releasing him and bouncing away. He headed towards the bathroom until she disappeared out of sight. Then he turned aside, nodded to a pair of elderly high rollers, and went searching for the staff door.

He found it a few moments later. He hadn’t noticed it on the way in through the tiled hall. It was constructed to blend into the wall as just another panel; the only thing giving it away was the small gold handle. As he strolled past, he put a finger out and tested the handle. Locked. Hopefully the midget was as good as he claimed he was.