“What if I do?” Kaskey said standing. “So sorry if I’m not good enough for you and your crusade to save the Universe.”
“Shut up, Kas,” Grant said quietly and that threw him.
He was expecting an argument, maybe a fight.
“You’re better than that. You’ve already made a difference working with me. Already saved the lives of those girls.”
Kaskey just stared at him.
“So you messed up, so now you’re getting your lesson. You big enough to deal with that or you going to run away from it?”
Kaskey walked to the window and stared out despite there being nothing much to see, unless you liked brick walls.
“Regrette and Tsyrker will be here in an hour or so, the girls leave in fifteen minutes. I hope you’ll still be joining us in the bar, but if you don’t… Well, good luck and thanks.”
Grant walked out and closed the door behind him.
***
“Happy?” Gulch asked him down in the foyer.
The girls were waiting for a taxi to take them to the spaceport, Tandish was going with them to make sure they got through OK and met their InterG escort home.
“He has to learn,” Grant said.
“Does he? Does everyone have to become hard like you?”
“It’s a hard Universe, Gulch.”
“It is, but that doesn’t mean one has to live in the hard parts. Doesn’t mean everyone has to walk the dark and dangerous streets.”
“Someone has to,” Grant retorted.
“Does he?”
“Well, that’s up to him now,” Grant said and walked off.
***
Later they sat in the bar. All of them except Kaskey.
“Your student gonna come?” Regrette asked.
“He didn’t leave with the girls,” Gulch said.
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t leave,” Regrette pointed out.
“I didn’t leave,” Kaskey said walking in and sitting down.
“Good,” Grant smiled.
“Finally,” Regrette moaned.
“Let’s begin then,” Gulch said. “I’ve found plans for the casino to give us a basic idea. The casino is split into three and as far as I can see there is no way to go between each from the inside. Each casino covers multiple floors with floors of hotel rooms and meeting rooms etc. above and then floors containing the workers. Kitchens, security and the like.”
“Let’s talk about that security,” Tsyrker said. “What about guest lists? Can we just walk in?”
“There are basic checks,” Loveritto said. “They might ask you to prove you’ve got the cash to gamble with.”
“Might?” Kaskey asked.
“They don’t want to bug rich customers, send them elsewhere, but if they suspect you, they’ll check. It’s an agreement of entry in all the casinos.”
“If you’re rich enough to be there, you aren’t robbing the place,” Regrette said.
“How do you know this?” Tsyrker asked.
“Ex-cop,” Grant said.
“As Gulch said,” Kov continued, “the plans indicate that there is no way between the casinos, we can’t go into the lower, cheaper one and walk up. We need to be able to walk in at the top without question. Unless you’re all a lot richer than I am.”
“Mssh, shouldn’t be a problem,” Regrette said.
“Better poor than blood money,” Tsyrker said.
“I’m sorry, I forget how much you get per coup,” he retorted.
“Don’t start,” Grant warned.
“Let’s say we breeze in, then what?” Kaskey asked.
“Then you need to get into the private rooms,” Gulch said, “but it won’t be that easy. Lots of security, you’re not going to be able to just walk in.”
“I can fix something up,” Tsyrker said. “Fake IDs and backgrounds.”
“You’re still need to deal with security, you won’t be allowed to just walk out with the girls,” Kov said.
“Can you locate the security office on the plans?” Grant asked.
“Yes,” Gulch replied.
“Then we’ll need someone in there.”
“No,” Gulch said. “I can do it from outside as long as someone can hijack the line.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Regrette said.
“Well plans won’t be good enough, we need to get in there and have a look around,” Grant said. “How long, Rainsford?”
“Couple of hours.”
“Then let’s get on with it.”
***
“How long did it take you to decide?”
“Huh?” Kaskey looked up from his folder to find Tsyrker standing there.
It was pretty quick to get fake personalities for them, seems they, or at least she, had a store of them. It took longer to hook it all up online. He had been given a folder to memorise; all the information on who he was if he was questioned by anyone at any time.
“How long did it take you to decide to stay?” she asked. “May I?”
“Yeah.”
She sat down.
“About the time it took you to get here.”
“This is not the norm,” she said.
“So I keep hearing, but then you seem to hook up with him a lot and I doubt you be doing that to find a lost necklace.”
She smiled.
“Depends on how expensive it is.”
“You know what I mean,” he grumbled.
“I do and you’re right, but this is still an anomaly. In fact we’ve never done anything like this.”
“Why do you do it?” Kaskey asked.
She thought about it for a second.
“I’m on the payroll.”
“You what?”
“I’m employed by Grant. Just like you.”
He looked at her intently.
“Nah. Too easy. What is it? Cover?”
She just raised an eyebrow at him.
“Alright, have it your way. So why’d you join the team?”
“To be honest? It’s fun. I like hanging out with these guys, I like putting myself to the test.”
“What do you do normally?”
“That I can’t tell you.”
“It was you with the Typans, wasn’t it? Saving us from Wotham.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she smiled at him.
“Right,” he looked back down at his folder. “And this? Is this fun?”
“Not the idea of kidnapped girls, but breaking into a casino? Yeah, I think it will be.”
“You’re one strange lady,” he sighed.
She pulled his folder over and looked at it.
“I’ll test you.”
***
Grant, Kaskey, Tsyrker, Loveritto and Tandish entered the casino on the top floor. They could be wrong, but they were assuming that if anywhere, this would be where the girls were employed. They took two fancy hired cars so that they could enter separately and had no issue entering through the doors, even though Kaskey was obviously nervous.
“Just relax, nice and easy strides,” Grant whispered to him as they approached the doors. “Just another hustle.”
Inside, the foyer took up two floors and was lit by two massive chandeliers. The room was half an oval with ornate staircases running up the two sides.
“Don’t look so impressed,” Rainsford whispered to Tandish.
“No, right,” she blushed.
“And don’t blush.”
“Sorry.”
“Oh there you are,” Tsyrker called and waved at Grant and Kaskey.
They met in the middle and exchanged greetings and comments on how lovely the foyer looked.
“Where first?” Grant asked.
“Let’s get a drink,” Tsyrker suggested.
“Good idea,” Kaskey said. He needed one to calm his nerves.
He had to remind himself that he was here with ‘heavy hitters’, professionals, because he knew the security here would be tougher than anything he’d ever faced.<
br />
They walked between the staircases to the end of the room and through double doors into a large, lavish bar. It was filled with tables and comfortable chairs with a bar running the entire length of the back wall. This was where people met before and after their time at the tables to meet; toast their success/drown their loss and generally catch up. They took a table by the wall next to the door so that Grant and Tsyrker could sit with their backs to it. Once again Kaskey wondered if he wanted to hang around long enough to have to do the same. And if he did, how hard was it going to be to find a table long enough for them all to sit on one side? Loveritto walked over waving and took a seat as a waiter came by and they ordered drinks.
“How many operations run in a place like this?” Tsyrker asked.
“Not many. The InterG mostly, no locals,” Loveritto said. “In house security deals with cheats.”
“And how crooked is the House?”
“Actually depends on the casino. Some are all above board, others are run by a gang. Good place for a criminal to retire, ‘go straight’,” Loveritto explained.
“And this one?” Grant asked.
“Up until now I would have said it falls in the lower end, but if they use slave labour…” he trailed off.
“It’s the ‘above board’ ones I always worry about,” Grant said.
“You’re very cynical,” Tandish said sadly.
“In my experience if you don’t hear of a criminal running a place, that just means they’re big enough to hide,” Grant said.
“You can’t go around looking for criminals behind everything,” she countered. “You have to believe that some things are above board, are just what they are, and run by good people.”
“But not casinos, Tandish. They exist to suck money out of people. They hook you in and bleed you dry,” Tsyrker said.
“Looks like it’d take a lot to bleed these people dry,” Tandish said.
“Go and take a look at the bottom casino, full of people gambling away their savings, or their week’s food money,” Loveritto said.
Tandish just nodded, her face an expression of hurt.
“OK, come on,” Grant said. “We’re supposed to be having fun here.”
“Well, what do you want to try first?” Tsyrker asked. “The only person we’re bleeding dry tonight is Ben here.”
“The Lukbat and Kuutio tables are on the next floor, a good place to get a feel,” Grant said.
“Give me Kuutio over Lukbat,” Kaskey said.
“You any good?” Grant asked.
“I’ve won some money in my time.”
“Then this should be fun,” Grant grinned at him.
CHAPTER 18
Kuutio was a version of Lukbat in the same way that Texas Hold ‘Em is a variation of poker. In fact the two games are very similar, but where poker uses cards, Lukbat and its variations use coloured cubes.
Kuutio was like Texas Hold ‘Em in that each player got three cubes and five other cubes are laid on the table one at a time, with betting going on in-between. In the same way that poker has different hands with which to win, so does Lukbat and Kuutio. The difference is that in Kuutio a player can choose to change a cube in the hand or choose to change the colour of a cube on the table. This means that other players can either see the colour you exchange for or guess at what you have in your hand by what colour you change a cube to. So it’s all about bluffing.
They walked to the tables and the men took three empty seats as the girls looked on. Kaskey noticed that Tsyrker stood on the opposite side of the table to Grant, watching each other’s backs, but it also meant that she and Tandish could get a good look around the room. They played a few hands and both he and Grant came out well, but Loveritto lost money each time.
“This is not my table,” he said as he stood and then walked off.
He wound his way through the tables until he came to a Konklin table and decided to have a go. He’d always liked the game and he didn’t want to pass up the chance to play it properly. With someone else’s money to boot. He sat down at a table where he could see the far wall and the doors there. Beyond them would be the truly high-stakes games. Those with the real money to burn wanted to know they were playing against similar people, not ones that would fold and leave as soon as the stakes grew high. Considering the amount of money in this room, he couldn’t imagine the sums that were bet in the private rooms.
He received his hand of numbers and while he waited for the others to receive theirs he looked around the room. It wasn’t a big room, at least not compared to the sprawling casinos of places such as the deserts of Peskini. Most of the skyscrapers here were made to take up as little ground space as possible, hence the whole sky scraping thing.
The table was ready and the counter in the middle flashed different coloured lights until five numbers appeared. Loveritto began playing his hand and got lost in the game for another three hands before he remembered why he was really there and left the table. He was pleasantly surprised to find he’d made a profit.
He didn’t think the girls would be in the private rooms on this floor so he wandered through the room to a flight of wide stairs. There were people standing on them, drinking and chatting and as he made his way up Tandish caught up with him.
“How’re we going?” he asked.
“Good. Grant and Kaskey are winning, showing they’ve got the money and skills to play in the private rooms Rainsford has already gone up.”
Loveritto merely nodded his understanding.
“Keep your eye out for security,” he said. “We need to get a good idea of how many and if they are patrolling routes or just wandering.”
It was Tandish’s turn to nod.
The next floor was given over mainly to Rey’o, a card game based on speed. In it you had to place a numbered card from those laid out in front of you onto one of two piles until you had none left and then slapped one of the piles. The aim being to have taken the pile with the least cards until, ultimately, you had none left. It was incredibly stressful and nerve-racking and when you added in alcohol and gambling, well, you either had good security or you banned it altogether.
In Haffir it was normally only found in the bars and then predominantly in those along the coast where young tourists partied. It was commonly seen as a lower class of game, the rich generally didn’t care for such vigorous games and Loveritto was surprised to find it here. He supposed that was some of the draw of this particular casino. The floor was certainly full of people. And security.
They wandered through to try and get a look at the back wall and the doors there. What would they lead through to? He didn’t think they would be high stake games as with Lukbat downstairs. As they walked they saw Tsyrker at one of the tables, her hands a blur and her mouth a grin. The guy she was playing against just looked confused and miserable.
There was no way Loveritto was going to have a go, but Tandish seemed keen.
“Looks like fun,” she beamed.
“Go for your life,” Loveritto smiled back.
They watched a game and Loveritto talked her through it, as if they were a couple and he was letting her play. She just nodded and giggled like the silly wife with a rich husband.
“Here for a game,” someone called and they looked over.
There was a spare seat at a table close enough for the Albertine sitting there to have heard them talk. He was figuring it would be easy money, but Loveritto knew Tandish. She had sharp eyes with a fast mind and he could see why this game might appeal to her.
The first game was money-free, an option you were allowed to call on to help get your eye in when first arriving, but also used to sound the other player out before you started betting. It was a hectic game, with five sets of cards to keep an eye on, add to that trying to bluff your opponent into betting more and trying to work out whether or not they were bluffing. Most places where the game was played warned of not playing over a certain age or if you were pregnant or had a heart condition. Heart attacks
were not unknown. It was widely believed that was how Councillor Gorrovubo had died, though in reality he had been poisoned due to his involvement in what would have been the Karnolt Scandal (had he not been assassinated before it could become a scandal).
As she played through the match, Loveritto took the time to look around, acting like the doting, but bored, husband. The security presence was much higher here, though all the games seemed to be good natured enough. He considered that this was either the worst or best place to try and get through the doors. This would be the floor, if anywhere, that a diverting tantrum might be expected, giving enough time for someone to slip through the doors. But what was behind them? He couldn’t see anyone actually guarding the doors, but plenty of security walked past them.
Trying to get to the girls was going to be hard, but he had to admit, he was quite enjoying himself.
***
Grant had left Kaskey to it, he was doing a lot better than he was. No surprise for a hustler. The only worry Grant had was that he would be too good, push too far while enjoying the moment. A good hustler knew how to play people, knew when to push and when to back off, but plenty got themselves in trouble because they got lost in the moment; the game; the chase and pushed too far.
For all of Kas’ deep and meaningfuls about joining Grant’s business, he was actually taking a greater risk in hiring him. He was a good kid, but Grant hadn’t seen him at work. He was a criminal and that meant Grant shouldn’t trust him; it could be that Kaskey was simply hustling him. And if he wasn’t, could he do the right thing at the right time? He had already nearly bungled the rescue at the bar, would he also bungle this one? Could Grant leave him to his own devices, trusting him to make the right decisions? If and when the going got tough, would he bug out?
On the other side, he had a good heart and his skills as a hustler and his knowledge of the Underworld were very useful. To turn Kaskey away would be to send him back to a life of petty crime and that only ended badly. Either in prison, dead or you got too old with nothing to retire on. You couldn’t live on petty crime so you either went straight or went big. He’d locked up a lot of guys and gals who had tried the latter.
Now he was on the next floor up from Tsyrker who he knew would be playing Rey’o instead of working. This floor was mostly Cannabact tables, a much more sedate game than the others and seen as an old person’s game. There were less tables, but they were bigger. One of the draws of the game and it’s pace was the social aspect. The tables were full, but there were less people overall and pretty much everyone who was here was at a table. It was nice to see some younger people around, listening to the older people’s stories and tips on how to play. There was a lot more laughter from these tables than any of the others.