Special thanks to "Alqua Kalina" and "Saia Kferr"
The green-eyed mymar held the gadget in her furred hands. It looked a little like the latest style of sunshades some of her peers were wearing, but had thicker frames, which were wider to keep light from coming in from the sides. The lenses were dark, almost nothing being seen through from up front.
But these were not sunshades. There was a cord leading from a plug in the eyeframes down to what looked like a black datapad with simplified controls. Looking at the inner side of the frame, there were tiny holographic projectors at the edges. The frames looked built for a human rather than a mymar, but she found that they could be easily bent to accommodate her higher ears.
Karmlyn had come here to Uruguan, a mostly poor human agricultural world that had recently found itself growing into something of a transportation hub in galactic travel and trade, to pick up a shipment for her uncle. The starport she landed on was little more than a paved lot. Her uncle sent her to receive a small specialty shipment of "novelty goods" brought here. He didn't tell her exactly what they were. After landing, she left the ship to receive the purchase, and ten minutes later she came back aboard with the object in her hand, one of the many little sets in the shipment.
The droid next to Karmlyn beeped questioningly.
Karmlyn looked at the droid. She couldn't understand exactly what Beepo's chirps and whines meant, but could usually guess the meaning behind them, "Yeah, I didn't know what it was either. The guy who dropped them off called these things 'vid-visors.' They play holograms right into the lens. His boss thinks people who can't afford a holo-projector will get these."
The droid made a razzing noise.
"My thoughts exactly. I guess his boss forgot people can always go out to public holo-theaters." She paused, "One fun thing about it is you're able to play games on it." She reached for the unit attached to the vid-visor, and pressed a few buttons. Looking at the frame from the inside, she could see the projectors flickering. She then put them on, and then pressed a few more buttons, "Let's see if this thingy has my favorite game ... got it."
And images of cards appeared before her.
Karmlyn went to a table and sat, "Positioned like this," she held her hands out as if holding a set, "it's like I actually have the cards in my hands." She smirked a little, "At least this gadget's good for a cheap laugh. Maybe Uncle Scullinar can sell a few of these in simpler places."
Beepo then chirped a few times, then rolled to a computer terminal in the room.
Karmlyn, still wearing the vid-visor, looked over, "What is it?"
The droid then extended a short arm from its cylindrical body, then plugged into an outlet at the terminal. The screen flashed on, and words began appearing. As the droid was unable to speak, at least in a manner people could understand, this was how it was able to "talk." Karmlyn got up, and went over to see what it was trying to "say"
ONE SLIGHT FLAW, AN OBSERVER CAN SEE THE IMAGES ON THE VISOR'S LENSES.
Karmlyn took them off and looked at them from the front, "Where?"
THEY WERE FAINT, PROBABLY DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO SEE. MY OPTICS, HOWEVER, HAVE GREATER SENSITIVITY.
Karmlyn looked harder. After a few moments, she could just barely see the images of the cards. Or rather, their reverse images as if looking at a mirror image.
"Hmm. I guess you could plug into that little pad it's attached to, but I don't plan on going up against you in a match." She smirked.
The droid razzed her, and on the screen appeared: AFRAID YOUR "LITTLE TINWIT" WILL SHOW YOU UP?
Karmlyn gave the droid an aggressive grin, "In your dreams!" She then relaxed her smile, "I was thinking more like this casino that's not too far from the starport. From what I heard, it is kind of small, and considering this world's not exactly overflowing with cash," she paused, "Oh well, I could use the practice."
.....
The casino in question was so close to the starport, Karmlyn didn't bother with a taxi. Karmlyn got a better look at some of the town on the way over. While she knew these buildings were built recently, they looked like they had a few years on them. She recognized it as the result of building in a hurry with whatever material could be cheaply acquired. Paint was already peeling, cracks were already appearing in the quickcrete foundations, and other signs of wear and tear. There was an occasional tree planted in an area in the sidewalk, but not much else done for aesthetics.
She soon got to the place, the sign over the door saying in bold letters made from antiquated neon tubing: "Degeran Casino." The building didn't look quite as drab as the other ones nearby, though it was small compared to the casinos she was used to. Going in, there were signs right away this "casino" was a bit lacking. Most of the plants inside when looked at closely turned out to be artificial. A look at the bar showed plain round glasses rather than ones even the slightest bit artistic. And the furnishings had a second-hand look to them.
I'll have to have a word or two with my 'reliable source' about this, she thought. She pondered further. Obviously, it hadn't been making a lot of cash. Oh well, I did say a little practice couldn't hurt , she smiled, and neither would making an impression on the locals. She had no trouble at all finding the card tables as the only other games available here were slot machines. They didn't even have casino chips - the patrons used their credit coins.
But what got Karmlyn's attention the most was one particular card table, poker by the terms she heard the people there use, which was attracting several onlookers.
She slowly approached. There were three players there. Two were human, as was the dealer. The third, sitting across from them, was a kind of humanoid reptilian, green-scaled. While a couple inches shorter than most of the people here, he was also slightly more muscular. He wore brown slacks, black leather vest & boots. His eyes were a particularly distinctive feature, a gleaming fiery red.
It took a couple moments for Karmlyn to recall this alien's species. He was a Sar-Kay. Their world had been cooperating with the Prusslyn Empire for most of the war, selling them foodstuffs, ores, and exotic goods. But only their ruling classes saw any benefit, raking in the profits while the rest were exploited to the point of serfdom and slavery due to both Prusslyn demands and the nobles' greed. When the war turned against the Prusslyns, the masses revolted. The Sar-Kay Archduke and those nobles loyal to him then switched allegiances, blaming the rest of the nobility for the harsh conditions. Scapegoated and without protection, the ostracized once-nobles were captured and tortured, along with their most trusted servants. Today, their world was still outside the Galactic Union, but most of the exiled nobility and their former lackeys were living in it after fleeing, many disfigured by their experiences.
As Karmlyn watched, this Sar-Kay was smiling a lot, showing his needle-sharp looking teeth. She soon found out why; he was winning at the card table, a lot. It seemed at almost every hand, he won and raked in the credits, cheerfully hissing and chortling in a manner she found disturbing.
She wanted to do more than just watch, so she went to a nearby table where she could still observe him. But before she could join in, the reptilian stood up and slapped his cards on the table after he won again, "Full housssse!" he hissed, then raked in the pile of credit coins, "Thisss isss getting tiresssome. I want a real challenge. Isss there not one real card player among you creampuffsss?"
At least he doesn't have a forked tongue that darts in and out. This display made the reptilian feel even more repulsive to Karmlyn. She thought of challenging him then and there, but her gamblers intuition told her, Not yet, you better observe this guy first with him making win after win.
But her chance to observe unnoticed came to a quick end. The Sar-Kay caught sight of her, "You, mymar, I recognizzze you from sssomewhere. Who are you?"
Karmlyn looked at him with a neutral expression, "I am Karmlyn Sen-Tiago."
The reptilian spoke nothing for a moment, then grinned, "SSSen-Tiago? I have heard of you. You ssseem an interesssting challenge."
"Perhaps." Karmlyn kept up her blank expression, Challenging enough to wipe you out.
"Then why don't we find out. Let usss sssee if you are half asss good asss the humansss sssay you are."
Karmlyn's face stayed as it was for a few moments, then she let it slowly change into a sly grin, "I'm not in the habit of turning down a comer, but I'll give you one more chance to avoid being cleaned out of all your cash."
A few of the bystanders and those at nearby tables snickered at her remark.
Karmlyn had expected the reptilian to have a minor fit of temper. Instead, he grinned back and laughed in a particularly disturbing voice, "I enjoy an opponent with ssspirit. Now, let usss begin."
Hmmm. He's pretty confident and smug. Might be a little more trouble than I first thought.
Karmlyn walked over and everyone else minus the dealer and the Sar-Kay got up and left. A closer look of the reptilian revealed to Karmlyn that his red eyes were slightly different. One was brighter and had a slightly unnatural look to it. She figured from what she'd heard of these people that it might be artificial.
She took a seat opposite the reptilian, "Now that you know who I am, who are you?"
"Ta'lar, Ta'lar alm K'hree-Kor'kan." He momentarily paused, "You, however, will know me asss your conquerer." His reptilian grin grew particuarly sinister.
Karmlyn looked at him for a moment, then answered with an equally wicked smile, "You might want to be a little careful of your choices of words, they can come back to haunt you."
Karmlyn had expected the reptilian to have a minor fit of temper at her not-so-veiled reference to his lisping. But instead Ta'lar just laughed, either oblivious or ignoring it, then signaled the dealer to cut the cards.
The dealer then dealt the players their respective sets, starting the bet at ten credits. Both players put up the amount in coins. Karmlyn's initial hand wasn't that good. After upping the ante and discarding the cards she didn't want, the replacements the dealer gave her made only a low-ranking pair. She folded, confident she'd do better and the reptilian would get overconfident.
Ta'lar certainly seemed to be getting overconfident, grinning in that manner Karmlyn found more than a little disturbing.
Round two went better. Karmlyn got a pair of kings right away. After discards and fresh cards, she gained a second pair. She upped the ante only ten credits, not wanting to scare away a victory. But the Sar-Kay folded. Karmlyn had been certain he'd go on, but she put the though aside, and got ready for the third round.
The next hand seemed good enough, so she went along with it, upping the ante once, twice, and finally the maximum five times allowed. But then Ta'lar revealed his hand had been higher. He chortled as he raked in the credits, "You disssapoint me, Sssen-Tiago. I thought you would be better than thisss."
Karmlyn, unflinching, looked him directly in the eye, "It's only just begun." She refused to show that the Sar-Kay's artificial eye was giving her the creeps.
On her fourth hand, Karmlyn's luck seemed to improve as she got three of a kind, high-ranking cards too. She hoped to recover her losses, and then some, but instead Ta'lar spoke in his reptilian accented tone, "Fold."
Karmlyn's winning hand had gained her only a few credits. She came close to losing control of her neutral expression for a second, but kept it up. She couldn't believe what was happening, but refused to give in.
The next few hands were unremarkable. She folded early once, then twice. The second fold resulted in a grin from the reptilian, but nothing more right away. The one after that gave her a couple low ranking pairs she bet a small amount on, and after making four more small antes to the end, lost. Ta'lar snickered in a particularly sinister manner.
Then Karmlyn's luck seemed to change. Her cards included a ten, a Jack, a Queen, and a King - a small straight. She hid her thirst to get even under her gambler's face, Okay, your little streak ends now!
But before she could ante up, the Sar-Kay put his cards down, "Fold."
Karmlyn's very slightly twitching lip barely represented the shock to her, IMPOSSIBLE!! It's almost as if he knew I had a winning hand. What the %^*&^ is he doing?!
Karmlyn continued to struggle on, but the results were much the same as before. Potentially winning hands either lost to an even better hand by the Sar-Kay, or he would up and fold.
Finally, she ended up with a hand she felt would get back some of her losses. To her relief, which she concealed with her gaming face, Ta'lar went along with upping the ante. Finally, after both upped the last ante allowed for the hand, Karmlyn smugly showed her cards: a full house.
Ta'lar responded by grinning, then showing his own hand. It was another full house, but one with higher valued cards. He then hissed and laughed, raking in the pile of credits.
Seldom had Karmlyn experienced as much bitter feeling as she was now. She was working harder than ever to fake a calm expression. Underneath the table, her fist clenched. Underneath her dress, her tail twitched furiously.
Part of her screamed to go again to regain her losses, not so much financial as in pride. But she knew she couldn't go on like this.
"Excuse me," she forced a smile, "I need to go powder my nose."
"Take all the time you need." Ta'lar chortled, then his tone turned mocking, "The 'great' Karmlyn Sen-Tiago." He then hissed and laughed and laughed.
It took all her effort to calmly get up and walk away at a normal pace, not showing her feelings, laughter behind her back. Once in the ladies room, seeing no one else inside, her demeanor changed instantly, slamming her fist against the wall, and blurting a string of Aglar and Standard profanities. To lose to someone who acted with respect would have been no problem. But this low-life who flagrantly enjoyed rubbing it in ...
"Damn it!" She punched the wall again, "(Nearly five hundred credits gone just like that! What the %$&#^$ is going on? What?! )"
She then took in a deep breath and calmed down somewhat.
"(Okay girl, get a hold of herself. Think. What could he be doing?)"
In her mind, she went over the details of the match. She considered herself a good judge of first impressions, and this reptilian, while cunning, didn't seem to have the brains to play the way he did. A gambling savant? Her gut feeling told her no.
Was the dealer somehow helping him? She had considered that possibility and had been keeping an eye on him. But she had seen no clues that the dealer was fixing the cards dealt.
She went over to the restroom mirror. "(Come on, girl. You can't be losing your touch. Think.)" She looked at her face in the reflection, "(You can't let yourself be beaten by that troll. Think."
She continued to look in the reflection, her attention going to her eyes, Why couldn't I see what he was doing? She continued to stare at the reflection, eventually seeing the reflection of the mirror's image in her eye staring back.
"(Wait a minute...)"
She held up her hand to the mirror, and was able to see the palm in the reflection in her eye.
"(So that's how he did it.)"
She thought about what to do, and slowly a plan came to her mind...
.....
"And that's the details." Karmlyn explained to one of the few security guards in the place, "Do you need to have anything repeated?"
"No," the guard answered, "but if you think he's cheating, why don't you just let me handle it?"
"You could, but I think word will spread quicker about this guy if he's exposed by a real gambler."
The guard thought for a moment, "All right, go for it."
Karmlyn smiled, and headed back to the tables.
.....
Ta'lar was still sitting at the card table, chortling as he ran the credits through his scaly hands. He then noticed someone walking over, and turned.
"Back again already, Sssen-" the Sar-Kay cut his words short and stared at Karmlyn, "What isss that sssupposssed to be?"
"Oh, the light's been bothering my eyes a little lately, so a doctor prescribed this whenever they started to get sensitive."
Karmlyn's lips curled into a slight smile, but the sparkle in her eyes could not be seen. She was wearing the vid-visor she had shown Beepo earlier.
"And now, I'm ready to resume the match."
The Sar-Kay eyed her a bit suspiciously, "And how do I know that thing isss not meant for cheating?"
"If you want, I can have a guard look at it."
The reptilian thought for a moment, then grinned, "If you want to lossse more creditsss, be my guessst."
Karmlyn once again took a seat opposite the reptilian, and once again the dealer dealt out the cards. After the cards were dealt and discards were made, Karmlyn rode out her hand. She lost as before, and as before, Ta'lar grinned evilly.
This time, however, Karmlyn was as calm as she appeared.
The dealer again dealt the cards, the players made discards, and once again the players anted to the end. Karmlyn lost once again, but she remained calm.
Ta'lar, however, was chortling.
On the third hand, after the cards were dealt, the reptilian spoke, "I will raissse you twenty."
"Make it the max," Karmlyn countered, and placed five 20 cr. coins on the table, "one hundred credits."
"What?" the reptilian was surprised.
"Match it or fold." Karmlyn was doing her best not to smile.
Ta'lar stared at her, then his lips curled into an evil grin, "You are a fool! Sssen-Tiago, one-hundred it is." He pushed an equal amount of coin to hers.
Karmlyn got another five of the coins, "Another hundred," and placed them on the pile.
The Sar-Kay stared at her for a spilt-second, then got some coin and matched her ante.
Karmlyn did this a third time, and a fourth. Ta-lar equaled her bet both times. Finally came the fifth ante. By this time, the crowd was gathering again, the growing pile of credits drawing the attention of the patrons of the small casino. Karmlyn got five more of the twenty-credit coins and pushed them forward. She had raised her bet to over five hundred credits .
Ta'lar looked at the pile of cred-coins on the table, then at his opponent, "You are a desssperate fool Karmlyn Sssen-Tiago!" He then showed his cards, which included three tens, "Three of kind! You lossse mymar!"
Karmlyn looked at the reptilian, game-faced for a moment, then showed her cards ... a ten, another ten, an ace, a second ace, and finally a third ace.
"Full house." Her lips curled into a wicked grin.
Ta'lar stared forward for a few moments, then slammed both fists on the table, "IMPOSSS-IBLE!!" Some of the coins bounced up in the air, then fell back down on the pile.
Karmlyn then scooped the pile of credits to her, grinning more than ever. Around her, there were a number of faces grinning, some about as wickedly as her. Obviously, some had been waiting for the reptilian to lose big time.
"It, cannot be," Ta'lar muttered, "It cannot." He almost looked like he was about to cry.
"And why not?" Karmlyn asked him, "What made you think it was impossible?"
The Sar-Kay was silent.
"No answer? Oh well, on to the next round."
"I," Ta'lar hesitated, his confidence a wreck, "No more today. Tomorrow perhapsss." He began to get up from the table.
"Awww, and just when the match was just getting interesting." Karmlyn managed to make her smile look almost innocent, "Well, I've made my money back. I'll see you tomorrow then."
Without further comment, the Sar-Kay began walking off. Nothing more was spoken until he was a few meters away.
"Just a moment," Karmlyn spoke up, then removed her vid-visor, "I was wondering. I don't suppose you once worked for Sar-Kay nobility, did you?"
Ta'lar looked back, appearing somewhat puzzled, "I onccce did, but how did you - " he paused, as if recalling something, "Ssso, you know."
"Yes, I know. I noticed that eye of yours looked a little bright."
"All right, ssso it isss not the original. Do you have a problem with it?"
"No," her lips then curled into a frown, "not unless it's used to cheat."
The Sar-Kay stared at her for a second, then snapped, "I did no sssuch thing. How dare you accussse me!"
"I tried every trick I had, and nothing seemed to work. I've come across some good gamblers, but everyone slips once in a while. It was as if," she paused, "you were looking at the other person's cards."
"Implanting a ssscaning deviccce in it would be insssane. Too clossse to the brain."
"I'm not talking about scanners, but something a bit more passive: a telescopic lense, capable of close-ups of the reflections off people's eyes." she paused, "I'm sure all those people you've had matches with will find that interesting."
Karmlyn couldn't easily tell the more subtle expressions of some races, including reptilians. But the long pause and stare suggested it was the Sar-Kay version of "caught." In hung on his face of several seconds, glancing some at the crowd around him as some in it looked at him with renewed interest.
"It ... " Ta'lar stammered, "It isss a ridiculousss ssstory. You have no proof."
"I'm sure an examination of that eye will tell whether I'm right or not."
The security guard Karmlyn had been talking to finally stepped forward, "Mister, I think you better come with me."
Ta'lar looked at him sternly, "You cannot forccce me to go without chargesss."
"All right, but I think you'd find it a bit safer than trying to leave on your own."
The reptilian looked around. The crowd around him was looking angrier by the moment. A couple had out a couple of crude misshapen metal rings that were known as "knuckle dusters" in some places. A few were already blocking possible exits. Two others were already talking into their comlinks, about what was obvious.
Ta'lar glanced downward and grumbled. It was over.
He went over to the guard, who escorted him to the back office.
.....
"(And when the cops examined his eye, they found it. He had a specialty-made lens that allowed him to read the cards off the other players' eyeballs.)" Karmlyn smirked, "(That was the reason I had been losing round after round. He didn't count on something like my little turnabout. I had called Beepo up, and we did a few alterations on the gaming program. What he thought were reflections were images showing through the vid-visor. He was reading the wrong set of cards.)" She grinned, "(He had no idea what was coming.)"
The image of the middle-aged mymar in the holoviewer chuckled after hearing her story. His face was showing slight jowls and his brown hair starting to gray. His blue eyes had a twinkle to them, possibly due to his favorite niece calling. He was somewhat portly, and sported a dark gray business suit with a lapel pin with the STSC logo on it.
Karmlyn continued, "(When word got around, quite a few came forward to say they lost money to that lizard, and were quite vocal about what they wanted to do to him. Hearing that, our scaly friend wasn't too upset about staying in jail,)" her grin grew bigger, "(for some strange reason.)"
The man snickered and groaned, shaking his head slightly, "(Do you always have to be so dramatic in the way you do things?)"
"(Hey, gimme a break Uncle Scull. You were something of a hotshot in your day.)"
"(Maybe, but I had to keep a lower profile. Regulations would had grounded me if I had a tenth of your notoriety.)"
Karmlyn briefly thought of the turmoil just before the Great Galactic War, which was when her uncle made enough money in his trade ship to start his company, having to deal with warlords, pirates, and Absolini bureaucrats nervous of their world's secret location being discovered. Perhaps if times were different, she thought, he could have allowed himself to be a little more daring.
It was a few hours since her gambling match with Ta'lar. Karmlyn was back aboard the Red Star, and was now talking to her uncle though the holo-communicator, Scullinar Sen-Tiago, the owner of Absolin's largest shipping company.
Scullinar chuckled again, "(It is funny that your shipment sample was what you used to expose the cheater,)" he laughed again, "(I don't suppose it was some publicity stunt you somehow arranged?)"
"(You've been hearing a few too many of the wilder stories about me.)" Karmlyn grinned, "(I suppose it could be taken that way, but at the time, it simply seemed the best way to pull one over on that slimeball.)"
"(And pull one over you did.)" Scullinar paused momentarily, "(Good thing for him he didn't get caught in a pioneer world or miners' outpost. I was making deliveries at one once, and while at a bar a suspected cheater ended up at the wrong end of a blaster. I've also heard tales of con men who made their takings off poorer worlds get caught and lynched.)"
"(There's been a little talk of that, but they're just blowing off steam. Right now, they're asking people who lost money to him to come forward to see just how much he took. From what I've heard, he'll not only have to pay them back, but a huge fine by the courthouse, plus jail time. They've also contacted Galactic officials to see just how many places this guy has been. His problems may have only just begun.)"
"(And I suppose his method is getting some talk. I take it he got it at some underground clinic. Something like that would be illegal in most worlds that could support the medical facilities for it.)"
"(I brought that up when the police talked to me. They told me he wasn't saying a word where he got it from. Sounds to me like whoever owns the place is big enough to make life pretty nasty for him. I'll bet he got it from Lucin or some other crime-ridden world.)"
"(It is curious, a bionic eye designed so the owner could cheat off cards. Now that I think about it, I'm surprised no one thought of it before. I'm certain word about this will reach every casino in this part of the galaxy before you know it.)"
"(Yeah, something like this, word spreads like crazy. I imagine the bigger places will install better scanning equipment after this. Any more trying this trick will have to go to the boonies. And what did you say happens to them there when caught?)"
"(Just be careful out there. You might find yourself facing another swindler with one of those.)"
"(If I do, I'll know what to do.)"
"(And be careful that one of your winning streaks doesn't get mistaken for cheating.)"
Karmlyn smiled, "(I think my reputation speaks for itself.)"
"(All right. So, you'll be leaving tomorrow?)"
"(Yes. I'll be going about noon Mixinar time. I should be back around sunrise the day after.)"
"(I'll see you then.)" The image then went blank.
Karmlyn continued to sit where she was, in thought. After some moments, Beepo rolled over, chirping in a manner that sounded like it was asking something.
Karmlyn looked at the droid, "Just thinking about the day. At one point, I lost my cool for a moment. Nobody saw it, but still...
"I knew that lizard was cheating, but I just couldn't put my finger on how. That's what drove me nuts. I'm supposed to know every trick in the book."
The droid beeped again.
"Yeah, I know I figured it out." She paused for another moment, "It turned out to be a pretty simple trick. I guess that's what made it so hard to spot.
"Well, in the end I finally got it. So it seems my reputation is intact."
The droid then moved to a small terminal next to her, extended a plug on a wire, and plugged in. Karmlyn looked over to the screen, and saw, YOU SEEM TO BE THE FIRST EVER TO FIND A "TRICK" LIKE THIS. I RECALL NONE IN THE RECORDS.
Karmlyn smiled.
The droid continued, HOWEVER, SPECIALTY-MADE BIONIC EYES ARE HARDLY UNIQUE. MANY SPACEFARERS HAVE THEM, INCLUDING A FEW MYMAR.
"Yes, I remember when I faced one who had them. When I was playing my hands in front of her, I wasn't doing that great. My luck improved when some new players entered the match, and I had to move to her side. I did better afterwards, but simply thought my luck had turned for the better. Now that I think about it with that lizard's stunt in mind..."
YOU THINK SHE WAS DOING THE SAME?
Karmlyn spoke nothing for a moment, "Yes, and no. She never rubbed it in like this turkey, and I found out afterwards she put up part of her winnings as a college trust fund. Actually, two. One for her brother, and one for one of the loser's kids." she paused, "A loser in more ways than one."
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE EXCUSING HER. YET, SHE CHEATED AS WELL.
"I don't know." Karmlyn thought for a moment, "I'm not going to dwell on it."
And with that, she got up and walked out of the room, "There was this other place I wanted to check out before leaving ..."