The Orion Deception (28 page)

Lainne's expression changed from confused to angry. She glared at Gelad, his silence affirming the ex-lawman's accusations. "What? Why?"

"Because, Lainne, he is a spy. That's what he does. As much as we would love to believe he wants to help from the goodness of his heart, Gelad has a job. And he has a boss. And his boss wants the FTL research information more than they want the schematic layout of this drift."

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" she demanded of Heck. "Why let the charade go on?"

"We didn't have a choice," he grumbled quietly, looking back out over the balcony. "Gelad and his people have been watching you for a while, Lainne. It's why Gelad just happened to appear as the pilot of that shuttle when he did. The prisoner routine was a ruse."

"Not entirely a ruse, Mr. Thomas. He was certainly a target of ours, and I was pursuing him for the murder of many ISP officers, but at this point we were more interested in what he was after than himself," said Gelad, businesslike. "When did you figure that out?"

"I was on to you from the beginning," he said simply. "I don't believe in coincidence, Gelad. I may not have known exactly what your game was until we were further along, but I certainly knew you were a player."

"Damn you, Gelad!" Lainne looked stricken, hurt. She left the sofa to stand beside Heck.

"Don't be too hard on him, Lainne."

"What? Why not?" she asked, angrily glaring at the Israeli.

"Because, in this case his motivation is not completely relevant. Not at the moment, anyway. The fact is that he and his government are helping us achieve our goal of finding your brother."

"That is correct, Mr. Thomas. I
am
trying to help."

"And on that point, we agree. But forgive me for being skeptical. While I would like to believe we'll all go our happy and separate ways after this is over, I wonder if your government can allow Lainne and me and Dr. Connor to just disappear."

Gelad nodded his head thoughtfully. Heck wondered at that. Was Gelad silently acknowledging that this situation was far more complicated than he wanted to admit? Was Gelad going to be conflicted about what to do when that situation came about? If so, Heck figured he might be able to exploit that sentiment.

"A while back I mentioned to you we might have to consider living in the Outer System, beyond the reach of the Commonwealth and those who fear what we now know. Do you remember?" he asked Lainne, with a meaningful glance at Gelad. Truthfully, Heck didn't know where they would end up. He had thought perhaps an anonymous existence on a drift in the Inner System like Churchill Drift, or in the Belt; maybe even a remote location on Earth or Mars. But he wanted Gelad to think he was aiming for the Outer System.

"Yes," she whispered. That idea had truly frightened her. She had not wanted to think about anything that far ahead, all she wanted to do was think about finding her brother.

"Let's hope our good
friend
Gelad will remember that too, when the time comes." Gelad seemed to understand Heck's hidden meaning but could not verbally acknowledge it.

"Enough of this," said Gelad, gruffly. "I think I have proven my loyalty to you both. As I was saying, Ms. Connor, your brother stayed in this very resort. The casino in which he was allegedly carousing and gambling away Aurora's money is on the top floor of the building. I think we should make an appearance there."

"Isn't it odd we haven't been captured yet?" asked Lainne. "I mean, you've said that you lost contact with your spies pretty quickly after they arrived. Does that mean we fooled them?"

"No," said Heck. "Whoever is running this drift is very in tune with what is going on. This drift brings in people from everywhere, but only the ones who are part of government intelligence gathering entities and brilliant scientists have disappeared. They've noticed us, and now they want to see what we are up to before they make their move."

"I agree. There is no reason to believe otherwise. Every informant that we sent to this drift disappeared at this point in their reconnaissance."

"And that robot taxi driver never reported back the results of his search in the Convention Registry."

"I was wondering about that," mused Lainne. "So, we just go up to the penthouse and start playing slot machines?"

Heck suppressed a smile at her naivety. "This isn't the type of casino you’re used to seeing in Florida, Lainne. It's a casino for the System's wealthiest most powerful elite. We are talking high-stakes poker, blackjack, roulette, and other games that might have just a hair of danger to them."

"So, there are presidents and CEOs and kings in this place?" Lainne was uncomfortable with the thought of going up against such powerful people.

"Yes. And the heads of crime families and drug cartel kingpins. This type of high dollar casino is neutral ground, where good treaties can be negotiated or very bad corruption can take place," offered Gelad.

"My brother would never get involved in this!"

"I know, Lainne," said Heck comfortingly. "But it's the only lead we have and the people who run this place know it."

"It's a trap," she said dully. "Just like it was for him."

"That is quite possible, Ms. Connor."

"Lainne," said Heck gently. "We have to prepare to be taken prisoner. Tonight."

Heck and Lainne stepped out of the elevator onto the main casino floor. Heck was wearing a tuxedo and Lainne a brilliant evening gown that made her look like a queen. The casino was not like most touristy casinos or seedy underground gambling houses Heck had been to as he chased felons across the Solar System.

This casino was strictly for VIPs, the ultra-wealthy, royalty and nobility of the various countries and high level politicians and bureaucrats. Everything in the room bespoke an unbelievable wealth from the statues and ancient tapestries to the rare paintings and the gilded wine fountain. The gaming tables were made from the most desirable wood found on Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Waitresses and waiters carried drinks and some of the most expensive foods in the System to the gaming tables. Expense was not spared on the employees who worked the casino floors, Heck noticed. They all wore tuxedos or gowns of incredible quality and certainly great expense. There did not appear to be any security agents on the floor but the lawman knew that the room must be under surveillance by thousands of security sensors and a host of armed personnel were likely poised somewhere very nearby.

Heck was proud of Lainne. He had warned her that it might be very hard not to seem starstruck by all the important people in on the casino floor and he stressed to her the need to act as though she were among her equals, not her betters. She did marvelously and walked across the floor with an air of nobility he almost believed himself. He wondered if he was just being biased, influenced by his own growing feelings for her, until he saw the way that the other men in the room were looking at her. A casino manager met the couple as they walked about the room.

"Good evening, sir. Madam," the manager said. "May I escort you to the credit counter for a supply of chips?"

"Yes, please."

The man led them to a credit counter and personally established a house account with credit for Heck and Lainne to gamble with. The account had no limit. "I hope you enjoy yourselves. Please, let me know if there is anything at all I can get for you."

Heck nodded, understanding the unspoken offers made by the manager. In a place like this money can buy any eccentricity, and any vice. It was clear that some of the women and probably some of the men were staff escorts employed by the resort to accompany the lonely millionaire gambler.

"What are we doing here, Heck?" asked Lainne in a low voice.

"Looking for leads."

Lainne kept her expression disinterested, but her voice told Heck she was becoming impatient. "Will we find any?"

"If we play our cards right," he said with a smirk. His pun had the desired affect and a trace of a smile crept into Lainne's face.

"So it's poker then?" she asked.

"First, I'd like play the roulette wheel."

"Why that?"

"To get someone's attention."

Lainne knew better than to ask him anything else after that cryptic answer so she walked with him to a roulette wheel. They watched the other players for a while before Heck was willing to make his first bet. With a nod of understanding that Lainne didn't quite get, Heck slid up to the table and squeezed in next to the croupier who ran the table. Lainne stood behind him watching.

Heck placed his chips on the inside betting area at the corner of four intersecting numbers in the area of the wheel he was betting the ball would land. If landed on any of the four numbers he would win, though the amount he would win had he bet on a single number would be far less. The croupier dropped the ball into a slide where slid down the perimeter of the wheel. The ball dropped out of a chute and landed on the wheel, bouncing and jumping about. Some of the players made bets while others shifted their chips around, until the croupier waved his hand across the wheel and said, "No more bets."

The wheel continued to spin and the ball bounced about, finally the ball landed on a number.

"Ahh, so sorry," said the man with a French accent. "Mesdames et messieurs, no winners. Please wait to place your bets until the ball is retrieved."

After a moment the croupier picked up the ball and sent the ball down the slide again where it fell on the continually spinning wheel. Heck placed his bet, this time betting the ball would land on a different area of the wheel. He was right.

"We have a winner," said the croupier as he marked the winning number before picking it up. Heck watched the man closely but saw no signs that the man knew what Heck was doing. "Please wait to place your bets until the ball is retrieved."

The process repeated and Heck placed a bet in another area of the wheel. This time he did not get the right number, but the ball landed on the right area of the wheel. The croupier's eye twitched ever so slightly at Heck, but the ex-lawman noticed. Again the process was repeated. While Heck only won his bet two times out of the next six turns, he chose the right portion of the wheel each time. The croupier had noticed the trend of Heck's performance and became less subtle about his observation of the ex-lawman. The next three spins didn't go Heck's way at all and he finally decided to leave the wheel.

"So sorry, monsieur. Perhaps poker would be a more suitable game for a keen observer like yourself?" the man smiled warmly, but his eyes were daggers. Heck smiled back, patted the man on the shoulder and said, "Your magnets need tuning, I think."

"What just happened? You didn't win very much," she said as they walked away. The croupier from the table watched Heck as he wound his way through the throngs of people, until he could not watch anymore.

"I wasn't trying to win."

"Then what-"

"Later, just smile and look pretty."

Heck took a glass of wine from a passing waitress as he led Lainne to the other side of casino where the poker rooms were. These rooms were private, each with its own bar and credit desk, and one had to get on a waiting list for the privilege of using them. He scanned the lists of the entrants for the poker matches that were slated to begin in the next thirty minutes, hoping to find something of interest. He moved from room to room, casually looking over player lists until he reached the last poker room.

"What is it?" asked Lainne, sensing that the set of Heck's shoulders had just hardened and his head rose slightly. Something was definitely wrong. "Heck?"

"A message," he said simply.

"What? From whom? I don't understand." Lainne looked at the list of the names of the seven players, shaking her head at each one until she read the last name in a whisper. "Laylara Espinosa!"

Heck grabbed Lainne's hand and opened the door. Inside the door was a hallway that led to a private gaming area. He stalked down the hallway to the waiting attendant at the far end, and death was in his eyes.

"They know we're here, now!" hissed Lainne. "What if it's a trap?"

"They've known since the moment we arrived, Lainne. I just made it more obvious by proving to the croupier at the roulette wheel that I knew about the magnets he used to cheat customers. That is something that get's
everyone's
attention in a casino like this.
"