Three Card Monte (The Martian Alliance) (5 page)

I enjoyed that particular sexual fantasy, because the idea of having two Roys making love to me was only supplanted by the idea of having three.

“What are you smirking about?” Kyle asked me.

I quickly shoved regrets about the loss of my entire race and sexual fantasies about his big brother out of my mind, but not before Ciarissa giggled. I figured my fantasy had been particularly “loud” in my mind and did my best not to blush. “Nothing, nothing. Where the heck is Monte’s office in this place, do you think?”

“No idea,” Roy said with a shrug.

Ciarissa’s eyes narrowed. “We must go through the casino, I believe.”

“Never a problem, my dear,” Dr. Wufren said cheerfully as he offered his arm to Ciarissa, and they led the way. The rest of us followed.

The Palace on Roulette was large, loud, and flashy. Monte had done his level best to ensure the Polliworld Palace was larger, louder and, galaxy gods alone knew how, flashier.

Everyone inside seemed to be having a fabulous time. The noise level was high, with a lot of whooping and excited squealing. There weren’t just Polliwogs in here, either—a variety of beings from other systems had come by to check out the new game in town. The Polliwog Palace was packed.

Normally I enjoyed the flashiness that casinos created—it was fun to be around and the glitz, and constant activity made it easier to shift without being spotted.

However, shape shifters were, among our other talents, really good at spotting fakes. We had to be, in order to learn and protect ourselves. I took another good look around. Under the circumstances, it felt like everyone was trying just a little too hard.

Dr. Wufren and Ciarissa led us on a winding path through the casino. We looked like we were just wandering, which was wiser than heading directly for the heart of the operation. Beings who appeared to be storming the place where the surveillance feeds and money were housed tended to be removed bodily.

We finally reached a hallway at the back of the casino, set off from the main floor in such a way that it was easy to miss unless you were looking for it or, in the case of our group, had a telepath along.

We trotted down the corridor until we reached a doorway at the end of the hall. A doorway with guards. Big Polliwogs who made Bullfrog look puny. Clearly, we’d arrived.

Roy stepped to the front. “Here to see Monte the Leech,” he said to the two huge, stone-faced guards. Of course, Polliwogs looked stone-faced frequently, but it was clear these two practiced in the mirror every morning.

“Who wants to see Mister Leech?” one of the guards asked.

“Roy.”

“Roy who?” the other guard asked. They both seemed willing to wait a long time for the answer.

“Doctor Roy Evans.” Roy wasn’t a doctor and Evans certainly wasn’t his last name, but using his last name would be the height of stupidity here. It would be the same as us waving a banner saying “Look! It’s the Last of the Imperius Bloodline!” in front of the entire Diamante hit squad.

“And why would Mister Leech want to see a doctor?” the first guard asked.

“Routine checkup,” Roy said, sounding bored. “Here to ensure that Mister Leech’s parts don’t fall off.”

The stone-faces remained stable, but the door opened. “Roy baby, how’re they hangin’?” a familiar voice called from inside. “You and the rest of my favorite crazy crew should come on in.”

We did as requested. The Polliwogs looked disappointed for a moment and then went back to practicing for their second jobs as statues.

The room was large and lavish, decorated in what I thought of as Bad Guy Impressive. Lots of large, dark, heavy, obviously expensive furniture, thick rugs, a heavy reliance on gilt and deep reds. Monte liked style, even though it was hard for him to achieve it personally.

My gaze landed on Monte, and I managed to hide my involuntary shudder. I’d known Monte a long time, but seeing him was still repulsive, at least at first blush. He wasn’t called “the Leech” only because he drained your money.

Monte undulated over. He did some intricate hand slapping with Roy, Kyle, Willy, Bullfrog and, even more impressively, Tresia. I focused on his hands. They hadn’t been his originally, but it’s amazing what some people had to give up when they lost more money than they actually had access to. And the medical advances on Roulette were legendary. Another reason Monte moving to Polliworld was odd.

Doven and Monte did a wing-butt thing that never failed to make me want to gag. For whatever reason, Monte didn’t ever try to touch Dr. Wufren or Ciarissa. Lucky them.

Monte looked at me. “What, no hug for your Uncle Monte?” He looked expectant, at least as much as a giant leech with hands and other, thankfully covered, parts could.

I sighed to myself. I knew the drill. If I didn’t come across, we didn’t get our money, information, or cut of the action. Monte was a traditionalist, when you got right down to it.

I shifted and was now a female giant leech, also with hands, but no other parts Monte could conceivably feel. I undulated to him, and we sort of lolled into each other.

Most disgusting species greeting in the galaxy over, I shifted back to me, and Monte beamed. “Lord of the flies, it’s been too long. What brings you out my way? Can’t wait to test your luck on my lovely new tables?” He directed this remark specifically to Willy and Dr. Wufren.

“No.” Roy shot the two of them a very meaningful glance that plainly said “behave.” He looked back to Monte. “No, we wanted to know what’s going on.”

“New scenery’s good for the soul, Roy baby.”

“Right.” Roy looked around. “This place bugged?”

“Of course not!” Monte said with just a little too much enthusiasm. “I’ve got free rein here. Best setup in the galaxy.”

“Fren has disconnected the audio and visual surveillance
,” Ciarissa shared. “
I believe we will have a few minutes before company arrives.”

“Fine,” Roy said, more to Ciarissa and Dr. Wufren than to Monte. “So, for the short time we’ll be able to visit with you, why don’t you tell us why you sold part interest in the Palace to the Diamante Families?”

“Business, Roy baby. Business. They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“What were they going to do to you if you did refuse?” I asked.

Monte shrugged, which meant his whole body rippled. I managed not to gag again, but only barely. “They’re business-beings; I’m a business-being. It’s not like I’m in bed with Roman the Redeemer or something.”

The Redeemer had been one of the political leaders on Convent—a religious, peaceful planet. Until the Diamante Purge, anyway. Roman had given up on peace and fought back, very publicly, and in a variety of dirty ways, ultimately becoming a guerilla fighter with a good sized fleet. By then, he’d become a fanatic and had perpetrated atrocities on more than the Diamante Families—he’d attacked worlds unwillingly under Diamante control. Not to free them, but to do his own kind of purge.

But the Diamante Families were too much for even Roman and his fanatical followers. The Redeemer’s fleet was destroyed, and the story went, he’d been run underground.

These days, the Redeemer was used as a boogeyman, someone to mention to show that while you might be bad, you weren’t
that
bad.

“If he came by with a deal, you’d think about it,” Roy noted. Accurately.

Monte shrugged and rippled again. I again controlled the gag impulse while hoping we’d have no more shrugging from him for a while. I wasn’t sure I could continue to keep my sandworms down. “We reached a mutually satisfying arrangement. Which meant I could come here.” Monte beamed. “I’m on the ground floor of what’s going to be a huge industry.”

“Speaking of which, why are you in bed with the Underground?” Roy asked.

“As if you’re not?” Monte said, nodding toward Bullfrog.

“Not the same thing,” Roy said. “And you know it. Look, Monte, we want in on the action.”

Monte’s beaming smile faltered. “No can do, Roy baby. No can do.”

“Why not? Since when have you ever cut us out?”

I could think of plenty of times, but now wasn’t a good moment to bring them up. Roy was mostly correct—when it had mattered, Monte had always cut us in. Not so much because he wanted to support the Martian Alliance—Monte didn’t care all that much about restoring the galaxy to its former, and rightful, rulers as some did—but because he was smart enough to want to always stay in good with those currently in power and those who might one day have power again.

Monte sighed. “Since I don’t have a choice. I have plenty of partners already. I don’t need more.” He dropped his voice. “And you don’t want in on this, trust me.”

“Why not?” Roy asked.

“It’s…complicated.” Monte pointedly looked at the wall behind us.

I took a look. The wall wasn’t exceptional in any way, but there was a rendering of a lot of large, flashy buildings. I stepped closer. “Casino City” was written at the bottom. “Why wouldn’t we want in on an entire Polliworld city dedicated to gambling?”

“Look closer,” Monte said. “Look very close.”

The others joined me and we all stared at the big picture. “Where’s Orion’s Light?” Kyle asked finally. He pointed to a small legend in the lower corner of the rendering—Casino City looked to be taking up half of an entire globe.

“Ah, good eye!” Monte said heartily. “It’s a moon at the outskirts of the Betelgeuse system. It’s been colonized by those of an…understanding bent.”

“You mean they don’t have a lot of laws,” Roy translated.

“Exactly, baby, exactly. Perfect place for the next Palace.”

“You just opened this one,” I pointed out. “Why are you looking to expand again before this place could have possibly turned a profit?”

“DeeDee, you wound your Uncle Monte. We were in the black within the first day’s opening.”

“I’ve been all over the galaxy and I’ve never heard of this particular rock,” Willy said, before I could mention that I found it close to impossible to believe that Monte had covered all the startup costs of a huge casino in one month, let alone in a day. The overly happy people on the casino floor said differently as well. Shills cost money, especially shills being asked to do the level of acting those in the casino were putting forth.

“Newly colonized,” Monte replied nonchalantly.

“When?” Roy asked. “We keep track of the inhabiteds. And Willy’s right—I’ve never heard of Orion’s Light, and it hasn’t come up on our schematics or maps.”

“The decision to colonize was made quickly,” Monte said. “The Betelgeuse system’s allowed the pleasure of gambling close to home, just like the Polliworld system.”

“Who’s invested in Orion’s Light?” I asked. “Besides you, I mean.”

“You all should take some time and enjoy the gaming,” Monte said, more than obviously ignoring my question.

“We should leave, immediately
,” Ciarissa said in our heads. “
We have company coming, and they are equipped to make life very painful for Fren and myself.”

“We’ll talk more about this later,” Roy said.

Monte nodded. “Feel free to leave via the owner’s entrance. It’s very private.” He nodded his head toward a dark corner of the office. I couldn’t see any door there, but looking there was better than looking at Monte undulate to the doors we’d used to enter the room.

Ciarissa nodded and Roy headed for the part of the room Monte had indicated. Dr. Wufren put his hand out and a panel opened silently. “Nice work, Mister Leech,” he said as he stepped aside to let Bullfrog go through first.

“Thank you, sir,” Monte replied. “Don’t be strangers.”

We hurried through the hidden doorway. Roy and I were last. As the door closed behind us I heard Monte. “Gentlemen! What a lovely surprise.”

“Nice to see he’s covering for us,” I said softly as we followed the others down a very sturdy, very non-flashy corridor.

“If he really is,” Roy replied as we reached an intersection.

“To the right takes us outside,” Ciarissa said. “To the left returns us to the casino.”

“Well, we need to go back to the casino to get our ’Skins,” Kyle pointed out.