SECOND STRINGERS
THE SOLE ADVANTAGE OF POWER
by
Gerald M. Weinberg
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
Gerald M. Weinberg on Smashwords
Second Stringers: The Sole Advantage of Power
Copyright © 2010 by Gerald M. Weinberg
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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There are a few people I'd like to thank.
My teachers, Kris Rusch, Dean Smith, Loren Coleman, and all my Master Class compatriots, plus other members of the Oregon Writers Network
The Plotbusters: Sally Gwylan, Debbie Smith, Pari Noskin Taichert, Pati Nagle
Dani Weinberg, Pat Medvick, Fiona Charles, Jon Jaggers, and all my other first readers (who will hopefully forgive me if I forgot)
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SECOND STRINGERS
THE SOLE ADVANTAGE OF POWER
The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good.
- Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom, 1647
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Prologue
They called themselves the Sextet, though they each felt differently about the name. George, who had only one functioning limb but could create organic molecules with his mind, had pride of authorship. He had invented the name when they found Lee and freed him from the General, his father. They added him to their original group of five and became the Sextet. George thought the name was clever, and George held cleverness in high esteem.
Lee, who was deaf but could mentally transport objects anywhere, treasured the name. He had spent his adolescent years chained naked in a steel cage, protecting his dying mother by serving his megalomaniac father. For him the name meant he was part of a group, a team, for the first time in his life.
Alandra was the same age as the others, but had Downs Syndrome and couldn't always understand complex ideas. Still, using only her mind, she could decompose any object into its chemical elements, gold, oxygen, plutonium—anything in the periodic table. She thought Sextet was giggly, and a little embarrassing, no matter how many times Gina explained it had nothing to do with sex.
Gina had the power of persuasion, and could have made anyone call their team anything, but the name made her feel safe. She needed her twin brother George's power to keep her from dying from her defective internal organs. The name was a symbol of their cohesiveness, their family, and as long as George felt tied to the Sextet, he would never abandon her.
Bolton, like other members of the Sextet, had lost his mother, but was reared by his grandmother, Cathy. He would never abandon Gina, his first girlfriend, though his power was not needed to keep her alive. He was the Sextet's nerd, overweight with a crippled leg, but able to reprogram computers using only his thoughts. He disliked the name, thinking they should be called the String Sextet. He treasured his theory that their powers came from their ability to manipulate the string structure underlying the universe.
Ember, blind and beautiful Ember, with the terrifying mental power to add or subtract heat from any object—she vacillated about many things. She enjoyed the way the name symbolized their team, because she had become their leader and felt responsible for all of them. Still, she believed the name limited them, because she knew more specially gifted people must be hiding elsewhere in the world. Others would have powers like theirs, or perhaps would have powers even they had not imagined. She would need to protect these others from exploitation—unless she needed to prevent them from using their powers to exploit ordinary human beings.
The Sextet had searched for these others for two years now, ever since they had freed Lee and stopped the General's military conquest of the Western States. Life in their New Mexico compound had become peaceful, productive, and maybe just a little bit boring. They had searched with all their unearthly powers—but found no others like themselves. Some had come to believe they were unique, and that the General had died in the collapse of his mountain redoubt.
Chapter 1.
August 16, Corrales, New Mexico
Ember was all alone. Not physically alone, but feeling utterly lonely, as she had in her father's house before finding the others who had become the Sextet.
She had been walking the compound with the dogs, enjoying the cooling night breeze of the August New Mexico desert. Joe and Lily, the German Shepherds, delighted in these evening walks, playing guide dogs and guard dogs as Ember made the rounds inside the high stone security wall. Not that Ember needed a guide dog—she had walked the grounds many times, using her heat sense to avoid obstacles. Nor did she need protection from intruders—she could handle them all too well. The dogs did serve to keep the horses from running into her as she crossed to the farthest corner of their pasture.
As she approached Gina's house, Ember could smell its newness—fresh urethane-acrylic-latex paint, piles of oak flooring scraps and sawdust waiting to be removed, and pungent sheep manure nourishing the new shrubbery and baby cottonwoods. Ember smiled. Nothing but the best for Gina, even manure.
If Gina had been home, Ember would have stopped in for tea and some of Gina's extravagant imported cookies, but these days, Gina was rarely home. Today, she was far away, playing high-stakes poker somewhere in the Middle East. Ember might have stopped for tea anyway, with Bolton and George, but she could hear one of Bolton's toy cars buzzing around his test track way over on the south side of the compound. He's probably working off his anger at Gina being so far away for so long.
Ember thought their incessant fighting was stupid. Neither Bolton nor Gina seemed to appreciate the delight of having someone to love, someone close. Ember, though, wasn't angry with either of her friends. She could never allow herself the luxury of anger with anybody, even with George's teasing. When Ember angered, someone burned. That was her power. That was her curse.
Ember sighed and bent down to hug the dogs. Nobody could be more loving than the dogs, but it wasn't the same as human love. So she'd been told. "Come on," she said, rolling up the legs of her jeans and starting across a freshly irrigated segment of pasture toward Drina and Ray's house.
The water was cool and ankle-deep. The mud squished deliciously between her bare toes. She heard Joe splashing alongside her, but Lily, the fastidious one, skirted the wetness, barking at Joe to join her. As usual, Joe remained loyal to Ember, trudging along at her left side.
Drina and Ray would have gone to bed by now, pretending they were too old to do anything but sleep. Ember, with her exceptional hearing, knew differently, but went along with their sham so as not to embarrass their retarded daughter. Alandra, at twenty-three, still had an eight-year-old's embarrassment about sex. She had moved in with her parents last year when Ember bought them the ancient adobe to expand the eastern perimeter of the compound. These days, though, Alandra spent most of her time with Lee. Ember was happy for their friendship. She wished they were here tonight.
Early every morning, lying awake in her room, Ember would hear Lee clicking out a poem for Alandra. He would carry the poem to Alandra—"for their sign language lessons." After the lesson, Drina would pack a lunch for "the children" and, using Lee's power of teleporation, they would disappear. When they returned for supper—or like this night, after supper—they'd be carrying a few ounces of gold or silver or platinum to contribute to the compound's bank account.
The Sextet had other means of earning their keep, but Lee wanted to pay his way. Personally, he cared nothing for money, but delighted in the mineral treasures he and Alandra collected: pearly green jadeite from Burma, pale rainbow sanidine from Hungary, translucent pink tourmaline from Brazil, and dozens of others.
The next stop on Ember's nightly circuit would have brought her to Bolton's miniature test track. Tonight, though, thinking of the minerals—of the colors she could never see—Ember felt her loneliness like a crystal shroud, chill and unbreakable. Depressed as she was, she couldn't face George and Bolton's happy diversions. I might return later. Right now, they're testing Bolton's latest rocket. I would be dangerous to hang out with them.
Believing her own rationalization, she stopped before she was close enough for them to see her blond hair in the dark. She cut short her habitual path and headed for her own residence, the house she shared with Bolton's grandmother, Cathy.
When Ember opened the back door, the house echoed its emptiness. Cathy was still visiting friends in the neighborhood. Ember had been invited—she was always invited—but she knew it was only a courtesy. Cathy's friends are lovely old ladies, but don't have much in common with me. Best not to spoil their evenings with a self-pitying grump.
Preceded by the dogs, Ember felt her way carefully into the kitchen. She knew her way by heart, but Lee and Alandra were always carelessly leaving piles of rocks around the house. She sat down at the kitchen table and began fondling some of yesterday's rocks, imagining she could still feel the warmth from the hands of her two dear friends.
Once Joe and Lily realized they were not going to receive treats, they ran out their dog door to complete their own walk, leaving Ember to reflect on how her loneliness had evolved. Art, now in the honeymoon stage with his latest boyfriend, had explained how she had become the Sextet's leader, and that leaders were always a bit lonely. She could accept that, but this loneliness was more than "a bit." When the General tried to recruit us, or murder us, we were forced to work closely together just to survive. Now we feel safe, so we have nothing but the secret of our talents to keep us together.
No, not "us." Be honest. Everyone has somebody, just not me.
The last thing she heard before she dozed off was the swoosh of Bolton's experimental rocket, not the falling rock.
Chapter 2.
August 16, Corrales, New Mexico
While Ember slept, Bolton made flight after flight of what he called his hybrid rocket plane. For fuel, he packed the combustion chamber with some of the stable's plentiful manure, which George would then convert to guanidine nitrate. Bolton, ever cautious, preferred to have Ember cooling the solid monopropellant for an extra margin of safety, but he didn't dare wake her up. Instead, he wheeled George behind the triple-cinder-block safety barrier. There, he performed his final instrument check, mentally, on the model's embedded control circuitry.
Ready to go, he looked up at the windsock to wait for a momentary lapse in the breeze. The moon was full, and fully distracting. He paused for a moment to imagine one of his rockets making the lunar trip, then spotted the red dot of Mars a handspan away from the moon. He sighed. Probably won't make it that far, not in my lifetime.
He was about to trigger the launch when Mars and the moon winked out. George gasped. Bolton rubbed his eyes, then the reappearing moonlight showed a massive rock suspended about fifty feet above Gina's mansion. In vain, he scanned the sky for the source of the monolith. As far as he could see, it had materialized out of nowhere.
He couldn't estimate the size of the monster until it fell on Gina's house, completely covering the roof. It didn't smash the house, but rather quietly squeezed it into its foundations, grinding everything—ultra-modern kitchen, all six bathrooms, even the indoor pool and spa—into unrecognizable bits and pieces oozing out the sides. Still, it generated enough of a crash to alert the dogs.
Joe and Lily barked vigorously and raced outside. Bolton stared across the moonlit pasture but couldn't see sufficient detail. The dogs are okay, but where is Ember?
Hobbling as quickly as he could towards Cathy's house, he focused his mind on the security controls. He flipped on all the compound's outdoor security lights, then limped after the dogs, screaming Ember's name. Through the kitchen window, he could see Lee and Alandra had arriving and unloading their daily mineral hoard, trying not to awaken Ember. Lee couldn't hear anything, but when he saw the expression on Alandra's face, he ran out of the kitchen and returned dragging a yawning Ember by the elbow. Bolton watched him guide the two women outside, then turned to check on George.
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Ember broke away from Lee, heading for Gina's house by the shortest route. Her bare feet hit mud. She slipped, splashing bottom first into shallow water. Something's wrong. This section of pasture isn't due for irrigation tonight.
This is too warm for ditch water. Maybe it's well water? Feeling with her hand, she realized the water was already more than an inch deep. Someone must have broken a pipe.
Straight ahead, she felt intense heat. She heard the popping sound as ripples of flaming gas burbled out through the water. Instinctively, she focused her mind and cooled the flame, then cried out, "Someone cut off the gas! At the main!"
As soon as Ray accepted the task, she turned her attention to Gina's house. She heard several wood scraps burning, sizzling in the shallow lake, but she ignored these and yelled at Bolton to cut off the well pump. She heard Drina shouting something close by. "What happened?" she asked, but Drina had no idea. Alandra was no help either. She was bawling, saying something about rescuing Gina's tropical fish. That left Lee.
Faced with the confusing scene, only Lee seemed to have no trouble realizing what had happened. Even above the din, Ember could hear his fingers rapidly playing chords on his TypeeTalkee. "It's my father," the tiny machine squeaked. "He's trying to kill us again. He's not dead after all."
Bolton interrupted to report the well was now shut down. Panting, he asked, "How can you be so sure, Lee?"
He must have been typing, because the machine's metallic voice responded, "What's the date today?"
Bolton answered impatiently, "What does that have to do with anything?"
"What's the date?" Lee's machine insisted.
Ember checked her braille watch and signed, [August sixteenth. Why is that important?]
Lee's machine voice sounded steely cold. "Because my father knows my mother made me memorize all the saints. Today is Saint Stephen's Day."
Bolton's teeth chattered in the high desert night air. "That's supposed to mean something to me?"
"It's my father's macabre little joke. Saint Steven is the patron saint of stonecutters—"
Ember felt her insides tremble, but she could only imagine Lee's intense emotion—emotion she couldn't see and his talking machine couldn't express.
"That's a joke?" Bolton asked. "It doesn't prove anything. It's just a coincidence."
"Saint Steven is also the patron saint watching over the death of children."
Chapter 3.
August 16, Corrales, New Mexico
Ever since the Sextet escaped from the General's wilderness hideout in Utah, Ember had waited fearfully for something like this violent message. With the passage of time, however, her fear faded, and she began to believe the General was indeed dead. Troops had searched the rubble from the collapse of the General's network of caverns, finding an abundance of bodies and ruined weapons, but no General. Not that she expected to find a single person buried under millions of tons of crushed and crushing granite, but she would have been relieved to know her nemesis was gone for good.
After two years of quiet living, she had almost convinced the others their archenemy was gone for good. Not Lee, of course. She could never convince Lee. He hated his father too much to ever be rid of him.
Then there was Bolton's Uncle Emory Garland, paranoid by profession. Though the former President had finished his term, replaced by a younger man from the opposition party, Emory Garland remained under Presidential assignment to track down and eradicate the remnants of General Jakes's patriot army—the Sons of the Fathers. Garland would know the meaning of this rock. Garland would not be happy.
Shivering, only partly from her hand on the cold crystals of the fallen rock, Ember knew with certainty that she and Garland had failed. The General was still alive, and all their lives were in danger. Garland's promise to protect the Sextet was useless.
He's obviously found another one like us. Like his son, with the power to throw things anywhere he chooses. Anywhere the General chooses.
On this cold night, she had suffered no physical injury, but she felt the pain in her belly. I thought we were the only ones. How wrong I was. I hope nothing has happened to Gina.
She sniffed the air—a hint of natural gas and acrid smoke stung her nose. I may not be able to see him, but now I know for sure he's still out there. Something about that rock is going to tell us where he is so we can use his attack against him.
If we want protection, we'll have to eliminate the General's threat once and for all. Maybe that's the only way to deal with bullies.
First, we have to leave this place before he throws another rock. Then we'll stop defending and attack.
Chapter 4.
August 15, Gulf of Bahrain
The day before the General's rock crushed her fancy new home, Gina found herself playing in a private poker game on a prince's yacht off the capital of Qatar in the Arabian Gulf of Bahrain. She had never played poker outdoors before, not serious poker, anyway, but this game was definitely serious—so serious that she only once caught herself thinking about her fabulous new house back in New Mexico. Win here, and I can pay off the entire mortgage.
She'd never played on shipboard, either, and certainly not with a half-million dollar buy-in. That buy-in had stretched Gina's every resource and line of credit, but didn't seem an issue for the other players. Manfred, the chunky sixty-something German banker had covered his fat bare legs and bulbous nose with zinc oxide while they played in the sun after lunch. He lost his stake before tea, bought in two more times at $250,000 a crack, then went all in and lost for the third time before supper. Gina was convinced he was dead money—a player with no chance of winning who simply contributed to the size of the pots. Her theory was confirmed when she learned he was sharing one of the seven staterooms with a Venezuelan pretty boy. She had to admit Ambrosio was attractive, perhaps because he was the only other player of her own generation.
Manfred seemed to be backing Ambrosio, who was definitely not dead money. On the first hand after a sumptuous supper, Ambrosio bullied out Ibrahim, some sort of Saudi royalty. Ibrahim might have been the oldest player, but his age hadn't kept him from appearing at her stateroom door last night trying to cajole his way inside.
Gina's stateroom was one of three on the main deck. The second guest stateroom, next to hers in the aft section, was occupied by Fiona, the fiftyish, meticulously suntanned and wrinkled British heiress. She was Duchess somebody-or-other, but as the only other female player, she seemed to take Gina under a motherly wing, coaching her on both nautical and naughty etiquette. She had come out of her room at two in the morning to shoo Ibrahim away from Gina's door—though whether he went away or into Fiona's room, Gina didn't know and didn't ask.
Fiona was a conservative player, which gave her no real chance of winning but kept her in the game longer than Grigor, the robust oil man from Russia. Grigor gave up after contributing $1,500,000 to the table and consuming almost that much in free refreshments from the Prince's American bar.
Five hands later, Fiona's dwindling pile of chips couldn't sustain her. She wiped out, not willing to buy in for another quarter-million. She excused herself to change, then accompanied Grigor on the power boat into the Doha's West Bay Lagoon for an Indian Independence Day party at the Ritz-Carlton.
Before leaving, she took Gina aside. "Female crew members usually didn't count as chaperones, dear. But Miss Blackwood is different. Khaleel's dealer is not really a servant, so she's an adequate female presence to preserve your reputation unsullied."
Gina probed the dark-eyed, silent, Shaia Blackwood and decided there was something special about her, something she would have to learn about before the game was over.
Fiona's departure brought the game down to three—Gina, Ambrosio, and Prince Khaleel, their host. Khaleel had been more subtle than Ibrahim in his approach last night, inviting Gina to inspect his captain's double stateroom before retiring. She had enjoyed the luxury, but mentally nudged his libido away from the idea of sharing his enormous cushioned bed—without even rewarding him the pleasure of virtual sex. For Gina, combining poker and sex was a perversion—and bad for business, too.
Khaleel and Ambrosio were worthy opponents. Ambrosio was definitely the better player, but Khaleel's luck seemed more than enough to keep him competitive. Around nine o'clock, when fireworks began over the lagoon, Gina began to suspect Shaia was somehow managing to cheat in Khaleel's favor. Over the eight hours they'd been playing, his luck was just too flukey to believe.
Khaleel held the chip lead. There was $6,500,000 on the table, of which Gina held $1,200,000 and Ambrosio held about $2,300,000, leaving Khaleel with approximately $3,000,000. Gina's strategy was to let one of the two men drive the other out, then maintain play and finally propose ending the game while she had two million or more to take home. That result would give her what she wanted, but leave the male egos intact so she might be invited again. She was definitely enjoying every moment of the luxuries, starting from the moment she'd boarded the Prince's luxury Dassault private jet at the Albuquerque Sunport.
By ten-thirty, the air temperature was down to a pleasant 80 degrees and the positions hadn't changed much. The Prince was beginning to look tired, and called a break. Gina retired to her cabin to use her private bathroom, but came back quickly and saw the Prince chatting with Shaia on the foredeck. She picked up a momentary flash of guilt from the Prince, then he stepped away from his dealer. The guilty feeling faded.
Gina decided to watch more carefully for signs of cheating. She asked for a fresh deck—"to change my luck." Shaia opened the deck and offered it for inspection. Gina—who by now was well acquainted with all sorts of crooked decks—could see there was nothing wrong with it. Nor could she detect any flaw in Shaia's smooth dealing.
After a few meaningless hands, Gina decided to ignore the deck and concentrate on the two mens' emotions. They were both concentrating, but Khaleel, though tired, seemed more relaxed and confident. Then, before Shaia dealt the next hand, Gina picked up a surge of masculine confidence from the Prince. Her own two cards were a worthless off-suit black two-four. Nobody raised, so she stayed in for the flop, as did both men.
The flop was seven-eight-nine of hearts, a dangerous flop, and worthless to her. She felt an enormous flood of positive emotion from Ambrosio—though nothing showed on his impassive face. The Prince remained at his high level of confidence. Sensing a battle and holding two worthless cards, Gina dropped out. The Prince raised $200,000. Ambrosio waited a long time, totally hiding his great confidence, called.
Shaia dealt the Turn. Three of clubs. Couldn't help either man. Ambrosio checked, but Gina sensed he was sandbagging, hoping to suck more money out of Khaleel. Khaleel raised $400,000. After a decent hesitation, which he wasn't feeling inside, Ambrosio went all-in.
Now the Prince appeared to be deciding whether to match Ambrosio's large bet, but Gina could feel it was no decision at all. He was going all-in, with complete assurance he was going to win.
After about a minute, Khaleel announced he was calling Ambrosio's bet, which meant Ambrosio, with the smaller chip stack, would be wiped out if he lost. Gina sensed Ambrosio knew he wasn't going to lose. He turned his two hole cards face up—the five and six of hearts, giving him a straight flush. The only way the Prince could beat him was with a higher straight flush, yet Gina sensed the Prince's confidence didn't waver.
The Prince turned his hole cards—Jack of Hearts and Ace of Spades. Not a bad starting hand, but only the remotest chance of beating Ambrosio. The only card that would help him was the ten of hearts, which would give him a straight flush to the Jack. Of the 42 remaining cards, the ten was only one, an almost impossible long shot. Khaleel made a show of groaning desperation, but Gina knew he was sure inside of his impending victory.
Shaia turned the ten of hearts.
Ambrosio was wiped clean, but radiated little emotion as Manfred, whispering in his ear, led him downstairs to their cabin. In view of the cheating, Gina decided to change her goal, hoping to keep the $1,300,000 she now had in front of her. She stretched her arms behind her head—noticing Khaleel's gush of libido as she thrust out her chest—and yawned. "It's been a long and exciting day, Prince. I propose we call it quits and declare you the winner." Better to take home the cash than be cheated penniless.
Khaleel was not distracted. "I also am tired, but quitting is not our practice in these games." He resumed his seat and motioned for Shaia to deal another hand. "We always play until winner takes all."
Chapter 5.
August 16-17, Corrales, New Mexico
Once the fires were all out, the gas was capped, and the water was no longer flooding the pasture, Ember panicked. "We can't just stand around here. What if the General throws another rock?"
"Then he won't throw it at the same spot," Bolton said. "So the safest place would be right next to this rock."
"That's too logical for me," Ember said. "Let's head for the far corner of the northwest pasture. There's no buildings over there."
"Better if we left our property altogether," Art said.
If we do that, we leave everything open to Garland's snooping. If he's spying on us, where would we be safe?
Bolton shouted at Alandra. Ember snapped out of her reverie and rushed to Alandra's defense. "Leave her alone, Bolton. Stop picking on her."
"I'm not picking on her. She's decomposing the rock. It'll raise questions about how we did it, questions we don't want to answer."
"I'm saving Gina's fish," Alandra sobbed. "They're under the big rock."
Ember reached Alandra and hugged her warmly. "That's a very good idea, Landra, but I'm sure the poor fish are dead by now."
"Maybe they're not dead. I can take all the oxy-stuff out, and the rock will fall apart. Papa showed me how."
"I'm sure you can, angel, but then the pieces would fall on them and kill them. Except I'm sure they're already dead."
"That bad General killed them, didn't he?" Alandra could barely push the words out through profuse tears.
"We think so."
"He should be punished. You shouldn't kill animals. Animals are our friends. We have to take care of them."
"You're right." Ember took her pseudo-sister's hand and placed it on her own elbow. Will you guide me to the big tree over in the corner, Landra?" She waved in the direction of the northwest pasture. "Then we'll all figure out how to punish the bad men who did this to Gina's fish."
"Okay, but Papa's not here. He'll want to punish them, too."
"Then we'll wait until he gets back. In the meantime, Lee can fetch the minerals you and Lee collected, so I can examine them. I'm way behind."
Alandra led Ember to the picnic table under the giant cottonwood—though both knew Ember didn't need guidance. They sat at the table while Lee fetched their collection. Together, they picked out their favorites, Ember caressing the shapes with her fingers and testing their reactions to heat and cold. The time passed quickly until Ray returned with the news: Nothing else on their fifteen acres had been affected by the rock fall.
One by one, the family returned to announce the completion of their tasks. Bolton, carrying his computer, was the last to arrive. Ember could sense the mounting anxiety in the group. Finally, Drina put all their thoughts into words. "Shouldn't we move farther away from here? What if he drops another rock?"
Everyone's head turned to Lee, assuming he knew his father, the General, best. He asked Drina to repeat what she'd said, then spoke through his machine. "We're as safe here as anywhere. There's no place to hide where a rock can't reach—"
"I can think of some," Bolton argued.
Lee objected. "Okay, maybe there are some, but nothing we can do easily right now. We'd have to plan—"
"I agree with that," said Bolton, seemingly satisfied his contribution had been recognized.
"Then we should stay right here until we have a plan. From the size of that rock, I'd guess my father doesn't have another one ready to go. Or, if he does, he doesn't like to waste ammunition. Until he can perform a damage assessment, I don't think he'll waste another shot."
Ember agreed. Until we've figured out a safer place, there's no point moving around at random. Art says the security system is intact, so we'll know if anyone comes around snooping.
Cathy tried to facilitate a calm discussion, but Drina kept interrupting to ask when they were going to leave. Eventually, they decided their best course was to develop a plan, then move somewhere else before it grew light enough for someone to check the damage. They moved all their vehicles away from the main buildings. For the next few hours, they thrashed out a plan. Lee and Alandra popped back and forth bringing essential items to the cars. Ember kept Drina from interfering with the discussion by commissioning her to pack for their escape, and repack as their plans changed.
The dogs were not as easy to control. They kept racing to the rock and seemed to be having a contest to see which of them could bark loudest. In spite of their best efforts, the rock refused to leave. "Can't you shut them up?" Bolton insisted. "I can't think."
Reluctantly, she sent Lee and Alandra to find long leashes and tie the dogs to the tree. When they stopped barking, Bolton's thinking did seem to improve. Ember could hear Bolton's pride grow as his idea of moving out of harm's way began to swing the balance. She wished he would stop calling it "my plan," but some things about Bolton were just too hard to change.
As the sky lightened, Lee transported himself and Alandra to the Satellite Café, bringing everyone breakfast rolls and fresh cups of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. To Ember, Bolton described how the bottoms of the morning clouds over Sandia Peak turned red, then pink to announce the impending arrival of the sun. "We'll move when we can see the full solar disk."
She could hear Bolton's impatience to leave, but Ember wanted to inspect some of the stony leviathan's details. "We may not have another chance," she said, just before Lee transported the entire Sextet to the shady side of the rock.
Even in the morning light, the rock was mostly gray, but as the sun inched up behind the mountain, Bolton could distinguish a variety of grays, which he catalogued for Ember. Most of the ten-foot high slab was a uniform grainy moleskin rock, peppered every ten inches or so with a great variety of colored pea-to-lemon-sized stones. The most common embedded materials, and most curious, were natural steel-gray prisms embedded in fist-sized blobs of dull gray matrix. As the sun rose, the prisms on the east side threw back its yellow light, revealing their patterns in more detail.
[Using these prisms, we should easily identify the origin. It's bigger than I could throw] Lee signed as they circled the stone for the twentieth time. When they stopped, he switched to his TypeeTalkee. "I tried to move it, but whoever threw it is much more powerful than I am."
"Though not as accurate," said Bolton. "Look at the distance between the rock and Cathy's house."
"Why do you say that?" Ember asked.
"Because obviously this was intended to crush us in Cathy's house."
"Maybe they were aiming for my sister," George speculated.
Ember could hear Art exploring the scattered wreckage peeking out from under the rock. "Not likely, but even then it missed half the house." A length of aluminum window frame clattered metallically as he tugged it out. "I don't think Lee would have missed dead center."
"We were lucky," George yawned. "They might not miss the next time, especially if they zero in on us."
"Then we have to leave—and keep this near miss secret," Bolton urged. "As long as we can. I think my plan will protect us from this kind of attack."
Ember's sensitive ears picked up the sound of whirling helicopter blades. "Hold onto your plan for later, Bolton. Your secret should last all of a minute or two. Here comes a helicopter. Everyone behind the rock. If it's the General's men, I'm going to bring it down."
Art's meaty hand clamped down on her shoulder. "Don't panic, sweetheart. It's probably the press corps."
Bolton didn't agree. "How would they know about it so fast? Our neighbors are too far away to hear it, and it was amazingly quiet for its size."
Ember laid her hands on the rock and reached up, trying in vain to feel the top. "You can't hide something this big."
"You can, in the dark. Not from you, but other people rely on their sight too much. Maybe I should have let Alandra pulverize it," said Bolton. "She could break it down into Lee-sized pieces, so he could send it into the ocean somewhere."
"Not a good idea, even if we could do it fast enough," Ember countered. "It's already been seen, and we'd have to explain where it went. Besides, we needed to study it. If someone, somewhere, has Lee's power—"
"Not someone," said Bolton. "Who but the General would be looking for some way to crush us? Unless he's developed a throwing machine."
"Okay, it's probably the General, and he's probably found a thrower like Lee, but let's keep a little part of our minds open to other possibilities. It could be someone else." If there are others with our powers, the rock is the least of our problems. Who knows what other powers are out there?
By now, they could all—except Lee—hear the helicopter. A moment later Bolton told Ember he could see it. "According to its khaki camouflage markings, it isn't the press."
Chapter 6.
August 15, Gulf of Bahrain
Shaia tossed Gina a pitying glance, and Gina could feel the same emotion from inside the attractive dealer. So she knows she was cheating, and it probably isn't the first time. Though the breezes from the Gulf were still balmy, Gina shivered and tucked her cashmere shawl tightly around her shoulders.
Gina had no idea what method Shaia was using to cheat, so if she was going to avoid coming home broke, she'd have to find some way around it—and quickly.
Gina had studied cheating, and she'd coped with cheaters before—card crimpers, chip shorters, collusion bettors, and dozens of other scams. In a way, my own method of manipulating emotions could be considered cheating, though manipulating emotions is what poker was all about. It's just I'm better at it. Much better.
And good enough, she thought, to beat the Prince and his deck-stacking dealer.
"All right," she said at last, tossing aside her shawl. "I'm the newcomer. I guess I have to play the way the locals play."
They continued to play, with no obvious signs—or emotions—of further cheating. Still, she felt the Prince was toying with her, not letting her win, but not trying to cheat her out of the game. Little by little, she cut into his enormous chip stack. Well after one in the morning, she had gained a slight advantage. Now's the time to knock him out by going all in—but only if the cards deal the right opportunity.
Fiona and her Russian friend returned. He wanted to watch the climax, but Fiona claimed it was too cold to remain outside. They agreed to move into the smaller of the two saloons, smaller only in comparison to the other, not to Gina's living room. The furnishings were limed oak with rich powder blue upholstery, sculpted beige carpeting, marble pillars, warmly lighted paintings and a hand-painted ceiling. Shaia brought everyone fresh drinks while two crewmen set up the table and spectator chairs. Gina spent a few minutes in her bathroom, then returned and sat down, asking for a fresh deck of cards.
Gina noticed Shaia and the Prince were now trying to set her up for another cheat. She was dealt one superior hand after another, tempting her to venture huge bets, but feeling Khaleel's emotions, she knew each hand was a trap. She had her strategy ready, and she stayed out of their traps. After a while, the two cheaters abandoned their tactic and began playing straight, probably to allay suspicion.
Gina was dealt a Jack of spades-eight of hearts, then flopped a three of diamonds-eight of clubs-Jack of diamonds. That made two pair going into the turn. Khaleel revealed some pleasure in the flop, and bet $200,000. Gina feared he might be holding a pair of Jacks to match the Jack on the flop, or maybe two diamonds, but he wasn't sufficiently pleased, so she called his bet.
The turn came up the Jack of hearts. Now Gina had a full house, and even if the Prince had the other Jack, or the pair of diamonds and drew a flush, no possible hand could beat her. She made a $200,000 bet. The Prince called.
Shaia turned over the river card. Four of diamonds. Gina felt the Prince's pleasure, mixed with a fair amount of caution. He must have caught the flush, but cheater or not, he was a sharp player and aware she could still beat him. She stared at the Prince's face as if she were trying to read some tell. Inside, however, she was using her power to project confidence into his emotional stream. Arrogance. Male superiority. And absolute certainty.
He smiled across the table, glanced at Fiona and Grigor, then pushed all his chips forward with both manicured hands. "All in," he announced, triumph in his voice.
"I call," said Gina softly, pushing her chips forward and revealing her unbeatable full house. "I guess that does it."
Seeing over six million dollars on the table and being bombarded with waves of intense negative feelings from her host, Gina was having trouble controlling her own emotions. Fiona stepped forward with a congratulatory hug, which Gina gratefully accepted. Looking over the Duchess's shoulder, Gina was able to see Khaleel glowering at Shaia. Then he wiped a smile onto his face and stepped around the table to shake Gina's hand. "Well done, my dear. Now, we have another little tradition you may not know about."
"Oh," said Gina. What now? She smiled her most gracious smile and simply said, "How interesting. What is it?"
"The last man out has the privilege of asking for a game of double or nothing." He sounded completely sincere, but Gina sensed both Fiona and Grigor's puzzlement. He's making it up, but they aren't going to question their host.
"I'm so tired." She fluttered her lashes. "Perhaps you would be so gracious as not to invoke your privilege on a weak woman." I could force him to do it, but I'm pissed. Let him cook in his own sauce.
He sighed. "Ah, my dear, I too am tired, but if we don't keep our traditions, what will happen to our friendly game in the future."
Gina looked at the chips on the table. "I believe there's $6,500,000 in cash behind those chips. Do you have another $6,500,000 on board to match it?"
The Prince laughed. "Not in my wallet. Just credit cards."
"In that case, unfortunately, we can't play double-or-nothing." Gina started to move toward her room.
"Ah, but I can put up an equivalent piece of property."
Gina scanned the room. The paintings were originals, but nothing that valuable would be kept on shipboard, subject to the salt air and humidity, not even by a Prince. "What did you have in mind? This … boat."
"It's called a yacht, my dear, and it's worth a bit more than that. I was thinking of my Dassault. I saw how much you liked it."
She had liked the luxurious plane. She had fantasized about having one of her own—one Ember could use, too, to fly kids to Odilia clinic and back home. She was tempted. "I would think it's worth much more, too, but I don't really know the price of airplanes."
"Well, it's probably worth somewhat more, …" He yawned without covering his mouth. " … though I, too, don't concern myself with prices. If you're concerned about cheating me …" She caught the humor underneath this statement. " …you could throw a little extra in the pot."
"Did you have something particular in mind?" The lechery she sensed had given her a good idea what that might be.
"If you win, the plane—and the money—is yours. If I win, I take the money … and you spend the next three nights with me in my cabin." His smiled disingenuously.
She laughed, ignoring Fiona's tiny head shake. He's calling me a whore, but for that price, he can say what he wants. Especially since there's no way he can win the bet. Besides, who knows what he'll do if I antagonize him. It's his boat, and I can't swim all the way to shore. "Hah. I don't think I'm worth it, but if that's your idea of pleasure, who am I to argue with a man's taste." She lowered her eyes seductively. "If you win, of course."
So, the game was on, and he didn't win. Gina was merciless, causing him to play like a stupid amateur. The outcome was decided an hour before the final chip was thrown, but she made him suffer every hand of the last hour. When it was officially over, he put on a face of good sportsmanship, but as soon as she was out of sight, she could feel his rage pounding against Shaia, even if she hadn't heard him shouting.
The next morning, the Prince signed over the Dassault and handed Gina the keys to the strongboxes full of cash. Minutes after he left for the mainland on his powerboat, Shaia approached Gina, head bowed humbly. "He was cheating you, but I suppose you figured that out."
"Yes, I did, though I don't know how."
"That doesn't matter. He fired me last night. I'm stranded in this godforsaken little male-chauvinist country, with nothing."
Gina knew Shaia was telling the truth. This was no further cheat. "Would you like a ride somewhere … on my new airplane?"
"I would like a ride very much."
"Where would you like to go?"
"To the United States. I am a Romy, but I am an American citizen."
Romy? Gina was curious, but she was more curious about what had happened last night. "One condition."
"And that is …?"
"You must tell me how you were cheating."
Chapter 7.
August 17, Corrales, New Mexico
With a final clattering sound, the khaki helicopter settled in the far corner of the pasture, still inside the compound wall. Ember commanded Joe and Lily to come to her and stay. They obeyed instantly, but continued to bark until Alandra shushed them. Art cautioned everyone to try not to react to the four armed men who jumped out, covering the area. They were followed by a wiry man in a gray suit.
"Shit," said Bolton, "I should have known my uncle would show up. How does he move around so fast?"
"I'm sure they're still watching your compound," said Art, "if only by satellite. Garland would have known about the rock within minutes."
"Even when it was dark?" said Drina.
"Oh, their satellites can see in the dark, especially since this thing was thirty degrees cooler than the pasture. It would have showed up like a lime popsicle on a pepperoni pizza." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Okay, here he comes. Usual rules. Don't anybody volunteer anything."
Garland swaggered over, tossing the merest nod in his nephew's direction, then proceeded to walk slowly around the entire eighty-foot square before stopping in front of Ember. "Hello, Ms. Collins, it's Emory Garland."
Ember extended her hand toward his voice. "Good morning, Garland. What brings you to our humble abode this morning? Trespassing on private property?"
Garland shook her hand, then emitted a sound as close to a laugh as Ember had ever heard from him. "National security, or perhaps your friends didn't tell you. Somebody delivered an Easter egg on your lawn last night."
Ember could hear another helicopter, no, two, approaching. "No, they did tell me, but they didn't say it was an egg. Is it decorated?"
"That was a figure of speech. I believe it's a weapon, intended to kill you."
Ember placed both hands on her chest and cocked her head to one side, innocently. "Who would want to kill us?"
"Very funny. We all know who this has to be—who's the only one who can throw rocks like this."
So, there's was one positive effect of this rock crushing Gina's house. It will remove any lingering suspicion one of us has been throwing the General's rocks.
Garland looked over the rock again. "Evidently, he's been practicing. This one is the biggest so far. Hundreds of tons, if I can believe my geologists …" He paused to watch two other military helicopters landing on the pasture, "...who, by the way, are coming to study your rock."
"We didn't invite you," said Bolton, angrily. "How about you leave our private property?"
Ember put her finger to her lips. "Bolton, that's no way to speak to your uncle. Besides, I made an agreement we would cooperate in our protection. Perhaps you should take the dogs inside and feed them their breakfast."
Bolton grumbled something, but took the hint. Ember turned her attention back to their visitor. "By all means, Garland, have your people look all they want. Then you may leave our property."
"Don't worry, Ms. Collins, we won't be staying long. For all we know, another Easter egg could be following this one. I'd like all of you to join me in the helicopters so we can take you someplace safe." He looked at George. "I can't afford to lose you."
Ember put on her best smile. "That's very considerate of you, Garland. However, we have other plans. Besides, if someone wants to drop a mountain on us, where could you hide us?"
"Anyplace but here, as long as … our friend … doesn't know where you are."
"Well, obviously, our friend, as you call him, doesn't know where we are or we would now be pancakes under the rock. Which reminds me, I'm not being much of a hostess. Would you like to come inside for some hot breakfast while your scientists do their work? I'm afraid our breakfast is getting cold." I could heat it myself, but he doesn't need to know. She smiled to herself. "We have to eat and run."
"Where are you going?"
"Oh, just to the airport to meet Dr. Red Bear's sister in her new airplane. Wasn't it fortunate she wasn't at home when the Easter egg was delivered to her address?"
"This time, yes. I'm afraid we'll have to follow you to the airport to arrange for your future protection. It's part of our bargain, yes?"
Chapter 8.
August 17, in flight
Having lost his plane, Khaleel had rather ungraciously assured Gina he had several others—better ones—and fired his pilot on the spot. Gina needed a pilot, so she'd offered Randy Strakanovitch, the Prince's senior pilot, a generous cash bonus to work for her, at least for the next month. After persuading her to hire his friend and copilot, Ed Bromley, Randy took her offer. She hadn't even needed to use her coercive power. The two men were evidently as relieved as Shaia to be free of the Prince's employ.
Gina didn't sleep well all night, worried the Prince would somehow renege on the deal. Though she awakened early, Shaia was already up, her small suitcase packed, ready for the ten-minute powerboat ride to shore and a twenty-minute taxi-ride to the tiny Doha International Airport. Randy was waiting, standing at attention to meet them in front of the sleek plane.
Gina impatiently studied the exterior of her Dassault for nicks and scratches for fifteen minutes while a ground crew topped off the fuel. When the plane was finally available for boarding, Randy led Gina and Shaia on an impressive tour of the twelve-passenger jet, its capacity reduced to eight to create a larger work space and two tiny sleeping compartments. When Ed announced preparation for takeoff, they truncated the tour and strapped themselves into tan leather seats around a walnut worktable. None of them wanted to spend another minute in Qatar, in case the Prince changed his mind.
"Can we finish the tour later?"
"Of course," said Randy with a small bow. "You're the owner. Your wish is our command."
"I don't like the idea of commanding anyone," Gina said, knowing she could command anyone mentally if she chose. "I think you won't mind if I command you to serve all four of us some lunch at the earliest safe moment. Once we're out of Qatar airspace, of course. I hope you have food on board. We didn't want to wait around for breakfast."
"I understand. We always have food on board. We don't just fly the plane. That's the easy part. We do whatever is necessary to satisfy the owner—and that's you. I just hope our menu is to your taste."
When the Dassault reached cruising altitude, Ed served a lunch of cold salmon sandwiches, handmade potato chips, and celery slices with walnut cream cheese—all to Gina's taste. She and Shaia dined in silence, then remained mum while Shaia gazed out the window at the featureless desert below. Randy came back into the cabin, served them fresh coffee and a tray of rich pastries for dessert.
When they were finished and the dishes cleared away, he reviewed their flight plan with his new owner. They would refuel at Gatwick near London, then hop the Atlantic and enter the United States at Philadelphia, which was less congested than New York or Washington.
"Unless, Ma'am, you'd like to stop for some shopping in New York. The Prince's wives often did so."
"I'm not 'Ma'am.' I'm Gina. If my first name troubles you, you can call me Miss Red Bear—but only when we're in company. In private, it's Gina. Okay?"
Randy glanced at Shaia, who was now dozing with her head against one side of the leather armchair, People magazine in her lap.
"Shaia's not company," Gina said. "Not for this flight, anyway. And no shopping. I want to return to New Mexico as soon as possible so you can train my friends to fly this … what do we call it?"
"Plane is fine. Or aircraft. Really, you can call her anything you wish. You're the owner."
"Does she have a name?"
"The Prince called her …" He uttered an unpronounceable Arabic name.
"We'll have to change that. Can we do that?"
"Of course. The name is just informal. The important thing is the number."
"I'm thinking of calling her 'Full House.' You let me know if that's not seemly for an … airplane."
"It's a wonderful name. I … uh … heard how you acquired her."
"So news travels fast?"
"Not all news, but anytime the Prince loses, it's big news."
"Well, while you're my pilot—and tell Ed, too. I don't want you spreading news about my winnings and losings—or anything else—unless I specifically tell you to. No exceptions. This is a job-breaker."
Randy returned to the cabin, and Gina let Shaia sleep all the way to Gatwick. The formalities on the ground were less than she'd expected—cash, as usual, seemed to facilitate service—and soon they were having supper over the Atlantic. "All right, Shaia, it's time you paid your fare, in case you want to leave us in Philadelphia."
Shaia knew what she meant, but seemed to be of two minds. Literally. When Gina probed her emotions, she felt something she had never previously sensed. She was certainly familiar with mixed emotions, but inside Shaia, the emotions were not only mixed—reluctance, anxiety, pride, deception—but somehow seemed to be doubled, like an echo.
There's more to this woman than meets the eye, and I don't like mysteries. "How about it, Shaia, how did the Prince manage to cheat?"
Gina could feel Shaia's emotions turn to determination. "I stacked the deck for him." The same determination sounded in her voice.
"Well, of course you did, Shaia. I knew that. But how did you stack the deck? I thought I was rather good at spotting card cheats."
Shaia shook her head, setting her large dangling gold earrings tinkling. "That wasn't our bargain. You said I had to tell you how I was cheating, and I just did. I stacked the deck."
"Sorry, lady, but that's not what I meant, and you know it."
"It's what I promised. What are you going to do, throw me overboard?"
"Believe me, drowning would be kind compared to what I could do." She began to exert gentle pressure on Shaia's mind. "I'll tell you what. I'm willing to be sporting about this. There are cards in the cupboard. Fresh decks. You do some stacked dealing while I watch. If I can't figure out what you're doing, then I'll consider your fare paid. All right?"
Gina could feel Shaia's immense relief, doubled, though nothing showed on her face. "Agreed," she said, and slipped out of her chair to fetch the cards. She hesitated for a moment at the cupboard with her back to Gina.
"Turn around," Gina ordered. "Don't break the seals. I have to see everything you do."
Shaia did as instructed, and brought a fresh pack of blue Bicycles to the table. Gina took them, inspected the pack, then broke the seal, being careful to notice the exact pattern of the tear. Then she checked the cards themselves, finding nothing out of the ordinary, but wishing her brother were here, or Alandra, to examine them chemically.
As satisfied as she was going to be, she handed the deck to Shaia, noticing the gold bracelet that matched her earrings and wondering if the jewelry was part of the scam. She grabbed Shaia's wrist. "Let me see your bracelet. I've been admiring your jewelry—last night, too. You have a sensational collection."
Shaia yielded her wrist easily, with no emotion Gina could detect except doubled pride. "Thank you. I made it myself."
Gina examined the bracelet, a curiously interwoven chain of gold links. "I've never seen anything quite like this."
"Yes, it's my hobby. More than a hobby, really. I've tried to do it for a living, but I'm not very good at marketing. That's why was working as a dealer."
Gina released her wrist, seeing nothing sinister in the bracelet nor Shaia's feelings about it. Her emotions said she genuinely loved making jewelry, and Gina knew emotions didn't lie. "Do you work in other materials? This—and the earrings—seem to be all gold. No silver? No gems?"
"No, just gold. Gold has always been special for me. Maybe it's my Roma background—"
"Roma? You said something last night. You're Italian?"
"Not Rome. Roma. You call us Gypsies. My family brought me up on gold jewelry."
"In the United States?"
"Of course. There are a million of us … Gypsies … in the United States."
"I didn't know that. Where were you brought up?"
"Oh, here and there. We do move around a lot. What about you?"
"In Nebraska. I'm half American Indian."
"Oh, we were in Nebraska sometimes. I like the Indians. We Roma have a lot in common with them—"
"Outsiders, for one thing."
Shaia laughed, showing her large, perfect white teeth. "You understand."
"More than you know. Anyway, let's resume the cheating demonstration. How about you deal me four aces and you a straight flush. Five cards each."
"Right." Shaia shuffled the cards thoroughly, then offered them to Gina to cut. Gina watched every move, and cut carefully. She couldn't see anything amiss, but while Shaia held the deck for a moment before dealing, she felt a curious shift in her emotions. The shift lasted just for an instant, then Shaia dealt cards alternately to Gina and herself, face up. Four aces and a king to Gina. Nine-ten-Jack-Queen-King of Diamonds to herself.
Gina could feel the triumph in Shaia's mind, doubled like all the other emotions. She picked up the Ace of Hearts and pretended to study it. "Find another deck of a different color, if we have one."
Shaia went to fetch the deck from the Prince's ample supply, and while her back was turned, Gina scratched an indentation in the Ace with her fingernail. It was the crudest sort of marking, but she suspected it might be adequate to test her theory. She picked up the two dealt hands and shuffled them back into the deck.