The smoke of a cheap cigar drifted across Ros’s nostrils. She stirred slightly, but was not fully awake. In the distance she could hear the shuffling, dealing of cards accompanied by the twang and clink of credits on a makeshift card table.
“Ah, a mighty hand ya’ dealt me”
“Bah! I’m up to y’er ways, ya got nothin,” a voice muffled by a cigar retorted.
A steady series of three identical shhhk ... thmp could be heard with the peeling of cards from a deck and rhythmic placement onto the table.
“Y’er fancy draw couldn’t mean much with that plop,” chuckled the cigar obscured voice.
“T’is a draw good enough on its own.”
“We’ll see.”
Tink ... a few more credits tossed onto the table.
“That meager sum will scare off none,” tink matched the previous.
Shhk ... thmp, another card dealt.
No further banter was heard as a series of matched tinks hit the table.
Shkk ... thump
“Now I pay, to see y’er deception, nothing dealt could justify,” the muffled voice continued unintelligibly with the sliding of a pile of credits.
“Bah, you read me, don’t bother askin me to match that.”
Obscured chuckling followed.
With the completion of the hand Roz thought it safe to open her eyes and adjust to her surroundings. Her eyes opened and focused, finding she was staring directly into the eyes of the cigar chewing player. A deep inhale, exhale from the man completed the pollution of the room with a cheesy smoke filled smile.
“Ah, seems our mysterious three have begun to stir,” said a much clearer version of the muffled voice.
Giving up on a stealthy rise Roz groggily propped herself up and met the man’s smile with one of her own.
Shifting in his seat, the man stood up from the table, gaining no height. A bit of waddling brought him into full view where he stated, “Cornelius, I might as well tell you that ... ”
The cigar was in the man’s hand and Roz could fully recognize his voice. The voice belonged to the individual she had previously thought looked like a toad from the holographic projection on a stranger’s wrist.
Wait! Cornelius, really? His name is Cornelius! Roz’s mind couldn’t hold back and her smile widened, she snorted, finishing her thought, He’s a Corn Toad!
Pausing slightly, Cornelius lifted his lip showing irritation and confusion, not quite understanding what caused his audience to laugh, “ ... before ’n he arrive.”
Unable to stop smiling at the corn toad, Roz nudged Stu and consequently got Philippe to start stirring as well. Philippe, still processing his loss, muttered, “Mais, no... ma Stella. ..”
“Now that you’re all awake, I’ll inform you all. You’ve presented me with quite a problem to deal with. The Solarium was completely evacuated and your witnessing the cattle rustle was not expected.”
A long diatribe continued, totally losing Roz’s attention and giving her the opportunity to take in more of the surroundings. They were back in her observation bay, the dock where she would observe ships traveling to and from the La’zen. The very place Roz and Stu had previously seen the hologram of the smoking corn toad talking to them now.
“ ... Ah, I hear his engines.”
Roz glanced at the observation window and witnessed the red ship come into view. Elegant maneuvering brought the ship in line with docking clamps, the station’s portal opened allowing for the observation of the onlookers to watch the delicate swirl of the ship’s portal reveal the lanky, well clad stranger with the spidery eyebrows within.
Quick strides brought the stranger standing in front of Cornelius to state, “I see the cargo is ready to board my transport,” finishing the statement with a dramatic wave of his hand to the far end of the bay.
Roz shifted her attention to what she had not noticed, through the strong aroma of cigar smoke and sounds of gambling was the accompaniment of a faint smell of manure and the rustle of livestock. A crude corral had been assembled, using station debris, in front of a cargo portal intended for a ship much larger than the red one currently docked closer by.
It did not take long for Phillippe to gasp, “Stella!” His prize bovine was amongst the herd.
The stranger’s attention jerked towards the three, revealing he had not noticed them yet, “What have we here?”
A stern expression formed on the stranger’s face and a familiar finger came into view, “I thought my warning last time was clear.”
Cornelius retorted, “Aye, donna recall a warning, besides I brought them here for y’ to deal with.”
“Not you toad”, the stranger silenced Cornelius with his finger and returned to pointing at Roz, Stu and Philippe, “I threatened two of these for being in this dock during my last visit.”
Oh! He sees it too! Roz bit her lip but could not suppress another snort, causing a curious stare to come from Stu, Philippe and the stranger, Cornelius is a toad.
Cornelius, ignored the snort, but did raise a curious eyebrow and lip in confusion, replied, “Ah, they broke into the Solarium and witnessed the caper. I can’t have them disclosing to others our transaction. So, they’re your problem now.”
“I see.” A long uncomfortable pause followed, then the stranger continued, “Well, throw them out of an airlock on my departure; they need not be my concern.”
Roz sobered up quickly, the trio’s eyes got surprisingly big and so did Cornelius’. Letting out a bit of a stutter Cornelius continued, “ mm...m My thinking was they could be absorbed into the crew of y’er fleet. Why should such young ones be snuffed out so quickly.”
The finger brought back to the stranger’s lips and curled, as he pondered to reply, “No. A deal is a deal and I did not negotiate picking up passengers. The airlock will solve your problem.”
Cornelius fidgeted, continuing to stammer, “T-t-that one is a chef of renown on the station. Surely he and the other two would make fine compliments to your crew.”
A hand stroked the stranger’s chin, he replied, “A chef, eh?”
“Hold on,” piped up Roz, bringing the attention of all the others, “don’t we get a say in this?”
Stu and Philippe looked at each other in shock, one of Cornelius’ hands hit his forehead in frustration and the stranger looked at her inquisitively, “you would prefer the airlock?”
“Would seem that with abduction and death on the table, I have little to lose,” Roz responded, advancing towards the makeshift card table. “Since this conversation is gambling with my very existence, I think it would only be fair to let chance decide on fate.”
Roz swept her hand in front of the ensemble of gambling paraphernalia in front of her while completing her statement, “Let’s have a game.”
There was a mixture of responses from everyone. Phillippe tapped Stu on the shoulder giving him a look requesting for assurance that Roz knew what she was doing. Cornelius looked relieved he was no longer in negotiations. The stranger responded with a smile, “Aye, y’ may make a fine member to the crew and a game of chance would be a good way of determining that.”
Roz gracefully sat in a chair and the stranger eagerly picked up the deck and began shuffling as he sat down. With a graceful command of the cards, the stranger placed the shuffled deck in front of Roz, “I’m guessing you’re familiar with Nebula Nine?”
With a sly smile, Roz returned, “Of course.”
Roz cut the deck and returned it to be dealt. The stranger was quick and his movements were concise ... shnk, shnk, shnk, shnk ... two cards were in front of each of them. The stranger held two emperors: one of spades and another of clubs. Roz had two rockets, a heart and a diamond.
“Ah, let’s start small,” the stranger broke the silence with a sleazy smile, “I’m thinking with this hand dealt I’ll win me that chef.”
Concealing her hand Roz glanced at Philippe, “This would be a good place to start. Philippe’s prized cow Stella is in that herd, I win, we win Stella back.”
Philippe clasped his hands in excitement, now fully engaged in the game.
With a nod the stranger continued, shnk, shnk, shnk, three more cards were placed onto the table for all to see: an emperor suited with a diamond, a ten with clubs and a ten of diamonds. Roz's hand containing pocket rockets was great, but would be beaten if the game ended here; the stranger’s two emperors were just paired with a third.
“Let’s keep the suspense of your own fate until last and put that young fella up for bid now.”
“You mean Stu,” Roz smiled, “you’ll be getting a fine mechanic with that one, what will be the reward for him if I win the hand?”
“Will I now?” a smile and squinty eyes shot from the stranger to Stu inspecting the young mechanic, “well then I’ll leave him this to tinker with.”
The stranger stripped his holographic wrist device from his own arm and placed it onto the table. Stu smiled with excitement, exposing his desire to dismantle and tinker with it immediately.
Roz nodded, another card was dealt.
shnk, an ace of clubs is revealed. With this card added to the game provided Roz a third rocket to over power the three opposing emperors already in play.
“Now we come to you at last,” the stranger’s smile deepened.
“Seems, I still have the most to lose,” replied Roz, with an impressive stare, “I think you need to provide me something worth winning. At this point, you’re out a cow and a fancy device. Seems like you’re not quite being fair with your bets and need to up your stakes a bit to compensate for my fate being on the table.”
The stranger’s demeanor seemed to waver a bit, his shoulder’s shifted and stiffened. Roz was right, his risk was much less than hers. He rocked back in his chair, reached into his pocket and produced a shiny gold token with a ruby in the center that he flung into the middle of the table, “Ya be right, I haven’t been fair, this will even the pot for certain.”
“A token, with a fancy rock in the middle?” Roz looked dubious at the prize.
“That ain’t just any rock miss. That be the keys to the ship docked right out there. The holder of that captains the red rocket,” he replied.
Roz’s eyes widened, she produced a half smile and nodded her head, “That will be a fine prize for sure. I accept.”
shnk, a final card was peeled from the deck and was placed onto the table. A ten of spades was revealed.
Roz looked at the stranger, he looked at her, both realizing there was nothing more to bet they both revealed their hands. The final card did not change fate. Both players with all the cards on the table had a full house with Roz being the strongest -- she had won.
The tension in the room dropped and an explosion of laughter was heard from all but one. Roz snatched up the wrist device and the ruby providing her ownership to the ship and a gift for Stu. With a giggle she stated, “Well played sir.”
A nod from the stranger, he stood continuing to smile, “Cornelius, you’ve been paid. I’ll take my cargo now.”
Long strides took the man to the far end of the cargo bay to the awaiting herd. As the stranger reached his destination, a second vessel of similar, yet larger design to that of the red rocket appeared in the observation window. Maneuvering was less graceful than that of its former counterpart, due-to size. The ship lined up and attached to the portal in front of the debris constructed corral.
The herd was loaded with little prompting from Cornelius’ men. Just as Stella was about to follow to board the stranger stooped down, picked up the remnants of a tether and yanked sharply. Stella paused and stayed, the stranger stepped onto the cargo ship while stating as the doors closed, “a deal is a deal.”
The cargo ship departed.
Moments of silence followed, broken by a protest from Stella, Mrooo, she pawed the manure laden deck, perhaps, looking for a turnip.
Cornelius lit a cigar, took a long puff, exhaled, “You’ll be leaving then, so as not to bring suspicion with that fancy ship?”
Roz responded, “I have a better idea. You and your stooges will build a concealed bay for my ship and provide a space for Stella here. With that you’ll have all of our silence.”
All nodded in agreement.
Behind Stu and Phillippe a bag containing a circuit board attached to a light changed from amber to blue. At the same time the light transitioned to a neutral state a hologram on an Ace of clubs sitting on the table dissipated and changed a rocket to a deuce.
Well done and I am ready for more. The final choice of the cards I like best.