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I HAD TO FIND another clip to attach this trophy to my helmet, because I was out. But it would be foolish and even dangerous to neglect such a fine trophy. I might offend the Pride of the Agile Paw, which the high-level hustler belonged to. Tini asked his former clanmates for a clip, and they charitably agreed. While I was stringing up the trophy tail, Ayni came up to me, radiant, and handed me a whole handful of tokens:
“Gerd Gnat, the odds on you were six and a half to one, so practically no one else bet on you. Your bet of five thousand three hundred fifty crypto netted thirty-four thousand four hundred after casino fees!!!”
Damn!!! That was even more than I was hoping in my boldest estimates. I didn’t hold back and, continuing to play the role of a distant and impulsive outworlder, I tried to look wildly happy with my luck and shouted for the whole casino to hear. After all, I still had another two black one-thousand-crypto tokens as well! I gave them to Ayni and Tini as compensation for their loyalty and work. I wasn’t expecting such stormy jubilation from my “kitten.” Tini, now a level twenty-three Thief, seemed to be trying to compete with my reaction. He jumped and shrieked for joy, rolling on the floor and squeezing out such strange gurgling throaty sounds that I actually became afraid for his health. No less than my apprentice, Ayni was also glad at the generous reward, although the orange cat tried to maintain proper restrained composure.
“Great job! Get yourself whatever you want! It’s my treat!” I sent my helpers to the bar. I had also started that direction when I suddenly froze stock still.
There was a woman looking at me from the balcony on the third floor. A human woman! Here on this Miyelonian pirate station, God knows how many millions of miles from Earth!!! She was dark-haired with a perfect oval for a face and huge eyes like some anime character. The stranger was wearing an armored suit of a blue shade with a design and form factor that reminded me of the light spacesuit I used in my first voyage with the Geckho.
Valeri-Urla. Human. Tailax Faction. Level-96 Beast Master.[3]
She was a real person! Tailax Faction? That sounded very strange, not like any countries of Earth, nor the Dark Faction. But the name seemed vaguely familiar. Ah, that was it! I remembered that the Geckho Trader Uline Tar had mentioned a girl from Tailax, who spent some time with the Shiamiru crew. Maybe this was the same person? I forgot everything else, and ran up to the stands, flew up to the third floor and... met face to face with a blond brute standing in my path.
Denni Marko. Human. Gilvar Syndicate Faction. Level-88 Bodyguard.[4]
Another person?! I figured I was the only member of my race in this whole quadrant of space but, here, there was a whole hive of them! And meanwhile, Denni tapped my chest rudely, put on an annoyed tone and said something in a language I did not recognize. Seeing the total incomprehension on my face, he repeated in Geckho, with an accent so strong it was almost impossible to understand:
“Giorl eez no vannt tallking you. Geet out!”
Was I being chased off? Surprisingly, Denni was right about his pretty companion’s mood. Valeri-Urla, still sitting at the table and watching our quarrel from afar, turned the opposite direction, proving her complete lack of concern. How? These two people were from a different faction, seeing residents of Earth for the first time, but also didn’t want to know who I was or where I came from?!
I tried to speak Geckho with the Bodyguard, explain my peaceful intentions and desire to simply meet people from another world, but as soon as I spoke, Denni pulled a snub-nose rifle from a holster and stuck it into my chest:
“If savage no sey wordies, he live! Else eez boom and die!”
I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Danger Sense confirmed that Denni was not bluffing and really would shoot if I didn’t leave. I had to take a step back. First just one, then another. The Bodyguard wouldn’t settle down and was showing a determination to shoot. Ayni then came up to me with a glass of bubbling drink in her clawed paw and immediately tried to figure out what was going on here, and why that other person was poking me with a rifle.
I couldn’t do much to explain myself, and the aggressive Bodyguard didn’t want to talk with the orange Translator either. But then I felt something touch my knee from behind and sharply turned around. As it turned out, a huge Trillian had crawled up. With some astonishment I recognized him as the merchant Gerd Ussh Veesh, who had helped me avoid problems by the elevators and get to the registration area. The level-144 Trader hissed and bellowed, and my Translator, thinking for a few seconds, said the Trillian was suggesting we go play Na-Tikh-U. I nodded in agreement, because I hadn’t been able to start up a conversation with these people, and the merchant started crawling toward a table on all six feet.
I tried to toss Valeri and her aggressively inclined companion out of my head, then went downstairs. On my way to the gaming floor, I realized that the act I’d put on during the first game had paid off. Everyone thought I was a dull and impetuous savage. That couple of strange people probably didn’t want to talk with me for that very reason.
And sure, I was a savage. Why not? But now, I had to quickly decide how much to bet on this horse, and whether to play fair or try to manipulate the results. I suspected that the security workers would be paying somewhat more attention to me now, especially with the cat out of the bag on Tini’s new affiliations. That meant I could not get away with using the roll manipulator again. So, I gave an order to use it only if absolutely necessary, if I didn’t have any chance to win. And only if I gave him a secret sign.
“Gerd Gnat, I know this Trillian. He’s a frequent guest at the casino,” Tini told me quietly. “In my memory, he has only come down to the gaming floor a few times, but he always loses quickly. He is not a very strong player. Quite weak, actually. Usually Ussh Veesh sits on the upper floor in a VIP box, relaxing with friends, drinking stimulants that are illegal in his homeland and making bets.”
It looked very much like playing the part of a primitive outworlder had borne fruit, and this very mediocre player now wanted to score an easy win against a naive savage. Well, I guess I’d try and surprise the merchant. I was not a total newbie, and I had studied most Na-Tikh-U strategies. Meanwhile, I had an Intelligence of 23 and a luck of +3, which gave this “outworlder” decent chances.
My bet was twenty-five thousand crypto, a whole stack of differently colored polygonal tokens. If the merchant was surprised, it probably wasn’t by the size of the bet, but that this “outworlder” had put everything on this horse up to his very loincloth. The inspector walked up, turned on the forcefield over us, and the game began.
* * *
IT’S RARE THAT this happens, but we were perfectly matched! The game went on for an hour and a half, but I never got bored or antsy. In fact, that time was packed with enough wild emotional swings to last me a few weeks, if not a whole month. At points it looked dire, like my defense was splitting at the seams. But much to my surprise, the Trillian was struggling to fight back my assault, and he found it so stressful he had to swallow some gel-caps to calm his heart. Finally, with my last few ships, I managed to capture the key points of the game board a few turns before my main base fell. Victory!!! And I played fair, which made me doubly celebratory.
Fame increased to 42.
Authority increased to 8!
Gerd Ussh Veesh gave a fearsome roar, raising the front third of his body and pointing a powerful armored hand with sharpened claws at my undefended neck. Was he threatening me? Or demanding something? Or was that just how he expressed anger?
I didn’t know how to act. Grab my weapon, run, or call the guards? Fortunately, just in the nick of time, the Translator ran up to smooth over the confusion, explaining that the respected merchant was very happy with the game, so he was offering friendship and a discount on his wares. The outstretched clawed hand, meanwhile, was a gesture of peace and trust. To return the sentiment, I was to touch the claws with a vulnerable part of my body, somewhere unprotected by either artificial or natural armor. After that, I was to extend a claw, spear or blade, and the Trillian would touch it to his exposed neck.
Astrolinguistics skill increased to level sixty!
I bowed to the honorable Trillian, touching his claws to my bare neck and thus accepting his offer of friendship. After that, I thanked him for the entertaining game, then extended my knife blade and the ritual was complete.
The Trillian merchant knew his way around the pirate station and was well acquainted with the local mindset, so he called his Bodyguards and offered to have them escort me to my ship or some other safe location. I had to admit it was not unwarranted. I could still see some sullen brutes from the Pride of the Heavenly Warrior in the stands, along with a few other sketchy characters staring at me sidelong. What was more, I glanced at my watch and gave a shudder. There were just twenty-five minutes before my housewarming party in the real world!
But I wasn’t allowed to just leave... I didn’t even manage to collect my winnings from the table before a large number of security guards descended on the floor and pushed the Trillian merchant and his two Bodyguards away. What surprised me was that my newfound crocodile friend didn’t even try to resist, just obeyed without a word and went up to the stands. Tini also left obediently, not trying to help in any way, or even tell me what was going on.
A short Miyelonian came up to my table and, without asking permission, sat opposite me. Unlike the other cat aliens I’d seen, this one was wrapped head to toe in loose white garments, something of a white robe with a hood or more like a floor length dress with sleeves that ended in fingerless claw-friendly gloves. All that was left uncovered were my opponent’s eyes, which I could see through slits in the clothing. They were both emerald green and had vertical pupils that bored into my soul...
Function unavailable. Your character lacks the Psionic skill.
Would you like to take the skill Psionic?
I didn’t rush it or take the skill without thinking. I just quickly averted my gaze, because every second of eye contact ate up a tenth of my Magic Points. So, what did this Miyelonian want from me?
“Gerd Gnat, the leader of the Pride of the Agile Paw, who owns this establishment, would like to play you,” a clearly nervous Ayni told me, her tail twitching.
The player didn’t give a name, just a position, which of course surprised me and put me on guard. What was more, I didn’t understand how, but my orange Translator seemed to know this strange individual. After all, none of the security had said a word, and the figure in white was equally secretive.
“And what if I’m not especially keen to play him?” I asked the Translator in Geckho, to which I was immediately answered but not by Ayni, by the “white figure” himself:
“In that case, Gerd Gnat, I’ll get upset, and you will not leave my establishment alive. What’s more, you’ll have no way to exchange your tokens for crypto. Neither you nor your coconspirators. The tokens themselves will be marked as unfair winnings. Yes, human. Are you really naïve enough to think we weren’t recording all electromagnetic signals, and that your little sidekick could use a roll manipulator unbeknownst to us?!”
Very threatening! But I was in no hurry to admit to cheating, and even less to get scared.
“Honorable leader of the glorious Pride of the Agile Paw, did I miss something? Did Tini improve my rolls even once? If he did, I apologize for my ward and will surrender my winnings at once. What, did that not happen? Thought so. Then what did I do wrong?!”
“Words, empty words...” the leader of the Pride said in reproach. “Why all this justification? After all, we both know perfectly well that cheating did take place. Why put established fact into doubt?”
Anyhow, I had already realized this matter wasn’t going to be solved with words alone. It looked very much like I would have to play the Pride leader. But under what conditions? I voiced a thought:
“I still don’t see how I’m being forced to play. After all, I was threatened with all kinds of bad things if I refused. But what is stopping the great Pride leader from punishing me if I do agree to play? Or even in the unbelievable, but hypothetically possible case that I win?”
“Ah, about that... What can I say? I agree, the stick is totally ineffective without the carrot...” said the Miyelonian, demonstrating a Geckho phrase that was very much like one from back home. Or was that the game’s translator choosing words that sounded pleasant to my ear? “Well, here are the new conditions, Gerd Gnat. First, no half measures! We will play one game for all the tokens you have, no ifs ands or buts. Second, no matter how the game ends, you and your companions will not be killed and may leave my casino unimpeded. You have my word as a Pride leader! Third, if you win, I will not only give my assent to exchanging your tokens for crypto, I will personally guarantee your safety on the Medu-Ro IV station for the entire duration of your stay! And as an added bonus, if for any reason you cannot reach an agreement on the platinum with the Pride of the Bushy Shadow, I’ll find a captain willing to buy!”
Better now, but still not the most ideal conditions. After all, what was the point of promising not to kill someone, if dying didn’t have terrible and irreversible consequences? Trading my tokens for crypto and selling the H3 Faction’s platinum? Sure, that was intriguing, but first I’d have to beat the owner of the casino, who was the leader of a pride that specialized in gambling and most likely wasn’t called “the Agile Paw” for nothing.
I asked for two or three minutes to think, called Tini over and sent him to get me a drink from the bar, his choice. My throat was parched from all this stress and hot air. I was about to give my kitten some crypto to buy the drink, but the pride leader intervened:
“Tell them it’s on me! And also, boy, bring me a glass of whatever you get your master.”
I didn’t bust my brains over the Miyelonian’s unexpected move. I had plenty to do with the free minutes I just gained. After all, I really needed time to think. I had to prepare. My chances of winning an honest match were very low, zero most likely, so I needed to do something unexpected. For example, learn how to understand his thoughts or even influence them.
So then, the long beckoning Psionic skill. What did it give?
Psionic. This skill confers the ability to read the thoughts of nearby intelligent beings (whether NPC’s or living players) and practice mind control. Minimum statistics: Intelligence 22, Agility 15, Perception 15.
ATTENTION!!! Using Psionic abilities requires Magic Points. If a character has insufficient Magic Points, they cannot use Psionic abilities, and active Psionic effects will be terminated. The total number of Magic Points and their regeneration rate depend on the Mysticism skill. The Mental Fortitude skill determines the power and range of effects, defense against Psionic attacks, and success chance for multiple simultaneous Psionic actions.
ATTENTION!!! Success chance of Psionic actions depends mostly on Psionic skill, but also on the difference in Intelligence between attacker and target. If the attacker is more than 10 Intelligence points above the target, the success chance is 100%. If the target is more than 10 Intelligence points above the attacker, Psionic actions cannot be performed.
Ugh, so complicated... As it turned out, it wasn’t enough to simply take Psionic. I needed other skills for mana points and regain speed. Also for spell power and range... I suspected that a professional Mage specialized in Psionic would have, beyond those three skills, a whole set of others that were also a practical necessity. How nice that I was not a Mage, and these complications were not going to define my gameplay!
Alright, I’d start with the one I couldn’t do without:
You have taken the skill Psionic level 1.
I immediately dumped all six skill points into it, raising the skill to level 7. But I decided not to rush with the two other free slots. Life didn’t revolve around whether I won or lost this specific game, and Gnat might need other skills. What was more, my Scanning ability had just reloaded and, after activating the icon on my mini-map, I saw something interesting. I even zoomed in as far as possible, wanting to see every detail to confirm my initial guesses.
The leader of the Pride of the Agile Paw, beyond all doubt, was a female! What was more, under her free-flowing alabaster garments, she was hiding a big belly, inside of which I could even make out two embryos schematically rendered on my map. Interesting details. I could try to start a conversation with that, no Psionics necessary.
Scanning skill increased to level forty-four!
Cartography skill increased to level forty-seven!
You have reached level fifty-one!
You have received three skill points!
What great timing! I put three more points into Psionic, raising it up to ten! And no less importantly, when I leveled, my Magic Points went up from 172 to 175. It might seem like nothing, but I still chalked it up as a win.
Tini walked up with two identical flasks of a bright orange liquid, which was bubbling and steaming. The leader of the Pride took one first, leaving the second for me. I listened carefully to my feelings but didn’t sense any trepidation. Seemingly, it was all on the up and up. No one was trying to poison me. But still, I looked cautiously and took a sniff of the flask. A thick hot syrup with the aroma of valerian and wormwood. The flavor of the drink was sickly sweet, but also pleasant and tonic. I could only drink it in tiny sips. The beverage restored my Endurance Points just as well as the spicy Geckho vegetable soup, and my Magic Points quickly came back to maximum. Great stuff! I wouldn’t mind taking a sample back home for our chemists!
I handed the empty vessel back to Tini and told my opponent I was ready to play. The leader of the Pride of the Agile Paw didn’t want to spend any time pussyfooting around and told everyone to go, including the Translator and security. At the last second, before the forcefield cut off my vision, I turned to the stands and saw the girl by the name Valeri-Urla. Despite all that time, she hadn’t gone anywhere and was now watching me. Seeing my attention, she hurriedly turned away, as if she had no interest.
“I ordered the forcefield to be made opaque on both sides. I don’t want potential rivals watching and studying my style of play,” my rival told me, activating the table and generating a game field. “You go first.”
“Among my kind, it is common to cede that position to ladies who are with child. What’s more, you’re gonna have twins. They say that’s twice as hard for a future mother.”
My rival squirmed, as if she had been shocked with electricity, then spent a long time looking at me with her eyes wide either in fear or surprise. Now was the perfect time for a mental attack, but I was in no rush. Our pieces were not yet placed, so an attack would have no real purpose.
“Prospector abilities?” the pride leader guessed, and I readily confirmed.
“That’s exactly right. Plus Perception ramped up to the max and a bunch of skills for detecting anything and everything. If I still had analyzers for my Prospector Scanner, I could even tell the sex of your future children, but unfortunately I’m all out.”
“And thank the Great First Female you are! According to our beliefs, knowing the sex of a child in advance can only lead to misfortune!”
The game was on with a vengeance. I thought deeply over every move, desperately hoping to win this game of critical importance. But my rival was barely even looking at the game board, knowing all the opening moves and their nuances to the finest detail and moving her pieces on autopilot. Now was my chance!
“I would like to know why a humble Prospector like me caught the interest of such an important and influential individual. After all, any of your pride’s hustlers could have been sent to teach me a lesson and take my winnings. It really was not necessary for the head of the Pride of the Agile Paw to handle such a small issue personally. And, forgive me for being direct, but I have to say something. You have amazingly pretty eyes! They’re like living emeralds with refined glimmering facets!”
My opponent raised her green eyes to me in surprise, and we met gazes. Now!
“I really shouldn’t have been afraid. He doesn’t know the game at all. That’s immediately apparent. So, there’s no reason to draw things out. I need to end the round fast. I could move my battleship right down the middle, Gnat won’t notice the threat posed by that pirate base...”
Action terminated. Magic Points exhausted.
No, I wasn’t even trying to read the mind of my experienced high-level opponent. I had a different plan: first try to flatter her, as she was not used to praise, then transmit a whole packet of thoughts in one burst, hoping greatly that the lady cat would be thrown off balance by my compliments, and wouldn’t notice the ideas didn’t belong to her.
Psionic skill increased to level eleven!
Psionic skill increased to level twelve!
Psionic skill increased to level thirteen!
My mana was down to zero. I stumbled in a bout of sudden weakness, sitting down hard but still trying to keep a calm look on my face. Meanwhile, the clawed paw in white gloves, which was reaching for one of the high-level pieces, suddenly changed direction, taking the very largest and most powerful piece in her fleet and placing it in the center of the field.
“Thank you for the nice compliment, Gerd Gnat. Yes, I could have sent any of my subordinates, but I was curious. Helping an opponent win is a very paradoxical move, and I wanted to get to know you better. Crap! I got distracted...”
The bad move was clearly a surprise for the lady cat, and I could see the pupils in her green eyes tense up into tiny little points in fear. Meanwhile I, thinking for around a minute as if considering my obviously strong opponent’s strange move and trying to find a hidden sense in it, eventually activated the pirate base and destroyed the strongest piece of my rival’s fleet.
And with that, the substantive part of the game came to an end. Losing a battleship in Na-Tikh-U was comparable with losing a queen in chess, and even if you were some triple Kasparov, a handicap like that meant near certain victory for any adequate opponent. Three moves later, my opponent surrendered.
I asked her not to turn off the forcefield yet, and said:
“Honorable leader of the Pride of the Agile Paw, I don’t care how much this offends you, but I cannot accept any winnings for this round. You made an obvious mistake, and I don’t get any satisfaction from stupid victories. I suggest we wait for better times and play again when your twins aren’t distracting you so much.”
“A noble act and a courteous speech. Well, Gerd Gnat, I won’t insist. As a return gesture, I suggest we settle accounts right now. I’ll pay real crypto for all your tokens and, after removing the force field, all the spectators will see me taking the pot. The brutes after you will have to give up, assuming you lost it all. Also, my reputation as an unbeatable Na-Tikh-U player will not suffer, which is quite important as well. But I will uphold my promises. Your safety on the station will be guaranteed, and I can provide a captain willing to buy your platinum.”
And we did just that. But when I had already stashed the wallet with fifty-nine thousand five hundred crypto, the pride leader asked unexpectedly:
“Gerd Gnat, please answer, but be honest. I promise that my opinion of you will not fall no matter the answer. My fifth move... the weird one with the battleship... Was that some kind of cheating?”
I kept silent for a bit, but then decided to answer honestly:
“Yes, it was. I mentally suggested it to you while we were making eye contact.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down. She was seemingly very upset that she could have made such a stupid mistake. Then the cat added:
“The Meleyephatians are famed for such abilities, but not humans. What’s more, you expect such things from Mages, but never a Prospector. Gerd Gnat, are you sure I couldn’t entice you into joining my Pride? You’d have constant work in the casino. You would bathe in glory and money. And there’s lots of other interesting work for a talented Prospector. Sure, it isn’t always strictly legal, but that doesn’t seem to stop you.”
I laughed, thanked the Pride leader for her praise and trust, but still refused joining the Miyelonian pride. However, I said that I wouldn’t be opposed to working with her clan, just not full membership.
