Robert Sheckley - The Laertian Gamble

VIP免费
2024-12-02 0 0 616.2KB 84 页 5.9玖币
侵权投诉
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/
The Laertian Gamble
Robert Sheckley
CHAPTER 1
Dr. Julian Bashir was sitting alone in the little lounge just outside of Quark's Place. The
lounge wasn't part of his gambling den, but Quark served drinks there anyway, and
treated it like his annex. With its com fortable chairs and small tables, it provided a quiet
place in the crowded space station to sit and think.
Bashir sat with a half-finished cup of coffee in front him, playing a solitaire machine.
The machine took standard Bajor coins, and Bashir had a pile of them in front of him.
Julian didn't expect to win; just to pass some time. He was playing in a bored, inattentive
fashion when Chief O'Brien came by.
“A good morning to you. Doctor,” O'Brien said heartily.
“Is it morning?” Julian said. “How can you tell?”
“By the clocks, of course,” O'Brien said. “And the station's lighting is set to a twenty-
four-hour cycle to spare our old circadian rhythms a lot of readjust ment”
“Maybe my circadian rhythms have adjusted,” Jul ian said. “But I haven't.”
“No? I don't understand why not. You've been out here long enough.”
“For what?”
“To get used to life on-station, of course.”
“Maybe I've been out here long enough to get fed up.”
“That would be the other possibility,” O'Brien said. “What's the trouble? You look like
your best girlfriend just walked out on you.”
“If only that were the case,” said Julian.
“What? I don't get it.”
“If I had a girlfriend to walk out on me,” Julian said, “at least I'd have a girlfriend.
Maybe I could get her back. As it is, I don't even have a girlfriend to lose.”
“What about that cute little Bajoran student you met last week?”
“You mean Leesha, the redheaded one who came through with the tour? She was very
nice indeed. But she had to go back to the university. And dating is not convenient with
one of us on Bajor and the other on Deep Space Nine.”
“You'll find another.”
“But when? And how? Lately there's been a short age of females who might be of
interest to a human male.”
“Of course, being a married man, I never so much as notice another woman,” O'Brien
said, sarcasti cally. “But you're not so bad off, Julian. The light of your life is still here.”
Bashir nodded in understanding. “It's true. I'm crazy about Dax, but I'm finally getting it
through my head that it's not reciprocated. Maybe it has something to do with her having
been a man. Chief. That cramps my style.”
“At least you've got your work to keep you busy.”
“Recently, not even that. Everybody's been disgust ingly healthy, and we haven't been
visited lately by new species with interesting problems.”
“Yes, it is a little quiet,” O'Brien admitted. “But be thankful for it and get some rest
while you can. Things always blow up again around here.”
“Hah,” Bashir said. “I'll believe it when I see it.” O'Brien slapped him on the shoulder
and strolled on, whistling. He and Keiko, who was on an all-too-brief hiatus from her
botanical research on Bajor, had just had an extremely pleasant breakfast together. At
the end of it, he'd gotten a call from one of his assistants wanting him to look into an
unexplained energy outage. It didn't sound like much, but O'Brien was grateful for it
anyhow; it gave him something to keep him occupied.
He went into one of the elevators, and after punch ing the button, he thought briefly
about Bashir. The doctor wasn't the sort to give up on the opposite sex for very long. No
doubt someone would come along and give him a renewed interest in life. Stranger
things had happened.
Bashir's mood, as he sat in the anteroom to Quark's Place, clicking two chips idly
together in front of the solitaire machine, was one of self-pity aggravated by boredom.
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/ 1
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/
He was wondering, not for the first time, what had possessed him to move heaven
and earth to get this assignment. At the time Deep Space Nine had seemed the summit
of his hopes and ambitions: not just the assignment to the station itself with its frontier
loca-tion and its ever-changing population of races and species, but after the discovery of
the nearby worm-hole, access to the worlds of the Gamma Quadrant. The Bajoran
wormhole was the only stable one of its kind known to the peoples of the Federation. It
offered a unique opportunity to explore many worlds without being stopped by tile
interminable distances involved in most galactic voyages. It gave Bashir a chance to
explore territory unavailable to any other human doctor, with entirely new species to look
after and learn about. It even gave Bashir a chance to make a name for himself in the
world of medical research. There were drawbacks, however ...
CHAPTER 2
The inner doors of Quark's Place opened. Out came Quark, and beside him, but head
and shoulders taller and worlds more attractive, was a young woman. And what a
woman! She had to be a newcomer, and Dr. Bashir hadn't even seen her come aboard.
Now he straightened up with interest.
She was tall and slender, with a great mane of tawny hair that she kept in place with
long silver pins. Her features were delicate, but there was a look of deter mination about
her that saved her from mere prettiness. She would have been a standout anywhere; but
here on DS9 she was like a radiant young goddess. She wore a long, pleated gown which
mingled the colors of violet and ivory. She had a tunic with built-up shoul der pads. It
had frogged fastenings of gold cord, but she had left it open in front. It was a costume
Bashir found intriguing. He wondered if it was the national dress of some planet he didn't
know about. Quark, one hand firmly on the woman's elbow, was escorting her to the
door that led out to the main concourse. And the woman, while not resisting him directly,
was protesting in no uncertain terms.
Something interesting seemed to be going on. Bashir decided to deal himself in. “What
seems to be the trouble?” he asked. “No trouble,” Quark said, “the lady was just
leaving.”
“The lady,” the woman said, “is being thrown out of this establishment by this weird-
looking troglo dyte.”
“Thrown out?” said Bashir. “Why is the lady not acceptable in your gambling den.
Quark? Are you afraid her good looks will distract your patrons?” Bashir was rewarded by
a brief flashing smile from the young lady. Quark, however, chose to take him literally.
“The people who come to my place wouldn't care who or what sat across the table
from them as long as it was capable of losing money. No, it's nothing like that. Dr.
Bashir. The fact is, there's nothing personal in this at all. When she came in, this lady
tripped off the anti-telepath meter. It reacts to even small con centrations of psi ability in
humanoids. It's a new invention from the Rhine Institute on your planet Earth. I sent for
it only recently. This lady is the first one it has caught.”
“Caught? That's a weighted word. Quark.”
“What I mean is, the lady here tripped the alarm.” Bashir shrugged. “All right, so she's
got some psiability. So what?” Quark sniffed and said loftily, “As I'm sure you know,
nobody with telepathic or psionic abilities is allowed to gamble at my games. That's a
rule observed in most gambling places. The sign is there on the wall for everyone to
see.” Bashir knew the sign. It hung just inside the door, and it read, no telepaths allowed
within fifty feet OF THE TABLES.
“I have already explained to this troll,” the woman said, “that I have merely a small,
latent telepathic ability of no significance. It is a telepathy shared by and limited to my
species only, one that could never do me the slightest good in gambling with people of
another race.”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Bashir said. “What do you think. Quark?”
“I believe what the lady is saying,” Quark said, with every indication of sincerity, “but
it's not a matter for me to decide. 'Never gamble with a telepath' is the two hundred and
sixteenth Rule of Acquisi tion. I have no choice in the matter. I am as bound by the rule
as she is. Otherwise I'd be happy to take her word that she can't read the minds of the
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/ 2
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/
other players.” Quark's face took on such an expression of regret that even Julian Bashir,
who knew the little Ferengi for the greedy, cynical creature that he was, was almost
inclined to believe him.
I'm afraid there's nothing anyone can do about it,” Bashir said to the young woman.
“And I think we can believe Quark when he tells us it isn't personal. He doesn't care
whose money he takes.”
“I still don't like it,” the woman said. “I think it's prejudice.”
“Listen, tell you what,” Bashir said. “Why don't you sit down here and have a drink
with me and give yourself a chance to calm down.”
“Yes, why don't you?” said Quark, seeing an inexpensive way out of what could have
turned into a nasty incident. “The doctor is buying and his credit is good. I'll bring them
out myself. Wait till you try my Zombie Grasshoppers!” And Quark hurried off to get
them.
CHAPTER 3
As he had arranged, O'Brien met his assistant at the central turbolift on the forward
end of the Prome nade. Line Bamoe was there waiting for him, a tall, gawky young man
dressed in his best dress uniform even though he had been advised to expect dirty duty
and to dress accordingly.
Line was a graduate engineering student from Bajor University of Science and Art. He
wanted to be a spacegoing engineer like O'Brien, had gotten assigned to an assistantship
to O'Brien, and already he had learned more than he would have done in five years of
regular practice on Bajor. He idolized O'Brien, tried to copy him in every way.
“Top of the morning to ya!” Line said as O'Brien came up.
O'Brien nodded. He didn't like having his Irish heritage mocked, but since Line clearly
meant it as a friendly gesture, O'Brien didn't have the heart to snap at him about it. “Are
those anomalies still showing up?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, sir!” Line said. “They haven't disap peared!”
“Are you recording them?”
“Oh, yes, sir, of course!” O'Brien had been half-expecting the traces to van ish. That
was the usual fate of transient phenomena on a space station. Just when you thought
you were on to something, the phenomenon faded away and the instruments dipped
back to normal.
This time, however, the neutrino levels displayed on Line's tricorder were
disconcertingly high. There was also considerable activity in the photon band. So much
for the tricorder analysis. Energy levels across the board were displaying a remarkable
outpouring, as if a trunk line had been cut and its power diverted.
“You sure this instrument is accurate?” O'Brien asked. “I checked it out myself only
two days ago. No trouble there at all.” O'Brien studied the tricorder screen. “You got a
direction for this outpouring?”
“Yes, sir. It's coming from somewhere between the second and third levels. There's
fluctuation, so I can't pinpoint it exactly.”
“I guess we'll have to go in and find it,” O'Brien said.
“Yes, sir! Ready, sir!”
“Follow me,” O'Brien said, wishing the new engi neers would tone it down a little.
Sometimes a simple “Okay” was better than all the “Yes, sir!'s in the world.
CHAPTER 4
Quark went inside, brought the drinks, and left again, smiling. AUura sipped her drink,
and said, “I never thought about the telepath thing. It's always been such a minor part of
my life.”
“You mean you didn't know you were telepathic?”
“Of course I knew. But on Laertes where I come from, everyone is mildly telepathic,
so no one's got an unfair advantage. And when we're away from home, our psi ability
doesn't work on non-Laertians. So here I've come all this way to your space station, and
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/ 3
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/
it's cost me interstellar spaceship fares that are not re fundable, to say nothing of hotel
bookings that I'll have to pay for whether I use them or not. All I've gone through to get
here, and now that creep of a Ferengi won't let me gamble. I mean, it's really too much.”
She pouted. Bashir thought she was especially fetching when she pouted.
“Yes, it is, I can see what you mean,” Bashir said, thinking to himself that AUura was
not only beautiful, she was also spirited. He could feel himself falling in love with her
already.
Bashir pulled himself up short because Allura had just asked him about himself.
Her eyes widened when he told her he was one of DS9's officers, and a medical
doctor. Bashir figured she could see for herself that he was attractive and sympathetic.
Then it was her turn. She spoke of Laertes, her world on the other side of the
wonnhole. From what she said, Julian gathered it was an Earth-sized planet with a
standard oxygen atmosphere. Beyond that, there wasn't much of interest, although the
fact that it was occupied by two different but viable humanoid races was mildly
interesting.
“Listen,” Julian said, two drinks later, “this is such fun, why don't we go somewhere
for dinner and then take in some entertainment and just keep on going?”
“That would be great fun,” Allura said. “But there's something I need to do first.”
“Tell me what it is. Perhaps I can help.”
“Do you know the message read-out at the bottom of the main concourse?
“Of course,” Julian said. The read-out on the main concourse was a familiar feature of
the ship. It was where people displayed notices for all kinds of offers to be made or
received.
“Well, who do I have to see to put up a notice of my own?” Allura asked.
“I'm not quite sure,” Bashir said. “I think you can access the display from almost any
terminal. But why do you want to put up a notice?”
“I want to advertise for a service,” she said.
“What service would that be?” Bashir asked.
“I want somebody to gamble for me,” Allura said. “And I'm willing to pay.”
“To gamble for you?” Bashir repeated, not sure he had quite understood.
“Since that terrible little person, Quark, won't let me gamble for myself, I'll hire
someone to gamble for me. As long as this person is not a telepath. Quark can't object,
can he?”
“No, I don't suppose he can,” said Bashir. “Any body with money is allowed to
gamble—encouraged to, in fact.
“Good. That'll solve it.”
“Will it, really?” Bashir said. “It won't be the same as you doing it yourself.”
“No, but it'll be as close to that as I can get.”
“True. But how could that have any interest for you?”
“I will be very interested,” she said. “I believe I am a lucky person, and whoever
gambles for me will have my luck. Is there anyone you can think of?” She leaned over
the table toward him. Her eyes were bottomless pools of appeal. Perfumed waves
emanated from her hair. Bashir felt dizzy and intoxi cated, just the way some small male
spiders are said to feel just before the female devours them. Bashir had learned that in
anatomy class, but he had forgotten it. It probably wouldn't have made any difference if
he had remembered.
“No need to put up an ad,” Bashir said grandly. “I'll be quite happy to gamble for you
myself.” She stared at him, awed. “You would do that for me? You, a doctor?”
“Sure. No problem. I won't charge you anything, either.”
“You are too generous!”
“Not at all,” Bashir chucked. “There's something in it for me. We will be able to have
dinner together, and then do whatever we want afterwards.”
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” Allura said. “But the gambling—it isn't
quite as simple as that.”
“Why not? I'll admit I'm ignorant of most games of chance, though I played a little
poker in college.”
“It has nothing to do with knowing a game,” Allura said. “It's just that, if you're going
to gamble for me as my representative, you and I must first have an agreement.”
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/ 4
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/
“I'd love to come to an agreement with you,” Bashir said, smiling. “What sort of an
agreement do you want?”
“Now, be serious! First of all, it must be understood that I will give you the money to
gamble with. You will not use any of your own. Anything you lose will be from my
money, and anything you win will be added to my money.”
“That seems fair enough,” Bashir said.
She leaned forward, lips moist, cleavage prominent. “And this next point is very
important. If you're going to gamble for me, you must promise not to quit before either
you or your opponent is wiped out.”
“You play for blood, don't you?” Bashir said, amused. “It is the only way to gamble.
Do you want to drop out now?”
“Certainly not,” Bashir said. “Please continue.”
“I was saying that the game is to continue until I am broke—or until I've won
everything there is to win.”
“What a curious provision,” Bashir said. “I think it makes the whole thing more
exciting,” Allura told him. “I consider it very important.”
“Yes, no doubt. Well, fine, I have no objection to this. Though I warn you, from what I
know of Quark's Place, I may not last too long there, no matter how much you start me
with.”
“I'm not worried about that. I believe in my luck, and in the long-awaited luck of the
Lampusan people, and in the mathematical evidence that that luck can be transferred to
a proxy.” Later, Dr. Bashir was to remember that phrase she used: the long-awaited luck
of the Lampusan people. And he was also to think of her phrase, “the mathe matical
evidence that luck can be transferred to a proxy.” Right now, intent on getting on with
the evening, it didn't even occur to him to ask her what she meant.
He said, “I think we've come to an agreement. Shall we get a bite to eat?”
“Yes, I'd love to,” Allura said. “But first, let's get all we've said down in writing.”
“In writing?” said Bashir.
“Of course,” Allura said. “I believe in knowing exactly what's agreed to. But if you'd
really rather not...”
“I don't mind at all,” Bashir said grandly. “Actu ally, it's all rather a lark.” His cheeks
were to bum later when he remembered that phrase. “Rather a lark.” Hah! No lark, but
rather a stinking dead vulture. But he was to think that only later. For now it was a lark,
and he was embarked on a most delightful adventure after too long a time of no fun at
all.
CHAPTER 5
There was a knock on the door of Quark's office. “Come in,” he said. The door opened
and Quark's brother, Rom, popped in Us head.
“I thought you'd want to know,” Rom said, “that Dr. Bashir has just entered and is
proposing to gamble.” Quark sat up straight. “Yes, that is interesting.
Thank you, Rom. See to his needs. I'll be out pres ently.” Quark straightened out his
clothing and came out into the gambling den that was named for him.
“Dr. Bashir! What a pleasure! But what could you possibly want here?” Quark asked.
“Surely we're not going to argue any more about the woman?”
“There's nothing to argue about,” Bashir said. “I've come here to gamble.” Quark
looked at him suspiciously. “And what are you proposing to gamble with?” Bashir hefted
a bag that clinked as he shook it, and handed it to Quark.
Quark said, “Laertian dinars! First time I've seen them in such quantity!”
“You can have them tested if you think they're not authentic.” Quark shook his head
and held a coin up to the light, then another. “They're the real goods, all right. Only the
Laertians get that fine fall-off color in the blue-gray band.” Bashir took the bag back.
“Laertians are new to civilized trading. How come you know about their currency
already?”
“My boy, when a new currency enters the game, whether the game is interstellar
commerce or gam bling, all interested parties take notice very quickly indeed. A new
Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/ 5
摘要：

Библиотека«Артефакт»—http://andrey.tsx.org/TheLaertianGambleRobertSheckleyCHAPTER1Dr.JulianBashirwassittingaloneinthelittleloungejustoutsideofQuark'sPlace.Theloungewasn'tpartofhisgamblingden,butQuarkserveddrinksthereanyway,andtreateditlikehisannex.Withitscomfortablechairsandsmalltables,itprovidedaqu...

展开>> 收起<<
Robert Sheckley - The Laertian Gamble.pdf

共84页,预览5页

还剩页未读， 继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

相关推荐

更多
立即下载
分类：外语学习 价格：5.9玖币 属性：84 页 大小：616.2KB 格式：PDF 时间：2024-12-02

开通VIP享超值会员特权

  • 多端同步记录
  • 高速下载文档
  • 免费文档工具
  • 分享文档赚钱
  • 每日登录抽奖
  • 优质衍生服务

作者详情

相关内容

更多

热门标签

人际关系 动力学连接体 力的合成 配电装置 高考理综 全宋诗作者索引 公务员考试
/ 84
评分 收藏
分享
立即下载 VIP免费下载
客服
关注