The Royal Scam (The Martian Alliance) (3 page)

Casinos were equal species opportunity locations, but many seemed to get more of one type of crowd than another. The Web, therefore, catered to those with extra appendages.

The hardest part about shifting into an Arachnidan was remembering which arm to use for what activity. If I’d needed to officially say goodbye to Roy and Bullfrog this could have been a problem, but gathering bets was simple—whatever pincer was closest to the cash was the appropriate choice.

Conveniently, once “in shape” I didn’t have issues walking—the body was the thing and I didn’t have to learn or relearn how to use my new parts. Sadly, I still had to look in some kind of reflective surface to ensure my shift was accurate. Happily, my two funky, backward-knee-bending legs and six bony arms were all in place, pincers clicking away like I’d been born in a cocoon. I resisted the urge to wrap the cloak fully around myself—Arachnidans wore cloaks as adornment, not for protection from heat or cold. I reminded myself that I found Tresia quite attractive, as Arachnidans went. Besides, Roy was already elsewhere.

I did the herky-jerky walk that was deceptive in its ability to cover ground fast, and reached my first payout window. Long line, but not too bad.

“Your payment in casino chips or planetary currency?” the Arachnidan behind the counter asked. Most casinos hired Arachnidans for their casino cages, not just the Web, because those extra limbs were helpful and no one wanted one of the many pincers to close on any part of their body. Pound for pound, Arachnidans were the strongest beings around.

“Currency, thank you.” My voice sounded similar to Tresia’s—higher pitched, melodious.

The Arachnidan behind the bars was male and apparently a fan of Tresia’s vocal pattern. I got an appraising look. “Busy in a few?” he asked as he carefully counted out my winnings. Clearly Tresia was his type. Pity she wasn’t around to enjoy the flirtation.

However, there were flirtation rules. I raced through what Tresia had told me while I watched him neatly stack and straighten the bills. “I’m flattered you’re interested in my schedule.”

He slid the bills through the small opening between us. Per Dr. Wufren, casino cages, regardless of planet or historical age, were all pretty similar—lots of bars keeping the average gambler away from all that money. “I enjoy sharing company while I dine.”

Oh. Wow. He was asking me out to a meal. This was a big deal. Clearly my cashier was either a lothario or he was really smitten. Either way, this wasn’t good. Folks tended to remember someone who’d stood them up. Or turned them down cold.

I spotted a big Arachnidan at a nearby craps table. I dropped my voice. “If I can escape my mate’s notice, I would be pleased to join you.” I looked pointedly at the big guy, who was busy waving around chips in two pincers, drinks in three others, and rolling the dice with the last set. “He can be so…protective.”

The cashier looked as well. He was about half the other Arachnidan’s size. “Ah. I would not want to upset a joyfully mated pair.” He slid my money to me quickly.

“Oh.” I did my best to sound disappointed. “Well, thank you for the compliment. Good day.” I took the money and herky-jerked my way over to the big guy. I sidled up next to him. “Hey, can I get a kiss for luck?”

He grinned, tossed the dice, put down one drink, and wrapped that arm around me, bent me back, and planted one. Fortunately, we kissed without tongues involved, mostly because I kept my lips clamped shut. I’d had to kiss an Arachnidan romantically in the past. If you think eight limbs is odd, try three separate tongues, two of which are very sticky.

“Winner!” the dealer shouted.

My “mate” was happily distracted by this. “Heading to an Easy Eights table,” I said, pretty much to no one. He nodded, his focus back on the dice. I wandered off, confident he’d never remember me and that the cashier would be doing his best to forget me.

A big clutch of a wide variety of beings stood around the Easy Eights section. I mingled into a group that had several Arachnidans taller than me. A dark alcove was nearby—very small, but large enough for what I needed.

I stepped into the alcove, altered the cloak’s color just slightly, and went to Earther form. I pulled the cloak around me now, ensured the hood was up, moved back through the crowd, and left the casino. No one followed me; no one tried to stop me.

Headed to the next casino on the list and did the process all over again. Over the course of the next twelve hours, I shifted from one look to another. This kind of shifting was easy and didn’t need the same dedication a full impersonation required. Men, women, humanoids—I covered all the major planets and all the major races. No bet paid out higher than ten thousand credits. I hit the Joint early, lest I disappoint Dr. Wufren, and added his old winnings to our new haul.

The biggest risk we had was conversion. Planetary money is fine, and space credits are nice, but nothing travels like precious gemstones. The Andromeda Royal Family understood this well, but Roulette’s goal wasn’t to send you home rich beyond your wildest dreams. Theirs was to have you give all your winnings back and then some.

The risk with conversion was that the only one of our crew who could determine real from fake was Bullfrog, and it was hard to hide a Polliwog anywhere or anytime, unless you were actually on Polliworld itself.

So, I gathered payouts and slipped them to Roy. Roy handed them off to Bullfrog, who made conversions in almost as many places as Roy, and the crew had placed our bets. Difference was, while I got a variety of small payouts, Bullfrog collected a larger amount before he went to make the trades. His cover—as a runner for the Polliworld Underground—seemed to work well. No one liked to run afoul of organized crime from any planet.

Twelve hours is a long time, and we allowed ourselves a couple of breaks. But the faster we could collect and convert, the faster we could get off this particular rock and head somewhere safer. No extradition on Roulette didn’t mean no prisons.

Roulette’s prisons were nasty and even though I’d gotten out, I didn’t want to press my luck and go back. Ever. Sure it had been a long time ago. Sure Roy had rescued me. Sure the entire situation had ended up changing my life in a good way. I still didn’t want to make a return visit. Call me unadventurous.

We were almost done. Roy, Bullfrog, and I sat together at a small café, comparing experiences, tallying payouts and conversion rates, and ensuring our plan was still working. The news feed blathered on about Princess Olivia’s “death.” I hoped she was okay. I always tried not to get truly attached to any of our clients or marks, but working with Andromeda so often made it difficult, at least in the Royal Family’s case.

“One more stop and that’s it,” Roy said, checking receipts.

I wasn’t an Espen, but I got a funny feeling. “Which bookie?”

“Not a bookie, straight casino bet. From The Jewel of Roulette.”

“That’s a Diamante Families casino, isn’t it?” The funny feeling got worse.

“Yes.” Roy eyed me. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure.” I focused on the news. They were talking about Princess Olivia’s death, but the Diamante Families were being mentioned. “Listen.”

We all did. “Sounds like the Families are trying to insinuate foul play,” Bullfrog said finally.

“The shot that ‘destroyed’ the ship was from a Diamante vessel,” Roy countered.

“Which would be why they’re trying to shift blame.” I considered how King Oliver thought. “Roy, your fourth daughter in a row has ‘died under mysterious circumstances,’ each one before she could marry a Diamante prince. Let’s say Diamante gets suspicious. What would you do?”

“Try to shift the blame onto them,” Roy said without missing a beat. “Go for the whole ‘your vessel’s shot killed her’ sort of thing.” His eyes narrowed. “You think that’s what’s going on?”

“I think King Oliver is easily as smart and sneaky as you are, Roy, so yeah, I think so. And I’d also guess that someone in the Diamante Families is wondering if this is all an elaborate set up.”

“Go for whoever takes out a big payout?” Bullfrog asked.

“Probably.”

Roy shook his head. “Were you the only one taking Andromeda payouts?”

I snorted. “Hardly. At some casinos I had to wait in line.”

“So, we need to collect this one from the Jewel. If we don’t, it’ll be as suspicious as if we do.”

“If the Diamante Families create enough issue, the bookies might hold on the payouts,” Bullfrog pointed out, sounding worried. Not that I could blame him. The risk of monies being held was a big reason why we got our payouts immediately whenever possible.

I thought on this. “Okay. I have a plan. I want to take Bullfrog back to the ship.”

“Why?” He sounded offended. “I’m the best we have in a fight after Roy.”

“Because you’re carrying all the money, my beloved toad. I really want what we have safely tucked away before we deal with our last payout.”

Roy shrugged. “I’ve learned—never argue with DeeDee. She always wins.”

“Let’s hope my record stays intact, then.”

“I don’t like it,” Roy said, for the eleventh time by my count.

“You never want to let me do anything,” Kyle muttered.

“I prefer to have you on the ship. So someone I can trust is there, just in case.”

Both Kyle and I gave Roy derisive looks. “You trust everyone, more than me sometimes,” Kyle said. This was probably true. Kyle was the least experienced of anyone on our crew, and Roy didn’t want anything to happen to him. Ever.

“Not only are you my family, my responsibility, and part of my crew, but we’re the last of our line,” Roy snapped. “I promised to always protect you. If something happens to me, you’re the only hope we have.”

I could see the old argument forming. From the first day I’d met them, Roy and Kyle had argued about their true responsibilities—to each other, to Mars, to the galaxy. Roy, despite his protestations to the contrary, was truly a traditionalist. Kyle wasn’t.

“We don’t have time for the trusty ‘the blood of the true rulers of Mars runs through our veins’ speech, Roy. Besides, Kyle, like the rest of us, has it memorized.”

“If I’m our only hope, then maybe I should be better trained.”

Kyle was trying a new tactic. Must have been from spending time in the kitchens with Tresia. Arachnidans were good with coming up with alternate ideas. She said this was because if someone said “on the other hand” a lot more options opened up when you had eight as opposed to two.

I was impressed, however the new ploy wasn’t working on Roy. “You’re trained. You also don’t need to be in any extra danger, just for the thrill of it all.”

“I’d argue—or at least let Kyle keep on arguing—because I’ve missed this for the past three months, but we need to get moving. Don’t worry, Kyle. It took years for your big brother to let me do things without his worrying.”

Kyle snorted. “DeeDee, didn’t I tell you what he was like while you were…on assignment? He’s like that from the moment you’re out of his reach until the moment you’re back.”

Roy looked embarrassed and worried, but at least the potential argument seemed averted. “Fine, whatever. I still think this is a really bad idea.”

“I don’t. I spent three months with them. And that was my fourth visit. I understand how the Royal Family thinks.”

“But if we do what you want,” Roy protested, “then we’ll screw up their payouts, too.” That the Royal Family had retainers placing the same bets we did was a no-brainer guess.

“You worry too much.”

We left the ship and went through the same robotic docking check as before. I’d shifted to look like a Polliwog while Roy and Kyle were arguing, so it appeared we were still a team of two Earthers and one big, walking toad.

The robot passed us through, and we headed for our final destination. We reached the Jewel in a few minutes, during which time I had to resist the strong urge to catch and eat every flying insect around. Roulette had a good share of them, too. But most Polliwogs “ate” in private when they were off their own world. Besides, regardless of form, I found insects to be unpleasant coming in, going down, and coming out.

We went inside, and I stepped into the first bathroom we came to.

Bathrooms weren’t allowed to have surveillance in them, for a variety of reasons, all related to personal privacy. That daintiness didn’t apply to exits and entrances, so I took care to be in a stall that didn’t provide a clear shot from the door. I shifted again, then hung out for a while, until another Polliwog came in.