Blink
December 17, 4997
(Holy Terra calendar)
I had always heard about Leagueheim
and its decadent ways. By what my Church instructors taught, I
was lead to believe it was a veritable Gehenne of sin. I believed
that once I could see it for myself, such an overblown reputation
would, like so many other Church fallacies I had been taught,
crumble.
I was strangely right, although in
a way I never expected. Even here among the smooth ceramsteel
spires and flashing lights I found a spirituality of sorts.
We arrived here in time to catch one
of Erian's al-Malik allies before he left on some undisclosed
mission. Before leaving, he provided us with information on an
unknown lost world where the answers to our quest may await us.
I will write nothing of it here, until we are closer to our goal.
In his absence, he allowed us the use
of his suites. We have used this needed rest to make some additions
to our new starship, the Resurgent. Julia demanded a neutrino
sensor array, but the prices we discovered were outrageous. We
voted against it. That's when she revealed that she knew a place
where we could find one cheaper, but she would have to go there
in person to arrange the sale. We all thought it promising and
agreed.
"I want Onggangarak to come with
me," she said. "In case of trouble. And Alustro, too."
"Me?" I said. "I know
nothing of commerce. What can I do?"
"Even the most desperate thugs
think twice about hitting a priest. You're my insurance against
hasty opinions."
"Wait just a minute," Erian
said. "This trip is dangerous? Why didn't you say so in the
first place?"
Julia rolled her eyes. "Everywhere
on Leagueheim is dangerous, Erian! This is just more so."
"Then I forbid it. I will not
have Alustro put into unnecessary danger."
"Hold on, now! He'll be fine.
Like I said, he's just there to sooth bruised egos and such."
"Erian," Cardanzo said, "They
will be fine in Julia's care. We could really use that array."
"Then I'm coming too," Erian
said.
"Oh no you're not!" Julia
yelled. "They'll know you for the royal brat you are the
second you step off the lift! You're staying here."
"How dare you! I can go wherever
I want. Whenever and with whomever!"
"Not here you don't. They'll jack
the price up at least three times more than it's worth when they
smell your privilege."
"Please," Cardanzo said,
"there is no reason for raised voices. Julia is right, Erian.
You and I must stay here and let them do their work."
"Why do you stay?" Julia
said, looking surprised. "I could use you there."
"A bodyguard does not leave his
charge," Cardanzo replied. "Besides, Ong is more than
capable of providing all the muscle or threat you may need."
Julia looked annoyed but nodded. "All
right, then. Let's go, you two." She picked up her belt,
loaded with her blaster and all manner of tools, and headed for
the door. Ong and I got up to follow.
She lead us through a dizzying maze
of sidewalks, escalators, tubes and cargo lifts until we reached
what I believe was the ground level of Leagueheim. At least, it
seemed like the ground. It was dark even though slight patches
of daylight shone through openings in the soot layer above and
innumerable fusion signs from hundreds of stores flashed at us
from all directions. None of this phased Julia, although at times
I think Ong was ready to attack something. I feared lest an unattentive
pedestrian bump into him.
Eventually, Julia stopped in front
of a bar called the Last Flight Out and peered inside through
the grimy window. "This is it. Name's changed but the place
is still the same. As long as the same owner's here, we're fine."
I began coughing immediately upon entering
the place. I don't know what sort of burning weed was in the air,
but it wasn't tobacco or even one of the milder narcotics.
"Yimbun," Julia said. "Cover
your mouth and you'll get used to it. Smells awful but tastes
great."
I nodded, pulling by robes over my
nose. Ong seemed undisturbed by the smell, even though his senses
were keener. I assume that the legendary Vorox resistance to toxins
held true here.
Julia lead us through the crowded room
to the bar and rapped on it, trying for the bartender's attention.
"The owner in?"
The sweaty fellow glared at her. "Who
wants to know?"
"Julia Abrams. He knows me."
The man nodded and picked up a small
palm squawker. He whispered something into it, which I could not
hear over the crowd's conversations. He looked at Julia and nodded,
smiling. "Wait here. He'll be right out."
As we lounged against the bar, I noticed
a few men across the room looking at us and talking. They seemed
to know Julia, but were not too happy about it. As I was about
to ask Julia who they were, a yell came from the rear of the bar.
"You! How dare you come into my
establishment!"
Julia turned to the man and went white.
"Yours?! Where the Gehenne is Lark?"
"Lark's dead," the man said,
now backed up by a number of thugs gathering around him. "Left
the place to me."
"He would. He never did have a
good eye for character. Leaving his pride and joy to Sobol Hetch.
So what now?"
"We settle up, that's what. Decide
here and now who's best."
Ong began to growl deep in his throat.
Sobol's thugs began to look nervous, their hands reaching for
their holsters.
"Here and now," Julia said.
"Let's go."
"Wait!" I cried. "There's
no need for violence! Whatever your dispute is, surely there's
a calmer resolution!"
Julia and Sobol both looked at me like
I was mad.
"Violence?" Julia said.
"What's the harm in a game of
Blink?" Sobal said.
"Blink?" I stammered. "What
is Blink?"
Sobol pulled out a deck of holographic
cards and slid them towards us across the bar. "That's Blink.
Best damn game of chance in the Known Worlds is what."
I could see Julia's eyes roll up. "Say's
you. But since it's so damn important to you, let's play. No way
you'll beat me, though."
"I've learned a lot of tricks
since we played last, Abrams. I think this one's mine."
Sobol went over to a table and shoved
some empty glasses off it, scattering them across the floor. None
of them broke. "Have a seat. All of you."
Julia walked over and sat down, but
motioned for us to stay behind her. "They'll stand."
Sobol, seating himself, shrugged. "Fine.
Let's play. Can your boy shuffle cards?"
"Sure," Julia said, picking
up the deck, which one of Sobol's men had fetched from the bar.
She handed it to me.
I have never handled a deck of cards
in my life. I looked at the ones I now held in my hand and caught
by breath in awe. They were stunningly beautiful. Lush, three-dimensional
images leapt from the card surfaces as I peered through the deck.
Impossible patterns of color and texture mixed together as two
cards were connected and broke apart again as they seperated.
I shook myself from the reverie and placed the deck on the table,
trying to remember what shuffling looked like from having seen
it done.
"They're mesmerizing, aren't they,
priest?" Sobol said. "Banned on most of the Known Worlds
by the Church. Your even touching them would get a reprimand from
your superior and a call for confession. But here on Leagueheim,
who is going to police such things? No priest with any wits would
step foot in this district. Except you, and you're only here because
Abrams here was looking for an element of surprise."
Julia frowned. "My confessor goes
where I go, Sobol."
"Yours? Or does he belong to some
haughty royal you're screwing?"
Julia stared at Sobol with utter hatred
and the tension returned.
"Uhm I think I've got them randomized,"
I said. "Is this good enough?"
Sobol did not take his eyes off Julia.
"Fine. Go ahead and deal us seven cards each -- without revealing
them."
When they had the cards, I stepped
back behind Julia to see what was in her hand. It made no sense
to me, but I was awestruck again at the intense images. They almost
portrayed something, and it was maddeningly tempting to stare
at them until the image they were hiding revealed itself.
Julia hid the cards, looking at me.
"Don't stare too long. That's the trick. You'll try for hours
-- years, even -- to put the cards in the right combination to
reveal 'it.'"
"It?"
"The secret they hold. The image
just on the edge of consciousness. If you ever saw it, it would
solve everything. Or so everyone thinks. It's all just a load
of crap. A bunch of random holograms generated by a field. As
long as the cards are in a certain range, they're affected by
the field."
"But what generates the field?
Where's the power?"
"Who knows? That's what makes
them so valuable. Can't make them anymore."
"Enough talk," Sobol said.
"Put down a card."
Julia looked through her hand again
and placed down a bluish card with a slowly revolving vortex.
Sobol quickly laid a green card with rising lines on top of it.
The two images combined to create a weird effect, somewhat like
a jumpgate, with lines of force radiating from a spirals. Sobol
smiled. Julia frowned.
This went on for some time. About an
hour into the game, Julia sent me to the restaurant next door
for some food. One of Sobol's men came with me to help carry the
bags.
Three hours after it began, however,
it was over. Julia placed a red card with intermittant flashes
on top of Sobol's yellow, pulsing mist. The effect was to destroy
all the images, leaving a momentary void in the space where they
had been. The effect lasted for perhaps less than a second, but
I could now understand why Sobol was so obsessed with the game.
Staring at that blank moment, it seemed
that something leapt in to fill it, some deep feeling of contentment.
Julia sighed and had a look on her face unlike any I had seen
her wear before. For once, the tense jaw slackened and her eyes
softened and she had a fleeting glance of peace.
Sobol looked like he wanted to cry,
for he obviously had not recieved the full effect. Was it possible
that it affected the winner differently than the loser? If so,
what form of technology was this?
After a moment's silence where nobody
made a sound, Sobol gathered the cards together, held them close
to his body and stood up. "What's it going to be, Abrams?
Name your price."
"A neutrino sensor array for an
exploration class vessel."
"That's it? You just won Blink
and all you want is a lousy sensor array?"
"I don't want your cards, Sobol.
I just came for some hardware."
"Okay. Yeah. All right. It's yours.
Where do you want it delivered?"
"Charioteer Bay 33."
"It'll be there. It'll take a
day or two at least, though. You understand that?"
"If it's not there in three,"
Julia said, standing up. "I'll coming looking for it."
Ong seemed to sense his cue and growled
a short, gruff bark.
Sobol nodded. "It'll be there."
Julia turned toward the door and began
walking. We followed, although I kept glancing over my shoulder
back at Sobol to see what his reaction was. I suspect this was
a violation of exit etiquette for it implied that I expected a
blaster at our backs. But he was slumped in the chair again and
looked like a loved one had died. I couldn't even begin to fathom
such an addiction.
We said little on the way back, for
Julia was obviously in no mood to talk. On the lift upwards, however,
I know I saw a tear in her eye. She wiped it away quickly to hide
it from us.
How can it be that a mere toy of the
Second Republic can elicit a religious response in one who has
denied it from even the Church? Such a thing is alien to me. To
find faith, no matter how elusive, in a thing rather than a being
is All to human, perhaps?