Page 74 of Pets in Space 10
“Mr. Cagnison is waiting and he doesn’t like to wait,” one man said as he opened the door for Mike.
“Then he should have sent his own flyer and groundcar to pick me up,” Mike said. “Oh, except of course I wouldn’t have accepted. Bad optics.”
The men frisked him, which he’d expected, removing his personal blaster but missing his concealed knife and a backup blaster in his boot, and then he proceeded into the restaurant itself, which was obviously closed for the day.
There were several waiters on hand and the bartender stood vigilant behind the bar.
Mike smelled the delicious aroma of the fine cookery this establishment was famous for so evidently there would actually be lunch and drinks. You never knew with an Amarotu boss.
Denzin was waiting, seated with his back to the wall in a luxurious booth at the rear of the dining room. Mike hated having his back to the room and the bodyguards but he wasn’t surprised by the arrangement. Four armed men sat at a nearby table, watching and ready for action if necessary.
As he took his chair, Mike pointed his chin at the bodyguards. “You must think I’m a one man army. I’m a simple casino manager, hungry for my promised lunch.”
“Good to see you again,” Denzin said, ignoring the remark. “It’s been too long. Have you given any more thought to the idea of coming to work for us? We’re opening a new casino on the pleasure planet Freemarket next year — it could be yours. Profit sharing and triple your CLC salary.”
“Now, Denzin, we’ve had this conversation before. I like my job and I like the life on the Nebula Zephyr.” Grinning, Mike kept his voice lighthearted. The waiter filled his wine glass and he raised it in a toast. “To Lady Luck.”
The mob boss clinked glasses with him and they drank.
The wine was excellent and Mike blessed the fact he had a hard head for feelgoods.
No one had ever been able to drink him under the table.
He took a breadstick out of the basket beside his plate and dipped it into one of the small sauce bowls at his place.
“So who are you sending to the tournament?” he asked.
Denzin eyed him for a moment before answering.
“Yeah, I reviewed the list,” Mike said, filling the silence. “Who are you really sending? What last minute surprises do I need to be prepared for?”
“We might be making a few substitutions,” the other man admitted. “Nothing to be concerned about.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Names.”
The boss listed off six people, all of whom Mike knew personally. He shook his head. “Lindelmyer and Swaran are no-goes. Not in my casino, not at my tournament. Too well known as Amarotu sharks. I can’t have any suggestion the games are mob influenced.”
Denzin merely shrugged and provided two more names with ease.
Mike had the feeling he’d missed something if his contact was giving in so easily.
The players he’d approved might be mob-connected or mob-funded, but the information was buried several layers deep and not likely to give him any heartburn during the tournament.
As he took the first bite of the excellent pasta entrée, he said, “No teams, no spotters, no proxies. I run clean games.”
Denzin merely laughed as he twirled pasta onto his fork. “Give it a break, Remington. They’ll be using your dice and your cards and your dealers. Don’t you believe Amarotu can win without tricks?”
“Yeah, I had to fire a dealer on the last leg of the cruise. Turned out he was one of yours. My management wasn’t pleased and I’m sure they made their concerns known to your bosses.”
“That wasn’t my idea,” Denzin said immediately. “The perpetrator was an overly ambitious low-level member of the Combine, trying to impress his betters and move up. He’s been dealt with.”
Mike could imagine what the simple sentence explained.
The Combine didn’t encourage unsanctioned actions, especially in areas where delicate negotiations had already taken place at higher levels.
Not his concern, though. Any sentient foolhardy enough to take the Combine’s blood oath deserved what they got, in Mike’s opinion.
He could be on the morally gray side of things from time to time, had to be in his career, but joining the mob was where he definitively had drawn a line.
He’d found other ways to achieve his goals and get where he was now.
“What other shenanigans are your people planning on pulling?” Mike asked.
“I have no idea what you’re alluding to.”
“Come on, don’t bullshit me. That many high rollers and Socialites and generational billionaires, not to mention the celebrity contingent — you can’t tell me you won’t have side games and side bets and other more nefarious activities.
I know the ship’s guests will be a prime target during this whole event.
I want it kept to a minimum and discreet, hear me?
” He took another bite of the excellent meal.
As usual Denzin was noncommittal but said, “There’s a possibility Lilitha will be on board.”
Mike set his fork down with precision and gave the mob boss a hard stare. “I don’t want that bitch on my ship.”
“Lot of history there, I know.” Denzin patted his lips with his napkin as the waiters cleared the table.
“Bring the dessert tray,” he said to the ma?tre d.
“It’s been rumored the First Duchess of Bingham Three will be on board to cheer for her new young husband.
Have you ever seen her famous Noorikahn diamond and ruby parure?
Lilitha can’t resist a chance at the prize and we of course will gladly fence it for her for a price. ”
“Ship’s Security is tight,” Mike warned, taking a slice of cake from the tray full of dessert offering. “The chief is damn good and he’s been sharing the SCIA warning bulletins with me. He’ll spot her.”
“Not in her current disguise,” Denzin said with confidence. “You know she’s a shapeshifter from Dalgonn Twelve.”
“Always the same hard core bitch underneath whatever face and figure she’s wearing.” He took a sip of his wine, trying to drink away the headache coming on. The ordeal of dealing with his ex-girlfriend in the middle of the tournament was annoying. “Tell her to stay away from me.”
“Or else what? Will you turn her in?” Denzin asked, toying with his wine goblet. He shot Mike a sharp glance that sent a chill down his spine and he was glad he had his backup weapons within easy reach.
“I see her jack the jewels in my casino you’re damn right I’ll call Security,” he said.
“If the Duchess’s fancy swag disappears outside of my doors, then I don’t have any more idea who did it than any other disinterested crew member, do I?
Especially if I haven’t seen Lilitha in her new face.
Again, let me be clear, tell her the casino is off limits and so am I. ”
Heavy rings glinting in the light, the mob boss raised a hand in a placating gesture. “In the unlikely event I speak to her, the message will be relayed.”
“Well, someone had better communicate it to her.”
“We want this tournament cruise to go as smoothly as you do,” Denzin said, not too convincingly. “The Combine doesn’t need or want public attention focused on us right now. We do our best work staying below the sensors.”
One of the bodyguards came over and whispered in his boss’s ear.
Mike finished his cake, which sat like lead in his gut but until Denzin signaled the meet was over, he needed to be patient.
The boss was famous for springing surprises at the last moment, when the other person’s guard was down, assuming the business was concluded.
This time, however, Denzin rose to his feet and extended his hand.
Mike unfolded himself from the chair and shook.
“It’s been a pleasure to see you,” Denzin said.
“We should do this more often. Let me know if you change your mind about the casino job.” He took two steps and vanished through a doorway previously hidden by a curtain.
Mike didn’t linger, heading for the front entrance as the waiters came to clear the table.
The bodyguards had disappeared but two goons remained, who opened the door for him, returned his blaster and then watched stone faced as he crossed the empty parking lot to his groundcar.
The meal had taken a lot longer than he’d expected and there was quite a bit of traffic on the way to the spaceport.
He relaxed and let the groundcar’s AI handle the challenges while he reviewed the key points of the conversation.
Fortunately, the presence of mob members and mob-connected people wasn’t his problem, as long as they stayed out of his casino or adhered to the agreement within its boundaries.
He didn’t know what the owners of the CLC Line had used in the original bargain to keep the Combine’s greedy fingers out of the onboard casino business, but today’s meeting had been a good reminder the deal was still in place.
The Amarotu generally honored their bargains, until they didn’t, of course.
The presence of the notorious jewel thief and his ex-lover Lilitha was annoying.
He might have promised not to alert the ship’s security chief, but he’d never said he wouldn’t give the ship’s AI Maeve a heads up.
Lilitha was scary good at what she did for a living, but Maeve was an ex-military AI and extremely crafty, so he regarded his duty as done once he’d dropped a hint to her.
Jake Dilon, the Security chief, had been put on notice about possible mob trouble by the Sectors Criminal Investigative Agency anyway and had extra officers assigned for this leg of the cruise. He didn’t need Mike’s input.
As the groundcar drove through the entrance to the spaceport and directed itself to the CLC offices, Mike wondered how Dahlia’s day had gone and if there was any chance he’d meet her on the shuttle again.
Was his luck in or out? He’d survived a meet with a high-level mob boss so he guessed it must be a good day.
With a grin he sailed through the requirements of turning the vehicle in and made his way to the shuttle landing pad.
The shuttles ran at intervals all day when the Nebula Zephyr was in orbit at a port so Dahlia might have caught an earlier one.
He boarded and was disappointed not to see her in any of the seats.
Just in case he selected an empty row and set his jacket over the other seat.
Keeping one eye on the access ramp, he got out his handheld and checked his messages.
Things were going smoothly at the casino today and there were only minor issues.
The five minute prelaunch announcement was made and as he gave up hope Dahlia would appear, she rushed through the portal, looking tired and stressed.
“Dahlia!” He rose and called her name. The smile lighting up her face was his reward as he waved her toward his seat. “I saved a spot for you.”
She was carrying quite a few parcels and as she sank into her seat, falling into the cushions, a few items slipped from her grasp and threatened to roll away. Mike chased them down for her and helped her stow the lot in the overhead bin. “You’re an angel,” she said. “Did your meeting go well?”
“About as I expected,” he said, studying her face. “What about you? Did you find the stuff your pet needs?”
Dahlia shook her head. “No and I checked out twelve places. I spent more than I should have probably on groundcar fares.”
“You must have bought something. What’s in all those parcels I stowed?”
“I did buy a few things for Petal,” she admitted. “And supplies for me.”
“Supplies?”
“Art stuff.” Dahlia blushed. “I, um, paint actually. In my spare time.”
Mike was fascinated. “I’d love to see your work.”
“Oh no, I’m not good enough to show anyone.”
He found her reticence charming and decided not to push. “Well, maybe someday. I’ll look forward to it. Hey, have you talked to Tyrelle about your pet?”
“Who’s Tyrelle?” Dahlia asked.
“She’s on the captain’s senior staff. She’s an empath, married to the cargo master, and she’s good with animals.
She can communicate with them. I’m sure she’d be happy to examine Petal for you and try to get to the bottom of whatever issue you’re having.
Tyrelle also does special hydroponics work on board so she might be able to grow a natural supplement that would help. ”
“Oh if she’s such a senior person I don’t think I should be bothering her about my pet,” Dahlia said, frowning. “I’m just a floater on a one-year contract. I don’t want to make any trouble for anyone, especially not a high ranking person. Thanks for the suggestion, though.”
They parted at the gravlift, Dahlia heading to the lower decks to her quarters and Mike bound for the casino, to take care of a few things in his office.
He was in a good mood, having chatted with Dahlia, which he predicted would probably last until he crossed the threshold of his office and the various problems of the day made themselves known.
He counted it as a win to have the meeting with the Amarotu checked off with no one having been beaten up or killed, and encountering the pretty floater not once but twice.