Page 78 of Pets in Space 10

As he left the beach deck and headed for his quarters, Mike was pleased with himself for asking Dahlia out and allaying her concerns about their relative places in the Nebula Zephyr hierarchy.

She was relaxing to be with and a good conversationalist, had a kind heart for kids and pets, and he was so attracted to her he had a hard time keeping his cock down as they’d chatted.

He didn’t think Dahlia knew how sexy he found her — she was refreshingly unconcerned with impressing him or flirting or what he could do for her.

Yeah, I’ve made mistakes in the past when it comes to women, but Dahlia is a breath of fresh air.

Entering his cabin, he shed his clothes and hit the shower, thinking about Dahlia more than he probably should.

Time to get his head in the casino manager space.

It was going to be a long day reviewing preparations for the tournament, which would kick off next week.

He also had to check the results on the preliminary rounds occurring all over the Sectors to ensure there weren’t any ringers slipping through, or too many Amarotu Combine players.

Despite his agreement with Denzin, he wouldn’t put it past local mob bosses to try inserting their own people.

The stakes were so high the organized crime figures wouldn’t be able to resist. He had absolute veto power over who came onto the Nebula Zephyr for the final rounds, but even he didn’t know everyone in the galaxy who was a good enough player to climb the brackets into the real credit rounds.

The jackpot was huge. Of course the winner got the biggest percentage, in the many digits, but all the finalists would take home hefty lump sums and even the top ranking semifinalists received a payout. A lot of incentives for cheating and conniving.

But Mike was ready for them and so were his casino employees and the ship’s security personnel.

Dressed, ready for the long day, to be followed by his regular intense evening on the casino floor, Mike left his cabin and walked to the gravlift.

Rising on the silvery stream, he remembered Dahlia’s comment about her three shifts as a barback.

He didn’t go over the daily staffing reports in huge detail, but he would have noted her name for sure.

She wasn’t on any of Carter’s reports. So where was he recording her hours and how was she getting paid?

If Carter was playing games with the accounts and hiding one thing, what else might he be covering up?

Carter hadn’t been his first choice for a day manager, one of the few staffing battles he’d lost. Oh, the references had been sterling.

Maybe even too good. The last two bosses were curiously evasive when Mike commed to check on past performance but no one had actually given him cause to decline the hire.

The man was a relative of a major CLC owner.

As he stepped out of the gravlift on Level A and walked toward the casino, he opened the subaural com to the ship’s AI. Maeve, I want special surveillance on Carter, starting now. He’s playing games with his staffing reports and I need to know what else he has going on.

Very good, Mr. Remington. I’ll note I haven’t detected any nefarious activity on his part previously, but your casino financials aren’t in my system.

Mike had the distinct impression Maeve was unhappy his books weren’t in her data registry, but they weren’t required to be.

He had to report certain information to the Purser and to his own superiors at CLC HQ and be ready for an audit at any time by either internal authorities or the Sectors Gambling Commission, which he was.

Although there might be a chink in his accounting armor if Carter was skimming.

His good mood after his conversation with Dahlia now slightly dampened, he entered the casino, sweeping across the floor with his practiced eye and assessing the activity.

Not bad for the morning shift. Mike was eager to get to his office and dig into the staffing reports and other accounts but he’d have to make his rounds first.

A casino manager’s job was literally never done.

***

Dahlia received a notice to report for work at the casino in the midafternoon, and the notes specified she was to wear the full night shift uniform, have hair and makeup done and report to Mr. Carter’s office prior to going onto the casino floor.

She was a little puzzled by this, not having seen any of the night shift staff on the floor at the time of day specified, but perhaps things were changing due to the tournament.

She made sure to arrive early and changed in the empty dressing room.

She hadn’t missed the sky-high heels although she still loved the dress, which placed her in the right mindset to be a sexy waitress in a high-class joint for the evening.

As she walked to Mr. Carter’s office she wondered if she’d run into Mike tonight.

Of course he couldn’t take time for a conversation, not while they were both working, but her heart beat faster at the thought of seeing him.

Carter was all smiles when she entered his office.

“Dahlia, so happy you were available for work today. Now it’s going to be customer service actually, but you’ve done this kind of thing before and so well too.

” He got up from his desk while she was puzzling over his odd phrasing and came to her side.

“We’re going to the conference room.” He attempted to take her elbow but she sidestepped adroitly.

“Lead the way,” she said. This was getting more and more curious.

A day manager would hardly be giving a pep talk to his employees this late in the shift and you couldn’t pull the entire wait staff off the floor anyway.

So what kind of meeting was going to occur?

Dahlia walked down the hall with Mr. Carter, her unease building.

Her neck and shoulders were tense as if she was expecting to ward off a blow and her stomach churned.

He had a sort of nervous energy and over enthusiastic air about him.

The day manager opened the conference room door and ushered her inside.

As she crossed the threshold, Dahlia was surprised to find five total strangers seated at the table.

The way they were dressed, in high fashion quality suits made it clear the men were guests, not her fellow employees.

She realized she’d stopped walking as five pairs of eyes focused on her.

The mystery attendees looked at her with varying degrees of interest and assessment.

Dahlia’s skin crawled and she wished she dared to leave.

“What’s going on?” she asked Carter, adrenaline racing

“Gentlemen, let me present the Nebula Zephyr’s own Lady Luck to you,” Carter said instead of explaining. He pulled Dahlia in front of him with surprising strength and she knew she’d have bruises.

“Oh no,” she said in a rush, “That was a silly thing Mr. Sutton came up with after he hit it big on the roulette wheel. I’m just a waitress — I don’t have any special luck to offer anyone,” she tried for a humorous note, embarrassed and wanting only to flee. “Not even myself.”

But the people in the room didn’t blink at her denial nor did anyone chuckle.

“Young lady, Sutton is a loser from way back,” said the oldest guest at the table. “The fact he won that night and the way he won was nothing short of a miracle. Or the result of having a luck puller.”

“She’s so modest,” the day manager said unctuously. “As you said, Sutton won big and he took the briquilliat game pot, which he’s never done before. Dahlia brings luck.” To her he said, “Take a seat and be quiet.”

Dahlia slid into the nearest chair and folded her hands on the table in front of her. She would have liked to bolt for the door, but Carter stayed close and her instinct was not to cause a scene in front of obviously important guests. Maeve? She said over the subaural com. Maeve?

But there was no answer and her attention was drawn to a small black box humming in the center of the table.

She’d seen those a few times in her previous life in the refugee camp.

It was an AI blocker. Dahlia had to hope Maeve would notice she was experiencing a blackout in this space and send someone to check.

“Now let me quickly review the situation for the group,” Carter said. “Whoever wins the bidding tonight will obtain Dahlia’s exclusive services during the tournament for as long as required.”

Immediately she rose, shoving the chair back and exclaiming loudly, “No! I said I wasn’t doing that again after Mr. Sutton. I’m not a lucky charm or a-a luck puller like you said and I’m not going to be auctioned off. Does Mike Remington know what you’re doing here?”

White around the mouth, clearly livid, Carter pulled her aside while addressing the room.

“One minute, folks, while I explain the full details to Dahlia. My apologies.” He drew her to the corner of the room.

“Listen, you and me stand to make a pile of off the books credits here. All you have to do is play along, spend the tournament with whoever wins and I’ll give you a cut of the auction haul and the player will tip you huge, a percentage of what he wins.

Be smart, girl. When does someone like you have a chance to score big like this?

Sutton was a one-time situation but this is opportunity knocking.

It’s customer service, keep the guests happy, no one’s forcing them to be here to bid but these five people were highly interested in having a lucky charm for the tourney.

Now sit down and shut up while I make us both rich. ”

“This is wrong, this can’t possibly be sanctioned by the Line or Mike,” she said. “I’m leaving.”