Page 84 of Pets in Space 10

Maeve, are you hearing this? she sent on the subaural com. Is he right? Will a bomb going off there destroy the ship?

I’m reinforcing the hull as we speak, the AI said in soothing tones. Mike and Jake and the others are on their way. Try talking to this man, buy us time.

He dragged her up the stairs to the observatory and now she did stumble, going down heavily and banging her knee hard on the riser. He yanked her up and waved the blaster in her face. “No tricks — I warned you.”

“It’s the shoes,” she gasped out. “It’s hard to walk.”

“Everybody out!” he yelled, not releasing his hold on her as he berated the few guests who’d sought peace and quiet in the special viewing area.

He pulled Dahlia to the side, keeping his back to the bulkhead as the others scurried past. A few cast glances at her as if regretful to leave her but there was nothing they could do for her.

“What’s your name?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

“Janko Beck. You’d have known who I was if you’d been here last night.”

“Were you in the tournament?” she asked.

“Damn right I was and doing well until the cards turned against me and the dice went to shit. Then I lost two rounds and I was out. I know the others were cheating but I had a foolproof system, only the damn casino manager wouldn’t let me make the bet I wanted to.”

He sounded barely rational to Dahlia. Using his belt and his tie, he bound her to a chair and started pacing up and down in an agitated manner, eyeing the holo of the tournament which to her shock was going on uninterrupted.

. Dahlia tested the bonds while he was distracted and figured she could probably work her way free if given the time to do so.

“Should been me!” he yelled as a set of winners were announced, not by Mike she noticed.

Mr. Beck shook his blaster at the holo and fired off two bursts into the bulkhead above.

Dahlia cringed, expecting a rapid decompression but nothing happened.

Maeve must have really padded this area of the hull.

She gasped as Beck took off his shirt in a one-handed, awkward move, revealing objects strapped to his chest which she guessed must be the bomb he kept mentioning.

Janko paraded in front of her, pointing the blaster proudly at the device.

“I’m an engineer by trade and a math savant so you better believe me.

I have the know how to build a bomb and where to set it off. ”

“Listen, I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you last night when you needed me,” Dahlia said, her mind racing.

“If we explain the circumstances to the casino manager I’m sure he’ll let you back into the tournament and restore your standing.

I even brought you a powerful good luck token that I rarely hand out.

I didn’t even give one to Sutton and you know what he won. ”

Janko stood still in front of her and scratched his chin with the blaster. “What kind of token?”

“Look in my apron pocket — it’s there.” She tilted her head toward her side pocket.

You’re doing great, Dahlia, Maeve said in her head. Keep trying to distract him a little longer.

The irate gambler sidled closer and fumbled with her dress, copping a feel as he did so, and came up with the scale. He held it up to the light. “Never saw anything like this before. Lucky charm you said?”

Emphatically she nodded. “Even Sutton didn’t have one. Let me call Mr. Remington in here and insist he re-enter you in the tournament since there was a misunderstanding. He — he has to listen to Lady Luck, right?”

“Is this a trick?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

“Of course not,” she lied. “I got confused with so many gamblers here for the tournament but obviously you’re the special one I was sent to help.”

“Dahlia?” Mike’s voice came up the stairs from the slot machine bay below. “Ask your friend if I can come up there and we can talk?”

She closed her eyes for a second, tears brimming, but she couldn’t break down now. She hated to bring Mike into the most dangerous space, but if Security needed a distraction, this would work. “I need you to reinstate Mr. Beck in the tournament right now,” she said in a loud voice.

“And he has to let me use my system,” Janko said in a fierce whisper.

“He has a special system figured out which you must let him use,” she added.

“Can I come up and talk to him about it? I need to know what he needs from my dealer and me and who he wants in his special round.”

Janko rocked on his heels, then eyed the scale in his hand. “Just him, unarmed.”

“He says you can come up here if you’re unarmed and alone,” Dahlia yelled. Lords of Space keep us both safe. I don’t want to have lured the man I love to his death.

Footsteps sounded on the old-fashioned wooden stairs and Mike’s head came into view as he ascended the risers.

His gaze went to her immediately as he arrived and Dahlia wished she could say any of the things crowding her mind.

Instead she licked her dry lips and pointed toward her captor with her chin.

“This is Mr. Beck and you mistakenly eliminated him from the tournament last night because I wasn’t here to pull his luck. ”

“I oughta shoot both of you right now,” Beck said, waving the blaster in a threatening manner.

Mike raised his hands in a placating gesture.

“Hey, no need for violence. If Lady Luck here says I made a mistake and you need back in, then that’s what’s going to happen.

I give you my word.” He pointed at a table a short distance from where Dahlia was.

“How about we sit and discuss it man to man, and then I can add you to the next session tonight. We can forget all this unpleasantness.”

Beck seemed dubious but he grudgingly moved to the indicated table. “I got my good luck charm from her right here,” he said, holding up the scale, which gleamed in the lights. “I want my original stake reinstated, plus a refund on my buy in, for starters.”

“Of course, Mr. Beck.” Mike’s voice was respectful. He managed to touch Dahlia’s shoulder briefly as he passed to take a chair.

She got her hands free and began working on the belt holding her ankle to the chair as surreptitiously as she could manage while the two men talked.

Beck was deep in explanation of his system for winning and Mike listened with an appearance of admiration and interest. The belt slipped away from her skin and fell to the floor with a soft clink Beck didn’t notice.

She debated what to do next. If she tried to dive down the stairs would Beck shoot Mike?

Probably. Besides, she wasn’t going to leave him alone up here with the would-be bomber.

Brace yourself, Maeve said.

The next instant there was a loud bang and Dahlia was afraid Beck had set off his bomb. Mike had her in his arms and then she was on the floor, with him over her in a protective position as the sizzle of blasters and shouting went on around them. She closed her eyes and clung to Mike.

“Clear!” shouted a voice she recognized as Jake Dilon’s. “The bomber is down.”

Mike got to his feet cautiously and assessed the situation before pulling Dahlia to her feet. “Don’t look,” he said, steering her toward the stairs. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I banged my knee on the stairs,” she said. “Maybe a few bruises where he grabbed me. I was so scared.”

He held her close and spoke over her head. “Okay if I take Dahlia to sickbay to get checked out?”

Jake came to join them. “Quick thinking and good work on your part, Dahlia. You okay?”

“Bruised. Shook up.” She thought she was going to faint and the idea of walking through the casino right now was terrifying.

“Take her through the security corridor,” Jake said. “I’ll send Jayna with you and I’ll need to interview both of you later.”

“Is he — is he dead?” she asked.

“We had no choice. As soon as the flashbang hit he reached for the detonator.” Jake shook his head. “I wasn’t about to lose the two of you or have major damage to the ship.”

“I wasn’t questioning your choices,” Dahlia said. “I’m grateful.”

“And we’re going to sickbay. You can find us in my quarters later, Jake, when you need to speak to us.” Mike scooped her up in his arms. “Close your eyes until we get into the passageway. It’s a maze back there but we can get to sickbay without having to set foot on the public areas of Level A.”

Relieved, Dahlia did as he suggested and closed her eyes.

He let her know when she could open her eyes and she did so cautiously. They were in the utilitarian service corridors and Jayna was walking rapidly in front of them.

“I’m sorry I had to ask you to come into the observatory,” Dahlia whispered. “It was all I could think of to distract him. If anything had happened to you I never would have forgiven myself.”

“It was all quick thinking on your part, no worries. I’m ex-military, I have no objection to taking a risk for a good cause. I was desperate to get in there anyway and get you to safety any way I could.” His arms tightened around her and he dropped a quick kiss on her forehead.

“As much as I love you, Mike Remington, I’m not setting foot in your damn casino again,” she said as Jayna opened the portal to the sick bay. “I quit.”

Her announcement plainly startled him but there was no time to talk further as one of the nurses directed them to an examination room and Dr. Emily Shane hastened in their direction. Dahlia saw a crowd milling in the waiting room “Who are all those people?”

Emily glanced over her shoulder. “Passengers who got injured in the panic to escape the casino when the man announced he had a bomb. A few cuts and bruises, ankle sprains, nothing serious thank goodness. Dr. Chamberlain and the nurses have it under control,” she said, speaking of the Nebula Zephyr’s junior physician who’d come aboard fairly recently when Emily had gone on a mission with a few other crew members.