Hello readers…I decided to revise this chapter, rewrite, add enhance, and hopefully made it better. Thanks for understanding!
The melodious trills of the slot machines, the barkers calling for bets, and the hoots and hollers of the patrons, it was even more intoxicating than the ambrosia that Starbuck was waiting on as he piled a few cubits on the table with a nod at the dealer. All of the noise of the chancery was music to his ears. He had been waiting for this, some time away from patrols which had become almost tedious as they ventured further into uncharted space. He thought that should at least be interesting, but space was big and full of nothing. Duty had become routine, and even the card games at the Rising Star were becoming boring. He was tired of seeing the same old faces and playing the same old games. He'd been lured here tonight by a promise from Chameleon of something new, but so far it seemed tonight would be like any other night as he waited on Chameleon to show up. The man was late as usual, but he breezed into the room, exchanging pleasantries with the various dealers before joining him at the pyramid table.
"So what's new Chameleon?" Starbuck asked in way of greeting.
The older man took the seat beside him, reaching over to take one of Starbuck's cubits for his ante into the game. "Now that you ask, there's a game I have heard of, a high stakes pyramid game."
"I'm at a high stakes pyramid game," Starbuck answered upping the current bet, forcing the others to fold. He shook his head and raked in the six or eight cubits on the table.
"This is something different," Chameleon said. "It could make a man wealthy in the turn of a card, and is definitely something new."
Starbuck could barely hear the man over the sound of the slot machines and the barker calling for bets and another spin on the wheel. It was a busy secton end on the Rising Star and he didn't even have a drink in his hand yet when Chameleon started spinning his tales..
"This game was meant for you!"
Chameleon's enthusiasm was that of a much younger man, and Starbuck couldn't help but grin as he glanced at the senior in the seat beside him. As usual, he was immaculately dressed, dapper and charming, and at least one classy woman of Chameleon's vintage was giving him the eye from across the table.
"What game?" Starbuck asked, casting a grin at the woman beside him, some siress or other from one of the civilian ships, definitely not the Senior ship, so the evening was looking a bit more promising. Her sweet perfume was tantalizing and he tried to keep his focus on the cards being dealt to him. Chameleon did promise him it would be a good night.
The old conman had made good on his word of spending time with Starbuck, sending him messages on a regular basis. In the sudden peace the fleet had found after the destruction of the Base Star, Starbuck had found time to meet up with Chameleon on the Rising Star on a regular basis, usually for a secton end card game in the pyramid rooms. Chameleon had sent him a message this time, telling him to come as he had information of an unauthorized game Starbuck might be interested in. It sounded promising, but so did most games until you found out that the rumors were far larger than the actual payoffs.
"How big a pot? And why are you telling me and not taking it for yourself?" He didn't even have a drink in his hand yet when Chameleon began to tell him about the game of a lifetime. This must be good if he couldn't even wait for Starbuck to light his fumarello and down an ale before he launched into the details.
"The pot is so much more than you would expect. It was a game meant for you. A heroic prize for the hero of the fleet." Chameleon clapped him on the back.
"Uh huh," he said as he lit his smoke and waved over a server. "You don't have to build me up with all that heroic felgercarb. I am regretting more and more agreeing to do that segment for the IFB."
"Yes, well sometimes a reputation can be used as a cover. Look at me for example," Chameleon said raising his glass to the one just delivered to Starbuck. "No one expects an old man to steal all their cubits. And yet," Chameleon grinned as he downed his drink. Starbuck took a sip of his. He wanted to grow his secton's wages by a few cubits before he got down to the serious drinking, and then maybe the serious flirting before he met up with Cassiopea when she could finally get over when her shift ended.
He took a long drag off his smoke, one of the few he had left and he intended to enjoy it. He let the smoke roll out slowly in Chameleon's direction, trying to let the man know he wouldn't clouded by the conman's ideas. "So why aren't you getting on in this game yourself?"
"Oh, it's not a game for me. The players are a bit less refined than what I am used to." Chameleon began to explain the details of the game being held on one of the rougher ships in the fleet. Starbuck was a bit leery as to the validity of Chameleon's information. He was a swindler after all. But the man had made good on his words so far since they had met over the Borellian Blood Feud, the man had invited him repeatedly to come play cards and he tried not to hold it against the old man that he'd lied about maybe being his father. Starbuck probably would have done something like it in the heat of the moment to save his own skin. Cassie reminded him that the tests did show they were of a same bloodline, but before the destruction, nearly a couple million people could claim the same results.
It was still nice that the old gambler was making an effort to remain friends with him. He'd met Chameleon at least a dozen times now on the Rising Star for pyramid games, and once on the Senior Ship for a friendly card tournament. They had almost won that tournament until Siress Blassie pointed out that it wasn't polite to gloat, then the two worked hard at losing so that Siress Blassie could be the winner. It had been fun teaming up and Starbuck was trying to arrange a tournament on the Galactica.
"The pot is quite large, and keeps growing," Chameleon said as Starbuck anted in on this game and collected his cards. "It could make you independently wealthy in one night. There is no time to waste on this opportunity."
Starbuck wasn't sure if he heard him right over the ringing bells and clink of cubits. "Really? How many cubits are we talking about? I'm stretched pretty tight as it is right now."
"The buy in for a seat is a hundred cubits."
Starbuck whistled, "No wonder it's unauthorized. I'm going to have to pick pockets to come up with that much."
"I can come up with half of the buy in for you," Chameleon said as he examined his cards.
Starbuck cast the charlatan a look. "You have that much? How many Siress's are you sleeping with?" he asked, but the old man looked serious as he nodded. The game had to be hot if the conman was offering to help him with half of the stake.
"Why me?" he asked. "This sounds more like your kind of game. It might be out of my league with that kind of cash. Besides, you are a better gambler. You have more years of experience than I do."
"This is something new," Chameleon said as he set down his drink and picked up the cards he'd been dealt. The pot is not something I could, um, manage to keep. But you would find a way, I'm sure of it."
Starbuck was intrigued by that. So little was new within the fleet, certainly not the woman beside him in her faded dress and sallow skin. But that kind of coin was hard to come by. "I could help you get a seat at the table and see that you don't lose the pot on the way out."
"No son," Chameloen insisted, "this game was meant for you. I don't have the right skills for this crowd."
That left Starbuck somewhat disbelieving that this was a real prospect, but that many cubits were hard to turn down. It would be nice to maybe afford some real quarters for he and Cassie if he ever made the decision to get sealed. It c ould at least give him enough to pay back all the friends he'd borrowed money from. He could be debt free for the first time in his life.
"Maybe," he said, looking down at the few cubits he had. "If I win tonight, beg a loan or two from Apollo and Boomer. It would cut my winnings down, but, a hundred cubit buy in? Has to be a lot of cubits on the table then."
"The prize is well worth it and I'm sure Apollo would forgive your loan when he sees what you have won."
"I doubt that. He remembers everything." Starbuck said, laying down a winning hand and collecting his cubits.
"Oh, I think he may actually forgive the loan and reward you once you win the prize." Chameleon insisted.
"Want to take a bet on that? I don't think you know Apollo like I do."
"Oh son, trust me. It will be a game well worth your while."
The details were still murky, the location deep within the civilian fleet on a ship with a name so generic it was laughable, the Colonial Cargo Carrier, often confused with the Colonial Movers ship. The game was held every fourth secton day with a regular crowd according to the conman.
"And the pots are high every time?" Starbuck had asked, not quite believing.
"Every time. But I am unsure how much longer it is going to last. We need to hurry."
There wasn't much Starbuck could do to speed up saving cubits when he was borrowing from everyone in Blue Squadron. By the time Starbuck finally got the cubits together and some time off where he wouldn't have to report in for a few cycles, Chameleon had been contacting him daily. The pot wasn't going to wait much longer, the man insisted.
To get to the game was trip that required at least three shuttle transfers, taking him deep into the civilian fleet. He'd needed a password just to get on the last shuttle to a freighter, having to tell the porter, something about Aquarian fishing was good today. Once they landed, he had to weave his way to the lower decks, and pass through multiple hatches also requiring different passwords. It was definitely an unauthorized game as the route to get there was convoluted and confusing. At one door he was to mention something about the circus was in town today and the clowns weren't sad. At another hatch, he had to say that a flower, the gardenia, was his favorite. He assumed they changed the name of the flower weekly. He wasn't even sure if he'd made it to the right compartment when someone passed him and asked how he was doing today. He was supposed to reply that his gout was worse when it rained.
"Third door on the left," the man replied. "Knock three times, then once."
Starbuck shook his head. It seemed like a lot of fuss for just a card game.
When he knocked in the right order, the door opened. He was greeted by a big hairy man that looked like he was a Borellian Nomen. If he wasn't, he definitely had a cousin that was. The guy moved aside and let Starbuck into a smoky compartment filled with shadows except for the light on the field of green, flashing off the white cards.. Once the door closed behind his back with a loud click of a lock, he suddenly had second thoughts about the game.
The table was surrounded by a rough crowd, large men with clubs and truncheons leaning against the walls. There were a few familiar faces, men he knew from the Rising Star, but most he didn't know and had to assume they were important people as they came with their own bodyguards. One card player was about as old as Chameleon. His bodyguard loomed ominously over the man, dressed all in black with red trim. The dark clothing hadn't faded over the yahrens, and the metallic insignia of the Scorpia Militia glowed like it had recently been shined. Starbuck met the man's gaze and noted a pair of eyes he had seen before, the hard evil glint of the notorious group of mercenaries from Scorpio. Starbuck eyed the guard, noting that the man kept one hand inside his jacket pocket attempting to conceal an illicit laser.
Starbuck broke his eyes from the mercenary when the brute at the door deftly ran his hands up the warrior's back and down his sides searching for weapons.
"Only weapon I have is my charm and good looks," he said trying to let the bruiser know there was no need to manhandle him.
"He's good," the brute said to a man at the table. Starbuck gave the table another scan, noting there were already seven men seated. There would be eight at the table including himself and close to double that in the room. Not an ideal situation, but he knew it was too late now to back out. He swallowed and put a friendly smile on his face as he reached a hand out to offer to the man at the right of his empty seat a handshake.
"Good evening, gentlemen. I hear there's a card game?" The men around the table didn't respond and Starbuck looked to the large man who had let him in the door. The brute nodded towards the table. He'd come too far to just head back, but he suddenly wished that he'd told someone other than Chameleon where he was going just in case he got robbed and tossed out an airlock. After loaning him at least twenty five cubits, Jolly had suggested he should come with him just in case things got too rough. He should have taken him up on the offer.
Then again, he reasoned, they'd had plenty of opportunity to ambush him in the maze of corridors he'd just negotiated. He had made it this far with all his cubits.
The bruiser pointed to the empty chair and Starbuck took the seat as he cast a quick prayer to lady luck. "I don't care if I win, just let me make it out of this room with all my fingers and toes. Keeping most of my teeth and my pretty face would appreciated as well."
He felt vulnerable in his civilian clothes without a blaster by his side. He wasn't carrying anything except an igniter for his fumarellos. Chameleon had insisted he wear something other than his uniform as it might make the proprietors of the gambling den nervous. But the same close he'd worn on Serenity now made him feel like an easy mark. He plastered on a confident smile hoping to ingratiate himself and avoid any conflict.
"I was invited by Chameleon."
"The name's Silenius. You have the buy in?" The dealer asked as he rippled the cards in an elaborate shuffle.
Starbuck reached into his jacket pocket and tossed the bag of cubits on the table. Silenius opened the drawstring and smiled as he counted out the coins. "Looks all there. We play standard pyramid. There will be seven rounds before the finale. If your cubits last long enough, we'll play the final round for the real prize."
"Sounds good. Starbuck's the name." He nodded to the men around the table.
"We know who you are. It's the only reason why you are here. If you were any other warrior, you wouldn't have made it off that shuttle."
"You do take your cards serious." Starbuck winked as he accepted the chips counted out to him.
The dealer chuckled, which seemed odd as Starbuck's joke wasn't that funny.
They didn't waste time with pleasantries or introductions, just a nod around the table as a form of hello, then they got down to playing. The seven other men at the table, like himself, were more interested in their cards than with each other. Starbuck was the youngest one at the table, but not the youngest in the room as one of the bodyguards only looked a yahren or two over eighteen. But those around the table had some wisdom to them, half with white hair, the one next to the dealer wasn't gray haired as he sported a bad weave on his head, and three others were dark haired, but still had a good twenty to thirty yahrens on him. All of the players had extra weight on them, a sure sign in the current fleet that they had money to afford more food than the standard rations allowed.
With the first deal and bid, he knew he was in for a good game. He had begun to be bored with the games on the Rising Star. The other players there were too predictable and the dealers knew him too well. Bets would stay small and he could bluff too easily. It was no fun to play when everyone folded the moment they thought they might lose more than two cubits.
This game was more like the tournaments he'd sat in at chanceries in the Twelve Colonies. The bets didn't become outrageous in the first round, but they were more than he made in a secton. After the first hand, he was offered some cheap ambrosia that he was pretty sure they brewed in a turbowash in the back just today and a fumarello that was more rolling paper than tobac, but he wasn't here for the drinks. He was here for the cards and the first hand had been wicked. He'd lost to the man to the left of the dealer, the one with the fake hair, but the other man's hand was only slightly better than his own.
He sipped at the ambrosia grimacing at the taste as he watched the other players, looking for their ticks and their tells. He purposely lost a hand or two just to see how the others played and how high the pot would go. They kept the bets within the limits of the buy in. The pot grew, but everyone seemed to win a hand or two as they felt each other out.
They were experienced players, executing decent pyramid faces and reading each other as much as they read the cards. The old man who came with the Scorpio guard had a bad habit of chewing on his mustache while he calculated odds. The man to his left tapped a chip when he thought he had a good hand, and the man to his right sweated when he bluffed. The guy with the weave would reach up and adjust the rodent on his head when his hand was weak, and the guy with the body guard who barely shaved would rearrange his cards as he calculated odds, once or twice if a good hand, several times if it was bad.
It was least a centaur of feeling each other out before they got down to real cards, then the pot climbed. Starbuck won as much as he lost, breaking out even on the first round.
Things became serious for the next round. Thus far it wasn't anything like he'd been promised. On the second round he won about as much as he would on the Rising Star. But as they began the third round it was as if by some silent agreement, they all started to play hard ball and the pots rose.
He lost the third round, but still had more than he came with so was able to join the fourth round, where lady luck smiled on him and he doubled his stake. By the start of the fifth round, the player to his right had dropped out, depleted of enough cubits to make his ante. It was a relief as the man's sweaty odor was overriding the smell of cheap fumarellos in the room.
"Too bad," the dealer had said to him as the cards were revealed. "Anax will see you out the door and to your shuttle."
The man grumbled loudly as he left the table. The dealer called out to the him before he left, "Remember, you complain to anyone with some authority you'll be needing cubits to buy new teeth and some crutches."
The man wiped at a bead of sweat on his brow as he said, "I'm not stupid. I just wanted to at least get a look at the prize."
The dealer held up the next round as he stared the man down. "You know that will cost you more than you have. You lost fair and square. You can try again next secton, just like you did last secton. The prize will still be here."
"Not if I win it," Starbuck boasted, grinning to the others around the table. His smile faded at the menacing looks he received in return to his joke. "Easy gentleman, it's just a friendly game of cards, right?"
The sweaty man ignored him, pleading again with the dealer. "I just wanted to get a look. You have my buy in. You let me look before. Can't I at least see what I lost?"
"Get him out of here," the dealer growled to a big burly bouncer at the door. The brute took a step towards the sweaty man who held his hands up as he took a step back.
"I'm leaving. I know my own way. I'll be back next secton. Save my place."
"If you have the cubits and can keep your mouth shut, there will be a place for you." The dealer said shuffling the deck, fanning the cards into an elaborate bridge, before shuffling again. He didn't begin to deal until the man had left and the door closed.
"Do I need to remind all of you about the rules of the game? It is by invitation only. You talk to anyone about our arrangement, and you are barred from future games. You share my name with any of the authorities and your name will be revealed as well. Just like on a sailing ship of old, I go down and you all go down with me."
The words sounded off to Starbuck. This was just a card game, unauthorized by the gambling board of the Rising Star, but so was every card game he played in the bunk rooms on the Galactica. Games weren't something that normally gained the attention of the fleet security unless a fight broke out. Then again, he didn't normally win more than fifty cubits, let alone needed a hundred just to buy a seat at the table. He'd managed to get close to five hundred to bankroll his hands. He had a lot to lose, and plenty of people he would owe for close to a yahren if he lost it all tonight. The house would rake in close to a thousand cubits by the end of the night and he doubted all the tables on the Rising Star made that much on a secton's end.
The dealer held up handing him his first card for this hand, waiting on Starbuck's assurance that he would be keeping his mouth shut about this gambling den. Starbuck put on his most charming smile as he spread his hands wide.
"No worries. Besides, I don't want to share the pot with my friends. You can count on me to keep this to myself."
"If you don't, you'll have Anax to deal with." Silenius nodded to the bruiser by the door who cracked his knuckles loudly. The man was twice the size of Jolly. "Chameleon vouched for you. I'll make him pay too if you talk."
Starbuck held his grin. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm not looking for trouble, just a card game. As long as everything stays honest and those cards aren't marked, we don't have anything to worry about."
Silenius nodded. "A fair game is what we offer, but it's the pot that everyone wants."
"They may want it, but I'm the one who's going to win it." Starbuck winked to the man. "Let's play."
This wasn't Starbuck's first rough game, but it was the first since the destruction. He was on a random ship in an uncharted part of space. This was probably not his brightest idea, but he was in too deep now. He didn't think they would just let him walk out now. He was distracted and lost the next round, barely lasting until the last hand, losing by the turn of a card. He cursed at himself to clear his mind and stay alert. He had one more round to go before they got to the big pot.
He stayed focused for the last round, eliminating two more players before he eased up and let the man from Scorpio take the final hand. He'd appraised the man, noting that when he won, he became over confident and made bad decisions with his cards. Starbuck wanted the man feeling like a winner so Starbuck could make him a loser.
Unlike the sweaty guy, the two eliminated players that round were allowed to stay to watch the grand finale. He suspected that was because the men had friends still at the table and could contribute what cubits they had left to help their friends win the big pot.
"Here we go, the grand finale. Ante up."
He tossed his chips onto the pile and evaluated his hand, asking for two cards before he considered the other players, calculating the odds of his hand by the expressions on the other player's faces. Several were distracted, and the man from Scorpio was on the edge of his seat. The pot began to climb, but luck was on his side. The cards fell his way and the pot was nearly up to three thousand cubits, enough to maybe buy his own ship. He could be a captain and command his own fate. He took a long drag of his fumarello, choking on the cheap tobac as he motioned for another card. The man from Scorpio raised his bet by four hundred cubits. Starbuck's card came to him, and he called waiting for the others to meet the pot. As they flipped their cards, he let the smile on his face grow. It came his turn and he flipped over the card, a full pyramid.
The man from Scorpio cursed loudly.
Starbuck leaned over and began raking in his winnings, more than he could fit in his pockets.
"You are the lucky winner tonight." Silenius congratulated him as he waved over to Anax. The burly man opened the door and left the room. "You don't need to gather it up. We'll take care of that for you. Your prize is on the way."
"I thought this was the prize." Starbuck said, still raking in the cash.
"Very funny," Silenius answered. "I was told you were a jokester. I didn't think you'd be interested in our kind of game, not with the rumors of all the women you manage to be seen with, but then we all have a respectable image to uphold, don't we?"
Starbuck didn't understand what the man meant. Sure he had a reputation as a ladies man, but lately it had just been Cassie and he's hardly call his public image as respectable. He kept his focus on his cubits, stacking them up and starting to stash them in his bag when he heard the door behind him open. He cast a quick glance to the bruiser at the door. If there was going to be trouble, it would come now as he was trying to leave with his winnings.
He saw someone with the brute, someone in white and he looked back to the table to make sure no one was reaching for his cubits before he turned back to make sure he saw what he thought was there.
It was a girl in a slip of a dress. She was a beauty with long blonde hair flowing in waves to her waist and wide blue eyes, or at least she would be gorgeous when she came of age. With her soft skin and slim waist lacking curves, the girl looked no older than twelve, maybe thirteen. She looked tiny next to the huge lummox. Her baby blue eyes scanned the room in terror. Starbuck followed her gaze like he was its wingmate, recoiling at the wolfish grins on the other men's faces. The girl's eyes fell upon him, before she looked down blushing.
""Here's your prize. Isn't she a beauty, gentlemen?" Silenius gestured towards the girl.
Before Starbuck could ask if this was a joke, the dealer began to detail the conditions regarding his prize. "She's a little shy at first, but that's half the charm, isn't it? Tell him your name, sweetness."
She trembled and wrapped her arms around herself before looking up to him. Her small chest rose as she tried to breath. Her voice was a soft whisper as she said, "Aphrodite."
"That's right," Silenius said, "the goddess of love. She knows what to do, even though as you can see, she's young enough for you to teach her a thing or two."
The men around the table chuckled knowingly. "I taught her most of it," the man from Scorpio said smirking at as he eyed the girl. The young gal blushed an even deeper shade of pink and a barely detectable shudder ran through her slender frame.
Starbuck quickly understood what Chameleon had meant when he said this game was out of his league. He didn't expect Starbuck to actually enjoy the winnings. He expected the decorated pilot, warrior of the centaur and pride of the Colonial fleet to take the pot and save the girl. Those blue eyes, wide with fear, left him with no other option. He stood up, taking a step towards the girl, and she cowered away, backing up into the bruiser who had ushered her into the room. The dealer chuckled before he began to explain the conditions of prize.
"You get three centaurs to do pretty much anything you want as long as you don't leave any permanent marks. We have a room set up for you to enjoy your time."
The girl looked up to him, her large innocent eyes begging for him to rescue her from these monsters.
If only he could. Starbuck was suddenly conscious of how many large men there were in the room. He quickly scrapped his first plan of just grabbing the girl's hand and walking out the door. That wasn't going to be an option. He scanned the room noting the leering grins on the other men's faces. They had all known what the real reward was this evening while he'd been clueless. All the passwords and complicated directions now made sense. What they were doing here wasn't just illegal, it was morally wrong on all the twelve worlds.
Starbuck's stomach churned the cheap ambrosia and he swallowed down the bile at the thought of these old men alone with the girl in a room for centaurs.
He thought fast. "So, she's mine to do with what I want, right? What if I want to play cards?"
A quick flash of relief washed over the girl's features, but fled just as quickly as Silenius answered his question.
"If you want to sell off your time with the girl with the other players, that's up to you, or you can put her back in the pot. I'm sure the gentlemen would like to play a few more rounds."
"No!" He reached for the girl and abandoning rest of the cubits on the table. "The prize is mine. I'm not sharing her."
The dealer chuckled as Starbuck looked down into the girl's wide frightened eyes. "How old is she?" The man didn't answer him still laughing, so he spoke to the girl, "How old are you?"
The girl shook her head and looked down as Silenius finally answered, "As young as you want her to be. How young do you like them? It will cost you quite a bit more to go below the teens."
The words penetrated Starbuck's thick skull as he thought, "Frak, they have more than this one. I have to do something!"
He lookedup to the brute that had a hold of the young gal, took in his large arms, big meaty hands, a nose that had been broken more than once. The bulge in the man's jacket indicated he was carrying more than some coin in his pockets. Taking on the bouncer just wasn't an option, not if he wanted to live.
"So what will it be, this one, or keep playing for a younger model?" The dealer asked.
Starbuck looked back down on the young gal noting that they had made an extra effort to make her look young, adding just a hint of a pink to her lips and the makeup around her eyes, lined to make them even bigger. They'd kept her thin to enhance the appearance of youth. He had to do something. He threw a flirtatious smile upon his features as he reached out slowly with a finger to pluck a lock of her hair, running it between his fingers. "So soft," he murmured, "Hard to believe it is real. How did I get so lucky? This can't be real."
She looked up to him again with her big eyes, so much like a hare in the sights of a falcon. He winked, and she stared at him in confusion.
"So sweet, it has to be an illusion," he said trying to convey to her a message that she should play along, but he meant none of it. He didn't think she understood as she trembled again.
Turning back to the dealer he answered the man, "I can't afford anything younger this time, and this one is a beauty, so I think I'll take my prize." Starbuck said "Quite a prize." He turned back to the girl, reaching out for her and gently pulling the girl away from the big brute guarding her. Slowly, Starbuck leaned down, planting a swift kiss upon her lips before he pulled her into his arms, whispering in her ear, "Don't worry. I'll save you."
He pulled back giving her another wink before putting his arm around her and pulling her close. He tried to ignore the girl's shiver as he wrapped an arm around her. "I got lucky tonight. Who knew my luck could be so beautiful? Take me away to paradise," he said to the bruiser at the door. The sound of lecherous chuckling followed him out the door and he quelled his own shiver of revulsion.