I'd like to share with you a snippet of conversation I had before a poker tournament this morning. All poker players can relate poker to life some way, and what I said was pretty insightful, now that I think about it.

I'd been on a hot streak as of late. (Technically, it's got nothing to do with luck. I've changed my style dramatically, from a cautious style to an aggressive one. It's worked wonders for me.) Since a lot of the same players fill the poker room day after day, everyone knows whether you're running good or running bad. Tom, a player who's almost always at the casino (I honestly think he lives there: sleeps in his car and does the laundry once every few weeks. He probably lives off the free drinks and cheap food.), had gone busted. He knows I'm on the up and up, so he comes to me:

Tom: "Hey, Tomm...you're playing real well."

(Yeah, we're both named "Tom"...but my name has two M's: "Tomm")

Me: "Yeah...ups and downs...what's up?"

Tom: "Man, that Hold'em game is been eating me alive...can't hit any cards at all."

Me: "How much are you down?"

Tom: "I lost all my money. Can ya put me up in this tourney? If I get paid we'll chop it up."

("Get paid" means make it to the final table of the tournament, where the prizes are awarded. If he wins a prize, he'd split it with me.)

Me: "All right, on one condition. Tell me why you're broke."

Tom: "I told you, I can't catch a card."

Me: "Winners don't just keep in line waiting for the good cards. They draw their own line, and make their average cards into winners. I'll put you up today. But you better play to win, not to just catch cards. Get in there and make it happen. If you lose, the buy-in's on me...but you better be trying."

Tom looked a little confounded, but he let what I said sink in. I handed him enough money for the buy-in, and we went to go play.

Well, that's it. Interpret it however you want. :o)

Side note: Is it really relevant how the tournament turned out for Tom? If you must know, you can email me at KingBlingAA@hotmail.com ...but it's the message, not the story, y'know?

Chapter 15: Jake

I didn't like it at all.

It just seemed too convenient. This big-shot Yeerk just decides she doesn't want to be part of the invasion anymore, and now wants to sell them out to us? It had "TRAP" written all over it...in a lot of languages.

"How can you actually be sure she's honest about this?" Rachel asked.

"One of the main members of the Peace movement, Ampriss 765, is vouching for her. Ampriss says she's being honest. She's given me her utmost confidence," Erek replied.

We were all assembled in Cassie's barn. Erek, our alien android pacifist, came to bring this to our attention. Me, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias (in the rafters), and even Ax, in Andalite form.

I finally spoke up:

"Erek, how did the idea of 'her helping us' come out? Don't tell me she thought of it."

"No, I did."

Marco interrupted: "WHAT? You actually told her about us? Are you INSANE?"

"No, I just tossed the 'Andalite Bandits' idea out there. She doesn't know you're human...well, mostly..." Erek looked in Ax's direction.

"All right, hold on," I put my hand up. "We have a potential Yeerk double agent. She might be able to help us out a lot, or it may be the end of us..."

"Jake, I swear, she's honest about this!" Erek exclaimed.

"...So we need a vote. We can see what she has to say or we can tell her to get lost. Well?"

Cassie was first to speak. "Well, if she's as honest as Erek says she is, how can we really turn her down? We can't let her attempt to help us pass us by. Let's meet her."

Rachel responded. "This is just asking for trouble. That Yeerk will probably sell us out the first chance she gets. I say let her fight them on her own."

Marco was next. "This thing stinks to high heaven...but we'll still shorthanded in the Earth vs. Yeerks game. We need all the help we can get, so I vote for meeting her...but don't say I didn't warn ya."

My last experience with a Yeerk "celebrity", I'd like to forget, Tobias added. But really, can they really all be bad? After all, that "Aftran" that Cassie met turned out okay. We can't just write off a whole race, even if they live by taking over other people, just because their leaders are crazy. We should meet her.

"Exactly!" Cassie exclaimed.

"What do you think, Ax? Your vote matters here."

I, as always, will follow my prince. But I have heard of this Forsil. She's slaughtered a lot of helpless Andalites and Hork-Bajir. She is a ruthless killer. I believe we should "leave her for the mother loving rats".

" 'Leave her for the mother loving rats?' Where'd that come from?" Marco wondered. "Been watching Dirty Harry?"

"Full Metal Jacket" actually. It was on last night. Tobias said.

My turn to speak. "Okay, we have three in favor, and two against. Rachel and Ax, I understand your concerns, but you both know we need every edge we can get in this fight. So I'm voting to meet her. Erek, you have our decision."

Erek sighed in relief...if androids like him can actually do that. "Great. When would you like to meet her? She can be available at any time, and I mean any time."

I responded: "Well...tomorrow's Saturday..."
Chapter 16: Jay

Why a public park? It seems so lame. Why couldn't we just do it in a back alley or something? I wondered.

It's where they wanted to meet. So we're going to be good and do what they say.

We were sitting on one of those double-sided park benches...where people can sit back to back. Turns out, that was a relevant request.

After a few minutes of wasting time via staring aimlessly at the clouds, he came.

"Do not turn around. Ound. Face forward. Erd."

"I gather you're my appointment for this afternoon? The visitor from out of town."

"Correct. I am here to hear what you have to say. Speak, and be quick. Ick."

My poker instincts make me wonder why someone does anything unusual. If you know the reason, you might make (or save) a lot of money.

I wonder why he's mincing words...

Who knows? An Andalite should be able to do speech easily. Forsil replied.

"Very well. I heard you and those you represent can use a little help in their endeavors. I believe I know of a way to help you."

"Such as? Azz?"

"My name is Forsil 326. No doubt you've heard of me."

"Yes, the butcher of the Battle of the Hork-Bajir. Eeer. Explain to me why I should trust you. Ust."

"I've decided to do something for the Hork-Bajir people I worked so hard to enslave. I'm going to emancipate a few, and turn them over to you. I think you can find a place to put them."

"Continue. Inyoo."

"I am responsible for training a new attachment of the Blue Band Hork-Bajir force. Our training area is here," Forsil said as she tossed a Post-It note over my shoulder. "I believe they may have a training accident. No survivors."

We heard the sound of him unraveling the piece of paper. He hesitated.

"The time of the scheduled accident is on the note. Are you interested? Ested?" Forsil said, with a bit of a smirk.

He had no immediate answer for our sudden stammering. After a few seconds, he finally said:

"I believe we can attend your scheduled accident. In one minute, you may leave. Eeve."

He walked away, although I couldn't see him do it. After a minute, we headed off too.

You think this is gonna work, Forsil? Isn't what you're planning a little...well..."massacre-ish"?

If there's one thing I know from my life's experiences, there's only one thing you can do about the dead.

What's that?

Make more of them.
A/N: he Voices chapter is next. It may take a while to post, due to its importance. Patience is a virtue :o)

Peace.