《Through the Stars, Darkly》29. Where our heroes' odds turn
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As the ship shot through the stars, Kaine sat quietly next to Val. Though he was glad the AI was back, he couldn’t help but feel like it had been too easy...
No, he reminded himself, not an AI. He still had trouble wrapping his head around that one. While it was technically doable, it baffled his mind that anyone would want to do something like that.
The guy couldn’t eat anymore, couldn’t walk around, couldn’t feel the touch of a breeze against his skin... He glanced at Val. Or another type of touch, for that matter.
His eyes went back to the screen.
But he was concerned now that Nim might not be quite the same anymore. On the other hand, he wasn’t quite who he had been even before that, so what was a little more change?
“Why so glum?” he heard Val ask.
He straightened in his seat and turned to look at her.
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean, ‘nothing’? You’ve been staring at the stars for an hour and you haven’t said a word since we took off. I know we only just met, but you don’t strike me as the quiet type. Come on. What’s on your mind?”
He sighed as he tapped his fingers against the armrest of his seat.
“Let’s just say I hope it’s nothing.”
“Meaning?”
“Well—”
“I am sensing a large mass ahead of us,” interrupted Nim’s voice.
“A planet?”
“Unless it’s been constructed with metal, I would say no.”
Kaine squinted at the screen, but he couldn’t see a thing.
“Must be a space station,” she mused. “There can’t be that many out here. Can you identify it?”
“I am running checks on the various signals the place is broadcasting, but—”
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“Wait, various signals? Are they hailing us?”
“No. We are still too far for that.”
“I don’t understand... Why would they be broadcasting anything? What are they broadcasting?”
“I’m not sure. I will try to capture some of the signals and re-route them to our speakers.”
“You do that.”
Kaine shifted in his seat. What could be out there? He’d never been to this part of the Imperium before.
“I thought you knew the rim well?” he asked.
“You know how big it is? It spans all around the borders of the Imperium—and the Imperium encompasses thousands of worlds. If it hadn’t been for...”
She suddenly stopped talking and frowned.
“What?”
Val glanced at him, then shook her head. “My point is, I’ve been working in a different part of the rim. It’s my first time around here. Hell if I know what’s up ahead.”
Music drifted from the speakers, surprising both of them.
“What is that?” asked Val.
“All the signals I have caught,” said Nim, “seem to produce this same message.”
“How is this a message?”
Just as she finished speaking, a loud voice boomed over the music:
“Come one, come all, and enjoy the wonders of Evenodds! Are you feeling lucky today? Then there is only one place to play!”
More music poured from the speakers as Val started laughing.
“What is it?” asked Kaine.
“All are welcome,” the voice boomed again. “All species, all currencies, all creeds, all beliefs. Come rest at Evenodds. Forget your worries, forget your pains; lose your stress, and count your gains!”
“Turn it off,” cried out Val as she wiped tears from her face.
Kaine was startled.
She grinned as she noticed his expression.
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“You haven’t heard of Evenodds?” He shook his head. “You need to get out more. Though, to be fair, I had no idea it was anywhere near Rimzana... Then again, there’s a story that it moves around a lot... Anyway, it’s a space casino. How can you not know about it?”
“As you said,” he replied defensively, “the rim is huge. I don’t know this part. I’m more familiar with Quadrant Z.”
She stared at him for a moment, then broke into laughter again.
“Are you serious?”
He scowled at her.
“What’s so funny?”
“That’s not the rim!”
“Of course it is.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, let’s just say there are parts of the rim that are not quite as isolated as others.”
“You mean like Rimzana?”
Val’s lips twitched.
“Fair enough. Though I’d like to point out that, of all the rimworlds, Rimzana is the closest to the heart of the Imperium. That’s why there are always so many Impies there.”
“It’ll be fully absorbed within a couple of generations.”
“Most likely.”
She leaned over to look at some data that was spewing on her screen, then glanced back at her passenger with a smirk.
“Alright, buddy. I know you can be a bit picky, so what do you think? Would this be a decent place to drop you off?”
“Picky? Just because I didn’t want to be stranded on a storm-ridden and forsaken world that the entire universe has forgotten even exists?” He snorted.
“Was that a yes?”
He shrugged. “I guess. There are bound to be options there, at least.”
“Alright. Then to Evenodds we go.”
She hit a dial, and the ship sped through the stars.
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