Part
Seventeen
The bridge deck of the Ryo-Ohki
was nearly entirely dark, with only a single circle of light standing out in the
shadows. Six figures sat there cross-legged on the floor, gazing across at each
other intently in the almost complete silence.
Ryouko stared at her hand for a
moment, as if she could change the cards in it by the force of her will alone
before she slapped them down with a softly muttered curse. "I cannot
believe this is happening," she grumbled.
With an impish little smile on
her face Ayeka raked in the large pile of credits. "I warned you," she
said with a casual shrug, "I do not bluff."
"You have some interesting
hidden depths," Kiyone noted with a soft sigh. She hadn't been fully
cleared out just yet, but considering the card playing capabilities Ryouko
usually showed, plus Ayeka's newly revealed gift for gambling, she thought it
was only going to be a matter of time.
"I would have warned
you," Funaho said with a laugh, "if you had asked." She and
Misaki had both decided to stay out of the game, sensing there were sharks in
the water.
"I'm out," Mihoshi
sniffled. She had foolishly bet against Ayeka twice, pretty much clearing out
her available funds.
"If it helps any,"
Ayeka smiled, "there's a better gambler than I am out there."
"You have got to be
kidding," Washu blinked. The only reason she was still in the game was due
to her computer-like mind, and even that wasn't saving her.
"My friend Rhione is even
better at this than I am," Ayeka chuckled.
"Then I'm glad we didn't
have her on this ship too," Yume sighed before throwing in the towel,
"I'm out."
"One more hand so that I
can try to get some revenge?" Ryouko looked across at Ayeka with a
dangerous twinkle in her eye.
"Lets," Ayeka nodded
regally, "though you'll only be adding on to my winnings." She looked
over at Kiyone, "You in?"
"What the hell,"
Kiyone shrugged, "I'm in."
"Mom?" Ryouko looked
over at Washu curiously. Her mother nodded resignedly and Ryouko grinned over at
Ayeka, "Deal the cards."
Over on their companion ship the
Swordbreaker Galaxy Police officer Mitsuki was having a restless night.
Adjusting to another ship's clock could be difficult, especially now with their
trying to match up with the day rotations of the Earth when they arrived. With a
sigh she got out of bed and dressed, deciding to go for a walk.
'This ship is sparsely
populated, really,' Mitsuki soon noted. With the advanced systems that Washu had
installed, it could very nearly fly itself. And looking out the viewports wasn't
particularly enjoyable, as she could only see the blackness of hyperspace.
"Hey, Nicole," Mitsuki
called out, finally seeing a familiar face.
"Ms. Mitsuki," the
pink haired boy turned around to nod to her cheerfully. "How are you
doing?" he asked.
"A little bored,
honestly," Mitsuki admitted. She looked over at him curiously as they fell
into step, "So what's the story with Ruri?"
"Ruri-chan," Nicole's
eyes got big, throbbing hearts in them.
"Eeep," Mitsuki took a
cautious half step away.
"She, Rei Ayanami and Asuka
Langley were all rescued a few years ago from a band of slavers," Nicole
explained, "who were altering their captives to sell on the black
market."
"Altered?" Mitsuki
repeated questioningly.
"Hmm," Nicole nodded,
"Ruri was changed to be able to interface with any ship, at will. She
doesn't even need a control panel to fly the ship."
"And Ayanami?" Mitsuki
asked.
"They started the same
process on her, but never fully completed it," Nicole answered, "and
Langley was lucky that they hadn't started in on her yet. Minagi lead that
rescue mission personally, she was the one who got the captives out, and all
three of them are fiercely loyal to her."
Mitsuki nodded to herself
thoughtfully, having seen how the three of them had crisply obeyed all Minagi's
commands, working together like a team. "Didn't Manticore try to return the
captives to their families?" she asked him quietly.
"They did send most of the
people the slavers took back home, but the three of them asked to stay on with
the fleet," Nicole smiled. "When they found out that Minagi would be
commanding the Swordbreaker, all three put their transfer requests in the very
same day," he added cheerfully.
"A interesting little band
on this ship," Mitsuki admitted.
"One of the best in the
fleet," Nicole said proudly.
They reached the ship's galley,
and Mitsuki just had to smile at the long line-up waiting for some of Sasami's
cooking. She turned to Nicole, "You mind if I grab a midnight snack?"
Nicole laughed, "No
problem. I'll see you later."
'Nice kid,' Mitsuki though as he
walked away with a jaunty step. 'If only his gender matched the name,' she
grinned, 'Nicole would have a chance.'
"Hello, Mitsuki," she
heard someone call out. She turned in surprise to see Rhione sitting at one of
the dining tables, eating a bowl of pasta.
"Rhione," Mitsuki
blinked, "what are you doing here?"
The noble lady gave her a
enigmatic little smile, "We couldn't let Funaho and Misaki travel
unattended, so I volunteered to come along." Rhione shrugged slightly,
"And I was curious about seeing this planet Dirt, as well."
"Earth," Mitsuki
corrected her gently.
"Dirt, Earth,
whichever," Rhione shrugged, but there was a teasing lilt to her voice.
"Just don't do that when we
get to the planet," Mitsuki chuckled. She smiled, "Would you mind if I
join you?"
Rhione gestured to the chair
opposite of her, "Be my guest."
Mitsuki hesitated, not quite
sure how to ask what she wanted to. She looked over at her intently, "You
are aware this could be dangerous, correct?"
"Of course I know,"
Rhione said to her calmly. "But it's an manageable danger. Besides,
considering the luck and skill that Ryouko and the others have shown, I think
it's an acceptable gamble," she finished.
Mitsuki looked across the table
at her, taking in her almost unreadable poker-face. "You don't play cards,
do you?" she asked.
"Oh, I dabble," Rhione
said with an airy wave of her hand.
From the next table over Ruri
observed their interaction before calmly stating, "Idiots."
Asuka sighed softly, digging
into her food. "You know how unnerving that can be to people," she
pointed out, "so why do you do it?"
Ruri looked thoughtful before
answering entirely deadpan, "Because it's fun?"
"She's got you there,"
Rei pointed out softly.
"Don't you start,"
Asuka gave her a look. Both girls gave her matching cool looks, making her groan
out, "How did I get stuck with you two?"
"Just lucky, I guess,"
Ruri smiled slightly.
Rhione shook her head before
turning back to Mitsuki, "You know, I think I like her."
"An interesting group of
people," Mitsuki agreed. 'I wonder if I fit in with this rag-tag bunch,
too?' she wondered, 'And if so, what does that say about me?'
Back on the Ryo-Ohki, Ryouko
looked at her hand, then over to the calmly smiling Ayeka, trying to read what
was behind that gaze. Washu had already folded, as had Kiyone, which just left
her and Ayeka trying to win it all.
"Match, raise or
call," Ayeka said simply.
Ryouko looked down at her hand,
knowing that it was a good hand. Any other player, and she would have felt safe
with it. But Ayeka had already shown she was very good with the cards, and she
couldn't rest on her laurels.
"I'll match your
credits," Ryouko tossed the credit chips in, then a few more, "and
I'll raise you another hundred."
Ayeka nodded thoughtfully. She
dealt Ryouko then herself another card each, and then added to the massive pile
of credits. She studied her hand, then looked up to meet Ryouko's eyes. "I
call," she said to her simply.
"Queen's court,"
Ryouko lay out her cards with a smile, "or what some people like to call
the empress' hand."
"Not bad," Ayeka
agreed, "but not quite good enough." She lay her own hand out with a
smile, "The Kings's court beats the Queen's, I think."
Ryouko looked at her cards, then
at Ayeka's. "Well, damn," she said mildly. She tossed Ayeka a grin,
"I can't wait until you sit in on our games on the Washu's Revenge."
She smile became positively evil, "They'll never know what hit 'em."
Ayeka grinned back, "I can
hardly wait."
"M'love, you're
dangerous," Ryouko added with a grin. They got up off the floor together,
leaving the other gamblers laying there to sleep it off.
"Do you really think we
should have broke out the sake?" Ayeka looked over at Mihoshi and Kiyone,
who were both out cold leaning on each other.
"We still have at least a
day before we reach Earth," Ryouko said with a smile, "plenty of time
for them to recover."
"Do you think they'll be
trouble once we get to Earth?" Ayeka asked Ryouko softly as they walked
down the hallway together.
"I hope there won't
be," Ryouko said as they reached their suite, "but I'm going to be
prepared for it if it comes." She keyed their door open, and the two walked
inside.
"We know those cloaked
ships came from there," Ayeka said with a sigh, "even if we don't know
who, exactly, sent them."
"We'll find out,"
Ryouko reassured her. She looked up, "Ryo-Ohki, any messages?"
"Myah!" the ship
answered cheerfully.
"Good," Ryouko nodded,
"give us a wake-up call once we hit morning, ship's time."
"Myah, myah! Myah,"
Ryo-Ohki said cheerfully.
"I have got to learn how to
speak Cabbit," Ayeka muttered.
"She'll wake us up come
morning," Ryouko explained. "Do you want to try to get some sleep,
or..." she trailed off suggestively.
"You're insatiable,"
Ayeka laughed good naturedly.
"Me? I'm not the one who
woke me up for a quickie," Ryouko protested.
A wicked chuckle was all the
answer she got.
To be continued...
Author's Note: the card game they crew of Ryo-Ohki are playing is Poker, more or
less. I still don't know where the idea of Ayeka being a card-shark came from,
but I kind of like it.