Delay in Transit Read Online Free PDF Page B

him. It was more than he needed,
more than he wanted.
     
     
"I suggest one last hand," said the dealer-manager, grimacing. It sounded
a little stronger than a suggestion.
     
     
Cassal nodded.
     
     
"For a substantial sum," said the dealer, naming it.
     
     
Miraculously, it was an amount that equaled everything Cassal had. Again
Cassal nodded.
     
     
"Pressure," muttered Cassal to Dimanche. "The sedative has worn off. He's
back at the level at which he started. Fry him if you have to."
     
     
The cards came out slowly. The dealer was tittering as he dealt. Soft
music was lacking, but not the motions that normally accompanied
it. Cassal couldn't believe that cards could be so bad. Somehow the
dealer was rising to the occasion. Rising and sitting.
     
     
"There's a nerve in your body," Cassal began conversationally, "which,
if it were overloaded, would cause you to drop dead."
     
     
The dealer didn't examine his cards. He didn't have to. "In that event,
someone would be arrested for murder," he said. "You."
     
     
That was the wrong tack; the humanold had too much courage. Cassal
passed his hand over his eyes. "You can't do this to men, but, strictly
speaking, the dealer's not human. Try suggestion on him. Make him change
the cards. Play him like a piano. Pizzicato on the nerve strings."
     
     
Dimanche didn't answer; presumably he was busy scrambling the circuits.
     
     
The dealer stretched out his hand. It never reached the cards. Danger:
Dimanche at work. The smile dropped from his face. What remained was
pure anguish. He was too dry for tears. Smoke curled up faintly from
his jacket.
     
     
"Hot, isn't it?" asked Cassal. "It might be cooler if you took off
your cap."
     
     
The cap tinkled to the floor. The mechanism in it was destroyed. What
the cards were, they were. Now they couldn't be changed.
     
     
"That's better," said Cassal.
     
     
     
     
He glanced at his hand. In the interim, it had changed slightly.
Dimanche had got there.
     
     
The dealer examined his cards one by one. His face changed color. He
sat utterly still on a cool stool.
     
     
"You win,''I he said hopelessly.
     
     
"Let's see what you have."
     
     
The dealer-manager roused himself. "You won. That's good enough for you,
isn't it?"
     
     
Cassal shrugged. "You have Bank of the Galaxy service here. I'll deposit
my money with them before you pick up your cards."
     
     
The dealer nodded unhappily and summoned an assistant. The crowd,
which had anticipated violence, slowly began to drift away.
     
     
"What did you do?" asked Cassal silently.
     
     
"Men have no shame," sighed Dimanche. "Some humanoids do. The dealer
was one who did. I forced him to project onto his cards something that
wasn't a suit at all."
     
     
"Embarrassing if that got out," agreed Cassal. "What did you project?"
     
     
Dimanche told him. Cassal blushed, which was unusual for a man.
     
     
The dealer-manager returned and the transaction was completed. His money
was safe in the Bank of the Galaxy.
     
     
"Hereafter, you're not welcome," said the dealer morosely. "Don't come
back."
     
     
Cassal picked up the cards without looking at them. "And no accidents
after I leave," he said, extending the cards face-down. The manager took
them and trembled.
     
     
"He's an honorable humanoid, in his own way," whispered Dimanche. "I
think you're safe."
     
     
It was time to leave. "One question," Cassal called back. "What do you
call this game?"
     
     
Automatically the dealer started to answer. "Why, everyone knows . . ." He
sat down, his mouth open.
     
     
It was more than time to leave.
     
     
Outside, he hailed an air taxi. No point in tempting the management.
     
     
"Look," said Dimanche as the cab rose from the surface of the transport
tide.
     
     
A technician with a visual projector was at work on the sign in front of
the gaming house. Huge words took shape: WARNING---NO TELEPATHS ALLOWED.
     
     
There were no such things anywhere, but now there