She said, “I’ve never flown this class of craft. It appears to be well constructed.”
“It will do fine,” said Stiers.
When the portal was closed, Stiers steered the ship through the large, open doors and into the night. He took them to a height of about eight metres and they initiated the beam which would carry the minivan. Once they were locked on he took the Challenger up to 30 metres and checked his scopes for other aircraft. He planned to pass over the airport at Holmgrove which was only used by amateur pilots. There was no commercial service. He gained height slowly and moved gently as he headed towards Las Vegas and they passed over the runway and collection of RVs parked there.
Sitting outside one of them was an old couple drinking iced tea and beer – alternating between the two.
“What do you make of that, Margo?” said the old man as they looked up.
“I’m not sure,” she said and drank more tea. “Is that a Plymouth Voyager? What’s it doing up there?”
“I don’t really know,” said her husband. “You don’t normally see them that high.”
“Is it underneath something?”
“I can see some kind of odd, dull lights.”
“Is it a crane?”
“What – the bird?”
“No. A crane – like in the dockyards?”
“I don’t know. That van is sure picking up speed though. It’s almost at the mountains.”
“Maybe it’s a UFO,” she suggested.
“It looked like a Plymouth to me. Don’t often get to that height though,” he said. “It’s got me flummoxed.”
“Do you think we should tell the sheriff?”
“What – you think he could catch it in his patrol car?”
“Shouldn’t he know, Al?”
“Nope, Margo. I expect plenty of people will tell him about it.”
But nobody did. The craft gathered speed and flew on East towards the city where, if the sun ever set, it was barely noticeable. They saw the glow from miles away and began to search for their chosen spot. They had selected a landing site not far from a dirt road which, from the available information, was rarely used. Stiers took them down and allowed the minivan to settle on its springs before he released it. It rocked gently. He moved Challenger away to a point a few hundred yards distant and closed everything down except for the security systems, the chameleon cells and the cloaking device. There was not even slight ticking from the craft. All was quiet. Stiers remained on board while the others exited and walked the short distance to the van. The Captain would be able to watch events from their point of view using the micron thin cameras transferred from their suits to their civilian clothes. Others had been manufactured and supplied to Sarah, Dunfield and the Professor. Stiers could see on his screens what was happening to all of them.
Four casinos had been chosen as targets for their scam, although the Captain hated that word. Lillishenger drove Sarah and Hugh to their drop and they exited with smiles and goodbyes and an arrangement to be waiting in exactly one hour. Ogden had figured they may need that long in order to find a suitable machine. Gowan was delivered next to an older casino which still had plenty of glitter.
“It looks like a palace,” she said.
“It’s as close as you’ll ever get to meeting a prince,” said Ramirez.
He was dropped off next and the other two continued their brief journey. They were not aware that in daylight Las Vegas is a dull, dusty place that only comes alive when the sun sets. Lillishenger found adequate parking for her and Ogden and they walked into their casino together. It was crowded with lots of aisles and pretty girls walking round with trays of drinks. The place was literally a moneymaking machine that needed to turn over two or three million dollars a day to make a profit. No daylight ever entered here and there were no clocks. Once you were inside the world closed around you and hid you from whatever was going on outside.
There was a constant background noise as wheels spun and blue-haired ladies aggressively fought the machines. In other rooms there was blackjack and roulette and upstairs seasoned pros met for poker with the house taking a cut from the winner. They avoided the tempting and very cheap restaurants and changed their cash into £100 tokens for the high value slots. Ogden indicated the overhead cameras. “We had better lose some of this,” he said. “We’ll wander from slot to slot trying to look as if we’re searching for a lucky one.”
This they did, losing a token here and there till settling on an end machine. In his casino, Ramirez was wearing the chunky bracelet designed for the Captain. Lillishenger, meanwhile, was doing as she had done at every other machine and leaning close to it so her pendant made contact with the case of the slot.
“Here we go,” said Ogden and played a token. The wheels span and he received a small payout.
The chip in the pendant, barely two microns across, made contact with the chip inside the slot and began a readjustment. Ogden played again and lost his money. The same happened on his third, fourth and fifth try.
“Shouldn’t we be getting rich?” he whispered.
Lillishenger smiled. “It should work,” she said, “but it is untried.”
The next token paid out the jackpot and an assortments of bells and whistles and flashing lights heralded their success. They were surrounded by people as Lillishenger stood by the machine.
The floor manager and two aides came over, all three smiling with a passion they did not feel. It was great for business but bad for the figures when somebody won. “Congratulations,” said the manager. “You have won the largest payout that machine gives.” He signalled one of his aides to go upstairs and check the tapes of this couple’s visit. “First time here?” he asked.
“We’ve been before,” said Lillishenger. “We never won nothing though.”
Ogden was surprised at the coarseness of her accent and hoped he would not have to duplicate it.
“You’ve won big today,” said the floor manager. “If you come with me we’ll see about your winnings and I’ll try to get your rooms comped.”
“Great,” said Lillishenger. “We’ll have a try at winning some more.”
“Don’t win too much,” said the manager. “You don’t want to break the bank.”
“We’d like to try,” she said.
The Captain watched and heard most of this from the point of view of Ogden’s lapel and the Professor’s left breast. Watching several screens at once, especially in holo mode took all his attention. He saw Ramirez hunting round for a suitable screen then cursing. The bracelet, designed for the thicker wrist of Stiers, had fallen off, which the Captain saw when Ramirez stooped to recover it. It had received a knock on the side of a slot machine before hitting the carpeted floor.
Gowan was going through money without a win. Stiers spoke to here and she could hear through the microns thin speaker on the edge of her ear like a piece of glitter. “That’s not working,” he said. “Better try another machine.”
“These are quite new,” she whispered.
“Find an older one.”
He watched as she searched the room. Her money was already much lower than it had been. “Ah,” he heard her whisper. “There was a machine that was unoccupied but it was two in from the end of an aisle. “It’s not an end machine,” she whispered cautiously behind the pretence of wiping her nose.
“Take a chance,” said the Captain and she began to feed in tokens.
Hugh and Sarah came up with the jackpot at that point and Sarah’s camera image blurred as she jumped up and down in excitement. Stiers heard, “We’ve won. We’ve won,” as she enthused with real delight. He could see floor staff making their way over.
But Gowan, in her casino, was on a win also and he saw the flashing lights and heard the bells. Three successful wins so far with just Ramirez to come. Ramirez had no luck in locating an end machine so often preferred by solo gamblers. Instead he had to take one close to the centre of an aisle between a blue-haired senior lady citizen and an o
ld gent with glasses. Ramirez smiled briefly at his neighbours and fed in a token. The wheels span and he collected zero. His stomach lurched for a moment even though he had been told to expect early failure while the chips communicated. “Damn,” he thought. “This device is useless now I’ve dropped it. I should have stayed on board while the Captain did this. He’s supposed to lead from the front not from the safety of the ship.” He put in another token with the same result. Spending the money like this irked him. He found no pleasure in this place of people hopeful of realising their dreams.
“Be patient,” Stiers said into his ear. “It takes time.”
Ramirez used a sneeze to cover his mouth and replied, “I dropped the darn bracelet. It may not work.”
“The others are okay,” said Stiers softly. “Anything you win will be a bonus.”
“Can I keep half?”
“Will you spend it on whores?”
“Probably.”
“Then no.”
Ramirez chuckled to himself and fed in his third token. The machine two to his left suddenly flashed and whistled and generally drew attention to itself. He heard a loud “Whoopee” from the young man operating it and watched the floor managers begin to circle. Then the slot to Ramirez’s right, operated by the old gentleman also sounded bells as the jackpot lit up. The floor manager beckoned for reinforcements and looked puzzled. The machine that was back to back with that of Ramirez also sounded the winning alarms. The floor manager and security descended upon the two aisles but there was no hint of congratulations on their faces. The slot machine at the end of the aisle now paid out with its accompanying cacophony of noise and flashing lights. Ramirez shrugged and paid in another token. He lost and fed the slot once more as he heard Stiers say, “Get out of there quickly.”
He turned to leave but the reels stopped spinning and he too finally hit the big time winnings. It was too late to go. Security and casino bruisers had surrounded the little group. The floor manager was frankly puzzled but a quick calculation of the odds told him how remote were the chances of six machines hitting at virtually the same time.
“Close this aisle,” said the floor manager to security. “Get all these machines switched and checked.” To the clients he said, “Please come with me to the office where we can find you complimentary drinks and sort this matter out.” He smiled an unconvincing leer that chilled more than reassured.
“But what about our winnings?” asked the young man as the group was joined by a petite black girl of about 22 from the winning slot in the adjacent aisle.
“You’ll all get what’s coming to you,” assured the manager without leaving anybody feeling assured.
“We come here every month,” said the old lady, indicating the old man who had been at the right of Ramirez. “I think we’re due a win.”
“There are unusual circumstances here,” said the manager. “I’m sure you understand. If you accompany me we will sort this out quickly and get you back to the gaming floors.”
“I want my winnings,” said the young man.
“Me too,” said the young woman.
Ramirez held his counsel. All he wanted to do was get out of this place as fast as he could but there was no way of overcoming these bruisers and security guards who were already being joined by others. Stiers, who was watching the scene develop of his holo screen, said again, “Get out of there, Ramirez.”
Ramirez scratched his nose and covered his mouth. “If we had the capabilities of Star Trek you could beam me out of here. I don’t see a way past these guys. They’re all bigger than Ogden.”
“Okay. I’ll watch what happens and try to figure out something.”
“It’s hard to talk. If I keep scratching my nose I’ll wear a groove in it.”
“Okay. Don’t speak again unless you can do so safely. Uh oh. It looks like they’re moving you.”
The winners were being rounded up in a manner that merely verged on the polite and led to a lift. Ramirez tried to hang back on the outskirts but there always seemed to be two or three security people behind him at any time. He thought he could outrun them but what they lacked in speed they made up for in weight.
“There’s about ten thousand pounds of human tonnage around me here,” he whispered. “And casinos aren’t the best place for running a few laps. Too many people all standing around.”
Meanwhile, Lillishenger and Ogden had left their casino after waiting for their winnings and were walking back to the minivan. They climbed in undisturbed and drove to collect Gowan who was already waiting outside the casino front doors. She climbed in breathlessly. “A piece of cake,” she said.
“Look out for Hugh and Sarah,” said the Professor. “We’re approaching their casino now.”
“I don’t see them.”
“Nor me. We’ll pull up and wait.”
“Where are they?” Stiers asked over their earpieces.
“I don’t know,” said the Professor.
“I’m getting a little interference on their camera. Ah, now I have them. What are they doing?”
“It’s no use asking us,” said Gowan.
“No, of course not. Anyway, it seems their winnings are to be paid by cheque. Damn. No, they are insisting upon cash. They will have to wait while it is collected and counted.”
“We can’t park here forever. Shall we collect Ramirez and come back?”
“Ramirez is in trouble. Something happened to his chipped bracelet and about five or six machines paid the jackpot at the same time. Just drive around the block and I’ll keep you informed.”
Lillishenger started the engine and pulled away from the kerb. She drove slowly, making consecutive right turns. She was half way round when Stiers said, “They are being paid out now. They shouldn’t be more than five minutes.”
“We’ll get back and wait,” said the Professor and continued to drive slowly and making right turns. She was back at the casino with a minute or so to spare and left the engine running. Dunfield and Sarah appeared carrying a small black case with the logo of the casino in which, Gowan rightly assumed, was their winnings. They saw the van and Sarah waved. They hurried over and climbed in the back.
“Orders, Captain?” said Lillishenger.
“Come back to the ship while we work out what to do about Ramirez.”
“You’re the boss.”
Lillishenger drove the van off and steered a course back to the ship which was about twenty minutes away. Gowan turned to her. “What do you think has happened?” she asked the Professor.
“I have no idea.”
Stiers, who could still hear them, cut in. “The heavy boys have him and a few others. It seems he knocked his bracelet which upset the delicate settings on it. It communicated with several machines and there were lots of jackpots together.”
“That would have alerted security,” said Dunfield.
“What will be worse is when the casinos talk to each other,” said Lillishenger. “Then when they find out what happened they will look for us.”
“I’m glad we insisted on cash,” said Dunfield.
“There’s a possibility they have enough cameras linking us together,” said the Professor.
“No. It’s illegal to point security cameras onto the street,” said Dunfield. “They can only be used within the precincts of the casinos.”
“That’s a relief.”
“As long as they stick to the letter of the law. The casinos are this town and the cops do all they can to protect them.”
“Wait till 2029,” said Lillishenger. “That’s when the asteroid Apophis wrecks the satellite system. They’ll be using tin cans and string then.”
“So what do we do about Ramirez?” asked Gowan. “What a jackass, getting himself busted like this. How can we rescue him?”
“I can see no way,” said Ogden. “I fear the boy may find himself incarcerated, especially if they study his bracelet closely. We may finish this mission without him.”
CHAPTER TEN
&n
bsp; Ramirez was as happy as a three legged mouse tied to an elephant in an egg and spoon race. All the gamblers had been escorted to an upstairs room where they were enclosed with three security men. The door was not locked – the casino was anxious to avoid federal charges of false imprisonment – but two things prevented a mass escape, three things really. First the presence of a bunch of ugly guards, not one of whom had ever sniffed a flower or admired the passing clouds; second was the absence of an internal door handle on the solid door; and third was the fact that although Ramirez would be happy to abscond, the others remained convinced they were entitled to some form of payout. It was obvious senior management of the casino were being apprised of the events relating to the sudden success of these poor punters. No doubt tapes were being reviewed and images closely examined. Stiers voice came in his ear.
“You holding out, Ramirez?”
Ramirez nodded, knowing the Captain would pick up on the camera movement.
“Have they hurt you?”
He shook his head. “Not yet,” he thought.
“The others will be back shortly and we’ll work out a plan.”
Ramirez cleared his throat and put his hand over his mouth as if about to sneeze. “They’ll talk to the other casinos,” he whispered.
“We’ve thought of that. Best for you to just wait there.”
“I don’t believe I have any choice,” thought Ramirez as he studied bulges under the arms of the guards. The door opened and four men strode in, including the floor manager, another security guard and two men in suits who looked senior enough to receive silent looks of acknowledgement from the bruisers.
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” said the senior of the new suited men. “My name is Harold Kahn and I am the manager of this hotel and casino.”
“Are you going to pay us out?” asked the elderly woman.
“In a moment,” said Kahn. “What has happened here is most unusual and we need to take a close look at the circumstances of your wins.”
“What circumstances?” asked the young man. “You weren’t concerned overly when the machines kept gobbling our money. How come you’re concerned now? Don’t you believe in coincidence?”
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