The Game of Luck

by Catherine Cerveny

  “You think it’s that simple? Do none of you see the truth?” Kian cried, exasperated. He jabbed a finger in my direction and pounded the virtual tabletop. I didn’t feel the boom to the furniture, but I heard it well enough. “She’s a fortune-teller from a back alley in Nairobi! She barely completed Career Design. She’s practically a nonperson by One Gov standards, and according to the records she was on blacklisted status for most of her adult life. There’s even something in her record about spending time in prison for a fertility clinic attack back on Earth. And this is who One Gov pins its hopes on? Am I the only one not taken in by this con artist?”

  Con artist? If he wanted a con artist, I had a whole family full of spooks and grifters he could poke at. Only Felipe’s arm stretched out in front of me like some kind of restraint belt kept me from jumping out of my seat.

  “Your behavior is inappropriate, Adjunct Zingshei,” he said, voice cold. “This isn’t the forum for this sort of outburst and I won’t have you say another word against a member of my staff.” He exchanged another look with Tanith, who nodded. Then, “Clean your desk out now and be prepared to be escorted off One Gov premises within the hour. One Gov no longer needs your services. Your permissions and access rights have been revoked. I’m sorry to see you go, but your attitude is not aligned with One Gov’s policies.”

  And just like that, Kian Zingshei’s avatar flashed out of the meeting, leaving an empty space at the table. I stared, shocked. Even Secretary Arkell looked surprised.

  “Felipe, was that necessary?”

  Felipe met the Secretary’s gaze. “Kian is a dinosaur, resistant to change. This is our future and I plan to embrace it.”

  Everyone fell silent. Arkell’s eyes widened. “But is this the beginning of the Consortium swallowing One Gov? Does our downfall start here?”

  “You know I’ve always worked for the good of One Gov, Rhys,” Felipe said. “I won’t see it undermined or destroyed, and if involving the Consortium ensures its survival, then I accept that.”

  Arkell’s gaze shifted from Felipe to me. “Is there anything you’d like to add, Ms. Sevigny?” he asked. “You’re closest to Alexei Petriv. Surely you know what the Consortium is planning.”

  Holy shit. For a moment, words failed me before my brain could cobble something together. “I can assure you, Secretary Arkell, Alexei is content with the status quo” was the best I could manage.

  “And what about you then?” he pressed. “Where do your feelings lie with regards to salvaging Venus? Do you feel the same loyalty to One Gov the rest of your family shares? Perhaps you’d be a better choice for Adjunct than Kian, given your passion for Venus.”

  Felipe’s hand rested on my arm, urging me to keep quiet. Fine by me. Only an idiot would open her mouth now and fall into whatever verbal trap Arkell might be setting.

  “This isn’t the time or place to air our dirty laundry, Rhys. I suggest we table Venus for a later date.”

  For several moments, Arkell and my grandfather regarded each other across the conference room table. No one said a word. Then Tanith leaned in, murmured something in Arkell’s ear, and he laughed. “It looks like you win this round, Felipe,” he said. “As you say, we’ll discuss it later. Perhaps Felicia is the Adjunct we need. And don’t think I’ve missed the irony here—maybe we need a woman’s hand guiding Venus after all. I look forward to the next progress meeting. For now, let’s call it a day, shall we?” Secretary Arkell flashed out of sight and logged out of the conference room.

  And now I was at my second mental “holy shit” of the meeting. Me, Adjunct of Venus? Arkell couldn’t be serious, could he? I didn’t want to be Adjunct of anything. I certainly hadn’t seen this in the Tarot cards. If I had, I would have raised my hand to protest.

  I turned to Felipe, about to demand answers. He arched an eyebrow and winked at me.

  “Looks like we’ve removed the opposition and cleared the way for progress. Venus is ours for the taking. Good work. We’ll catch up in two sols on Jovisol and discuss our next steps.”

  Then, like Secretary Arkell, he vanished from sight.

  I sat there, openmouthed. I had to wait until Monday, or rather, Jovisol, to clear this up? What the hell? While I couldn’t be sure of it—not yet anyway—it looked like Felipe and Tanith had just set up Alexei and me as the boogeymen to screw over their enemies.

  2

  When I opened my eyes, I sat at my desk in my office, alone and with the outer door closed. I took in the bright colors I’d selected to decorate my office, the comfortable furniture, the pretty bouquet of flowers I’d placed on the corner of my desk—using the view to reassure myself I was where I was supposed to be. Then I slumped in my chair and rubbed my temples.

  Gods, what had just happened? I excelled at card reading, but this level of political game-playing was way above my pay grade. Felipe had been the one to guide and train me, aiming me at Venus and ways to improve the planet’s situation. And now to think he and Tanith might be using me to roll over anyone in their way? No, I couldn’t believe that—not from Felipe. However, with Tanith, anything was possible. Damn it, I didn’t want this sort of garbage hanging over my head until Jovisol.

  I knew I should run my Tarot cards. They’d give me the answers I was looking for. And normally I would have been all over that, with my palms practically itching with the need to lay the cards—but the thought exhausted me. I didn’t want the hassle of laying multiple spreads to coax out whatever solution I’d need to handle this new wrinkle. Not for the first time, I wished I could slice through the Gordian knot with my metaphorical sword and move on rather than puzzle over every detail in the search for clues.

  My new implants would be useless for clue-hunting as well. Even if Felipe and Tanith had dropped hints of their plans all over the CN-net, my finding them would be this side of impossible. Basically, I used the CN-net with all the finesse of a four-year-old trying to color between the lines. The implants were the only way I could keep up in my position as Attaché to the Under-Secretary, but the interactive avatar felt foreign to me. Sometimes I got lost in the virtual world, hitting the wrong nexus-node and transitioning to the wrong realm. The Tsarist Consortium’s tech-med, Dr. Karol Rogov—a doctor of technology—who’d installed the implants had assured me I’d get better with time.

  So I practiced and didn’t complain. After all, who could I complain to? Alexei had been against the implants, saying there could be unforeseen complications. How could I explain how badly I wanted to be like everyone else in the tri-system? With his off-the-chart t-mods and genetic modifications, he could never understand. I couldn’t tell my family either. The Sevigny family came from a long line of Romani that could trace its roots for generations, back to before the floods that had destroyed most of the Earth. We were the only pure humans left, or so they claimed. If I’d admitted I’d gotten implants…Nope, not something I wanted to think about for more than zero seconds. I just had to suck it up. If the Tarot card readings started to slide, it was a price I had to pay.

  I heaved myself up from the desk, annoyed I’d spent the last fifteen minutes contemplating my navel when I should have been hustling my ass out the door. Alexei was waiting, and gods knew that while the man had a well of patience when it came to dealing with me, it wasn’t infinite.

  I pinged him a message saying the progress meeting had run late and I’d be ready shortly. Then I hurried to the private bathroom adjoining my office. I rummaged under the sink for the makeup bag I kept stashed there and pawed through its contents. When I’d finished, I gave myself a once-over in the bathroom’s full-length mirror. I looked tired and pale—tricky to do given my olive skin tone. Still, my waist-length black hair was brushed, my green eyes appeared suitably striking, and my sleeveless neon blue dress and sling-back platform heels would hold up under the scrutiny Alexei and I would endure from Mannette Bleu for the next few hours. When one of your best friends was a pseudo-celebrity who streamed every moment of her life across the CN-ne
t for the entire tri-system to consume, hanging out meant being camera-ready at all times. Since I’d spent most of my adult life embracing the role of exotic Tarot card reader, I was vain enough to admit I didn’t want to look like I’d escaped from a trash depot.

  I started at the knock on my office door. “Felicia? You in there? Hello?”

  I recognized the voice, but the AI queenmind still pinged me a visitor profile. Brody—my Knight of Cups, thinking with his heart instead of his head and always looking out for me. I cracked open the door seals to find him poised to knock again.

  “I’m here, but I’m running late. I’m out the door in two minutes,” I said, hurrying back to my desk to ram scattered paperwork and Tarot card decks into empty drawers. “What’s up?”

  “I wanted to make sure you’re okay after that farce of a meeting.”

  “I’m fine. Irritated, but fine,” I said, slamming the desk drawer closed with satisfaction. “Farce is the perfect word to describe what happened.”

  I looked up and met his green eyes, lighter than mine. Brody lounged in the doorway, watching me.

  “Think you’re going to enjoy being Adjunct of Venus?” he teased.

  “Don’t even start, because that is not happening.”

  “I hope Secretary Arkell knows that, because he seemed to like the idea. In fact, I’m amazed he didn’t trot out something truly cringeworthy, like ‘a goddess to watch over the goddess planet.’”

  I made a gagging noise. “I think I threw up a little in my mouth there, so thanks. And no, I don’t want to be Adjunct of anything. I worked hard on the Venus proposal and it annoys me that it turned into a dog and pony show at the end. Felipe better have some incredible explanation up his sleeve, because I feel like a mark in a grift.”

  “Glad to see you’re still in fighting form. I was worried when Kian started into you. He’s a vicious prick.”

  “Thanks, but I can handle assholes like him. Besides, it isn’t your job to worry about me.”

  “We’re friends and we work together. Of course it’s my job.”

  Our eyes met and suddenly the office felt too small. Hell, the whole planet was too small. I caught something in his face a little too serious to be friendship before his expression cleared. For my own sanity, I ignored it. I’d once been attracted to him, with his golden brown hair, lean muscular build, and an outlook on life that made everything seem brighter and more fun, but that had been years ago. Brody and I belonged to a different time, different place.

  “Alexei’s waiting,” I reminded him. “I have to go.”

  “I’ll walk out with you.”

  The atmosphere shifted, becoming something that existed between coworkers and friends rather than two people who used to be lovers. We left my office and headed down the breezeway that led to the elevators. Most of the desks in gen pop were empty, but that wasn’t unusual for the end of the workweek.

  “You get the feeling Felipe and Tanith are orchestrating something?” he asked.

  “I don’t need to read the cards to figure that one out. We all know Venus is a mess, and Kian kept stonewalling any progress. I think Felipe and Tanith are working on some sort of policy change, and they threw me and the Consortium out as bait. Kian took it, and now he’s gone.”

  We stopped at the bank of elevators, waiting for one of the three sets of doors to open.

  “And you don’t mind them using you?”

  “I didn’t say that, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone used me to achieve some master plan. Won’t be the last either.”

  He stared at me. “That’s a new attitude for you.”

  I shrugged. “I’ve been blindsided so many times, nothing surprises me. I guess all I care about is knowing I’m still fighting for the good guys.”

  The elevator door opened and we stepped inside. Brody might have said more if my gut hadn’t compelled me to blurt, “Hold the door.”

  Brody’s arm shot out to catch the door before it could close. He threw me a puzzled look and I shrugged. Far be it from me to ignore the dictates of the luck gene, regardless of how much I wanted to. A second later, Caleb Dekker came jogging down the breezeway.

  “Thanks,” he said, looking grateful. “I hate this time of day, when the elevators get hung up while everyone tries to leave at the same time—or I guess I should say sol now that I’m here on Mars.”

  “No danger of that now,” I noted. “With the meeting running late, looks like everyone else has headed home.”

  “Speaking of which—that was a hell of a meeting. Sorry if I stepped out of line,” Caleb said to me. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I’m a big admirer of Alexei Petriv and the Consortium’s business model, and I agree One Gov needs to loosen the reins.”

  “That’s a different line than what you’ll hear from the rest of One Gov,” I observed, all the while wondering why my gut shot little pokes of awareness. “You don’t think we should take Rax’s suggestion and exploit the competition?”

  He grinned, displaying straight white teeth. “Garwood shouldn’t be allowed in public,” he said, making me laugh. “He’s a One Gov peon right from the cradle, so don’t expect much open-mindedness from him.”

  “And you’re different how exactly?” Brody asked, the tone not quite friendly but at least not openly hostile. He’d placed himself between me and Caleb as if shielding me. It was something Alexei would have done, and I wondered if Brody realized he did it too.

  “I’ve moved around enough to know One Gov operates differently on every planet. Here on Mars, the rules are a little looser than on Earth. And Venus—don’t even get me started. One Gov holds on to Venus like it’s a rabid animal they’re afraid will get loose and bite them in the ass.”

  I laughed again and studied him. Hazel eyes. Sandy brown hair he wore a little on the long side so it curled around his shirt collar. Lean, lanky, pleasant enough features. Skin that looked like he sported a Tru-Tan. I would have put him at close to mine and Brody’s age, but now that I looked, I noted that telltale hardness around the eyes. It was a jaded look that came from having lost the wide-eyed innocence of true youth—a look you couldn’t get back no matter how many Renew treatments you had. I added a few more decades and put him closer to sixty standard Earth years.

  “You lived on Venus?” I asked with interest. “I’ve never met anyone who’s been to all three planets of the tri-system.”

  “Believe me, if One Gov wasn’t footing the bill, I’d still be on Earth.”

  “True. It’s expensive to uproot your whole life. My father lives on Venus, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard from him.” I didn’t add that before my father had left for Venus, he’d essentially thrown his hands in the air and announced he was done with Earth and all its painful memories. Julien Sevigny was an eccentric and selfish man. He was also mentally unstable, or so other family members claimed. He’d broken my heart in so many small, thoughtless ways, I tried not to think about him for the sake of my own sanity.

  “Out-planet communication to Venus can be spotty despite the CN-net’s quick-wave access. Venus has its own way of doing things.”

  “Felipe calls it the Wild West.”

  Caleb laughed. “He’s not far off the mark.”

  The elevator stopped and the door opened to the lobby. Personally, I found the lobby nothing short of breathtaking. It felt more like a grand entrance hall, promising all manner of delights. The general thinking went that if One Gov wanted a majestic head office as a symbol of its status and power, the environment needed to be as enticing as possible. People didn’t want to commute to a physical building—not when they could work from anywhere in the tri-system via the CN-net. So, if they were going to leave their homes and spend the sol in an office building, it had better be worth the effort.

  A high ceiling gave the lobby a sense of openness even as it was ringed by several balconies where people could look down to the main floor. Huge windows offered a view that overlooked Isidis Bay at the mou
th of the Utopian Ocean. I had a similar view at home, but from a different angle. The lobby had been decorated with exotic plants and intimate groupings of furniture where you could browse the CN-net and relax away from your desk. There was a coffee shop located in the middle of all those plants, and along the walls were entrances to shops, restaurants, and an on-site fitness center I’d used on more than one occasion—everything designed to ensure we used our calorie consumption points wisely and logged the mandated number of One Gov fitness hours each month.

  Right now, the crowd gathered in the lobby seemed abnormally large. People milled about for no obvious reason. Or at least no reason I could fathom from my vantage point.

  Then it hit me. The crowd…It wasn’t just people gathered, but rather women. A small cluster of about ten to fifteen women loitered in the center of the lobby, huddled in a loose group. I heard oohing and aahing from the crowd, followed by the barking of an excitable, happy dog, and then a burst of flirtatious female giggling that set my teeth on edge.

  “What the hell…” I muttered, my voice trailing away.

  Behind me from Caleb I heard, “I have got to get me a dog.”

  I felt more than saw Brody look at me. “Don’t you dare say anything,” I growled at him.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it. And it’s probably the dog’s fault anyway. Everybody loves dogs.”

  “Stop talking, Brody.”

  “Got it. Done talking now.”

  “I’m definitely getting a dog,” Caleb repeated, his tone almost worshipful.

  Ignoring them, I tamped down my temper and the raging spikes of jealousy I could never quite control whenever something like this happened—no matter how many times I was reassured it meant nothing—and waded into the mass of gathered women so I could go collect my husband.

  * * *

  In his defense, it probably had been the dog that brought on the women. One Gov’s ban on importing dogs had been lifted less than one standard year ago, so they were still rare on Mars. Seeing one was a novelty. No one would have approached him otherwise, unless she was an idiot. When he wanted to, he gave off an intense “don’t fuck with me” vibe that sent everyone scurrying—even I’d had moments where I’d hesitated. And no one could get past the wall of bodyguards around him. The man was nigh untouchable.