Slots of Saturn: A Poker Boy Novel

by Smith, Dean Wesley

  “Ambulance and police are here and ready and standing by outside,” Johnny said, coming down the aisle from the direction of the entrance.

  Tech held up Johnny’s watch. “Timer ready.”

  I nodded. I had had Johnny give him the watch because I had a hunch that when Geneva came out it was going to be painful to Johnny again. Keeping exact timing on this was going to be critical.

  Samantha was standing beside the pile of tarps where we hoped people would land after Screamer pushed them out of the chair. She was ready to help, and looking just about as scared and nervous as a person could look. I didn’t blame her. Her husband’s life was at stake. If this didn’t work, he was going to die an ugly death right in front of her.

  Screamer moved over and stood behind the old wooden chair that people were going to materialize in. His job actually was going to be the hardest. He needed to push each person out of the way after they had materialized, but before the next person showed up. That was going to be a very physical and rough thing to do, and he was going to have to do it with exact timing.

  I moved over to stand beside Screamer facing the colorful slot machines. The image of Saturn dominated everything, demanding that I sit down and just play. The blinking colors, the bright lights were very, very strong draws.

  Patty moved up to my left and took my hand. The feel of her wonderful skin against mine allowed me to push the attraction of the machines back into a corner of my mind and away from any bother. Now, instead of looming over me, they were just old machines with a nice design. The feel of Patty’s skin against mine was the focus for me.

  I reached out with my right hand and grabbed the thin black belt that Screamer was wearing, holding on squarely in the middle of his back. It was the best way to keep in contract with him without restricting his movements in any way.

  “Ready?” I asked Patty.

  “Ready,” she said, squeezing my hand.

  “Ready Screamer?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” he said.

  “Johnny, tell Geneva we’re set to go.”

  Johnny nodded. Then a moment later he said, “Now.”

  “Clock started!” Tech said.

  I focused on my power as Patty slowed time around us. I needed to be ready to stop time completely if Patty signaled her power was slipping in any fashion.

  The next three seconds slid by very, very slowly in Patty’s control. Tech and Samantha and Johnny were all outside Patty’s influence and moving like a bad slow-motion video.

  Slowly Johnny’s hands went to his head, as if he had felt a very sharp pain.

  Then, in front of Screamer the air started to shimmer.

  A vague outline of Geneva started to form, filling in moment by moment in what seemed a very quick time in our slowed-down universe.

  Then she was there, fully. Her back was to Screamer, sitting just as she had been when she had gone into the machine.

  Screamer, reacting as fast as he could, took her by the shoulders and tipped her out of the chair and onto the tarps. She fell slowly, just as another shimmering started in the chair.

  That was close.

  Very, very close.

  If Screamer had hesitated at all the next person would have started to form where Geneva sat.

  I glanced at Patty. She wasn’t watching, but instead had her head tipped back and her eyes closed. Her grasp on my hand was firm and solid.

  A middle-aged woman shimmered into shape and the instant it was clear that she was all there, Screamer shoved her sideways and out of the chair.

  She was barely out of the way and hadn’t yet landed on Geneva when the shimmering started again.

  Three people in less than one second was almost too fast for even Patty’s slowed time. It was very lucky for us that Screamer was reacting as quickly as he was.

  Ben, the man Patty and I had watched disappear on the Horseshoe surveillance tapes shimmered into place. Screamer took no chances and shoved him instantly out of the chair and onto the pile of tarps with the two women.

  “Slipping,” Patty said, squeezing my hand.

  I froze time and then said, “Clear.”

  Patty took a deep breath and looked around at me, then at Screamer and the three people twisted and frozen in place on the pile of tarps. They looked like a twister game gone terribly wrong.

  “We got them?” she asked.

  “We got them,” I said. “But I wanted to have us stay in control of time to make sure no one else was coming.”

  Screamer nodded. “Make sure the three-payout setting was right. Good thinking.”

  “Good work on your part,” I said to Screamer. “Even with time slowed they appeared faster than I expected them to.

  “Me too,” Screamer said.

  Patty took another couple of deep breaths, then said, “I’m ready.”

  I wanted us to go another five or so seconds to make sure no one else was coming, so when Patty nodded, tipped her head back and closed her eyes, I slipped us out of between time.

  On the mat the three people there were still moving and reacting to being shoved and tangled together, just very, very slowly. It would have made a really funny home video on one of those stupid television programs that made money out of people making fools of themselves.

  I had also gotten just a glimpse inside each of their heads as Screamer pushed them aside, but I ignored that.

  But the good thing was that all three were awake and alive and moving. And slowly Johnny and Samantha were bending down to help them.

  The look on both Johnny and Samantha’s faces was something else. Now I can honestly say I have seen pure joy.

  Slow motion joy, but still pure.

  No one else was materializing into the chair, so I finally squeezed Patty’s hand. “We’re clear.”

  She let us slip back into real time.

  “Tech, watch that time closely,” I said.

  Screamer, Patty, and I stayed in positions as Johnny picked up Geneva and hugged her like I had never seen anyone hug before. She was going to be lucky to not have a few cracked ribs.

  Samantha seemed to do the same for Ben, holding him and crying.

  The other woman, clearly the tourist Geneva had seen being taken from the Mirage, sort of sat there on the tarps watching the scene around her, then glanced up at the Saturn Slot Machines with a look of horror. “Was I in there?”

  “You were,” Screamer said. “But you’re safe now.”

  The woman scrambled off the tarps and away from the machine.

  “Welcome back, Geneva,” I said after letting them hug for a few more seconds. “How are you feeling?”

  “Headache will pass,” she said. “And I know what to do to help.”

  Samantha let go of her husband and turned to us. “Everyone, this is Ben.”

  The poor man sort of nodded, then glanced at the machines and stepped back in horror, just as the woman on the tarps had done when she moved away from the machines. I was betting that the people who had been taken were never going to sit down at a slot machine again.

  “How long?” Patty asked Tech.

  “Seventy seconds,” he said.

  “Johnny, get this woman out to the ambulances to be checked and then get back here,” I said. “Samantha, you want to take Ben out as well?”

  “I’m fine,” Ben said, “What can I do to help?”

  Samantha gave her husband a hug and a huge smile.

  “Help Samantha and Johnny and Geneva get the people who are coming out of the machine to the ambulances and police.”

  “Understood,” he said.

  Johnny took the frightened tourist by the arm and headed her away from the ghost slots toward the door to the warehouse, introducing himself as he went.

  Geneva, Samantha, and Ben stayed.

  “Thirty seconds,” Tech said.

  I turned to face Patty, who was smiling all the way through her eyes. That smile of hers melted me every time, and it started to do it again when Tech said, “Fi
fteen seconds.”

  The melt of my very soul froze and I asked her, “You ready for another three?”

  Patty took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Ten seconds,” Tech said.”

  Patty squeezed my hand, took a deep breath, and tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

  “Five seconds,” Tech said. Then as we had practiced, he started counting down.

  At three seconds Patty slowed time again.

  What seemed like a long three seconds later a shimmering started in the chair, right on time.

  Three out, almost a hundred left to rescue. It was going to be a long, long grind, and we didn’t dare slip even for an instant. If we did, someone would die.

  Chapter Nineteen

  NO GOING DOWN WITH THE SLOT

  I DON’T REMEMBER ever being so tired.

  Over one hour of real time had passed, but with my stopping time on a half dozen different occasions, and Patty’s slow time, I wagered Patty and I and Screamer had been at this for almost three or four hours.

  So far so good.

  The closest call we had was when a very large man showed up in the chair first in a group of three. Screamer had to almost throw himself with the big guy to the mat to get the man’s bulk out of the chair. I somehow managed to hold on to Screamer’s belt with one hand and Patty’s hand with the other, but for an instant I thought the problem would make Patty lose control.

  Somehow I froze time far faster than I ever thought I could, almost like a reaction to the situation. Good to know I could do it that fast, but I hoped to not test it again.

  With time frozen all three of us moved around, together, never losing touch of each other, and got the big man’s legs out of the way.

  Then we got back into position and Patty took over control again and the next two people in that group made it out just fine.

  From there the process just went on, two minutes of break followed by slowed time and a feeling of near panic as three people appeared very quickly.

  About ten groups ago the man getting off the tarp had told us that Harry was now all alone in the main room. He had been the last one in there helping the old guy stay on his feet.

  That worried us all, especially after Geneva had told us how tired and worn out Harry had been. But the next group, and then the next had appeared on time, so it looked like old Harry was hanging on.

  Over the last few groups, Patty was having more and more problems, and I had had to stop time twice in both groups to give her a rest. She was getting tired, and I was getting very worried at both of our abilities to keep using our superpower in such a sustained way.

  “How many left in there?” I asked Geneva as Tech gave us the sixty second warning.

  “If our count is right,” Geneva said, “And Harry’s count was right, Harry should be the second one out on this next group and that should be it.”

  “You’re kidding?” Patty said. I could hear the relief in her voice.

  “We’re close,” I said, squeezing her hand slightly.

  She straightened her back and nodded. “Let’s do this.”

  Tech counted us down just as he had done every time before and Patty slowed time just as she had done so much over the entire rescue operation. Screamer stood ready to push just two more people out of that chair.

  But nothing happened.

  “Slipping,” Patty said.

  “Clear,” I said as I focused and froze time and let her take a few deep breaths.

  “What happened?” Screamer asked. “It’s been too long.”

  I knew that as well. Patty had held that last time slowing a good five seconds longer than what it should have taken to get anyone out of the machine. Harry had been so perfectly on time with everyone before this one.

  “We need to keep in slow time and ready,” Patty said, “in case he’s running just a little late.”

  I agreed. “Tell me when you are ready.”

  She tipped her head back and said, “Okay.”

  I let us come out of between instants of time and Patty had control. This time she held it for twelve real-world seconds, which seemed like an eternity to me as no one appeared in the chair.

  “Slipping,” she said.

  “I got it,” I said, again taking us between time.

  Near the pile of tarps Ben, Samantha, Tech, and Geneva were looking very worried, their frowns frozen for the moment.

  “Not good,” Screamer said.

  “Harry must have passed out and can’t trigger the last group,” Patty said.

  “Or he died in there,” I said.

  Patty took a few more deep breaths and said “I’m ready again. “Let’s give him ten more seconds before we give up. He’ll know not to trigger the payout without exact timing.”

  I waited until she squeezed my hand to let me know she had it and again took us out of between moments of time and let Patty control.

  Ten more seconds and nothing appeared in the chair.

  “Slipping,” Patty said.

  “Let it go,” I said.

  An instant later we were back functioning in real time.

  “I was afraid this might happen,” Geneva said. “Harry was so weak.”

  “Actually,” Tech said, “I’ll wager the machine needs three to pay out.”

  “Three minimum?” Johnny asked. “So there’s not enough people in there is what you’re saying?”

  Tech nodded. “Machines don’t pay out less than the full amount. Most of these old machines just froze if there wasn’t enough to pay a jackpot. An attendant had to be called and the machine refilled.”

  “Oh, great,” Geneva said, “and we’re the attendants to a ghost slot machine?”

  She had a good point there. We were the ones running this thing, sort of. Actually Harry was the attendant from inside the thing. And now he and some other person were trapped in there.

  “I’ll go in and get him,” Tech said.

  I stared at the kid. I hated the idea of him doing that. Hated it.

  “You can’t,” Geneva said. “No communication with anyone out here. I have to go back in.”

  “Or I do,” Johnny said as he strolled down the corridor toward the group. He had been taking the last person of the last group out to the waiting police and ambulances, although so far no one had been hurt beyond being very tired and headachey.

  “No, I do,” Tech said. “If Harry’s too weak to trigger the payout you need someone to do that.”

  “You can do it through Geneva to me,” Johnny said.

  “Or through Johnny to me,” Geneva said.

  I couldn’t believe that they were having an argument over who was going to get taken by a ghost slot machine. I had no idea how two people who could hear each other’s thoughts could even argue. That would seem to take all the fun out of fighting. Or maybe make it worse. Either way I didn’t really want to find out.

  “We can set the timing with back-ups if I go in,” Tech said.

  All three of them were willing to risk their lives to save the two people in there. It sure showed how really brave the people I was working with were. This was one amazing team that had come together to solve this problem.

  Tech, Geneva, and Johnny sort of stared at each other for a moment, then turned to me. They wanted me to decide who would risk their life, maybe lose their life, in trying to rescue the last two people inside that machine. This kind of decision was a lot rougher than trying to decide to lay down pocket kings when an ace hit the board. Or shove all my money into the center of the table on one hand that might get beat and knock me out of the tournament. Those decisions seemed stressful, but nothing like this one.

  This one the stakes were human lives, both inside the machine and facing me.

  I took a deep breath, reached over and touched Patty’s hand and then took the two of us between moments of time.

  “Any suggestions on this one?” I asked her, relishing the feel of her skin against mine.

  “None,” she said,
“other than I think it has to be either Geneva or Johnny. We need the contact with the people inside in case something doesn’t work out the way we think it’s going to.”

  “Agreed,” I said, sort of knowing now who I would pick. Just talking to Patty gave me the strength to act.

  I dropped us back into real time and without hesitating said, “Johnny, it would be best if you gave it a try.”

  “Why?” both Tech and Geneva asked at the same moment.

  “Tech, we need the contact in there in case there’s something wrong we don’t know about, not counting the timing issue. Geneva, you’ve been through that once already and seem fine. But I don’t want to push it twice.”

  Johnny nodded. “I agree, Poker Boy. “Should I go in here, or wait until the machine jumps in the morning and go in at the casino?”

  “Harry’s too weak to wait,” Geneva said. “I’m afraid he might not last until morning.”

  “Right here,” I said, sounding a lot more sure of myself than I felt. “Let’s do this and get this finished.”

  Johnny bent down and kissed Geneva hard and fast, then turned toward the machine holding up a nickel. “I’ll be right back.”

  As the rest of us moved a few more steps away from the machine, Johnny sat down in the same chair that Screamer had been knocking people out of, dropped the nickel into the machine, and pulled the handle, almost in one motion. It was as if he slowed down and thought about what he was doing he wouldn’t be able to do it.

  Over the years I had learned that jumping in fast and quick was often the best way to do something unpleasant. Of course, acting like that in a hand of poker had sometimes cost me a tournament. But other times it had won me tournaments. I hoped this time it would be a winner for all of us.

  As the first reel on the machine clicked to a stop showing a Saturn, Johnny seemed to jerk, as if getting shocked.

  Geneva bent over and grabbed her head.

  Ben and Samantha were beside her but not touching her. There was nothing they could do to help her or Johnny at this point.

  The second reel clicked to a stop showing a Saturn.

  Johnny jerked hard in the chair, not letting go of the machine’s handle.