Major Brwda’ answered her briskly, “We are finding better and better recruits every year. Perhaps we are saved after all,” the major hoped out loud.
“Now we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” she countered.
“Thanks be to the Great Ranthox, we found them in time,” he replied.
“Indeed.” She switched to a monitor showing a promising one in action. “Let’s add this one to the others.”
Jaida Dale looks at her cards again. Two pair—not bad. But certainly not a sure thing. She looks at her opponents for tells. Mustache Boy throws a chip down stronger than usual. No threat. Baldy hemming and hawing a little too much.
'Hmm, a tough decision, Baldy?' she thinks to herself. ‘Yeah, right.’ “I fold,” she says nonchalantly. ‘Don’t be greedy,’ she repeats to herselfæºer ever-present mantra. The ante goes around; old Baldy suckers the rest into his trap. He reveals a full house. She has enough to pay the rent for the month. So she decides to exit the table, bidding “good luck” to the others. After taking her chips to the exchange she looks at the receipt. “That’s strange.” She looks at the bottom and it says, “Want to earn 1000 times more? Go to room 543, bring Alex if you want.” 'How do they know about Alex?' she wonders.
“Don’t be greedy,” she says softly to herself over and over, pacing in front of the elevators. Biting her lip, she calls Alex, an amateur boxer she’d been seeing off and on for three years. Always up for an adventure, he arrives and smiles.
“What is big deal?” he murmurs in his Russian accent. He looks at this strange invitation. “Worth shot.” He winks. Standing in front of Room 543, Jaida knocks on the door.
A cheerful fellow wearing a cape answers the door. “Welcome to the party!”
“Why are we here?” Jaida asks. The five others in the room all shrug their shoulders and hold up their cryptic invitations.
“Don’t know, we were hoping you knew,” answered a rather tough-looking man. “I’m Eddie, by the way.”
The others introduced themselves as well. Jaida quickly found out Eddie was a trafficker of ‘in- demand products’ as he put it. Cape Man was an aspiring magician. The three others were a chef, a day trader with a penchant for sports betting, and a con artist. The wet bar had been fully stocked and a sign told them to help themselves.
Everyone offered a theory as to why they had been invited. “This makes no sense.” Jaida said aloud. Angelo, the con artist, countered, “Well, in a way, it makes perfect sense.” He went on, “All of our jobs have an element of deception.” They pondered that. The Chef protested, “How does my job have anything to do with that?”
Angelo replied, “I was wondering that, too, you do have to fool people’s taste buds, no?”
The Chef was about to retort, but someone they hadn’t noticed before spoke.
“Almost, but not quite.” Looking directly at the Chef, the newcomer said, “You are here because ‘timing is everything.’” “Some of you are here because ‘All warfare is based on deception.’” The speaker then turned to look at the trader and trafficker. “And others are here because logistics and risk are also something to consider.”
“A fan of Sun Tzu, are we?” Angelo enquired.
Jaida interrupted, “This is crazy. I’m outta here.” Alex stopped her and said, “Let's hear his offer first? It interesting, no?” Alex said curiously.
“Well, all right,” she relented. She looked intently at the stranger, who now appeared to be a beautiful 30-year-old woman, but did not have that air about her. “Well, who are you and what do you want with us?”
“You may not believe me, but let me tell you anyway, and you can make up your own minds. If you take up my offer, you will be handsomely rewarded.” She went on, “I am Admiral Xan’tur, from what you know as the Epsilon Eridani system.”
“What the f...? one of them whispered.
“Angelo made a very astute observation. My people have evolved past the use of such concepts as deception. Unfortunately, this leaves us at a severe disadvantage when we are at war with or negotiating with neighboring star systems.”
“Ya think?!” Jaida exclaimed. “So what’s the offer?”
Xan’tur replied, “We want to hire you as advisors.”
“We would have to go with you to your planet?” Eddie asked
“No, but you would be with our fleet,” she replied.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Angelo sneered.
“No, that’s what we need you for, remember?” she replied. “I’ll give you a week to prepare. My ship is not too far from here.”
“Where’s your ship, Area 51?” Jaida joked.
“Precisely,” came the reply.
