Investments Read Free

game to raise, but he paid two hundred for a new tile just to see where the game would go. Two rounds later, when Lord Mukerji doubled, Martinez and Terza both dropped out. The game was won by Lord Pa, who had quietly built a Tower that he dropped onto Lord Mukerji’s Bouquet of Probity.
    “Roll the bones,” said Mukerji.
    The bones made Mukerji the dealer. As he ran the tiles through the sorting machine, Marcella looked up from the table.
    “Will you be traveling to Chee, Captain Martinez?”
    “I’m Lord Inspector for Chee,” Martinez said, “so I’ll be required to inspect the skyhook, the station, and the other Fleet facilities.”
    “And Parkhurst as well?”
    “There’s nothing in the Parkhurst system at the moment but a Fleet survey vessel. I can wait for it to return.”
    “I can offer you transport on the Kayenta, ” Marcella said, “if you can leave in twenty days or so.” She turned to Terza. “That way Lady Terza can accompany you without the discomforts of a Fleet vessel or a transport.”
    Martinez was pleasantly surprised. He’d been planning on booking a ride on one of the giant transports heading to Chee— they carried immigrants as well as cargo and had adequate facilities for passengers— but Kayenta was the Chee Company’s executive yacht, with first-class accommodations and a crew that included a masseur and a cosmetician.
    He turned to Terza, who seemed delighted by the offer. “Thank you,” he said. “We’ll definitely consider the option.”
    “Are you going out to Chee yourself, Lady Marcella?” Mukerji asked.
    “Yes. They’re beginning the new railhead at Corona, and Lord Pa and I will need to consult with Allodorm.”
    Martinez caught the surprise that crossed Terza’s face, surprise that was swiftly suppressed. Terza took up her tiles.
    “Is that Ledo Allodorm?” she asked.
    Lord Pa’s blood-red eyes gazed at her from across the table. “Yes,” he said. “Do you know that gentleman?”
    “Not personally,” Terza said, as she looked down at her tiles. “His name came up, I don’t know where.”
    Martinez noted with interest that his wife wore the serene smile that experience told him was a sure sign she was telling less than the truth.
    “Shall we roll the bones?” asked Lord Mukerji.
    Mukerji doubled three times on the first three rounds and drove everyone else out of the game. Martinez realized he’d found his way into a very serious and potentially expensive contest, and began to calculate odds very carefully.
    Terza won the following game with the Six Cardinal Directions. Lord Pa won the next. Marcella the game after. Then Lord Pa, then Martinez with a Bouquet of Delights over Lord Mukerji’s Crossroads.
    “Roll the bones,” said Lord Mukerji.
    Lord Pa took another game, then Terza, and Marcella won three games in a row. In the next game, the bones rolled six, so the stakes were doubled and the bones rolled again, and this time proclaimed Martinez dealer. He discarded Two Sunsets, only to have Lord Mukerji claim it, which argued that Lord Mukerji was aiming at filling a Bouquet of Sorrows. Mukerji in his turn was dealt, and discarded, a South, which Martinez claimed to add to his East and Up to make three of the Six Cardinal Directions. On subsequent turns, Martinez was dealt a South, needing only a North and a Down for six. Mukerji claimed Four Night Winds, doubled, kept a tile he was dealt, doubled, was dealt and discarded Two Ancestors, then doubled again anyway. Terza and Lord Pa dropped out of the game during the doubling, turning over their tiles to reveal unpromising schemas.
    Martinez looked at the total and felt his mouth go dry. He received a generous allowance from his father, but to continue the game would be to abuse his parent severely.
    His contemplation of the score made him a critical half-second late when Marcella, dropping out of the game, made her final discard, a Down.
    “Claim,” Mukerji said.
    Mukerji had claimed the tile