3.40.

Major Mary Phillips pulled up to the Fuller household, parking the car in the street and looking around. She nodded at the security detail that was parked nearby with a measure of professional courtesy; they should have been expecting her and she’d certainly be expecting them. There was a deceptively high-ranking event occurring at this location tonight, and she was on the exclusive guest list.

They didn’t bother to get out of their cars, just visually confirming her identity from where they sat, unobtrusively blending into the background. That was fine; she was quite certain that there were some high-tech shenanigans going on of which she’d never detect unless she was briefed on them as well, but nothing ever beats boots on the ground. Not in her opinion.

She picked up the wooden box that contained a precious heirloom and smiled nostalgically at it. She’d truly hate to part with it, but given the circumstances, if she never saw it again, her donation would be to a good cause and the object inside would find a good home.

She knocked on the door and was greeted by Laura Fuller, who was dressed in an evening gown with beautiful emerald earrings.

“Mary! So nice of you to come! The boys are all excited for you to take their money from them,” Laura said, exchanging a polite but friendly hug with the Major. They only knew each other in passing, but given their relative positions and the ongoing shuffle of politics that they were both involved in, that might be changing soon.

“Thank you for inviting me into your beautiful home, Laura,” Mary said, smiling as she was ushered inside. “Will you be staying for the game?”

“No, no, too high stakes for me. I’m going to go out and see if I can spark a scandal by flirting with the men at a gay bar,” Laura explained. She shrugged. “If I tell them I’m looking for Tonom’s eventual replacement, do you think they’d be interested?”

Mary hid her blush perfectly. “How does Mike feel about you playing chicken with his political career?”

“Oh he’s a fuddy duddy sometimes, and other times he’s a panther who only thinks of one thing. But I’m joking, I’m joking. I’m going out with some girlfriends to watch the draumumentary on the Seeker’s famous voyage. It’s boring, but politically safe,” Laura explained.

“Well, it wouldn’t really be my decision if you were out to cause a scandal, ma’am. That’s between you and your husband,” Mary pointed out.

“Oh I’m just teasing you and him at the same time. You military types are so much fun to tease,” Laura explained.

Mary nodded, a grin on her face. “Perhaps I should introduce you to my cousin. Maybe Mike would enjoy the jarhead type.”

“Oooh,” Laura said.

The gossiped a few moments longer before Laura made her way to the waiting car and was driven off, while Mary made her way into the den of the house, at which two aliens were glaring at each other over a table covered with poker chips, potato chips, and soda.

And frumonas and one of those pink drinks that the Triumverant preferred.

“Did you start without me?” she asked.

“No no, learning game,” Tonom said. “No stakes, friendly learning game to learn rules! Tonom Genisi never play poker before! Very fun!”

Mary heard a ‘cha-ching’ in her head as she nodded and suppressed her excitement. “Where is Mike?”

“He is preparing the hors doeurvres,” Unos explained. “He said that there is a traditional sort that goes along with this sort of gathering and setting. I am looking forward to identifying them so that I might have my own chef perfect them for when I challenge Dos and Tres to this game, once I have mastered it.”

Mary nodded, a grin on her face. “It’s probably pizza rolls or something if he’s preparing them himself.”

“Whatever they are, I hope that they are tasty and easy to identify. Dos’s games at party-favors are so tiresome,” Unos said.

“I can imagine,” Mary agreed, taking a seat and pouring herself a glass of frumonas. It wasn’t served in a wine glass, but a red plastic cup, as though it were beer at a kegger. She took a sip, but only a sip. She knew how strong the drink was, despite the lack of a high to go with the potent social lubricant.

Mike emerged a moment later from the kitchen with a hot platter covered in pizza roles. He set them before his guests and smiled as they each grabbed a few pieces.

“Careful, they’re hot,” he warned. “Their filling will burn your tongue if you don’t blow on them to cool them down.”

The aliens followed his advice. As did Mary, although she didn’t really need it. Pizza rolls were a go to comfort food for her.

“So then, let’s talk about our buy in,” Mike said. He pointed at the wall, where a landscape painting decorated the den. “That’s a genuine Fairfield Porter painting. I had it appraised in preparation for the game. It’s value is marked at a little over fifty thousand US dollars. But of course the real value is the chain of ownership which I can document going all the way back to the gallery which bought it from the artist himself.”

The two alien diplomats got out of their seats to examine the painting for a moment, hmming and awwing as they examined it in great detail.

“And your people are okay with you trading away this cultural heirloom?” Unos inquired.

“We won’t be breaking any laws if it leaves Earth. The painting has been duplicated many times and exists in multiple formats, so even if it ends up in the hands of an exclusive collector the art world will continue to see its influence,” Mike explained. “I’d prefer that it wound up in some sort of museum, or whatever your culture’s equivalent of such a concept would be.”

“Yes, this is acceptable,” Unos said after a moment, nodding that he was content with the value of the painting.

“Yes yes! So beautiful! Very valuable,” Tonom agreed. He extended a palm, and the image of a spacecraft appeared in the form of a hologram above his hand. “This my buy in. Fastest space craft to be made in closest twelve galaxies. Zoom Zoom!”

“Is that all?” Unos asked drolly.

Tonom seemed put off, then he said “Five! Five of these for buy in!”

“I suppose that makes it adequate,” Unos admitted. He shrugged. “My buy in is the minority interest in a multi-system mining interest worth eight billion credits. It’s boring, but I hope you’ll overlook that because it is, simply put, a lot of money.”

Mary spit out a bit of her frumonas at the sum that they listed. A racing spacecraft was one thing, but … what was the exchange rate between the Triumverant and Earth again? She tried to do the math in her head.

“Mary? You brought something? Is okay if you not match us, Tonom Genisi will ‘spot you’ so that you can play,” Tonom assured her.

“I did bring something, but I’m not certain that it’s on the same level as what the rest of you have put up,” Mary admitted. She pulled the wooden box out of her pocket and put it on the table. “Mike said to bring something very valuable with a sentimental value attached to it. Aside from my car, which has no sentimental value attached to it at all, this is the single most valuable thing I own.”

She watched as the two alien humans examined the box thoroughly before sliding open the cover to reveal the Rolex within. She’d never actually worn it, it was a man’s watch. Her grandfather’s.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Unfortunately I’m not certain how much it’s presently worth. My great-grandfather bought it for three hundred dollars when it was brand new, but between inflation and the way that antiques go up in value as they age, I have no idea what it’s current value is,” she admitted.

“Mike-Mike?” Tonom inquired.

Mike cleaned his ear with his finger as he thought about the question for a moment. “In modern valuation on Earth, it might be worth almost as much as the painting. I’m content to say that it matches my buy in on an equal footing. Are you sure you’re willing to part with this if you lose, Mary?”

“I don’t intend on losing,” she said. “But yes. If I lose, I’ll accept the loss with grace. It’s the most valuable heirloom I have, but I’m financially solvent without it.”

Mike turned to the aliens. “Well, that’s my take. I don’t know how you’d value something that’s a wearable luxury item compared to something like a painting, so I’m not certain--”

“It is acceptable,” Unos agreed.

“Yes yes! Very good buy in! As good or better than painting!” Tonom agreed.

“And much better than a racing spacecraft,” Unos agreed.

“Says man who buys in with dirt company!” Tonom shot back with a grin.

“Alright!” Mike said. “Since we’re all agreed that the buyins are acceptable, let’s play poker!”

~~~~~

Tonom Genisi groaned as Unos set down a full house, beating his two-pair and sending him out of the game. Tonom had been on a winning streak at the start of the game, betting heavily until the others backed out of the hand. However, he hadn’t actually won many chips from the other players, who bet more conservatively as they got to know their competition.

And when Mary had finally called his bluff, she had taken half of everything he had at the table. The look on his face when she’d beaten his pair of threes with a pair of sevens was priceless. As was Unos’s look when he realized that he’d backed out when he had a full house.

Tonom was down to a tenth of what he’d started with. They had, by mutual agreement, all started with one hundred thousand dollars worth of chips. The exact valuation of the buyins when they cashed out would be a friendly discussion for the end of the night. Or possibly another time, if the game continued as long as Mary expected it to.

“You are quite good at this already, Unos,” she complimented the Triumverant man.

“It is a very complex yet simple game. The reliance on reading your opponents will make it very popular in Triumverant space once I introduce it,” he explained. “And competing with the other houses will add to its value, as we can engage in a new form of competition with real stakes but without significant risk of upsetting our careful balance.”

Mary nodded at the man’s wisdom. “If you really want to get good at poker, you should visit the casinos. Las Vegas or Reno would be a great stop, but there are locations all over the United States where gambling is legal on the land of the Native Americans.”

“I will take your advice in earnest, Major,” Unos agreed, and the next hand was dealt.

After five more hands, Tonom bonked his head on the table as Mike swept the last of his savings away. He bonked it five more times, then picked his head up with a smile.

“Do not play the game if you cannot afford to lose!” he exclaimed. “Enjoy your space ships! Zoom zoom! Tonom goes to bed now.”

“Goodnight, Tonom,” Mike said.

The others said their goodnights as well, and then there were three.

“Did he lose on purpose just to get the three of us alone?” Mary inquired once the Acklatic representative had gone upstairs.

“Nothing that the Acklatics do is nearly as casual or spontaneous as they would have you believe,” Unos said. “They hide it well, but they are every bit as calculating and ruthless as the Triumverant or the Rosanteans.”

“So that’s a yes then,” Mary said.

“Most likely, yes. Although he will never agree to it. You will notice that his buy in was the least valuable of the four of us. I honestly expected him to lose deliberately, which is why I didn’t say anything sooner, but still, offering a single spacecraft in exchange for cultural items of actual worth was truly ‘low-balling’ you Earthlings and he ought to be ashamed,” Unos said.

“I don’t think he feels shame,” Mike admitted.

“I actually did not notice that his buy in was low value,” Mary admitted. “The military would literally kill someone to obtain those spacecraft, despite the fact that they come without weapons.”

“Yes, and that is why I deemed them acceptable to you Earthlings despite their relative low value in the rest of the universe. They are factually the fastest spacecraft in the nearest twelve galaxies. But not by very much. And the wake that they make through the hyperatomic plane is atrocious! Your military might use them for fast messenger or courier ships, but they’re absolutely useless for anything else,” Unos explained.

“I see,” Mary said. “Well, the boys at R and D will still appreciate getting a few of them to reverse engineer.”

“Indeed, I’m certain you’re correct. As I said, his buy in was acceptable given the circumstances or I would not have agreed to it,” Unos said. “I rather dislike it when the Empires take advantage of emerging darkworlds who are ignorant of the value of their cultural artifacts. Mary, the fact that you did not realize that your Watch is worth more than my own buy in indicates your ignorance. I do not mean that as an insult, simply an observation of fact.”

“How does my watch stack up against the painting in the eyes of the Triumverant?” she inquired.

Unos shrugged. “It is hard to compare ‘apples to oranges’ in this context. If I win the painting, then it will go in a public display and be preserved through time for the next hundred thousand years, assuming that my culture survives that long. Tonom would likely have sold it to the highest bidder. In my case, my profit would have gone to charity and it would take centuries to see a return on investment. In Tonom’s case, it would have been worth ten more of his spacecraft on top of what he brought to the table. Your watch go to a private collector, and it will likely be worth as much as the painting when it does. Assuming that it leaves Earth in my hands.”

Mary blinked in surprise. “So you’re saying that I’m a billionaire and didn’t realize it?”

“Everyone on Earth is a billionaire and doesn’t realize it,” Unos said. “For the next three hundred years or so, every immigrant will find that their accent is worth enough to live comfortably in any empire in the universe.”

She looked at him for any indication that he was yanking her chain. “So when you and Tonom say that you want to establish migration protocols, you’re deadly serious, aren’t you.”

“Perhaps the most valuable commodity that Earth possess at the present time is the people living on its surface,” Unos agreed. “The fact that you were greeted by the Rosanteans in the way that you were is particularly offensive to every society which values your cultural and historical achievements. You will find no shortage of allies among the stars once the initial debate on the war calms down and people begin taking stances. I fear that whoever provoked this war has made a grave miscalculation.”

Mary nodded. “If they had taken earth in one of the first the battles, what would have been the result?”

“The complete annihilation of the Rosantean Empire in its current form,” Unos predicted. “Thousands of brightworlds would have been blasted into darkness, and an entire wing of the galaxy would take centuries or millennia to recover from the outrage once the outside galaxies and their arbiter forces arrived. We are very fortunate, all of us, that the Yonohoans, the Yukopans, and the Earth itself stood fast in your defense, because the outcome for the rest of the galaxy who failed to keep the Rosanteans in check would not have been much brighter.”

“I seem to remember that you played a part in the third battle yourself,” Mary pointed out.

“Why, whatever do you mean?” Unos said, sounding genuinely puzzled.

Mary grinned. “Okay. So we have allies. How do we leverage them?”

“There are thousands of smaller star nations which are simply waiting for you to pull up in their space and say hello,” Unos pointed out. “The Yonohoans play a game very similar to what I believe you should be doing right now. They call it Korjakala. You should ask them to teach you the rules, and the stakes, as I have learned to play poker. If you hurry and master Korjakala within the next decade or so, Earth is posed to replace Rosantea as one of the dominant military, economic, and political factions of this galaxy.”

Mary nodded. Then she placed her bet.

“All in,” she called, grinning mischievously at the other players. In her hands, a royal flush.

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