| Story |
 
|
(Page 2 of 2) War Games by Steve Jones -B5 Arny had played a few times.
He was showing a Nine and Seven of diamonds and the Seven of hearts. She had a Nine and Jack of spades and an Ace of diamonds.
"If you fold," he offered after looking at his down cards. "You'd only have to be my servant for a year."
"If you fold," the Libby countered. "We could take you to a P.O.W. camp. Another card?"
He nodded. She dealt the King of spades to him and the Queen of diamonds to herself. She discarded the Nine, he dropped his as well.
"Another card for an answer?" the Libby asked.
"Depends," Arny said tersely. "What's the question?"
"Your E.M.P. also contains explosives," she said. "Enough to blow you in half. Do you also have human enemies?"
"I don't want all of you to know," Arny said.
"I was dropped from the interface when this game began," the Libby said. "I contain no military intelligence."
"Smart," he said. "Okay, my previous employers think I'm dead. If they found out I was alive my life wouldn't be worth living."
"Why?" She asked.
"Different question."
"Fair enough," the Libby said and dealt a Three of clubs to him, which he discarded, and a Ten of hearts to herself. She threw out one of her down cards.
"P.O.W. camp?" he asked, looking at her possible straight.
"We'll get you there relatively unscathed," she promised.
"But I'd lose my rifle," Arny said decisively. "Are we ready?"
The Libby turned over her remaining card, a Jack. She had a pair. He turned over two Kings to show his full house.
"You win," she said.
Arny reached down to grab his rifle, wondering whether he should try to sneak her into camp or just walk right in with her. When he looked back up the Libby was holding a gun to his face. She had lied. It was the hardest thing for a bot to do.
None of the other bots were around, they'd slipped away.
"Anything for freedom," the Libby said, a tear slipped down her face.
"Figures," he said, and they died.
| |
(3 ratings)