Wizardry - The Wizardry Quested Part 6

aNothing,a she said quietly.

aOkay folks, single file and move softly. We don't want whatever's out there to surprise us.a Wiz considered leaving the light off, but he decided the danger of falling into a hole outweighed the risk of alerting whatever was in the neighborhood. With a gesture he sent the globe of light floating above them. I gotta figure out a way to make these things directional, he thought as he followed Malkin out into the room.

The room was huge. After nearly a hundred paces the light no longer showed the walls or ceiling, only the uneven, stalagmite-studded floor, glistening with moisture. It occurred to Wiz that the detector might be pointing toward their ultimate destination rather than toward the exit. If that was true they could spend hours searching for the way out and if there was more than one they could be thoroughly lost before they knew it.

Out in tile gloom was a heap of something. It wasn't rocks and it didn't seem to be alive, but aside from that Wiz couldn't make out just what it was. With a gesture he increased the brightness of the magic light and was rewarded with a glint from the heap.

At first Wiz thought the pile had caught fire. Then he realized it was his own light reflected back at them, glittering off the objects in the pile.

Another gesture and the light grew even brighter. Now there was no doubt at all what the heap was.

Gold winked yellow or glowed ruddy in the light. Gems flashed green and red and wine-purple fire. Pearls and opals threw back a soft l.u.s.ter. There were ingots and cups and brooches and rings; candlesticks and platters and coins and gems loose like marbles. Wiz even caught a glimpse of a full suit of golden armor, studded with precious stones and filigreed with enamel. All of it piled head-high in a loose, careless ma.s.s.

aLook at that,a Wiz breathed.

The others could only stare. Malkin started edging toward it, only to be pushed aside roughly by Glandurg in his haste to reach the pile.

aGlandurg! Get back here. We're not here for gold.a aWhat kind of adventure is it if you don't get the treasure?a the dwarf grumbled. aUncivilized, I say.a aBoy,a said Danny, aI always knew dungeons were supposed to have treasure, but thisaa He waved his arm in awe. June stayed behind her husband, obviously torn between wonder at the sight and distaste at his reaction.

Wiz noticed that there were no containers in the pile. No chests, no bags, nothing that could be used to transport or contain the h.o.a.rd. It was as if it had been carefully brought here and emptied out and then the containers removed.

aWhere do you suppose this came from?a aYour dark wizards, or whatever.a Malkin ran her fingers through the pile. aWhoever it was is long gone.a aYou hope,a Wiz retorted.

With a clatter and the ringing sound of falling gold hitting the stone floor, Glandurg burrowed into the pile like a homesick gopher. Suddenly his head emerged from the top, sending a shower of wealth cascading down the mound. He spat out a ruby the size of a hen's egg and grinned gleefully.

aLook, people,a Wiz said, athis isn't what we're here for.a aBut it doesn't hurt,a retorted Malkin, who was already elbow-deep in a ma.s.s of gold coins.

Danny threw himself down in the treasure; scooped up handfuls and poured it over his head. He winced when a particularly heavy and tasteless gold goblet hit him on me head. aHey, Scrooge McDuck was onto something with his money bin.a Wiz hesitated. He didn't like this at all and he sure didn't want to be enc.u.mbered by a lot of dead weight. But obviously the attraction of all that loot was an irresistible force for Glandurg and Malkin.

aWe need a way to carry this stuff,a Malkin said.

aIf you think I'm going to whomp up a levitation spell just so we can take that along with us, you're crazy.a Malkin and Glandurg looked at him.

aOkay,a he sighed, ayou can take what you can carry in a cloak.a It took Malkin and Glandurg a minute to decide whose cloak was bigger. Then they started shoveling gold, jewels and other treasure from the pile. When the heap on Malkin's cape was about three feet high in the center they stopped for breath.

aaNow try to move it,a Wiz said.

Dwarf and thief each seized an edge of the cloak and gave a mighty tug. The pile moved perhaps six inches.

aWhat you need is a cart,a Danny suggested.

aWon't work. Floors too rough.a aOkay,a Wiz said, aif it will get us moving again, I've got a spell that reduces friction to almost nothing. That will make the cloak easier to haul. But we're burying the stuff the first chance we get.a He stepped forward, raised his staff and spoke a few words.

aThere, it should pull easily now.a Malkin tugged on the edge of her cloak and nearly went over backwards when her hands slipped off the material. Glandurg grabbed and yanked and went careening into Malkin when his hands slipped. Both of them landed in a tangle on the rocky floor and glared at Wiz.

aOkay, let me modify the spell.a He drew a breath to list out the spell, but before he could exhale he heard a noise from beyond the circle of light. Something was moving out there in the dark.

aAh, folksaa Danny began. He never finished the sentence. He didn't need to.

Wiz didn't know if it was the biggest dragon he'd ever seen or not. For one thing, the cavern was mostly dark. For another he couldn't see all of it. But primarily, he was too scared to take accurate measurements. If it wasn't the biggest dragon he'd ever seen it would do quite nicely for now.

The dragon spouted a gout of flame that illuminated the cavern to its corners and left a dark smear of an afterimage clouding his vision. He tried to raise his staff to cast a spell and realized he was magically frozen in place. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the others straining to move as well. The dragon fire had been misdirection while the creature pinned them where they stood with a spell.

Its enemies neutralized, the dragon lumbered forward for the kill Wiz muttered under his breath.

Talons extended, the dragon's left front paw landed on the cavern floor and promptly flew out from under him, dumping the beast on his nose. The great muzzle slipped on the floor and left the dragon lying spread-eagled and neck extended on the glistening limestone.

However dragons are not so easily defeated. The huge talons on all four feet dug into the limestone as if it were soft clay and the beast levered itself erect. It crouched to spring across the intervening distance at its prey, but its purchase failed just as it leapt and the dragon went sprawling and slithering across the cavern. Wiz and the others watched fascinated as the dragon slid helplessly by, bit the cave wall behind them and rebounded back into the cavern like a pool ball coming off the side rail Wiz had cast the reduce-friction spell not on the floor, but on the dragon.-That not only made the dragon slippery all over, but it charged the beast to a high magic potentiala"and made every stalagmite, stalact.i.te, flow-stone and ordinary rock in the cavern repel him violently. The creature had put enormous power into his spring and lost almost none of it in the inelastic collisions. As a result a very unhappy dragon went caroming off everything he hit, and he managed to hit just about everything in the cave except Wiz and his friends.

Every time the beast struck a rock it let out a roar and a gout of flame, making the walls ring and lighting the cavern to its edges. The result was like being in a giant pinball machine during especially active play.

Finally the dragon slid backwards into a tunnel off the main cave. A quick, precisely aimed lightning bolt struck inside the tunnel and collapsed the mouth into a pile of rock Behind the landslide they could hear the faint roaring of a very unhappy dragon.

aDragon in the side pocket!a Danny whooped aAwesome.a Wiz discovered he could move again. aLet's get our awes out of here before that dragon digs himself out. Move it people!a aBut the treasure!a Malkin protested.

aMark it on the map and we'll pick it up on the way out. Now come on!a Everyone complied, but Wiz noticed that Malkin and Glandurg clinked suspiciously as they hurried down the tunnel.

There was a dragon asleep beside the fire, with only an occasional tail twitch or foot thump to show he was dreaming dragonish dreams.

It was in fact an achingly normal scene for the programmers' workroom, if you could ignore the whispering shadows outside the windows.

Jerry Andrews stared at the four screens hanging above his desk and bit his lip. As decoration they were spectacular, all neon colors ranging through the whole spectrum with annotations and hypertext finks in other glaring colors. As information they were just about use- as.h.i.t,a Jerry exclaimed, throwing himself backwards so hard his chair creaked.

The dragon lifted his head questioningly.

aMy Lord?a Moira asked as her personality a.s.serted itself.

aIt's been a long time since I've felt this frustrated.a As a hacker's significant other, Moira recognized the signs. Jerry needed a sounding board. She also knew that a sympathetic ear was more important than cogent advice. A Siamese cat would do the job nicely if it meowed in the appropriate spots.

aA difficult problem?a Jerry grinned but there was no joy in it aI don't even know enough to know thata He spun around in the chair to face the dragon on the hearth.

aNormally on a job like this where you've got a pile of observablesa"stuffa"and no paradigm, you just grab hold of anything that looks likely and see where it leads. You poke and prod at it and see what happens and eventually you can make sense out of what you're seeing. Herea"a he waved a hand expressively. aHere no matter where I grab and how much I poke and prod I don't get anything that makes sense.a He spun back around and waved at the light show above his desk. aNinety percent of this sort of project is getting inside the other guy's head. Eventually you've got to be able to see the code through his eyes, to understand a little of how he thinks. Only here, no matter how hard I try, I can't make any sense of what I'm seeing. Some of this stuff is truly elegant, some of it is a triumph of development over design, some of it is awfully crude and some of it is pigeon droppings. And there's no sense to any of it, no rhyme or reason, no overriding structure.a aWell, Wiz always said you start with what you know.a Jerry spun back to her. aI know enough to know I'm out of my depth on this. We need help, heavy-duty help from our world.a aAnother programming team?a Jerry shook his head. aNot that simple. We need someone who can get his mind around this thing.a aAnother wizard programmer?a aNo, we need someone even more powerful. We need a programming legend, a code demiG.o.da aDo you have anyone in mind?a Jerry thought for a minute. That's a problem. You can't very well go up to someone like Ken Thompson and ask him to take a sabbatical from Bell Labs to go off to another world to solve a problem involving an evil magician.a aYou mean he might not believe you?a aI mean the paperwork would be a little excessive. People of this caliber don't grow on trees and a lot of them are key figures at their companies, teaching at the university level or in jail for getting cute with someone else's computer. In any event they're not available.a aAre there some who are not occupied?a aYeah, a few.a He thought for a minute. aWell, Tom Digby isn't available right now, so the best is probably Taj.a aTaj?a aE.T. Tajikawa, the Tajmanian Devil. The guy spends most of his time surfing the far, far end of the bell curve, out three sigmas west of Strange.a Moira didn't know what that meant but it sounded powerful. So she concentrated on the part she thought she understood.

aE.T. Is that like the movie Wiz likes so much?a Moira asked.

aNo, it's E.T. as in Elvis Twitty.a Jerry shrugged. aHis mom was Korean. She didn't speak English real good but she loved country music and she wanted to give her son an American name.

aTaj used to teach an extension cla.s.s in debugging down in the Valley. I learned a h.e.l.l of a lot from him, but for the first four weeks I thought I'd wandered into a 'Kung Fu' episode. He started us off with Tai Chi exercises and quotes from Bugs Bunny cartoons. We ended with five minutes of meditation while he rang this little bell. And crazy as it sounds, it all tied together.a Moira, who didn't know what Tai Chi was and to whom a lot of programming was a mystery anyway, was willing to take his word for it.

aHis power isn't in his techniques. It's in the way he sees.a aThat sounds like Patrius,a Moira said.

aThe wizard who brought Wiz here in the first place?

Yeah, from what I've heard of him he would have liked Taj.a aWhat would it take to get him?a aMostly you'd have to catch his interest. But that's hard to do. Last I heard he was hip-deep in a six-figure design project for a gaming company.a aWould it hurt to ask him?a aNo,a Jerry said slowly. aNo, it wouldn't hurt.a He brightened. aThanks, Moira, you're a genius.a Moira took the compliment without comment. aYou had best ask Bal-Simba before you talk about bringing another through from your world.a aRight. I'm sure he won't have any problem with it.a In a matter of minutes Bal-Simba was summoned and he listened carefully, if somewhat sleepily, to Jerry's proposal.

aIf you think it will aid us, by all means ask this person to come here,a he said when Jerry finally wound down.

aEven if he can't physically come to us we can probably do a lot over the Internet. But it would be better if he can get free for a while.a He looked at Bal-Simba. aCan we still do a Great Summoning to bring someone over from our world?a aAlmost certainly. The shadows do not seem able to block that path.a aWell, let's find out then.a Jerry picked up the telephone sitting incongruously on his desk and began punching in the number. aI'll put it on the speaker. I hope it's late enough in the day that he's up.a aHallo,a came a female voice with a hint of Scandinavian accent. In the background he heard the steady click of computer keys.

aIs Taj there? This is Jerry Andrews, [email protected], I'm kind of a friend of his.a The keystrokes didn't even slow. aOh yah, I remember you, I think. From alt.comp.lang.theory.wild_blue. This is Sigurd, you know, [email protected] Jerry remembered Tajikawa's girlfriend/soulmate/companion/secretary/keeper. aHi, Sigurd. Is Taj there?a aHe's at Comdex. He's not gonna be back until, like, a week from Sunday.a aOh. Well, is there any way to reach him?a aI don't think so. He said he was gonna beg crash s.p.a.ce off a friend. Didn't say who and I don't think he knew himself.a aDidn't he take a celluar phone?a aWell, kinda. He's got a loaner from MMCCa"you know, the Mini-Microcell-Communications Consortiuma"that's running a demonstration network at the show. They're setting up stations at all the major hotels. Only, one of their crates got lost in transit, then they had a problem with some weird connectors and had to have replacements airfreighted from Taiwan. Plus their directory software apparently has some kind of suicide pact with their hard drives andaa aSo their phones aren't working,a Jerry cut in.

aI understand the hotel books are giving eight to three that they won't have them working before the show ends.a aWell, what about e-mail? Is he going to be on-line?a aWell, he took his laptop but I don't think he's got the modem working. It's a new machine with a Type III PC Card modem, only the card services for Linux are, like, flatlined. He was going to hack a driver but he didn't have time before he left.a aThat's too bad. Look, do you know who's he's going to be seeing? It's really important that I reach him.a aHe wanted to check out some scientific visualization software, but other than that he didn't say. I'm sorry.a aIf he does check in have him contact me. It really is a matter of life and death. Have him send to aOkay, let me open a window here.a There was a brief pause then more clicking of keys as she took the address. aIf I hear from him I'll sure give him the message.a as.h.i.t,a said Jerry as he broke the connection.

aWhat now?' Bal-Simba asked. aWill another serve?a There aren't any others in Taj's cla.s.s,a Jerry said, aat least none that I know of who are available.a aIs there any other way to contact him?a aWe can put out the word on the Net, but I'm not sure how long that will take and we'll probably get a lot of bogus reports. Taj is pretty famous.a He thought. aComdex only lasts a week so he should be home next Monday at the latest.a Bal-Simba considered. aI am not sure we can wait that long. These things press us relentlessly and ever closer despite our efforts.a aCan we hide Moira somewhere?a aI do not think there is any place in the World where these things could not find her,a Bal Simba told him.

aOkay, then. There's only one thing to do.a Wizard and dragon looked at the programmer expectantly.

aWe,a said Jerry, aare going to Comdex.a

PART II QUEEN OF THE STRIP.

TWELVE - ANOTHER QUEST.

For a minute no one said anything. For a long minute.

aThat does not seem terribly practical,a Bal-Simba said at last. aA dragon cannot survive where there is no magic.a aNormally no, but I think I have an answer to that. You know how our method of getting into the other world's telephone system works.a Bal Simba looked at him. aNo.a aBasically we use magical energy to influence semiconductors on an atomic levela"well, really it's subatomic because what we're doing is a.n.a.logous to actualizing virtual particles out of the quantum froth. You seeaa Moira cleared her throat significantly. It was especially impressive coming from a dragon.

Jerry took the hint aAh, right Anyway, we have found we can leak a little magic across if the conditions are right That's how we signal back to this World for a Great Summoning to bring someone through from our world. We can apply the same principle to draw magical energy from this World to support the dragon's metabolism.a Bal-Simba only nodded. aI will take your word for it. But tell me, are there any other difficulties?a aWell, one. The magic flow messes up the signaling scheme for a Grand Summoning. There are only a few points on our world where we will be able to signal you that we're ready to return. Vortex points, they're called. There's a big one out in the desert about a hundred and fifty miles north of Las Vegas. That area's practically uninhabited so we won't have any trouble getting back through ita He stopped. aThere was another one a few hundred miles away in Sedona, Arizona, but they built a McDonald's on top of it.a Bal-Simba rubbed his chin. aThis spell of yours does not sound stable.a aIt will hold for a few days. Once we get on the ground that should be all we need to find Taj. Meanwhile it will take the pressure off the Wizards' Keep.a Bal-Simba turned to the dragon. aMy Lady, how do you feel about this?a aI am not sure,a Moira said. aThis is the first I have heard of such a thing. It seemsaa She fell silent for a minute and then the dragon's head came erect, chin out in a gesture that was achingly Moira. aIt seems to me this is our best chance, is it not?a Jerry and Bal-Simba nodded. Then this is what we should do.a Jerry felt a sudden pang of conscience. aUh, I ought to point out this is still experimental. Things could go wrong.a The dragon snorted. aMy Lord,a Moira's voice said bitterly, athey could not go any more wrong than they have already.a Another day, another maze, Wiz thought, looking around. In the tight of the magic globe he could see no less than six different tunnels leading off from the one they were in, including one in the roof. The whole area was like that, twisty, turning, branching and rebranching. He had been in the lead with the magic Moira locator for most of the morning as the group picked their way along, stopping every few feet while he consulted the device to see which way to go. It seemed as if they had barely made a quarter of a mile the whole day and Wiz was fuming with impatience.

aI mislike this place,a Malkin said quietly over Wiz's shoulder. She had taken the number-two position to let Wiz guide the party.

aNot my favorite piece of geography either, but what's your point?a The tall thief looked past him, eyes never still as they talked. aThere are far too many openings here. Ideal for an ambush.a Wiz hadn't thought of that. aDanny hasn't seen anything on the magic detector.a Malkin looked at him as if he was stupid. aOkay, pa.s.s the word to close up, and no straggling.a There was a sound behind them, a scuffle and then Danny yelled. They both whirled to see June locked in a deadly embrace with a tall figure in rags. Her knife was flashing as she struck home again and again but the thing kept its grip on her.

There was another sound and Wiz and Malkin whirled again to face a new danger from the front. A figure in black armor was closing, almost on top of them, sword raised.

Like a striking snake Malkin's rapier darted over Wiz's shoulder and thrust into the attackers face. The armored figure never flinched and brought his own sword down in a vicious overhead blow aimed at Wiz's skull.

The cut was clumsily made and poorly aimed. The sword slid along Malkin's rapier and off past her side. Before the attacker could recover Wiz hit it square on with a lightning bolt and it burst into flames.

Even that didn't stop it. Slowly, deliberately, it brought its sword back and above its fiery body to strike again. Then it tottered and fell backwards as fire reduced its substance to ashes.

Beyond it there were other figures in the corridor. Wiz didn't hesitate. He sent bolt after bolt of lightning flashing down the tunnel to consume the others even as they shuffled forward.

And then it was quiet again. There was no sound but the labored breathing of the adventurers and June's knife, striking again and again into the dismembered body of her foe. Danny went to his wife's side and gentry pulled her off the still quivering body.

aIt's all right,a he said, ait's dead.a aA long time dead,a Malkin amended, studying the body. 'This was not a living man. It's an animated corpse.a aZombie?a aWhy not?a Wiz said grimly. The Enemy probably had a lot of corpses to work with here.a aI would suggest,a Malkin said with equal grimness, athat we get out of this place as quickly as we can. We do not want to be set upon from all sides at once by things like this.a Night had fallen over the Wizards' Keep, though its inhabitants needed magic or a sand gla.s.s to tell them that. Outside, the unremitting gray fog beat against the castle, pushing, squeezing, trying to insinuate its tentacles into the structure.

The great hall was lit by magical glow lamps. At each of the eight cardinal points stood one of the Mighty, staff in hand. Within the inscribed circle stood two men, a woman and a dragon.

aMay Fortuna aid you all,a Arianne said to Bal-Simba, Jerry and Moira as she finished giving them final instructions.

aWe'll be all right,a Jerry said. aI just hope you can do something on this end while we're gone.a aThe other wizards say that given time they will be able to control this thing, at least here.a Silence fell over the group. Unconsciously they turned to watch the sand trickle out of the gla.s.s.

aThere is still time, My Lady,a Bal-Simba said quietly. Moira shook her head. The big wizard breathed a gusty sigh. aWell, then. I believe we are ready.a aMerry part,a Arianne said to them.

aMerry meet again, Lady,a Bal-Simba replied.

Arianne stepped out of the circle, being careful not to scuff it. As the sand ran from the gla.s.s the wizards threw back their robes to expose their arms and raised their staffs. As the final grains fell to the bottom they began to chant.

The world wavered, dissolved and suddenly they were in a narrow alley between blind wooden walls. It took a moment for Jerry to realize the walls were really shipping containers stacked six high.

Jerry and Bal-Simba were dizzy and a little disoriented. Moira seemed to be worse affected. The dragon leaned drunkenly against the crates, making little pawing motions with his front claws.

aMy Lady, are you all right?a Bal-Simba asked.

The dragon shook his head feebly, as if trying to clear it. Then he heaved himself upright. For an instant Jerry was afraid he would fall, but the dragon steadied and seemed to draw inner strength.

aHow do you feel?a Jerry asked.

aLet us get on with it,a Moira said grimly.

Jerry was relieved both at the dragon's apparent recovery and at Moira's response. He hadn't been absolutely sure that Moira would be able to talk to them in this world aWhere are we?a Bal-Simba asked, craning his neck to look at the three-story-stack of crates surrounding them.

aWe're in a storage area next to an exhibit hall, but I don't recognize which one.a He looked around trying to orient himself. It wasn't easy. The view at ground level was completely blocked by the stacks of crates. Beyond the crates on one side was a solid brick wall, perhaps four stories high. Above that were two hotel towers perhaps twenty stories high each. Scanning the horizon over the tops of the crates he could see mountains in the distance and here and there tall buildings, obviously more hotels. The sky above was pale turquoise blue with just a few wisps of high clouds.

aI don't recognize this at all,a Jerry said. This isn't the Convention Center. It must be one of the new hotels.a aWhat do we do first?a Jerry looked at Bal-Simba in his leopard-skin kilt, bone necklace and blue cloak. aFirst we get some clothes. No, first we get some money.a It took them a while to find their way out of the wooden maze. Finally, with the help of some rather profane instructions from a startled forklift driver who nearly ran over them, they found a gate and stepped into a parking lot dominated by a fleet of semis, trailers and satellite dishes.

aOkay,a Jerry said, looking around, athis is the Paladin. That tells me where we are, more or less.a Bal-Simba and Moira didn't say anything. They were too busy staring.

There was reason to stare. Off in one direction a castle raised pinnacled towers to the pale blue sky. In another a giant lion of blue gla.s.s crouched, and off to the side stood a glittering black pyramid. A tropical rain forest rose under a glittering dome, a gigantic brightly striped pavilion stood in another direction. Off in the distance there were more spires and domes. That all these wonders were accompanied by nearly identical blocky high-rise towers sheathed in golden gla.s.s did nothing to dim the effect on Bal-Simba and Moira, aAmazing,a Bal-Simba said at last. aMoira may have seen its like before, but it is new to me.a aThis is unlike what I saw before of this world,a Moira told him.

aThis is Las Vegas,a Jerry explained. aIt's unlike just about anything.a He looked around, getting his bearings and then patted the brown suede purse that hung from his belt. aCome on, let's go around to the front.a They trudged across acres of asphalt crammed with automobiles, threaded their way between the towering hotel block and a multi-story parking garage and finally emerged at the front of the hotel.

As soon as they came around the corner their surroundings changed completely. Jerry led them up a walkway beside a winding drive, past groves of palm trees and stands of giant bamboo springing from an impossibly green lawn. They pa.s.sed statues in cla.s.sical poses, acorn-pound holding several white tigers, crossed over a bridge above a pool housing a number of dolphins, pa.s.sed an artificial geyser at a discreet distance and finally came to the bank of gla.s.s doors leading into the hotel proper.

aMoira, you'd better wait outside,a Jerry told the dragon. aI'm not sure what their rules are on animals and I don't think we can pa.s.s you off as a seeing eye dog.a aWell enough, My Lord,a Moira said. aIt sounds excessively noisy in any event.a aI begin to understand why the search will be difficult,a Bal-Simba said as soon as they were through the door and out of Moira's earshot. aThis place is larger than I had imagined.a aOh, this is only one of the places we've got to look There are maybe a couple of dozen more this big or bigger. One 01 the problems we've got is that the show is spreading out again. For a while they had all the exhibits concentrated in just two big exhibit halls and the Hilton next to the Convention Center,a Jerry said aBut those overflowed and they've had to start using the hotel exhibition s.p.a.ce again.a Bal-Simba started forward toward the line of clerks and away from the racket in the casino, but Jerry stopped him.

aNo, this is just the registration area. What we want is probably the tellers cage. That's over this way.a Bal-Simba frowned slightly but followed Jerry out into the maze of the casino.

Everywhere there were lights, colors and noise. It took Jerry a minute to realize the casino didn't have many players.

The casinos hate the show even if the hotels love it,a he told Bal-Simba as they maneuvered through the aisles and past the occasional slot player. aMost of the attendees don't gamblea"well, except for the startups and product rollouts on the show floor.a Bal-Simba nodded as if the comment made perfect sense.

The cashier's office was off at one side of the casino so it only took about ten minutes and three sets of directions from change girls and a guard before they found it.

The cage manager was well-groomed, well-mannered and impossible to surprise. The sight of a couple of characters in Halloween costumes with a bag of gold they wanted to change into money didn't so much as turn a hair. He laid out the terms for them as if this happened every day. Looking around the casino, Jerry reflected that maybe it did.

Ten thousand dollars maximum,a the manager told them. aMarket less twenty-five percent.a He shook his head. I'll tell you right now you can do better in most of the p.a.w.n shops.a aWe need some walking-around money.a The manager shrugged. He led them around the corner, past two armed guards and into a small room where a clerk was waiting for them with a tabletop full of machinery.

The clerk was not as well groomed and considerably less mannered. He took the coins and ten by ten put them in a large piece of equipment in one corner.