Kren got out of the ring and offered Bo his sword.
“I guess that the best that I can do now is to offer you a good weapon. Do you want the spear as well?”
“What about my money?”
“You must worry about your life, first. We don’t have time to get your money back to you now, but come see me, the next time you get a chance, and we’ll work something out.”
“So how much was she paying you?” The director said.
“Ten thousand Ke.”
“Kren, you are dismally stupid.”
“I quite agree with you, sir. Especially since I failed to bet on myself in the fencing competition,” Kren said.
“Absolutely dismally stupid!”
The director was shaking his head as he walked away.
Bo took Kren’s sword, but she didn’t know how to use it. The match was over in a half minute. The crowd got a bigger thrill out of watching a young carnivore eat Bo’s brain and body, than they did from seeing her fight.
You win some and you lose some. Sometimes the other guy eats your lunch, and sometimes you are lunch.
Kren retrieved his sword, which had Bo’s severed hand still clutching the hilt. He pried loose the fingers and absent-mindedly munched on the wrist as he went to the javelin courts.
The first javelin event was team tennis, which was a major spectator sport, but not very important to the gamblers. Kren’s performance was more than adequate, but his team’s wasn’t. They lost eleven to nine.
Individual tennis was another horizontal pyramid sport. Kren won his first three bouts, but then lost the fourth when he misjudged his opponent’s position. She caught his spear just as it went over the barrier, and immediately spiked it into the ground a yard from the wall. This happened when Kren had been expecting a long shot, and was in the back court.
The distance throw was next, and the Master of Javelins again admonished Kren to not get carried away, but to try to make each throw just a few yards longer than the best throw before him. Kren promised to do so.
The playing position was determined by each player walking past a bucket set with its top higher than eye level. They each reached in and pulled out a ceramic tile with a number on it which determined when they would be throwing. Kren was toward the middle of the three dozen athletes competing.
Things went well at first, and halfway through the third and final round, Kren had made the longest throw, although it was nowhere near an amateur record.
Then two athletes from the opposing team outthrew Kren’s best effort by more than eight yards each, to almost tie for first place. They had been playing the sandbagging game, too, and had been in a better position to play it from.
Suddenly, Kren was only a poor third.
The Master of Javelins said, “Yes, well, I suppose that you can’t win them all. On the accuracy competition, just stay with the program, and everything will be all right.”
“Yes, it will, madam, because I am going to win.”
“That’s the spirit!”
“I mean, madam, that I will win because I will not follow your tactics. What I will do is see to it that I get the lowest possible score to guarantee a win, but I will win,” Kren said.
“Hey! You don’t argue with the coach!”
“I am not arguing, madam. I am explaining.”
Kren walked away and joined the line forming up to draw the position tiles for the next event.
On the first round, Kren put his four javelins into the gold circles in the center of each target, while he mentally kept score on each of the other players. The mathematical skills that he had stolen from Bronki were a major advantage to him here.
On the second round, he put three into the gold, and one deliberately into the blue, since none of the others were now likely to equal his score.
On the third, he got one blue, two red, and one white, since at that point, even if everyone who had not yet thrown in this last round got nothing but gold, they couldn’t catch him.
The crowd was wildly enthusiastic, but that wasn’t important to Kren. What was important to him was that he was now worth in excess of one million Ke.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
FROM CAPTURED HISTORY TAPES,
FILE 1846583A ca. 1832 a.d.
BUT CONCERNING EVENTS OF UP TO
2000 YEARS EARLIER
Sports Victories and Vampire Plans
When Kren got home, he found Bronki and Dol laughing and talking together in a most uncharacteristic manner.
“Is this a private party, or may I join you?” Kren asked.
“You certainly may,” Dol said. “After all, you are the guest of honor!”
“Indeed?” Kren said sitting down with his tail wrapped around his waist. “And how did this come about?”
“It came about because today you won both the fencing contest and the javelin accuracy contest, sir. While you have been somewhat taciturn with me, a mere servant, it happens that while accompanying you in the course of my duties, I couldn’t help noticing, first, that you were capable of hitting the smallest of targets at the greatest of distances with a spear, and also that on the very first time that you picked up an épée, you scored points on Dik, something that no one else has done in years.”
“Yes. So?”
Dol said, “So, I gathered together my entire life’s savings, a matter of less than six gross Ke, and bet it all on the outcome of the fencing competition. And then, having won a tremendous sum there, I went to bet all of my winnings on your next real competition, naturally eschewing the javelin tennis game. But, there was not enough time between events to bet on the distance throw and then to reinvest the winnings in a wager on the accuracy competition. Therefore, I put it all on the one with the higher odds, accuracy. This fortunate decision multiplied my winnings by a further factor of a dozen and nine. I am now the proud possessor of just under a million Ke! And I owe it all to my association with you, and to Bronki here, who introduced us, and put me to work for you!”
“Well, I congratulate you,” Kren said. “Properly invested, that should earn you the independent income that you once dreamed of. I take it that you will be leaving our employ?”
“I’d considered that, but on reflection I decided that it would be foolish to do so. Consider that in my short association with you, you have led me to the way of fabulous riches! So, if you will permit it, sir, I would like to continue as your servant, willing and able to do absolutely anything that you ask of me. I will ask no payment for this, except perhaps for the privilege of occasionally sitting at your feet and learning more from you on how to progress further on my path to wealth, fame, and power.”
“This is a remarkable offer. But I am staying with Bronki, and I see no incentive to moving my place of abode. Will you be her servant as well?”
Dol said, “With her permission, no. I have already made arrangements to rent her second best guest room, which is next door to your suite, and I will do such things as she desires from time to time provided that it does not conflict with my duties and obligations to you.”
“Very well, on that basis, I accept. You will continue to be my servant. What about you, Bronki? While you have been thus far silent, you too seem to be in a remarkably jovial mood.”
“Kren, I am very happy because this has been the most profitable single day in my entire life, all five thousand years of it! I was not quite as astute as Dol here in multiplying my resources, but my capital base was much greater to begin with. Having seen you in action, I wagered heavily on all three of your main events. And while I lost a little at the distance throw, two out of three isn’t bad! I made more than three dozen million Ke today!” Bronki said.
“I am very sorry about the distance throw. You see, the Master of Javelins . . .”
“We know all about that, Kren. So does everybody else. The director of athletics will doubtless fire her on Monday morning for her abysmal choice of tactics, unless some of the irate gamblers kill her first. I think that I am safe in assuring you that from this time forward, the game plans that you work under will be made by you.”
“I am not at all sure that this would be wise,” Kren said. “Consider that I completely misjudged my fencing abilities and never placed a wager on the fencing match. Consider also that while I started with four dozen and six thousand Ke, and Dol here had less than six gross, she ended up winning almost as much as I did.”