Pyramid Scheme by Dave Freer and Eric Flint

* * *

The zip feeling was long drawn out. Something was clutching Jerry’s shoulder as tightly as he held onto Liz’s hand.

50

Dwarves untossed.

They flashed out of the bright Mediterranean morning sunshine into an even brighter desert day. They were heading straight for a black pyramid. For a horrible moment, Jerry thought it was the Krim pyramid. Then, looking more closely, he saw that the pyramid had four sides instead of five, with a glass apex. And the giant sphinx in front of it was painted blue and yellow.

Cruz cleared up the mystery. “That’s it!” the paratrooper shouted triumphantly. “Las Vegas! The Luxor casino!”

Athena’s yell of triumph turned into a shriek of confusion. The goddess, still clutching Jerry’s shoulder, was the only one who wasn’t bellowing in glee as they bounced to a rough landing on the small plaza right in front of the Luxor, barely missing the obelisk perched on its south side.

* * *

Jerry took a deep breath as he looked around. The traffic on the Strip was already screeching to a halt. Even for Las Vegas, he realized, the sudden apparition of a real sphinx, two dragons and a huge chariot was . . . unusual. A traffic stopper.

Then he caught sight of McKenna. He had a gorgeous girl with the face of Arachne in his arms. Apparently, the transfer to the real world had eradicated the effects of Athena’s curse. Of course, since the spider hadn’t been wearing clothes, neither was the young woman in Mac’s arms. But the sight of a nude woman, he supposed, was only a minor distraction in Las Vegas.

“Talk about luck,” muttered Lamont.

Jerry turned on him. “That’s just it! LUCK. You’ve got Tyche’s blessing, Lamont! No wonder you never got seriously hurt. No wonder we got home.”

Lamont opened his mouth. “And the rest of you?”

“Since we were with you, we shared your luck. I guess.”

Jerry took a long look at the shrunken Athena huddled in the bottom of the chariot. Her face and body had obviously benefited from Olympian magic-style plastic surgery. The magic hadn’t transferred to their own world. “Athena’s spells don’t work here. So Arachne is human again.”

Lamont grinned. “So I guess Mac’s about to get lucky too. I suppose that means my run of luck is over. Pity. I enjoyed fishing.”

* * *

Jerry Lukacs grinned back and Lamont chuckled. Now that they were back in their own world, the transformation of Jerry Lukacs was more striking than anyone’s. This was a very different man from the weedy academic who had been snatched from the Oriental Institute. It wasn’t just the tanned face, the ragged clothes or the sinewy brown arms that protruded from the rolled-up tunic sleeves. It was his posture. It hadn’t seemed so noticeable back in the Mythworld. But here, back in the U.S.A., the difference was startlingly obvious to Lamont.

“I don’t see why,” Jerry said cheerfully. “Lady Luck has got to be the one goddess that is still very much in favor. Especially around this part of the world. You could say she still has a fair number of temples and devotees.”

Cruz pulled out his dice. “Bet you ten bucks you can’t beat me.” He threw a straight. Lamont shrugged. Picked up the dice. Tossed a royal flush.

“He’s still got it!” Cruz picked up Lamont by the elbows and practically tossed him out of the chariot. “We’re going to make a fortune!”

Lamont took a deep breath. “I haven’t got any money.”

Cruz grinned. He rummaged around in his tattered rucksack. Pulled out a card, miraculously restored from fine-painted ivory to plastic. “I’ve got a bank card and I’ll stake you. And with your luck, it’ll still work despite what it’s been through.”

Lamont nodded determinedly. “Why not? It’s not really gambling, when you think about it. And I’ve got a family to support again.” The relief that last thought brought him was almost blinding. “But first I’ve got to call Marie and let her know I’m back.”

* * *

By now, a large crowd was gathering and beginning to spill onto Las Vegas Boulevard. Through the mob two policemen pushed their way to the fore, and not far behind them came half a dozen men wearing some kind of uniform. The Luxor’s security force, Jerry supposed.