Liz gave a wry smile. “I’d need a clothes peg if I lost. And what the hell would I want to win?”
Jerry shook his head. “I don’t know. I suspect that you wouldn’t be expected to bet.”
Liz looked decidedly militant. “Ha. I’m going to have to shake their ideas up a bit. If we’re going to be stuck in this environment, certain things are going to have to change. Like the frequency of their bathing, for starters. Well, I suppose I could bet for transportation or food.”
Jerry shook his head warningly. “I wouldn’t advise it. They might win . . . ”
She raised her chin. “That’s my lookout, isn’t it? Hey, Sergeant! How good are you with those dice I saw you fiddling with?”
Anibal Cruz looked as innocent as a lamb. Melted butter would have solidified in his mouth. “I’m not really sure of the rules.”
Liz gave a crooked grin. “I was once stupid enough to play strip poker with a guy who said that to me. Once. Save your tricks for these . . . whatchacallem . . . Achaeans. Come on, Jerry. Time to explain poker dice.”
She took a closer look at Cruz. “Or should I say—liar dice? Are we going to lose, Sergeant?”
“Not fucking likely,” muttered McKenna.
A brief flicker of white teeth showed in Cruz’s swarthy countenance. “Like McKenna says, Doctor . . . ”
“Call me Liz. You’re about to be gambling with my so-called virtue, after all. Don’t you dare lose. I might survive his body but not his breath.”
She looked at the open mouths of her companions. “You’ll need some seed money too, won’t you, Sergeant?” she said, evilly. “They seem pretty keen on the corporal’s body. And you can throw in Salinas for good measure.”
Jerry nodded. “The ancient Greeks weren’t homophobic.”
Salinas gaped. “Wha . . . ”
“Well, Lieutenant, sir?” demanded Liz. “Surely you wouldn’t expect me to take a risk which you would not dare to?” The female biologist’s grin was pure vixen.
Jim McKenna chuckled. “No sweat. We’re safe enough, Lieutenant Salinas. Nobody in the battalion will play with Sergeant Cruz.”
The sergeant raised an eyebrow. “Try to look a little worried, willya?”
“This is a really, really bad idea,” interjected Lamont, frowning. “Gambling is a sure way to lose.”
McKenna shook his head. “Take it from me, mister. This isn’t gambling.”
“Then you can put that chunky ring of yours up as seed money too,” said Cruz.
Jim McKenna dug it out of his rucksack. “What else?”
“Not too much metal,” said Jerry warningly. “It’s too valuable.”
“It’s also changed into other stuff. Even my ‘Leatherman’ is rusty.”
* * *
It was a bizarre scene in the flickering firelight. Three white oar blades did for a flat surface. Eager Achaeans surrounded the “table.” Jerry should have remembered just how much of a passion gambling had been before television. Dice had been found in Egyptian tombs. They were mentioned frequently enough in Classical Greek literature. Poker was a new concept, however. Still, the Achaeans had picked up the rules of the game pretty quickly. They were just so silent and so intent on the fall of the dice. They even stopped breathing. Only the distant surf sound disturbed the hush. And when Odysseus won . . . jubilation. And that was just while they were playing for beach pebbles. Now that Jerry had suggested making the game a little more interesting, you could cut the tension with a knife. A blunt butter knife.
The dice fell with a clatter onto the three oar blades. In Jerry’s ears the surf noises were overridden by the sound of his pulse. If something went wrong, they were in dire trouble. If that corporal ever found out just what Jerry had said he was offering to do for the whole crew, then he was dead. By the worried expression on the sergeant’s face, it was a real possibility. Things weren’t working the way they were supposed to. Odysseus was winning with monotonous regularity and increasing glee. All that was happening was that Cruz was picking up some phrases of ancient Greek.
Finally, they were for it. Nothing left—and Cruz, having occasionally taken small pots . . . A couple of pairs, facing down a trey . . . threw a flush. And then the tide turned. But Odysseus was hooked by now. Utterly, deeply, and completely hooked. Cruz let him win just enough to keep him in the game. Finally, when Cruz had won the ship, he said: “Double or nothing.”
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