“We did, but we figured out a way to make it work,” Nancy told him.
“Yeah. It turns out that in this universe a shuffled deck of cards is in something like a Schroediger-indeterminate state,” Mike explained. “The cards don’t have a value until you—ah—’collapse the state vector’ by revealing them.”
“Which means you can’t play a game if no one has seen the order of the cards,” Nancy said. “Even Canfield solitaire, you go through the whole pack the first time.”
“Anyway, the key to playing is to collapse the state vector after the cards are shuffled and before they’re dealt.”
“But if you have to look at the cards what’s the point of playing?”
“Oh, the players don’t have to know the values,” Karl said. “It’s enough if someone or something else does. So,” he gestured at the head of the table, “meet Moe the Dealer.”
Sitting there was a small demon wearing a green eyeshade, a violently patterned vest and garters to hold his shirtsleeves up. His skin was a particularly pale and unhealthy shade of green and a large cigar stuck out of the corner of his mouth.
“So youse gonna bid or youse gonna talk?” Moe demanded in a raspy voice.
“He looks at the cards after he shuffles and before he deals,” Larry explained.
“Come on, come on, play cards,” Moe said.
Jerry shook his head. “Amazing. Well, finish your game. Starting tonight we go on overtime.”
Dark purple shadows were already creeping across the landscape when Danny climbed through the trap door and out onto the roof. June was already there, looking out over the World.
“I guess you heard there’s a war brewing,” he said without preamble as he sat down next to her. June nodded without taking her eyes off the horizon.
“They’ve got to have the project even faster, so they’ve worked out something special,” he said eagerly. “They’re going to use magic to stretch the nights in the Bull Pen so we can get more work done.”
June gasped and turned to him, her face chalk white. “No!”
“Hey, take it easy, it’s not that big a thing.”
June grabbed Danny’s hand and held it tight in both of hers.
“Do not go! If you go you will never come out again.”
“Hey now . . .” Danny said, but June started to cry silently.
He put his arm about her and patted her shoulder. “Look, it will be all right, I promise. It’s only for a night.”
“A night in such a place lasts an eon,” June said. “I will be dead and dust ere you return.”
“No you won’t,” Danny said and reached forward to pat her shoulder.
June released her hand and locked her arms about him fiercely. She pressed her lips to his and her tongue was like a living thing in his mouth.
Wordlessly she drew him down onto the roof slates, fumbling with his shirt as they went.
Half numb and half exhilarated, Danny followed where she led.
The moon peeking over the gabled roof caught the two naked bodies stretched on the slates. Danny rolled over on his side and admired the play of moonlight and shadow on the curve of June’s hip.
“You’re really something, you know that?” He ran his hand up over her hip and pressed her small breast, feeling her nipple harden in the center of his palm. June smiled contentedly and turned toward him, lifting her mouth up for a kiss,.
Danny kissed her long and gently. Then he broke away with a sigh and reached behind him for his clothes.
“You know I’m gonna get in a lot of trouble for this.”
June didn’t say anything; she just looked at him.
Danny got to his knees and picked up his pants. “I gotta see if I can get in.”
June grasped his wrist hard. “You will not go.”
Danny fidgeted. “I’ve got to,” he said. “Look, this is important. For everybody, okay? They need me. I’ve got to go, okay?”
This time June seemed to accept it. She dropped her hands to her side and nodded dumbly.
He pulled his shirt over his head. “I’m gonna have to apologize all over the place, tell ’em how sorry I am.” He stopped talking while he tucked his shirt into his pants. Then he leaned over and kissed her. “But I’m not sorry.”