badly betting against Skeeve here in the Big Game. I figure it's worth at least one pass backing the shooter who's working a streak.'
I shook my head in puzzlement.
'Aren't you afraid of losing?'
'Well, it did occur to me that it might be me and not the Mob who's being set up here. That's why I'm sitting next to you. If this turns out to be a double cross …'
'You're pretty small to be making threats. Geek,' Massha warned.
'… And you're too big to dodge fast if I decide I'm being had,' the Deveel shot back.
'Knock it off, both of you,' I ordered. 'It's academic anyway. There won't be any problems … or if there are, I'll be as surprised as you are, Geek.'
'More surprised, I hope,' the Deveel sneered. 'I'm half expecting this to blow up, remember?'
'But Aahz has assured me that the fix is in.'
'Obviously. Otherwise, the Mob wouldn't be betting so heavily. The question is, which fix is going to work, theirs or yours?'
Just then a flurry of activity across the arena caught my eye. The Mob had just arrived … in force. Shai-ster was there, flanked by Guido and Nunzio and backed by the remaining members of the two teams currently assigned to the Bazaar. Seen together and moving, as opposed to individually feeding their faces at Fats', they made an impressive group. Apparently others shared my opinion. Even though they were late, no one contested their right to prime seats as they filed into the front row. In fact, there was a noticeable bailing out from the desired seats as they approached.
It was still a new enough experience for me to see other beings I knew in a crowd at the Bazaar that I stood up and waved at them before I realized what I was doing. Then it dawned on me! If they saw me sitting with the Geek and then lost a big bet, they might put two and two together and get five!
I stopped waving and tried to ease back into my seat, but it was too late. Guido had spotted my gyrations and nudged Shai-ster to point me out. Our eyes met and he nodded acknowledgement before returning to scanning the crowd. Crestfallen, I turned to apologize to the Geek, only to find myself addressing a character with a pasty complexion and hairy ears who bore no resemblance at all to the Deveel who had been sitting beside me.
I almost. .. almost!… looked around to see where the Geek had gone. Then I did a little mental arithmetic and figured it out.
A disguise spell!
I'd gotten so used to fooling people myself with that spell that when someone did the same to me, I was completely taken in.
'Still kinda new at this intrigue stuff, aren't you?' he observed dryly from his new face.
Fortunately I was saved the problem of thinking up a suitable response by the entrance of the contestants. With the scramble of planning and launching our counter-offensive, I hadn't really been briefed on what the Mob was betting on except that it would be a tagteam wrestling match. No one said what the contestants would be like, and I had assumed it would be like the matches I had seen back on Klah. I should have known better. The two teams were made up of beings who barely stood high enough to reach my waist! I mean they were small! They looked like kids … if you're used to having kids around with four arms each. 'What are those?' I demanded.
'Those are the teams,' the Geek said helpfully.
'I mean, what are they? Where are they from?'
'Oh. Those are Tues.'
'And you bet on them? I mean, I've heard of midget wrestling, but this is ridiculous!'
'Don't knock it,' the Deveel shrugged. 'They're big on the wrestling circuit. In fact, teams like this are their dimension's most popular export. Everyone knows them as the Terrible Tues. They're a lot more destructive than you'd guess from their size.'
'This is a put-on, right?'
'If you really want to see something, you should catch their other export. It's a traveling dance troupe called the Tue Tours.'
Massha dropped a heavy hand on my shoulder.
'Hot stuff, remember our deal about my lessons?'
'Later, Massha. The match is about to start.'
Actually, it was about to finish. It was that short, if you'll pardon the expression.
The first member of the favored red trunk team simply strolled out and pinned his white-trunked rival. Though the pin looked a bit like someone trying to wrap a package with tangled string, the red-trunker made it seem awfully easy. All efforts of his opponent's partner to dislodge the victor were in vain, and the bout was over.
'Well, that's that,' the Geek said, standing up. 'A pleasure doing business with you, Skeeve. Look me up again if you tie on to a live one.'
'Aren't you going to collect your bet?'
The Deveel shrugged.
'No rush. Besides, I think your playmates are a little preoccupied just now.'
I looked where he was pointing and saw Shai-ster storming toward the dressing rooms with Guido and Nunzio close behind. None of them looked particularly happy, which was understandable, given the circumstances.
'Whoops. That's my cue. See you back at the Yellow Crescent, Massha.' And with that, I launched myself in an interceptor course with the angry mobsters.
Chapter Nineteen
'These blokes need to be taught to respect their superiors.'
I ALMOST missed them. Not that I was moving slow, mind you. It's just that they had a real head of steam on.
'Hi guys!' I called, just as Shai-ster was raising a fist to hammer on the dressing room door. 'Are you going to congratulate the winners, too?'
Three sets of eyes bored into me as my 'friends' spun around.
'Congratulate!' Guido snarled. 'I'll give 'em congratulate.'
'Wait a minute,' Shai-ster interrupted. 'What did you mean, 'too'?'
'Well, that's why I'm here. I just won a sizable bet on the last match.'
'How sizable?'
'Well, sizable for me,' I qualified. 'I stand to collect fifty gold pieces.'
'Fifty,' Guido snorted. 'You know how much we lost on that fiasco?'
'Lost?' I frowned. 'Didn't you know the Reds were favored?'
'Of course we knew,' Shai-ster snarled. 'That's why we were set to make a killing when they lost.'
'But what made you think they were going to … Oh! Was that what you were talking about when you said you were going into gambling?'
'That's right. The red team was supposed to take a graceful dive in the third round. We paid them enough … more than enough, actually.'
He sounded so much like Grimble I couldn't resist taking a cheap shot.
'Judging from the outcome, it sounds to me that you paid them a little less than enough.'
'It's not funny. Now, instead of recouping our losses, we've got another big loss to explain to the Big Boys.' 'Oh come on, Shai-ster,' I smiled. 'How much can it cost to fix a fight?'
