Card Sharks

saw that I could face it, that the problem would be gone once the condition was stabilized. And Rudo was going to fix that good, once he'd worked out how this radiation therapy would apply, on top of the dauershlaf.

'One day he asked me to lunch and we took a walk in Central Park afterwards. As we were strolling, with him looking at the landscape as if he wished he were settled somewhere painting it, he said to me, 'Croyd, how much longer have you got?'

''What do you mean?' I asked.

''It's time for you to sleep again,' he said.

''It's hard to tell for sure till I start getting the feeling,' I said. 'But based on past experience I've got at least a week.'

''I wonder about inducing it beforehand,' he mused, 'to swing it.'

''Swing what?' I asked.

''First, let me ask you another question,' he said. 'You told me that you'd studied with an old second-story man named Bentley, and that you were engaged in that sort of business yourself.'

''That's right.'

''Just how good are you at that sort of thing?'

''Not bad,' I said.

''You still know how to go about it?'

''I'm not out of practice, if that's what you mean.'

''What if it were a place particularly security-conscious, well-guarded?'

'I shrugged.

''Couldn't really tell you till I cased it,' I said. 'Sometimes, you know, I'd come up with a wild card talent that really helped in these things.'

''Now, that's a thought….'

''What's the angle, Doc? What're you leading up to?'

''I've worked out what you need, Croyd, for the radiation part of the therapy. Unfortunately, the necessary materials are not available to civilians.'

''Who's got them?'

''Los Alamos Laboratories.'

''If they're medically useful you'd think they'd let some of the stuff loose, for humanitarian — '

''They wouldn't be useful for anyone but yourself. I had to adjust all of the equations to take your wild metabolism into account.'

''I see,' I said. 'And you're wondering whether I might be able to pry some of the stuff loose? Helping myself to help myself, so to speak?'

''In a word, yes.'

''That might be managed,' I said. 'How soon could I get a look at the premises?'

''There's the rub,' he said. 'I don't know how it can be done.'

''What do you mean?'

''The whole city is closed. There are checkpoints. If you're not authorized personnel you can't get by. It's a government installation. Top secret atomic research.'

''Oh. You mean it's not just the Lab, but the whole damn city's off-limits?'

''That's right.'

''This sounds a little trickier than breaking into an apartment or a store and cracking a safe, Doc. Are you sure we can't get this stuff someplace else?'

''Positive.'

''Shit!' I said. 'I don't know….'

''There are two possibilities, Croyd,' he said. 'You just reminded me of one of them. Now, neither one might be sufficient in itself to get the job done, but together — Together they might be sufficient.'

''Better let me in on it.'

''I've an — associate,' he said, 'who might be able to help. He has connections at the Lab, I'm pretty certain.

''But he would have to be very circumspect.'

''What does that mean?'

''He could get you into the city without arousing suspicion. He could probably get you a look at the outside of the place — perhaps even a map of the inside.'

''Sounds like a good start,' I said.

''I'm going to be speaking with him as soon as I can reach him, and I'll find out more about the setup there. In the meantime, I'd like for you to be thinking of something. If we were to induce another change before we get there, what wild card talent might serve you best for the initial scouting? Bear in mind that we should be able to run another change after that, to provide you with whatever would then feel most suitable for the job itself.'

''All right,' I said. 'You'll call me then?'

''Yes.'

'I had some unrelated business to take care of at the time, so I went off and spent a couple of days settling it. Then one evening I got a call from Rudo asking me whether I could come over to his place. I told him yes, and caught a cab.

''Croyd,' he said, 'I have learned things about this atomic city in New Mexico. You must have a pass with a photo on it to gain entrance. Such visitors' passes can be obtained in Santa Fe if you know someone in Los Alamos who notifies them that you are coming to see him, and then meets you at the Los Alamos gate.'

''We know such a person?' I asked.

''Yes, we have a man on their security staff who'll take care of it,' he said. 'That is, my friend has a friend who will manage things in this regard. It used to be under military security, but now the Atomic Energy Commission is providing the guards — and, as fortune would have it, there is a man in such a position who will be glad to do me this favor. This will get us into the town, and we will be staying at Fuller Lodge, which is where visitors are put up.'

''That does make it sound a little easier,' I said. Will your friend be able to get us to the place where I'll have to do the job?'

''I got the impression that he could point it out to you, but that actually getting you inside would be too risky for him.'

'I nodded.

''I guess that's where the right wild card power will come in handy.'

''I wonder,' he said. 'Getting in may not be the biggest problem. Getting out of town with it might be.'

''You said we could do the dauerschlaf business twice on this job?' I asked him.

''Why not?' he said. 'What have you in mind?'

''I come out looking bland,' I said, 'and equipped with a power that can get me a closer look at the premises. We visit the city and I case the place. Then I decide what's needed for the job and you induce it. I do the business, we take the goods to some nice, safe spot, and you give me the final treatment — radiation and all — and I can spend the rest of my life in a relatively normal fashion. And if there's ever anything you need, I'll take care of it for you.'

''He smiled.

''Your stabilization will be reward enough,' he said, moving to the bar and fetching us Cognacs in balloon snifters. 'I think this is going to prove an educational experience for both of us.'

''I'll drink to that,' I said, taking a big sniff.

'We touched glasses lightly.

''Confusion to our enemies,' he said.

'So we worked out my physical appearance for the job, and I detailed the power I thought I'd need. Then Rudo set about inducing the dauerschlaf which would provide it. We decided to travel across county by train to Lamy, New Mexico, where the travel agent would arrange for us to be met at the station by a pickup truck for the luggage. This was because I was to be a part of the luggage. It was decided that it would