Page 10 of Stars in Halo

Mirage slid out a card and set it in the player box.

The next card was inserted in the banker box and repeated so that each compartment had two cards.

As cards were dealt and played, Xion’s eyes flickered between everyone in the room, searching for hints or nervous tics that pointed to cheating.

Xion raised a brow when the alluring Ccyth woman won the first round and collected her payout in a pile of generous markers.

Her luck continued in subsequent rounds as card after card fell in her favour.

Once confident in their abilities, the other players grew restless and uneasy as she accumulated an ever-increasing stack of chips.

As an unknown, she’d thrown a spanner in the works.

No one in the room grasped how to game her. The tension was palpable, as if the air held its breath, waiting for her next move.

Xion’s meta-fast eyes began to note a pattern in her play.

His brow rose as she rotated her high and low cards in sequence.

His gaze locked on her, following her eyes as they fixed on identifying the cards, picking up on tiny asymmetrical flaws in the designs on the back. This allowed her to detect the value of each card and what the first one dealt from the deck would be, giving her a significant lead.

Mirage’s eyes met his.

He tapped into the Sable Group’s nodal connection. Tis not the way Baccarat is meant to be played. She’s using an edge-sorting trick.

The AI kept her expression bland as she replied. Can’t do a thing, Xi. No formal rules have been broken.

So, is this cheating? he groused.

I’m not sure. She’s gaming us, but I can’t call her on it; it squeaks in as legal. She has an eagle eye, that’s for sure.

Fokk.

She is playing above any level I’ve ever seen before. The ability to identify micro-differences in the cards and utilise this knowledge, alongside a mathematical understanding of the game, to make tactical solid theoretic choices are all unique.

Who is she? Did you vet her?

Not at first. I only had her seat booked. When she walked into the room, I did a cross-check. Her Sys-ID states her name as Katya D’Landra, a high-stakes gambler with a reputation for success across the galaxy. The little I’ve found shows that she plays hard and is often hired by some of the wealthiest players in Pegasi to win games on their behalf. As far as I can see, there is no illegal activity, but there was no mention of her extraordinary skills in her background jacket.

Xion gave an imperceptible jerk of his chin. Let’s play on. We may need to halt the game if her wins get out of control. They’re outrageous, and the house might lose big.

It was also his job, along with Mirage, to balance profit and loss in the salon.

The house always won. Until today, it would seem.

When the alluring woman took the next round, the other players exchanged irate glances, speculating on the woman’s uncanny abilities.

‘Freakin’ cheat,’ growled Su.

The Iccythrian woman was cool as fokk, flicking an icy glance at her fellow affronted player.

‘Let’s keep it civil,’ Xion rasped, powerless to intervene further nor stop the game.

Katya’s eyes found him, and she met his with a slight turn of her lips before sliding them away to focus on her cards.

With each passing hand, he fell deeper into a trance-like state, completely enthralled by the woman’s moves, unable to ignore her undeniable allure.

His bets became irrelevant as he studied her expressions, trying to decipher any hint of her strategy. He was playing a dangerous gamble, losing himself within her magnetic presence.

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