Dragon's Honor - Kij Johnson [78]
“That is what a bluff is all about!” Riker said. “You have an inferior force—your cards—and you conceal it so that your opponent may commit himself to battle. Once he has done so, you are merely allowing him to continue to a greater or lesser extent.”
“Hmmm,” the Heir said dubiously. “It still smacks of deception.”
“It is deception,” Riker said. “But you allow your opponent no honor if you don’t provide him with the opportunity to discern it.” I hope that makes sense, he thought, at least according to Pai standards.
“True,” Li Po said at last. “The commander is quite right. I myself must win honor by piercing the challenging illusion of a bluff. Deal the cards!”
Riker congratulated himself silently. Either I’m finally learning to think like a Pai, or I’m just getting better at faking it. As the other players anted up, he glanced down at his conspicuously large pile of winnings. The captain won’t thank me if I take everyone’s money. Better to avoid another potential blowup. “Tell you what, why don’t I sit the next couple of hands out.”
“You can’t!” Lord Li Po said. “Not without offering us the chance to win back our gold.”
Uh-oh, Riker thought. He looked at the other players’ dwindling stacks of coins. At the rate they were mastering the game, he could probably empty their entire treasury before any of them really developed the skills to beat him. There was only one way he could manage not to clean them out.
Lose.
“Enterprise to G’kkau flagship. Repeat: Enterprise to G’kkau flagship.”
“Any luck, Lieutenant Melilli?” Data asked. Hailing the oncoming fleet had proven more difficult than anticipated, yet Data had discovered that persistence was often rewarded by positive results.
The Bajoran officer grimaced at the sound of static coming through the communications channels. “It’s hard getting through the nebular cloud, but I think we’ve finally punched our way through.” She listened carefully to the harsh buzz of the static. “Yes, we’re receiving a response.”
The viewscreen at the front of the bridge flickered. A dark, murky, roiling image began to seethe across it. “Sorry that’s so unclear, sir,” she said. “Let me—”
“There is no need for further adjustments, Lieutenant,” Data said, recalling Captain Picard’s earlier confrontation with the commander of the Fang. “That is an accurate representation of the interior of a G’kkau ship.”
Thick clouds of inky smoke billowed upon the viewer, and Data discerned a dim, reptilian shape half lost in the gloom. “This is the Fang,” a voice hissed across the subspace radio. “I am Gar; you are not deemed worthy of speaking with the leader of our glorious fleet, Master Kakkh. Speak.”
Interesting, Data thought. During their earlier encounter with the G’kkau, Master Kakkh had responded directly to the captain’s hails. This change in behavior suggested that the G’kkau knew that Captain Picard and the other senior officers were currently on Pai and not aboard the Enterprise. He speculated about how the G’kkau had acquired this information even as he addressed Gar. “I am Lieutenant Commander Data of the Starship Enterprise,” he began.
“Why do you bother us with your hails? We will speak only to your commanding officer.” Gar’s voice rose to a squeaky hiss, like an old-fashioned teakettle coming to a boil.
“I am currently the officer in command of the Enterprise,” Data stated calmly. He did not consider this a dangerous admission, since logic suggested that the G’kkau were already in possession of this information. “I might also point out that I am not speaking with your commanding officer.”
“That is completely different,” Gar said. “We are inherently superior; you are scum.”
“Webster’s defines ‘scum’ as a thin layer of impurities which forms on the top of liquids or bodies of water,” Data replied. “Clearly, this term does not apply to me. In any event, I have contacted you on behalf of the Dragon Empire and the United Federation of Planets