Page 44 of Ace in the Hole


  Jack looked with some confusion at the glider in Tach’s hand. He spoke slowly, reaching hard for each word. “I think Earl would say you can’t be afraid of people just because they’re different, because you can never draw a clear line. Do you fear them because they’ve got the wild card, or because they have different beliefs, or because they have the wrong color skin…?”

  “I fear them because they can hurt me,” Fleur insisted.

  “There are a lot of people who can hurt you,” Jack said, “and very few of them have the wild card.”

  “Easy to say, when you’re one of those who do,” Fleur replied. “You know what you call the rest of us. The nats. Naturals, that’s what it’s supposed to be short for, but there’s another meaning. Gnats. Little insects. Little bothersome insects waiting to be swatted by you. We’re supposed to obey the laws, and treat you nicely. But those same laws don’t apply to you. You don’t have to be nice to gnats. Not with all your power.”

  “Fleur,” said David. “You have all the power here. You hold my life in your hands.”

  Fleur hesitated a long time, looking at him. The wailing of the alarm was like an ice pick in the brain. “You don’t have to worry,” she said at last. “You’re safe from me.”

  David nodded, as if he’d known that all along. “Start the elevator,” he said quietly.

  Tachyon slewed around awkwardly, and hit the button. The elevator shuddered and shot upward.

  “Not to throw cold water on this love feast,” Jack said to David, “but you do remember Mao? Mao Tse Tung, Chinese guy? Sooner or later we’ve got to let her off this elevator, and then she’s going to blow the whistle.”

  “That is her right.”

  That shook Tachyon out of the dream state which seemed to hold him. “No.”

  David turned those dark eyes on him. “Yes.” Gently. “I knew the risks. I’ve paid the price before. I’m prepared to pay again.”

  They reached her floor. The doors opened. She stepped out.

  “Fleur,” Jack Braun said. “Think twice before you start naming names. I didn’t. I’m still paying for it.”

  Fleur looked at them all for a long time. Tach wondered what she was thinking. Easy enough to find out. Better that he didn’t. She walked off without saying a word.

  The doors shut. Tachyon stared at the flashing numbers.

  “We must be crazy to let her walk off like that,” Jack said.

  “You have to take a gamble on someone sometime,” David replied.

  “She’s her father’s daughter!” Jack said.

  Tachyon stirred in his wheelchair, and handed the Earl Sanderson glider back to Jack. “And her mother’s too.”

  The elevator, with its cargo of ghosts and survivors, continued its lunge for the sky.

  Closing Credits

  STARRING

  Created & Written by

  Jack (Golden Boy) Braun

  Walter Jon Williams

  Senator Gregg Hartmann

  Stephen Leigh

  Mackie Messer

  Victor Milán

  Sara Morgenstern

  Victor Milán

  James (Demise) Spector

  Walton Simons

  Dr. Tachyon

  Melinda M. Snodgrass

  CO-STARRING

  created by

  Jay (Popinjay) Ackroyd

  George R. R. Martin

  Blaise Andrieux

  Melinda M. Snodgrass

  Rev. Leo Barnett

  Arthur Byron Cover

  Billy (Carnifex) Ray

  John J. Miller

  Hiram Worchester

  George R. R. Martin

  FEATURING

  created by

  Joshua Davidson

  George R. R. Martin

  Tom (Gimli) Miller

  Stephen Leigh

  Georgy Vladimirovich Polyakov

  Michael Cassutt

  Fleur van Renssaeler

  Melinda M. Snodgrass

  WITH

  created by

  Nephi (Straight Arrow) Callendar

  Walter Jon Williams

  The Gatekeeper

  Victor Milán

  Amy Sorenson

  Stephen Leigh

  Charles Devaughn

  Victor Milán

  Tony Calderone

  Walton Simons

  Doughboy

  Victor Milán

  The Great and Powerful Turtle

  George R. R. Martin

  The Wild Cards Universe

  The Original Triad

  Wild Cards

  Aces High

  Jokers Wild

  The Puppetman Quartet

  Aces Abroad

  Down and Dirty

  Ace in the Hole

  Dead Man’s Hand

  The Rox Triad

  One-Eyed Jacks

  Jokertown Shuffle

  Dealer’s Choice

  Double Solitaire

  Turn of the Cards

  The Card Sharks Triad

  Card Sharks

  Marked Cards

  Black Trump

  Deuces Down

  Death Draws Five

  The Committee Triad

  Inside Straight

  Busted Flush

  Suicide Kings

  The Fort Freak Triad

  Fort Freak

  Lowball

  High Stakes

  About the Editor

  GEORGE R. R. MARTIN is the author of the international best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series, which is the basis for the award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones. Martin has won the Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stroker, and World Fantasy Awards for his numerous novels and short stories. Visit him online at www.georgerrmartin.com, or sign up for email updates here.

  Thank you for buying this

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Closing Credits

  The Wild Cards Universe

  About the Editor

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.

  WILD CARDS VI: ACE IN THE HOLE

  Copyright © 1989 by George R. R. Martin and the Wild Cards Trust

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art by Michael Komarck

  A Tor Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-3560-9 (trade paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-2438-6 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9781466824386

  Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected]

  First published in the United States by Bantam Spectra

  First Tor Edition: February 2017

 


 

  George R. R. Martin, Ace in the Hole

  (Series: Wild Cards # 6)

 

 


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