Jacob turns carefully in the quarter gravity of the parking lot and looks at the door that says “do not enter.” He opens it experimentally and is shocked to find the room is forty feet long by fifteen wide, and in the center is a card table. More importantly, on one side of the room is a buffet, and less important, on the other is a self-service bar.
Jacob steps inside the room and watches the aliens playing; he finds the rules to be incomprehensible even after watching two rounds. But what he finds comprehensible is his stomach is rumbling. He moves to the buffet and fills a plate. “Don’t mind if I do,” he says with a smile.
He stands and watches the next round progress, his plate loaded down with various human foods, mainly finger foods, small sandwiches, and snacks. So far what he can make out is the game is a combination of a set of 5 dice. 5, 7, 8, and 11 sided, respectively, two decks of 52 cards, a chessboard but with towers of coins stacked on it, and a pair of oven mitts.
As he watches the game, he still has no idea of the rules. Every time he thinks he gets a grasp on them, some new rule comes into play and ruins his understanding. In one game, the best hand was to have low dice and a low hand and as many pawns as you can get with as many credit coins—thick silvery colored pieces of metal that apparently are some sort of currency in space? They are stacked under pawns. But if you have the oven mitts, you need to do the opposite.
Jacob eats more of the fried ravioli on his plate as he watches a human with 2 extra arms roll high dice and get a full house and get the oven mitts but fail to place enough pieces on the chessboard.
Four-arm Bob, Jacob calls him. Bob angrily throws all 4 hands up in the air in frustration and leaves the table, leaving an empty spot.
“You there, come play,” says a man wearing a bright red jumpsuit and dreadlocks with an English accent, his finger pointed at Jacob.
“I have no money.” Jacob says through a mouthful of canned peaches, for some unfathomable reason, they are delicious. ‘Does space change your taste buds?’ He ponders.
“First hands on me,” the dealer says, tossing Jacob a 50-credit chip; he watches as Jacob catches it. He smiles, knowing with that catch he had another fish on the line. “Bet it all; see if you win big.”
Jacob sits down, and the smooth-talking dealer walks him through a round of the game. He rolls the dice, and the numbers come up to 12. Another player slaps the table, and they swap hands, leaving him with a 14. His new hand is also low. He cheers and looks up at the chessboard; his hand had won him one pawn, and his 50-credit token was stuck under it. Everyone else at the table glares at him, but he wins.
Jacob shoves a piece of sausage into his mouth as he watches the dealer slide him 40 100-unit tokens. “Beginner’s luck, play again; you never know?” The dealer grins.
Jacob thinks about it, then shrugs and stays seated. He slides 2000 credits onto the chessboard and reaches for the dice, but the dealer hands them to the person on the left of him, a purple blobby who has a sour expression on his body.
“One more hand; if I lose, I am done,” the sour blob extols.
The dealer smiles a warm, playful, alien smile and watches as the dice roll. The blobby rolls badly, getting 32 and a full house, while Jacob had the mitt and he had 12 pawns. The dealer racks in the credits and gives Jacob his cut for winning.
The blob melts off the chair and wiggles his way through a crack in the door in disgust; the entire time he is saying, “Rigged, I knew it. I am done with this place. I hear Debula 12 has a wild game going.”
“6000 units is nothing to sneeze at, master gambler. What do you say? Walk away or raise the stakes?” He smiles at Jacob. “What’s it going to be?”
Charles the astronaut steps into the room and sits down at the table. He sets a big stack of credits in front of him and slides 4000 into a small cage on the table. “I claim primacy!” he shouts.
The dealer throws the dice and lays a hand face up. The dealer nods his head. “Too bad, but I like your spunk,” he smiles and takes the credits and puts them in his pocket.
Jacob puts up 3000 credits and leans back while the astronaut pushes out 10,000. “Yeah, I am in this round,” Jacob says, grumbling to himself, still unsure of what to say.
The astronaut grins. “You’re just handing me your money; that’s fine with me.” He smirks. “Just like that girl you hang out with is handing me her ass whenever I ask.”
“What did you say?” Jacobs says his blood boiling in barely controlled rage, and he pushes the rest of his credits into the pot. “Her name is Izzy,” he practically growls.
The astronaut shrugs his shoulders. “I can’t help it if she is wild for me.”
Jacob is trying to control himself, and the dealer sees it. “By the rules of Merkon betting closed,” he hands Jacob the dice and hands out the cards.
Jacob looks up at the other person, who has been playing the last few rounds, who has 4 tentacles for legs but is a normal humanoid from the waist up except she is a brilliant glossy blue, like she is covered in oil.
Jacob nods his head to the astronaut. “Yeah, she seems to be, but don’t feel special.” Jacob says, trying to defend his honor but more importantly her honor, but instead he only manages to make himself regret opening his mouth.
The tentacled creature wins the round, and it makes a soft feminine chuffing noise in delight. She eyes Jacob, parts of her turning pink with sexual interest in the ape.
The astronaut laughs. “Well, we both lost this round, but don’t worry, I will just go win at life. Maybe twice, who knows?”
Jacob seethes with anger. ‘He even laughs like an asshole. What the hell does she see in him…?‘
Jacob watches as Charles leaves the table and then leaves the room, but hardly quickly enough for Jacob’s taste.
“What a bag of dicks,” the dealer says and shuffles the cards and collects the dice, “but let’s not let this ruin our fun.”
Jacob puts up his bet, and the striking blue alien waves an arm at him and puts up her bet. The cards are dealt and the dice are rolled.
Jacob wins! The dealer slides the credits over to him and begins setting up for the next round. “Winner winner winner”
The alien pulses red at the tips of her feet. “This human is different… special… interesting… I have the desire to mate with him,” she says in the language of body color. She raises her tentacles above her head, flashing the “come mate with me” red-to-blue pattern.
She chuffs indignantly. “He is ignoring me,” she flashes.
The cards are dealt. Jacob has 32 points and the oven mitt. He also has a poor hand. He looks up at the alien to see if she has a tell; she is flashing colors at him. ‘What does that mean? Is she going to attack if I win? Is that her tell?’ He puts more credits in, and the alien matches.
“This game is pointless. I want you, human. I want you inside my ship, and I want you in me…” The alien says again in her colored language as she flashes green, red, and blue at Jacob.
‘Ha, I know what’s going on; that’s her tell.’ Jacob thinks and pushes his whole pile in.
The alien stands up and pulls her glossy green panties off and throws them on the table.
Jacob is just confused and looks at the dealer, then back to the 4-holed panties.
“It means the loser has sex with the winner,” the dealer grins. The alien wiggles her fingers at him. She does her best to imitate Betty Boop and blows a kiss.
Jacob’s erection grows. He is still sexually frustrated from the toilet incident. ‘Yeah, why not,’ his penis thinks, and he agrees.
Deep in Jacob’s subconscious, the tentacle beast venom smiles. “She is attractive with all those tentacles.” Jacob’s cock twitches.
The cards are dealt, and the chess pieces move across the board, and much to the alien’s delight, Jacob wins. The dealer slides Jacob’s winnings over to him and shoos him off. “Go have fun,” he says with a grin, picturing the debauchery about to happen. ‘Hopefully debauchery and not what is rumored to happen to people who disappoint silicone life.’
Jacob fills his pockets with the credits, his pants threatening to fall down even with the light gravity, and he attempts to hand the panties back to the silicone lifeform.
“Oh, they are yours now.” She winks at him.
He holds out his arm like he is asking her for a dance, and she wraps an arm through it, holding it tight as they walk out onto the promenade. Jacob finds her touch surreally erotic.
