Daniel Abraham - Inside Straight

“And answers for my questions?” Fortune asked.

Isis smiled. “Of course.”

Feeling like an idiot, Fortune borrowed the ostrich-feather fans from their bearers and followed Anubis, who seemed friendly enough (if John could accurately read his grinning canine features) but had little English. Fortune was glad to score jeans, a T-shirt, and a pair of sneakers.

By the time he returned, drinks and snacks had been laid out. Bugsy and Lohengrin were conspicuous by their absence. Only three senior members of the group—Thoth, Osiris, and Isis—were awaiting him.

“Don’t worry about your friends.” Thoth hadn’t changed since the last time John had seen him. His features were birdlike, with a long, sharp beak that gave his words an odd clacking cadence. “We have set them up in their own suite where they can refresh themselves and relax. Much of what we have to say here should stay among family.”

“I’m flattered that you think of me in those terms.” Fortune balanced a plate of pastries dripping with honey in one hand and a tiny cup of coffee loaded to the top with sugar in the other. “I’ve done nothing to deserve it.”

Osiris, who had little English, spoke a rapid stream of Arabic. Like Thoth, he was also little changed since Fortune’s last trip to Vegas. He was brown-skinned and thin, lean to the point of emaciation, with a bald head, dark chin beard, and dark, vibrant eyes. He looked like an antediluvian rock star who ate too little and spent way too much time in the sun. Thoth translated his words into precise English, unaccented but for his strange lisp. “We need Sekhmet now more than we ever have. She was meant to be the greatest among our people, our champion and shield against those who would destroy us—but, as you well know, things do not always work out as they should.”

Isis took up the story. “Isra was born in Alexandria, of a family who had for generations worked the docks. The gods certainly work in mysterious ways. Yes, they gave her great powers. But her body, ill-nourished, worn out by childbirth and a life of hard work, could not contain the tremendous energies needed to fuel them. She was forced to…to change , in yet another way. To shrivel onto herself, to go into a deep sleep—until one would come whose body could be her vessel.”

“You.” Thoth nodded his head like a bird pecking for bugs. “You, who should have been an ace, you whose heritage was stripped from you. We beg you, please, to let Sekhmet live through you.”

Fortune swallowed a honeyed date, choking. “As a parasite in my body?”

Thoth shrugged. “Surely, more of a symbiote. She does nothing to harm you.”

“But I don’t want her inside me, controlling me. Why can’t she share your body? Or yours, or his?”

Isis looked sad. “If we could, we would serve her. But we lack your strength.”

Osiris nodded vigorously as Thoth translated his words again. “Surely,” Osiris said, “you have seen the news out of Egypt.”

“Some,” Fortune said. “I’ve been busy.”

“Of course,” Osiris continued. “The whole world has been busy while hundreds of our people have been killed. And without Sekhmet to protect them, it will only get worse. Hundreds of thousands of innocents—men, women, and children—all will die. The Living Gods themselves will pass from this world, starting a new dark age that will cast its shadow across the globe. Sekhmet must return to Egypt.”

“Why can’t she return in your head?” Fortune snapped. “I have my own life—a job. Friends. I’m supposed to go back to college in the fall.”

Isis looked significantly at Thoth and Osiris. “We understand. You are tired. Much strangeness has been thrust upon you. We should talk later, when you have had a chance to rest.”

“Yeah,” Fortune said. “That’s a good idea. I’m really tired. I should call my mom. Let her know that I’m all right. Something will work out, I’m sure of it.”

“Yes.” Thoth didn’t look at him.

“I’ll call Anubis,” Isis said. “He’ll take you to the room we’ve arranged for you.”

“Thanks.” Somehow John couldn’t meet her eyes.

Osiris stopped him as he stood to leave, taking his hand with a devil-may-care glint in his old, glittery eyes, and barked a few sentences in Arabic.

“What did he say?” Fortune asked Thoth.

“He said,” Thoth replied, “that he is not worried. That he knows that you will do the right thing in the end. In visions he has seen you leading a great and powerful army, bloodied but unbeaten, your heart’s desire at your side.”

Anubis was waiting, like a grinning puppy. He had the eyes of a puppy, eager and trusting. Fortune couldn’t look at him either. They left the Living Gods’ quarters and Anubis led him down a corridor to his room, bowed down low to him, and left.

Fortune settled into the comfy chair. He had to call his mother, but later. There was still too much on his mind. He turned on the TV, turned down the sound, and dialed room service to order more food. The channel was CNN. He watched the news flicker by silently as he put in his order for steak sandwiches, fries, and a couple of milkshakes. He couldn’t decide between chocolate and strawberry, so he ordered both as he watched President Kennedy and his hot actress wife receive foreign dignitaries at the White House. When a story about Egypt came on, John turned up the sound.

It was terrible. A bunch of fanatics calling themselves Ikhlas al-Din were killing jokers in Cairo—women and children as well as men. Fortune stared at the horrific images on the screen. He couldn’t believe that no one was protecting these people. That the authorities were allowing this to happen. Something had to be done.

Someone…someone had to do something.

He turned off the television, unable to watch any more. The words Lohengrin had spoken before they’d burned down his mother’s house came back to him. “You must find your destiny,” the German had said. “If God has need of you, and this is the path your honor demands, you must go.” John got up out of the chair and paced around the room. He didn’t know if God needed him, but there was sure as hell a bunch of poor devils in Egypt who did.

The doorbell rang and Fortune called out, “Yeah?”

The door opened. It was his food. A smiling bellboy wheeled it in with a flourish.

“Thanks,” Fortune muttered. He signed for it, and when the bellboy noticed the size of the tip he smiled even further.

“Thank you , sir.”

Fortune didn’t even notice that he left. He took the cover off the dish on the cart. The steak sandwiches and fries looked great and smelled even better, but suddenly his appetite had disappeared. He wanted to do something, but all he could do was pace.

He thought of Kate. How he had spoken about wanting to make a difference. He did. He did want to help people. What he went through to try to regain his ace …

And now. Here was another opportunity.

Most people never got one in their entire lives. So far, he’d had two.

He could take it, or he could go back to being Captain Cruller for the rest of his life.

He flopped down into the comfy chair. He had to think. Kate …

His heart’s desire?

When he closed his eyes, exhaustion took him. Fortune fell asleep.

He woke in the shower.

He didn’t remember getting into bed, sleeping, getting out of bed, undressing, and going into the bathroom. That bothered him.