Larson, giggling. She looked positively tipsy.
Madja frowned at her. âThat would be easy part. I share them with you. But, no. This is not chess. This isâmore like American game. Too much free-for-all. Not enough discipline. How can anyone play game that is all lies?â
Yake looked up at her blearily. âWhat?â
âIs not important. Was nasty shot.â
âCheap shot. Never mind. Say it again.â
Madja shrugged. âI said, âIs not chess. Is American game. Too much free-for-all.ââ She sipped at her vhodka.
âNo, you said something elseââ
She waved a hand. âThat was nasty part. âHow can anyone play game that is all lies?ââ âYouâre right, Madja! That is an American game. This isnât chess! This is poker!â
âPolka?â
âPoker,â said Kasahara. âYou know? The card game.â
âAhh, yes!â Madja grinned and said something in Russian.
âThey teach you that in the Navy?â asked Yake.
âAmong other things, da .â
âI donât know whether to be impressed or shocked.â
âYou learn to poker. I learn to swear. Which is more useful?â
âRight now? Poker.â
Madja looked uninterested.
âOkay,â said Yake. âMaybe Iâm wrong, but try this thought on anyway. This is a poker gameâwith two thousand sharpies, each of whom has brought his own deck and his own set of rules! Do you know what that means?â
âYou are about to explain it, no?â
âIt means that there are no rules. Only there are! But we get to make them up as we go! Thatâs how this game is played. Do you know what a good poker game needs?â
âGood players?â asked Larson.
âNah. A fish. A sucker. Somebody with money whoâs willing to believe whatever you tell himâespecially when you tell him that you couldnât possibly have the fourth ace, because you want to keep him in the game as long as he has money to lose. Thatâs usâweâre the poor fish in this game! Humanity! Weâre the suckers! As long as weâre playing by their rules, we have to lose. Itâs their game! We canât win unless we change the rules on themââ
âYake,â Madja chose her words carefully. âI do not understand what you are saying. It sounds like you are suggesting that we break agreements here.â
âNoâIâm not. Iâm suggesting that we . . . reinterpret the boundaries of those agreements to include the possibility that we could win a hand here too.â
Madja did not look convinced.
âYou donât understand, do you? This isnât a game about playing by the rules. Itâs a game about how cleverly you can cheat. If thatâs the game, then cheating isnât wrong, is it?â
âIs interesting capitalist justification. Do they teach that at UCLA?â
âUSC. And I didnât go there. Never mind. I just want to make this game a little less interesting for us and a little more interesting for everybody else.â
âI do not see it, Yake.â
Larson leaned across the table and laid one hand on Madjaâs. âThink of it this way, dear. Everything is justified in the class struggle against the imperialist war-mongers.â
âIs not good comparison, Larson. I am not sure that these creatures are really imperialists. Besides, imperialists on Earth are at least human. Theory is that human being should know better . In the act of oppressing the class struggle of the workers, they renounce the noblest part of their humanity and deserve to meet their fate on the gallows. But Dragons and slugs and talking turnips might not be capable of knowing better. In that case, we cannot take advantage of themâ or we would be the oppressor .â
Kasahara paused in the act of reheating his sahki. âAre you sure youâre a real
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