d here on
Cassylia. You can check on that very easily. I sold it. I'm the Pyrric
ambassador to this planet." He smiled at the thought. "Not that that
means much, I'm ambassador to at least six other planets as well. Comes
in handy when you want to do business."

Jason looked at the muscular man with his gray hair and worn,
military-cut clothes, and decided not to laugh. You heard of strange
things out in the frontier planets and every word could be true. He had
never heard of Pyrrus either, though that didn't mean anything. There
were over thirty-thousand known planets in the inhabited universe.

"I'll check on what you have told me," Jason said. "If it's true, we can
do business. Call me tomorrow--"

"No," Kerk said. "The money has to be won tonight. I've already issued a
check for this twenty-seven million, it will bounce as high as the
Pleiades unless we deposit the money in the morning, so that's our time
limit."

With each moment the whole affair became more fantastic--and more
intriguing for Jason. He looked at his watch. There was still enough
time to find out if Kerk was lying or not.

"All right, we'll do it tonight," he said. "Only I'll have to have one
of those bills to check."

Kerk stood up to go. "Take them all, I won't be seeing you again until
after you've won. I'll be at the Casino of course, but don't recognize
me. It would be much better if they didn't know where your money was
coming from or how much you had."

Then he was gone, after a bone-crushing handclasp that closed on Jason's
hand like vise jaws. Jason was alone with the money. Fanning the bills
out like a hand of cards he stared at their sepia and gold faces, trying
to get the reality through his head. Twenty-seven million credits. What
was to stop him from just walking out the door with them and vanishing.
Nothing really, except his own sense of honor.

Kerk Pyrrus, the man with the same last name as the planet he came
from, was the universe's biggest fool. Or he knew just what he was
doing. From the way the interview had gone the latter seemed the better
bet.

"He _knows_ I would much rather gamble with the money than steal it," he
said wryly.

Slipping a small gun into his waistband holster and pocketing the money
he went out.

II.

The robot teller at the bank just pinged with electronic shock when he
presented one of the bills and flashed a panel that directed him to see
Vice President Wain. Wain was a smooth cus