World of Chance

Cartwright did not take his eyes from Verrick.

"I came here to kill Benteley, but I can't. Stalemate. Stalemate on all sides; you can't kill me, I can't kill Benteley, and I can't kill you."

Shaeffer entered the room. He glanced at Judge Waring and took a seat. "Leon," he said to Cartwright, "this is a bluff on his part. The girl took him the idea before he killed her. He wants to scare you———"

"I know," Cartwright said. "He's going to suggest an arrangement. What's your proposition, Reese?"

Verrick dug into his pocket and got out his power-card. "A swap," he said. "Your card for mine."

"That would make you Quizmaster," Cartwright observed.

"You'll come out of this with your life, I'll come out with the Quizmastership."

"Then you'll have Benteley," Cartwright said.

"That's right," Verrick answered.

Cartwright turned to Shaeffer. "Will he kill me if I refuse?"

Shaeffer was silent for a long time. "Yes," he said at last, "he won't leave here without killing you or getting Benteley back. If you don't fit in he'll kill you and surrender his card. If you do, he'll have Benteley again. Either way he gets one of you. He knows he can't get both. He'd prefer to have Benteley; he has got to have him under control again."

Cartwright searched his pockets until he found his package of power-cards. He sorted through them slowly. "Is this legal?" he asked Judge Waring.

"You can exchange," Waring said gruffly.

Benteley rose. "Cartwright, are you really——"

"Sit down!" Waring snapped. "You have no say in this."

Cartwright found the correct card, checked it with his other papers, then laid it on the table. "There's mine."

"You're willing to exchange?" Verrick asked. "You understand what it means? You're legally giving up your position. With your card goes everything."

"I understand."

Verrick turned round and faced Benteley. The two of them gazed at each other a moment, neither speaking. Then Verrick grunted: "It's a deal."

Benteley said thickly: "Cartwright, you know what he'll do to me, don't you?"

Cartwright ignored him; he was returning the little package of power-cards to his coat pocket. "Go ahead," he said mildly to Verrick. "Let's finish so that I can go to Rita."

Verrick reached forward and picked up Cartwright's power-card. "Now I'm Quizmaster."

Cartwright's hand came out of his pocket. With his small, antiquated gun he shot Reese Verrick directly in the heart. Still clutching the power-card, Verrick slid forward and lay with his face against the table, eyes and mouth open.

"Is it legal?" Cartwright asked the Judge.

"Absolutely." Waring nodded solemnly. "Of course you lose that packet of cards you hold."

Cartwright tossed them to the Judge. "I'm an old man and I'm tired."

Benteley sagged. "He's dead. It's over."

Cartwright got to his feet. "Now we can go downstairs and see how Rita is."

Chapter XV

Rita o'neill was on her feet when the two of them entered the infirmary. "I'm all right," she said huskily. "What happened?"

"Verrick's dead," Benteley said.

"Yes, we're all finished," Cartwright added. He went up to his niece and kissed the bandage that covered her face. "You've lost some of your hair."

"It'll grow again," Rita said as she sat down shakily. "You killed him and came out with your own life?"

"I came out with everything but my power-card," Cartwright said. He explained what had happened. "Now there's no Quizmaster. There will have to be a fresh selection."

"It's hard to believe," Rita said. "It seems as if there's always been a Reese Verrick."

Cartwright searched his pockets and brought out a notebook. He made a tick and then closed the book. "Every­thing but Herb Moore. We still have that to worry about. The ship hasn't yet landed, and the Pellig body is some­where within a few hundred thousand miles of Flame Disc." He hesitated, then continued: "As a matter of fact, the ipvic monitor says Moore reached Preston's ship and entered it."

There was an uneasy silence.

"Could he destroy our ship?" Rita asked.

"Easily," Benteley said, "and a good part of the Disc at the same time."

"Maybe John Preston will do something to him," Rita suggested hopefully, but there was no conviction in her voice.

"Much depends on the next Quizmaster," Benteley pointed out. "Some kind of a work-crew should go out to round up Moore. The body will be deteriorating; we might be able to destroy him."

"Not after he reaches Preston," Cartwright said gloomily.

"I think we should consult the next Quizmaster," Benteley persisted. "Moore will be a menace to the system. You think the next Quizmaster would agree?"

"I think so," Cartwright said, "since you're the next Quizmaster. That is, assuming you've still got the power-card I gave you."

Benteley had the card; he got it out and examined it. "You expect me to believe this?"

"No, not for another twenty-four hours."

Benteley turned the card over and again studied it. The power-card looked like any other; the same shape, colour and texture. "You've been carrying this about?"

"I've been carrying a whole packet of them," Cartwright answered.

"Give me time to adjust my thoughts." Benteley managed to get the power-card in his pocket. "Is this all really on the level? Or have you worked out a system of prediction?"

"No," Cartwright answered. "I can't predict selection results any better than the next person."

"But you had this card! You know what's coming up!"

"What I did," Cartwright admitted, "was tamper with the selection machinery. During my lifetime I've had access to Geneva a thousand times. I set up the numbers of the power-cards I had been able to acquire, in such a way that they constitute the next nine selections."

"Was that ethical?" Benteley demurred.

"I played the game for years," Cartwright said. "Then I began to realize that the rules were all against me. Who wants to play that kind of game?"

Benteley agreed: "No, there's no point in playing a rigged game. But what's the answer?"

"I joined the Preston Society."

"Why?"

"Because Preston saw through the rules, too. He wanted what I wanted, a game in which everybody stood a chance. Not that I expect everybody to carry off the same size pot at the end of the game. But I think everybody ought to have a chance of wi

"What are you going to do now?" Benteley asked. "You can't hold power again."

"I'm going to spend the rest of my days su

Rita spoke. "Twenty-four hours, Ted, then you're Quizmaster. You're where my uncle was, a few days ago. You'll be waiting for them to come and notify you."

"Shaeffer knows," Cartwright said. "He and I worked it out before I gave you the card."

"Then the Corps will respect the arrangement?"

"The Corps will respect you" Cartwright answered quietly. "It's going to be a big job. Things are happening; stars are opening up like roses; the Disc is out there... a half way point. The whole system will be changing."

"You think you can handle it?" Rita asked Benteley.

Benteley replied thoughtfully: "I wanted to get where I could make changes; here I am." Suddenly he laughed. "I'm probably the first person who was ever under oath to himself. I'm both protector and serf at the same time. I have the power of life and death over myself."

"It sounds like a good kind of oath, to me," Cartwright said. "You take the full responsibility for protection and for carrying out the work. You have nobody to answer to but your own conscience."

Major Shaeffer hurried into the room. "The ipvic monitor's in with a final report on Moore."

Cartwright responded: "Final?"