The Stars Came Back by Rolf Nelson

of you accept this asset title as a matching bet, going to the winner of this hand?
    Helton: (Nodding) Yup.
    Grim Guy: (Motionless) I… Yes.
    The dealer nods and places the title on top of the pot on the table.
    Helton pushes in enough to match GrimGuy ’s remaining chips. Grim pushes all in to match.
    Dealer: It’s a contract. All bets matched and called.
    More crowd exclamations.
    The players stare at each other.
    Dealer: Show you cards, please, gentlemen.
    Trembler lays down his four cards. A full house, using the center nine to match his nine of hearts, with a trio of fours. The crowd gasps and exclaims.
    Grim Guy smiles. He puts down his cards. Also a full house. The center nine matches his nine of spades, and he has a trio of jacks! Trembler shakes and twitches more spasmodically, sweat breaking out on his brow, but he doesn’t say a word, as everyone now stares at Helton.
    Helton holds his hand silently for a moment , looking at the pot. Then, ever so slowly, he tosses them down, one at a time. Two of spades. Two of hearts. Two of clubs… Two of diamonds. The crowd explodes realizing that he won, beating TWO full houses. GrimGuy just grows grimmer, and Trembler seems to faint dead away. The Dealer pushes the pile of chips towards Helton, who sits motionlessly, staring at the chips, with a growing smile.
     
    FADE TO BLACK

Tajemnica
    FADE IN
    EXT - DAY - Airspace high ab ove a city
    A graceful mid sized low-orbital ship knifes through the air above the modest spaceport of Adelaide. A wide and tan plain stretches to low mountains, the blue sky above has scattered clouds, and a modest city sprawls away to one side of the port.
    An aerial view follows the fifty-passenger, sharply streamlined flier as it descends towards the landing field, a simple and dusty facility with a large central building having six evenly spaced concourses radiating out. Along each concourse are pairs of landing pads, small ones close to the center, larger ones further out, and a narrow landing strip on one side for the occasional aerodynamic-lift sport craft. A dozen ships of various sizes and shapes are in port. The main road leads from the end of the widest concourse toward town. Meandering away from the other arms are narrower roads leading to warehouses and industrial areas scattered along that edge of town. A few smaller pads are scattered about near some of the outbuildings farther from the main terminal, with a collection of ship parts, wreckage, tarp-covered heaps, and personal aircraft and spacecraft. Near one of these beige outbuildings is a squat, dirty, angular, partially tarp-covered, very dusty craft that is all but unnoticed. The flier zips down, heading for one of the midsized landing pads.
     
    CUT TO
    INT - DAY - Passenger cabin of the flier
    Helton sits in a window seat looking out eagerly, dressed in a new traveler’s coat with nice clothes underneath. Next to him sits a young man in shabby-looking clothes, Floyd, also craning his neck to see out the window.
    Floyd: Wow. Twenty thousand tons. Good-sized ship. Two-hundred meters or more. Must be one of those on the outer ring.
    Helton: Hope so. They look nice. Shiny.
    Floyd: Name doesn’t ring a bell, but I’ve been away a few months. Must be new here.
    Helton: Know soon enough.
     
    FADE TO
    INT - DAY - Spaceport concourse central hub
    Helton stands at an information counter. The young woman at the counter shakes her head.
    InfoClerk : Sorry sir, no ship registered by that name here.
    Helton: Are you sure? I had it confirmed before I left. It’s my ship. It must be here.
    InfoClerk : Nothing on the computer… Do you know if it landed in the last thirty days?
    Helton: Actually, I, um, I’m not sure when it came in. Won it in a card game.
    InfoClerk : (Apologetically as she digs for more data) Hmmm… sorry, no commercial or private craft registered with the port on any landing pad by that name. (Tap-tap-tap on the computer) No landings or takeoffs in the last year by