|
Vila: | They say it's wide open. |
Avon: | What? |
Vila: | Freedom City. |
Avon: | So I've heard. Wide open. |
Vila: | Got everything a man's ever dreamed of, they say. |
Avon: | Space City pales by comparison, they say. |
Vila: | You know, if it was a desert down there, so hot your eyeballs
frizzled, poisonous snakes under every rock.. |
Avon: | Blake would have sent us. |
Vila: | You can bet on it. |
Avon: | Bet. Why not? It's perfect. |
Vila: | What is? |
Avon: | There is a casino down there. It is called The Big Wheel. No stake limits. Why don't we bust it? |
Vila: | Because we're up here and the casino's down there. |
Avon: | We go down there. We can get Orac to operate the teleport.
He can do it as well from down there as up here. |
Vila: | You mean we take Orac with us? |
Avon: | Of course we take Orac with us. You dummy. You haven't
caught on, have you? |
Vila: | What's in your mind? |
Avon: | The Big Wheel is run by a computer that fixes the odds at 5 percent
in favor of the house, right? |
Vila: | Right. |
Avon: | Right. Orac reads computers. |
Vila: | Ooohhhh. That is beautiful. Avon, there are times when I almost
get to like you. |
Avon: | Yes, well that makes it all worth while. |
Vila: | I mean, you give me a warm feeling right here [holds waist], around
the moneybelt. |
Avon: | We are going to need some kind of casing for Orac. |
Vila: | Wait, suppose Blake wants fetching up while we're on surface? |
Avon: | Oh, he'll be several hours looking for Docholi. We can break that
casino and be back up here inside of 1 hour. He need never know that
we were gone. |
Vila: | I just needed convincing. I'm convinced. |
Avon: | I'll get a casing for Orac. |
Vila: | Wait a minute. Well, look at Orac. I mean look at it. It's a bit
on the bulky side for smuggling into a casino, wouldn't you say? |
Avon: | Orac, are you familiar with the theory of molecular reduction? |
Orac: | Am I to assume that you refer to the stabilized atomic implosion? |
Avon: | Yes. Vila and I were just discussing it. |
Vila: | We were? |
Avon: | I was assuring him that the whole idea is an absurd fantasy. |
Orac: | On the contrary, it is neither absurd, nor is it a fantasy. |
Avon: | Are you suggesting that you know more about the subject than I do? |
Orac: | It's not a suggestion. It's a statement of fact. |
Avon: | Do you seriously expect me to believe you could, for example,
reduce your size without affecting your function. |
Orac: | I could. |
Vila: | For how long? |
Orac: | It would depend on the degree of reduction. |
. | [Avon puts his hands apart to show size. Vila pushes them closer together.] |
Avon: | Approximately 1/8 of your current size. |
Orac: | 2 hrs 6 min. |
Vila: | Talk's cheap. |
Orac: | Does that mean something? |
Avon: | It means he doesn't believe you, and neither, as a matter of fact, do I. |
Orac: | I take it you wish me to prove it. |
Avon: | Well,... |
. | [Orac reduces in size; Vila sticks out his hand and Avon shakes it] |
. | ... |
|
Avon: | Quickly, Vila. Hide the money. |
Blake: | [on communicator] Liberator, do you hear me? |
Avon: | Reading you, Blake. |
Blake: | Bring us up, Avon. |
Avon: | Bringing you up now. Welcome back. How did you get on? |
Cally: | We managed to reach Docholi. |
Avon: | Oh, great, wonderful, terrific. |
Blake: | We didn't get the location of Star One, though. |
Vila: | I think it's my turn on call, Avon. Oh, you're back. |
Blake: | Vila, I didn't like that innocent look. What have you two been up to while
we've been away. |
Vila: | Me? Nothing. Had a little sleep. |
Avon: | Played a little chess. |
Vila: | Chess. |
Avon: | And that's all. |
. | [Avon and Vila look behind at small Orac. Look back and it's again full size.] |
Vila: | That's right, Blake. Had a real quiet time. |
. | ... |