Sidewinders from SIRIUS
by Fox B. Holden
The treacherous aliens from Outer Space gave Earth
six months to surrender or be destroyed ... but
Vice-colonel Gaylord Kram, fearless ace of Terrestrial
Intelligence, had a daring plan: Why not surrender now?
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Planet Stories November 1950.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Gaylord Kram, Vice-colonel of Intelligence, Terrestrial Federal government, sat pondering one of the worst poker hands he had ever witnessed, and he had witnessed a goodly number in his 38 years, when he should have been sweating blood over his tottering government's most perplexing problem: what to do about the colonists from Sirius and their G-ray.
But what could even a Kram do with two deuces, the joker, a five and an eight-spot, all of different suits?
The other three Intelligence officers who were taking a little badly-needed recreation the "old fashioned" way weren't too surprised when Kram raised a thousand credits. There was no sense in trying to analyze Kram's poker, any more than there was any sense in trying to analyze Kram. He usually won. Always a different technique, but he usually won anyway.
Major Ignacius Luverduk, Kram's somewhat useful assistant, knew this and folded his lowly hand which consisted of nothing more than dogs-over.
While he was waiting for the colonel across from him to up-ship or get off the runway, Kram fell to thinking.