Von Liegnitz scooped the cards off the table and began shuffling them. “Exactly. As long as Snookums gets his questions answered, he keeps himself busy. Our young boot ensign has been assigned to the duty of keeping that mechanical Peeping Tom out of our hair for an hour. By then, it will be lunch time.” He cleared his throat. “We still need a fourth.”
“If you ask me,” said Lieutenant Keku, “we need a fifth. Let’s play poker instead.”
Jakob von Liegnitz nodded and offered the cards for a cut.
“Deal ’em,” said Mike the Angel.
A few minutes less than an hour later, Ensign Vaneski slid open the door to the wardroom and was greeted by a triune chorus of hellos.
“Sirs,” said Vaneski with pseudo formality, “I have done my duty, exhausting as it was. I demand satisfaction.”
Lieutenant Keku, upon seeing Mike the Angel dealt a second eight, flipped over his up cards and folded.
“Satisfaction?” he asked the ensign.
Vaneski nodded. “One hand of showdown for five clams. I have been playing encyclopedia for that hunk of animated machinery for an hour. That’s above and beyond the call of duty.”
“Raise a half,” said Mike the Angel.