Zero Minus Ten rbb-1 Read online

  While the men played, several people came and went through the red curtains. Some of the Chinese spectators were apparently winning a great deal of money. At one point, Bond was struck by a bizarre sight. Two Chinese men with pinkish-white skin and white hair came into the room, stood together against a wall, and watched. They were both wearing sunglasses and looked alike. Not only were they obviously siblings, but they were both albino! That was very unusual in this part of the world, Bond thought. In the past, Asian families would have considered such children to be “unnatural” and would have found a way to get rid of them.

  The seat/Wind assignments rotated for the last time of this Round. Bond was now East and the dealer. He got a promising hand containing a complete Pong of the 6 of Circles, and two Pairs. As they played, Bond thought he noticed something unusual again when Thackeray reached across the discarded tiles to draw one from the wall. Thackeray had Ponged with the 4 of Characters early in the hand. Bond decided to throw down Characters to see if Thackeray might be collecting them for a big hand. When it was his turn, Bond discarded a 6 of Characters near his side of the table. Sure enough, he noticed that the tile had mysteriously disappeared a few minutes later!

  Thackeray went out for three points. He had a Semi-Pure hand, which meant that it was made up entirely of one suit with the exception of a Pong of Winds or Dragons—in this case a Pong of West Winds. Woo had thrown the winning discard, so he owed Thackeray $1800, and the others paid him $900. Bond saw that Thackeray’s revealed hand contained a Pong of the 6 of Characters.

  It was agreed that they should stand, stretch, and refill their drinks in-between the Rounds. Thackeray had polished off a third of the bottle of vodka. Bond and Woo stepped up to the bar and ordered doubles. Bond took a moment to look around the room. The albino brothers were gone.

  “I told you he wins a lot,” Woo whispered. “I think I will lose more money than usual, uh huh?”

  “T.Y., there are two things I don’t like about that man,” whispered Bond.

  “What?”

  “He’s a lousy drunk, and I believe the bastard’s cheating.”

  SEVEN

  JADE DRAGON

  THE GAME RESUMED WITH THE SOUTH WIND ROUND. THACKERAY, AS THE East Wind seat, was dealer. Bond was determined to verify his suspicion that the man was a cheat. He recalled what he knew about Thackeray. The man had been a stage magician when he was younger. He might very well be adept at sleight-of-hand and parlour tricks. He was probably palming discarded tiles from the table as he reached over them to draw a tile from the wall. The big question was, why would he cheat? He was very wealthy. He didn’t need the money. Or did he? Could the obliteration of his Board of Directors have left his company in a bad state? Did the impending mainland takeover of Hong Kong have something to do with it? The alcohol, the cheating, and his belligerent manner all added up to something inherently reckless about him.

  Bond drew a very good hand. His first discard was a lone East Wind tile. He had two Pongs and the possibility of one more. He was determined to find a way to beat Thackeray at his own game. To come out and accuse him of cheating would be unacceptable. Bond needed to gain Thackeray’s confidence, not alienate him! If Bond caused a scene here in the casino, he might blow his cover and permanently botch the mission. He would have to find a way to cheat, too. As play progressed, he examined every angle. He didn’t have the sleight-of-hand ability that Thackeray had, so that was out of the question. Perhaps at the next break he could enlist Woo’s help.

  Thackeray went out with a lucrative five points: three points for four Pongs, one point for holding no Flowers, and one point for a Pong of East Winds, matching his seat. Bond scanned the discarded tiles, looking for the East Wind tile he had discarded at the beginning of the game and didn’t see it. Thackeray had to have palmed it somehow. Poor Woo threw the winning discard, so had to pay $3200. The others counted out chips worth $1600. Woo was no longer smiling.

  The seat/Wind assignments did not change for the next hand. Now that the enormity of the dollar value for each hand was sinking in, a certain tension enveloped the entire room. Spectators were less animated and chatty. Whereas mahjong was usually a noisy, social game, this one had become deadly serious.

  Sinclair won the hand on a self-pick with two points. The other players had to pay him $800 each.

  Woo became the dealer for the next hand, which ended dead. The hand was played again, and this time Thackeray won small with two points on Sinclair’s discard. Sinclair had to pay $800, the others $400 each.

  Sinclair dealt the next hand. Woo got lucky and went out with three points on a self-pick. Everyone paid him $1600, which brought the smile back to his face.

  Bond got the deal next and was determined to get through the rest of the South Round quickly so he could discuss his strategy with Woo. Thackeray won again, this time with three points on a selfpick. He was paid $1600 by each player.

  They were halfway through the game. Bond had lost an enormous amount of money. He and Woo ordered doubles at the bar.

  “What have we got into, James?” Woo said, shaking his head. “I did not expect to lose this badly.”

  “I have a plan,” Bond said. “Let’s go outside and get some fresh air.”

  The two men excused themselves.

  Thackeray said, “Don’t be long.” He was sitting alone, sipping his vodka on the rocks. Despite his winnings, he wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked downright miserable.

  Outside, Bond said, “I don’t get it. Why is he so morose? He’s just won a few thousand dollars and he’s acting as if it’s his last day on earth.”

  “Thackeray very private man,” Woo said. “He has no friends or family from what I can tell. I wonder if someone close to him was killed by bomb at restaurant?”

  “Well, we’ve got to beat him. He’s definitely cheating. He was a stage magician when he was young, and obviously knows sleight-of-hand. He’s palming tiles he wants from the dead pile. I’m going to need your help.”

  “Sure, James. What you want me to do?”

  “Listen very carefully. You’re going to have to throw me some tiles that I need, and I’m going to give you some signals to indicate what they are. You have to watch me closely.”

  “All right.”

  “I’m going to scratch areas on the left side of my face to indicate that I need tiles with numbers 1 to 4. If I scratch the left side of my nose, I need a 1. If I scratch my cheekbone just under my eye, I need a 2. I’ll scratch my ear lobe for a 3. And I’ll scratch my neck for a 4. If I need a 5, I’ll scratch the bridge of my nose. The same areas apply to the right side of my face for the numbers 6 to 9. The right side of my nose is a 6, the cheekbone is a 7, the ear lobe is an 8, and the neck is a 9. Got it?”

  “Okay. What about suits?”

  “Immediately after I give you one of my scratching signals, I’ll take a drink. If I take one sip, I need Circles. If I take two sips, I need Sticks. If I take three sips, I need Characters.”

  Woo repeated all of this to make sure he had it.

  “For the special tiles, I’ll rub my eyes as if I have a headache if I need a Red Dragon. If I cough twice, I need a Green Dragon. If I sigh heavily, I need a White Dragon. If I need Winds, I’ll light a cigarette. I’ll place the cigarette on the ashtray with the butt pointing to the player corresponding to the Wind I need. For instance, if I need an East Wind tile, I’ll point the butt towards the player who is currently the East seat. Got it?”

  “That is brilliant, James! We will win good, uh huh?”

  “Well, we’ll see. It still depends on the luck of the draw and if you even have the tiles I need, but this might give us an advantage. I may be winning on your discards, so you’ll have to pay out a little more to me. I’ll make sure you get it back.”

  “No problem, James.”

  “Come on, let’s get back in there.”

  The West Round began with Thackeray as the East seat and dealer for the third time. Bond got a good hand. H
e had a Pong of the 3 of Circles, a Pair of the 2 of Sticks, a Pair of East Wind tiles, and a Pair of South Wind tiles. During play, Bond nonchalantly scratched his left cheekbone, then took two sips from his martini. Amazingly, Woo had the 2 of Sticks, and he threw it. Bond said “Pong” and took it. He luckily drew another East Wind tile later, and managed to form another Pong on his own. He just needed a Pair to complete his hand. He had a single White Dragon and an 8 of Characters. Bond let out a sigh, but apparently Woo didn’t have a White Dragon tile. Bond went for the other one and scratched his right ear lobe, then took three sips from his drink. Woo discarded an 8 of Characters. Bond went out with three points for his all-Pong hand. Woo had to pay $1600, the others $800.

  Thackeray won the second hand with another Full House. He had three points for a Semi-Pure hand, one point from a self-picked winning tile, and one point for holding a Flower tile matching his seat. Everyone had to pay him $3200!

  Woo looked quite pale after that one. Sinclair took up the deal, but the result was a dead hand. It was dealt again, and this time Woo got lucky with another small win. He went out with two points. It was a chicken hand, but he self-picked the winning tile and had a Flower matching his seat. Everyone paid him $800.

  Bond became the dealer for the last hand in the West Round. His hand was so bad that his signal system was useless. Thackeray managed to win with three points. He self-picked from the wall (one point), had four Chows (one point), and no Flowers (one point). Everyone paid him $1600.

  During the break before the last Round of the game, Woo whispered to Bond, “Is your plan going to work?”

  Bond replied, “It has to this time. It’s the damnedest game—even cheating depends on luck! In a situation that involves gambling, I never trust luck. I try to get by without it. But this is one time we need all the luck we can get. Just stick to what we agreed. I’m going for broke this time.”

  The North Round began with Thackeray as East and dealer. Bond drew a 4 Red Flower, which matched his seat. That was one point straight away! The rest of his hand was very promising. He had a complete Pong of Green Dragons, a Red Dragon, and a White Dragon. If he could get two more of either of the Red or White Dragons and one of the other, he could go out with what was called a “Semi-Big Dragon” hand (two Dragon Pongs and a pair of the other Dragon), worth three points. If he could make the third Dragon a complete Pong, the hand would be worth six points. He also needed to complete another Pong or Kong out of some Circles or Sticks he held.

  Play progressed uneventfully until Bond drew a Red Dragon from the wall. Now all he needed was a third Red Dragon and at least one White Dragon.

  At the first opportunity, Bond rubbed his eyes. Woo acknowledged the signal with a slight nod of his head. A moment later, Bond sighed heavily. Thackeray looked up at Bond and said, “What’s the matter, Mr. Bond? Are we boring you?”

  “Oh, no, I’m starting to feel the jet lag,” he explained. “I just arrived today.”

  When Thackeray reached across the table to draw from the wall, Bond noticed that the man palmed another tile. It was now just a matter of time before one of them went out. Bond gave Woo the signals for a 6 of Sticks and the 3 of Circles, which might complete his third Pong.

  Woo did a great job of pretending to agonize over what tile to discard. He threw a Red Dragon and Bond called “Pong!” Now if he could get the White one …”

  Play continued around the table until Sinclair discarded a White Dragon. Thackeray immediately said, “Pong!” Damn! Thackeray had the other three White Dragons and now there was no way to make a Pair with his single tile. Bond threw the useless tile when it was his turn to discard. There was still hope—he had two Dragon Pongs, worth a point each.

  Thackeray Ponged again, this time with a 2 of Characters. Come on, Woo, Bond willed. Throw something good! It didn’t happen. From the look on Woo’s face, he was troubled by the lack of help he could give Bond.

  Bond drew the 4 Blue Flower from the wall, adding another point to his possible score. On his next turn, he drew the badly needed 3 of Circles. Now all he lacked was to make a Pair out of the two single tiles he had—the 4 of Characters or the 6 of Sticks. Bond gave the signals for the two tiles and Woo took a sip from his drink. On Bond’s discard, though, Thackeray called “Pong!” again. He was ready to go out as well.

  Woo drew from the wall and discarded the 4 of Characters. Bond called “Out!” and displayed his hand of four points—two Dragon Pongs (one point each) and two Flowers matching his seat. Woo had to pay $3200, the others $1600.

  Woo became the dealer and Bond got a terrible hand. Amazingly, Woo went out very quickly for two points on Thackeray’s discard. He had a chicken hand, but he also had no Flower tiles, and a Pong of East Winds (matching his seat). Thackeray paid the $800 as if it was charity, and the others paid $400.

  Sinclair got the deal next and the hand ended in a draw. It was redealt and Bond got another terrible hand. If he was going to beat Thackeray, he had only three more hands in which to do so. It wasn’t to be this time, for Sinclair went out with Woo’s discard. He got three points for holding four Pongs. Woo paid $1600, the others $800.

  Bond got the deal. Bond couldn’t believe the hand he drew. Of the thirteen tiles, ten of them were Circles which could easily be turned into sets. He signalled to Woo that he needed Circles. The problem was that he was only allowed to Chow from the player on his left, and that was Sinclair. Nevertheless, a chicken hand would be all right if the entire hand was made up of Circles. That would be a Pure Hand, which was worth six points.

  Thackeray discarded one of the needed Circles. “Pong!” said Bond. A little later, Sinclair threw a tile Bond needed. “Chow!” he called. Thackeray looked at him. Now everyone knew Bond had a chicken hand. Thackeray’s eyes were burning with curiosity. Bond was holding no Flowers, so he had at least one point. What else could he be holding?

  Thackeray eventually discarded a Circle tile that Bond needed and he triumphantly called, “Out!” Thackeray raised his eyebrows when he saw Bond’s Pure Hand.

  Including the point for no Flowers, Bond had a total of seven points—a Double Full House. It was biggest win of the game so far. This time, Thackeray wasn’t so pleased about turning over $6400 to Bond. The others had to pay $3200 each.

  Since he’d won the hand, Bond kept the deal for the last hand of the game. It started off poorly, for he had a mixture of Sticks and Circles, and one Green Dragon. He wasn’t sure what to go for. When he drew another Green Dragon from the wall, he wondered how possible it would be to get a special winning hand known as a “Jade Dragon.” To do this he would need a Pong of the Green Dragons, with the remainder of his hand made up entirely of Pongs of Sticks.

  Bond gave Woo the signal for Sticks and coughed twice for the Green Dragon. Woo smiled when he threw the tile and Bond called “Pong!” Now all he needed was three Pongs of Sticks. He already had Pairs of 2s and 7s. He slowly got rid of the Circles, and eventually drew another Pair of the 8 of Sticks. Woo discarded a 2 of Sticks and Bond Ponged.

  Thackeray clumsily knocked over some tiles from the wall when he reached across the table. Bond knew the man had dropped a tile he had palmed, but Thackeray quickly covered it and rebuilt the wall without anyone seeing the tiles. He was getting careless. The alcohol was finally getting to him. What made him so desperate to win? Was it the feeling of power he desired? Bond had certainly seen it before in men like Hugo Drax, who had cheated at cards for no reason except to satisfy his own need to prove to himself he could do it.

  Sinclair discarded an 8 of Sticks and Bond Ponged again. He needed a 7 and either a 9 or 1 of Sticks to complete the hand.

  Woo discarded the 7 of Sticks and Bond Ponged. He had four Pongs revealed. Everyone knew all he needed was a Pair to go out. It was Thackeray’s turn, and for the first time he hesitated. Spectators around the room looked on in anticipation. Bond could very well have a Maximum Hand. Thackeray drew from the wall and looked at the tile. He considered it, unsure
whether to keep or discard it. He finally threw it down on the table. It was a 1 of Sticks.

  Bond picked it up and coolly said, “Out.” He revealed his hand and said, “Jade Dragon. Maximum Hand.”

  Thackeray’s own hand trembled when he handed Bond chips totalling $19,200. Sinclair’s face had gone white as well—he had to pay $9600. Woo gladly handed over his $9600. Bond thought the man’s smile would split his face.

  Thackeray stood up slowly. He turned to Bond and said with a thicker slur to his voice than usual, “You have luck on your side, Mr. Bond.” He glanced at Woo. “Or … something.” He then turned and walked towards the archway leading to the washroom. Bond collected his chips and turned them in to the cashier who was standing eagerly near the table. He and Woo combined their cash and put it in a brown bag, which Woo stuffed into his jacket. They were ready to leave, but Bond wanted to speak with Thackeray one more time and confirm that he would see him at the EurAsia press conference on the 24th. The man was taking an awfully long time.

  Three young Chinese men in business suits stepped into the room through the red curtains. They had a look in their eyes that Bond recognized only from years of experience. He thought later that a younger, greener agent would have been killed immediately.

  Bond leaped at Woo, pulling him down behind the bar as the men revealed large butcher-knives and meat cleavers they had concealed in their jackets. With lightning speed, they began to attack everyone in the room. They swung their blades like swords, slashing and chopping whatever piece of flesh got in their way. The room filled with the screams of their victims, and there was blood everywhere. Sinclair went down, as did the spectators and bartender. It was over as quickly as it had begun. The men turned and ran from the room.

  “Are you all right?” Bond shouted to Woo.