A Piece of the Action

Chapter 1: Rules of Acquisition

Winston-Winslow. Monday, February 18, 2008.

Diana propped her elbows on the round table in Win-Win's pub-themed conference room and scanned the shelves of games lining the bookcase in front of her. "Which game did you pick for us?"

Mozzie nodded his appreciation at her assumption that he would designate one. "This con is breaking new ground. Dare I say, 'Going where no man has gone before?'"

"Amend that to 'or woman,'" Sara said, "and we could make it our slogan."

Neal kept his chuckle to himself. A new con with Diana, Sara, and Mozzie in his crew. He was calling it another Valentine's Day gift.

"This day's been a long time coming," Diana declared with the gleam of a true con artist in her eyes. "Sara, when I did first mention this?"

"About as soon as you started working at Win-Win," Sara replied, exchanging smiles with her.

"Your mistake was to not include me at an earlier stage," Mozzie said. "I could have had the con up in a day."

"But we didn't have a target yet," Neal objected.

"Bah, petty details."

Sara stood up and went over to the bookcase. "Which one is the lucky game?" She knew Mozzie tended to lose focus. This preliminary meeting could last for hours if they didn't stay on track.

"For what we have in mind, Star Trek: Warp 9 calls to me." As Sara retrieved the box and placed it in front of him, he added, "The Rules of Acquisition of which I'm the master will chart our every move."

The game was one of Mozzie's favorites. It allowed him to channel his inner Ferengi. He'd probably already written several new rules for the con.

A brief knock at the door was followed by Peter stepping inside. "You've got drinks ... Is this business or an early happy hour?"

"Both," Neal said. "Would you like to join in? We would have invited you, but I knew you were working at the brokerage firm today."

"Jones and I wrapped the case up an hour ago." Peter eyed the gameboard. "Are you planning your costumes for Tac-Con? For once, I won't tease you. I'm too grateful for your assistance."

The annual sci-fi convention was next week. Yellowface, their yellow-faced bee superhero, was about to hit the big screen in his first full-length animated movie, Yellowface vs. Godzilla. The trailer would be shown at Tac-Con. This year, groups from both the telescope workshop and the Uptown Girls Club planned to attend. Between June and Janet's recruitment drive and Peter's efforts at Win-Win, Neal strongly suspected there would be more volunteers than kids.

"You make an excellent suggestion," Mozzie said. "To get into character, all members of the crew should wear Star Trek attire at Tac-Con."

Sara shook her head firmly. "The rest of you can, but Neal and I have already planned our outfits."

"Hang on," Peter objected. "What crew are you talking about?"

"For the con," Diana said. "And if you can drag yourself away from thoughts of costumes, we need to—"

"Costumes?" Jones asked, walking in. "Anna and I already decided to reprise our Klingon looks."

Sara smiled knowingly. She'd predicted that would be the case. Jones was successfully navigating the murky waters of workplace romance with Win-Win's technical lead Anna Hsu by indulging in their mutual love of video games. So far they'd kept the jinx away.

"I repeat, we are NOT meeting to discuss costumes," Diana huffed. "But go ahead and take a seat. We'd like you on our crew."

"Sorry, I'm late," Henry said, entering the room. "My meeting went on longer than I expected. What did I miss?"