title: The Gambler / Bobok / A Nasty Story (Penguin Classics)
author:  Fyodor Dostoyevsky 
description: Text: English (translation)<br /> Original Language: Russian
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Библиотека «Артефакт» — http://andrey.tsx.org/
  
  
  **The Laertian Gamble**
  
  
  Robert Sheckley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## CHAPTER 1
  
  
  Dr. Julian Bashir was sitting alone in the little lounge just outside of
  Quark's Place. The lounge wasn't part of his gambling den, but Quark served
  drinks there anyway, and treated it like his annex. With its com fortable
  chairs and small tables, it provided a quiet place in the crowded space
  station to sit and think.
  
  
  Bashir sat with a half-finished cup of coffee in front him, playing a
  solitaire machine.
  
  
  The machine took standard Bajor coins, and Bashir had a pile of them in front
  of him.
  
  
  Julian didn't expect to win; just to pass some time. He was playing in a
  bored, inattentive fashion when Chief O'Brien came by.
  
  
  “A good morning to you. Doctor,” O'Brien said heartily.
  
  
  “Is it morning?” Julian said. “How can you tell?”
  
  
  “By the clocks, of course,” O'Brien said. “And the station's lighting is set
  to a twenty-four-hour cycle to spare our old c