"Seventy-two card deck, hand of five, draw or trade to get a good hand, bets on the round. Winner gets the pot. 'Course you don't have anything to bet, so..." She shrugged, just so, innocent and easy and deliberately artificial, "Just a friendly game. But you can always come back to me when you got something worth taking."

And then she sticks her right hand out, green Oyster-mark easily visible on the back of her wrist. The other is loose at her side, sleeve over-long, and the fingertips porcelain-white where they peek out.

"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. You?"