Myth Directions Part 1

Myth Directions.

Robert Asprin.

Chapter One:.

"Dragons and Demons and Kings, Oh my!"

-THE COWARDLY KLAHD.

"THIS place stinks!" my scaly mentor snarled, glaring out the window at the rain.

"Yes, Aahz," I agreed meekly."What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped, turning his demon's speckled gold eyes on me."It means," I gulped, "that I agree with you. The Kingdom of Possiltum, and the palace specifically, stink to high heaven-both figuratively and literally.""Ingrat.i.tude!" Aahz made his appeal to the ceiling. "I lose my powers to a stupid practical joker, and instead of concentrating on getting them back, I take on some twit of an apprentice who doesn't have any aspirations higher than being a thief, train him, groom him, and get him a job paying more than he could spend in two lifetimes, and what happens? He complains! I suppose you think you could have done better on your own?"It occurred to me that Aahz's guidance had also gotten me hung, embroiled in a magik duel with a master magician, and recently, placed in the unenviable position of trying to stop the world's largest army with a handful of down-at-the -heels demons. It also occurred to me that this was not the most tactful time to point out these minor nerve-jangling incidents."I'm sorry, Aahz," I grovelled. "Possiltum is a pretty nice kingdom to work for.""It stinks!" he declared, turning to the window again.I stifled a sigh. A magician's lot is not a happy one. I stole that saying from a tune Aahz sings off and on... key. More and more, I was realizing the truth of the jingle. As the court magician to my king I had already endured a great deal more than I had ever bargained for.Actually the king of Possiltum isn't my king. I'm his royal magician, an employee at best.Aahz isn't my demon, either. I'm his apprentice, trying desperately to learn enough magik to warrant my aforementioned lofty t.i.tle.Gleep is definitely my dragon, though. Just ask Aahz. Better still, ask anyone in the court of Possiltum. Anytime my pet wreaks havoc with his playful romping, I get the blame and J.R. Grimble, the king's chancellor, deducts the damages from my wages.Naturally, this gets Aahz upset. In addition to managing my magik career, Aahz also oversees our finances. Well, that's something of an understatement. He shamelessly bleeds the kingdom for every monetary consideration he can get for us (which is considerable) and watches over our expenses. When it comes to spending our ill-gotten wealth, Aahz would rather part with my blood. As you might guess, we argue a lot over this.Gleep is understanding though; which is part of the reason I keep him around. He's quite intelligent and understanding for a baby dragon with a one word vocabulary. I spend a considerable amount of time telling him my troubles, and he always listens attentively without interrupting or arguing or shouting about how stupid I am. This makes him better company than Aahz.It says something about one's lifestyle when the only one you can get sympathy from is a dragon.Unfortunately, on this particular day I was cut off from my pet's company. It was raining, and when it rains in Possiltum, it doesn't kid around. Gleep is to big to live indoors with us, and the rain made the courtyard impa.s.sable, so I couldn't reach the stables where he was quartered. What was more, I couldn't risk roaming the halls of the castle for fear of running into the king. If that happened, he would doubtless ask when I was going to do something about the miserable weather. Weather control was not one of my current skills, and I was under strict orders from Aahz to avoid the subject at all costs. As such, I was stuck waiting out the rain in my own quarters. That in itself wouldn't be so bad, if it wasn't for the fact that I shared those quarters with Aahz.Rain made Aahz grouchy, or I should say grouchier than usual. I'd rather be locked in a small cage with an angry spider-bear than be alone in a room with Aahz when he's in a bad mood."There must be something to do," Aahz grumbled, begging to pace the floor. "I haven't been this bored since the Two Hundred Year Siege.""You could teach me about dimension travel," I suggested hopefully.This was one area of magik Aahz had steadfastly refused to teach me. As I mentioned earlier, Aahz is a demon, short for "dimension traveler." Most of my close friends these days were demons, and I was eager to add dimension traveling to my meager list of skills."Don't make me laugh, kid." Aahz laughed harshly. "At the rate you're learning, it would take more than two hundred years to teach it to you.""Oh," I said, crestfallen. "Well-you could tell me about the Two Hundred Year Siege.""The Two Hundred Year Siege," Aahz murmured dreamily, smiling slightly to himself. Large groups of armed men have been known to turn pale and tremble visibly before Aahz's smile."There isn't much to tell," he began, leaning against a table and hefting a large pitcher of wine. "It was me and another magician, Diz-Ne. He was a snotty little upstart... you remind me a bit of him.""What happened?" I urged, anxious to get the conversation away from me."Well, once he figured out he couldn't beat me flat out, he went defensive," Aahz reminisced. "He was a real nothing magikally, but he knew his defense spells. Kept me off his back for a full two hundred years, even though we drained most of the magik energies of that dimension in the process.""Who won?" I pressed eagerly.Aahz c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at me over the lip of the wine pitcher."I'm telling the story, kid," he pointed out. "You figure it out."I did, and swallowed hard."Did you kill him?""Nothing that pleasant," Aahz smiled. "What I did to him once I got through his defenses will last a lot longer than two hundred years-but I guarantee you, he won't get bored.""Why were you fighting?" I asked in a desperate effort to forestall the images my mind was manufacturing."He welshed on a bet," my mentor shrugged, hefting the wine again."That's all?""That's enough," Aahz insisted grimly. "Betting's a serious matter-in any dimension.""Urn-Aahz?" I frowned. "Weren't Big Julie and his men running from gambling debts when we met them?"That's the army I mentioned earlier. Big Julie and his men were currently disguised as happy citizens of Possiltum."That's right, kid," Aahz nodded."Then that's why you said the loan sharks would probably come looking for them," I declared triumphantly."Wrong," Aahz said firmly."Wrong?" I blinked."I didn't say they'd probably come looking," he corrected. "I said they would come looking. Bank on it. There are only two questions involved here: When are they coming, and what are you going to do about it?""I don't know about the 'when,' " I commented with careful deliberation, "but I've given some thought to what I'm going to do.""And you've decided-" Aahz prompted."To grab our money and run!" I declared. "That's why I want to learn dimension travel. I figure there won't be anywhere in this dimension we could hide, and that means leaving Klah for greener, safer pastures."Aahz was unmoved."If push comes to shove," he yawned, "we can use the D-Hopper. As long as we've got a mechanical means of traveling to other dimensions, there's no need for you to learn how to do it magically.""C'mon, Aahz!" I exploded. "Why won't you teach me? What makes dimension traveling so hard to learn?"Aahz studied me for a long moment, then heaved a big sigh. "All right, Skeeve," he said. "If you listen up, I'll try to sketch it out for you."I listened. With every pore, I listened. Aahz didn't call me by my given name often, and when he did, it was serious."The problem is that to travel the dimensions, even using pentacles for beacons-gateways-requires knowing your destination dimension... knowing it almost as well as your home dimension. If you don't, then you can get routed into a dimension you aren't even aware of, and be trapped there with no way out."He paused to take another drink from the wine pitcher."Now, you've only been in one dimension besides Klah," he continued. "That was Deva, and you only saw the Bazaar. You know the Bazaar well enough to know it's constantly changing and rearranging. You don't know it well enough to have zeroed in on the few permanent fixtures you could use to home in on for a return trip, so effectively, you don't know any other dimensions well enough to be sure of your destination if you tried to jump magikally. That's why you can't travel the dimensions without using the D-Hopper! End of lecture."I blinked."You mean the only reason I can't do it magikally is because I don't know the other dimensions?" I asked."That's the main reason," Aahz corrected."Then let's go!" I cried, leaping to my feet. "I'll get the D-Hopper and you can show me a couple new dimensions while we're waiting for the rain to stop.""Not so fast, kid!" Aahz interrupted, holding up a restraining hand." Sit down.""What's wrong?" I challenged."Do you really think that possibility hadn't occurred to me?" he asked, an edge of irritation creeping into his voice.I thought about it, and sat down again."Why don't you think it's a good idea?" I queried in a more humble tone."There are a few things you've overlooked in your enthusiasm," he intoned dryly. "First of all, remember that in another dimension, you'll be a demon. Now, except for Deva which makes its money on cross-dimension trade, most dimensions don't greet demons with flowers and red carpets. The fact is, a demon is likely to be attacked on sight by whoever's around with whatever's handy."He leaned forward to emphasize his words. "What I'm trying to say is, it's dangerous! Now, if we went touring and ran into trouble; what do we have to defend ourselves? I've lost my powers and yours are still so undeveloped as to be practically non-existent. Who's going to handle the natives?""How dangerous is it?" I asked hesitantly."Let me put it to you this way, kid," Aahz sighed. "You spend a lot of time griping about how I keep putting your life in jeopardy with my blatant disregard for danger. Right?""Right." I nodded vigorously."Well, now I'm saying the trip you're proposing is dangerous. Does that give you a clue as to what you'll be up against?"I leaned back in my chair and stretched, trying to make it look nonchalant."How abut sharing some of that wine?" I suggested casually.For a change, Aahz didn't ignore the request. He tossed the pitcher into the air as he rose and strode to the window again. Reaching out with my mind, I gently grabbed the pitcher and brought it floating to my outstretched hand without spilling a drop.As I said, I am the court magician of Possiltum. I'm not without powers."Don't let it get you down, kid," Aahz called from the window. "If you keep practicing, someday we can take that tour under your protection. But until you reach that level, or until we find you a magikal bodyguard, it'll just have to wait.""I suppose you're right, Aahz," I conceded. "It's just that sometimes..."There was a soft BAMF! as the ether was rent asunder and a demon appeared in the room. Right there! In my private quarters in the Possiltum royal palace!Before I could recover from my surprise or Aahz could move to intervene, the demon plopped itself onto my lap and planted a big, warm kiss full on my mouth."Hi, handsome!" it purred. "How's tricks?"

Chapter Two:.

"When old friends get together, everything else fades to insignificance."-WAR, FAMINE, PESTILENCE, AND DEATH.

"TANDA!" I exclaimed, recovering from shock sufficiently to fasten my arms around her waist in an energetic hug."In the flesh!" she winked, pressing hard against me.My temperature went up several degrees, or maybe it was the room. Tananda has that effect on me-and rooms. Lusciously curvaceous, with a mane of light green hair accenting her lovely olive complexion and features, she could stop a twenty-man brawl with a smile and a deep sigh."He isn't the only one in the room, you know," Aahz commented dryly."Hi, Aahz!" my adorable companion cried, untangling herself from my lap and throwing herself into Aahz's arms.The volume of Tananda's affections is exceeded only by her willingness to share them. I had a secret belief, though, that Tananda liked me better than she liked Aahz. This belief was tested for strength as their greeting grew longer and longer."Um... what brings you to these parts?" I interrupted at last.That earned me a dark look from Aahz, but Tananda didn't bat an eye."Well," she dimpled, "I could say I was just in the neighborhood and felt like dropping by, but that wouldn't be true. The fact is, I need a little favor.""Name it," Aahz and I declared simultaneously.Aahz is tight-fisted and I'm chicken, but all bets are off when it comes to Tananda. She had helped us out of a couple of tight spots in the past, and we both figured we owed her. The fact she had helped us into as many tight spots as she had helped us out of never entered our minds. Besides-she was awfully nice to have around."It's nothing really," she sighed. "I have a little shopping to do and was hoping I could borrow one of you two to help me carry things.""You mean today?" Aahz frowned."Actually, for the next couple days," Tananda informed him. "Maybe as long as a week.""Can't do it," Aahz sighed. "I have to referee a meeting between Big Julie and General Badaxe tomorrow. Any chance you could postpone it until next week?""Ummm... you weren't the one I was thinking of, Aahz," Tananda said, giving the ceiling a casual survey. "I was thinking Skeeve and I could handle it.""Me?" I blinked.Aahz scowled."Not a chance," he declared. "The kid can't play step-and-fetch-it for you. It's beneath his dignity.""No, it isn't!" I cried. "I mean, if it wouldn't be beneath you. Aahz, how could it be beneath me?""I'm not the court magician of Possiltum!" he argued."I can disguise myself!" I countered. "That's one of my best spells. You've said so yourself.""I think your scaly green mentor is just a lee-tie bit jealous," Tananda observed, winking at me covertly."Jealous?" Aahz exploded. "Me? Jealous of a little..." He broke off and looked back and forth between Tananda and myself as he realized he was being baited."Oh-I suppose it would be okay," he grumbled at last. "Go ahead and take him-even though it's beyond me what you expect to find in this backwater dimension worth shopping for.""Oh, Aahz!" Tananda laughed. "You're a card. Shopping in Klah? I may be a little flighty from time to time, but I'm not crazy.""You mean we're headed for other dimensions?" I asked eagerly."Of course," she nodded. "We have quite an itinerary ahead of us. First, we'll hop over to-""What's an itinerary?" I asked."Stop!" Aahz shouted, holding up a hand for silence."But I was just-""Stop!""We were-""Stop!"Our conversation effectively halted, we turned our attention to Aahz. With melodramatic slowness, he folded his arms across his chest."No, "he said."No?" I shrieked. "But, Aahz..."" 'But, Aahz' nothing," he barked back. "I said 'No' and I meant it.""Wait a minute," Tananda interceded, stepping between us. "What's the problem, Aahz?""If you think I'm going to let my apprentice go traipsing around the dimensions alone and unprotected-""I won't be alone," I protested. "Tananda will be there.""-a prime target for any idiot who wants to bag a demon," Aahz continued, ignoring my outburst, "just so you can have a beast of burden for your shopping jaunt, well, you'd better think again.""Are you through?" Tananda asked testily."For the moment," Aahz nodded, matching her glare for glare."First of all," she began, "as Skeeve pointed out, if you'd bothered to listen, he won't be alone. I'll be with him. That means, second of all, he won't be unprotected. Just because I let my membership with the a.s.sa.s.sins Guild expire doesn't mean I've forgotten everything.""Yeah, Aahz," I interjected."Shut up, kid," he snapped."Third of all," Tananda continued, "you've got to stop thinking of Skeeve here as a kid. He stopped Big Julie's army, didn't he? And besides, he is your apprentice. I a.s.sume you've taught him something over the last couple of years."That hit Aahz in his second most sensitive spot. His vanity. His most sensitive spot is his money pouch."Well... " he wavered."C'mon, Aahz," I pleaded. "What could go wrong?""The mind boggles," he retorted grimly."Don't exaggerate, Aahz," Tananda reprimanded."Exaggerate!" my mentor exploded anew. "The first time I took Mr. Wonderful here off-dimension, he bought a dragon we neither need nor want and nearly got killed in a brawl with a pack of cutthroats.""A fight which he won, as I recall," Tananda observed."The second time we went out," Aahz continued undaunted, "I left him at a fast-food joint where he promptly recruited half the deadbeats at the Bazaar for a fighting force.""They won the war!" I argued."That's not the point," Aahz growled. "The point is, every time the kid here hits another dimension, he ends up in trouble. He draws it like a magnet.""This time I'll be there to keep an eye on him," Tananda soothed."You were there the first two times," Aahz pointed out grimly."So were you!" she countered."That's right!" Aahz agreed. "And both of us together couldn't keep him out of trouble. Now do you see why I want to keep him right here in Klah?""Hmm," Tananda said thoughtfully. "I see your point, Aahz."My heart sank."I just don't agree with it," she concluded."d.a.m.n it, Tananda..." Aahz began, but she waved him to silence."Let me tell you a story," she smiled. "There was this couple see, who had a kid they thought the world of. They thought so much of him, in fact, that when he was born they sealed him in a special room. Just to be sure nothing would happen to him, they screened everything that went into the room; furniture, books, food, toys, everything. They even filtered the air to be sure he didn't get any diseases.""So?" Aahz asked suspiciously."So-on his eighteenth birthday, they opened the room and let him out," Tanda explained. "The kid took two steps and died of excitement.""Really?" I asked, horrified."It's exaggerated a bit," she admitted, "but I think Aahz gets the point.""I haven't been keeping him sealed in," Aahz mumbled. "There've been some real touch-and-go moments, you know. You've been there for some of them.""But you have been a little overprotective, haven't you, Aahz?" Tananda urged gently.Aahz was silent for several moments, avoiding our eyes. "All right," he sighed at last. "Go ahead, kid. Just don't come crying to me if you get yourself killed.""How could I do that?" I frowned.Tananda nudged me in the ribs and I took the hint."There are a few things I want settled before you go," Aahz declared brusquely, a bit of his normal spirit returning.He began moving back and forth through the room, gathering items from our possessions."First," he announced, "here's some money of your own for the trip. You probably won't need it, but you always walk a little taller with money in your pouch."So saying, he counted out twenty gold pieces into my hands. Realizing I had hired a team of demons to fight a war for five gold pieces, he was giving me a veritable fortune!"Gee, Aahz..." I began, but he hurried on."Second, here's the D-Hopper." He tucked the small metal cylinder into my belt. "I've set it to bring you back here. If you get into trouble, if you think you're getting into trouble, hit the b.u.t.ton and come home right then. No heroics, no jazzy speeches. Just hit and get. You understand me?""Yes, Aahz," I promised dutifully."And finally," he announced, drawing himself up to his full height, "the dragon stays here. You aren't going to drag your stupid pet along with you and that's final. I know you'd like to have him with you, but he'd only cause problems.""Okay, Aahz," I shrugged.Actually, I had figured on leaving Gleep behind, but it didn't seem tactful to point that out."Well," my mentor sighed, sweeping us both with a hard gaze, "I guess that's that. Sorry I can't hang around to see you off, but I've got more pressing things to do."With that he turned on his heels and left, shutting the door behind him more forcefully than was necessary."That's funny," I said, staring after him. "I didn't think he had anything important to do. In fact, just before you showed up, he was complaining about being bored.""You know, Skeeve," Tananda said softly, giving me a strange look, "Aahz is really quite attached to you.""Really?" I frowned. "What makes you say that?""Nothing," she smiled. "It was just a thought.Well. are you ready to go?""As ready as I'll ever be," I declared confidently. "What's our first stop? The Bazaar at Deva?""Goodness, no!" she retorted, wrinkling her nose. "We're after something really unique, not the common stuff they have at the Bazaar. I figure we're going to have to hit some out-of-the-way dimensions, the more out-of-the-way the better."Despite my confidence, an alarm gong went off in the back of my mind at this declaration."What are we looking for, anyway?" I asked casually.Tananda shot a quick glance at the door, then leaned forward to whisper in my ear."I couldn't tell you before," she murmured conspiratorially, "but we're after a birthday present. A birthday present for Aahz!"

Chapter Three:.

"That's funny, I never have any trouble with service when I'm shopping."-K. KONG.EVER since he took me on as an apprentice, Aahz has complained that I don't practice enough. He should have seen me on the shopping trip! In the first three days after our departure from Klah I spent more time practicing magik than I had in the previous year.Tananda had the foresight to bring along a couple of translator pendants which enabled us to understand and be understood by the natives in the dimensions we visited. That was fine for communications, but there remained the minor detail of our physical appearance. Disguises were my job.Besides flying Aahz had taught me one other spell which had greatly enhanced my ability to survive dubious situations; that was the ability to change the outward appearance of my own, or anyone else's, physical features. Tagging along with Tananda, this skill got a real workout.The procedure was simple enough. We would arrive at some secluded point, then creep to a spot where I would observe a few members of the local population. Once I had laid eyes on them I could duplicate their physical form for our disguises and we could blend with the crowd. Of course, my nerves had to be calmed so I wouldn't jump out of my skin when catching a pa.s.sing glance of the being standing next to me.If from this you conclude that the dimensions we visited were inhabited by people who looked a little strange... you're wrong. The dimensions we visited were peopled by beings who looked very strange.When Tananda decides to tour out-of-the-way dimensions, she doesn't kid around. None of the places we visited looked normal to my untraveled eyes but a few in particular stand out in my memory as being exceptionally weird.Despite Tananda's jokes about rental agencies, Avis turned out to be populated with bird-like creatures with wings and feathers. In that dimension I not only had to maintain our disguises, I had to fly us from perch to perch as per the local method of transportation. Instead of traversing their market center as I had expected, we spent considerable time viewing their national treasures. These treasures turned out to be a collection of broken pieces of colored gla.s.s and bits of shiny metal which to my eye were worthless but Tananda studied them with quiet intensity.To maintain our disguises, we had to eat and drink without hands-which proved to be harder than it sounded. Since the food consisted of live grubs and worms, I pa.s.sed on any opportunity to sample the local cuisine. Tananda, however, literally dove into (remember-no hands!) a bowlful. Whether she licked her lips because she found the fare exceptionally tasty or if she was attempting to catch a few of the wriggly morsels that were trying to escape their fate was not important; I found the sight utterly revolting. To avoid having to watch her, I tried the local wine.The unusual drinking style meant that I ended up taking larger swallows than I normally would, but that was okay as the wine was light and flavorful. Unfortunately, it also proved to be much stronger than anything I had previously sampled. After I had nearly flown us into a rather large tree Tananda decided it was time for us to move to another dimension.As a footnote to that particular adventure, the wine had two side effects: first, I developed a colossal headache, and, second, I became violently nauseous. The latter was because Tananda gleefully told me how they make wine on Avis. To this day I can't hear the name Avis without having visions of flying through the air and a vague tinge of air-sickness. As far as I'm concerned, when rating dimensions on a scale of ten, Avis will always be a number two.Another rather dubious dimension we spent considerable time in was Gastropo. The length of our stay there had nothing to do with our quest. Tananda decided, after relatively few stops, that the dimension had nothing to offer of a quality suitable for Aahz's present. What delayed us was our disguises.Let me clarify that before aspersions are cast on my admittedly limited abilities, the physical appearance part was easy. As I've said, I'm getting quite good at disguise spells. What hung us up was the manner of locomotion. After flying from tree to tree in Avis, I would have thought I was ready to get from point A to point B in any conceivable way. Well, as Aahz has warned me, the dimensions are an endless source of surprises.The Gastropods were snails-large snails, but snails none the less. Spiral sh.e.l.ls, eyes on stalks-the whole bit. I could handle that. What I couldn't get used to was inching my way along with the rest of the local pedestrians-excuse me, pod-estiians."Tanda," I growled under my breath. "How long are we going to stay in this G.o.d-awful dimension?""Relax, handsome," she chided, easing forward another inch. "Enjoy the scenery.""I've been enjoying this particular hunk of scenery for half a day," I complained. "I'm enjoying it so much I've memorized it.""Don't exaggerate," my guide scolded. "This morning we were on the other side of that tree."I closed my eyes and bit back my first five or six responses to her correction. "How long?" I repeated."I figure we can split after we turn that corner.""But that corner's a good twenty-five feet away!" I protested."That's right," she confirmed. "I figure we'll be there by sundown.""Can't we just walk over there at normal speed?""Not a chance; we'd be noticed.""By who?""Whom. Well, by your admirer, for one.""My what?" I blinked.Sure enough, there was a Gastropod chugging heroically along behind us. When it realized I was looking at it, it began to wave its eye-stalks in slow, but enthusiastic, motions."It's been after you for about an hour," Tananda confided. "That's why I've been hurrying.""That does it!" I declared, starting off at a normal pace. "C'mon, Tanda, we're getting out of here."Shrill cries of alarm were being sounded by the Gastropods as I rounded the corner, followed, shortly, by my guide."What's the matter with you?" she demanded. "We could-""Get us out-now!" I ordered."But-""Remember how I got my dragon?" I barked. "If I let an amorous snail follow me home, Aahz will disown me as his apprentice. Now, are you going to get us out of here, or do I use the D-Hopper and head for home?""Don't get your back up," she soothed, beginning her ritual to change dimensions. "You shouldn't have worried though, we're looking for cargo-not S-cargo."We were in another dimension before I could ask her to explain why she was giggling. So it went, dimension after dimension until I gave up trying to predict the unpredictable and settled for coping with the constants. Even this turned out to be a ch.o.r.e. For one thing, I had some unexpected problems with Tananda. I had never noticed it before, but she's really quite vain. She didn't just want to look like a native-she wanted to look like an attractive native.Anyone who thinks beauty is a universal concept should visit some of the places we did. Whatever grotesque form I was asked to duplicate Tananda always had a few polite requests for improving her appearance. After a few days of "the hair should be more matted," or "shouldn't my eye be a bit more bloodshot?" or "a little more slime under the armpits," I was ready to scream. It probably wouldn't have been so annoying if her attention to detail had extended just a little bit to my appearance. All I'd get was-"You? You look fine." That how I know she's vain; she was more interested in her own appearance than mine.That wasn't the only thing puzzling about Tananda's behavior. Despite her claim that we were on a shopping trip, she steadfastly avoided the retail sections of the dimensions we visited. Bazaars, farmers' markets, flea markets and all the rest were met with the same wrinkled nose (when there was a nose) and "we don't want to go there." Instead she seemed to be content as a tourist. Her inquiries would invariably lead us to national shrines or the public displays of royal treasures. After viewing several of these we would retire to a secluded spot and head off for the next dimension.In a way this suited me fine. Not only was I getting a running, flying, and crawling tour of the dimensions, I was doing it with Tananda. Tananda is familiar with the social customs of over a hundred dimensions and in every dimension she was just that-familiar. I rapidly learned that in addition to beauty, morality varied from dimension to dimension. The methods of expressing affection in some of the dimensions we visited defy description but invariably make me blush at the memory. Needless to say, after three days of this I was seriously trying to progress beyond the casual friendship level with my shapely guide. I mean, Tananda's interpretation of casual friendship was already seriously threatening the continued smooth operation of my heart-not to mention other organs.There was a more pressing problem on my mind, however. After three days of visiting strange worlds, I was hungry enough to bite my own arm for the blood. They say if you're hungry enough you'll eat anything. Don't you believe it. The things placed before me and called food were unstomachable despite starvation. I know; I tried occasionally, out of desperation, only to lose everything else in my stomach along with the latest offering. Having Tananda sitting across from me, joyfully chewing tentacled things that oozed out of her mouth and wriggled didn't help.Finally I expressed my distress and needs to Tananda."I wondered why you hadn't been eating much," she frowned. "But I thought maybe you were on a diet, or something. I wish you'd spoken up sooner.""I didn't want to be a bother," I explained lamely."It isn't that," she waved. "It's just that if I had known two dimensions ago there were half a dozen humanoid dimensions nearby that we could have hopped over to. Right now, there's only one that would fit the bill without us having to go through a couple of extra dimensions along the way.""Then let's head for that one," I urged. "The sooner I eat the better off we'll be." I wasn't exaggerating. My stomach was beginning to growl so loudly it was a serious threat to our disguises."Suit yourself," she shrugged, pulling me behind a row of hedges that tinkled musically in the breeze. "Personally, though, it's not a dimension I normally stop in."Again the alarm sounded in the back of my head, despite my hunger. "Why not?" I asked suspiciously."Because they're weird there-I mean, really weird," she confided.Images flashed across my mind of the beings we'd already encountered. "Weirder than the natives we've been imitating?" I gulped. "I thought you said they'd be humanoid?""Not weird physically," Tananda chided, taking my hand. "Weird mentally. You'll see.""What's the name of the dimension?" I called desperately as she closed her eyes to begin our travels. The scenery around us faded, there was a rush of darkness, then a new scene burst brightly and noisily into view."Jahk," she answered, opening her eyes since we were there.

Chapter Four:.

" 'Weird' is a relative, not an absolute term."-BARON FRANK N. FURTER.You recall my account of our usual modus operandi on hitting a new dimension? How we would arrive inconspicuously and disguise ourselves before mingling with the natives? Well, however secluded Tananda's landing point in Jahk might be normally-it wasn't when we arrived.As the dimension came into focus it was apparent that we were in a small park, heavily overgrown with trees and shrubs. It was not the flora of the place which caught and held my attention, however, it was the crowd. What crowd? you might ask. Why, the one carrying blazing torches and surrounding us, of course. Oh-that crowd!Well, to be completely honest, they weren't actually surrounding us. They were surrounding the contraption we were standing on. I had never really known what a contraption was when Aahz had used the word in conversation, and being Aahz he wouldn't define the word when I asked him to. Now that I was here, however, I recognized one on sight. The thing we were standing on had to be a contraption.It was some sort of wagon-in that it was large and had four wheels. Beyond that I couldn't tell much about it, because it was completely covered by tufts of colored paper. That's right, I said paper-light fluffy stuff that would be nice if you had a cold, runny nose. But this paper was mostly yellow and blue. Looming over us was some kind of monstrous, dummy warrior complete with helmet-also covered with tufts of blue and yellow paper.Of all the things that had flashed across my mind when Tananda warned me that the Jahks were weird, the one thing that had not occurred to me was that they were blue-and-yellow-paper freaks."Get off the float!"This last was shouted at us from someone in the crowd."I beg your pardon," I shouted back."The float! Get off of it!""C'mon, handsome," Tananda hissed, hooking my elbow in hers.Together we leaped to the ground. As it turned out we were barely in time. With a bloodthirsty howl, the crowd surged forward and tossed their torches Onto the contraption we had so recently abandoned. In moments it was a ma.s.s of flames the heat of which warmed the already overheated crowd. They danced and sang, joyfully oblivious to the destruction of the contraption.Edging away from the scene, I realized with horror that it was being duplicated throughout the park. Wherever I looked there were bonfires set on contraptions, and jubilant crowds."I think we arrived at a bad time," I observed."What makes you say that?" Tananda asked."Little things," I explained, "like the fact they're in the middle of torching the town.""I don't think so," my companions shrugged. "When you torch a town you don't usually start with the parks.""Okay, then you tell me just what they're doing.""As far as I can tell, they're celebrating.""Celebrating what?""Some kind of victory. As near as I can tell, everyone's shouting-we won! we won!"I surveyed the blazes again. "I wonder what they'd do if they lost?"Just then a harried-looking individual strode up to us. His no-nonsense, business-like manner was an island of sanity in a sea of madness. I didn't like it. Not that I have anything against sanity, mind you. It's just that up 'til now we had been pretty much ignored. I feared that was about to change."Here's your pay," he said brusquely, handing us each a pouch. "Turn in your costume at the Trophy Building." With that he was gone, leaving us openmouthed and holding the bags."What was that all about?" I managed to say."Beats me," Tananda admitted. "They lost me when they called that contraption a float.""Then I'm right! It is a contraption," I exclaimed with delight. "I knew they had to be wrong; a float is airtight and won't sink in water.""I thought it was made with ice cream and gingerale?" Tananda frowned."With what and what?" I blinked."Great costumes-really great!" someone shouted to us as they staggered by."Time to do something about our disguises," Tananda murmured as she waved to the drunk."Right,"'! nodded, glad we could agree on something.The disguises should have been easy after my recent experience in other dimensions. I mean the Jahks were humanoid and I had lots of ready models to work from. Unfortunately I encountered problems.The first was pride. Despite the teeming ma.s.ses around us, I couldn't settle on two individuals whose appearance I wanted to duplicate. I never considered myself particularly vain; I've never considered myself as being in top physical condition-of course, that was before I arrived in Jahk.Every being I could see was extremely off-weight- either over or under. If a specific individual wasn't ribs-protruding thin to the point of looking brittle, he was laboring along under vast folds of fat which bunched and bulged at waist, chin and all four cheeks. Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to alter Tananda or myself to look like these wretched specimens.My second problem was that I couldn't concentrate, anyway. Disguise spells, like any other magik, require a certain amount of concentration. In the past I've been able to cast spells in the heat of battle or embarra.s.sment. In our current situation I couldn't seem to get my mind focused.You see there was this song-well, I think it was a song. Anyway the crowd acted like it was singing a rhythmic chant; the chant was incredibly catchy. Even in the short time we'd been there I'd almost mastered the lyrics-which is a tribute to the infectious nature of the song rather than any indication of my ability to learn lyrics. The point is that every time I tried concentrating on our disguises, I found myself singing along with the chant instead. Terrific!"Any time you're ready, handsome.""What's that, Tananda?""The disguises," she prompted, glancing about nervously. "The spell will work better when you aren't humming.""I-er, urn-I can't seem to find two good models," I alibi'd lamely."Are you having trouble counting up to two all of a sudden?" she scowled. "By my count you've got a whole park full of models.""But none I want to look like-want us to look like," I amended quickly."Check me on this," Tananda said, pursing her lips. "Two days ago you disguised us as a pair of slimy slugs, right?""Yes, but-""And before that as eight-legged dogs?""Well, yes, but-""And you never complained about how you looked in your disguise then, right?""That was different," I protested."How? "she challenged."Those were-well, things! These are humanoids and I know what humanoids should look like.""What they should look like isn't important," my guide argued. "What matters is what they do look like. We've got to blend with the crowd-and the sooner the better.""But-" I began."Because if we don't," she continued sternly, "we're going to run into someone who's both sober and unpreoccupied-which will give us the choice between being guest-of-honor at the next bonfire they light or skipping this dimension before you've had anything to eat.""I'll try again," I sighed, scanning the crowd once more.In a desperate effort to comply with Tananda's order, I studied the first two individuals my eyes fell on, then concentrated on duplicating their appearance without really considering how they looked."Not bad," Tananda commented dryly, surveying her new body. "Of course, I always thought I looked better as a woman.""You want a disguise, you get a disguise," I grumbled."Hey, handsome," my once-curvaceous comrade breathed, laying a soft, but hairy, hand on my arm. "Relax, we're on the same side. Remember?"My anger melted away at her touch-as always. Maybe someday I'll develop an immunity to Tananda's charms. Until then I'll just enjoy them. "Sorry, Tanda," I apologized. "Didn't mean to snap at you-log it off to hunger.""That's right," she exclaimed, clicking her fingers, "we're supposed to be finding you some food. It completely slipped my mind again what with this racket going on. C'mon, let's see what the blue-plate special is today."Finding a place to eat turned out to be more of a task than either of us antic.i.p.ated. Most of the restaurants we came across were either closed or only serving drinks. I half-expected Tananda to suggest that we drink our meal, but mercifully that possibility wasn't mentioned.We finally located a little sidewalk cafe down a narrow street and elbowed our way to a small table, ignoring the glares of our fellow diners. Service was slow, but my companion sped things up a bit by emptying the contents of one of our pouches onto the tabletop thus attracting the waiter's attention. In short order we were presented with two bowls of steaming whatever. I didn't even try to identify the various lumps and crunchies. It smelled good and tasted better and after several days of enforced fasting, that was all that mattered to me. I glutted myself and was well into my second bowl by the time Tananda finished her first. Pushing the empty dish away she began to study the crowd on the street with growing interest."Have you figured out yet what's going on?" she asked."Murppg!" I replied through a mouthful of food."Hmmm?" she frowned."I can't tell for sure," I said, swallowing hard."Everybody's happy because they won something, but darned if I can hear what they won.""Well," Tananda shrugged. "I warned you they were weird."Just then the clamor in the streets soared to new heights, drowning out any efforts at individual conversation. Craning our necks in an effort to locate the source of the disturbance, we beheld a strange phenomenon. A wall-to-wall mob of people was marching down the street, chanting in unison and sweeping along, or trampling, any smaller groups it encountered. Rather than expressing anger or resentment at this intrusion, the people around us were jumping up and down and cheering, hugging each other with tears of pure joy in their eyes. The focus of everyone's attention seemed to be sitting on a litter borne aloft by the stalwarts at the head of the crowd. I was fortunate enough to get a look at it as it pa.s.sed by-fortunate in that I could see it without having to move. The crowds were such that I couldn't move if I'd wanted to, so it was just as well that it pa.s.sed close by.To say they carried a statue would be insufficient. It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen in my life and that included everything I'd just seen on this trip with Tananda. It was small, roughly twice the size of my head, and depicted a large, four-legged toad holding a huge eyeball in its mouth. Along its back, instead of warts, were the torsos, heads and arms of tiny Jahks intertwined in truly grotesque eroticism. These figures were covered with the warty protrusions one would expect to have found on the toad itself. As a crowning touch, the entire thing had a mottled gold finish which gave the illusion of splotches crawling back and forth on the surface.I was totally repulsed by the statue, but it was obvious the crowd around me did not share these feelings. They swept forward in a single wave, joining the mob and adding their voices to the chant which could still be heard long after the procession had vanished from sight. Finally we were left in relative quiet on a street deserted save for a few random bodies of those not swift enough to either join or evade the mob."Well," I said casually, clearing my throat. "I guess we know what they won, now. Right?"There was no immediate response. I shot a sharp glance at my companion and found her staring down the street after the procession."Tanda," I repeated, slightly concerned."That's it," she said with sudden, impish glee."That's what? "I blinked."Aahz's birthday present," she proclaimed.I peered down the street, wondering what she was looking at. "What is?" I asked."That statue," she said firmly."That statue?" I cried, unable to hide my horror."Of course," she nodded, "it's perfect. Aahz will have never seen one, much less owned one.""How do you figure that?" I pressed."It's obviously one-of-a-kind," she explained. "I mean, who could make something like that twice?"She had me there, but I wasn't about to give up the fight. "There's just one little problem. I'm no expert on psychology, but if that pack we just saw is any decent sample, I don't think the folks around here are going to be willing to sell us their pretty statue.""Of course not, silly," she laughed, turning to her food again. "That's what makes it priceless. I never planned to buy Aahz's present.""But if it isn't for sale. how do we get it?" I frowned, fearing the answer.Tananda choked suddenly on her food. It took me a moment to realize she was laughing. "Oh, Skeeve," she gasped at last, "you're such a kidder.""I am?" I blinked."Sure," she insisted, looking deep into my eyes. "Why do you think it was so important for you to come along on this trip. I mean, you've always said you wanted to be a thief."

Chapter Five:.

"Nothing is impossible. Anything can be accomplished with proper preparation and planning."- PONCEDELEON.IT was roughly twelve hours later, the start of a new day. We were still in Jahk. I was still protesting. At the very least, I was sure this latest madcap project was not in line with Aahz's instructions to stay out of trouble.Tananda, on the other hand, insisted that it would not be any trouble-or it might not be any trouble. We wouldn't know for sure until we saw what kind of security the locals had on the statue. In the meantime, why a.s.sume the worst?I took her advice. I a.s.sumed the best. I a.s.sumed the security would be impenetrable and that we'd give the whole idea up as a lost cause.So it was, with different but equally high hopes, we set out in search of the statue.The town was deathly still in the early morning light. Apparently everyone was sleeping off the prior night's festivities-which seemed a reasonable pastime, all things considered.We did manage to find one open restaurant, however. The owner was wearily shoveling out the rubble left by the celebrating crowds, and grudgingly agreed to serve us breakfast.I had insisted on this before setting out. I mean, worried or not. it takes more than one solid meal to counterbalance the effects of a three-day stretch without food."So," I declared once we were settled at the table. "How do we go about locating the statue?""Easy," Tananda winked. "I'll ask our host a few subtle questions when he serves our food."As if summoned by her words, the owner appeared with two steaming plates of food, which he plopped on the table in front of us with an unceremonious klunk."Thanks," I nodded, and was answered with an unenthusiastic grunt."Say, could we ask you a couple questions?" Tananda purred."Such as?" the man responded listlessly."Such as where do they keep the statue?" she asked bluntly.I choked on my food. Tananda's idea of interrogation is about as subtle as a flogging. I keep forgetting she's a long standing drinking partner of Aahz's."The statue?" our host frowned."The one that was being carried up and down the streets yesterday," Tananda clarified easily."Oh! You mean the Trophy, the man laughed. "Statue. Hey, that's a good one. You two must be new in town.""You might say that," I confirmed dryly. I had never been that fond of being laughed at-particularly early in the morning."Statue, trophy, what's the difference," Tananda shrugged. "Where is it kept?""It's on public display in the Trophy Building, of course," the owner informed us. "If you want to see it, you'd best get started early. After five years, everyone in the city's going to be showing up for a look-see.""How far is it to-" Tananda began, but I interrupted her."You have a whole building for trophies?" I asked with forced casualness. "How many trophies are there?""Just the one," our host announced. "We put up a building especially for it. You two must really be new not to know that.""Just got in yesterday," I confirmed. "Just to show you how new we are, we don't even know what the trophy's for.""For?" the man gaped. "Why, it's for winning the Big Game, of course.""What big game?"The question slipped out before I thought. It burst upon the conversation like a bombsh.e.l.l, and our host actually gave ground a step in astonishment. Tananda nudged my foot warningly under the table, but I had already realized I had made a major blunder."I can see we have a lot to learn about your city, friend," I acknowledged smoothly. "If you have the time, we'd appreciate your joining us in a gla.s.s of wine. I'd like to hear more about this Big Game.""Say, that's nice of you," our host declared, brightening noticeably. "Wait right here. I'll fetch the wine.""What was that all about?" Tananda hissed as soon as he had moved out of earshot."I'm after some information," I retorted. "Specifically, about the Trophy.""I know that," she snapped. "The question is 'Why?' ""As a thief," I explained loftily, "I feel I should know as much as possible about what I'm trying to steal.""Who ever told you that?" Tananda frowned. "All you want to know about a target item is how big it is, how heavy it is, and what it will sell for. Then you study the security protecting it. Learning a lot about the item itself is a handicap, not an advantage.""How do you figure that?" I asked, my curiosity aroused in spite of myself.My companion rolled her eyes in exasperation."Because it'll make you feel guilty," she explained. "When you find out how emotionally attached the current owner is to the item, or that he'll be bankrupt without it, or that he'll be killed if it's stolen, then you'll be reluctant to take it. When you actually make your move, guilt can make you hesitate, and hesitant thieves either end up in jail or dead."I was going to pursue the subject further, but our host chose that moment to rejoin us. Balancing a bottle and three gla.s.ses in his hands, he hooked an extra chair over to our table with his foot."Here we go," he announced, depositing his load in front of us. "The best in the house-or the best that's left after the celebrations. You know how that is. No matter how much you stock in advance, it's never enough.""No, we don't know," I corrected. "I was hoping you could tell us.""That's right," he nodded, filling the gla.s.ses. "You know I still can't believe how little you know about politics.""Politics?" I blinked. "What does the Big Game have to do with politics?""It has everything to do with politics," our host proclaimed mightily. "That's the point. Don't you see?""No," I admitted bluntly.The man sighed."Look," he said, "this land has two potential capitals. One is Veygus, and this one, as you know, is Ta-hoe."I hadn't known it, but it seemed unwise to admit my ignorance. I'm slow, but not dumb."Since there can only be one capital at any given time," our host continued, "the two cities compete for the privilege each year. The winner is the capital and gets to be the center of government for the next year. The Trophy is the symbol of that power, and Veygus has had it for the last five years. Yesterday we finally won it back.""You mean the Big Game decides who's going to run the land?" I exclaimed, realization dawning at last. "Excuse my asking, but isn't that a bit silly?""No sillier than any other means of selecting governmental leadership," the man countered, shrugging his bony shoulders. "It sure beats going to war. Do you think it's a coincidence that we've been playing the game for five hundred years and there hasn't been a civil war in that entire time?""But if the Big Game has replaced civil war, then what-" I began, but Tananda interrupted."I hate to interrupt," she interrupted, "but if we're going to beat the crowds, we'd better get going. Where did you say the Trophy Building was, again?""One block up and six blocks to the left," our host supplied. "You'll know it by the crowds. I'll set the rest of the bottle aside and we can finish it after you've seen the Trophy.""We'd appreciate that," Tananda smiled, paying him for our meal.Apparently she had succeeded in using the right currency, for the owner accepted it without batting an eye and waved a fond farewell as we started off."I was hoping to find out more about this Big Game," I grumbled as we pa.s.sed out of earshot."No, you weren't," my guide corrected."I wasn't? "I frowned."No. You were getting involved," she pointed out. "We're here to get a birthday present, not to get embroiled in local politics.""I wasn't getting involved," I protested. "I was just trying to get a little information."Tananda sighed heavily."Look, Skeeve," she said, "take some advice from an old dimension traveler. Too much information is poison. Every dimension has its problems, and if you start learning the gruesome details, it occurs to you how simple it would be to help out. Once you see a problem and a solution, you feel almost obligated to meddle. That always leads to trouble, and we're supposed to be avoiding trouble this trip, remember?"I almost pointed out the irony of her advising me to avoid trouble while en route to engineer a theft. Then it occurred to me that if the theft didn't bother her, but local politics did, I might be wise to heed her advice. As I've said, I'm slow, but not dumb.As predicted, the Trophy Building was crowded despite the early hour. As we approached, I marveled anew at the physique of the natives-or specifically, the lack thereof.Tananda did not seem to share my fascination with the natives, and threaded her way nimbly through the throng, leaving me to follow behind. There was no organized line, and by the time we got through one of the numerous doors, the throng was thick enough to impede our progress. Tananda continued making her way closer to the Trophy, but I stopped just inside the door. My advantage of height gave me a clear view of the Trophy from where I was.If anything, it was uglier seen plainly than it had been viewed from a distance."Isn't it magnificent?" the woman standing next to me sighed.It took me a moment to realize she was speaking to me. My disguise made me look shorter, and she was talking to my chest."I've never seen anything like it," I agreed lamely."Of course not," she frowned. "It's the last work done by the great sculptor Watgit before he went mad."It occurred to me that the statue might have been done after he went mad. Then it occurred to me that it might have driven him mad-especially if he had been working from a live model. I became so lost in the horrible thought that I started nervously when Tananda reappeared at my side and touched my arm."Let's go, handsome," she murmured. "I've seen enough."The brevity of her inspection gave me hope."There's no hope, eh?" I sighed dramatically. "Gee, that's tough. I had really been looking forward to testing my skills.""That's good," she purred, taking my arm. "Because I think I see a way we can pull this caper off."I wasn't sure what a caper was, but I was certain that once I found out I wouldn't like it. I was right.

Chapter Six:.

"Now you see it, now you don't."-H. SHADOWSp.a.w.n."ARE you positive there-was no lock on the door?" I asked for the twenty-third time."Keep it down," Tananda hissed, laying a soft hand on my lips, though none too gently. "Do you want to wake everybody?"She had a point. We were crouched in an alley across from the Trophy Building, and as the whole idea of our waiting was to be sure everyone was asleep, it was counterproductive to make so much noise we kept them awake. Still, I had questions I wanted answered."You're sure? " I asked again in a whisper. "Yes, I'm sure," Tananda sighed. "You could have seen for yourself if you had looked." "I was busy looking at the statue," I admitted. "Uh-huh," my partner snorted. "Remember what I said about getting over-involved with the target? You were supposed to be checking security, not playing art connoisseur.""Well, I don't like it," I declared suspiciously, eager to get the conversation off my shortcomings. "It's too easy. I can't believe they'd leave something they prize as highly as that Trophy in an unlocked, unguarded building.""There are a couple things you've overlooked," Tanda chided. "First of all, that statue's one of a kind. That means any thief who stole it would have some real problems trying to sell it again. If he even showed it to anyone here in Ta-hoe, they'd probably rip his arms off.""He could hold it for ransom," I pointed out."Hey, that's pretty good," my guide exclaimed softly, nudging me in the ribs. "We'll make a thief of you yet! However, that brings us to the second thing you overlooked.""Which is?""It's not unguarded," she smiled."But you said-" I began."Sshh!" she cautioned. "I said there would be no guards in the building with the Trophy."I closed my eyes and regained control of my nerves, particularly those influenced by blind panic."Tanda," I said gently. "Don't you think it's about time you shared some of the details of your master plan with me?""Sure, handsome," she responded, slipping an arm around my waist. "I didn't think you were interested."I resisted an impulse to throttle her."Just tell me," I urged. "First off, what is the security on the Trophy.""Well," she said, tapping her chin with one finger, "as I said, there are no guards in the building. There is, however, a silent alarm that will summon guards. It's triggered by the nightingale floor.""The what?" I interrupted."The nightingale floor," she repeated. "It's a fairly common trick throughout the dimensions. The wooden floor around the Trophy is riddled with deliberately loosened boards that creak when you step on them. In this case, they not only creak, they trip an alarm.""Wonderful!" I grimaced. "So we can't set foot in the room we're supposed to steal something out of. Anything else?"I was speaking sarcastically, but Tananda took me seriously."Just the magikal wards around the statue itself," she shrugged."Magikal wards?" I gulped. "You mean there's magik in this dimension?""Of course there is," Tananda smiled. "You're here.""I didn't set any wards," I exclaimed. "That wasn't what I meant," Tanda chided. "Look, you tapped into the magikal force lines to disguise us. That means there's magik here for anyone trained to use it-not just us, anyone. Even if none of the locals are adept, there's nothing stopping someone from another dimension from dropping in and using what's here.""Okay, okay," I sighed. "I guess I wasn't thinking. I guess the next question is, how are we supposed to beat the funny floor and the wards?""Easy," she grinned. "The wards are sloppy. Someone set up a fence instead of a dome when they cast the wards. All you have to do is levitate the Trophy over the wards and float it across the floor into our waiting arms. We never even have to set foot in the room.""Whoa!" I cautioned, holding up a hand. "There's one problem with that. I can't do it.""You can't?" she blinked. "I thought levitation was one of your strongest spells.""It is," I conceded. "But that statue's heavy. I couldn't levitate it from a distance. It has something to do with what Aahz calls leverage. I'd have to be close, practically standing on top of it.""Okay," she said at last. "We'll just have to switch to Plan B.""You have a Plan B?" I asked, genuinely impressed."Sure," she grinned. "I just made it up. You can fly us both across the floor and over the wards. Then we latch onto the Trophy and fly back to Klah from inside the wards.""I don't know," I frowned."Now what's wrong?" my guide scowled."Well, flying's a form of levitation," I explained. "I've never tried flying myself and someone else, and even if I can do it, we'll be pushing down on the floor as hard as if we were walking on it. It might set the alarm off.""If I understand flying," Tanda pondered, "our weight would be more dispersed than if we were walking, but you're right. There's no point in taking the extra risk of flying us both across the floor."She snapped her fingers suddenly."Okay. Here's what we'll do," she exclaimed, leaning forward. "You fly across to the Trophy alone while I wait by the door. Then, when you're in place, you can use the D-Hopper to bring yourself and the Trophy back to Klah, while I blip back magikally."For some reason, the thought of dividing our forces in the middle of a theft bothered me."Say... um, Tanda," I said, "it occurs to me that even if we set off the alarm, we would be long gone by the time the guards arrived. I mean, if they haven't had war for over five hundred years, they're bound to be a little sloppy turning out.""No," Tananda countered firmly. "If we've got a way to completely avoid alerting the guards, we'll take it. I promised Aahz to keep you out of trouble, and that means-"She broke off suddenly, staring across the street. "What is it?" I hissed, craning my neck for a better look.In response, she pointed silently at the darkened Trophy Building.A group of a dozen cloaked figures had appeared from the shadows beside the building. They looked briefly up and down the street, then turned and disappeared into the building."I thought you said there wouldn't be any guards in the building!" I whispered frantically."I don't understand it," Tananda murmured, more to herself than to me. "It's not laid out for a guard force.""But if there are guards, we can't-" I began, but Tananda silenced me with a hand on my arm.The group had reemerged from the building. Moving more slowly than when we had first seen them, they edged their way back into the shadows and vanished from sight."That's a relief," Tananda declared, letting out a pent-up breath. "It's just a pack of drunks sneaking an after-hours look at the Trophy.""They didn't act like drunks," I commented doubtfully."C'mon, handsome," my guide declared, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "It's time we got this show on the road. Follow me."Needless to say, I didn't want to go, but I was even more reluctant to be left behind. This left me no choice but to follow as she headed across the street. As I went, though, I took the precaution of fumbling out my D-Hopper. I didn't like the feel of this, and wanted to be sure my exit route was at hand in case of trouble."In you go.'" Tananda ordered, holding the door open. "Be sure to sing out when you're in position. I want to be there to see Aahz's face when you give him the Trophy.""I can't see anything," I protested, peering into the dark building."Of course not!" Tananda snapped. "It's dark. You know where the Trophy is, though, so get going."At her insistence, I reached out with my mind and pushed gently against the floor. As had happened a hundred times in practice, I lifted free and began to float toward the estimated position of the statue.As I went, it occurred to me I had neglected to ask Tananda how high the wards extended. I considered going back or calling to her, but decided against it. Noise would be dangerous, and time was precious. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Instead, I freed part of my mind from the task of flying and cast about in front of me, seeking the tell-tale aura of the magikal wards. There were none."Tanda!" I hissed, speaking before I thought. "The wards are down!""Impossible," came her response from the door. "You must be in the wrong spot. Check again."I tried again, casting about the full extent of the room. Nothing. As I peered about, I realized my eyes were acclimating to the darkness."There are no wards," I called softly. "I'm right over the pedestal and there are no wards."Something was tugging at my consciousness. Something I had seen was terribly wrong, but my attention was occupied scanning for the wards."If you're over the pedestal," Tananda called, "then drop down and get the Trophy. And hurry! I think I hear someone coming."I lowered myself to the floor, gently as I remembered the creaky boards, and turned to the pedestal. Then it burst upon me what was wrong."It's gone! "I cried."What?" Tananda gasped, her silhouette appearing in the doorway."The Trophy! It's gone!" I exclaimed, running my hands over the vacant pedestal."Get out, Skeeve," Tananda called, suddenly full volume.I started for the door, but her voice stopped me."No! Use the D-Hopper. Now!"My thumb went to the activator b.u.t.ton on the device I had been clutching, but I hesitated."What about you?" I called. "Aren't you coming?""After you're gone," she insisted. "Now get go-"Something came flying out of the dark and struck her silhouette. She went down in a boneless heap."Tanda!" I shouted, starting forward.Suddenly the doorway was filled with short silhouettes swarming all over Tananda's p.r.o.ne form.I wavered for a moment in indecision."There's another one inside!" someone called.So much for indecision. I hit the b.u.t.ton.There was the now familiar rush of darkness... and I was back in my quarters on Klah.Aahz was seated at a table with his back to me, but he must have heard the KAMF of my arrival."It's about time!" he growled. "Did you enjoy your little-"He broke off as he turned and his eyes took in the expression on my face."Aahz," I cried, stumbling forward. "We're in trouble."His fist came down in a crash which splintered the table."I knew it!" he snarled.

Chapter Seven:.

"A friend in need is a pest."-FAFHRD."Now l