right. My nerves were stretched to the breaking point ... which served me right for not following my own advice.
We were currently holed up at the Dispatcher’s, the only place I could think of for an in-town base of operations, and as soon as we had arrived, I had insisted that both Massha and Guido grab a bit of sleep. We had been going nonstop ever since stepping through the door into Limbo, and I figured that the troops would need all the rest they could get before we tried to spring Aahz. Of course, once I had convinced them of the necessity of racking out, I promptly ignored my own wisdom and stayed up thinking for the duration.
The rationalization I used for this insane action was that I wanted some extra time uninterrupted to recharge my internal batteries, so whatever minimal magic I had at my disposal would be ready for our efforts. In actuality, what I did was worry. While I had indeed taken part in several criminal activities since teaming up with Aahz, they had all been planned by either Aahz or Tananda. This was my first time to get involved in masterminding a caper, and the stakes were high. Not only Aahz’s but Massha’s and Guido’s futures were riding on my successful debut, and my confidence level was at an all-time low. After much pondering, I had decided to swallow my pride and lean heavily on Guido’s expertise, which was why it hit me so hard when I discovered that he knew even less about successful jailbreaks than I.
“Sorry, Guido,” I said, trying to restructure my thinking. “I guess I’m more tired than I realized. Didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Don’t worry, Boss,” the bodyguard grinned. “I’ve been expectin’ it. All the big operators I’ve worked with get a little crabby when the heat’s on. If anything, your temper get tin’ short is the best thing I’ve seen since we started this caper. That’s why I’ve been so jumpy myself. I wasn’t sure if you weren’t taking the job seriously, or if you were just too dumb to know the kind of odds we were up against. Now that you’re acting normal for the situation, I feel a lot better about how it’s goin’ to come out in the end.”
Terrific! Now that I was at the end of my rope, our eternal pessimist thought things were going great.
“Okay,” I said, rubbing my forehead with one finger, “we haven’t got much information to go on, and what we do know is bad. According to Vilhelm, Aahz is being held in the most escape proof cell they have, which is the top floor of the highest tower in town. If we try to take him from the inside, we’re going to have to fool or fight every guard on the way up and down. To me, that means our best bet is to spring him from the outside.”
My assistants nodded vigorously, their faces as enthusiastic as if I had just said something startlingly original and clever.
“Now, with my powers at low ebb, I don’t think I can levitate that far and spring the cell. Massha, do you have anything in your jewelry collection that would work for rope and climbing hooks?”
“N—no,” she said hesitantly, which surprised me. She usually had a complete inventory of her nasty pretties on the tip of her tongue.
“I saw a coil of rope hangin’ just inside the door,” Guido supplied.
“I noticed it, too,” I acknowledged, “but it isn’t nearly long enough. We’ll just have to use up my power getting up to the cell and figure some other way of opening the window.”
“Ummm ... you don’t have to do that, High Roller,” Massha said with a sigh. “I’ve got something we can use.”
“What’s that?”
“The belt I’m wearing with all my gear hung on it. It’s a levitation belt. The controls aren’t horribly reliable, but it should do to get us to the top of the tower.”
I cocked an eyebrow at my apprentice.
“Wait a minute, Massha. Why didn’t you mention this when I asked?”
She looked away quickly. “You didn’t ask about a belt. Only about rope and climbing
We were currently holed up at the Dispatcher’s, the only place I could think of for an in-town base of operations, and as soon as we had arrived, I had insisted that both Massha and Guido grab a bit of sleep. We had been going nonstop ever since stepping through the door into Limbo, and I figured that the troops would need all the rest they could get before we tried to spring Aahz. Of course, once I had convinced them of the necessity of racking out, I promptly ignored my own wisdom and stayed up thinking for the duration.
The rationalization I used for this insane action was that I wanted some extra time uninterrupted to recharge my internal batteries, so whatever minimal magic I had at my disposal would be ready for our efforts. In actuality, what I did was worry. While I had indeed taken part in several criminal activities since teaming up with Aahz, they had all been planned by either Aahz or Tananda. This was my first time to get involved in masterminding a caper, and the stakes were high. Not only Aahz’s but Massha’s and Guido’s futures were riding on my successful debut, and my confidence level was at an all-time low. After much pondering, I had decided to swallow my pride and lean heavily on Guido’s expertise, which was why it hit me so hard when I discovered that he knew even less about successful jailbreaks than I.
“Sorry, Guido,” I said, trying to restructure my thinking. “I guess I’m more tired than I realized. Didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“Don’t worry, Boss,” the bodyguard grinned. “I’ve been expectin’ it. All the big operators I’ve worked with get a little crabby when the heat’s on. If anything, your temper get tin’ short is the best thing I’ve seen since we started this caper. That’s why I’ve been so jumpy myself. I wasn’t sure if you weren’t taking the job seriously, or if you were just too dumb to know the kind of odds we were up against. Now that you’re acting normal for the situation, I feel a lot better about how it’s goin’ to come out in the end.”
Terrific! Now that I was at the end of my rope, our eternal pessimist thought things were going great.
“Okay,” I said, rubbing my forehead with one finger, “we haven’t got much information to go on, and what we do know is bad. According to Vilhelm, Aahz is being held in the most escape proof cell they have, which is the top floor of the highest tower in town. If we try to take him from the inside, we’re going to have to fool or fight every guard on the way up and down. To me, that means our best bet is to spring him from the outside.”
My assistants nodded vigorously, their faces as enthusiastic as if I had just said something startlingly original and clever.
“Now, with my powers at low ebb, I don’t think I can levitate that far and spring the cell. Massha, do you have anything in your jewelry collection that would work for rope and climbing hooks?”
“N—no,” she said hesitantly, which surprised me. She usually had a complete inventory of her nasty pretties on the tip of her tongue.
“I saw a coil of rope hangin’ just inside the door,” Guido supplied.
“I noticed it, too,” I acknowledged, “but it isn’t nearly long enough. We’ll just have to use up my power getting up to the cell and figure some other way of opening the window.”
“Ummm ... you don’t have to do that, High Roller,” Massha said with a sigh. “I’ve got something we can use.”
“What’s that?”
“The belt I’m wearing with all my gear hung on it. It’s a levitation belt. The controls aren’t horribly reliable, but it should do to get us to the top of the tower.”
I cocked an eyebrow at my apprentice.
“Wait a minute, Massha. Why didn’t you mention this when I asked?”
She looked away quickly. “You didn’t ask about a belt. Only about rope and climbing
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