by Phil Stern
“My goodness. Tiffany must like her men really, really stupid.” Sighing, Claire considered him anew. “Though you are in good shape.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Your primary value is clearly as a mate. Wouldn’t you say?”
“My primary value...” Trailing off, Blake thought quickly. “Well, I suppose. Though I’d like to think that Tiffany likes me for more than just, uh...”
“Oh, that’s what you men all think.” Leaning back, Claire merrily propped her hands on the desk behind her. “But it’s a woman’s world, Blake. At least where magic is concerned.”
“So I’ve been told.” Wincing, he craned his head to look past Claire out the windows once more. “We must be pretty high up.”
“Thirty stories, actually. Enough to kill you when you ‘jump’...” With a wicked smile, Claire made quotation marks in the air. “...off the building.”
“That doesn’t sound very pleasant.”
“Then start being useful!” With an emphatic nod, Claire now turned and walked around behind her desk, pressing a button on the way. “I need to know exactly how Tiffany managed to convert Valensa.”
“But I have no idea...”
“Stop!” Holding up a finger, Claire slowly shook her head. “I can’t bear even one more stupid, unhelpful utterance from you.”
Behind her captive, the office door opened again, someone padding into the room behind Blake. Gathering himself, he tried one last time. “Please, I really know nothing...”
“One of two things is going to dramatically increase over the next hour. Your memory, or your fervent desire to magically negate gravity.” Sitting down in the chair, she suggestively squirmed her hips around. “Though it might be fun to try you out first, just to see what all the fuss is about!”
Forcefully yanked up by his shirt, he was then half-flung towards the door by yet another witch. A moment later Blake was gone, led back to the same locked room nearby.
“Okay, Tiffany,” Claire muttered to herself, turning once more to the wide windows at her back. “Time to come storming up here to the rescue.”
*****
Standing on the street opposite Claire’s imposing headquarters, Marissa and Keri impassively studied the tall building. The street was fairly crowded, with hundreds of busy pedestrians bustling about. A trolley car meandered past, tooting a cheery horn.
Compared to Earth there weren’t many personal vehicles, though what Vanington lacked in density was certainly made up for in variety. An old Model T Ford was closely followed by a 1970's muscle car, which in turn nearly ran into a late 90's minivan. That presented a problem for the horse-drawn milk cart, the owner of which then began angrily berating the old guy driving the minivan.
“What a cluster,” Keri muttered. “The cross-dem contamination is out of control.”
“That’s not our problem right now.” Shrugging, the senior of the two witches turned to her younger companion. “Are you ready?”
“Sure.” Nodding at the far corner, the strawberry blonde smiled. “Looks like they are too.”
Indeed, two very sleek, cosmopolitan looking 20-something ruby witches were staring at the two Haven interlopers. As they started across the street to intercept them, both Marissa and Keri sensed two other girls closing in from the other direction.
“Good. It looks like we have their attention.” Forming a personal shield, Marissa shook out her long, dark hair. “Now we have to keep it long enough for Tiffany to do her job.”
“See you later.” With a wave, Keri then disappeared from view entirely, her invisibility spell fully taking hold.
Ducking into the low-rise behind them, Marissa then pounded through the small lobby to the main stairway, pleased that all four of the Zarth girls were following.
*****
Mustering all of her remaining dignity, Adrina pushed her way into Claire’s office. Moodily staring out the window, the Coven Leader turned to give her underling a questioning look.
“It’s begun,” Adrina announced. “Haven operatives have been spotted on the street outside. We also have word of an attack at the zeppelin base on the outskirts of the city.”
“And the vault downstairs?”
“I’ve doubled the guard in the anteroom,” she crisply replied. “The main vault chamber remains sealed.”
As it should, Claire thought. She was the only one who knew how to unlock the chamber, much less open the vault itself. “Very well,” she said, pointedly turning away.
Frustrated, Adrina nodded at her leader’s rude back and retreated from the office.
*****
“This is it,” Valensa announced, tapping the ceiling over their heads. “We just cut through here and we’re in.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Tiffany smiled at her half-sibling. She’d been very worried that Valensa’s undisciplined aura would quite literally bring the entire ruby establishment down on their heads. Trapped in a dank, underground service corridor running beneath Claire’s building, there wasn’t much room to maneuver. Premature discovery would make escaping the tunnel system difficult, actually completing their mission nearly impossible.
But it seemed the two Haven teams on the surface were providing all the distraction they needed. And as she’d suspected, the greasy magical signature of the gathered midate in the vault above was now masking Valensa’s stone. If they hadn’t been detected by now, they probably wouldn’t be.
The two sisters had already changed back into the jeans, boots, and white shirts of the Coven, though in deference to their situation both wore sleek black gloves, their hair tied back in ponytails. Drawing out her Coven Stick, Tiffany imagined a sturdy hand laser, the type used on Dytha by construction crews. Obediently forming the desired tool, Tiffany then carefully began cutting a round hole in the ceiling above.
“Just teleporting would be easier,” Valensa muttered, wincing as section of pipe clattered to the floor at their feet.
“It would also set off the automated defenses before we were prepared.” With steady hands, Tiffany continued her work. “Not to mention sap almost all our magical energy.”
“Speak for yourself,” Valensa gaily replied, as if the two of them were on holiday. “I have plenty of energy.”
Rolling her eyes, Tiffany concentrated on the nearly complete hole above. “Yeah, that’s how girls get themselves in trouble.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know. I’ve only been...” Stepping backwards, Valensa neatly avoided the round hunk of plaster, concrete, and metal crashing down to the floor. “That was loud.”
“No shit.” Holding a hand to her ear, Tiffany morphed the laser back into a rod. “Come on, sis. Time to show me what all that energy is good for.”
Grinning, Valensa formed a personal shield about her body. Within the dark, hazy passageway, she nearly glowed with almost limitless power. Despite herself, Tiffany was surprised at the magical might available at her sister’s command.
Then stepping directly underneath the still-smoldering hole, Valensa shot straight up and out of view. Almost instantly, violent ruby magic burst out in the now-accessed room above, sparks of both red and green hissing all about.
“Valensa?” Drawing back from the opening, Tiffany was nearly singed by a particularly nasty burst of power. “Hey, come back here!”
“Almost done!” was her triumphant reply, Valensa’s light voice emanating through the hole and back down the tunnel. Biting her lip, Tiffany could only wait.
Twenty seconds later, following a final, sad pop of ruby fire, all was quiet again. A trickle of magical residue poured down through the opening, lightly burning the tip of Tiffany’s boot.
“Come on up, sis!” Poking her head partially back through the hole separating them, Valensa was clearly delighted with herself. “The coast is clear.”
Frowning, Tiffany took the proffered hand, half-leaping, half-pulled up into the chamber above.
*****
By now Marissa had drawn six enemy wi
tches into the five-story structure opposite Claire’s headquarters. Merrily running up and down stairs, ducking in and out of offices and apartments alike, she’d surprised several dozen locals in the midst of their otherwise boring day. At one point she’d even swung out and down through an open window, crashed through the pane of glass one floor below, and then charged through a bathroom. She wasn’t sure if the man taking a shower had even noticed.
Racing out onto an interior stairwell landing, she encountered a Zarth girl charging down from the floor above. A brief exchange of blows sent the other witch tumbling down the opposite flight of steps, the imprint of Marissa’s fist still marring her pretty face.
Still, she couldn’t keep this up forever. Idly wondering how many girls Keri was similarly keeping occupied in the subway system, Marissa continued her wild game of hide and seek with the growing ruby posse.
*****
The windowless, artificially lighted vault chamber was rapidly clearing of haze and smoke. The walls, carpet, and ceiling bore the obvious scars of the intense magical outburst greeting Valensa’s arrival.
Almost shocked, Tiffany just stared at her beaming younger sister. Each and every blow had simply expended itself on Valensa’s seemingly impenetrable magical shield. She’d taken twice the punishment Tiffany herself could have withstood, without even the slightest blemish from the experience.
A hulking, black safe covered an entire short wall. It was an old-style bank vault, with an absurdly large silver spinning handle. “Fifth Vanington Bank” was proudly displayed in calligraphy-type lettering on the front.
“What happened to the first four banks,” Tiffany muttered, motioning for her sister to begin.
“The same as the fifth. They all went out of business.” Laying her hands on the vault itself, Valensa closed her eyes, concentrating.
From the anteroom outside the chamber they now heard several angry female voices, one brave soul even pounding on the thick metal door between them. Yet the door separating anteroom from vault chamber was surely warded just as thoroughly as the safe itself. Until Claire herself arrived, they would remain unmolested.
“Really? And why is that?” Actually, Tiffany didn’t care in the slightest right now, but somehow felt the need to make conversation.
“Claire drove all the banks under.” Continuing to work on the vault door, Valensa was clearly encountering some difficulties. “They were competition.”
“Competition?” Her mind racing, Tiffany leaned back against the wall. “I thought she wanted to take down all the governments, save the people, dominate key worlds and all that.”
“Oh, she does.”
“Well, I would think her business interests in Zarth would be limited to those goals.”
“Please.” Briefly turning back to look at her, Valensa laughed. “Claire is a revolutionary, but a profit driven one.”
“Huh? What are you saying?”
“She’s a criminal, Tiff.” With a loud click, the vault door shuddered. Encouraged, Valensa concentrated on her task anew. “She makes fantastic amounts of money smuggling stuff in from Earth.”
As if struck by a thunderbolt, Tiffany lurched forward. “Of course! Why didn’t I see that before?”
“Well, Claire’s good,” Valensa grudgingly acknowledged.
“What about this world? Is she really interested in the women of Zarth? Improving their lives and all that?”
“Sure. Trust me, most of this world could do with some revision.” With a satisfied smile, Valensa now pulled open the huge vault door. “But smuggling technology into Zarth is Claire’s bread and butter. Once she’s in control of both Zarth and Earth, she can ramp up her cross-dimensional trade on a universal scale.”
“So Claire wants to free people from oppression, but also get fantastically rich doing it?”
“Exactly,” Valensa smirked. “That’s the real reason why she doesn’t want to cooperate with Haven.”
Walking over to the now-open vault, the two Smith sisters stared inside. Sitting on a middle shelf was a simple white cloth bag, which clearly contained several pieces of midate. Next to that was a neatly folded piece of paper. The cavernous black space was otherwise empty.
Snatching up the letter, Tiffany quickly scanned it’s contents. It was indeed from the witch Keri had claimed sent her to Zarth in the first place, promising all sorts of cooperation with Claire if she would only leave the Haven Coven alone. There was even an offer to eliminate Eleanor and her close supporters. Without question, it was treason of the highest order. Angrily shaking her head, Tiffany folded the letter up and tucked it in her back pocket.
“Come on.” Now scooping up the odious bag of midate, Tiffany nodded at the hole in the floor. “Let’s get out of here.”
*****
Storming into the outside anteroom, Claire bodily swept a girl aside who’d been standing before the armored door leading into the vault chamber. Pounding the metal herself in frustration, Claire then clearly heard Tiffany’s voice on the other side.
“Call everyone back inside here!” she snapped to the girls milling around behind her. “Those witches on the street are just distracting us, pulling us away from the main attack!”
“But how did they even get in there?” someone slowly asked. “I mean, the vault is completely closed off...”
“They either teleported, which means they’ll be too weak to fight.” With a curse, Claire began deactivating the magical wards on the door. Even with a few shortcuts, the work would take a full minute. “Or they found some other way in, which means we may have to scour the lower levels of this whole complex.”
Calmly digesting this information, the four Leven members looked at one another and shrugged. They weren’t used to seeing their leader being outmaneuvered like this.
But Claire’s consternation was only beginning. For upon thrusting open the large metal door and charging into the chamber, all they found was a wide open, empty vault and a large hole in the floor. Of Tiffany or any other Haven witches, there was no sign.
*****
Throwing aside the manhole cover from below, Tiffany carefully peeked out at the road above. At the first break in traffic she scurried up onto the pavement, closely followed by Valensa.
Kicking the metal cover back into place, the two magical young women then jogged over to the front of Claire’s headquarters, ducking around a few speeding cars on the way. Already there were Marissa and Keri, contentedly leaning up against the building’s facade.
“You two look pleased with yourselves.” Giving Marissa a big hug, Tiffany then similarly greeted Keri. “How did it go?”
“Piece of cake,” Keri casually replied.
“You must have pissed somebody off.” With a slight nod, Marissa indicated the building behind them “All the Zarth girls just streaked back in there like their lives depended on it.”
“Hi.” Tentatively, Tiffany’s sister approached the group. “I’m Valensa.”
“Yeah, we know.” Frowning, Keri looked her up and down. “You seem to have an earth stone.”
“They’ll be time for this later.” Tiffany summarily pushed the white cloth bag into Keri’s hand. “Your job is to hold onto this, no matter what. Understood?”
“Gross.” Distastefully, she held the bag out at arm’s length. “Midate.”
By now some bystanders were stopping to stare at the four young women, two of which had just climbed out of a manhole. Clearly, they were starting to attract all the wrong kinds of attention.
“Come on.” Indicating the ruby headquarters, Tiffany took a step towards the building. “It’s time to catch our ride home.”
“After getting Blake,” Valensa added.
“Blake!” Stopping in her tracks after a single step, Marissa stared at Tiffany. “The boy toy? He’s here?”
“Gross,” Keri repeated, pointedly looking off.
“It’s complicated,” Tiffany sighed. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“This s
hould be interesting,” Marissa murmured, pointedly motioning Tiffany to precede her into the building.
Rolling her eyes, Tiffany stalked up and through the front door, followed closely by the other three into the large building lobby.
*****
Dropping down into the service tunnel beneath the vault chamber, Claire somehow choked off a scream of pure rage. The intruders were long gone, save for the debris on the floor. Like mice, Tiffany and her cohorts had slipped in, stolen her cheese, and were now slinking off to safety.
Unlike normal mice, though, these thieves would be able to slip away for good. For there were a few direct contact points within this underground maze which would take them straight back to Earth. Only Claire herself knew of these inter-dimensional passageways, the knowledge retained as a final, secret escape route should worst come to worst. Still, who knows what Valensa was or wasn’t aware of?
“I want these tunnels searched, now!” she screamed back up into the vault chamber. “Get everyone down here! No one leaves until we find them!”
*****
The two Zarth witches guarding the elevator bank coolly eyed the four sorceresses pounding across the lobby toward sthem. Choosing the wiser part of valor, they both bolted and ran.
“Come on!” Dashing into an open elevator car, Tiffany was soon joined by her three companions. Jamming the button for the top floor, they were immediately whisked upward.
“When we get to the top,” Tiffany instructed, “Marissa and Keri will disable all of the elevators and block the stairways. Valensa will help me find Blake.”
“What’s your concubine doing here, anyway?” Keri demanded.
“That’s boyfriend. And I told you now’s not the...”
“I don’t think Tiffany feels comfortable traveling without him,” Valensa interrupted, giving everyone a sympathetic look. “Young love is like that.”
