Don Bruce rubbed his hands together gleefully. 'You listening to this, Shai-ster? This is some world Mister Skeeve is givin' us here.'
'He's not giving it to us,' Shai-ster corrected. 'He's offering access to it.'
'That's right,' I said quickly. 'Exploiting it is up to your organization. Now, if you don't think your boys can handle it. …'
'We can handle it. A layout like this? It's a piece of cake.'
Guido and Nunzio exchanged nervous glances, but held their silence as Don Bruce continued.
'Now if I understand this right, what you want in return for letting us into this territory is that we lay off Big June and Possiltum. Right?'
I count real good up to three.
'And me,' I added. 'No 'getting even with the guy who thrashed our army plans,' no 'join the Mob or die' pressure. I'm an independent operator and happy to stay that way.'
'Sure, sure,' Don Bruce waved. 'Now that we've seen how you operate, no reason we can't eat out of the same bowl. If anything, we owe you a favor for opening up a new area to our organization.'
Somehow, that worried me.
'Um… tell you what. I don't want any credit for this… inside the Mob or outside. Right now, nobody but us knows I had a hand in this. Let's keep it that way, okay?'
'If that's what you want,' Don Bruce shrugged.
'I'll just tell the Big Boys you're too rough for us to tangle with, and that's why we're going to leave you alone. Any time our paths cross, we go ahead with your approval or we back off. Okay?'
'That's what I want.'
'Deal?'
'Deal.'
We shook hands ceremoniously.
'Very well,' I said. 'Here's what you need to travel between here and home.'
I fished the D-Hopper out of my sleeve.
'This setting is for home. This one is for here. Push this button to travel.'
'What about the other settings?' Shai-ster asked.
'Remember the magic wand?' I countered. 'Without instructions, you could get lost with this thing. I mean, really lost.'
'Come on, boys,' Don Bruce said, setting the D-Hopper. 'We gotta hurry home. There's a world here to conquer, so we gotta get started before somebody else beats us to it. Mister Skeeve, a pleasure doin' business with you.'
A second later, they were gone.
I should have been elated, having finally eliminated one set of problems from my horizon. I wasn't.
Don Bruce's last comment about world conquering reminded me of Queen Hemlock's plans. Now that the Mob was neutralized, I had other problems to solve. As soon as I got back to the palace, I would have to …
Then it hit me.
The Mob representatives had taken the D-Hopper with them when they left. That thing was my only route back to Klah! I was stranded at the Bazaar with no way back to my own dimension!
Chapter Twelve
'I'm making this up as I go along!'
BUT I didn't panic. Why should I?
Sure, I was in a bit of a mess, but if there was one place in all the dimensions I could be confident of finding help, it was here at the Bazaar. Anything could be had here for a price, and thanks to Aahz's training, I had made a point of stocking my pouch with money prior to our departure from Klah.
Aahz!
It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't thought about my old mentor for days. The crises that had erupted shortly after his departure had occupied my mind to an extent where there was no time or energy left for brooding. Except for the occasional explanation of his absence, Aahz was playing no part in my life currently. I was successfully handling things without him.
Well…
Okay. I had successfully handled some things without him … the Mob, for example. Of course, the training he had gotten me into earlier in our relationship had also provided me with confidence under fire… another much-needed commodity these days.
'Face it, kid,' I said to myself in my best imitation of Aahz. 'You owe a lot to your old mentor.'
Right. A lot. Like not making him ashamed of his prize pupil… say by leaving a job half done.
With new resolve, I addressed my situation. First, I had to get back to Klah … or should I look for a solution right here?
Rather than lose time to indecision, I compromised.
With a few specific questions to the nearest vendor, I set a course for my eventual destination, keeping an eye out as I went for something that would help me solve the Queen Hemlock problem. This trip through the Bazaar was different from my earlier visits. Before, my experience had been of wishing for more time to study the displays at leisure while hurrying to keep up with Aahz. This time, it was me that was pushing the pace, dismissing display after display with a casual 'interesting, but no help with today's problem.' Things seemed to have a different priority when responsibility for the crisis was riding on my shoulders. Of course, I didn't know what I was looking for. I just knew that trick wands and instant thunderstorms weren't it. Out of desperation, I resorted to logic.
To recognize the solution, I needed to know the problem. The problem was that Queen Hemlock was about to marry me instead of Rodrick. Scratch that. Massha was bringing Rodrick back, and I couldn't help her. I just had to believe she could do it. The problem was Queen Hemlock.
Whether she married me or Rodrick, she was determined to use Possiltum's military strength to wage a war of expansion. If her husband, whoever it was, tried to oppose her, he would find himself conveniently dead.
Killing the Queen would be one solution, but somehow I shrank from cold-blooded murder … or hotblooded murder for that matter. No. What was needed was something to throw a scare into her. A big scare.
The answer walked past me before I recognized it. Fortunately, it was moving slowly, so I turned and caught up with it in just a few steps.
Answers come in many shapes and sizes. This one was in the form of a Deveel with a small tray display hung by a strap around his neck.
'What you just said, was it true?'
The Deveel studied me.
'I said, 'Rings. One size fits all. Once on, never off.' '
'That's right. Is it true?'
'Of course. Each of my rings are pre-spelled. Once you put it on, it self-adjusts so that it won't come off, even if you want it to.'
'Great. I'll take two.'
'… Because to lose a ring of such value would be tragedy indeed. Each one worth a king's ransom…'
I rolled my eyes.
'Look,' I interrupted. 'I know it's a tradition of the Bazaar to bargain, but I'm in a hurry. How much for two? Bottom price.'
He thought for a moment and named a figure. My training came to the fore and I made a counteroffer one
