I could see it now with crystal clarity. Up until now I had been blinded by Aahz's arrogant self-confidence, but suddenly the veil was parted. Aahz's escape from Perv wasn't nearly as easy as he was letting on. There had been a brawl-physical, verbal, or magikal-some hard feelings, and some heavy promises made or broken. He had forced his way back to Klah with one thing on his mind: his apprentice… his favorite apprentice, was in trouble. Upon returning, what was his reception? Not only was I not in trouble, for all appearances, I was doing better without him!
Tananda and Chumly were still at it, merrily chattering back and forth about how great I was. While I appreciated their support, I wished desperately I could think of a way of getting it through to them that what they were really doing was twisting a knife in Aahz.
"Umm… Aahz?" I interrupted. "When you've got a minute, there are a few things I need your advice on."
"Like what?" came the muffled response. "From the sound of things, you don't need anybody, much less a teacher with no powers of his own."
Tananda caught it immediately. Her gadfly manner dropped away like a mask and she signaled desperately to Chumly. The troll was not insensitive, though. His reaction was to catch my eye with a pleading gaze.
It was up to me. Terrific.
"Well, like… um."
And Massha exploded into the room.
"Everything's ready downstairs, hot stuff, and… oh! Hi there, green and scaly. Thought you were gone for good."
Aahz spun around, his eyes wide.
"Massha?" he stammered. "What are you doing here?"
"Didn't the man of the hour here tell you?" she smiled, batting her expansive eyelashes. "I'm his new apprentice."
"Apprentice?" Aahz echoed, his old fire creeping into his voice.
"Um… that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, Aahz," I smiled meekly.
"Apprentice?" he repeated, as if he hadn't heard. "Kid, you and I have got to talk … NOW!"
"Okay, Aahz. As soon as I…"
"Now!"
Yep. Aahz was back.
"Um, if you'll excuse us, folks, Aahz and I have to…"
For the second time, there was a BAMPH in the room.
This one was louder, which was understandable, as there were more beings involved. Specifically, there were now four Deveels standing in the room… and they didn't look happy.
"We seek the Great Skeeve," one of them boomed.
My heart sank. Could my involvement with the Mob have been discovered so fast?
"Who's asking?"
Aahz casually placed his bulk between me and the intruders. Tananda and Chumly were also on their feet, and Massha was edging sideways to get a clear field of fire. Terrific. All I needed to complete my day was to have my friends soap up the trouble I had started.
"We are here representing the merchants of the Bazaar on the Deva, seeking an audience with the Great Skeeve."
"About what?" my mentor challenged.
The Deveel fixed him with an icy glare.
"We seek the Great Skeeve, not idle chit-chat with a Pervert."
"Well, this particular Pervert happens to be the Great Skeeve's business manager, and he doesn't waste his time with Deveels unless I clear them."
I almost said something, but changed my mind. Concerned or not, this was not the time to take a conversation away from Aahz.
The Deveel hesitated, then shrugged.
"There is a new difficult at the Bazaar," he said. "A group of organized criminals has gained access to our dimension threatening to disrupt the normal flow of business unless they are paid a percentage of our profits."
Tananda and Chumly exchanged glances, while Massha raised an eyebrow at me. I studied the ceiling with extreme care. Aahz alone was unruffled.
"Tough. So what does that have to do with the Great Skeeve?" he demanded.
Anticipating the answer, I tried to decide whether I should fight or run.
"Isn't it obvious?" the Deveel frowned. "We wish to retain his services to combat this threat. From what we can tell, he's the only magician around up to the job."
That one stopped me. Of all the strange turns events could have taken, this had to be the most unanticipated and … well, bizarre!
"I see," Aahz murmured, a nasty gleam in his eye. "You realize, of course, that the Great Skeeve's time is valuable and that such a massive undertaking would require equally massive remuneration?"
Every alarm in my system went off.
"Um …ahz?"
"Shut up, k… I mean, be patient. Master Skeeve. This matter should be settled in a moment."
I couldn't watch.
Instead, I went to the window and stared out. Listening over my shoulder, I heard Aahz name an astronomical figure, and realized there might be a way out of this yet. If Aahz was greedy enough, and the Deveels stingy enough…
"Done!" said the spokesman.
"… Of course, that's only an advance," Aahz pressed. "A full rendering will have to wait until the job is completed."
"Done," came the reply.
"… And that is the fee only. Expenses will be reimbursed separately."
"Done! The advance will be awaiting your arrival.
Anything else?"
In tribute to the Deveel's generosity, Aahz was unable to think of any other considerations to gouge out of them. There was another BAMPH, and the delegation was gone.
"How about that!" Aahz crowed. "I finally put one over on the Deveels!"
"What's that thing you always say about anyone who thinks they've gotten a good deal from a Deveel, Aahz?" Tananda asked sweetly.
"Later," my mentor ordered. "Right now we've got to get our things together and pop over to the Bazaar to scout the opposition."
"We already know what the opposition is."
"How's that, kid?"
I turned to face him.
"The opposition is the Mob. You remember, the organized crime group that was sponsoring Big Julie's army?" A frown crossed Aahz's face as he regarded me closely,
"And how did you come by that little tidbit of information, if I may ask?"
I regarded him right back.
"That's the other little thing I wanted your advice on."
Chapter Fifteen
"In a war against organized crime, survived is a proposition."
"Now let me see if I've got this right," Aahz scowled, pacing back and forth in front of our worried gazes. "What we've got to do is keep the Mob from taking over the Bazaar, without letting them know we're opposing them or the Deveels know we were the ones who loosed the Mob on the Bazaar in the first place. Right?"
"You can do it, Aahz," I urged eagerly.
This time, it required no false enthusiasm on my part. While I had done an adequate job operating on my own, when it came to premeditated deviousness, I was quick to acknowledge my master. There might be someone out there in the multitude of dimensions better than Aahz at finding under-handed ways out of dilemmas, but I haven't met them yet.
"Of course I can do it," my mentor responded with a confident wink. "I just want everyone to admit it isn't going to be easy. All this talk about the Great Skeeve has made me a little insecure."
"A little?" Tananda smirked.
"I think it's a bit of all right," Chumly said, nudging his sister with an elbow. "I've always heard how formidable Aahz is when he swings into action. I, for one, am dying to see him handle this rather sticky situation all by himself." Aahz's shoulders sagged slightly as he heaved a small sigh.
"Whoa! Stop! Perhaps in my enthusiasm I overspoke. What I meant to say is that my slimy but agile mind can provide a plan to pull off this assignment. Of course, the execution of said plan will rely upon abilities and goodwill of my worthy colleagues. Is that better, Chumly?"