One look inside was all it took for her to get the message. Sinking back in her seat, we locked eyes for a moment; then she shook her head and gave a low whistle.
"I say, is this a private horror, or can any number play?" Chumley grumbled from across the office.
In response, Tananda held up the box, tilting it so everyone could see the contents. Inside was a severed finger, a woman's finger, to be exact. It was wearing a particularly gaudy ring.
There was a long silence as the assemblage stared at the missive. Then Massha cleared her throat.
"How much for just the ring?" she quipped, but from the tone of her voice she wasn't expecting anyone to laugh.
Nobody did.
"I don't get it. Boss," Guido scowled. "Is this supposed to be a joke or sumpin'?"
"You and Nunzio weren't around for the big finale, Guido," I said. "Remember Queen Hemlock? Back on my home dimension of Klah?"
"Sure," he nodded. "She was an okay skirt ... a little creepy, though."
"I guess it depended on which side of her favor you were on," Tananda commented wryly, tossing the box back onto the table.
I ignored her.
"Bunny, you weren't around for any of this, so..."
"I've picked up some of it talking to Chumley," she waved.
"Well, Queen Hemlock had an interesting plan she wanted to put into effect after she married Rodrick: to combine Possiltum's military strength with the wealth of her own kingdom of Impasse and fulfill her lifelong dream of conquering the world. Of course, she also planned to kill Rodrick if he opposed the idea."
I picked up the box and toyed with it idly.
"I thought I had stopped her by giving Rodrick wedding rings that they thought linked their lives, rings that wouldn't come off. The one in the box here is hers... of course, she had to cut off her finger to get rid of it. I hadn't anticipated that."
"I rather suspect she wanted her dream more than her finger," Chumley said with a grimace.
"So it would seem," I nodded. "Now she's on the loose, with an army we inadvertently supplied her with back when I was Court Magician of Possiltum. I'm not the greatest military appraiser around, but I don't think there's anything on Klah that can stop her ... unless M.Y.T.H. Inc. takes a hand in the game."
"What I don't understand," Chumley said, "is why she informed us of the situation via that missive. Wouldn't she be better off unopposed?"
"Don't you know a challenge when you see one, big brother?" Tananda sighed. "Gauntlets are out of style, so she's giving us the finger."
"You all seem ta have a higher opinion of Queenie than I do," Massha spoke up. "Ta me, it looks more like an invitation to a trap. As I recall, old Hemlock wasn't too well disposed toward us when we split. For all we know, her plan may have already run its course ... in which case we get to be the featured entertainment at the victory celebration."
That hadn't occurred to me. I seemed to be missing a lot lately.
"You may be right, Massha," I said. "Under the best of circumstances, I'm not sure there's anything that can be done. That's why I'm putting it up for discussion. It's my home dimension, and I was the one who contributed to the problem, so my judgment is biased. In many ways, it's a personal problem. I can't expect anyone else to..."
"You're talking it to death, Hot Stuff," Massha interrupted. "You're our peerless leader, for better or worse. Just go for it. We'll be right behind you."
I shook my head and held up a restraining hand.
"It's not that simple. First of all, I don't want this to be a group commitment where a dissenting individual has to be an exception or go along with something they don't agree with. That's why I was calling for individual volunteers... with no stigma attached to anyone who doesn't want to sign up. Second ..."
This was the hard part. Taking a deep breath, I plunged into it.
"Second, I won't be along for this one. Something else has come up that takes priority over Queen Hemlock. Now, if she's not that important to me..."
"Whoa. Stop the music!" Tananda exclaimed. "I want to hear what this hot deal is you've got going on the side. What's more important to you than defending your own home dimension?"
I avoided her eyes.
"It's not a deal or a job, really. It ... It's personal. Something I can't delegate. I've got to handle it myself."
"So tell us," she demanded, crossing her arms. "We're family. If nothing else, don't you think we have a right to know what the head man is going to be doing while we're off fighting a war for him?"
I had had a feeling I wouldn't be able to slip this by unnoticed. With a sigh, I dropped the other shoe.
"Look around the room," I said. "Notice anything missing?"
There was a pause as everyone complied. It took a distressingly long time for them to figure it out.
"Aahz!" Chumley said at last. "Aahz isn't here."
"Say, that's right," Massha blinked. "I thought the meeting was a little quiet. Where is old Green and Scaly?"
"Gone."
It took a moment for it to sink in. Then the team stared at each other in shocked silence.
‘ "The note was on my desk this morning," I continued. "It's his letter of resignation from M.Y.T.H. Inc. Apparently he feels that without his powers he's deadwood... taking up space without earning his pay. He's packed up and gone, headed back to Perv."
I dropped the paper back on my desk.
"That's why I'm not going after Queen Hemlock myself. I'm going to Perv... after Aahz."
The room exploded.
"To Perv?"
"You've got to be kidding. Hot Stuff."
"But, Boss ..."
"Skeeve, you can't ..."
"I say, Skeeve. What if he won't come back?"
I homed in on that last comment. As usual, Chumley managed to hit the heart of the matter.
"If he won't come back... well, I'll have tried. I've got to at least talk to him. We've been together too long to let it go with a letter. I'm going to Perv to talk with him face to face... and I'm going alone."
A new wave of protest rose in the room, but I cut it off.
"When you go after Queen Hemlock... excuse me... if you go after Queen Hemlock, you're going to need all the manpower you can muster. It's bad enough that I can't be there; don't divide your strength more than it already is. Besides ..."
My voice faltered a little here.
"This is my problem ... I mean really my problem. I've been doing a lot of thinking since I read this note, and the problem is bigger than Aahz."
I swept the assemblage slowly with my eyes.
"I've gotten pretty wrapped up with being president lately. It's been hard to ... I've been trying to justify the faith you all have in me by making the business go. In the process, it's gotten so I'm pretty sparse with my ‘thank yous' and ‘atta boys,' and I've all but lost contact with all of you outside of a business context. Aahz has been my best friend for years, and if he ... Let's just say I'll be looking for myself as much as for Aahz."
There was dead silence as my oration ground to a halt.
If I had been hoping for any protests over my analysis, I was playing to the wrong audience. Suddenly, I wanted the meeting to be over with.
I cleared my throat.
"I'm taking a leave of absence to find Aahz. No discussion is required or allowed. Now, the subject at hand is whether or not M.Y.T.H. Inc. is going to attempt to stop Queen Hemlock's assumed attempt to take over Klah. Are there any volunteers?"