by Alex Siegel
"Behold," Tonya said.
Andrew was suddenly falling through the air. He looked down and saw a volcano in mid-eruption. He was dropping straight into the fiery caldera. Searing hot gases burned his eyes and made him choke. He flailed and screamed instinctively even though he knew it wasn't real.
Tonya's voice surrounded him with the deep resonance of rolling thunder.
"What is eighty-four divided by six?" she said. "Quickly! If you hit that lava, you may not die, but I promise it will hurt a lot."
* * *
Blake was looking through the eyepiece of a powerful telescope. It was designed to view the stars, but he had mounted it in a horizontal position instead. He was looking across a desert valley at the side of a distant mountain. Dust in the dry air gave the scene a brownish, washed-out appearance, but he could still see enough detail to know what he was looking at.
The mountain had a tunnel, and the square shape proved it wasn't natural. A dirt road wound up the steep, rocky slope to reach the tunnel, making the approach slow and difficult. Cliffs blocked access from above. Very tall concrete guard towers had clear views, and there was no cover, not even a blade of grass. Approaching the tunnel unseen would be impossible. A rabbit would be spotted a mile away. Blake expected reconnaissance drones were permanently stationed in the air.
To further discourage unwanted guests, a platoon of tanks waited just outside the tunnel. Their tan camouflage blended well in the desert. Four howitzers supported the tanks, and the huge guns covered all approaches. Concrete barracks were probably filled with soldiers.
The US Army was taking its guard duties very seriously and with good reason. Blake was looking at the famous vault. To a sorcerer, the treasures inside were worth more than all the gold and diamonds in the world.
Blake was particularly interested in the private journals of Gustav Pinch. Blake's father had told tales of Gustav's exciting research before both had died during an experiment. Blake expected that if he continued the work, he could gain powers never before seen in the world, but he needed the notes first. The hoard of portable seams also had limitless value. Basically, everything he had ever wanted was in that vault.
Robbing the place presented an interesting challenge though. The security was fairly ridiculous.
Blake did have one advantage. The BPI probably didn't know the vault had been his target all along. The Sorcerer's Tribunal had every reason to believe Blake was motivated solely by a desire for revenge. Tonya was probably huddling near her seam with her apprentices in protective custody. Blake would get to revenge eventually, but the vault came first.
"Is that what you're after?" a man said.
Blake turned his head. A muscular man wearing sand-colored camouflage was crouched behind a cactus.
"I believe so," Blake said.
"Great. Now I can get paid."
Blake had the Russian Eye in a pouch under his shirt. He tapped into that tiny source of power and said, "I paid you up front. I don't owe you a dime."
"Oh." The man frowned. "Right. I don't know how I forgot that."
"But the good news is the job isn't done. If you keep working for me, you'll get more big paychecks. Come on. We have an enormous amount of work to do. The planning and preparation could take months, and we'll need help. A lot of help. Do you have any good connections in organized crime?"
Blake picked up the telescope and hurried off. His henchman followed.
THE END
To be continued in... CRACKS IN REALITY.
A Humble Plea from the Author
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For a complete list of books written by Alex Siegel, please check http://www.grayspearsociety.com/.