Myth 13 - Myth Alliances, Asprin, Robert [microsoft ebook reader TXT] 📗

himself another cup of tea, “they'll be female. Set a thief to catch a thief, I always say.”

“Not a thief,” I corrected him with a smile. “An Assassin.”

Tananda was in our tent packing a bag when we arrived.

“I'm just on my way out the door,” she declared, glanc?ing up. “I'm going to visit my mother on Trollia. Chumley's already there. Mums decided she wanted to change all the wallpaper in the house, and you know how she is when she makes up her mind. She has a list of home im?provements she wants him to do. The next thing you know she'll want him to pull up the floors and lay terrazzo in?stead of the flagstone that she had him put down last time. I've got to go and act as a buffer between them. He just can't say no to her even if she has a bad idea. As long as I'm in between jobs.”

I had never met the elder Trollop who was the mother of two of my most trusted and intelligent companions. If Tananda was anything like her, she must be a formidable woman.

I was dismayed. “I would like to hire you for this as?signment,” I explained.

“Is Aahz coming, too?” she asked, tilting her head at me curiously.

“Uh, no,” I mumbled. Resolutely, she picked up a stack of lace underthings to put them in her bag: tiny brief pan-

ties of wispy black or emerald green, brassieres whose rounded confines would hold Tananda's marvelous curves gently but still allow that bewitching jiggle ... For a mo?ment I stood fascinated, staring, but I forced my attention back to Tananda's eyes. “He's ... er ... busy.”

Tananda nodded. “He said he wouldn't do it.”

I had to admit she was right. “Uh, no. But we've got an?other expert to help us. He is sure he can help us think our way around the Pervect Ten's defenses. May I introduce you to Zol Icty?”

I presented the Kobold, who came to wrap his hands around hers warmly. “Mistress Tananda! What a happy moment for me to meet such a lovely Trollop as yourself!”

“I wondered if that was you,” Tananda cooed, cuddling up to the author in the more than friendly way she had. “Call me Tanda.”

Trollops, I didn't need Zol to tell me, believed in close physical contact, even when meeting someone for the first time. The Kobold seemed to relish it.

“I'd heard you were in the Bazaar today, but I didn't want to risk the crowds. I'm delighted to meet you. I enjoy your books.”

“The pleasure is all mine, I assure you,” Zol mumbled from the depths of a first-​class embrace.

Tananda released him and turned to me. “I'm not crazy about what you're trying to do, but I trust you. Chumley will just have to fend for himself with Mums. Terrazzo floors will look pretty.”

“Good.” I sighed with relief. “Now to sign up a few of the others.”

Even the presence of Zol Icty didn't assuage the fears of my other former associates. I next approached the pair of enforcers who'd been muscle for M.Y.T.H. Inc., and now had sole charge of the Mob's interests in the Bazaar.

They'd taken over our office space in the former Even Odds gambling club. Guido, a huge man who dressed in dapper zoot suits with big shoulders and wide lapels, the better to conceal the pocket crossbow that he carried just inside his jacket, regarded me with a mixture of disbelief and sympathy.

“With all due respect, Boss,” Guido imparted, “I don't feel safe tanglin' with no Pervect females. I know Pookie and I know Aahz, and I'm glad they're on our side Ñand I know which one o' them I'd rather have mad at me. I'd stand a chance at survivin' Aahz.”

“I must also tender my polite regrets.” Nunzio, Guido's cousin, a slightly smaller but no less formidable ally, was equally adamant. He also dressed in dapper zoot suits, and was just as heavily armed. “We can lend you armaments, but it would be impolitic, if not impossible, for us to par?ticipate in your enterprise. Even if we were still seconded to your command, Don Bruce would say 'No' to this one. He does not tangle with Perverts if he can help it. Still, we would not want anythin' to happen to you, so if you in?sisted we would accompany you in spite of our orders.” When I said nothing, he sighed. “We wish you the best of luck.”

I returned to our tent and looked at my small army, much smaller than I'd hoped, and frowned. “Maybe we can recruit on Amazonia,” I suggested.

“Nonsense!” Zol exclaimed heartily. “A Trollop, an in?telligent maiden and a Klahd Ñbetween you you have ex?perience, ingenuity and leadership that will far exceed your needs. Add to that the malleability of the Wuhses and my own expertise, and you have nothing to fear!”

I'd been in the adventure business far too long to take a comment like that at face value, but I did know the skills of my two companions. If it was a simple matter of figuring out the weaknesses of a given group, an Assassin and an accountant might well be all I needed. Besides, Tananda

and Bunny were watching me carefully. I didn't want to let them down by showing them I didn't have faith in them.

“Surveillance first,” I asserted, firmly. “Let's find out just how their operation is structured, and see if we can fig?ure out their