The Wizardry Consulted (Wiz, #4)(35)

“He’s unhappy with me already. Just before Anna kneed Pieter I told him I wouldn’t support his latest graft opportunity disguised as a public works project disguised as a dragon defense.”

“In that case you’ve probably made yourself a mortal enemy. Dieter may dote on that little swine but he truly loves the chance to get money out of someone else’s pocket.”

“Well, it was inevitable anyway,” Wiz sighed, “once he figured out I wouldn’t go along with his scheme to get his hand into the public treasury up to the armpit.”

Malkin nodded and turned to go out. She paused in the doorway. “There’s another thing you’d better think about, Wizard. Young Halder’s not the only one who’s going to come sniffing about after Anna.”

“She seems to handle them pretty well.”

“Oh, aye. She’ll protect herself. If she understands what’s about in time. Problem is she’s as cow-witted as she is pretty and she might not see the danger. Not all men are as easily discouraged as Pieter Halder. That’s why she needs protection.”

Wiz sighed. Another responsibility I don’t need. “Look, go down there and comfort her, will you?”

“Me? What do I know about comforting hysterical females? You do it. You’ve got the knack and she looks up to you.”

“I’m not what she needs just now. Besides, I think she’d take it better if a woman told her she did the right thing.”

“All right then. I’ll look in on her.”

“Malkin?”

“Yes?”

“Do you suppose people will get the wrong idea about you and Anna living here with me?”

“Oh, there’ll be talk. Always is. But you’re a powerful wizard and you’re expected to be strange and mysterious in your ways. Besides, no one except chronic gossips are going to believe that you’d take advantage of the girl.” She eyed him. “I don’t know if you’re too married, under a spell or-Fortuna aid me!-a gentleman. But it’s obvious you’re not going to do her any harm.”

“What about you?”

Malkin threw back her head and laughed. “Me? Fortuna, I’ve got no reputation to lose, being a thief and all. And you could do better than a long stick like me in any establishment in town.” She sobered slightly. “Besides, men want women they can look down on and that’s a fact.”

Wiz started to protest that he found Malkin attractive and then decided this wasn’t the time. It was true about her height, Wiz realized. Malkin was easily the tallest woman he’d ever seen in this world. She was over six feet and her slenderness made her appear taller.

By the time he got all this together in his head, Malkin was gone.





Thirteen: Chat Mode


While ignorance and stupidity may debar a person from solving a problem, it is no handicap at all when it comes to screwing up someone else’s solution.

The Consultants’ Handbook



Wiz was bored, restless and, most of all, homesick for Moira and the Wizard’s Keep. E-mail was wonderful but it was no substitute for being there. It wasn’t even a substitute for talking on the phone.

He toyed with the idea of trying to set up a telephone call to the

Wizard’s Keep, but hooking into the other world’s phone system was really

Danny’s area of expertise. Wiz wasn’t sure he could establish a voice

connection and still keep his location hidden

On the other hand, he thought, I can do something almost as good.

Computer chatting would give a much more immediate connection and he knew a way to make that secure. What’s more, he knew where he could find what he needed to do it.

He spun back to his workstation and started connecting to the Internet.

Danny was bored. As often happened when he got bored he was surfing the Internet, hanging out on his favorite talk channel. As usual it was barely controlled chaos, with perhaps a half dozen conversations going on at once, like a printout of a cocktail party.

FREEKER: Anyone got any good codez?

DRAINO: So he says ‘first assume a spherical chicken’

PILGRIM: The P-153 is a piece of shit. Use a canopener.

RINGO: Does anyone have the DTMF codes to do that?

DEATHMASTER: Hahaha

A.NONY.MOUS: Look in the last issue of 26OO.

WIZ: Hey Danny how are things at the Keep?

The message scrolled by so quickly he almost missed it. Then he called up the buffer, read it again and goggled.

“DRAINO: Wiz,” Danny typed, “is that you? Where are you? Are you all right?”

“Fine,” the answer traced out on Danny’s screen. “Maybe we’d better go to a private channel.”

“Jerry, Moira come here!” Danny yelled over his shoulder. “It’s Wiz.”

“Well, they’ve had a problem all right,” Special Agent Marty Conklin told the FBI director. In the corner Conklin’s boss nodded approvingly. “They’ve got their butts in a sling so they want us to pull a rabbit out of the hat to save their bacon.”

The director winced at the mixed metaphors. She wasn’t sure she approved of Conklin either. He was obviously pushing the Bureau’s weight restrictions hard and the director had a strong suspicion he couldn’t pass the annual physical training test either.