Aaron is really trying to search the skies for the location/direction of the Army helicopter which is swiftly stealing Lentaro away from his
cohorts.
Maladin decides to head down to see how Rhyss is managing outside Dalen's room.
Dalen wakes up and "heals" herself. As a result the monitors strapped to her go crazy and all sorts of shrill beeps and blats are emitted
from the machines. Personnel rush down the hall, past the guard who is quite cranky about people entering the room -- Nurses, doctors
and "a man wearing a suit and dark glasses." Once the technicians verify that Dalen's doing fine, they all file out again ... save for Mr.
Dark Suit who informs her that "they" know she's a "collaborator", and "we have your friend." Dalen just gives him her patented blank
stare and waits for him to leave.
Maladin throws a "freeze" spell at the guard once everyone is out of the room, and he and Rhyss enter. Dalen removes the tubes, tapes
and other hospital paraphernalia from her person while Maladin finds her belongings. All three of them Trump back to Castle Amber.
Meanwhile, Aaron receives a Trump from his mum, Florimel, who has to head out to "fluff" the poodle (don't ask). He asks for, and is
given, permission to use her helicopter ... she even throws in use of the pilot (much to the pilot's chagrin). Aaron returns to her manse.
Maladin Trumps Aaron, and lets him know the status of the rest of the party. He and Rhyss join Aaron at Flora's. Dalen stays behind to
be the "castle contact".
In a secret, underground location, our erstwhile Ambassador, Lentaro, has been strapped securely to a chair, and his eyes have been
covered with a dark, locked apparatus. His captors are having trouble figuring out how to work him over. While they're kibitzing among
themselves about the relative merits of probes, electric devices and language barriers, Lentaro brings up a Pattern lens and waves it
around blindly. His captors freak out at this display of ahem ... force. "He has a weapon!!" "Prod him!!!" "Strap him down!" are the
bellows, and quickly Lentaro is moved from chair to table, and the fun with the electronic prod begins.
Back at Flora's place, persons unknown enter the premises. Their way is blocked by a svelte woman of Asian descent who has long,
black, killer HAIR -- it slices, it dices, it shoots electrical charges at opponents, and it looks FABU! The persons unknown are blocked
by Raphaella, for such is her name, and Florimel's very large dogs. Blood flies, vampire bats are released, and only two of the intruders
make it out alive. Somewhere in the fray, Raphaella's armored clothing was sucked into one of the intruder's "genie" bottle. She sure
looks great in skivvies!
While this is going on, Aaron, Rhyss and Maladin are speaking to the 'copter pilot when several concussions shake the air, and windows
in the house blow outwards. They run inside to find Raphaella surrounded by the carnage. Introductions are made, and the mysterious
woman is revealed to be a guest of Florimel's. She's a sculptor, and happily takes one of the severed arms lying about for use as a model.
Aaron lets that go with a long-suffering, "Ooookaaaaay," and returns to the helicopter, Maladin and Rhyss in tow. They climb aboard
and head off in the direction the Army 'copter went. After a few hours, they locate the shielded base where Len is being held and touch
down two miles away, hiking the rest of the way. Espionage and demolition on a massive scale become the themes of the day.
Back at the military enclosure, Lentaro's captors are still squabbling among themselves over what to do with him. Len takes the quiet
moments between tortures to "adapt" the backs of his hands to razor-sharpness, and then weakens the straps which hold his arms down.
Now he just has to wait for a good time to try to make a break for it.
The rescue group finds that there is some sort of "psi" field around the base, which is eventually removed by the handy trick of shifting the
Shadow to no longer allow such things to function. Once the surrounding field has been dispensed with, it's easier to get a "fix" on
Lentaro.
Below ground, lights flicker in Lentaro's chamber. He takes the opportunity to snap his bonds in the confusion. Shouts of "We're under
attack!" and "Shoot him!" fill the room. Flipping the metal table on it's side, Lentaro uses it as a shield and avoids bullets as he surveys
his options.
Somewhere above, Aaron does some more Shadow shifting and grenades and guns start malfunctioning, much to Lentaro's relief. Across
the wall of Lentaro's prison the word RUN appears in large, paint-stripping letters. Between Lentaro being loose, the guns and grenades
not working and the fancy wall mural, the guards have become less than sanguine about their situation. It gets worse when Len grabs one
of the technicians to use as a grisly missile, and follows him up with a couple of computers. Seeing his way clear, Len makes a break for
the door.
Back above, it's an unfortunate coincidence that the lowering of the field around the base is also the signal for Hell to break loose.
Aaron, Maladin and Rhyss see a huge, strange cloud appear, lights flashing from within! A cacophony of sirens go off all over the base.
UFO!! Aliens!! Jets take off from the base and aim towards the formation overhead, only to be shot down soon after by lasers and who
knows what else! Aaron trains a Pattern lens on the UFO, which they seem to take exception to as they immediately begin chasing our
much vaunted Lord with a laser. With much screeching, Aaron RUNS! Maladin moves into Chameleon mode and sneaks around to the
area near the main building's entry. Rhyss finds a place to keep her head down. Dalen Trumps Maladin to see if the group needs any
help. They decide to just keep a Trump contact open so they can get away quickly if need be.
Below ground, as Lentaro heads to the end of the hall he sees a group of guards manifest, and they're coming his way. He slams into an
office and barricades the door. When the guards try to batter it down, Len quickly opens it, grabs the guard who is unlucky enough to be
standing there, slams the door, kills the guard and takes his weapon. After that, it's all guns and grenades until he remembers he can
throw raw energy at them. At that point, the guards retreat a bit. While he has the opportunity, Lentaro leaves his now demolished
refuge, and dives into the office across the hall.
Maladin has been stealthily sneaking towards the main door (and doing quite
well at it) when, all of a sudden, a laser blast from the UFO sears the ground very near where he's standing. He moves quickly, the laser
following his every move until it zaps a hole in his armored pants. He moves close to the main door, hoping the laser will hit it instead of
him, and solve two problems at one time. Sure enough, the door is blown/melted away and Maladin speedily jets inside.
About this time, the hallway off of Lentaro's lair grows quiet. Something small and softly plastic is lobbed by the guards grouped at the
end of the Hall. BOOM!!! The door goes flying, and Lentaro is lucky he didn't as well. These guys are getting serious with the plastic
explosives.
Maladin takes the elevator to the lower floors and follows the sounds of concussions down a flight of stairs. Using his own magical
incendiary devices, he's able to blow away doors which stand between him and his objective. The bottom door opens onto a hallway
filled with a group of guards. They're totally surprised to see Maladin, and so he gets the first punch, so to speak. Without hesitation he
launches more of his magical incendiary devices ... the first two drop the guards he aimed at. The next one hit a suitcase full of C-4 which
was on the ground behind the men. Oooops.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!
Maladin goes flying backwards down the hall and has a deep and meaningful relationship with the far wall. The area where the
conflagration took place is barely standing. Lentaro peeks out of where he was holed up and sees utter ruin. Taking that as his cue to get
out, he makes his way through the debris. A groan from the darkness catches his ear, and he finds Maladin somewhat worse for wear.
Dalen pulls the two of them back to Castle Amber, and contacts Aaron to let him know that the rescue has been successful. Rhyss
returns to the Castle, while Aaron returns to NYC.
Soon after his return, Lentaro Trumps Caine and spills the beans to him about the Jewel of Judgement being missing on Shadow Earth.
Caine says that that information "may be useful."
Maladin makes sure that Random knows that Caine now knows about the Jewel. Afterwards, he scavenges through Florimel's closets in
the Castle, and finds some "suitable" clothing for another foray back to Shadow Earth. At Flora's he finds Aaron sacked out on the
couch.
Dalen who is feeling rested and refreshed after a day of watching events rather than participating in them decides to start poking around
for the Jewel on her own. She Trumps Dworkin to see if he's able to get a "fix" on it. He locates it in the Mooncrest Pawn Shop. She
asks if he can get to it from where he's at and bring it back ... he tries ... and it busts out of the box, through several walls and out into a
snowy NYC street where it is soon picked up by a passer by who then melts into the ever-present city crowds. Dalen's bad luck seems
to be holding. She asks Dworkin if he can get her there, and he shrugs and says, "Sure!" Before she knows it she's sitting in the middle of
a slushy street in New York. She "finds" some money and a jacket that is warm though smells awful, and decides to wait it out for a while
in a coffee shop to see if the person who grabbed the Jewel takes it off at night. While at the local neighborhood Starbucks, she has
another vision ... but as loony people abound in NYC, no one pays much attention to the woman spacing out at the table by the window.
Meanwhile, Maladin wakes Aaron enough to get him in a cab. They start looking at the other pawnshops listed on the police roster.
When they finally get to the Mooncrest, Aaron is asleep in the back of the cab but Maladin notices a fairly good sized hole in the front
wall of the building. It's got crime scene tape around it, but he decides to squeeze through anyway. Once inside, he comes face to face
with a rather large, loaded gun -- and the gun's owner. The proprietor isn't all that happy about having people sneaking into his
establishment just because there's a big hole in the wall. Maladin manages to make the fellow forget he was there, and he takes off before
a call to 911 is completed. He and Aaron head back to Flora's for the night.
In the wee hours, Dalen trumps Maladin to see how he's doing in his search. She asks for a lift over to Flora's, and happily takes a guest
room to finish off the night.
NEXT DAY (finally!)
Rhyss wakes up, and dives into her books.
Lentaro catches up on the ever-present Embassy paperwork, and invites Rhyss out for lunch. They chat.
Aaron, Maladin and Dalen all get the "Breakfast will be served in fifteen minutes in the small breakfast nook" message. Camilla finds
appropriate clothing for Maladin and Dalen, and everyone wanders down for sustenance. Lentaro Trumps Aaron to see if by chance his
case of Trumps were found at the base? They were, as a matter of fact, and Aaron hands them over. Over their orange juice, Dalen tells
Aaron about the Jewel of Judgement, and the fact that it's now in someone's hands. Camilla returns with a slightly worried look on her
face, and asks if Aaron's seen the news yet this morning? If not, perhaps CNN might prove of interest?
CNN *does* prove of interest. Actual footage of a monstrous, lizard-like creature rampaging through the streets of NYC. The three
breakfast companions look at each other then grab their stuff. A cab is got, and they all tool down to where "Godzilla" was last seen.
Thousands of people are there, despite the cops trying to deal with crowd control. The cabby is paid off, and Aaron, Maladin and Dalen
try to follow the path of the lizard. It's nowhere to be seen though. Dalen ducks back into an alley, shapeshifts into the form of a large
dog, and tries to sniff out the scent of the lizard. Once she picks it up, she leads the gentlemen down the sidewalk and to the corner ...
where the scent disappears, as do the large, reptile footprints in the snow. They back into another alley, trying to pick up the spoor again,
when from around the corner the sound of heavy, mechanical breathing is heard, and a large dark form comes into view.
Armed with an energy "sword" of baleful red, the three meter, dark cloaked figure advances on Maladin. Knowing that the Jewel MUST
be out in the crowd somewhere near here, Aaron begins to search for it. He doesn't get very far before men in white plastic armored
pour out of a doorway, shooting energy beams towards him (good thing they're horrible shots!). Maladin is retreating before his
opponent, who is raising his sword for a fell blow, when Dalen attacks the cloaked figure from the side. Attack from a dog was clearly
unexpected, and Maladin is able to recover his steps. Suddenly the armored troops and the tall, black figure disappear, and Aaron finds
himself knocked down by a handsome man in adventuring clothes, fedora on his head and bullwhip in hand. This new opponent stands
right over Aaron, until Aaron kicks the fellow in the cojones. Mr. Jones disappears.
While this is going on, Dalen starts scanning the milling, moving crowd for the one person who is holding still and surveying his or her
handiwork.
Aaron dusts himself off and decides it's time for something radical. He tears this piece of Shadow Earth away from the main fabric,
creating a rift which grows larger with each passing second. Now, though, it will be hard for the quarry to get away.
Dalen finally sees a kid who is watching intently, wild-eyed as things progress. As she starts running for him, she sees another man
making for him as well. With a burst of speed she makes it there before the man does. He throws a spell and envelops both the boy and
Dalen in a sphere. Before he can throw another spell, Dalen shifts back into her Amberite form and uses her Trump of Castle Amber to
get the boy away to safety.
In the now-depopulated hunk of NYC which Aaron controls, there is now Aaron, Maladin and the man who tried to get the Jewel.
Everyone else is gone -- presumed dead. Aaron remembers to keep air in the mix, though gravity has been lessened considerably. They
manage to dodge projectiles and spells, and eventually the man is knocked out.
Almost immediately upon her return to Amber, Dalen is Trumped by someone she can't identify. She refuses the contact, only to have it
forced upon her. The person on the other end tries to gain possession of the boy . She struggles to keep control of her body, and
retaliates by shapeshifting into the form of a tortoise. The boy runs. The contact is disrupted by someone else trying to reach Dalen, and
finally her attacker(s) release her. The others were Lentaro and Rhyss who show up very soon after.
Dalen reverts to Amberite form, and tells Lentaro and Rhyss what's going on. Aaron and Maladin also make it back to the Castle,
prisoner in tow. He's locked up as per the other prisoner down in the dungeon, and special care is taken so he can't get away.
Dalen turns back into a dog sniffs for the kid's trail. Out to the garden! Random is contacted, as is Caine. Godzilla makes a sizable
appearance, scattering servants and wreaking havoc with Corwin's roses. Between Caine and Random, they immobilize the boy and get
the Jewel back. Godzilla disappears.
All's well that ends well ... except for the people of Shadow New York. Aaron returns to Manhattan to begin extensive repairs to that
poor, beleaguered city. Maladin and Dalen return to their rooms in the Castle. Lentaro heads back to the Embassy, and Rhyss returns to
her room at the White Rose Inn.
To be continued on Sunday, November 21st at 2:00 PM ...
