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figured on. If I had to hang our failures on any one
thing, I'd say it was just that... overpla
after weeks of lectures and practice sessions, you get a
little overconfident, so when something goes wrong
you're caught flatfooted, know what I mean?"
Nervous as we were, that got a laugh from both
Massha and me.
"Well, that's one problem we won't have to worry
about," I said. "Our pla
and for this caper we're going to have to put it together
in a matter of hours."
"If you take hours, you'll never pull it off," Vilhelm
said, entering our pla
last comment.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Massha growled.
"Say, are you sure you guys are on the level?" the
vampire said, ignoring my apprentice. "It occurs to me
that I've only got your word on all this... that Vic is
still alive and all. If you're taking advantage of my good
nature to get me involved in something crooked...."
"He's alive," I assured him. "I've seen him myself
since we were here last... but you didn't answer the
question. What was that you were saying about what
would happen if we took hours to plan the jailbreak?"
The Dispatcher shrugged.
"I suppose you guys know what you're doing and I
should keep my mouth shut, but I was getting a little
worried. I mean, it's sundown already, and if you're
going to make your move before the execution, it had
better be soon."
"How do you figure that?" I frowned. "The action
isn't slated until high midnight. I had figured on waiting
a while until it was dark and things quieted down
around town a little."
"Are you kidding?" the vampire said with a start, his
eyebrows going up to his hairline. "That's when ... oh,
I get it. You're still thinking in terms of your off-
96 Robert Asprin
dimension timetables. You've got to ... umm, you
might want to be sitting down for this, Skeeve."
"Lay it on me," I said, rubbing my forehead again.
"What have I overlooked now? Even without the blind-
fold and the cigarette I'd just as soon take the bad news
standing up."
"Well, you've got to remember that you're dealing
with a city of vampires here. Sundown is the equivalent
of dawn to us. That's when things start happening, not
when they start winding down! That means...."
"... that high midnight is a major traffic time and
the longer we wait, the more people there will be on the
street," I said, trying to suppress a groan.
Once the basic oversight had been pointed out, I
could do my own extrapolations... with all their hor-
rible consequences. Trying to fight back my own panic,
I turned to my assistants.
"Okay, troops. We're on. Guido, grab that rope you
saw. We may need it before this is over."
The bodyguard's eyes widened with astonishment.
"You mean we're going to start the caper right now?
But Boss! We haven't pla
"Hey, Guido," I said, flashing a grin that was almost
sane. "You were the one who said that overpla
was a problem. Well, if you're right, this should be the
most successful jailbreak ever!"