"Were you looking for me?"
—DR. LIVINGSTONE
I WAS SURPRISED to find Pookie waiting for me when I got back to the hotel. The police had been nice enough to wait until I had given her her check before hauling me off, so I had thought I'd never see her again.
"Hello, Pookie. What brings you here?"
"I wanted to talk a little business with you," she said. "It didn't seem the right time before, so I waited."
"I see."
After my last experience, I wasn't wild about the idea of doing business with Pervects... especially ones who didn't want to talk in front of the police. Still, Pookie had given me no reason to distrust her.
"Okay. Come on upstairs and say what's on your mind. It seems I'm leaving... on request."
If my statement seemed at all strange to her, she never let on. Instead, she fell in step with me as I entered the hotel. "Actually, what I have to say shouldn't take too long. If I understand correctly, you're on your way off-dimension to rejoin your regular crew in a campaign against someone named Queen Hemlock. Right?"
"That's a fair summation," I nodded. "Why?"
"I thought I'd offer my services to you for the upcoming brawl. I can give you a special discount for work away from Perv because off-dimension prices are lower. That keeps my overhead down."
She flashed me a smile that was gone almost as soon as it appeared.
For some reason, it had never occurred to me to hire her for the Hemlock campaign. Still, the idea had merit. "I don't know, Pookie," I said, trying to weigh the pluses and minuses without taking too much time. "I've already got a couple of bodyguards waiting for me."
"I know," she nodded. "I can do more than bodyguard, and from the sound of the odds you can probably use a little extra help."
"I can use a lot of help!" I admitted.
"Well, even though you couldn't find your friend, it does show that you and yours don't mind working with Pervects. Besides, I can travel the dimensions well enough to get us to Klah directly."
That settled it. I had been unsure that my plan to simply remove my monitor ring would be an effective way to signal Massha for a pickup, and Pookie had just come up with a good way to get there. Whatever Massha was doing right now, I wasn't wild about her dropping everything just to provide me with transport.
"All right. You've got yourself a job," I announced. "Just give me a minute to get things together and we'll be off."
That was my original plan, but as I opened the door to my room, I realized I had a visitor.
"Well, don't just stand there with your mouth open. Are you coming or going?"
If there was any doubt in my mind as to who my visitor was, that greeting banished it.
"AAHZ!"
After all my searching—and soul-searching—I couldn't believe my mentor, friend, and partner was finally in front of my eyes, but there he was!
"That's right. I heard you wanted to talk to me... so talk."
"I suppose it's reassuring to know that some things never change, Aahzmandius... like you."
That last came from Pookie as she slipped past me into the room.
"Pookie!? Is that you?"
For the moment, Aahz seemed to be as dumbstruck as I was.
"You two know each other?"
Surprised and off-stride, I returned to familiar patterns and asked a redundant question.
"Know each other?" Aahz laughed. "Are you kidding? We're cousins!"
"Distant cousins," Pookie corrected without enthusiasm.
"Really? Why didn't you say anything, Pookie?"
"You never asked."
"But... you knew I was looking for him!"
"Actually, it took me a while to put it together, and when I did, I didn't know where he was either. Besides, to tell you the truth, from what I recall, I figured you'd be better off without him."
"Well, well. Little Pookie! Still have the razor tongue, I see."
"Not so little any more, Aahzmandius," the bodyguard said, a dangerous note creeping into her voice. "Try me sometime and you'll see."
It was clear the two of them weren't on the best of terms. I felt it best to intercede before things got ugly.
"How did you get into my room?"
"Bribed the bellhop," my old partner said, returning his attention to me. "Those guys would sell the key to their mother's store if there was a big enough tip in it for them."
An awkward silence followed. Desperately, I cast about for something to say.
"So how have you been, Aahz?" I ventured, realizing how lame it sounded. "You look great."
"Oh, I've been swell... just swell," he spat. "As a matter of fact, it's a good thing I saw your ad in the personals when I did. I was about to head off-dimension. I had forgotten how high the prices are around here." I made a mental note to pay off the bellhop. It looked like his idea of placing an ad had paid off better than all my running around.
"You can say that again," I agreed. " I sure got ambushed by the cost. Of course, I've never been here before, so I couldn't know..."
I broke off, realizing he was staring at me.
"Which brings us back to my original question, Skeeve. What are you doing here and why do you want to talk to me?"
My moment had come, and if Aahz's mood was any indication, I had better make my first pitch good. I probably wouldn't get a second chance. Everything I had considered saying to him the next time we met face to face whirled through my head like a kaleidoscope, mixing randomly with my recent thoughts regarding myself.
My search had given me new insight into Aahz. Seeing the dimension that spawned and shaped him, having learned about his schooldays, and having met his mother, I had a much clearer picture of what made my old partner tick. While I was ready to use that information, I resolved never to let him know how much I had learned. Someday, when he was ready, he might share some of it with me voluntarily, but until then I felt it was best to let him think his privacy was still unbroached. Of course, that still left me groping for what to say here and now. Should I beg him to come back with me? Should I play on our friendship... or use the campaign against Queen Hemlock to lure him back for just one more job?
Suddenly, Kalvin's advice came back to me. There was no right or wrong thing to say. All I could do was try, and hope that it was good enough to reach my alienated friend. If not...
Taking a deep breath, I gave it my best shot.
"Mostly, I came to apologize, Aahz."
"Apologize?"
My words seemed to startle him.
"That's right. I treated you rather shabbily... back before you left. I've got no right to ask you to come back, but I did want to find you to offer my apology and an explanation, for what it's worth. You see..." Now that I had started, my words poured out in a rush, popping out without conscious thought on my part. "I was so afraid in my new position as head of M.Y.T.H. Inc. that I went overboard trying to live up to what I thought everybody expected of me. I tried to cover up my own weaknesses... to appear strong, by doing everything with out any help from anybody. I wouldn't even accept the same help that had been given to me before I accepted the position, and either ignored or snapped at any offers of advice or assistance because I saw them as admissions of my own shortcomings."
I looked at him steadily.
"It was a dumb, immature, jackass way to act, but worst of all it hurt my friends because it made them feel useless and unwanted. That was bad enough for Tananda and Chumley and the others, and I'll be apologizing to them, too, but it was an unforgivable way to treat you." Licking my lips, I went for it.
"I've never been all that good with words, Aahz, and I doubt I'll ever be able to tell you how much you mean to me. I said I couldn't ask you to come back, and I won't, but I will say that if you do come back, you'll be more than welcome. I'd like a chance to show you what I can't find the words to say... that I admire you and value the wisdom and guidance you've always given me. I can't promise that I'll be able to change completely or immediately, but I'm going to try... whether you come back or not. I do know it'll be easier if you're there to box my ears when I start to slip. I wish... well, that's all. It doesn't start to even things out, but you've got my apology." I lapsed into silence, waiting for his response.
"You know, Skeeve, you're growing up. I think we both forget that more often than we should." Aahz's voice was so soft I barely recognized it as his.
"Does this mean you'll come back?"
"I... I'll have to think about it." he said, looking away.' ‘Let me get back to you in a couple of days. Okay?"
"I'd like to, but I can't," I grimaced. "I've got to leave tonight."
"I see," Aahz's head snapped around. "You could only allow so much time for this little jaunt, huh? Work piling up back at the office?"
An angry, indignant protest rose to my lips, but I fought back. From what he knew, Aahz's assumption wasn't only not out of line, it was a logical error.
"That's not it at all," I said quietly. "If you must know, the local police have told me to be off-dimension by morning."
"What!!?? You've been tossed off Perv?"
My old partner's eyes fixed on Pookie with cold fury. "What have you two been up to that could get you tossed off a dimension like this?"
"Don't look at me, cousin! This is the first I've heard of it. The last thing I knew he was heading off-dimension because he couldn't find you."
"That was before my last interview with the police," I supplied. "Really, Aahz, Pookie had nothing to do with it. It's a little mess I got into on my own over... the details aren't really important right now. The bottom line is that I can't hang around while you make up your mind."
"Well some day I want to hear those ‘unimportant details,' "Aahz growled. "In the meantime, I suppose you can go on ahead and I'll catch up with you after I've thought things out."
"Um... actually, if you decide to come, I'll be over on Klah, not Deva." I tried to make it sound casual, but Aahz caught it in a flash.
"Klah? What would take you back to that backwater dimension?"
There was no way around the direct question. Besides, my old mentor's tone of voice called for a no-nonsense answer.
"Well, there's a problem I've got to deal with there. Remember Queen Hemlock? It seems she's on the move again."
"Hemlock?" Aahz frowned. "I thought you cooled her jets with a ring that wouldn't come off."
I decided it wasn't the time to ask what a jet was. "I did," I acknowledged. "She sent it back to me... finger and all. It looked like a pretty clear announcement and a warning that she was all set to launch her world conquest plans again... and wasn't about to put up with any interference."
"... And you're about to go up against her alone? Without even mentioning it to me?"
"I... I didn't think it would be fair to try to pressure you with it, Aahz. Face it, the way things seem to go there will always be some kind of trouble cropping up. You can't be expected to spend your life covering my tail every time I get in a scrape. Besides, I'm not going to try to take her on myself. In fact, the rest of the team is already there. I sent them on ahead while I came back to look for you." I was expecting an explosion and a lecture. Instead, Aahz seemed to be studying my face.
"Let me see if I've got this right," he said, finally. "Your home dimension is under attack... and instead of leading the team in the campaign, you put it all on hold to come looking for me?"
When he put it that way, it did sound more than a little irresponsible.
"Well... yes," I stammered. "But I told Massha to come pick me up at the end of a week. I figured that I'd have to go and pitch in at that point, whether I had found you or not."
Aahz started to say something, then shook his head. Heaving a great sigh, he tried again. • "Skeeve... don't worry about not being able to find the right words. I think you've given me a pretty good idea of what I really mean to you."
"I did?"
He nodded.
"Enough that I've decided I don't need any more time to make up my mind. Grab your stuff, partner. Let's get going. Are you square with the hotel, or do you still have to settle accounts?"
"I'm all set on that front," I said. "There's no balance... since they made me pay in advance."
"That figures," Aahz grumbled. "Unless you're a VIP or something, everybody gets the same treatment." It was just too good an opening to pass up, and I yielded to the temptation.
"Of course, it'll probably be easier for me next time around... now that I have a line of credit and a credit card."
"What next time around? I thought you said the police..."
His train of thought stopped abruptly as he turned to loom over me.
"CREDIT CARD? What credit card? Who's been teaching you about credit cards?"
That wasn't exactly the reaction I had been expecting. "The bank suggested it, actually," I explained. "They said..."
"What bank? How did you know what to look for in a bank?"
"Well, it was recommended to me by Edvick, he's the cabbie I hired while I was here, and..."
"That you hired? Why didn't you..."He paused and seemed to regain a bit of control. "It sounds like you've got quite a bit to discuss with me... when we have the time. Right, partner?"
"Right, Aahz," I said, glad to be off the hook for the moment.
"Is there anything that has to be done before we leave?"
"Well, I've got to get some money to the bellhop. I promised him..."
"Spare me the details... for the moment anyway. Any thing else?"
"No, Aahz."
"All right. Finish packing while I hunt up this bellhop for you. Then, we're off for Klah... if I can find the settings on the D-hopper, that is. It's been a while, and..."
"Save the batteries, cousin," Pookie said. "I think I can handle getting us all there without help."
"You? Since when were you coming along?" Aahz gaped.
"Since I hired on with Skeeve here," the bodyguard countered. "While we're on the subject, since when did you need a D-hopper to travel through the dimensions?"
"Um... if the two of you don't mind," I said, stuffing my dirty clothes into my new bag, "could we save all that until later? Right now, we've got a war to catch!"