Cardia materialized once again within his bubble study in the X-Zone.  
Plopping down in a large easy chair, he picked up a book which lay open and 
upside-down on the coffee table beside him.  He threw his feet onto a 
footstool and, grinning sheepishly, continued where he left off in his 
reading.
      Meanwhile...
      Afkek was nearly delirious with joy, skittering through the Magitek 
labs and ordering people around.  "Hee hee, ha ha!  Yes, you!  YOU!"  
Afkek shouted as he ran across a gangplank above the main floor.  "The one 
with the candy bar!  Stop your slacking and get back to your monitor!"  The 
worker jumped, dropped his bar and turned to face his station.  "That's 
better!" Afkek shouted over his shoulder.
      Afkek ran into the adjoining room and slammed the steel door shut.  
Spinning, he turned to face several of his armed guards stanfing at 
attention, spears ready.  Behind a large oaken desk sat a woman wearing grey 
robes that hid almost all of her body.  A fleck of auburn hair could barely 
be seen protruding from under her hood.  Afkek slid across the room, nearly 
falling over the large desk.  He connected with the desk's solid top and 
slammed his fists on it.  Glaring into the woman's cowl, he spat, "Well?  
Did you send the message?!"
      The woman stood to her full height, barely five feet tall.  Afkek 
looked down at her, but took a step back when she said in a chilling tone,
"I will not be spoken to in such a manner."
      Afkek nodded.  "Of course.  And get on your own side of the desk!  
That's MY chair you're sitting in!"  Afkek circled the desk and plopped down 
in his regal looking chair.  The woman shook her head and circled to where 
Afkek once stood.
      The woman grinned from under her hood at Afkek's audacity.  "He grows 
more and more like his brother each day." she thought.
      Afkek folded his hands and placed them on the desk.  "Now," he began, 
"May I ask for your report, please?"
      The woman sat.  "The message was delivered successfully."
      Afkek whooped.  "Wa ha ha!  Excellent!  I expect Sascha will be 
pleased!  Now, what of our assassin?"
      From beneath her robes, the auburn-haired woman withdrew a clipboard 
full of paper.  "These are the notes, medical logs and instructions that 
Cardia Lemieux has composed for your lordship." she said, and casually 
tossed the clipboard on the desk.  "Doctor Tingley reports that the patient 
has stabilized and is functioning within established parameters.  Programmed 
instructions have been successfully installed.  The Doctor estimates that 
the patient should regain full consciousness within the day.  Oh, and..." 
      "And...?"  Afkek leaned on her every word.
      "Document labs report that blueprints for airship construction are 
missing."
      Afkek's jaw dropped.  "Missing?!"
      "That is correct."
      Afkek sprung to his feet.  "WHO WAS ON WATCH!?  I WANT HIM FIRED!"  He 
pointed to one of his guards.  "YOU!  Find out who was on watch last night, 
and have him killed!  NOW!"  The guard bowed and bolted out of the room.  He 
pointed to another guard.  "Get down to Drafting and tell them to draw up 
new plans!"  As the second guard ran out of the room, Afkek sweeped his arm 
at the rest of his guards.  "The rest of you, form search parties and begin 
an investigation into who stole our plans!"  Afkek stomped his foot on the 
ground and shook his fist in the air.  "Go go GO!"  The men filed out of the 
room, closing the door behind them.
      The woman sat calmly in her seat.  "You worry too much, m'lord.  They 
are plans easily replaced."
      Afkek spun about.  "Maybe so, but whoever got in here, took plans from 
a max security area and escaped undetected is a potential threat.  Moreover, 
those plans are UNIQUE!  Should the Returners get hold of them, they will 
have the means to build their OWN airships!"
      "No mere Returner could possess either the means or the funds for such 
a project."
      "I don't care what you say, woman.  Those missing plans are a threat."
                                   *  *  *
      Cardia laughed mercilessly as he watched the scene unravel in his 
Crystal.  "Oh, the bloody fool," he wheezed as he wiped a tear from his 
eye.  "I TOLD him it would cost him.  Now, what to do with these 'plans'...?"