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days. Some time after he'd gone off duty the night before, the whole
place was trashed, like a rock group's hotel room. His employer was
discovered sitting on the floor in the middle of the ruins muttering to
himself. So far as he knew no one had been hurt, but the place was a
mess. The department was investigating, and would share its results
with OOPSI.
"I'm afraid not," Liz said at last.
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"I had no idea we were harboring a dangerous criminal," Nigel Peters
said, shaking his head. "We were lucky he didn't turn up for the
concert itself."
"He did almost as much damage by remote control as he would have
if he was right there," Boo-Boo said.
"You can say that again!" said Gary Lowe, coming over to hand Nigel
a drink. "We had everything planned to work without Robbie's effects,
and he went and bollixed it all up by vanishing. It's a good thing I
know how to run a light board, or the whole thing would have come
off in darkness."
"In more ways than one," Boo-Boo said.
Gary Lowe gave him a puzzled frown. "Well, it made my job twice as
hard, doing that along with overseeing everything else."
"The concert was wonderful," Liz assured him.
"Thanks. One vote of confidence, anyhow."
"Well, I've fired Lewis in absentia," Nigel Peters said. "He'll never
work in the industry again."
"You can't really tell future employers why," Liz said. "This matter is
now covered by the Official Secrets Act."
Nigel gave her his nervous smile. "In this biz, honey, all I have to do is
say he's too weird. I don't have to explain myself."
"That's mighty convenient," Boo-Boo said. "Weirdness covers a wide
range of sins, don't it?" He felt through his pockets and came up with
a grubby square of pasteboard. "If he does turn up at all while you're
in the United States, call my department."
Nigel took it with gingerly fingers. Liz produced a card of her own,
pristine white and snapped it into the manager's palm. "The same
goes for our territories and the EU," she said. "He's a wanted man,
now. On both sides of the ocean."
The others in the bar were discussing the concert, sharing their
impressions of how things had gone. Instead of being frightened from
having been in the presence of incomprehensible magic, the roadies
and members of the band had taken it all in their stride. Some of them
seemed honored that it had happened to them, their band. Liz
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marveled at the elasticity of human nature. Of course, Boo-Boo had
had a lot to do with it. He'd jumped right into the thick of the
conversation, making jokes.
"I wish it would happen all over again," one of the stagehands
exclaimed.
He was shouted down by his fellows. "Oh, no, you don't!" Robbie
Unterburger insisted.
The special effects technician had come out of her experience feeling
as though she'd had her aura washed. Refreshed after a night's sleep
and a good detoxification treatment by Liz and Boo-Boo, she looked
prettier and happier than Liz had yet seen her. She was transformed,
laughing and joking with her peers.
"Oh, you were a lot of help, taking off like that," the others teased her.
Nigel had been purposely vague in describing Robbie's part in the
magical attack to the others. "You didn't see what happened."
"There's seven cities left on the tour," Robbie said, defending herself.
"I dreamed up some new effects that will knock your socks off."
"We're not so sure we want to hear about your dreams," Hugh Banks
said. "We've seen what your nightmares look like."
"So that's that, now," Fionna said, appearing at Liz's shoulder. Fee
had deep circles under her eyes carefully covered by concealer stick.
The green in her close-clipped hair had been freshly touched up to
enhance the vivid makeup job on her face. Liz wondered if Laura
Manning had gotten any sleep at all.
"Yes," Liz said, turning to her familiarly. "I'm glad we could help."
"Thank the good Lord it's all over," Fee said, gulping a drink that
Lloyd brought to her. "Well, you'll be going now. No need for you to
stay."
"That's right," Liz said. "Straight back to London. My orders came
this morning. My employer is pleased that we were able to isolate the
threat so quickly."
"After all, you were just doing your job," Fionna said.
Liz schooled her face not to show her astonishment. The ungrateful
wretch couldn't bring herself to say thank you. That was the least she
could do. Liz guessed she was still embarrassed that Daddy had called
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in her old school chum to pull her very public fat out of a particularly
strange fire.
"It was a splendid concert," Patrick Jones said, jumping in. He'd been
eavesdropping, and was clearly embarrassed by Fionna's
gracelessness. "You should see the reviews. We're all very happy."
"Well, we're going in to breakfast, now," Fionna said, swinging away
on her heel. Liz made as if to follow her. Fionna stopped short and
looked down at Liz with disdain. "It's aprivate party," she said
pointedly. "You can go now."
Furious, Liz withdrew without a word. She had thought after all their
hard work Green Fire might at least invite them to breakfast. She
watched Lloyd open the door at the rear of the bar. Fionna sashayed
through it without looking back, leaving Liz smarting.
Oh, well,Liz thought, trying to be philosophical about the situation.
Fionna Phoebe Kenmare Kendale was safe and well. After all, wasn't
that why she had come in the first place? She was a government agent.
She received a paycheck. She shouldn't expect rewards.
She wasn't doing a very good job of convincing herself. Of all the
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