She sneered for a moment, got up, and walked over to the wall. Solid Oak! The she heard a moan, as if from far away. Mournful, distant. She immediately shivered and dashed next door to Lori's room. The castle was dark, huge, cold, and spooky. Lori was passed out. Judy climbed in the bed, and huddled under the covers.
They were seated on the balcony, having been brought coffee, fruit, and croissants. Both wore sunglasses as they peered from the heights onto the sea.
Judy was still gulping down water. "I feel awful"
"Yep. The bad part. Now you know why this stuff is illegal in the US. So, why did you sleep in my bed?"
"I saw a ghost." Lori did not react.
Silence. The wind brought in a sweet salty smell.
"I couldn't believe you last night." Judy grunted.
"It's vacation"
"You've always been a prude until now." Judi grunted back.
"Judy, you know that King Alex and I were friends in prep school."
Pause for 20 seconds. "Yep" 10 more seconds.
"Well, there's more to it than that."
30 seconds. "You lost it to him."
10 seconds. Giggle. "No"
25 seconds. "He's your dealer."
"For Tourenbourg Gold, he was." Lori again paused. "Do you know what friends with favors mean?"
"ewwwww."
Pause for 20 seconds. "Yep. We never dated. Just fooled around." Lori paused again. "He's really my best male friend, next to Hef."
"Better you than me." Pause for 60. "So the King isn't gay?"
"No. I don't think he's messed around with many women, though."
Lori peered down at her power book. Something was flashing. She typed.
Phase 1 successful?
Very.
Refreshed?
Wasted.
Recover quick.
"Isn't the King getting engaged?"
Not tonight.
Portascope has tracked them to Tourenbourg.
Lori put her head on her hands. "Well, Alex loves this country. He wants them to have an heir. Even from an arranged marriage."
I've sent recovery drugs.
There was a knock at the door. A servant came up behind them with pills and fresh water.
Thanks Frank.
"Let's sleep on the beach today." Lori said as she gulped down her pills.
Lucretia waltzed along the narrow streets of the old city, sloped from the hill leading up to the castle. She was preparing to spring out of town, but at a time such as this, she just had to celebrate. To her, this meant going into the most exclusive jewelry store she could find. And after all, there were no duty fees in Tourenbourg. The store had many viewing cases, so who could blame her if she failed to notice two American ladies, gawking at the gold neckless case.
"Show me your precious stones!" she said with a gleam. Out came boxes of diamonds, emeralds, and tanzanite. It was these stones that caught the criminal's eyes. 5 beautiful rocks, stunning purple, each over a carat.
"And they are all prerevolution......no blood." She was about to take out cash, when she noticed her demo device in her bag. She looked around. The store was now empty. She may be rich, but why pay if you don't have to?
Judy had led Lori into a stylish restaurant. "You know, I found this place by checking the local newspaper. What a great way to find out new, out of the way locations. And look, I bet it won't cost that much."
Lori smirked back, "That would be really important if we weren't staying at the castle."
"I know. I bet I could figure out a way to eat here on, oh, say $40 a day!"
Suddenly, there was yelling and screaming outside as an elderly woman dashed past. Judy looked as any onlooker would, but Lori blinked her eyes is disbelief. She grabbed her camera, and stepped out the door. The jewelry store security was on pursuit. The blond just had enough time to focus and shoot. She thought one of them caught the thief looking back.
"Are you working on a column?" Judy said, between sips of palmagranite juice.
"I don't know. I recognized her from someplace."
As the woman continued running, she past a stout man in a white outfit and sunglasses. He had a cane, and without her knowing it, he managed to trip her. He stepped into a doorway, smoking a cigar, as the authorities arrested her. As the commotion died down, he was still subtly in the shadows.
Judy startled as she sat up in bed. But there was no apparition. She calmed down, hearing it again. The moan! She put on her fluffy slippers, and walked into Lori's room. But the bed was empty.
"Lori?" she called. But no response. The moan happened again. As the color went out of her skin, she walked on tip toes to the wall. She thought she heard a sound from the hall. "Lori!" she said as she spun around, into the wood paneling. But that instant the paneling went back, as she found herself in a hidden hallway. Dark, musty, dirty, she was still. Then she saw it!
A glow coming towards her. Faint, then growing a little. She stepped back, but the panel closed her in. She was caught in a corner as the reddish-orange glow increased. Her mouth opened and her lips quivered.
"Judy!" she heard a familiar whisper.
"Lori!" the junior said out of relief. "What are you doing in here? And why do you have your outfit on? Aren't we on vacation?"
The blond vixen strolled up to her. "Apparently not. There is something going on up above us."
"Red Luthor's ghost!" Judy responded.
"I don't think so. These walls are full of hidden walkways. I have your suit and ElectraComp. Want to change? You'll have to do it the old fashioned way." Quickly ElectraWoman led Judy to her wardrobe, and unlocked the bag. There were Judy's boots, outfit, and electracomp.
"I guess this isn't vacation anymore."
"We'll see. We're running on battery power." As Judy was changing they heard something much closer to a scream. And then a moan as in pain. They looked at each other in a startled manner.
ElectraWoman grabbed a map of the castle that was on the coffee table. As they entered the panel, a faint glow came from the senior's electracomp, as DynaGirl was saving her power. The only sound was the blond vixen counting footsteps and writing down how far they'd gone.
"DynaGirl, this is the area around the west tower. This is where I thought I heard the voice." A rat ran past their boots.
"ElectraGross!" the junior mumbled under her breath. They were to a part in the wall that featured a series of crude reliefs of females. ElectraWoman looked at them, then slammed her hand against the wall.
"It's hollow!" she exclaimed. She looked over the reliefs. "Which figure is the most robust?"
DynaGirl looked around. "That one is pretty Rubanesque." The blond took of her glove and felt around. She noticed that the nipples had no dust on them. She pressed them in. Suddenly the door gave way, and opened up to a pitch black stairway.
"But what about the ghost?" DynaGirl said, but her mentor went ahead. The stairs went up, turned, up again about 10 steps, then entered a new room. But this room featured blank stone walls with four new stairways.
"Try our left stairs." They continued up, and entered another empty chamber, as ElectraWoman went up the next left opening. This time, DynaGirl paused to look at something on the wall. It seemed to be a dirty gold relief, but she was unsure. The light grew dim as she turned on her electracomp, but went up the wrong stairs.
"ElectraWoman?" she half whispered. She ran up some more stairs, only to run into solid cob webs. She started gasping as she pulled them off her spandex. She bolted again to the next stairs. "Electrawoman!" she screamed. She heard a faint sound of a woman's voice, but deeper than Lori's. The next stairway brought her to sort of a bridge. She turned her electravision on medium, to see dozens of other stairways and bridges up and down the tower. She saw a blueish light.
"ElectraWoman, is that you?" she asked, full voiced.
"DynaGirl, where are you?"
"I can see your light. It's now blue."
"DynaGirl, my light is still orange! Stand still, but turn off your electravision."
The 22 year old found herself shivering in the cold tower, as she was in almost total darkness. The blueish light began to disappear. She then saw a faint glow.
"DynaGirl, tell me how many times you see this light flash."
"Three"
"Now turn on your electravision. 5 flashes."
"That's right!"
They ran up and hugged each other. DynaGirl could feel the webs all over ElectraWoman's suit and hair. "DynaGirl, some areas of this place are clear of webs. Others haven't been walked recently. But we know one thing. We aren't the only ones up here." The brunette knodded. "I'm keeping my vision at minimum. Keep yours off, so we can use your electratracking device if we need it. My power is almost dead."
She followed closely behind the blond, who thought she knew how to exit. "Just think, DynaGirl. This labyrinth is suppose to prevent us from what we are now doing." She continued through a series of passages, and after some time stopped in a chamber. The vixen turned up her electravision. "There is our entrance!" she said, as they saw the narrow stone stairway leading out. Her power gave out.
"DynaGirl, turn on your electratracker." As she did, then saw their boot marks going down the stairs. But the room was crisscrossed with other footprints.
"ElectraWoman! Look!" the junior whispered.
"There's another entrance. This one is not being used!"
"Let's follow them" But at this moment, DynaGirl's electracomp flickered. The drain had already reduced it's power to a quarter.
"We can't. Turn on the electravision low. I'll lead the way."
Back at their room, Lori and Judy discovered their outfits were filthy with dust and cobwebs. They took off their suits and washed them. And Judy told Lori that she would be sharing her bed again. The blond smile warmly.