figured on. If I had to hang our failures on any one

thing, I'd say it was just that... overplanning. I mean,

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 planning time is always minimal,

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 planning room just in time to hear my

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 planned... ."

"Hey, Guido," I said, flashing a grin that was almost

sane. "You were the one who said that overplanning

was a problem. Well, if you're right, this should be the

most successful jailbreak ever!"