"Could you elaborate a little?" Pookie sez. "Someone of your military expertise couldn't help but notice details that would prove invaluable in our efforts."

Now Smiley is as vulnerable as any guy to bein' flattered by a doll, and he puffs up like a toad.

"Well, as I say, it would seem to be two independent groups," he sez. "That's based on the fact that they are operating in different locations and have two distinctly different methods of operation.

"There's one group that operates in and around the Royal Game Preserve. What they do is stay out of sight back in the underbrush. They launch a flight of arrows over the heads of the collection squad to prove that they're well within bow shot, then call out for the squad to leave the money and keep moving. It's interesting that they haven't actually hit anyone yet, but the threat alone is enough for the boys to surrender up the money and back away."

"They don't put up any kind of a fight? They just leave the money?" Spyder sez. Smiley makes a face.

"You've got to understand," he sez. "Our standing orders are not to fire on the civilian populace. Remember that this is an internal assignment, not front-line work where any opposition is clearly enemy action. These are the civilians we're supposed to be protecting, and the brass doesn't want any incidents that could stir up the locals against the Army."

He takes another sip of his drink, then shakes his head. "I'll be honest with you, though. Even if we weren't under orders not to fight, I'm not sure we could catch these guys. The woods are pretty thick and stretch a long way. What's more, it's their home turf, which gives them a big advantage. If they outnumbered us, they could keep picking us off from hiding and we wouldn't stand a chance. If we had them outnumbered, they could just melt away into the brush and we'd never catch them."

"With terrain goes the victory," Pookie murmurs.

"That's right," Smiley sez. "Say. It sounds like you know a bit about military tactics yourself."

"You said there were two groups," I sez, quick-like to distract him from askin' too much about Pookie's background. "What about the other group?"

"The other one's a real clown," Smiley sez, gettin' back to the subject. "It's only one guy, and he's dressed all in black, complete with a mask and a cape. What he does is pop up in the road ahead of the squad, waving a sword around and demanding that they surrender up the money and move on or suffer his wrath." "Suffer his wrath?" I sez.

"That's what he says." Smiley nods. "Word for word. I couldn't make us something like that."

"Wait a minute," Spyder sez. "You're saying that an entire squad backs down from one guy with a sword?"

"It's a bit more than that," Smiley sez, sternly. "The guy in black does all the talking, but he's got a backup with him as well. Any time we've seen this joker, there's another guy standing in the background. He's a big guy, almost as big as you, Swatter. More important, he's got a crossbow, a custom job, trained on the squad and makes it real apparent that anyone who doesn't go along with the gag isn't going to make it back to the barracks."

"But there's only one shot in a crossbow, compared to how many in a squad?" Spyder sez.

"Uh-huh," Smiley sez. "The problem is, no one is particularly eager to be on the receiving end of that one shot. Also, remember that we're under orders not to fight with the civilians."

"That's convenient," Spyder mutters.

"Tell me more about that custom crossbow," I sez before Smiley can go after Spyder.

"That's easy," Smiley sez. "Without looking at them close up or actually handling them, I'd say it's almost identical to that mini crossbow you were waving at the boys when I came in."

Now to say that I found that tidbit of information particularly intriguin' would be more than a little understa-tin'. You see, both Nunzio and myself get our crossbows exclusively from a guy named lolo, who is the finest crossbow maker I've met. While I've heard he does some work for Renaissance Fair people and some of the Medieval recreation types, the bulk of his production is bought up by people like us, which is to say those associated with or connected to the Mob.

"Could you give us some specific information as to where each of these two groups is workin'?" I sez, chan-gin' the subject.

"I can do better than that," Smiley sez, finishin' his drink and gettin' to his feet. "I've got some maps in my tent. Come along and I'll show you, and maybe buy you a drink."

· · ·

As our intrepid band of investigators leave the Tiki Lounge, let us linger for a moment to witness what occurs immediately upon their departure ...

For several long moments after the investigators leave with the sergeant, the group of civilians who were sitting unnoticed at the corner table remain motionless and silent.

Finally, one of them speaks.

"It's all clear now, Bee. They've gone now."

The air shimmers around three of the assemblage, then subsides, leaving their appearance changed, but still unremarkable.

"That was close," says one rather muscular fellow.

"You can say that again, Hy," says the man next to him, their appearance marking them as brothers if not twins. "Nice work with the spell, Bee. But I do wish you had told us that the Swatter was on the other side of this little caper."

"I didn't know myself," Bee protests, drawing himself up to his full insignificant height. "I was told we only had to dodge the Army, and last thing I heard, he and Nunzio had resigned."

"Whatever," Shu says, giving his brother an elbow in the ribs. "Now that we know, maybe we should rethink this whole thing."

"Wait a minute," Storm says, leaning into the conversation. "What's going on here? Why are you guys so spooked all of a sudden? Who was that goon, anyway?"

"That was the Swatter," Hyram Flie says. "Or Guido, to use his real name. He and his cousin Nunzio were in Basic Training with us back when we first enlisted. In fact, he was our squad leader."

"To say he's a heavy hitter would be an understatement," supplied his brother Shubert. "He took both of us to one side and gave us a lesson in manners the first day we were in."

"He's also deadly with that crossbow," Bee says. "He helped me qualify, which was a good thing or else I'd probably still be in Basic."

"So he was better than the other raw recruits," says Egor. "So what? You all got better with training, didn't you?"

"You don't understand," says Hy, shaking his head. "He and Nunzio were better when they first signed on than any of us will ever be."

"That sergeant he was talking to?" Shu says. "Well, he was our Drill Instructor. He got into it one time with Guido, and the Swatter took out both him and his corporal without even raising a sweat."

"Wait a minute," says Egor. "I thought the Army had rules against that kind of thing. Didn't he get into trouble?"

"They called it a training accident," says Hy with a grimace. "As a matter of fact, he got a promotion out of it."

"Did you see who he had with him?" Bee says. "Wasn't that Spyder?"

"If it was, she's changed her look," says Hy.

"Unless they were using a disguise spell for some reason," says Shu.

"Spyder?" says Storm.

"Another one from our old squad," says Hy. "Pound for pound, one of the nastiest scrappers I've run into. Mean as a snake and twice as fast."

"Yeah. That was a heck of a punch she used to flatten her admirer when they first came in," Egor says shaking his head.

"I think you're watching the wrong hand there," Red Blade says, speaking up for the first time. "How about the babe that took out four of them without blinking?"

"Another one of your old playmates?" says Storm.

"Never saw her before," says Hy.