The Lady and the Rogue Spy

A lifetime of careful planning had come down to this moment. The Mantic Jewel – its magical properties rumored to hold power over both prophecy and the space-time continuum – was less than a stride away. In between the woman and her prize, however, lay a state-of-the-art security system programmed to kill any unauthorized person that might have gotten past the Crown’s well-guarded fortress.

Sarika had gotten far but for the moment, she was stumped. She knew that once she had the jewel all she had to do was imagine a location and she would be transported there instantaneously. The glass box that held the jewel, however, could only be opened by one person’s fingerprint, Robert Sherat, the head of the British security force and the Prime Minister’s secret right hand man. Sarika cursed, why hadn’t she thought of this before?

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Scolded a deep voice behind her, “Your mother would be shocked, Lady Peshwai. I thought nobles had such clean mouths?”

Sarika whipped around to find Jonathan Conway, rogue spy, behind her. She hadn’t heard him, and she didn’t know how he had got in.

“Conway, of course, I should have expected you.” She said evenly in her soft British Indian accent, hiding her surprise. “Where have you been? Last I heard, you were buying contraband from some poor wretch in Islamabad.”

“That was nearly six years ago, my dear, when I was studying the praxis of espionage. You haven’t changed one bit. Still the hotheaded amateur trying to win back her family’s famed fortune. I suspect that’s what you want this gem for, isn’t it? To set an end to that stupid blood feud your family has with the British? You know that might have been the zeitgeist ten years ago, but I really thought a nice girl like you would have picked up something different, needlework perhaps?” He sneered.

“Shut up, John. I thought you’d be over that by now. I’m sorry you loved me years ago and that I didn’t feel the same. Now stop being stupid and let me continue my mission!”

“Ha! Women! Why do you think everything revolves around you? I’m not here for revenge; I’m here for that large, sparkly, jewel. I’m sure it’ll fetch me quite a large sum of money in any country I go to, don’t you agree?”

“Let me cut the idea of you leaving with this jewel in the bud, Conway. I’ve worked too hard for this, that jewel is rightfully mine. You see the semi-lunar sign on the jewel? That is the Peshwai crest! The Mantic Jewel has belonged to the Peshwai’s for centuries; the British had no right to take it. They don’t even know how to use it!” She glared at him with bright brown eyes, until he looked away.

“Yes, well, be that as it may” Conway drawled lazily, “I do know how it works. And I have the key to open the box, something you lack. It was truly an act of serendipity that led me to obtain it, so maybe luck is on my side. Anyway, finder’s keepers don’t you think?” He took a small plastic bag from his pocket and dangled it in front of her. Inside was a piece of tape that held an imprint of Sherat’s fingertip.

“Don’t be daft, Conway. This isn’t one of your schemes where just a lick and a promise will work!”

In answer, Conway winked at her and slowly removed the tape. He placed it near the scanner and said, “Guess it’s time to pray then.”

Ataraxia spread through Sarika as they watched the machine scan the print. What was the use of worrying? Either it would work or it wouldn’t and they’d be blown to shreds. There was nothing she could do now.

Finally, the light beeped green and the box opened to reveal the Mantic Jewel.

Sarika didn’t waste time to breathe a sigh of relief; she grabbed the jewel and thought of Agra, the city of palaces, the taste of halva and chai almost sapid to her intense imagination.

Conway, however, who had grabbed the other end of the large crystal, was doing his best to imagine an island in the Bahamas.

The stone, trying to fulfill both masters’ orders, split into two. The lady and the rogue spy were sent spinning into oblivion, lost in the space-time continuum they had sought to rule.

            Neither the Mantic Jewel nor the two who desired to conquer it were ever seen again.