She didn’t have a moment. Distantly, Zada could hear the thunder of booted footsteps heading up the stairs, and getting caught in Mozelle’s room was the same as surrender. There was a balcony at the window. Zada pried open the glass, clicked it shut behind her, and half climbed, half jumped down the trellis hanging from the balcony.
There were no longer guards outside at the door; they must have bolted inside at the sound of Daphne’s distraction.
She had no time to catch her breath. If Mozelle discovered her SmartGem was missing, she would immediately ping it and trace the gem to Zada’s pocket. All Zada could do at this point was run, make her copy as fast as possible, and hope she and Daphne could return the real Gem before Mozelle could check for it.
Zada sprinted through the door, past the rooms filled with artifacts, and back into the library, where Daphne stood waiting. Her hands were in her pockets and she wore an enormous smile on her face.
“Do you have it?” said Daphne.
Breathing hard, Zada slid to the floor and retrieved the Gem and the clone-scanner from her pocket.
“How did you get ahold of that?” Daphne asked breathlessly, joining her to sit on the polished hardwood. “And why? And is it cloned yet?”
“It needs a moment,” Zada said. “I had to improvise. What did youdo?”
“Ah,” said Daphne, grinning again. “I was going to gowith one of our wilder plans, the one involving setting all of tonight’s dinner lobsters free to wreak havoc in the atrium, but then, right there in the kitchen, I saw a water sparkler.”
Zada could feel the cloner humming as it processed and packaged the data. “One of those machines that instantly carbonates—?”
“That’s the one. You know how the floating fountain is held aloft by the force of its own water?”
“Yes?” Zada could feel her smile growing to match Daphne’s. “Are you saying—”
“I carbonated the fountain,” said Daphne. “It smashed into the roof skylight—no one was hurt, I made sure nobody was close by—and now I think it’s wreaking merry havoc in the garden outside. Or, who knows, it could be halfway across the city by now.”
Zada laughed, eyes still locked on the stolen SmartGem. “I wish it good tidings on its journey,” she said.
“Good tidings and a glad tomorrow,” said Daphne. “I hope it meets a simple garden hose and falls in love.”
“What would the children—” Zada started, but she could feel the device quiet and still. “It’s done,” she said.
“Wait, why clone it at all?” said Daphne. “If we’ve got the original, why can’t we just—”
Zada shook her head. “Opening the program and finding whatever we’re looking for, it’ll take too long. We need to return the real one before Mozelle notices it’s gone.”
“Allow me,” said Daphne.
“There’s guards on the residential floor. It’s too risky to go back the way I came.”
“That’s fine. I’ll just leave this in the ballroom. Someone willfind it. I don’t think our scheme will be their first thought.”
“Thank you,” said Zada. “Be safe.”
“Shake on it not to open it till I get back?” Daphne asked, extending her hand.
“Shake.”
The moment their hands entwined, Daphne used the momentum to tug Zada in for one quick kiss, a soft press of lips that felt like a prelude to more.
It felt like an eternity before Daphne slipped back through the door, cheeks slightly darker from exertion. In actuality, it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes.
“Well?” said Daphne. “Want to do the honors?” She held out her ring for Zada to use with the cloned SmartGem.
Zada deftly popped out the ring’s SmartGem and clicked their cloned SmartGem into place. She slid the ring onto her finger, activating it. Instantly, fifty or so glowing windows popped up all around her and Daphne.
“For goodness’ sake, close your tabs, Mozelle,” Daphne muttered. They got quickly to work, navigating through the various screens and minimizing anything that was obviously a dead end.
“This might be something,” said Daphne, pulling down a folder simply labeledwork.
