Mythlands: THE HEIST

The Schedule

The Glass Cat faced Moriarty across a chess board.

'Tell me the schedule.'

'Very well,' answered the Napoleon of Crime. 'Ms Lochs will make her approach at precisely 5.45pm. She will stroll straight up to the north gate and if not immediately challenged, press the intercom. She will purport to have been hiking in the woods and become lost.'

Bungle pushed a pawn forward. 'Guards?'

'Two Centaurs in that quadrant, but in any case house or gate, they'll all report back to the Chief of Security for the compound, who incidentally is Ketterley's bodyguard and minder.'

'I see. Do we have an ID?'

'The Bulgy Bear.'

'Indeed? A quite cuddly fellow I hear, much given to sucking his paw and slobbering in one's maw.'

'So the old stories say, but that was seventy years ago my dear Cat. This is a bear tempered in the steel of the Aslanist regime. You'll find he is much changed - a warrior, the veteran of hard fought battles, tough, smart and capable. He won't be easily tricked.'

'And so?'

'That won't matter. As soon as Ms Lochs identifies herself and Ketterley hears of it, he'll over-rule any protocol and she'll be in by 6pm.'

'Go on.'

'We'll give Ms Lochs an hour to work her charms. The old lecher will be keen to impress and he will acquiesce when she does her googly eyed act and asks for a tour. Ketterley always eats at 7pm so we have that long to get into position.'

'Stealth or strength?'

'Both. We send the cats in again. Ginger has already provided useful intelligence about the layout and security measures, but we'll need real time updates. Our felines will be wearing infra red cams and comms. Goldie will discreetly slip a tracker into place at every entrance or weak spot - we shall monitor everything from here while the Golden Goose hacks the security system to create a loop.'

The Glass Cat nodded. 'A useful additional skill, I grant you.'

Moriarty took a sip of his sherry. 'I do not leave anything to chance my friend. Although this is not the primary reason for the Goose's ... ah, recruitment, I was of course aware of this skill. However, I myself have learned much of computers so could perform the function if needed, perhaps not as adroitly as the Goose but ...'

Bungle bared his sharp teeth in a rictus grin. 'You are all too modest Professor. Continue if you please.'

'7pm. Andrew Ketterley sits down to eat with his charming guest, all his attention fixated on the possibility of getting into ... how do these modernists put it ... into her drawers later. The Bulgy Bear will be suspicious and be on hand to observe the dinner, possibly with extra guards. The cats go in. The Goose initiates his hack and on both sides Renard and The Hare create distractions at 7.02pm and 7.05pm, allowing Grogsmyr and Styrr to fling Punchinello and The Gingerbread Man over the walls and into the shadows at the rear of the compound.'

'Ah, the stealth ... and what of the strength?'

Professor Moriarty pushed his map of the compound and surrounding area forward. 'Atom and Cosmo will go in above cloud cover. They will hover some 712.5 yards above the lodge, just out of range of the upward motion detectors. This will be prior to the system hack. After that, it won't matter. If our fox and hare duo manage to lure any guards out into the trees, there will be two trolls and a squad of black dwarves to silently dispatch them. The regular sized cats will let our pint sized killers inside and slip away. Hopefully they can take out the inhabitants without alerting the guards outside the main building.'

'And if not?'

'Then those centaurs and other assorted Narnians will find death raining down on them from above. The supercats will wipe out all visible opposition with their lazer eye beams and then swoop in to take out the remainder. You are well aware of their attributes my dear Glass Cat, so you can imagine that we will win the day easily.'

Bungle grinned. 'Super strength, eye beams, supersonic flight and more. Oh yes, we shall triumph, but it would be best to secure the compound with minimal bloodshed.'

Moriarty concurred. 'Hostages would be useful but if Punchinello can get the gas cylinders through the air filtration system, that will indeed be the outcome ... for those inside. We must hope for their sake that the outside guards suspect nothing is amiss, then we can lure them inside when their shifts change at 8pm and 9pm.'

The Glass Cat was satisfied. He opened his comms. 'Miss Lochs? Are you in position?'

'Almost. Had to avoid a guard out of place, taking a leak,' came the reply.

Moriarty looked at his pocket watch and grimaced. '5.46pm. We're a minute behind schedule! I did factor in extra time for a delay, but still ...' he shook his head, a stickler to the last.