9. The Crunch Solution

Ryan and Sandy’s apartment

	“Ryan,” Sandy said when Ryan got home from Caroline’s Finery, 
where he had, just fifteen minutes ago offered Terra the 
opportunity to become a Stellar Senshi, “I have to leave for a 
couple of weeks to Carthage.”
	“What about Raoul’s wedding?”
	“I will be back in time,” she replied.  “I just need to take 
the truck back to the dealer and sell it back and I don’t want to 
take it back over the ice.”
	“Do you want me to take over for you at The Rub?” Ryan asked.
	“I already told Raoul you would.”
	Ryan would have been upset by that if it hadn’t been such a 
safe assumption.  Of course he would work in her place for a 
little while.  “Good,” he replied.  “Maybe we can catch up on our 
bills a bit now.”
	“Not really,” Sandy said.  “I had already factored this trip 
into our budget.  It isn’t going to cost us any more, but it 
isn’t going to bring us ahead either.”
	Ryan felt like screaming.  “Please give me some good news 
soon, before I go completely insane.”
	“You get this Friday free of attacks while I am away, if 
that’s any consolation.”
	“The one thing that would break my boredom,” Ryan mumbled.
	“Ayre will keep you company,” Sandy said.
	“Oh happy day,” Ryan said sarcastically.  “I just love to 
listen to him dote over my alter ego all day...that is, when he 
is not trying to flirt with me, or worse.”
	“You will just have to deal with him then,” Sandy said.  “I 
will be leaving in the morning, but I...you...have Saturdays 
off.”
	“Maybe Scott will do something with me tomorrow,” Ryan said.  
Since leaving the palace, he had become accustomed to seeing 
people every day, even if it was only Sandy some days.  He found 
himself spending more and more time at Jack’s, hanging out and 
learning about how the electronics worked.  Scott had kept secret 
Ryan’s identity, even from Jack, but his strange control of 
electricity was well known to both of them.
	“Perhaps,” Sandy said.  “I will be leaving early tomorrow, so 
I am going to go to bed now.  If I am gone before you get up, 
good bye.  I will call you once I get to Carthage.”
	“Good night,” Ryan said as Sandy closed her bedroom door 
behind her.

	Ryan was awakened by the telephone ringing.  He rubbed his 
eyes and stretched as he got out of bed, much faster than he was 
accustomed to.
	“Hello,” he croaked into the receiver.
	“Hey Ryan, it’s Scott.  Did I wake you?”
	“That obvious?” Ryan replied.
	“Sorry,” Scott said.  “Look, Ryan, I found out about a job 
last night and I’ve been planning since.  I really need your help 
to pull it off.  I need a fifth man, and your special abilities 
would be an asset.”
	“I already told you I didn’t want to do that kind of thing,” 
Ryan protested.
	“You also told me that your financial situation was desperate 
to the point where you’ll be evicted in a few months,” Scott 
said.  “Desperate times, desperate measures, you know.”
	“Who is the target?” Ryan asked.
	“I knew you’d want to know,” Scott said, “so I made sure 
there were no people involved.”
	“What are you talking about?  Are you not intending to rob 
from someone?”
	“That is the beauty of the job,” Scott said.  “It isn’t 
really stealing if no one has seen the items for three thousand 
years.”
	“So you want me to go on a treasure hunt with you?”
	“Basically.”
	“I have today off,” Ryan said, “but I have to work at my 
sister’s job while she is out of town.”
	“Did you agree to it?” Scott asked.
	“No,” Ryan replied, “but her job is on the line here.”
	“Do you know of anyone who can take your place then?”
	“No, I...wait, I might,” Ryan said.  “Can I call you back?”

	“Look Ayre, Sandy’s job is at stake here,” Ryan said ten 
minutes later.  “Is she not a friend of yours?”
	“Yes,” Ayre said with a perturbed tone.  “Of course she is, 
but I don’t know the first thing about being a masseur.”
	“I am sure you have picked up a few things with all the 
massages you get.  You practically live at The Rub.”
	“Yeah,” Ayre said, “and I’ve seen what comes in there to be 
massaged.  Some of those people I wouldn’t touch, even for 
money.”
	“Come on Ayre,” Ryan pleaded.  “I am begging you, please.”
	“No way.”
	“I will give you anything you want that I have,” Ryan 
offered.
	“Anything?”
	Ryan’s heart sank.

	“Scott?”
	“Yeah?”
	“It is settled,” Ryan said.  “I can go, just do not ask how.”
	“I understand,” Scott said.  “How soon can you be at Jack’s?”

***

Jack’s Electronics

	“That was fast,” Scott said as Ryan walked in.  “The others 
aren’t here yet.”
	“Who are the others, exactly?” Ryan asked as he took off his 
coat.
	“You heard me talk about my brother Sean, right?” Scott 
asked.  Ryan nodded.  “Well, he’s the best cat burglar in the 
world, and that’s not brotherly bias talking.  He’s player three 
in this little game, you and I being one and two.”
	“Is Jack coming?”
	“No way,” Scott said.  “Jack is too out of shape for this.  
Besides, where we are going, he wouldn’t be of any use.”
	“Where are we going?” Ryan asked.  “And if you do not need an 
electronics expert, what use would I be?”
	“I’ll tell you when everyone gets here,” Scott said.
	As if on cue, the bell rang and a beautiful and sophisticated 
woman with flowing crimson hair walked through the door.
	“Ryan, I’d like you to meet Dierdre Sparks,” Scott said.  
“Dierdre, at twenty-five, is an archaeologist from the French 
Riviera, or what is left of it since the war.  She is well versed 
in the area we’ll be working and is the one who found the site.”
	A girl with short-cropped blonde hair and an attitude on her 
face barged in behind Dierdre.  This girl, maybe nineteen or 
twenty, was much shorter, though, and svelte enough to be called 
waiflike.
	“And this, Ryan,” Scott said with a grin, “is Spider.  She 
has an uncanny skill at climbing.  Walls, even ceilings, which 
look completely smooth are child’s play to her.  She is from 
Dresden...at least, that’s where her answering machine is.”
	“I don’t stay in one place very much,” Spider spat.  “Cops 
are everywhere.  You need me, leave a message and I’ll get it 
when I get it.  Lucky for you I checked it this morning and was 
in the area,” she added for Scott.
	“And I thank you for coming,” Scott said.  “I assure you that 
this will be a score that’ll go down in history.”
	“As long as I’m part of it,” said a voice from the back room.  
The door opened and a boy stepped through, maybe eighteen at 
best.  He had smooth, creamy skin, well-groomed short brown hair, 
and large brown puppy eyes.  Spider’s mouth twisted into a smile 
as she saw him, and it was obvious to Ryan that it was something 
she seldom did.
	“How did you get in?” Scott asked.  “Oh wait, I forget who 
I’m talking to sometimes.”  Sean smirked.
	Scott led them into the back room and they all sat down.  
“Dierdre,” Scott said, “maybe you should explain why we are all 
here.”
	“All right,” she said.  “Three days ago, I was on a dig in 
Crete when I hit solid rock.  After digging for hours around it, 
I found that it was man made.  It was a door and had an 
inscription on it in ancient Greek.  It said, ‘Inside these walls 
lie the treasures of kings, and the death of those who desire it.  
Theseus was a lovesick fool and has made us orphans.’”
	“What is that supposed to mean?” Spider asked.
	“Have you ever heard of Daedalus?” Scott replied.
	“Sure,” Ryan said.  “He was the father of Icarus.  To escape 
King Minos’ tower, he build wings with wax and feathers for him 
and his son, but Icarus flew too close to the sun, melted the 
wings, and fell to his death in the sea.  What does Theseus have 
to do with him?”
	“Daedalus built a Labyrinth to imprison King Minos’ son, the 
Minotaur,” Dierdre told them.  “Every year, Minos sent several 
young women into the Labyrinth, which the Minotaur ate, but one 
year, Theseus went in, with Ariadne’s help, and slew the 
Minotaur, ending the yearly slaughter.  The door I found was the 
entrance to the Labyrinth.”
	“Anyone knowing about the Labyrinth’s treasures would have 
gone to rob it,” Sean said.  “Why would there be anything left 
inside.”
	“Because,” Scott replied, “there were other creatures in 
there that killed them.  Maybe more minotaurs, maybe something 
else.”
	“There were scratches on the side of the door - claw marks,” 
Dierdre said, “and the residue on the last one coincides almost 
exactly with a major volcanic eruption in the area.  The 
Labyrinth was buried under tons of lava and ash, but there is a 
small crack in the door where a small draft of air is coming out.  
Daedalus did a fine job building the Labyrinth if it could keep 
all of that out.  Anyway, the marks were a tally of kills.  Some 
of the residue in them was blood, each one from a different 
victim.”
	“And you want us to go into this den of monsters and get the 
treasures,” Sean said.  “You’re crazy.  I’m a thief, not a 
warrior.  I have no way to defend myself.”
	“I don’t think the creatures are still alive after all this 
time,” Dierdre said, “but I can’t be sure.”
	“That’s why we have Ryan,” Scott said.  “He’s quite skilled 
in battle situations.  Also, when Jack gets here, he will be 
bringing weapons for us.”
	“I’m sure the thieves who were killed in there brought 
weapons too,” Spider said.
	“Not energy rifles,” Jack said, trying to get through the  
front door with a large cardboard box.
	“Where did you get those?” Dierdre asked.
	“You probably do not want to know,” Ryan told her.
	“I have four K-38 specials with four energy cartridges each,” 
Jack said.  “Each cartridge fires once, so use them sparingly.”  
He handed one to Scott, Sean, Dierdre, and Spider.
	“Ryan doesn’t get one?” Sean asked.  “How will he fight the 
creatures?”
	“Ryan gets something a bit stronger,” Jack said.  “He is the 
muscle of the team after all.”  He pulled what looked like a hair 
dryer out of the box.  “I had to pay an arm and a leg to buy this 
from Franco’s boys, but it is worth it.  Behold, the Stingray”  
He handed it to Ryan.  The jolt of power Ryan felt from the 
weapon almost knocked him off of his feet.  “I see you like it,” 
Jack continued.  “Just don’t use it in here.”
	“The thing has to be plugged in,” Spider said.  “Even if 
that’s only for recharging, how many shots can it fire before it 
runs out?”
	“None,” Jack said.  “It is an electricity amplification 
weapon.  When you plug it in, it can be fired.  Franco’s boys 
pulled it off of a top secret military testing site.  It is more 
powerful than anything it’s own size, and many things that are 
bigger.”
	“I hate to tell you this, Jack,” Dierdre said, “but there are 
no outlets in the Labyrinth, and I don’t think we can get an 
extension cord long enough.  Do you think you could get something 
a little more useful for the mission?”
	Jack only smiled, which made Scott and Ryan grin as well.
	“What aren’t you three telling us?” Sean asked.
	Ryan held the Stingray and wrapped the cord around his arm to 
get it out of the way.  Once he was sure Sean, Spider and Dierdre 
were watching, his eyes arced with electricity and the Stingray 
began to glow green.  The three spectators looked shocked.
	“Dierdre, Sean, Spider,” Scott said, “meet Ryan Noctan, the 
human battery.”
	“I have a question,” Ryan said.  “Dierdre is the brains, I’m 
the brawn, and Spider and Sean are coming to get us past whatever 
traps have been set, but what is your purpose, Scott?”
	“Pack horse,” Scott mumbled.
	“What?” Ryan asked.
	“You can’t carry everything you’ll need in there by 
yourselves, so I’m going so I can pick up the slack.”
	“I don’t bring more than I can carry myself,” Spider said, 
“and neither does Ryan.  The tools we use are lightweight and 
compact.  Even if we have the guns, that’ll be one thing we have 
to carry ourselves.  The archaeologist and General Electric over 
here won’t even be carrying that much, just their guns.”
	“And my maps,” Dierdre added.
	“Those can all fit in a backpack, right?” Spider asked.  
Dierdre nodded and Spider continued.  “So there is nothing for 
you to carry for us.”
	“On the contrary,” Dierdre said.  “From what I’ve been able 
to learn from ancient texts and from my own calculations, this 
place is huge and complex.  We will need several days, maybe a 
full week’s worth, of supplies.  This is not a simple enter, 
take, and leave operation.  We’ll have to move slowly enough to 
accurately map and chart our progress, otherwise we could get 
lost.”
	“Fine,” Spider said, “you can come.  When do we leave?”
	“Are the supplies loaded into the van yet, Jack?” Scott 
asked.
	“Yep.”
	“Is now good?”

To Be Continued

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