ackpack and waited until Paul had finished that
conversation before he said, "Hi, Paul. Look up."
With a harried expression, Money said, "Oh, nothing much. It's seven o'clock
and we're still working on stuff that should have been done half an hour ago.
I'm swamped with details, three people are out sick, and..."
Casually pointing skyward without lifting his arm, Cade said, "I said 'look'
up, not what's up."
Paul Money looked up and his mouth fell open as his eyes widened. A blonde
woman in what seemed to be a white bathing suit with a red cape and blue boots
appeared to be standing on thin air near the auditorium's high ceiling. She gave
him a little wave and a smile.
"Oh, damn!" muttered Paul, thumbing his walkie-talkie on. "What the hell..?
I'll get someone in here with a ladder."
"She didn't get up there with a ladder," said Cade. "She won't need one to
get down, either. Cancel the call."
"Damn it, Martin, answer up!" Paul muttered into the walkie-talkie. He
turned to Cade and asked, "Cade, why the hell are you jeopardizing the entire
convention with a stunt like this?! We don't need a lawsuit."
"It isn't a stunt, Paul. She's the woman who was on the news. Cancel that
call."
Glancing up, Money asked, "The, uh... superwoman?"
Cade reached quickly for the walkie-talkie, snatched it out of Paul's hand,
and turned it off.
With a chuckle, he said, "Oh, good guess. I'll give this gadget back to you
in a minute. This isn't a gag. That's her."
Turning a very skeptical gaze at Cade, Paul asked, "And you just happen to
know her?"
Shrugging, Cade said, "Yeah, that's about the size of it. Everybody knows
somebody, y'know. She'd like to make her public debut here at DragonCon. If you
can fit her in, that is."
Paul Money took a deep breath, counted to ten, then asked in a controlled
voice, "How would both of you like to be banned from this and all future
DragonCons and..?"
Cade raised his voice slightly and interrupted with, "Damn it, listen up!
She's the real thing, Paul."
A pair of blue boots slowly descended next to Cade, followed by two very
fine female thighs, then the rest of the blonde woman Paul had seen hovering
above him. Once she was standing next to Cade, Mandi slung her cape over her
shoulder with a touch of flourish and smiled brightly.
After a moment of openmouthed startlement, Paul unfroze himself and walked
around her, wavin