It's just another day... For whom?

It's a day like any other day.
Except for one thing.

Uni starts back tomorrow!
*dun-dunna-dun-dunna-DUN-DUNNN*

Meh. I'm over it. I've decided to post the first chapter of a novel *Edit - I've changed it to a teaser - apparently publishers get kinda finiky about putting up your stories on the interent before publishing. And as we definately want to publish the Illusionist, it's better to be safe rather than sorry!* I'm co-authering with my sister. The novel is called "The Illusionist" for now, and we're hoping to publish when we finish it. But for now, here's chapter one. WARNING! It's pretty big!

THE ILLUSIONIST

Chapter One
Break-ins, blood, and bounty hunters

The year is far into the future. Earth has long been destroyed by a ravaged ecosystem - now humanity has found footholds all over the universe, but the majority call Mars home.

Planet : OceaN°arria
Class : Water planet
Galaxy : Rëka, sector Tn
Life forms : Mostly Humans and Illasas


Cľis'q ignored the jangled sounds of the city as he concentrated on the security panel, smiling as he pulled the glass away from the glowing keypad. "You sure you got rid of the main floor alarm?" His partner, Wilk, scowled. "It may be a museum, but I've got worse security in my house. Trust me, it's gone - for this sector anyway."

Cľis'q slipped a micro scrambler onto the pad. The nanobots entered the system, transmitting control to Cľis'q's wrist band. With the touch of a finger, Cľis'q commanded the thick glass in front of the robbers to slide back. Nodding to Wilk, he gave the signal for him to active their heat sensing contact lenses, and scanned the room for any signs of life. Satisfied they where alone, Cľis'q's grin grew as he caught sight of dozens of priceless artifacts, gleaming in their glass cages - just whispering a silent challenge to the thieves. "Com'mon. Let's get to work."

If the pair had once looked up, the sight of a dark figure, its white blonde hair rippling in the soft night breeze – watching them, studying their moves through a skylight would have been more then enough to alarm them. As it were, neither took their eyes off their prizes, and the figure stole away, unnoticed, to another skylight on a different section of the roof. Amateurs. They're in the planet's largest museum and they waste their time on those? A smirk curled over her lips as Tori slipped through the hole she had neatly made in the skylight.

Landing gently on a solid oak rafter that ran through the infrastructure, she ran directly under the glass frame, silhouetted briefly against a clear, starless, purple night sky. Crouching panther-like, she slid down the length of the beam, flickering in and out of the deep shadows. Pausing at the end, she leapt down onto the floor, running through the lasers with her knees lifted high.

To any observer it would look like she was sprinting through a yard of tyres - but she knew one mis-step, and the alarm system would go off. Glancing at the floor in the next room, she eyed her target. The lasers were invisible to the naked eye, but to Tori they were dark green beams, flickering across the marbled floor. The doorway she needed to get through was three feet deep, and criss-crossed with more trip lasers. Guess they're trying to keep someone out. There's the hard way... Tori briefly considered the amount of flips and handsprings - not to mention layouts that it would take to get through the maze. Or not. Not enough time.

One bounce, and Tori coiled up like a spring and leapt headfirst through the tangle of invisible lights. Catapulting forward, she landed, rolled up into a handstand and stopped just before the next trap. Gracefully splitting onto her feet, she glanced back through the doorway, a self-satisfied smile curling at the corner of her mouth. That, gentleman, is a real entry.

The two burglars continued on with their petty workings, completely unaware that next door another thief was on her way to get the most prized item in the museum - a mask from the century 3098 B.M. (Before Mars) made completely out of diamonds, titled 'Masque de glace', or 'Mask of Ice.' Tori's hawk eyed gaze slid over the room, noting every tiny detail. There were seven glass cases in the room, the largest one that held the mask was standing directly in the center. The other six cases stood around it, each randomly placed.

As luck would have it, one was just a few feet away from the visitors chairs on the left wall. She lifted her green eyed stare to the ceiling. The long rafters started out from six separate points in the room, then gracefully arced to meet each other in the middle. Although they could not take her to her prize - they, combined with the glass cases, would get her where she wanted to be. There was always a way. Arms raised high, Tori stretched onto her tip-toes, then whipped through the air - a tiny ball of speed, unfurling to land on the targeted chair with ease.

Pausing for the barest of seconds, she reached forward, and delicately placed her hands on a glass case, as she perched dangerously above a laser. Effortlessly she kicked up into a handstand, balancing on the glass case that protected a monumental diamond. Her black clothed legs stretched upwards, then grasped hold of the wooden beam that ran above her, locking as she held all of her weight, she lifted up her hands. Reaching backwards, she clung onto beam, unhooked her legs, and swung forward so she dangled from the beam above a laser-ridden floor.

Swinging smoothly, hand by hand, she moved up the beam until she was over the next case. Dropping down, she landed on the glass silently. One second later, and she had flipped over onto her primary target. Just a few more seconds. If those bumbling idiots can control themselves - and not do anything stupid for that long... Just as the thought flashed through her mind, a low wail of an alarm pierced the silence, rising in volume as bright spotlights around the room began to flash red.

Gritting her teeth in anger, Tori leapt off the case and onto the ground, her left fist coming around to slam into the glass, shattering it completely. Ignoring the blood dripping onto the pink crystal floor from the cuts in her hand, she yanked out the mask, and slipped it into a concealed pocket in her black, sleeveless leather vest.

Over the blaring sound of the alarm, she picked up the wailing sirens of the police. Time to leave. She ran out of the room, almost colliding with two figures that where frozen outside the door, blinded with panic. The two thieves stared at her in shock as she threw them out of her way and continued her run, heading towards a large glass cabinet, just underneath a window.

Vaulting onto the cabinet, she catapulted through the window of the building, landing lightly on the glass coated stones. The instant she landed, she was off again, heading towards the shadows of a large tree. Six law enforcers, drawn to the sound of the breaking window like moths to a light, ran around the corner just in time to see a figure dressed in black come speeding towards them on a black and red V-rider.

Similar to the old fashioned motorcycles, the V-rider was a relatively new machine that took skill to master. Tori knew it could hit speeds of four hundred kilometers per hour, and over - that's what she was counting on. That and the fact that her new bike was more than one hundred kilometers faster then any hover unit, and that it relied on a new technology that used velocity force - making it not only a very expensive piece of equipment, but a very dangerous one as well. Everything she could want in a machine.

Speeding up, Tori accelerated into a corner, turning so sharply that an inch to the wrong side would have sent her flying. Although she could hear the sounds of a pursuit behind, she knew it wouldn't be a problem. It never was.

_*_*_*_*_*_


For anyone who's interested in the rest of the Illusionist's tale, or wants to critique/comment on the story, just leave a comment and I'll get back to you! ^_^ !

Signing out for now - B.

P.S - "The Illusionist" and all related names, characters, and ideas are - © A. & B. Fraser, 2006. So don't take 'em without permission! Thankyou.