Ramifications 9 A New Hunt
By Eric, and Caleb Jones
On the way back from the disappointing trip to the museum Sydney grumbled about the inattentive and rough way that Nigel was driving her precious car. Nigel sighed with exasperation, his pert bosom heaving ever so slightly underneath his snug bra and blouse. With his eyes on the road, he failed to notice Sydney eyeing his current body with conflicting feelings of envy and rising sexual interest. Not for the first time had Sydney noticed how sexy her breasts were! Her skin was so soft and tanned! Looking at herself in a mirror hardly compared to her recent opportunity to see her sensuous body living and breathing next to her. Of course, her male hormones may have had an influence on her growing attentiveness to the female form, Sydney reasoned. At least the hormones in Nigel's body seemed a likely explanation for her sudden desire to touch her own body and make passionate love to it!
When she no longer could look at her own reflection in a mirror and see a beautiful woman in the mirror whenever she wished, she had begun to realize how much she had lost in this strange metaphysical mishap. She had loved being a woman! "Damn that Ram!" she thought.
Damn!" she said again, as Nigel swerved to avoid a dog crossing the street.
"We've been though this before, Sydney. You never let me or ninety-nine percent of the world get within five feet of your car, let alone touch it! Remember, we decided to give the appearance that nothing has changed about us so stop whining about it. I HAVE to drive your car!"
Sydney was indignant. She never whined. Nigel was the whiner in their team. Just because she possessed his body didn't mean she had acquired his other traits as well. But she bit her lip and put such thoughts aside - for now. They had far more important things to worry about than who should be driving HER car.
"We need to make plans for breaking into the museum and getting that statue back into our hands! We have to get out of this crazy situation! It's awful!"
Nigel glanced out of the corners at his now gorgeous eyes at Syd.
"Are you serious? I thought you were just blowing off some steam back there! And just what do you mean it has been awful being me? Being you is no walk in the park, you know!" Nigel certainly wasn't looking forward to staying in Sydney's body long enough to suffer through another one of her periods again.
Sydney ignored Nigel's whining comments. They just confirmed who the complainer was between the two of them, and it wasn't her despite the fact that the words came out of her own mouth!
"I'm deadly serious, Nigel! Our minds were switched around when we last touched that thing, and obviously just being near it isn't going to make the idol work it's magic in reverse. Look, it's not a big deal. We have been retrieving relics for years. Now we are just retrieving one back for a second time. So what's the difference?"
This was too much for Nigel. He pulled the car over. "What's the difference? I'll tell you what's the difference, Sydney – try ten years in a most unpleasant prison cell if we are caught!"
"In some places we would have been shot on sight or had a hand cut off, if caught stealing, Nigel, remember that!
He knew the dangers of a Relic hunt as well as Sydney after years of accompanying her on several dozen missions. "True, but at least we had the law on our side in most of those countries, Syd! In addition, we've never robbed one of the most well guarded museums in the world."
"None of that really matters anyway, since I don't plan on being caught! What else are we supposed to do? Live the rest of our lives as each other?"
Nigel paused. It flashed across his mind - not for the first time - that there were worse things than being the beautiful, famous Sydney Fox for the rest of his life if they failed to reverse the curse of the idol. That was hardly fair to Sydney, however. His own body was in good shape, but it was hardly a challenge for a Mr. Universe contest, whereas Sydney's body could give any beauty contestant a run for the crown!
"Let's think about it for a moment, Sydney. Look, there is no guarantee that the bloody statue would swap us back even if we got our hands on it. Is there?"
Sydney had to nod.
"So, lets give it a little more time, maybe Ram will eventually do it? He knows we want to switch back, after all."
"I'll think about it. But I am going to study the security and work up a plan in case that hunk of junk doesn't follow through and that's final!" She crossed her arms and stared out the window.
Nigel was sure he could never have put such a determined look on his own face when he had been inside that body. He started the car again and drove back onto the road
When they got back to the office, Nigel, the apparent Sydney Fox, went into 'her' office and Karen took the opportunity to plop down on Nigel's lap. She ran her fingers through 'his' hair. She wasn't sure why she found him so sexy these days but whatever it was he was doing to her, Karen hoped he kept doing it!
"God, men are so easily aroused," thought Sydney, as her male body responded to Karen's presence. Without thinking, she reached around the girl and held her firmly about the waist. As Syd started to move one of 'his' hands higher, the phone rang and Karen cursed under her breath. She reluctantly got up and picked up the phone on her desk. It was of course a caller for Professor Fox, and she transferred it.
"Sydney! James Willows here. We need help in Crete! Treasure hunters from all over the world have descended on us like vultures. A clue to the lost scepter and crown of King Minos has come to light. Most of these so- called relic hunters are incompetent or troublemakers. We need someone who can make sense of all this and I thought of you first. We need you… and bring your assistant - what's his name - "
"Nigel Bailey!" gritted 'Sydney Fox'. He was getting tired of people forgetting who he really was. After all, he was having a tough enough time pretending to be Sydney as it was, without anyone apparently being able to remember his real name!
"Oh, yes, Niles Navy- "
"Nigel Bayweed! I mean Bailey! Nigel Bailey."
'Great. Now I'm doing!' Nigel thought.
"Never mind that, Sydney! We need you here at once! Tickets for the Concord will be ready for you. It leaves in two hours and a temporary diplomatic passport has been arranged so you won't need to go through most of the security checks. Your assistant can follow on the next regular flight."
Nigel had to laugh at this. He couldn't resist agreeing as Sydney had done this to him on more than one occasion.
In Sydney's bold yet feminine handwriting, Nigel took down the information.
"Oh Nigel!" he called, opening the door. He narrowed his eyes. Was it his imagination or had Sydney and Karen stared at each other as if they were keeping a secret from him…?
Nigel laughed as Sydney hit the roof about the plane schedules. At first she insisted that she take the Concorde, but saner thoughts prevailed after Nigel pointed out to her that the passport wouldn't get 'Nigel Bailey' far since it was made out in the name of Sydney Fox! Sydney growled, but she had to agree to go. She was all excited about the hunt - as usual. If it meant flying in the CARGO BAY, she would do it to rescue a relic and have an adventure!
With less than two hours till boarding the Concorde, Nigel broke all speed laws going to Syd's home, packing for the trip, and then driving to the airport. The cops knew better than to flag down the famous Professor Fox. They could always pull her over and allow her to talk her way out of a ticket when she was returning from a hunt. Instead, they pulled up next to her and signaled her to follow them. The police proceeded to give her an escort into the airport, saving Nigel a lot of time.
'This is the way to start a hunt…' Nigel thought as he was escorted through the crowd by a big, friendly policeman and placed at the beginning of the line to get Sydney's passport.
"Thank you so much, Officer!" Nigel said with Sydney's sexiest voice. Another officer brought along the luggage and received another happy thank you from the gorgeous Sydney Fox. Their day couldn't get better after seeing the smile on her beautiful face!
Nigel enjoyed the attention the passport gave him. It enabled him to swiftly board the Concorde as the beautiful Sydney Fox. He sat down in his assigned seat and crossed his sexy legs as he got comfortable, much to the pleasure of his fellow passenger, a French man, in the other seat. He sat back and relaxed. God, was this ever the way to travel. First class! And did they ever roll out the red carpet for him - or rather for Sydney. Well, he was Sydney for now and he might as well enjoy the benefits of being her while it lasted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile the real Sydney was grumping about traveling tourist on the night owl flight to her secretary turned girlfriend.
"Never mind, lover, that flight just gives us more time to spend with each other! And in case you forgot, we are all alone for the rest of the day now that the boss lady is on her way!" purred Karen.
Before Sydney could reply, Karen had pulled them both over to the couch and began to remove their clothing. Sydney occupied a male body and she was putty in Karen's skilled hands!
Their activity caused Syd to be late in getting to the airport so she had to speed up while driving. Much to her annoyance, she was pulled over by the law. The officers ignored her sexiest smile and gave her a ticket! She had never gotten actual ticket before. It was an experience she wished she had avoided. The good news was that the ticket was written out in Nigel's name, and he would likely be the one to go to driving school, not her!
After a second flight from Paris to Athens, several officials of the Greek government and Sydney's old friend James Willows met the apparent Professor Fox at the airport. They were very attentive to the beautiful woman Nigel appeared to be, going so far as to kiss his hand instead of shaking it as Nigel had expected. He had only dealt with American men so far and had forgotten how aggressive European men could get.
During the limousine drive, Nigel was filled in on further developments. Out of the corner of his sharp eyes, Nigel caught a movement on the side of the road as they approached a turn in the road, and he spotted a glint of steel reflected in the moonlight. He flew over the front seat and wrenched the wheel over to the far right, away from the apparent ambush.
"What the hell! " said Willows as the car lurched into a ditch. A rocket whizzed by where they would have been had Nigel failed to act so swiftly. In a flash, Nigel was out of the car and he catapulted himself off the roof of the limo on top of the would be assassins. Using Sydney's skilled reflexes and trained body instincts, he soon knocked their heads together.
"I recognize these two assassins. They are members of the Mad Hungarian Gang!" swore Spiro, the head of the Greek police later when the two men were turned over to the authorities. "Our thanks, Miss Fox. Let me say it is privilege and a pleasure to welcome such a distinguished guest to our humble island. As for these thugs…" he turned to a sergeant and continued, "Take this men to the prison camp over the hill."
"But sir, we have no prison camp – oh, yes, now I remember." He winked. "The one by the cemetery?"
"Exactly!"
"Then see to it at once!"
"Thank goodness those assassins are going to be taken care of." Nigel said to James. "Now we can get back to business."` They got back inside the spacious limo and Nigel pored over the clues. What did they all mean? It was somewhere in the labyrinth – that much was certain. But the labyrinth had been well explored and documented over centuries. There had to be something more. The clues indicated there WAS more. But what could it be? He tossed his long hair away from his ear and called Sydney on her cell phone. After her grumbling about being squashed in-between a smelly kid and an old man with bad breath, she listened to all the pertinent data Nigel gave her.
"What if there are TWO labyrinths, Nigel? Move that hand or lose it, kid! Sorry about that, Nigel, but that kid is really a pest. What if the labyrinth we think know may have only been used in public ceremonies to throw off the curious among the populace while the real one was located nearby in relative obscurity. Look, reread the myths of Adriana of Minos, Theseus, and the Minotaur, and I will do the same on the connecting flight. There may be a clue hidden in one or more of the ancient myths!"
"But don't forget, Syd… ah, 'Nigel', we found what you thought was the Labyrinth on the mainland, remember - where the outcasts hid."
"I've been thinking of that Nigel - I mean Sydney," she added in case anyone was listening. "What is more natural than for a people to copy their conquerors - it has happened throughout the ages, Israelites with the Egyptians, and of course the people conquered by the Romans tried to be more Roman than the Romans were! So the Athens could well have made their own Labyrinth!"
"My god, you may be right!" He looked at something that had been troubling him. "The map of the sacred cave of Idaen on the southern slope of Mount Ida has some interesting anomalies."
"Good thinking, Ni - Professor Fox. It is almost in the exact center or the heart of the Island. It's definitely worth looking into!"
Never had Nigel felt so alive. If Sydney had been there, he could have kissed him- her! Is this what Sydney felt like when the hunt goes well? What a high!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On arrival in Athens, Sydney learned from her excited guide how the beautiful Professor Fox had saved them all from assassination! It was all the man could talk about during the ride. She looked on Nigel with amazement. He was doing as well with her body as she could have done. Of course, she knew Nigel was helpful in a crisis or she wouldn't have had him tag a long with her on her prior adventures the past few years. She made her way through the half dozen men trying to get the attention of her former body and pulled Nigel into a private room where they could go over the maps and other clues. They compared notes on Grecian mythology and concluded they were of little help in confirming the presence of a second, original labyrinth.
James Willows came through with the final clue needed, a geological map which indicated a second, nearly identical series of caves about a mile away from the underground structure assumed to have been the basis of the myths for so many centuries.
Sydney and Nigel left to explore the new site with two tough, well armed solders to protect them from either any associates of the assassins or any other relic hunters that might be following them. They began to explore the sacred caves, untouched by human feet for millennia. The soldiers were uneasy.
"The Gods may sleep, but they are still here!" The sergeant said simply when asked if anything was wrong by an observant Sydney.
Sydney was about to respond by saying something about there being no such things as gods when she remembered that she wasn't even in her own body!
Far away, Ram was remembering when he had been in Greece over three thousand years ago. The women of that island had been real babes! And so were some of the men by the time he had left the country. Now, what should he do about Sydney and Nigel?
Ram laughed as inspiration struck and a wicked little plan began to form. Yes, that just might be the answer! He laughed again!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two adventurers and the two soldiers explored the cave. At Sydney's suggestion, one of the guards trailed out string from a big ball of nylon string behind them to facilitate their return to the cave entrance. After half an hour of twists and turns they found nothing but empty caverns, just what one would expect from a series of caves in the area, yet something was NOT right.
Sydney's polarized sunglasses fell off the top of his hair back over his eyes and Nigel impatiently pushed his currently long hair away from his eyes.
"My GOD! " Nigel exclaimed with Sydney's matchless voice as he peered out of the sunglasses which fell across the bridge of his pert little nose.
"What is it? Do you see something?" asked Sydney, hoping for a break in the hunt.
For an answer, Nigel handed her the sunglasses. She put them on despite the snickers of the guards at the sight of the apparently male Sydney placing feminine styled glasses on Nigel's male face.
Sydney could see an archway cut into the rock. Above it, and on it was a drawing of a head of a bull.
"The royal sign of the Minotaur!"
Soon Sydney had figured out how the door framed by the archway door was opened - you jumped over the bull's head and touched the head carved out above the door. Sydney was irritated. She couldn't do it with her clumsy male body. Wearing what Sydney thought was a triumphant smirk, Nigel, using Sydney's athletic body, did the leap. The door creaked open for the first time in an eon. They cautiously proceeded inside the long lost, true labyrinth!
They explored the dusty interior for over an hour until they came across an ancient inscription carved into a wall. Nigel was able to translate the writing. It gave them clues to the maze's key and that helped Sydney discover the way to an underground throne room. The powerful lights from their lanterns lit up the gloom in a room which may not have been illuminated for thousands of years. There was a throne, of course, and on top of the seat were a scepter and a crown. They ran up. A puzzled Sydney noticed that there was no sign of dust or cobwebs, and she decided to leave the ancient symbols of royalty alone until she could determine if it was safe to retrieve them.
Nigel also paused as some sort of sixth sense warned him of danger. Perhaps it was the famed feminine intuition warning him in his currently female state, it seemed a creditable possibility.
The two explorers heard the too familiar sound of a bolt sliding into place in a rifle. The sergeant and the other soldier guarding them were grinning at them with a look of evil in their eyes and rifle barrels pointing at them both.
"The Mad Hungarian Gang will give up a cool million dollars for those 'relics' of yours. Thank you for finding them for us. Now, hand them over!"
"You mean you would give up your country's National treasures for tainted money?" asked Sydney.
He nodded. "Ain't it the truth! Too bad about the two of you - we appreciate you finding it, little fellow, and the lady is beautiful, but business is business…" He brought up his gun. The relics, please.
"No." Sydney said, stepping in front of Nigel in case they shot him. "If you want them so bad, then you can get them yourselves. We won't have any part of this grave robbing scheme."
"Fine, you will still get a bullet either way."
Both men each picked up one of the ancient relics and began to move back out of the throne. They raised their rifles and were about to shoot when lightning arced somehow through the underground cavern and struck the metal barrels of the criminal's weapons. They fell to the floor, dead. Steam rose from the fried bodies.
Sydney was about to replace the relics on the throne when they heard the sound of another gun being readied for firing.
A man they had never seen before stood in the archway with another rifle pointed at them. He held up a handful of string. "Nice of you to leave such simple directions to the treasure, my friends. I expected these two to have trouble with someone with your reputation, Miss Fox, so I followed you. I didn't expect you to murder my men, however."
"We didn't do any such thing!" Nigel said to the man.
"That's right, Sydney!" the real Sydney added as she moved into a better position to make a move.
But the man made the usual mistake of thinking Sydney was just a beautiful sexy woman. He watched the male Sydney and kept his weapon aimed at her chest. He only took his gaze away from the beautiful woman for a second at most, but that was all the time Nigel needed. The stranger was totally surprised to see 'the woman' sailing through the air. The thief had his chest kicked by an expert and down he went with the breath knocked from his body. He managed to get back to his feet but 'Sydney' karate chopped his neck and he went down, out like a light. The real Sydney ran forward and grabbed the fallen weapon.
"Good work, Nigel, I am glad to see I haven't lost my touch, even with you operating the 'equipment'!"
They heard an apologetic cough behind them. 'Oh no', they thought – 'not some more of the gang of Mad Hungarians?' They turned to face yet another thief and gasped. Standing before them, was a giant - a giant with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
"Yes, I am the Minotaur! I've been looking after the labyrinth for many long, dull years." He held up what looked to be a lamb skin cloth. "It's a damned hard place to keep clean. Very dusty, and full of spiders! By Zeus do I hate Spiders! They're nasty, creepy, crawling things, always making more work for me. Athena always had a grudge against me and Crete."
"My god!"
The bullheaded man-beast shook his huge head regretfully. "I wish! No, I am just a monster." He sighed. "Some beings have all the luck! But me, I get stuck with this head on a human body! "
They couldn't believe their senses! Sydney and Nigel looked at each other. A monster who served as a cave maid, who whined about his looks and his job! Unbelievable! Who could believe this?
The Minotaur believed he was more than a myth, that much was certain! "Would you mind telling me what's happened in the last eight hundred years? I am a little behind on the news of the day. Who came out on top, the Christians or the Moslems? "
"Why the last eight hundred?"
"Oh, some other people came in here about 800 years ago and we had a nice long talk. Come on be a sport, fill me in. "
So Nigel did. The Minotaur nodded sagely from time to time. "How little human nature changes. It's still the same old story, fighting others for love and glory or gold and greed."
Nigel and Sydney looked at each other. He may be a monster but the Minotaur was rather wise.
The Minotaur stretched his bulging muscles on his ten-foot frame as he surveyed the throne room.
"Well it's been really pleasant meeting the both of you. I do love company. Oh well, a job is a job." Without warning, he broke the neck of the treacherous third thief that was just regaining consciousness. "The big guy on the right is a virgin so the rules say I can eat him later. It will be a nice to have a meal. I can't eat the rest of you. I hate that rule, but rules are rules, otherwise we would just be savages, wouldn't we? I am afraid I have to kill you both as well. Too bad neither one of you are virgins." He looked Sydney's body over with pleasure and Nigel shivered under the spotlight. "I am not surprised you are no longer one, my dear, you are absolutely good enough to eat. Oops! I didn't mean that the way it sounded. This language you speak has many interesting multiple meanings!" He looked at Nigel's body. "You, I am a bit surprised at. Women find that scrawny little body of yours appealing?" The Minotaur shrugged his massive shoulders which could outfit a dozen Chicago Bears linebackers.
"You're going to kill us?" said Sydney, surprised.
"But I thought you liked us?" said Nigel.
"I do. I like you both very much! You are both nice, intelligent, well mannered, well-educated people. What's not to like, I ask you? No, it's just part of my job here to protect the crown and scepter. You wouldn't want to put a monster out of work would you?"
"But we didn't take the scepter. They did!" Nigel pointed to the three dead men.
"You led them here, so I have to kill you. The details are unimportant."
Both Nigel and Sydney thought they were caught up in a nightmare. Ram was a lamb next to this giant monster! As their host advanced, Sydney brought up one of the abandoned rifles, but it wouldn't fire.
The Minotaur shook his head. "Naughty, Naughty - no cheating. That's the rules!"
Nigel whipped out Sydney's crossbow from his purse and fired. It hit the Minotaur right in the chest.
"Hey, that almost hurt!" He advanced on them again. Desperately, Sydney dodged behind the throne. Inspiration and desperation helped her devise a plan.
"Nigel, remember how we got in?"
"Right!" Nigel gathered Sydney's body and leaped over the Minotaur's horns. Grabbing them, he twisted behind the creature and kicked the Minotaur in the back. The monster was shoved into the throne.
"Good move!" the monster said admiringly. Sydney threw her shirt over the face of the monster and ran past him out of the throne room, followed closely behind by Nigel. The minotaur stood up and began to advance on the lovely woman and the small man again, but again Nigel took to the air. As he did so, Syd called out, "Take the bull by the horns!"
Nigel did so by hitting the symbol of the creature above the archway and the door came sliding back down. Gravity made it fall a lot faster than it had withdrawn into the ceiling, and the two adventurers heaved sighs of relief.
Nigel panted from his exertions and Sydney couldn't help but notice the rise and fall of her curvaceous former chest again. Wow! Her old body was really something else. And currently someone else! Then Sydney couldn't help but think of Karen's body somehow, and blushed.
"Lets go home, Nigel!"
"Sure, Syd. I just wish we had been successful in getting the relics out of the Throne room …
"I didn't want to brag, but while I was hiding behind the throne coming up with the plan, I figured I might as well take the relics if we were going to die for them anyway!
Nigel looked at the door blocking the Minotaur with relief. "For a monster, he was really a rather good fellow, don't you think, Sydney!"
Sydney grinned. It was true in a weird way. "Myths come to life. It's the stuff which dreams …" She paused and they stared at the sturdy door that kept otherwise certain death away. "… and nightmares are made from." Nigel sighed. What a day!
Sydney smiled. She handed the two ancient artifacts over to Nigel, and they began the long trek back to civilization!
To be continued soon!
By Eric, and Caleb Jones
On the way back from the disappointing trip to the museum Sydney grumbled about the inattentive and rough way that Nigel was driving her precious car. Nigel sighed with exasperation, his pert bosom heaving ever so slightly underneath his snug bra and blouse. With his eyes on the road, he failed to notice Sydney eyeing his current body with conflicting feelings of envy and rising sexual interest. Not for the first time had Sydney noticed how sexy her breasts were! Her skin was so soft and tanned! Looking at herself in a mirror hardly compared to her recent opportunity to see her sensuous body living and breathing next to her. Of course, her male hormones may have had an influence on her growing attentiveness to the female form, Sydney reasoned. At least the hormones in Nigel's body seemed a likely explanation for her sudden desire to touch her own body and make passionate love to it!
When she no longer could look at her own reflection in a mirror and see a beautiful woman in the mirror whenever she wished, she had begun to realize how much she had lost in this strange metaphysical mishap. She had loved being a woman! "Damn that Ram!" she thought.
Damn!" she said again, as Nigel swerved to avoid a dog crossing the street.
"We've been though this before, Sydney. You never let me or ninety-nine percent of the world get within five feet of your car, let alone touch it! Remember, we decided to give the appearance that nothing has changed about us so stop whining about it. I HAVE to drive your car!"
Sydney was indignant. She never whined. Nigel was the whiner in their team. Just because she possessed his body didn't mean she had acquired his other traits as well. But she bit her lip and put such thoughts aside - for now. They had far more important things to worry about than who should be driving HER car.
"We need to make plans for breaking into the museum and getting that statue back into our hands! We have to get out of this crazy situation! It's awful!"
Nigel glanced out of the corners at his now gorgeous eyes at Syd.
"Are you serious? I thought you were just blowing off some steam back there! And just what do you mean it has been awful being me? Being you is no walk in the park, you know!" Nigel certainly wasn't looking forward to staying in Sydney's body long enough to suffer through another one of her periods again.
Sydney ignored Nigel's whining comments. They just confirmed who the complainer was between the two of them, and it wasn't her despite the fact that the words came out of her own mouth!
"I'm deadly serious, Nigel! Our minds were switched around when we last touched that thing, and obviously just being near it isn't going to make the idol work it's magic in reverse. Look, it's not a big deal. We have been retrieving relics for years. Now we are just retrieving one back for a second time. So what's the difference?"
This was too much for Nigel. He pulled the car over. "What's the difference? I'll tell you what's the difference, Sydney – try ten years in a most unpleasant prison cell if we are caught!"
"In some places we would have been shot on sight or had a hand cut off, if caught stealing, Nigel, remember that!
He knew the dangers of a Relic hunt as well as Sydney after years of accompanying her on several dozen missions. "True, but at least we had the law on our side in most of those countries, Syd! In addition, we've never robbed one of the most well guarded museums in the world."
"None of that really matters anyway, since I don't plan on being caught! What else are we supposed to do? Live the rest of our lives as each other?"
Nigel paused. It flashed across his mind - not for the first time - that there were worse things than being the beautiful, famous Sydney Fox for the rest of his life if they failed to reverse the curse of the idol. That was hardly fair to Sydney, however. His own body was in good shape, but it was hardly a challenge for a Mr. Universe contest, whereas Sydney's body could give any beauty contestant a run for the crown!
"Let's think about it for a moment, Sydney. Look, there is no guarantee that the bloody statue would swap us back even if we got our hands on it. Is there?"
Sydney had to nod.
"So, lets give it a little more time, maybe Ram will eventually do it? He knows we want to switch back, after all."
"I'll think about it. But I am going to study the security and work up a plan in case that hunk of junk doesn't follow through and that's final!" She crossed her arms and stared out the window.
Nigel was sure he could never have put such a determined look on his own face when he had been inside that body. He started the car again and drove back onto the road
When they got back to the office, Nigel, the apparent Sydney Fox, went into 'her' office and Karen took the opportunity to plop down on Nigel's lap. She ran her fingers through 'his' hair. She wasn't sure why she found him so sexy these days but whatever it was he was doing to her, Karen hoped he kept doing it!
"God, men are so easily aroused," thought Sydney, as her male body responded to Karen's presence. Without thinking, she reached around the girl and held her firmly about the waist. As Syd started to move one of 'his' hands higher, the phone rang and Karen cursed under her breath. She reluctantly got up and picked up the phone on her desk. It was of course a caller for Professor Fox, and she transferred it.
"Sydney! James Willows here. We need help in Crete! Treasure hunters from all over the world have descended on us like vultures. A clue to the lost scepter and crown of King Minos has come to light. Most of these so- called relic hunters are incompetent or troublemakers. We need someone who can make sense of all this and I thought of you first. We need you… and bring your assistant - what's his name - "
"Nigel Bailey!" gritted 'Sydney Fox'. He was getting tired of people forgetting who he really was. After all, he was having a tough enough time pretending to be Sydney as it was, without anyone apparently being able to remember his real name!
"Oh, yes, Niles Navy- "
"Nigel Bayweed! I mean Bailey! Nigel Bailey."
'Great. Now I'm doing!' Nigel thought.
"Never mind that, Sydney! We need you here at once! Tickets for the Concord will be ready for you. It leaves in two hours and a temporary diplomatic passport has been arranged so you won't need to go through most of the security checks. Your assistant can follow on the next regular flight."
Nigel had to laugh at this. He couldn't resist agreeing as Sydney had done this to him on more than one occasion.
In Sydney's bold yet feminine handwriting, Nigel took down the information.
"Oh Nigel!" he called, opening the door. He narrowed his eyes. Was it his imagination or had Sydney and Karen stared at each other as if they were keeping a secret from him…?
Nigel laughed as Sydney hit the roof about the plane schedules. At first she insisted that she take the Concorde, but saner thoughts prevailed after Nigel pointed out to her that the passport wouldn't get 'Nigel Bailey' far since it was made out in the name of Sydney Fox! Sydney growled, but she had to agree to go. She was all excited about the hunt - as usual. If it meant flying in the CARGO BAY, she would do it to rescue a relic and have an adventure!
With less than two hours till boarding the Concorde, Nigel broke all speed laws going to Syd's home, packing for the trip, and then driving to the airport. The cops knew better than to flag down the famous Professor Fox. They could always pull her over and allow her to talk her way out of a ticket when she was returning from a hunt. Instead, they pulled up next to her and signaled her to follow them. The police proceeded to give her an escort into the airport, saving Nigel a lot of time.
'This is the way to start a hunt…' Nigel thought as he was escorted through the crowd by a big, friendly policeman and placed at the beginning of the line to get Sydney's passport.
"Thank you so much, Officer!" Nigel said with Sydney's sexiest voice. Another officer brought along the luggage and received another happy thank you from the gorgeous Sydney Fox. Their day couldn't get better after seeing the smile on her beautiful face!
Nigel enjoyed the attention the passport gave him. It enabled him to swiftly board the Concorde as the beautiful Sydney Fox. He sat down in his assigned seat and crossed his sexy legs as he got comfortable, much to the pleasure of his fellow passenger, a French man, in the other seat. He sat back and relaxed. God, was this ever the way to travel. First class! And did they ever roll out the red carpet for him - or rather for Sydney. Well, he was Sydney for now and he might as well enjoy the benefits of being her while it lasted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile the real Sydney was grumping about traveling tourist on the night owl flight to her secretary turned girlfriend.
"Never mind, lover, that flight just gives us more time to spend with each other! And in case you forgot, we are all alone for the rest of the day now that the boss lady is on her way!" purred Karen.
Before Sydney could reply, Karen had pulled them both over to the couch and began to remove their clothing. Sydney occupied a male body and she was putty in Karen's skilled hands!
Their activity caused Syd to be late in getting to the airport so she had to speed up while driving. Much to her annoyance, she was pulled over by the law. The officers ignored her sexiest smile and gave her a ticket! She had never gotten actual ticket before. It was an experience she wished she had avoided. The good news was that the ticket was written out in Nigel's name, and he would likely be the one to go to driving school, not her!
After a second flight from Paris to Athens, several officials of the Greek government and Sydney's old friend James Willows met the apparent Professor Fox at the airport. They were very attentive to the beautiful woman Nigel appeared to be, going so far as to kiss his hand instead of shaking it as Nigel had expected. He had only dealt with American men so far and had forgotten how aggressive European men could get.
During the limousine drive, Nigel was filled in on further developments. Out of the corner of his sharp eyes, Nigel caught a movement on the side of the road as they approached a turn in the road, and he spotted a glint of steel reflected in the moonlight. He flew over the front seat and wrenched the wheel over to the far right, away from the apparent ambush.
"What the hell! " said Willows as the car lurched into a ditch. A rocket whizzed by where they would have been had Nigel failed to act so swiftly. In a flash, Nigel was out of the car and he catapulted himself off the roof of the limo on top of the would be assassins. Using Sydney's skilled reflexes and trained body instincts, he soon knocked their heads together.
"I recognize these two assassins. They are members of the Mad Hungarian Gang!" swore Spiro, the head of the Greek police later when the two men were turned over to the authorities. "Our thanks, Miss Fox. Let me say it is privilege and a pleasure to welcome such a distinguished guest to our humble island. As for these thugs…" he turned to a sergeant and continued, "Take this men to the prison camp over the hill."
"But sir, we have no prison camp – oh, yes, now I remember." He winked. "The one by the cemetery?"
"Exactly!"
"Then see to it at once!"
"Thank goodness those assassins are going to be taken care of." Nigel said to James. "Now we can get back to business."` They got back inside the spacious limo and Nigel pored over the clues. What did they all mean? It was somewhere in the labyrinth – that much was certain. But the labyrinth had been well explored and documented over centuries. There had to be something more. The clues indicated there WAS more. But what could it be? He tossed his long hair away from his ear and called Sydney on her cell phone. After her grumbling about being squashed in-between a smelly kid and an old man with bad breath, she listened to all the pertinent data Nigel gave her.
"What if there are TWO labyrinths, Nigel? Move that hand or lose it, kid! Sorry about that, Nigel, but that kid is really a pest. What if the labyrinth we think know may have only been used in public ceremonies to throw off the curious among the populace while the real one was located nearby in relative obscurity. Look, reread the myths of Adriana of Minos, Theseus, and the Minotaur, and I will do the same on the connecting flight. There may be a clue hidden in one or more of the ancient myths!"
"But don't forget, Syd… ah, 'Nigel', we found what you thought was the Labyrinth on the mainland, remember - where the outcasts hid."
"I've been thinking of that Nigel - I mean Sydney," she added in case anyone was listening. "What is more natural than for a people to copy their conquerors - it has happened throughout the ages, Israelites with the Egyptians, and of course the people conquered by the Romans tried to be more Roman than the Romans were! So the Athens could well have made their own Labyrinth!"
"My god, you may be right!" He looked at something that had been troubling him. "The map of the sacred cave of Idaen on the southern slope of Mount Ida has some interesting anomalies."
"Good thinking, Ni - Professor Fox. It is almost in the exact center or the heart of the Island. It's definitely worth looking into!"
Never had Nigel felt so alive. If Sydney had been there, he could have kissed him- her! Is this what Sydney felt like when the hunt goes well? What a high!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On arrival in Athens, Sydney learned from her excited guide how the beautiful Professor Fox had saved them all from assassination! It was all the man could talk about during the ride. She looked on Nigel with amazement. He was doing as well with her body as she could have done. Of course, she knew Nigel was helpful in a crisis or she wouldn't have had him tag a long with her on her prior adventures the past few years. She made her way through the half dozen men trying to get the attention of her former body and pulled Nigel into a private room where they could go over the maps and other clues. They compared notes on Grecian mythology and concluded they were of little help in confirming the presence of a second, original labyrinth.
James Willows came through with the final clue needed, a geological map which indicated a second, nearly identical series of caves about a mile away from the underground structure assumed to have been the basis of the myths for so many centuries.
Sydney and Nigel left to explore the new site with two tough, well armed solders to protect them from either any associates of the assassins or any other relic hunters that might be following them. They began to explore the sacred caves, untouched by human feet for millennia. The soldiers were uneasy.
"The Gods may sleep, but they are still here!" The sergeant said simply when asked if anything was wrong by an observant Sydney.
Sydney was about to respond by saying something about there being no such things as gods when she remembered that she wasn't even in her own body!
Far away, Ram was remembering when he had been in Greece over three thousand years ago. The women of that island had been real babes! And so were some of the men by the time he had left the country. Now, what should he do about Sydney and Nigel?
Ram laughed as inspiration struck and a wicked little plan began to form. Yes, that just might be the answer! He laughed again!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two adventurers and the two soldiers explored the cave. At Sydney's suggestion, one of the guards trailed out string from a big ball of nylon string behind them to facilitate their return to the cave entrance. After half an hour of twists and turns they found nothing but empty caverns, just what one would expect from a series of caves in the area, yet something was NOT right.
Sydney's polarized sunglasses fell off the top of his hair back over his eyes and Nigel impatiently pushed his currently long hair away from his eyes.
"My GOD! " Nigel exclaimed with Sydney's matchless voice as he peered out of the sunglasses which fell across the bridge of his pert little nose.
"What is it? Do you see something?" asked Sydney, hoping for a break in the hunt.
For an answer, Nigel handed her the sunglasses. She put them on despite the snickers of the guards at the sight of the apparently male Sydney placing feminine styled glasses on Nigel's male face.
Sydney could see an archway cut into the rock. Above it, and on it was a drawing of a head of a bull.
"The royal sign of the Minotaur!"
Soon Sydney had figured out how the door framed by the archway door was opened - you jumped over the bull's head and touched the head carved out above the door. Sydney was irritated. She couldn't do it with her clumsy male body. Wearing what Sydney thought was a triumphant smirk, Nigel, using Sydney's athletic body, did the leap. The door creaked open for the first time in an eon. They cautiously proceeded inside the long lost, true labyrinth!
They explored the dusty interior for over an hour until they came across an ancient inscription carved into a wall. Nigel was able to translate the writing. It gave them clues to the maze's key and that helped Sydney discover the way to an underground throne room. The powerful lights from their lanterns lit up the gloom in a room which may not have been illuminated for thousands of years. There was a throne, of course, and on top of the seat were a scepter and a crown. They ran up. A puzzled Sydney noticed that there was no sign of dust or cobwebs, and she decided to leave the ancient symbols of royalty alone until she could determine if it was safe to retrieve them.
Nigel also paused as some sort of sixth sense warned him of danger. Perhaps it was the famed feminine intuition warning him in his currently female state, it seemed a creditable possibility.
The two explorers heard the too familiar sound of a bolt sliding into place in a rifle. The sergeant and the other soldier guarding them were grinning at them with a look of evil in their eyes and rifle barrels pointing at them both.
"The Mad Hungarian Gang will give up a cool million dollars for those 'relics' of yours. Thank you for finding them for us. Now, hand them over!"
"You mean you would give up your country's National treasures for tainted money?" asked Sydney.
He nodded. "Ain't it the truth! Too bad about the two of you - we appreciate you finding it, little fellow, and the lady is beautiful, but business is business…" He brought up his gun. The relics, please.
"No." Sydney said, stepping in front of Nigel in case they shot him. "If you want them so bad, then you can get them yourselves. We won't have any part of this grave robbing scheme."
"Fine, you will still get a bullet either way."
Both men each picked up one of the ancient relics and began to move back out of the throne. They raised their rifles and were about to shoot when lightning arced somehow through the underground cavern and struck the metal barrels of the criminal's weapons. They fell to the floor, dead. Steam rose from the fried bodies.
Sydney was about to replace the relics on the throne when they heard the sound of another gun being readied for firing.
A man they had never seen before stood in the archway with another rifle pointed at them. He held up a handful of string. "Nice of you to leave such simple directions to the treasure, my friends. I expected these two to have trouble with someone with your reputation, Miss Fox, so I followed you. I didn't expect you to murder my men, however."
"We didn't do any such thing!" Nigel said to the man.
"That's right, Sydney!" the real Sydney added as she moved into a better position to make a move.
But the man made the usual mistake of thinking Sydney was just a beautiful sexy woman. He watched the male Sydney and kept his weapon aimed at her chest. He only took his gaze away from the beautiful woman for a second at most, but that was all the time Nigel needed. The stranger was totally surprised to see 'the woman' sailing through the air. The thief had his chest kicked by an expert and down he went with the breath knocked from his body. He managed to get back to his feet but 'Sydney' karate chopped his neck and he went down, out like a light. The real Sydney ran forward and grabbed the fallen weapon.
"Good work, Nigel, I am glad to see I haven't lost my touch, even with you operating the 'equipment'!"
They heard an apologetic cough behind them. 'Oh no', they thought – 'not some more of the gang of Mad Hungarians?' They turned to face yet another thief and gasped. Standing before them, was a giant - a giant with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
"Yes, I am the Minotaur! I've been looking after the labyrinth for many long, dull years." He held up what looked to be a lamb skin cloth. "It's a damned hard place to keep clean. Very dusty, and full of spiders! By Zeus do I hate Spiders! They're nasty, creepy, crawling things, always making more work for me. Athena always had a grudge against me and Crete."
"My god!"
The bullheaded man-beast shook his huge head regretfully. "I wish! No, I am just a monster." He sighed. "Some beings have all the luck! But me, I get stuck with this head on a human body! "
They couldn't believe their senses! Sydney and Nigel looked at each other. A monster who served as a cave maid, who whined about his looks and his job! Unbelievable! Who could believe this?
The Minotaur believed he was more than a myth, that much was certain! "Would you mind telling me what's happened in the last eight hundred years? I am a little behind on the news of the day. Who came out on top, the Christians or the Moslems? "
"Why the last eight hundred?"
"Oh, some other people came in here about 800 years ago and we had a nice long talk. Come on be a sport, fill me in. "
So Nigel did. The Minotaur nodded sagely from time to time. "How little human nature changes. It's still the same old story, fighting others for love and glory or gold and greed."
Nigel and Sydney looked at each other. He may be a monster but the Minotaur was rather wise.
The Minotaur stretched his bulging muscles on his ten-foot frame as he surveyed the throne room.
"Well it's been really pleasant meeting the both of you. I do love company. Oh well, a job is a job." Without warning, he broke the neck of the treacherous third thief that was just regaining consciousness. "The big guy on the right is a virgin so the rules say I can eat him later. It will be a nice to have a meal. I can't eat the rest of you. I hate that rule, but rules are rules, otherwise we would just be savages, wouldn't we? I am afraid I have to kill you both as well. Too bad neither one of you are virgins." He looked Sydney's body over with pleasure and Nigel shivered under the spotlight. "I am not surprised you are no longer one, my dear, you are absolutely good enough to eat. Oops! I didn't mean that the way it sounded. This language you speak has many interesting multiple meanings!" He looked at Nigel's body. "You, I am a bit surprised at. Women find that scrawny little body of yours appealing?" The Minotaur shrugged his massive shoulders which could outfit a dozen Chicago Bears linebackers.
"You're going to kill us?" said Sydney, surprised.
"But I thought you liked us?" said Nigel.
"I do. I like you both very much! You are both nice, intelligent, well mannered, well-educated people. What's not to like, I ask you? No, it's just part of my job here to protect the crown and scepter. You wouldn't want to put a monster out of work would you?"
"But we didn't take the scepter. They did!" Nigel pointed to the three dead men.
"You led them here, so I have to kill you. The details are unimportant."
Both Nigel and Sydney thought they were caught up in a nightmare. Ram was a lamb next to this giant monster! As their host advanced, Sydney brought up one of the abandoned rifles, but it wouldn't fire.
The Minotaur shook his head. "Naughty, Naughty - no cheating. That's the rules!"
Nigel whipped out Sydney's crossbow from his purse and fired. It hit the Minotaur right in the chest.
"Hey, that almost hurt!" He advanced on them again. Desperately, Sydney dodged behind the throne. Inspiration and desperation helped her devise a plan.
"Nigel, remember how we got in?"
"Right!" Nigel gathered Sydney's body and leaped over the Minotaur's horns. Grabbing them, he twisted behind the creature and kicked the Minotaur in the back. The monster was shoved into the throne.
"Good move!" the monster said admiringly. Sydney threw her shirt over the face of the monster and ran past him out of the throne room, followed closely behind by Nigel. The minotaur stood up and began to advance on the lovely woman and the small man again, but again Nigel took to the air. As he did so, Syd called out, "Take the bull by the horns!"
Nigel did so by hitting the symbol of the creature above the archway and the door came sliding back down. Gravity made it fall a lot faster than it had withdrawn into the ceiling, and the two adventurers heaved sighs of relief.
Nigel panted from his exertions and Sydney couldn't help but notice the rise and fall of her curvaceous former chest again. Wow! Her old body was really something else. And currently someone else! Then Sydney couldn't help but think of Karen's body somehow, and blushed.
"Lets go home, Nigel!"
"Sure, Syd. I just wish we had been successful in getting the relics out of the Throne room …
"I didn't want to brag, but while I was hiding behind the throne coming up with the plan, I figured I might as well take the relics if we were going to die for them anyway!
Nigel looked at the door blocking the Minotaur with relief. "For a monster, he was really a rather good fellow, don't you think, Sydney!"
Sydney grinned. It was true in a weird way. "Myths come to life. It's the stuff which dreams …" She paused and they stared at the sturdy door that kept otherwise certain death away. "… and nightmares are made from." Nigel sighed. What a day!
Sydney smiled. She handed the two ancient artifacts over to Nigel, and they began the long trek back to civilization!
To be continued soon!
