Cherry Blossom Snow

Heist Plan

"I'm seven," Mia stated bluntly.

Dalziel smirked slightly and sighed. "I don't know why I expected anything else."

"It doesn't matter that much. Money is just a tool."

"You say that, and yet you called us here to discuss money?"

"Your father's a Prince. Surely, you must be rich."

"Not particularly. When my father renounced his royalty, privileges relating to it were revoked."

"What if we steal the Crown Jewels?" asked Caoimhe.

"That actually just might work," said Mia. "If we can pull it off, we can hold them for ransom. The King will pay anything to get them back."

"Using taxpayer money, of course," said Dalziel.

"It's a means to an end."

"But what if he refuses?"

"They're still worth billions on the black market. Either way, we win."

"And either way, it can't be done," said Dalziel. "They're locked up in the Tower of London, under constant guard."

"Twenty-two soldiers, thirty-eight Beefeaters, twenty wardens, a castle, and a vault. That's all that stands between us and hundreds of priceless artifacts."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It can't be all that difficult. Here's what I know. The Crown Jewels haven't been displayed to the public since the King's Coronation. He closed off general access to the Tower, but thanks to Royal connections, I have been inside and personally seen the Crown Jewels. They're kept locked in shatter-proof glass cases behind solid steel doors. The soldiers include one commissioned officer and six non-commissioned officers, plus fifteen others. They're armed with standard-issue assault rifles tipped with bayonets. The Beefeaters are not armed, but are still professionally trained veteran soldiers who don't need weapons to kill."

"You're even killing my enthusiasm, but I've still got an idea of questionable viability," said Caoimhe. "Someone tell me, what is the shortest distance between two points?"

"A straight line," said Dalziel.

"Wrong answer."

"It's no distance at all," said Devara.

"I don't get it," said Mia.

"Distorting space is easy enough," said Caoimhe. "For this, though, we've got to actually make a hole through it across extra dimensions. It's manageable on a microscopic scale for the purpose of transmitting information, but anything with positive mass presents a serious problem. It's got to be large enough and stable enough to traverse."

"Is there an alternative?" asked Mia.

"There's teleportation," said Devara. "Seraphim does it all the time. But it's an extremely complicated process, and unless you can precisely calculate and configure quantum information at a moment's notice, you'll just die."

"What do you mean?"

"Both you and your destination are moving through space, and you don't just need to move yourself, but also the air occupying the space you are moving to, and this must be done simultaneously. Otherwise, the heat resulting from the vacuum created at your point of origin being filled and the instant displacement at your destination will cause you, your point of origin, and your destination to all catch fire."

"Why don't we ask Seraphim to do it, then?"

"You don't request things of Seraphim unless she asks you to do so," said Susan. "But when she makes a request, you don't refuse. That's just how it is."