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RAAID
unit got the same results as yours...zip!”
    Vennhim’s admission lacked any trace of
embarrassment. Zak studied him a moment without comment. Something
was off. Vennhim was almost casual in the way he admitted that his
team had not only failed so utterly at preventing the theft, but
had also failed to figure out how it happened. This offhanded
manner was out of character for an egotist like Vennhim. He was a
control freak and didn’t like being out maneuvered by anyone. Zak
would have expected the man to show more frustration and resentment
at being outwitted.
    “Both your physical and paranormal security
is first rate.” Zak didn’t mean it as a compliment, it was merely a
fact. “A cockroach couldn’t get into this building without being
detected or setting off some kind of an alarm. You think it was an
inside job?”
    “Inside job?” Vennhim laughed. “Normally I
would, but who? The metal heads make up ninety-five percent of the
work force inside this building, including the entire security
staff with the exception of myself. The other five percent are a
mixture of Aragne and Dwarves, all with high level background
checks and low level security clearances that wouldn’t take them
anywhere near this area.”
    “It had to be magic.” The security guard,
Jonas, had been silently following them around as Zak checked out
the various areas of the building. He now spoke up, excitement in
his voice at the chance to participate. “It is the only logical
explanation for the lack of evidence.”
    “We’ve already been through this,” Vennhim
said. He turned toward Zak, addressing his words to him rather than
the SHIAM. “We’ve found no trace of magic when we checked and you
found nothing just now.”
    Zak switched on the small RAAID unit he held
in his hand and began moving around the room once again as he
considered the possibilities. The scientific name for the device he
held was Residual Atmospheric Atomic Ionization Detector, RAAID for
short. It did exactly what the name implied; it detected residual
ionized atomic particles in the atmosphere.
    Magic was about altering the perceived
reality, either by creating illusion or by actually changing the
physical world in some way. Regardless which method was used, it
involved the reorganization of subatomic particles. The energy
generated during this process inevitably caused the ionization of
the atoms in the surrounding atmosphere.
    “You would expect to find at least some trace
of ionization,” Vennhim continued. “I mean, think about the level
of magic it would have taken to blow past our security without
setting off a single alarm.”
    “A deionization device could have been used
in order to cover it up,” Jonas suggested.
    “Those gadgets are restricted and they are
mega expensive, not to mention difficult to use.” Vennhim stood in
the middle of the room, pivoting with Zak’s movement as he scanned
the room.
    Zak couldn’t decide who was more annoying,
Vennhim or the SHIAM. “You don’t think this theft was pulled off by
a major player?”
    “I didn’t say that,” Vennhim said. “But we’re
most likely talking either a foreign government agency or organized
crime if they are toting that kind of equipment.”
    “You’re forgetting about the Corporations.
There are plenty of organizations out there that would just love to
have some of that SHIAM technology.”
    Vennhim ignored the comment. “How many
wizards are there who have the level of skill it would have taken
to do this?”
    “Well, I still can’t say for sure magic was
used. I’m not getting any readings.”
    “You are an Elf, Mr. Harris,” Jonas said as
he followed Zak around the room for the second time. “Do you,
yourself, detect any traces of magic?”
    “Half-Elf!” Zak said, snapping off the RAAID
unit in frustration. His natural ability to detect magic had failed
to pick up anything concrete as well. Except he had picked up
something...intangible...that he could