Herman and Winnie worked non-stop until the bellows and two hundred feet of hose were complete to their satisfaction. The glass diving helmet was the last thing made and required measuring the volunteer who would descend under the water near the lighthouse to recover the Rubitar. It was a member of King Sigus' private guard, a powerful-looking sergeant named Gunta, who was selected from among those willing to trust the mechanical ability of the hedgehogs.

Gunta stood over six foot tall and as his head was being measured, he found himself the center of interest for young Winnie, who had always been fond of humans. Winnie was in charge of measuring the man's head, chest and torso. Because the small hedgehog barely reached the human's waist, this procedure required a good deal of clambering up and down stepladders with a cloth tape measure. Herman watched in amusement.
"Ya look like a spiky liddle tailor. How goes it?"

"I'm all done Hermie."

"Can I ask a question?" Gunta said.

"Sure, my friend, what'd ya like to know?" Herman offered.

"I understand why you're measuring my head...for the helmet, but why do you need my chest...my waist and such?

"Well, we need ta strap that there helmet tight to yer body or it'd float off, leavin' ya a hundred feet down with no air. That wouldn't be good."

"No, it wouldn't," Gunta gulped. He looked down at Winnie, "I hope you're good at measuring."

Winnie smiled broadly.
"I am, Mister Gunta...plus I measured everything three times."

"You kin trust my liddle bro, sir. He's a very conscientious liddle guy," he patted the human on the shoulder, "you kin go now. Me and Winnie are a gonna go ahead and make yer helmet and straps. They'll all be ready by tomorra morning. We'll be set ta try and git that there rock up shortly after that... as soon as we get to the spot where the Rubitar went down. King Sigus got a barge standin' by. It's gonna get towed to the right spot by a rowboat. We'll go over what yer gonna do on the trip out there. Is that all right by ye, Mister Gunta?"

"Sounds fine," Sergeant Gunta said patting Winnie on the head, "I'll see you after breakfast."

At the outside wall of the smithy shop, two distinct clouds of smoke clung to the ground motionless until Gunta left. As soon as the sergeant was gone, one of the clouds moved swiftly over the manicured gardens and out through a small crack in the western wall of the palace grounds. It headed to a small copse of trees and a few moments later, a Minge warrior exited and made quickly for a small inn near the palace. Inside, Colonel Taois sat with the remaining four Deev, enjoying an afternoon snack of smoked fish. The spy approached Taois and snapped to attention.

Taois looked up from his meal.
"Well, go on Lieutenant Hurras, make your report. I haven't got all day."

Hurras leaned down over the table and spoke in subdued tones so no other table could hear him.
"They are attempting to recover the stone tomorrow, sir. They will be ferrying a barge out to the location sometime after dawn."

Taois smiled.
"Excellent, this charade will finally be finished. Spying is a demeaning way for a soldier to spend his time, don't you think?"

"We were born to fight, sir." Hurras agreed.

"Quite," The colonel replied. He motioned to one of the larger Minge at the table, " Bergrat, you will accompany Hurras back to the palace. You will join up with our other spy...."

"Philus, sir, Captain Philus," Hurras informed the colonel.

"Yes, Captain Philus, in any case, the three of you will infiltrate yourselves aboard the barge during the night. Remain transmuted until the stone is recovered, there should be countless locations onboard where a little vapor will go unnoticed. Once the stone is recovered, kill anyone on the barge and wait for our craft. We will have a skiff nearby to pick you up and transport all of us to the shore where we will make our way north to Port Saud and Minga. I am only sorry that it won't be me that slays that accursed hedgehog."

Bergrat stood and joined Hurras. The two Deev saluted crisply before turning to rejoin their third conspirator outside the blacksmith shop at the palace. Shortly after conveying their orders to Philus, as dusk approached, three puffs of dark brown smoke oozed silently toward the harbor and ultimately onboard the king's barge.

Herman and Winnie worked well into the night completing the glass diving helmet. When it was finished it was a masterpiece of the glass-blower's art. Perfectly fitted to Gunta's head, it had a pair of smooth curving flanges that would rest on his shoulders. There were two pairs of bent glass loops on the front and back of each flange which would accommodate the straps to hold the helmet securely to the soldier's body, preventing it from floating off. Finally, the top of the helmet had a two-inch wide hollow glass tube protruding upward which fit the hose and would allow the constant introduction of air from the bellows. Satisfied with their creation, the brothers sent word to Pellus that they were done.

Pellus and Gunta arrived with high anticipation. A wide smile spread over the old wizard's face when it became apparent that the helmet was a precise fit.

"A fine piece of work, boys," he reached into his wide sleeve and produced a small glass globe,

"I've made something as well, it's not as masterly as your creation, but hopefully it will serve it's purpose."

Herman took the glass ball and looked inside. It contained a small hook from which a thread was suspended. At the end of the thread, a few of Vattus' hairs had been tied into a ball and hung, tilting sharply to the right, the direction of the Rubitar. A cork plugged the globe so that no air current would influence the divining property of the device. Herman looked at Pellus and smiled meekly.
"Would ya mind if'n I made a small change ta yer thingee?"

"Not at all, I defer to your expertise. What have you got in mind?" Pellus asked curiously.

Rather than answer, Herman walked over to his forge. He placed the globe on a small table and removed the cork. Checking a pair of tongs which still rested in the fires of the forge, he scraped a small bit of molten glass off them with a thin file and pressed it over the opening of the glass ball, quickly pressing its edges securely over and around it. When it was fully sealed and cooled, he handed it back to Pellus.

"Well, it's prettier," Pellus smiled, "was something wrong with the cork?"

"Not if'n ya use it above water. I figger that with it sealed like this, old Gunta can take it with 'im under the sea. It'll make findin' the Rubitar a whole lot easier fer 'im."

Pellus clapped.
"Brilliant! Vattus was wise to put his trust in you. Let's get this stuff down to the barge, I'll get some strong arms here to assist us."

Winnie flexed his small arms.
"I'm plenty strong, but I ain't gonna turn down somebody carryin' this load for me."

"Nor am I, liddle gaffer. Now we'll see if'n this works the way we hope," Herman glanced over at the increasingly nervous Sergeant Gunta, "which I'm sure it will Mister Gunta, don't you fret."

The Sergeant smiled weakly.
"I will try."

King Sigus' palace guard saw to transporting all of Herman's equipment down to the harbor. A small dredging barge measuring about forty feet by twenty had been rigged for the hedgehog's purposes. A crane structure, sufficient for lowering and raising the diver had been mounted to the front corner of the basically square vessel. Two tow ropes attached to two six-man rowboats would provide the necessary propulsion to position them in the approximate area where the Rubitar had been lost to the sea.

The barge was spartan, holding only a small cabin at it's center surrounded by four small wooden lockers used to house tools. There were two anchors, one forward and one aft, each with a hand-operated winch. Herman set about securing his massive air-bellows near the crane structure and fitting the hosing to both his bellows and the top of Gunta's helmet.

Pellus stood dockside and waited until Herman was done before addressing him.
"Nice work, Master Hedgehog. Is the Rubitar finder still working?" the wizard asked.

Herman looked at the plugged glass globe. The thread holding Vattus' hair was almost horizontal, pulling toward the open harbor.
"Seems to be workin' fine Mister Pellus." He looked around the barge at Winnie talking to Gunta and at the two additional guards who had been assigned to protect them during their task, "I think we're set ta go."

Pellus looked over the barge and the hedgehog. His eyes stopped at Herman's waist, noticing the belt and scabbard he wore.
"You don't strike me as a fighting beast, Herman," the wizard commented pointing to the sword.

Herman chuckled.
"Oh that...it's a gift from me liddle bro...a fine blade it is, too. He wanted me to take her along and I didn't see no harm in it."

"Better safe than sorry." Pellus smiled. He became serious, "I'm going back to Vattus' side. He is in very dire condition and I fear this is our last chance to save him. Poor Vattus is at the edge of our plane of existence...he is at the door, ready to leave us...knocking. We must retrieve the stone before the door is opened. I will know as soon as the Rubitar is above the water...I will feel it. Once it is up, I will use all my ability to sever the bond between it and my friend. If we are in time, I might yet save him."

"Don't you worry, Mister Pellus, we'll get that there stone," Herman assured the wizard. He turned to the rowboats and signaled them to begin towing. The ropes went taut and slowly the barge left the dock in the general direction the glass globe indicated. Winnie ran to the back of the barge and waved enthusiastically at Pellus who returned his wave and called out.

"Good hunting, my friends!"

As Herman instructed Gunta about keeping his head level underwater to avoid the helmet filling with seawater, Winnie double checked all the riggings, while the two additional guards walked the perimeter of the small barge, carefully checking to see that the towed craft was not being followed.

Unseen by either the guards or the passengers of the craft were the three innocuous patches of brown vapor contained in the tool-sheds. The Deev had spent the night secreted in the small structures on the barge, peering through the cracks, listening to the chatter, and anticipating the near future when they could cut these beasts and men walking around them to pieces.

Also unseen by the guards was their destination, where nearby, an apparently deserted dory bobbed up and down in the water, unmanned, but filled with a layer of smoke.

Colonel Taois did not mind spending time as Deev-smoke, but did not enjoy the sea. He felt not only discomfort, but an edgy fear. Water and Deev-smoke did not mix well now that the ghost-warriors were no longer invulnerable. If a Deev were to be unfortunate enough to be in smoke form and find himself in the sea before returning to mink form, he would simply dissolve, his essence dissipating into the vastness of the ocean. This was a possibility of which all Deev were aware, but none spoke of as they became ever more resigned to their own mortality.

The oarsmen stroked with powerful purpose as Herman, keeping a sure eye on the glass-globe, yelled out directions. Not being a sea-beast of any experience, he took particular care in yelling out 'starboard!' or 'port!' rather 'right!' or 'left!', and occasionally had to correct himself. The short voyage to the harbor-mouth where the Rubitar had been lost went smoothly.

The closer they got to the point where it rested on the bottom of the sea, the less severe the angle which Vattus' hair pulled the thread. Herman slowed the rowers. Soon the thread pointed straight down, indicating that the magical relic was directly under them. Herman signaled for the anchors to be dropped and carefully measured the depth at which the anchors hit bottom.

His calculation put the seabed at about one hundred and twenty feet, deeper than he had hoped, but well within the range of the hoses he had prepared. He signaled the rowers to disengage and watched as they made for the nearest shore to rest and await his signal to return and bring them back to the dock. The barge rode the gentle swells, three hundred yards from shore, the only speck on the harbor-mouth save the seeming empty dory containing the transmuted Deev which lay about a hundred yards west of the salvage platform.

After dropping both anchors to secure the barge, Herman attached the harness straps to Gunta and then attached the harness itself to the crane line which would be used to haul the diver back up to the ship. The two guards were positioned near the manual winch at the rear of the crane. Herman handed the finder-globe to Gunta and instructed him.

"When ya gets to the bottom, just foller the direction of the thread and it should take ya right to the Rubitar. Now put these on yer ankles," he handed the soldier a pair of thick ankle belts filled with lead shot, "these'll keep ya down so's ya kin walk on the bottom. Hold on ta this," he handed him the end of a thick line of rope, the other end of which was attached to the barges large bronze bell, "when ya reach the bottom, give one yank. When ya needs us ta let out more hose, yank twice. When ya needs ta be pulled up, tug it three times...got it?"

"Once...stop feeding out hose, twice...feed out hose, three times...pull me up. Got it," Gunta affirmed.

Herman nodded and continued.
"Now it's kinda overcast and you're gonna be pretty far down. I don't know how murky the water is down there, but I reckon that you'll have a hard time seein' anything. You'll probably have ta bring the globe right up ta yer helmet ta see the thread." The big hedgehog put his paw on Gunta's shoulder, "Are ya ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay then, lets test the helmet and bellows."

Herman lowered the glass helmet over Gunta's head and checked the connection to the hose. He stepped back to the large spring-loaded bellows and, using his foot-paw, began to pump it in a steady rhythm. "Can ya feel the air comin' in the top of yer helmet?" he asked.

"I can, very clearly."

"Good. Let's get this done!" Herman turned to the men manning the winch, "Raise him off the deck!"

The two soldiers began to turn the winch. Gunta was slowly lifted by the harness until he was suspended a few feet above the deck. Herman began to slowly work the bellows as Winnie gently pivoted the crane arm away from the barge and over the water. Gunta held the globe tightly and gave the thumbs up signal.

Herman gave the command to begin lowering. Slowly Gunta was lowered into the harbor until his entire body was submersed and all that remained as evidence of his existence was a steady stream of bubbles breaking the surface of the water. After about three minutes a jerk on the rope caused the barges bell to give a resounding ring, indicating Gunta had reached the seabed.

"So far so good," Herman said to no one in particular.

The bell rang twice and Winnie let some more hose over the side. A few minutes later another single ring signaled him that enough hose had been fed out. This pattern of one, then two rings, continued for several minutes as the diver searched the bottom.

As the entire barge's crew was preoccupied by the crane and bellows, smoke oozed out of the tool lockers and migrated unseen behind the center cabin. Shielded from view by the cabin, the smoke instantly reconstituted into the three Deev. Hurras spoke softly so as to not be heard.

"When the Stone is on board we will eliminate the crew. We will kill the soldiers first, they will pose the greatest threat."

Philus interrupted.
"But the large hog is the master of assassins, shouldn't he be eliminated first?"

"He's a fat beast, nothing more...that is what Colonel Taois said. The soldiers first, they are trained warriors. You two take the men on the winch, I will deal with the diver and then the two hedgehogs. Do not make your move until the diver is out of his harness and the stone is safely onboard."

The two killers nodded in ascent.

Gunta had been down for nearly twenty minutes and it had been ten minutes since the bell last rang. Herman was becoming increasingly worried. He was about to order the diver raised when three sharp tolls echoed from the bronze bell. Herman sighed in relief.

"Bring 'im up boys, let's see if he found our rock!"

After five minutes of steady winching, Gunta's helmet broke the surface of the water, followed in short order by his arms which were wrapped tightly around the Rubitar and pressing it firmly to his chest.

"Looks like we got it, Hermie!" Winnie said with exuberance.