Taming Miss Oberon - Part 4
01/11/1999 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

A Psi-Kicks story by GF Willmetts.

The elevator maintenance door was locked but the Fey had no intention of using the service stairs. It was important that she used the lift system to get into the ventilation system. She extracted a sprung steel wire from the lining of her shirt and deftly picked the lock before quietly entering.

If the Tech back at the Compound had believed she was bionic, he'd probably thought she would have used the lift cables to climb down to the elevator car and ride on its roof. Even with her exceptional eyesight, the Fey could no more see the elevator than a Baseline or cat could in such poor light. With seemingly effortless ease, she began to pound down the shaft, pausing occasionally by gripping a service step to listen.

Like many high-rise buildings, there was a sub-system within its structure linking the elevator paths to the ventilation network. The movement of the lifts circulated the air as an extra benefit to the over-worked air-conditioning system. To appease safety regulations, these shafts also had heat sensors that would slam shut emergency doors to prevent the spread of fire. So far, such designs hadn't been fully tested under operational conditions. The oil on these shutters was dirty from never being used, let alone tested. The Fey still wasn't keen to test them either. This was her route through the building.

The floor the safe was on, according to the Farsighters was the one hundred and fiftieth. There were guard units on the floors above and below. The floor, outside of office hours, was kept deserted. Presumably to ensure no one got in masquerading as a guard or cleaner. With the heat sensors, anyone who got in would be attacked by automatic defences before they made the safe. Psionic scanning, without the use of someone's eyes as a medium, tended to fall down in distinguishing colour and detail. The Farsighters' limitations in seeing events was more a view of probable choices than precise details. Psionic abilities in use tended to distort probability even further. Whether any of them could see what she was doing now or any of her planned actions would have been impossible to say. The only indication given was that she had the best probability options for success. To the Fey, that meant doing the unexpected. McKensie's plan of going through the room security dynamics was sound as far as it went for human Baseline perception. From her perspective, Kat decided her plan needed a different sort of distraction. It was an interesting bi-product that should change her heat signature sufficiently to accomplish the task.

At the one hundred and thirtieth floor, Kat entered the ventilation system and examined a number of vents before finding one not obviously within range of a security camera. The heel of her hand smashed into the screw shafts breaking the vent free, enabling her to get in. It would have been easier to have gone directly into an office but apart from spotting security sensors in these routes, the Fey wanted to disguise her route. Each entry would be selected a different way.

Picking the lock of an office, she slipped in and kept low to the floor searching for a waste bin. Kat muttered under her breath under she discovered it empty. Either the employees were meticulously tidy or the cleaning staff had already been around. A minor problem. Picking the executive table drawer lock, she pulled out some loose papers and dropped them in the bin. Setting them alight with her fire-lighter before muffling the flames. The Fey left before the sprinkler system kicked into play.

In quick succession, she repeated this over a variety of floors. Some she let burn vigorously before allowing them to smoulder, confident they'd be put out before the fire spread. There was no intention of setting the building on fire but to cause confusion everywhere but in the ventilation and lift shafts. It wouldn't affect security around the hundred and fiftieth but it would make everyone else a little cranky. If they were as on the ball as the roof guards, they would have to investigate every incident. They might also believe there was a problem with the sprinkler system. They would also be using their cameras scouring the building looking for anything out of place. If the Fey had time to rub her hands together in glee she would have done so. For the moment, any sign of victory would have to wait until after she burgled the safe.

Kat climbed up and out of the one hundred and forty-fifth floor and filling a waste bin with loose papers before returning to the life shaft.

The room with the wall safe was supposed to be only accessible by elevator. Ignoring the ventilation shaft and keeping the bin pressed between herself and the lift doors, she applied pressure to pull them open. The practice in the Compound had convinced her that dropping in through the vent would have made her too much of a target. There had to be a delay factor coming in through this entrance or the guards would be targeted by the initial motion activators before the heat sensor accepted them.

All elevator doors were built to fully open once partially released. It prevented anyone being crushed in closing doors. Kat didn't open them that wide before squeezing in and sat cross-legged on the floor to wait. She wasn't in far enough to be spotted yet. Her keen ears intent on listening for any movement of the lift was also listening to the sensor servo motors. Quite where the guards were waiting began to puzzle her. They could hardly make a quick entry if they had to wait long minutes for it to arrive. The other lift shafts were on the other side of the building. Had the Farsighters missed something?

The room was lit to ensure full camera scans although to her trained eyes it wasn't a blanket coverage. Other than the wall safe two thirds of the way down, the only furniture was a table and a couple chairs. For such a luxury executive building this room was extremely Spartan. At near ceiling level, there were a series of heat sensor detectors cross-combined with the dart guns. They clicked and were now moving in her direction. There was no more time left to think. It was time for action.

Pouring most of the lighter fuel in the bin, she lit the paper and kicked it into the middle of the room. The dart guns targeted and fired at the bin as the sprinkler system sprayed the room. Their design was to target the hottest heat source and it was no longer her. The Fey stood up and allowed herself to be thoroughly drenched as she walked down the room, muffling her body heat even more. All the cameras focused on the fire. Any guards watching would be puzzled before calling an alert. The separate sensors swung between her and the bin but didn't fire this time. The water had dampened her heat signature below the specific temperature the sensors had been set to detect. The bin fire was the obvious target.

The sprinklers stopped as the bin's fire was put out but the Fey was now at the safe, fiddling with its tumblers. It would be half a minute before they re-loaded and targeted her again. The cameras wouldn't take that long themselves. They were probably being brought under manual control for the guard to examine the room. The guards would be here in about the same time, but the Fey was confident that she'd be finished before they arrived.

All the cameras were still focused on the smouldering bin but beginning to respond again. They weren't depending on manual control. Her body heat, combined with the air-conditioning, was already drying her body. There wasn't much time. After long moments, the final tumbler dropped and she pulled the safe door open. There were three document folders and a cache of money. She slipped the folders into her shirt and threw the money into the waste bin rekindling the flames with the last of the lighter fluid, before slamming the safe door shut. Skirting around by the walls, the Fey kicked the bin nearer to the elevator doors before positioning herself in the corner.

'Trinis! Dui! Yeck!' Not loud enough to be heard over the sprinklers that had begun to operate again, but to reassure herself that everything was going to her plan.

The doors open and the additional fresh oxygen fed the flames. It also caused the detector dart guns to open fire at the guards. Unwarned, they all dropped in the onslaught. Without waiting to see their condition, Kat slipped through the door onto a drawbridge that had dropped into place in the lift shaft. She had no intention of following their route across to the opposite room and had no choice but to climb higher to reach the next ventilation shaft.

Winding through the shafts, Kat found one of the other lift shafts and began to climb down. A Baseline human would have climbed down the shaft as if they were using stairs. The more confident Fey was going down head first, acknowledging every foot and handhold to ensure she didn't build up a terminal velocity or slip. With one elevator turned off, it was inevitable that one of the others would be used to send in more guards or a fire detail. The Fey was more concerned in seeing it coming and moving out of the way into a vent than to be slowed on the way down.

She paused in mid-flight to listen. The entire ventilation system was giving a low rumble. There wasn't just one elevator moving but several. The Fey growled softly before continuing bounding down the shaft. With the noise spread out so much it would be hard to distinguish which lift was moving. There was a possibility that all the elevators would either be locked or move to the safe floor to drop off more security guards.

'Bostaris!'

The elevator in her shaft had suddenly appeared coming up quickly beneath her. Kat found herself instinctively spinning and somersault landing on its roof. Until it stopped it would be reckless to jump off into the passing vent shafts. The lift was obviously set in express mode. Resigning herself to her situation, the Fey sat down cross-legged and made herself comfortable.

If they heard her landing, they might investigate to see if they had a dead body. Kat thought she had landed softly despite the surprise so they might not have heard anything at all. Probably too agitated to catch the noise. If they chose to investigate, there would be plenty of warning to go higher as they brought the lift lower to the doors. More likely they would be joining the other guards trying to work out what exactly had happened. The evidence of the bodies would have them considering the security team had entered recklessly and were attacked. Not that they had an intruder.

She couldn't help smiling at that. Mac had only concentrated on the problem of the safe room itself and not thought of the more serious problem of getting out unobserved. No doubt surmising this would be the easy part. He was still thinking that more than Blanks couldn't see her without eye contact. If they were looking for a Psionic then she had provided them with a couple possibilities. A possible pyro-aggie moving around the building. With no evidence on camera, they might well believe there was a Stealth here instead. Her Clan secret had also to be kept. Kat stifled a laugh as she realised there was an even easier way to get out than the way she came in.

The elevator came to a halt and as the guards left. Cameras would be examining corridors and rooms throughout the local area then building. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to set up any more fires now. Judging by the cables on top of the elevator, there was also a camera in the lift itself. The Fey resigned herself to waiting. Whoever was in charge would realise that there was too many people on the floor and send them back.

Maybe they didn't really know. Just following orders from those who knew about Psionics. From what Lancier had once told her that wouldn't be the first time that human troops had been used as potential cannonfodder. The number of people who knew about Psionics kept it restricted than blagged to all and sundry.

Her innate sense of time indicated just over an hour had passed since she had left McKensie. There was plenty of time before Mac would really worry if she was in difficulty. He had really been concerned at lunch. No doubt because the chances of being seen were greater in daylight. Like all Baselines, they failed to realise most people didn't gooseneck towards the rooftops. They were also less likely to believe their eyes if they looked out windows if she didn't hang around. It was also more prudent to wait than to rush out like any gorgio bandit anxious to get away. She had the prize in her vest. It would have been foolish to lose it in a mad hurry to leave.

This assignment felt really good for a change. Caruthers had been a bitch ordering her confinements. She had really enjoyed herself today. Mac wasn't as confused about her as she feared. He was even bothering to learn Romany customs. A bit slow on the language but that wasn't totally a disadvantage yet. Without the attack, he would have probably mastered more. Very intelligent. Head in books a lot but quick to adjust his ways to hers.

She was falling in love with him. The Fey wasn't sure about his motives when Mac began trailing her at night. Blanks, by the definition of their job, tend to snoop rather than ark direct questions. It was her heart that jumped when her mates had thumped him that was the deciding factor. Baselines and Blank males were more fragile emotionally than physically. Until then, he had been communicative but distancing himself. Probably thought she had a fiery temper! Like a lot people, still not sure what to make of the Fey except for what she was. Unlike Caruthers, he had stopped thinking of her as a wild animal but a unique person. Would he fall in love without the pheromone controlling him?

Her friends thought they were protecting her? Fhuh! Secrecy had its limits. They were lucky she hadn't attacked them. That would really have got her in trouble with the Stable. More than letting Mac get mugged. Civilians were definitely off-limits. Would he want the alternative? Would he stay with her?

Mac had also hinted that he was to move onto another job shortly, meaning another Psionic problem. That, she decided, shouldn't happen. Part of her obligation to her people was bringing new blood into the Clan. If it could be brought in out of love...There weren't any Blanks, as far as she knew, in her Grandfather's day. Mac had balls. He was humorous in his own way. Very reassigned to what he had to do but had some character lurking in that personality. She was sure Mac was falling in love with her, despite what he said. He had to stay with her. She wanted him to stay. The elevator moved. It was time for action.

Only quarter of an hour had passed. They would now be part of the various groups searching the building. As long as she stayed in the elevator or ventilation shafts there was little fear that any camera would spot her. The question was really where the occupants of this particular lift were going. The choices were easily counted. Go back where they came from. Investigate any of the floors where she had set off the sprinkler systems. Check the basement entrances. There was enough to keep them busy. Did they think there was an intruder now? Would they figure that she was still in the building?

To suddenly disappear without setting up some sort of false trail would be very suspicious, especially when the safe was opened. Safe contents don't just disappear. In the Baseline naive world, there were no Psionics. The belief was spread that they didn't exist. A bengui trick. Faked by a lot of people with very minor talents who thought they were the real thing. Who then would believe in the real thing? It was an acknowledged mythology, very much the same way the Oberon Clan had concealed themselves through various half-truths over the centuries. Psionics was very much a minor talent to the eyes of the world. A parlour game, except for those in the know who thought them more dangerous. A number that was also beginning to grow with the Stable so active.

Would they know by now that the safe had been opened? They would now be looking for an intruder than think it an accident. To give them a Stealth ghost would leave too many people guessing and attract the wrong kind of attention, mainly from those in the know. Better to give something a little more tangible. A physical presence. Kat had already considered this as part of her plan. Waiting on top of the elevator had given her time to think further. Rather than leave a mystery burglary, it was now going to be fun to leave a trail.

The elevator came to a halt and Kat climbed up and out through the nearest ventilation shaft. Her interest in the troop of guards had gone as soon as she had descended to the floor beneath and continued her flight down the lift shaft. It was unlikely it would come down on her head or rather her bottom.

The Fey was still travelling downwards head first. She paused only when a distinct smell of dry skin dust blended with oil reached her nose. The shafts might be reasonably clean but only because all the dust floats to the bottom. Rather than pry the lift doors open, she sought out and left through the nearest ventilation vent. Her suspicions were confirmed that she had made an entrance into one of the sub-basements.

With a building such as this, it was unlikely that any of the maintenance staff or cleaning crew would be allowed to keep any of their possessions in any of the other floors. It wasn't their possessions she was after but one of their uniforms.

A swift search failed to find the locker room but there was the discovery of a fence storeroom and a selection of uniforms. Breaking in, she chose overalls and a peaked cap. There were no shoes but Kat wasn't worried as she had already decided they would have hindered her movements. The overall legs were just a little too long and she neatly rolled them higher than the ankles. The sleeves would have to stay down to hide her rather distinctive orange and black streaked arms. She decided to ask her Grandfather why they hadn't picked up the tiger's white belly undercoat. In the fluorescent light, her orange hair stood out rather too brightly. Leaving the front unzipped to nearly her waist, the Fey did a backward somersault before leaving the storeroom.

Minutes later, she walked out, carrying a bucket and mop into the reception area of the ground floor. It had been a lot easier locating the stairwell up from the sub-basement than finding the storeroom. A quick assessment of the area had spotted all the cameras. She pressed the peaked cap firmly down on her head. Unlike the occasions in the Compound, this was one time that she had to be seen but not recognised. Compared to the chaos inflicted over a hundred floors above, the reception looked perfectly normal. Then again, she considered, why would they want to do anything to attract attention down here? That still wouldn't stop the two guards from alerting any nearby team.

Dipping her mop in the bucket, Kat proceeded to clean the floor working her way towards the entrance.

'You! What are you doing here?'

English, not Portuguese. They weren't local.

'Que é?' she looked up briefly at the guard towering over her, before continuing with her mop. Despite what Mac thought, her pheromone did not act instantly.

'You speak English?'

'Sim. You want me speak English?' She didn't look up.

'Answer the question. What are you doing here?'

'What look like? Cleaning my ass? I clean floor. I go home.' Kat shrugged, 'Why you bother me? Good girl cleaner!'

Another shadow caught the corner of her eye as the other guard joined them. Without looking up, Kat was sure she was only a third of the way to the main doors. She sniffed, there was a third guard somewhere close. A cubicle of some sort. A building such as this would have to have bullet-proof glass as well as other security alarms. Smashing the glass might not be an option.

'Bet that's not all you're good at, sweetheart.'

Kat looked up briefly, smiled slightly and went back to the mopping. The phermone was having its effect. 'What you mean? I good girl.'

'C'mon', said the first guard. 'A girl as sweet smelling as you must like...'

Acting the part, Kat paused by the bucket and leaned on her mop, looking at each guard in turn. The corner of her eye caught their walkie-talkies flashing red. Someone wanted to talk to them. There was simply no time for subtly.

'Would cost me job, senhor.'

'After work?'

'With you in hospital? I think not, senhor.'

Both guards paused briefly before the Fey hit the point home using the mop handle. In swift easy motions, she wacked each guard up between the legs and across the jaw as they fell. She kicked the bucket to the window door as a metal shutter began to descend. It had to be the hidden cubicle guard. She ran and then slid under the gap created by the bucket before the shutter crushed it flat. Kat was effectively trapped in a foot wide space between shutter and bullet-proof glass. Within a space of a couple seconds she had trapped herself. Considering that she would be facing armed guards the other side of the shutter, the Fey considered she was in the right place.

Bracing her back to the shutter, she brought her legs up and pushed against the glass. Bullet-proof glass is very effective against small impacts, but against the leverage the Fey was administering it wasn't, as it suddenly popped out of its frame onto the outside concrete. There were bound to be some sort of Baseline weapons that could duplicate that feat. The shutter was also rising.

Realising that there was no time to run off, the Fey back-flipped and held onto the shutter, blind-sided to the armed guards sweeping the area. There would only be shooting if they saw her. They were now legitimately hunting an intruder. She climbed up onto the wall and watched from the door ledge. A false trail had been laid that would indicate something more physical and human than a Stealth or Spook. Certainly not a Fey. The overalls would indicate that she had got in with the cleaning staff.

The two guards who talked to her weren't Brazilian. More Yankee American. Buildings such as this would have a larger choice of guard personal than just use local folk. As long as they were all mystified as to where she had gone, Kat decided that was enough. Like the half-tiger cat she was, the Fey worked her way around the building ledge before jumping down and stripping off the overall and hat before making her way up the next building and into the night. The three packages from the safe still neatly secure in the waist of her vest.

o O o

'Look, the last time I saw my wife, she said she was going up to the roof for some fresh air. Maybe watch the carnival lights from up there. Is that a crime?'

'Why would she want to do that, Senhor McIntyre? What is wrong with you both going out on the streets?'

There was a distinctive slap. A delay. Then a couple more slaps.

Another voice went on, 'You are not telling the truth. Perhaps you kill wife, yes?'

'We're on our honeymoon, for Christ's sake. I'm suffering jet-lag. She isn't.'

'Yet you let your wife out alone?' The first voice was more settled. A determined quieter more thoughtful voice.

'She wanted some fresh air. Is that a crime? Your country is very humid. Isn't she on the roof? Has something happened to her?' There was a certain amount of worry in Mac's voice now.

'We're having it checked.'

'Tell us about some words we've heard you both speak. What or who is "Baseline"? You referred to yourself as such. Also a "Blank". The term "Psionic" isn't a unfamiliar term, even if a little mumbo-jumbo. What is "camova"? This Maxine Caruthers and assignments suggests you both as spies. You are Anglish spy?'

'Yeah! Right, do I look like James Bond?'

Another slap but both men were laughing.

'He certainly sounds like Sean Connery.'

'Senhor McIntyre, this apartment is rented by the British Secret Service. We know. They know. We find our wallets in your room. Clearly you are not making a social call. Where is your wife if she is your wife? What are you doing in our country...?'

The Fey heard enough. Her instinct to pause before entering the room had probably saved Mac a lot of problems. 'Does your wife always enter through the window?' Was he talking in case she was listening? They had both made mistakes in not checking for bugs. How else could they have got the information?

What to do was the problem. Film heroes would crash into the room, kill the watchers and rescue their mate in a fury. The fact that she could do this was irrelevant. McKensie would probably be caught in the cross-fire. Her sense of smell had caught the scent of the third watcher and he was armed. The scent of gun oil was unmistakable. Their wallets also meant they wouldn't be able to talk their way out of the situation neither.

They should have dropped them in the street. Probably the only reason why they hadn't taken Mac away was because they hadn't worked out where she had gone. They were probably watching the lobby and up on the roof as well now. It reduced the chances of just walking in as if they had missed her wandering about. The only thing in their favour was that they had nothing to do with the safe guards. With nothing on her to secure the packages anywhere else, Kat decided it was probably safer to keep them in her vest. Whatever decision she was going to make had to be soon before they started to do more than rough Mac up.

She really must stop associating so much with humans, Kat decided. It was too easy to think like a Baseline than a Fey. It was time for another disappearing act. She searched along the wall of the floor for a window that could be opened quietly and crept in. The odour of cologne was strong and indicated she was in a man's room. The woman's deodrant paled in comparison. Her cat-eyes in the poor light picked out a sleeping couple in bed. She found a suit hung up in the open wardrobe. The Fey grinned as she quietly dressed in it. A bit large but like the overall,s she rolled up the legs and sleeves to make it more passable. Unlocking the door with the key left on the dressing table, Kat quietly went out into the corridor.

The Fey stalked down the corridor towards their room. A man was waiting by the elevator, dressed in suit and hat. A sniff confirmed the smell of yet more gun oil. The thick carpet disguised her footfalls even more as she approached the man from his blindside.

'Nice hat. Give it me.'

The man, surprised, turned but only to be clipped under the chin by the Fey's elbow. The suit she had stolen matched the colour of the secret service agent. He was even taller than the man she had stolen it from. She called the elevator as she placed the hat on her head. While she waited, Kat posed in the mirror. Her height was wrong.

She arched and stretched her spine, like a cat's, and went on tip-toe but she was a little taller. Not so tall as the man on the floor but it wouldn't be needed for long. When the lift arrived, she pushed the unconscious agent in, selected the lobby and sent it go down to the ground floor.

Time was of the essence. Whoever was in the lobby would be alerting everyone when the agent was discovered. Two unrelated disappearing tricks in one night was going to look suspicious but by then, Kat thought, they'd both be gone.

She knocked on the door before entering. They must have either spread their team out too far or didn't believe anyone would just walk in who shouldn't. It took only an instant to appreciate the situation. Mac was dressed and tied to a chair with two agents either side of him. His cheeks were dark red from being slapped but otherwise appeared unhurt. Certainly not as bad as the mugging her friends had given the Blank. By the wall nearest the door facing him was the third agent with the gun out.

'What is it?'

None of the agents barely glanced at Kataya Oberon. She looked like them, therefore was one of them. They didn't need to look long for a verbal report. Only Mac's eyes were widening as he was taking in her bare feet.

'Intruder in lobby.' The Fey dropped her voice into a deeper tone.

'Don't ki....!'

The Fey's arm shot out and floored the gunman with a single swipe. A forward mid-air somersault ended with each foot hitting the remaining agents each in the jaw. As they landed unconscious on the floor, Kat completed the flip landing on McKensie's lap.

She kissed the Blank on the lips as her fingernails cut through the ropes. 'Missed me, Mac?'

'Remind me not to get you angry', he whispered in a hoarse voice. 'You didn't kill them. They're Brazilian Secret Service. Would cause all sorts of problems. Wanted to know what we were doing here. Room is still bugged.'

'Heard at the window. You need protection.'

The Fey got up and looked around. Her head tilted listening before suddenly looking up at the lampshade. Kat opened McKensie's suitcase and emptied his soapbag to locate his shaving foam. She sprayed its contents rather liberally at the shade.

'Artavello. Sorry, Mac. Preoccupied earlier. Didn't look.'

McKensie got up, flexing his wrists to get his blood circulating. 'Fordias. We should have guarded our speech.'

'You remembering Romany, Mac. Am forgiven for all?'

'We're still ahead of the game, Kat. Anything I need to know?'

She emptied McKensie's belongings into her own suitcase, along with the three packages from her vest, and then placed her smaller case inside his.

'Don't have long. Sent lift down with another agent. Expecting others. They come up. We go down. My plan.'

The Fey turned and in the dim light her smile showed a pointed fang and flicked it with her finger. 'Left fake trail at building.' She stripped off the stolen suit and hung it up in the wardrobe.

'It's going to look like you're planning another empty trail here. Is that wise? I mean, two vanishing acts. What if they make the connection?' McKensie searched the more thoughtful interrogator and extracted a small tape recorder and removed the tape. 'Let's hope they didn't make a spare copy.'

'Fhuh! Problem with safe was thinking human. Think Fey made life easier. Safe not held by these people. Not likely to report it. Shouldn't make connection.'

'As we're not checking out, just how are we leaving?'

Kat pointed at the window. 'You carry the case. I carry you. Too many watchers in hotel to do anything else.'

'I didn't realise we were so notorious.' McKensie slipped on his jacket.

'Maybe not like British Secret Service?'

'Or someone at Six doesn't like the Stable.'

'Is possible. Feel OK, Mac? We go now?'

Kataya Oberon pushed the window wide open this time. The safety limiter broke in its groove. 'No bodies. No evidence. No proof.'

McKensie at her side looked down. 'It looks a long way down.'

'Was up higher earlier. When on ledge, keep eyes shut if worried. Do as I say.'

'All without the aid of a tether or safety net?'

'Wanted action, Mac. Do this all time. Think of report. First hand information.'

McKensie didn't know which was more nerve-wrecking. His brief capture by the Brazilian Secret Service or the rather harrowing climb along the building ledge until the Fey found a rusty fire ladder. She took the suitcase and allowed McKensie to climb down. If there was any activity above, it could only be a minor detail compared to what he was doing. The Blank was several floors down before he realised the Fey wasn't with him. The route down she had selected was away from the street lights and probably into some back alley.

He continued down slowly, looking downwards hoping to see some sign of where the Fey had gone. McKensie suddenly slipped and was left hanging on by his arms to a rung. There were no rungs for his feet. How long could he hold on?

'See found problem, Mac.' A voice whispered from his left.

In the poor light, McKensie could see the Fey's shape clinging from the wall. Her eyes dimly shining in the poor light. Her strong arm pulled him up onto another ledge.

'This old style ladder. Better one on next wall but too well lit. Too close to room. They there now.'

'Christ! There's no rungs!'

'Fhuh! Didn't stopped me.' Even in the poor light, it was obvious to McKensie that she was smiling at his predicament.

'But you're a Fey', he protested.

'Bosh! Ladder too slow anyway. Keep legs out and don't hit wall.'

'What you planning to do?'

'Put your life in my hands before, Mac. Trust me.'

'Anything!'

'Including not being reassigned?'

'Just get me down!'

'Hold tight!'

Kat held him with one arm around his chest, the other under his bottom and began to run down the wall. The Blank's additional bulk didn't hinder her in the slightest. By keeping him moving his weight was evenly distributed. The Blank was glad this wall route was so dark. He was sure he'd have nightmares if he could see what she was doing. A few feet from the ground, she twirled McKensie around and holding him in both arms upside down, did a forward flip and landed upright on her feet.

'Open eyes, Mac,' she said placing his feet gently onto the ground and urging his body upright. 'Is safe now.'

'If I ever do this with you again, remind me to have some practice with you first,' he said rather hoarsely. He was shaking from reaction to events.

'You stay on? Work with lonely Fey?'

McKensie shook his head, catching his breath. Kataya Oberon was still breathing at a regularly rate. 'Yeah! Work with lonely lovely Fey.'

'Say nicest things. Choomande!'

'Can't I catch my breath?'

The Fey kissed him on both cheeks instead and hugged him until his body settled down. Her demonstration of strength was restrained with dealing with anything other than inanimate objects.

'What happened to the case?' he asked shortly.

'It here. Came down while you on ladder.'

She opened it and stripped and changed into a trouser suit and slipped the safe packages into its lining pockets. She hadn't bother with any underwear.

'Where do we go from here?'

'Eat. Hungry! Could eat whole cow. Plenty time before leaving.' Kat slipped on a pair of sandals and hat.

McKensie kissed her on the cheek. 'Now that would be conspicuous.'

o O o

More conspicuous than he realised, McKensie decided. The chef at a different cafe had been extremely uncooperative in providing Kat with raw beef in the late evening. After swearing profusely in Portuguese, the Fey had stalked into the kitchen. McKensie picked up a discarded newspaper and looked at the headlines as various noises came from the kitchen. There was little he could do, other than make the scene worse. He wouldn't have been able to do much other than watch anyway. The other cafe patrons appeared to be either too pissed or high on the carnival to be that concerned. Just the activities of an annoyed tourist in their eyes.

She returned with her raw meat dish and something she described as feijoada for him. An apologetic waiter arrived with drinks for them both, adding in poor English that it was all the complements of the house. Oddly enough, the Fey chose to drink guaraviá, the fruit juice he favoured, rather than the cachaça she had been drinking all day. Diplomatically, the Blank avoided asking her about the change in her taste. Presumably, her period of camova was at an end.

The early morning bus trip to Sãn Paulo was totally uneventful. Why would anyone suspect that they would go further inland than leave the country right away? He had slept most of the way. Kataya Oberon had taken the aisle seat and half-dosed, keeping an eye out for possible thieves. If the Fey had stopped anyone, she didn't say. A couple faces appeared to be keeping a respectable distance when he woke. An attitude developed with all Blanks working with any Psionic was to just keep out of the way while they looked after trouble. Physical Psionics like the Fey needed the same sort of respect. They were simply in a class of their own.

Maxine Caruthers had obviously tried to impose her own values on the Fey. Kat was very much a free spirit and had eventually rebelled. The fact Maxie drew a knife on her appeared to indicate the pheromone might have driven her to it, too. It would be mitigating circumstances for her and probably not restrict Maxie to desk duties.

Kataya Oberon was strong-willed with strong body. A free spirit. She resented having her freedom restricted. Kat did as she pleased, which was probably why she kept missing spy bugs. Not out of arrogance but simply because she didn't care because nothing would stop her. Yet now she had more than designs on his body and was obviously out to protect him. As a tiger would protect its mate.

She might be half-tigress but this value was carried with the Fey for the 'weaker' male. He was feeling the mood of camova but not sure if it depended on her pheromone. He hadn't smelt that odour for a couple days now. Had he got used to the smell or was he now under its spell? How could he tell the difference?

McKensie looked at the Fey curled up on the aeroplane seats. Without any assistance from her pheromone or the deodorant, they had spent a couple days and nights in a Sãn Paulo hotel making love and eating. They had got extremely close.

If it was the love of a man that would stop her roaming the villages around the Compound then he was hardly in a position to argue. McKensie also didn't want to see her angry or upset. Least of all with him. He had too much respect for her, both as a Fey and as a woman. He could certainly do worse in lovers.

In training, Blanks were told to be pliable with the demands of the Psionic they worked with. Training never equipped anyone for this situation. Quite what the Stable Bureaucracy would say about this arrangement was hard to say. Standing orders were to encourage Psionic Pairs to get emotionally involved in the hope that they might yield powerful Psionic offspring. It was something they tended to resist. A Blank bedding a Psionic might be frowned on. If he told them about it. A Fey offspring with the ability not to be susceptible to being scanned by a Psionic might be regarded as being dangerous to the Stable. It might not as well. Whether their relationship had tamed Miss Oberon would be hard to say. Everything had to start from somewhere.

From a management point of view, her attitude was now markedly different. The Bureaucracy would appreciate that more than the way it was achieved. Whether it was from controlling her camova lust or purely in love was hard to say. Even love was undocumented where the Fey was concerned. Would she fall out of love as easily? Would he? What would happen then? An angry Fey was as dangerous as a tiger on the loose. Another question to add to his list to ask her grandfather the next time he met the elder Fey.

Being in love had probably saved a bloodbath with those Brazilian Secret Service agents. Would it temper his caution when they were on assignment? Hopefully, not on his part. The reverse was more likely. Kat's rescue of him at the hotel was an act of protection for her mate. The same would probably have applied for any other Blank. Hadn't Chris Lancier pulled his Blank, Courtney Adams, out of a few scraps himself? The Bureaucracy didn't mind as long as trouble was minimised. Cheaper on the budget.

A thorough check of all the Brazilian newspapers had indicated nothing of the Fey's theft or of the hotel incident. Whether it was because inquiries were still being carried out discretely or there was the equivalent of a Brazilian 'D' notice in effect would be hard to say. More likely both affairs were being kept discrete for different reasons. The only real way was to see what happened was when they left the country. The McIntyre passports had been left in the Rio hotel. There simply hadn't been enough time to collect them. A loose end. Kat found another Romany thief before leaving Rio and after passing him a couple of Mac's travellers cheques, promised to retrieve and post them to the local British Embassy. Unlike the afternoon pickpocket, this adult thief was more than a little afraid of the bori rawniskie matchka! He would even take from any polcia. Quite what the Embassy staff would make of the passports would be debatable. Probably wait for some distressed tourists to come and claim them. Fat chance!

They left on a late night international flight from Sãn Paulo to London, stopping briefly at Rio to collect a few late passengers. Both of them scrutinised these arrivals in case any of the Brazilian Secret Service watchers were looking over the flight. Kataya Oberon cuddled her mouth into his neck, suppressing the giggles as a husband was complaining to his wife about a suit missing from their hotel room as they sat down. In the same breath, he was also assuring his wife he hadn't gone out on the town while she slept. McKensie was sure she would explain it later. Her report of the actual assignment itself was going to certainly drop a few jaws upstairs. It was far more thorough than anything she had told the more prudish Maxine Caruthers. After she recovered from her stay in hospital, Maxie would probably be reassigned to less dangerous activities. If ever there were any at the Stable. She might even have his old supervisor job to give her a greater insight into other Psionic problems. He shrugged. What would Maxie make of his new role? He didn't really care. She wouldn't be working with the Fey again anyway.

When they returned to the Compound there was one thing McKensie promised himself. The local villages were to be surveyed to ensure that all the men had access to and were using the neutraliser deodorant. Immunity to Kataya's pheromone charm was a must. He didn't want to be beaten to a pulp on a regular basis should they visit a pub. He still had to find out why he couldn't always see her and if it was true of all Blanks.

Kataya Oberon stretched and uncurled on the seat beside him. In the dim aeroplane lights, her golden-like eyes looked like dim saucers looking at him. She pursed her lips at him before smiling and grabbing his hand to haul him off to the plane toilets. McKensie gave a wry grin. He wasn't quite sure where he was getting his strength from for all of this camova but felt no resistance in joining her in the Mile High Club.

End

end-note: although it isn't really necessary to understand Brazilian Portuguese to know what is being said, it is as accurate as I can make it in this backwater, it should be more intelligible than the Net format treated my Cyrillic in the Psi-Kicks story 'Shell Game' elsewhere on this site. Any mistakes can be addressed to my e-mail address: gfwillmetts@hotmail.com.

The Romany language, however, is a different kettle of fish. The two books I used for reference indicate only word transposition with English. Any differences in their use should be blamed on me and Kataya Oberon, who although uses the language isn't strictly speaking Romany either. Again, much of what is meant can be inferred from the text and what follows below is to assist those who want the literal translation.

artavello - pardon or forgive

'Artavello, o bori rawniskie matchka' - pardon, lady lady-like cat

baleneskoe - hairy

balormengro - hairy fellow

bengako tan - hell

bengui - devil

bosh - fiddle

bostaris - bastard

camova - lust

cannelo bostaris - stinking bastard

chee pele - no testicles (balls)

choomande - kiss me

chore chal - thief boy

chores - stealing

dinnelo - a fool, one possessed by the devil

dui - 2

fordias - forgiven

gav-engro - police officers

gorgio - a gentile, non-gypsy

hom te jav - I must go

kaulo ratti - gypsy blood

keri-poggring - house-breaking

lunneny - harlot

matchka - female-cat

paracrow tute - I thank you

pireni - sweetheart

poknies - justice of the peace

povo-guero - mole or earth-fellow

rawniskie dicking gueri matchka - lady-like looking woman cat

romani chi matchka - gypsy lass cat

romani chohawni - gypsy witch

Tatto ratti se len - They have hot blood

trinis - 3

weshen-juggal - fox or dog of the wood

yeck - 1

Kisaiya Matchka - Kataya Oberon's alias: Kisaiya is a traditional female gypsy Christian name chosen because it resembles her regular name. Whether it is her true name I'll leave everyone guessing. It should never be assumed that the Fey don't have secret names. Matchka is, of course, a female cat.

Rhomanies is an old-fashioned spelling of Romany. I used it mainly to distinguish Rex Oberon's pronunciation of the term.

For those who have developed an interest in pursuing the subject may like to read: 'Romano Lao-Lil - A Book Of The Gypsy' by George Borrow (publisher: Alan Sutton 1874/1982) and 'Romany Magic' by Charles Bowness (publisher: Aqurian Press, 1972)

Kataya Oberon, Cameron McKensie, Rex Oberon, Chris Lancier, Courtney Adams, Alex Pope, the Stable Consultancy, Psi-Kicks, the Fey, Farsighters and Doolittle (these two in at least the context they are used in within the Psi-Kicks reality) are (c) GF Willmetts 1999. All rights reserved and shouldn't be used or borrowed without permission.

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FINI