‘So any idea what you’re going to call yourself?’ asked February when she entered the room no more than three minutes later.
‘I don’t know,’ Kitty told her; despite February’s urgings, she hadn’t really given it a lot of thought. ‘Something easy to remember, perhaps.’
‘Well, you need to think about it. It’ll be important if you want to interact with humans. I can’t be your go-between all the time. You wouldn’t want me to, anyway, not now that you’re free of herd influence. No point leaving one leash to get restrained by another.’
Kitty nodded, but she didn’t turn around to face her friend. Instead she was gazing in the mirrors, wondering how she would look once the makeup was finished. She was looking forward to being able to mingle with humans as if she was their equal.
‘Shall we begin?’ February asked as she moved away from the window.
‘Sure,’ Kitty replied.
Learning to put on a disguise wasn’t easy, though February was very patient as she talked Kitty through each step involved. It took over an hour just to get the powder to a color that would both cover Kitty’s stripes and match her natural skin tone. It was important to get that just right, as even a slight difference could give her away.
‘Now apply it,’ February told her simply. ‘Rub it in near your ears first to make sure it matches and then cover your stripes with it. This stuff will let your skin breathe and even sweat if necessary. Just don’t sweat too much; it’s water-soluble and will streak your face.’
‘Water-soluble,’ Kitty commented, ‘but why?’
‘You need to be able to wash it off easily,’ was February’s answer. ‘Now apply it as I told you and we’ll move on to your eyes. Don’t you think it’ll be a great achievement when you’re able to do this by yourself? What you don’t use we can put away for the next time you need to be disguised, and I assure you, there will be plenty of occasions.’
Kitty applied the makeup carefully, covering her stripes and blending the powder into her skin so that it seemed to flow from her natural color to the new her. She watched the transformation in the mirrors, yet she seemed surprised that her stripes were actually disappearing.
February came to watch as Kitty put the finishing touches on a few areas where she could still see her stripes through the powder. Kitty half expected the queen to point out a few other areas that she had missed, but she just watched and waited until Kitty was happy with the result.
The next part of the Herbaht disguise was something to cover the eyes. Usually this meant the wearing of contact lenses; this revelation caused a worried response from Kitty. ‘You mean p-putting something in my eye? B-but I can’t even stand eye drops.’
‘That was what I thought the first time I tried them,’ February replied. ‘No Ma, don’t make me wear them, I said. But I soon got used to them, and I think you will too.’
However, contact lenses of this sort were specially designed to fit against a particular shape of eye. They need to be crafted personally for the individual, and until Kitty could get some at the regional headquarters she would have to make do with sunglasses for now.
Next was hair. Kitty soon learned that although the natural locks of a Herbaht might appear to be of one shade, it was often not the case.
‘Examine my hair,’ February told her. ‘I’m a natural redhead, but if you look closely at my hair in the right light you can see some dark stripes and some blonde stripes. Most herd won’t notice, but some do and they automatically equate stripes with us.’ She got up again and stood behind Kitty. Now she talked about Kitty’s hair. ‘You are a natural brunette, but when the light is right I can see the stripes of red that run through your hair. Very few members of our race don’t have some similar color mix in their hair. Quite a few actually have hair that is so obviously of two or three colors that it looks as if the stripes on their skin have simply not stopped when they meet the hair. My mother was like that, and my brother takes after her.’
For now February lent Kitty her old blonde wig; it would do until they could get something that suited Kitty better.
The disguise was nearly finished now, though Kitty felt strange looking at a weird, almost human face in the mirrors. As she looked at herself, there was one thing still bothering her.
‘What about my tail?’ she asked suddenly. ‘I mean, I can look as human as the next cat, but with that thing dangling about I’ll fool no one.’ Kitty cringed for a moment as she realized what she had said, but February seemed to be tolerant about it.
‘Most of the time we wear baggy clothes, skirts or baggy coats. Sometimes even a long coat if the weather is such that we can get away with it.’
‘Doesn’t that make us stand out?’ Kitty commented.
‘Not as much as an obvious bump caused by tight clothing would,’ February told her.
‘I see,’ Kitty replied thoughtfully.
‘Well,’ said February, ‘I think you should help yourself to my wardrobe, find some clothes that come close to fitting you. Find clothing you like. I’m going back downstairs. I have a few more preparations to make before we leave.’
February walked over to the door to the walk-in closet and opened it before leaving the bedroom and heading downstairs. As she left she called out behind her, ‘And don’t forget to think of a name for yourself.’
Kitty admired herself in the mirror for another minute or two. She looked good, and other than her eyes she felt she might pass as human. Then she got up to see what she could find in the way of clothing. Before she reached the closet she could hear the sounds of something hitting something else coming from the rough direction of the kitchen. February was chopping something up and Kitty dreaded to think what, although she thought she probably knew.
Kitty wasn’t really too fussy about what she would wear; so long as it fitted she was happy. She was used to having her things bought for her by her Master in accordance with the restrictions on what pets were allowed to wear. Domesticated cats had a fairly small wardrobe to choose from, but that was done on purpose so any humans would recognize a pet cat instantly for what she was by what she was wearing.
Somehow she felt she was heading to trouble as she started putting on February’s clothing. If she should be spotted, someone would report her for not wearing the clothes a pet was allowed. Of course, she would be in trouble anyway just by being loose, but that didn’t stop Kitty’s nerves as she tried on a few things. When she was dressed, she actually found herself to be shaking with the fear of discovery. She took a seat on the bed to try and calm her nerves. Besides, February was still chopping something up downstairs and she didn’t want to go and intrude and maybe see something she didn’t want to see.
After nearly three minutes of sitting on the bed, the chopping ceased. She was still visibly shaken from putting on the clothes. Perhaps it was because she was alone now. February was so strong-willed that she seemed to make an excellent buffer for her emotions. Then the door to the house creaked as it opened and a draught came up the stairs and entered the room, stirring her to her feet. As she reached the door to her room she heard one of the car doors slam shut. Did February intend to go without her after all? The front door made a shutting sound as Kitty started down the stairs, still feeling a little shaken from having dressed in human clothes. She wasn’t too worried if February did decide to leave her behind. George had left her behind on many trips and he always came back again. Besides, she didn’t really mind the prospect of not meeting all those other wild cats today.
Halfway down the stairs she saw February start to head up them towards her, removing a jacket that she must’ve put on to cover some of her more obvious stripes and her tail while she had been doing whatever it was she had been doing. When she saw Kitty approaching she waited at the bottom of the stairs, holding out some sunglasses in her hand, which she handed over when they were close enough.
‘Good job,’ February commented. ‘Just tuck your tail in; it’s showing.’
Kitty looke
d round and saw that the tip of her tail had found its way out the bottom of the skirt she was wearing. She whipped it back into hiding using the tail’s own muscles and then held onto it through the material of the skirt.
February shook her head sadly. ‘That’s a little too obvious; try a little tape if it won’t stay put on its own. It has to be trained to keep out of the way. Give it a week or two and you won’t even notice it.’
Kitty disappeared back upstairs to find some tape, and February followed. February had put a little makeup on before waking Kitty, but she still needed to finish the job properly, and she would need a complete change of clothes before they went out.
There was nothing too remarkable about the car park. It was the same as many in the city, with parking bays clearly marked by thick white lines in much the same way as they had been drawn for centuries. Each bay had a two-digit number preceded by a letter to make it easier to find where you had parked. The letter was the aisle identifier.
The car park was already crowded, but it was positioned as one of many to service a rather large shopping complex. The area was dominated by a large enclosed mall, but there were also quite a number of shops lining both sides of a fairly long street. The street itself had been paved over long ago and was now pedestrian-only. At about a third and two-thirds along the length of paved street were fountains, large ornate things surrounded by metal benches that had long since succumbed to graffiti. For a shopping center of this size, it was surprising to see that there wasn’t a single bin, either near the benches or indeed near any of the fast food establishments that lined the road.
February removed three shopping bags from the rear of her car. Two of them seemed to be full to nearly overflowing, the contents wrapped in paper. The third was the heaviest, also wrapped, but its contents took up very little room in the bag by comparison.
‘What’s in those?’ Kitty asked curiously.
February handed the heaviest of the three to her. ‘Be very careful; that’s the bomb. I don’t think you want to know what’s in the others. Suffice to say, if we want to take a few things home with us, we need something to trade with.’ February then pulled another long and thin package out of the car: the laser rifle. It was wrapped in canvas and had been made to look like a fishing rod. Around where the butt of the rifle was, she had placed a few pins and things, as if to convince anyone nosey enough that there were other fishing-related items in the canvas to explain why it was wider than a rod would be at that point. This she also handed to Kitty.
Together they headed toward the shopping complex. Kitty was feeling nervous because she had the nasty feeling that her tail had come loose from the tape, and she was trying to concentrate on keeping it out of sight. No one seemed to be looking at them, though; they were just two women carrying shopping bags in a shopping complex, nothing unusual there.
‘Shall we grab some lunch before we go on?’ February suggested as they passed one of the many fast food places that lined the street, catering to the many shoppers. It was now around four in the afternoon, but they hadn’t bothered with lunch before leaving the house.
‘S-Sure,’ Kitty replied, ‘do they have lavatories?’
‘You need to go already?’ February asked, a little surprised.
‘No, no,’ Kitty answered. She moved as close as she could to her friend, not wanting to be overheard. ‘I think my tail has come loose; I want to check on it.’
‘Oh,’ February commented, scratching her ear idly. The thought actually struck her as a little humorous. ‘Sure, let’s go eat.’
There was a fairly long queue in the shop, but the servers were experts at this sort of volume and it didn’t take too long for the pair to reach the front and make their orders. It was a fish shop, so they each ordered fish meals. Kitty fancied a bit of haddock, while February preferred the shrimp.
They sat down at one of the vacant tables with their meals and then Kitty left to visit the lavatories to check on her tail. Trying to keep her tail hidden under her skirt using no more than the muscles in her tail had gotten to be quite an effort. She found that her tail was indeed loose of the tape, which had also lost its stickiness and refused to hold its position against her skin for more than a few seconds. She wondered what to do for a moment and then decided to use the elastic waistband of her skirt to help hold it. She didn’t like it, because although she was careful she was sure the tail or at least the lump of her tail in her waistband was visible, but she was tired from trying to hold it clear, and she felt she had little other choice.
When she returned to their table, Kitty ate her meal quickly. Breakfast had been nice, but it was a long time ago now and she had still been a little hungry after it. Her hunger showed, though she tried to calm down, not wanting to show February up by bolting her food too quickly.
After the meal they continued down the paved, shop-lined street. They were walking away from the mall towards the far end where a large building, a gymnasium, poked out from one side across two-thirds of the paved area, leaving a much narrower passage along the side. There was a big sign in the window of the gymnasium that read ‘Members Only.’ The roof of the building had a railing running around it. It had been originally painted green, but now only a few flakes of paint remained on the rust brown barrier.
Kitty at first assumed that the gymnasium was going to be the meeting place; the sign ‘Members Only’ was obviously there to stop humans from joining and getting in. But she changed her mind as February led her away from the entrance of the gymnasium round the side.
Here the path split. The main part of the path led on to more shops beyond the large building, while a narrow paved ramp led up to the roof of the gymnasium towards a public house.
The public house occupied a small corner of the gymnasium’s roof. The rest of the roof seemed to be owned by it, though there were a fair number of white tables with plastic tops and metal supports, each with its own umbrella advertising a different type of beer. Each table was surrounded by chairs that were bolted to the roof of the gymnasium, as were the tables, in order to stop them going missing, or perhaps just to stop kids from dropping them on the shoppers below. Some of these tables were occupied: a group of five at one table, a pair at a second and a lone drinker at a third.
Kitty thought it unlikely that a public house was the location of the cat headquarters, and so she wasn’t too surprised when February just walked past, ignoring the drinkers.
Beyond the roof of the gymnasium, beyond the public house, the path continued between the roofs of the shops on that side of the street and then down another, much wider ramp towards another large building almost hidden out of the way of the main shopping thoroughfare. This building was a multiplex holotheater. It had fifteen virtual theaters and would show the latest holomovies designed to make the entire audience feel a part of the action, as if each individual was the only one there. It also had five normal theaters for people not wanting to feel they were part of the action, or for the few holomovies that were still produced on so cheap a budget that they simply couldn’t be played in the virtual theaters.
Kitty felt that a holotheater would be a great meeting place for the cats, but she also wondered if they were going to have to buy tickets to get into the meeting. There were visibly people on the doors checking tickets and directing the theatergoers to the right room.
As she started to head purposely towards the doors, though, February started to head round the side of the building. It turned out that it was the right building after all, only February had no intention of using the front door.
On the left-hand side of the large theater was a small green service door. It was originally made of a wood substitute but had been reinforced at some time in the past. There was a pair of large metal plates held by rivets to the door, leaving only a very small area between the plates to show its original material.
February knocked three times on the top metal plate and then looked up to the top left-hand corner of the doorjamb. There was a tin
y camera up there. It was hidden in the paintwork and very hard to find unless you knew it was there. February smiled at the camera and waited for the door to open.
‘Good to see you again, February,’ said the male who opened the door. He glanced around to make sure no human was in earshot. ‘That must be twice this month.’
February entered the building calmly and Kitty followed her, a little apprehensive.
‘Who’s your friend?’ the male asked as he closed the door.
‘This is Kitty,’ February told him. ‘She’s a friend.’
If Kitty had expected any reaction to her name from the male, she was mistaken. His lack of reaction almost suggested her name could be quite commonplace.
They were in a short corridor; the back of the door they had just come through was brown, as was a second door at the end of the corridor they stood in. Neither door had any distinguishing features, except that both could use a fresh coat of paint. The walls of the corridor were a sickly yellow and looked as if they had been painted in a hurry, as they were awash with dried air bubbles.
‘Pleased to meet you, Kitty,’ said the male. There was none of the antipathy in his voice that Kitty had expected. ‘I’m Solen; if you need anything while you’re here, please don’t hesitate to ask anyone. We don’t bite; well, not our own kind, anyway.’
Solen led the way down the corridor and then used a key card on the second door. ‘Please go straight through to the meeting hall.’
February nodded and entered the next room first. Kitty followed close behind, and Solen brought up the rear.
This was a fairly small room, but the contents of this room made Kitty’s heart jump in panic. There were four more Herbaht, two females and two males; every one of them carried a nasty-looking laser rifle and a brace of laser pistols. One of the females was sitting at a computer screen showing the image as seen by the camera on the outside doorjamb. Solen threw the keycard to the other female and walked over to where he had evidently left his own arsenal.
London Wild Page 18