by Phil Gabriel
In that instant of touch, we evaluated each other. I ticked off his advantages: enhanced senses, speed, strength, stamina, claws, fangs, and a nasty attitude. What were his disadvantages? Hmm. He was dense. Not like that; his bones and muscles were much denser than humans’. The paranoid part of me (the part that’s kept me alive for many years), tried to devise a way to fight this monster. Directional flashbang spell to give me a few seconds, then race to the nearest large body of water and hope I could drown him. That might work, or he could just power through the water like a Mark 48 Torpedo. My pet paranoid decided the best course was not to fight him.
Finally easing his grip, he said, “What kind of name is Scott Freeman? Is that a joke? Scott the Free Man? As in scot-free?”
“Says the guy with a soap opera name which is an anagram for Dark Forest,” I replied. “Whose assistant is named after the Italian fable of Cappuccetto Rosso. I think we both know true names are not tossed around carelessly.”
His lips pulled back from his teeth in something that definitely wasn’t a grin when Ms. Cappuccetto chimed in, “The server room is ready for the installation, and we have engineers waiting to run tests.” Taking a deep breath, she said, “So we can get back to making money!”
At the mention of money, Frost nodded abruptly, cutting eye contact. I had a feeling he wasn’t through with me. “I’ll be in my office,” he said. “Tell me as soon as the system is back up.”
“Yessir,” chirped Red, who gave a shudder of relief as Frost strode away.
Like a mother hen, she tried to herd us into the server room, even trying to grab the cart to get it to go faster. One look from Kitty-Sue and she dropped back.
In the server room, I stopped her at the door. “No assistance needed here, Red,” I said. “We’re dealing with propriety knowledge that hasn’t been licensed to Selene Select Partners.”
“But, but,” she said, “we have four engineers and technicians standing by to assist you.”
“Not gonna happen, Red,” I said. “You only rent the specially modified equipment. You don’t get to examine my techniques or technology.” The chance that another magician could duplicate what I’d done was minuscule, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Magicians are secretive. Tesla had thought no one could duplicate his genius; he was right, but they could steal his techniques.
With a terrified look, Red said, “I-I-I’ll inform Mr. Frost that you won’t need any assistance.”
“Hey, Red,” I said, “I can go tell him. If you want to delay the job even more.”
She shook her head in horror at the thought of further delays and hurried away as we examined the server room. As suspected, there were hidden cameras and microphones. Focusing on one of the cameras, I saw it was a multi-spectral model, similar to the one Terri the tattoo artist used. Damn technology was catching up to magic. In any case, we had defenses. I pulled my ear to let Kitty-Sue know we needed a privacy bubble.
Once the bubble was in place, Akiko popped into view. This job was a duplicate of the one performed at the NYSE Data Center, made much easier with the assistance of Akiko for the spell-casting part. Her magical emanations here would only affect Selene and Frost, which didn’t worry me. I didn’t care if every computer in the building BSOD’d on them.
In much less than two hours, we had the new equipment installed and tested.
A ping test to the NYSE Data Center showed our delay to be 1.2 nanoseconds. Compared to the speed-of-light minimum delay of 6.6 nanoseconds for that distance, we had a link that exceeded the speed of light by about six times. This, compared to real-world delays of about 50-60 nanoseconds to reach the Data Center, meant that Selene Select Partners could execute high-speed trading programs with almost no delays.
Looking over my shoulder at the test results, Kitty-Sue asked, “Is that good?”
“Very good,” I said. “My previous data link was about half as fast.”
“So, we’re done?” she asked.
“Almost,” I said, “we still have to get rid of the old equipment.”
Akiko and I performed Schrödinger’s spell again and shifted the old equipment to the ghost plane. I briefly considered leaving the ghostly remains in the server room like a permanent hologram. Imagining the frustration on their engineers’ faces as they tried to touch the equipment that contained my secrets made me smile. Ghost equipment they couldn’t touch would drive them crazy.
I quickly squelched the thought. Showing off had gotten me into more trouble than I could handle in the past. With a regretful sigh, I dropped the spell levitating the equipment and watched it drop like a rock through the floor.
Still, the thought of teasing the engineers gave me an idea. “Kitty-Sue,” I asked, “could you create an illusion that the old equipment is still there?”
“You mean the stuff you just dropped to the center of the Earth?” she replied.
“Yes,” I said, “I want them to go crazy trying to get it back onto our plane.”
“Like you did when you stabbed your tattoo artist girlfriend through the heart with an imaginary knife?” she asked with a bemused expression, then showed her evil grin. “It drove her crazy. I like that idea!”
Kitty-Sue concentrated. Kitsune magic sparkled over her body, then streamed to the middle of the cleared space, coalescing into a perfect copy of the old equipment.
“Perfect,” I said. “How long will it last?”
Breathing deeply, Kitty-Sue considered, then said, “Two or three days. If nobody hits it with a lot of magic.”
“Great,” I said. “Let’s get out of here. Akiko, please turn invisible again.”
Between one blink and the next, Akiko’s clothing changed. Her high school senior uniform morphed into a pair of baggy, translucent pantaloons, slippers with the toes turned up, and a well-filled bra-like top that left her bellybutton exposed, all topped off by a small red fez on her head with a scarf attached. “Yes, Master,” she said with a big grin, then crossed her arms far in front of her body and nodded her head grandly before disappearing. Didn’t the genie have a black-haired cousin?
At Kitty-Sue’s puzzled glance, I said, “I guess she figured out how to switch the channels on the hotel’s TV.”
We made our way up to the main floor, still surrounded by Kitty-Sue’s no-see-me glamour, and caught an elevator to the top floor. There was some special key needed for the elevator, but it was no match for magic.
We exited the elevator and stepped onto a luxurious carpeted hallway. Along the hallway were expensive works of art, and the walls were adorned with famous paintings. I desperately wanted to take time to examine a Van Gogh. The lines and whorls screamed that he had been a Pentachromat. Each time I saw one of his works, I felt I learned something new. However, we needed to finish the job. One day, I promised myself, I would visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Frost’s door was open, as no one would dare disturb him in his den. Well, until Kitty-Sue and I came along. He was tilted back in his high-back leather chair with his eyes closed.
“Hey,” I said, “sorry to disturb you, but the job is done.”
I had expected him to start, but he merely opened his eyes halfway, letting me know he had known all along that I was there. Oh yeah, wolf hearing and sense of smell—with the elevator dings, my beating heart, and human scent, he had known before the elevator stopped who was there. Kitty-Sue or Akiko could probably sneak up on him, but a mere magician had no chance. Good thing magic was a ranged weapon. As long as I had that, we were equals.
A tiny sound from below the desk, then Frost was standing, leaning his outsized fists on the desk. For the first time, he smiled a genuine, relaxed smile.
Kitty-Sue tilted her head at the desk and said, “Ms. Cappuccetto can come out now.”
There was a cough from below the desk, then Ms. Cappuccetto crawled out, brushing carpet fluff from her knees. “Sorry, Mr. Frost,” she said, “I can’t find that pen.”
“I’m sure it will turn up soon,” he s
aid with a smile. “That will be all for now.”
She scurried out of the room, unable to meet Kitty-Sue’s knowing gaze.
“If you would have your personnel check the link,” I said, “I think you will find it is working better than before.”
Frost motioned to a large screen display mounted on the wall. “I can already see that our trading program is executing correctly.”
Sure enough, the jumbled display of charts and numbers showed an upward trend starting about when we went back online. Wait, is that X-axis in millions of dollars? Damn, I bid way too low for this job.
At my raised eyebrows, Frost said, “I appreciate your competitive bid on this project.” He reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled out two large stacks of cash. “In addition to your fees and monthly retainer, I would like to give you this as a bonus.”
He set two stacks of fifty thousand dollars on the desk and pushed them towards us with a big smile. “I wanted you to know how much the firm appreciates the work you’ve done. Your stay at the Ritz-Carlton has been taken care of by our Finance department.”
I nodded in appreciation at the gesture and picked up the cash. A glance at Kitty-Sue showed a tight expression. Oh yeah, Japanese thought it was gauche to give unwrapped gifts. “Thank you, Mr. Frost,” I said, the first time I had used his honorific. It looked like we would get out of there alive.
Turning to Kitty-Sue, I said, “More shopping money for you.”
She smiled and said, “Yes, thirty-three K will go a long way towards my dream wardrobe.”
I felt Frost’s attention rise. Kitty-Sue immediately recognized her mistake. By naming her share of the one-hundred-K bonus, she had revealed that we had a third partner.
Frost inhaled discreetly, trying to sniff out our ghost partner. But Akiko was too subtle for that. Smells carry over between planes, but she had learned to mask them. She was invisible to all except entities like Jackie.
With the stacks of cash in my hands, I almost opened my dragonskin satchel to safely store the money. That would have been another mistake. The satchel was worth much more than the data link. I froze for a second before saying, “Kitty-Sue, could you please hold the cash for us?”
With bright eyes, she stuffed most of the cash into her tiny purse; the rest disappeared into wherever she hid her blades. I still wasn’t sure if this was a kitsune magic trick or a ninja female trick.
Frost waited several moments to see if either of us would reveal any more information. I gave him my bland #3 smile, the one I used on door-to-door salesmen. Finally, he walked from behind the desk and shook my hand. Not in a strength-testing grip, but a practiced politician’s smooth send off.
As he approached, we both noted Kitty-Sue’s feet shift minutely to change her balance. He hesitated slightly as he realized the most dangerous one of our pair was the small female. Damn, the longer we spent with this man, the more he found out. It was like getting in the ring with a great boxer, one of those old pros who could tell how your first punch would be thrown before you stepped from your corner. Time to cut this visit short.
“Well,” I said, placing my hand very lightly on Kitty-Sue’s back, “thanks again for the bonus. Give us a call if there are any issues with the link.” I quickly ushered her out, passing down the hallway, giving the Van Gogh a regretful glance.
I didn’t breathe easy until we were in a taxi. Kitty-Sue’s ears perked up when I directed the cab to take us to Central Park, but she kept silent.
At our meditation spot, with a bubble in place, Kitty-Sue asked, “Why did we come back here?”
“Both Akiko-san and I need to meditate and replenish some of the energy we used on this job,” I said. “After this, we can have dinner and find a new hotel.”
“Scott-Sensei,” asked Akiko, “why do we have to change hotels?”
“Because Frost has paid our bill at the Ritz-Carleton,” I said.
“Is it bad that he paid our bill?” she asked.
“Not the paying,” I said, “the knowing where we were staying. I made sure he didn’t know our location. He used his resources to find us in a city of millions, despite my best efforts. So now we will leave that hotel and stay in another.”
“So, we need to check out today?” she asked.
“Not at all,” I said. “I don’t care if Frost pays for that room for the next year. We’ll just go to another hotel. You didn’t leave anything in the hotel, did you?”
Akiko gestured to her ghostly form—everything she possessed was here with her. Kitty-Sue shook her head and said, “Nothing that I wasn’t going to get rid of anyway.” As a matter of routine, I kept my most important possessions in the dragonskin satchel, so I was always ready to travel.
Thinking of the satchel, I reached in and pulled out Princess. She made the same zing! sound that blades in movies make, but this time it sounded grateful. “Hello, Princess,” I said. “Would you like some fresh air?”
This time her sound was the same, but more like a yes. As I held the blade, I felt her eagerness to wade into battle. One of the reasons I didn’t let her out much was the effect she had on me. Calming my heart rate, I propped Princess on a nearby rock and said, “Why don’t you keep Kitty-Sue company while Akiko and I meditate?”
Kitty-Sue neared the rock, careful not to touch Princess. Princess was skittish around any kitsune, but Kitty-Sue had gained her confidence. Still, she didn’t like to touch Princess.
Kitty-Sue took a knee in her guard pose and nodded at us. “Enjoy your meditation,” she said. “Princess and I are on guard.”
Two hours later, refreshed and partially rejuvenated, we came out of our trances. Kitty-Sue and Princess were in the same pose as when we started. Kitty-Sue’s ears tilted as I opened my eyes; she was already aware that I was back. Before I could ask how, she said, “Your breathing and heart rate is different when you meditate.”
“You can hear my heartbeat?” I asked.
“Of course,” she replied. “That’s why you can never lie to me.”
“Good thing I never lie,” I said. This was met with a sniff and a flip of her tail.
Time for a change of subject. “Are you guys hungry?”
“Can we eat at that Italian place again?” asked Akiko.
“It might be better to eat at a new place. We don’t want to retrace our steps,” I said.
Akiko looked disappointed, but Kitty-Sue nodded at my caution. Kitty-Sue picked up her iPad and started checking out nearby restaurants. “How about this place, Marea?”
“Yeah,” I said, “that’s a famous Italian seafood place. It’s near here. Let’s go and see if we can get in.”
Peering over Kitty-Sue’s shoulder, Akiko asked, “What do the four dollar signs on the review page mean?”
“Very expensive,” quipped Kitty-Sue, “but we can afford it, with the bonus Frost coughed up.”
“My treat, ladies,” I said. “You won’t need to spend your shopping money on food.” That brought a smile to both their faces.
A quick stop at a new hotel, waving a Platinum Amex card with a new name on it matching my fake driver’s license, and we had rooms. Yes, rooms. Kitty-Sue surprised me by insisting on two adjoining rooms, making it clear she and Akiko would be sharing the second room. In the hallway outside our doors, I looked over and raised my eyebrow in query. She refused to meet my eye.
Still not over the tattoo artist, I guess.
We got to the restaurant after nine. A quick conversation with the host and an exchange of folding money snagged us a table in the main dining room.
After an extensive meal that hit all of our seafood cravings, as well a few bottles of very expensive wines, we were sated in all senses.
The bill was presented and dealt with; the tips (still a mystery for my Japanese team) were doled out generously. Then we strolled back to the hotel.
All in all, a wonderful date. Well, aside from the fact that Kitty-Sue was angry about my behavior and Akiko, as my student, was off-limits.
So, it wasn’t really a date. No happy ending.
At our respective doors, we said goodnight. They each gave me indecipherable looks. The older I get, the less I understand women.
Twenty-Five
Lured by Little Red
The next morning, I called the girls for breakfast. As we stuffed ourselves on the hotel’s breakfast buffet, we chatted about our plans.
“So, what would you like to do today?” I asked. “There are some great museums and lots of tourist attractions...” I trailed off because the last tourist attraction we had visited had contained a trap by the witches’ coven and Jackie.
“So, you want to visit old relics?” asked Kitty-Sue. At my nod, she continued, “Like that two-hundred-year-old ex-girlfriend of yours?”
Akiko covered her mouth to hide her grin, then went back to eating her Ghost Toasties.
“No, thanks,” said Kitty-Sue. “We’ve made other plans. Since the job is done, the pack is happy, and the witches don’t know where we are, we should be fine without you.”
She gave me a cool look that let me know they were not without resources. To be honest, anyone that tried to cross those two would encounter serious problems.
Then she stared at me intently, before adding, “And you should be fine without us.”
Apparently, they had been chatting for most of the night, because they had already planned out an entire day of shopping. A day that did not include their protectee and teacher.
In the face of their exciting plans, it would be petty to insist on them following me around to museums.
Finished with our breakfast, we headed back to our rooms to freshen up. We walked down to the lobby. “So, Scott-Sensei,” asked Akiko, “what are your plans?”
“Well,” I responded, “I plan on a long meditation session in Central Park. Followed by a large lunch, and maybe a trip to a museum this afternoon.”
Looking at me with the gaze of a mother of an always-in-trouble toddler, Kitty-Sue said, “You might need us to guard you...” She trailed off with reluctance.