Technofox

Chapter Four

Written by Nathan Cowen

Copyright © 2007 by Nathan Cowen, all rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this work by any means without the expressed written permission of the author, or hotlinking from another website without the expressed written permission of the author and BondoFox, is expressly forbidden. Similarity to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.

"We don't have a lot of time," Technofox said. "Unless, of course, 0209 isn't really a date -- "

"A number could mean anything," Shadowfox interrupted. "Perhaps he's saying that he has nothing to report, and that they should meet tomorrow." Her tail twitched, agitated.

They were in the living room of ICON's suite in Best Condo. Technofox's laptop was on a TV tray, a power cord and network cable attaching it to the wall. She was parked in front of it. The gift baskets were open, and sheaves of jerked meat of different varieties cast their subtly different aromas into the air. A bit of salmon was in Technofox's mouth, slowly softening and becoming rubbery as it was attacked by enzymes in her saliva, the salt and the concentrated fish flavor delightful against her tongue.

Technofox had several applications open on her computer, ready to tab to one or the other depending on where the conversation went. She could focus on issues of fact while the others speculated. She liked doing that.

"Or that he's leaving a note in safety deposit box 209," Firefox agreed. "Or code 0209 means 'Send more yummy beef jerky.'" She tore off some teriyaki beef jerky and put it thoughtfully into her mouth. Firefox was probably a bit hungry, because she had missed breakfast, Technofox thought. Technofox wondered if they could get something delivered. A bowl of KFC's gravy would be good, with some butter melted in... animal fat was an important part of a good breakfast for a Vix-Dix.

"I don't believe it's anything very sophisticated," Technofox said, "because it's pretty obviously a message of some sort. If he were being cagy, the communication would have been harder to pick out. The leading zero implies he's using a four-digit code, and that's typically a date."

Firefox nodded. "I think you're right. It's most likely a date, and I think it's most likely he's saying he will make the hit tomorrow."

"I concur," Technofox agreed. She set up a query on her database to look for the number 0209 and see if it had any particular significance to Odenberg. The program went to work in the background as she looked at a list of potential targets, to see if anything popped out. "Most likely, but not certain."

"Where does that assumption put us?" Firefox asked, her opinion already obvious.

"Nowhere very good," Technofox said ruefully. "Even if we consider his target expendable, we want to cover it."

"Crud," Firefox agreed. "And we have no idea who he's going after. Now, do we tell the police or not?"

"Tell them what, exactly?" Technofox asked, looking up. "That something might happen tomorrow in Atlanta or Texas?"

"Yes," Firefox said, reluctantly. "It's vague, but if we don't give it to them we'll be accused of suppressing it. We tell them both here and in Texas." She didn't like giving out Delphic warnings of this sort. Sharing speculative data with the police was always walking a tightrope. Too much and a lot would invariably be wrong, making you appear untrustworthy. Share too little and they would accuse you of holding out on them, especially if you held onto something that turned out to be critical.

Shadowfox glanced away nervously when Firefox mentioned Texas. Technofox could sympathize. They had all made mistakes in the past; it was the nature of the business, and Shadow certainly wouldn't get in trouble if it turned out 7.62 wasn't in Georgia. Still, it never felt good when you were wrong.

Technofox knew they'd have to watch Shadow carefully; the black vixen might subconsciously start ignoring evidence she had made a bad call. Shadowfox had snuck out last night to check out Odenberg's apartment; that might indicate she was getting a little twitchy.

The worst scenario was that Shadowfox had been deliberately misled by her source, to see if she would go to Atlanta. If so, then Foxforce had fallen into a trap. Shadow had spent months setting up a network of "boyfriends" among the crime families in Boston. All that sacrifice and work might have been wasted. They might even have to move out of the state, and Massachusetts was a good place for chimera to live.

Firefox looked at the other three, her lips tight, and Technofox knew that she was much more worried about Shadowfox's cover than the possibility Atlanta was a dead end. "The police have manpower, and we've failed to narrow down where 7.62 will be going. Tech, is that information admissible in court?"

"No," Technofox said firmly. "We're tapping the data inside the service provider's network, without any sort of search warrant. If his cellular network were part of ICON it would be different, but as it is, what we're doing is not legal at all."

She wondered if Odenberg had selected his wireless provider because it wasn't associated with the Inter Corporate Operative Network, making it harder for ICON to monitor him. Or it could be a coincidence. Most companies weren't ICON associates.

"In that case," Firefox said slowly, "send the message through Corporate. They'll need to launder the data before the police find out." She was obviously uncomfortable, and with good reason.

"Right," Technofox said with a nod. She started composing the email, and a mental command through her cerebral implant attached the clip with Odenberg's dance.

Almost all chimera had a cerebral implant; most chimera could only select items from a hierarchical menu under conscious control. That was good enough to look up and dial phone numbers or send prearranged messages or things like that. It was a bit like working a computer using only a mouse.

Technofox could use the implant better than most; she could enter text through the implant if she concentrated hard enough. That was difficult, and she couldn't keep it up for long before the text turned into random gibberish that would take longer to edit than typing it in directly from scratch. A physical keyboard forced her to slow down and form her thoughts instead of letting them flow out. ICON would get the information to the police without compromising the fact Foxforce was involved. ICON believed in co-operating with law enforcement, but there was no point in tipping their hand. They already knew Odenberg had a good intelligence network. It wasn't impossible the police might have a leak.

"How do you think they'll launder this?" Shadowfox asked.

Technofox tapped on her keyboard and shrugged. She liked this keyboard; it clicked softly and the keys responded smoothly to her touch. She had fallen in love with the keyboard in the showroom, and then had worked out a justification for getting a laptop on top of a notebook computer. She had had the laptop for almost four months and it still had the new-owner glow. That was a record for her; she loved her computers dearly, but it was a fickle love.

"ICON will probably claim that one of our agents was playing the game, and he happened to see someone do a coded dance in front of a Tataglia. He got suspicious, of course, and reported it. Nothing illegal about that," Technofox said.

"Not like tapping into someone's datafeed without a court order," Silverfox said, understanding. She looked at the soda on the coffee table. "Don't we have any diet Pepsi?"

Soda was an ongoing point of contention between the four of them: Firefox favored Coke, and Technofox would occasionally indulge in an IBC Root Beer. Shadowfox preferred a Brazilian brand. Technofox wondered if it was Shadow's way of rebelling.

"I don't think it's legal to sell Pepsi in Atlanta," Technofox said without cracking a smile. She reset her glasses on her nose, thoughtfully.

"I knew there was something I liked about this town," Firefox nodded approvingly.

"Old fogies," Silverfox grimaced. "Don't you know that Pepsi has been the choice of the New Generation since 1938?" She poured herself a Coke, and paced with it. Technofox pressed another switch and the big screen at one end of the room came to life, mirroring her desktop. She smiled. The new driver worked. The others glanced up at the screen without comment. They didn't really appreciate a lot of what Technofox did, which was how it should be. Film music that drew attention to itself might sell albums but in a way it failed as film music.

"I wonder sometimes how many lucky breaks in intelligence are laundered like that," Technofox speculated. "Ways to cover up dubious methodologies."

"So what's our next step?" Silverfox asked. She took a sip.

"That's a good question," Firefox said. "Once Technofox sends that message, the police will know just about everything we do: Odenberg is probably 7.62, and Odenberg will probably be doing something tomorrow in Atlanta. And we don't want to stumble across plainclothes police. We're licensed, but there might be an incident."

"Shadow and I could move out of the Motel Six and the four of us could have naked pillow fights here," Silverfox suggested. She licked the edge of her glass and looked around. "This place is a lot nicer than the armpit Tech reserved for us."

"I'm hoping we could be a little more productive," Firefox said. "But we'll call that Plan B. What do we know that the police don't?"

"We never told them about Odenberg's apartment," Technofox pointed out. "We found out about that illegally."

"Right," Firefox agreed. "So let's concentrate on that. Less likely we'll bump into the police that way."

"I'll keep an eye on the apartment," Shadowfox offered. "The building staff already saw me there once. They think I have a friend there, and they'll probably remember me."

"I'd rather you got some rest this afternoon," Firefox said. "When do you go to work this evening?"

"Two thousand," Shadow replied.

"I want you asleep no later than 1200," Firefox ordered. "Take a sleeping pill if you're not tired. I'd rather not have you boosting before work tonight."

Boosting meant deliberately provoking a combat reflex response. Abusing boosts was a common problem with their model; their biochemistry was significantly modified to provide a crisis performance increase similar to the human adrenal response, but much more so. Boosting had saved all their lives in combat, but there was a toll.

Firefox had once been forced to spend a night in jail when a blood test indicated she had been abusing prescription drugs. Which, in an odd way, was true: but instead of taking pills obtained illegally, the amphetamines in her bloodstream had been produced by her own endocrine system.

The long term health issues were still not fully understood, since most chimerae able to boost didn't live long enough to have long term health issues. It was generally agreed, however, that every Vix-Dix was a potential amphetamine addict. It was an easy trap to fall into -- whenever Technofox was tired and having trouble concentrating, a little boost would provide a nice jolt to the system and get her going. It was an easy drug to abuse; even easier since she didn't need to take a pill. Technofox struggled against the temptation any time she was tired and working on a report.

The risk of falling into addiction was worse for Shadowfox, since she spent a great deal of time posing as a worker in the sex industry, and stimulant abuse was fairly common in that profession. It wasn't easy to be bright and perky all night.

"I can set something up in his apartment," Technofox said.

"No, Shadowfox is right about her being less suspicious, so she should plant the bugs. It's now nine fifteen. Think you can install a package and be in your hotel room asleep by noon?" Firefox asked.

"That shouldn't be hard," Shadowfox said.

"Technofox can back you up."

"I can pull a remote sensing package together," Technofox said. She brought up an inventory of on-hand equipment. "How about a camera to cover his front door?"

Shadowfox looked dubious. "We can do that, but we need to be careful. Odenberg's tech savvy. He probably has counter sensors set up."

"Seems likely," Technofox agreed. "Okay, passive sensors only. No backscatter X-Ray. And we probably should keep to low bandwidth. We can't set up a landline, so we're stuck with wireless."

"I could go into the apartment underneath and set up a sensor package in the ceiling," Shadowfox said. "The building has hanging panels."

"Sonics and seismic package, then." Technofox decided. "The data rate from those are pretty low."

From home networks to phones to wireless speakers, there was a lot of data beamed about in a modern apartment building.

Bugs were designed to blend into the local radio environment, so equipment designed to detect sensors had to sort through the noise to locate suspicious signals. The size and format of a video feed could be recognized, even if it was too well encrypted to read. Sonic and seismic sensors sent much less raw data, and so were more likely to be confused with a cell phone. Which, of course, in a sense they were.

"Yes," Shadowfox agreed. "The apartment below his is leased to a couple. They're both employed, so they should be out by mid morning." Technofox looked up. Since Shadow had that information at her fingertips, she had obviously already looked into the matter.

"Good," Technofox said. She toggled to the inventory, and checked out a few microphones able to double as seismic sensors, and a communications hub. She sent an order to replace the equipment in case it would be needed, and got an acknowledgment that it would be sent overnight, and would arrive tomorrow around noon. Technofox liked to make sure they were a step ahead.

"Can we get a line of sight on his apartment from outside?" Silverfox asked.

"No, he doesn't have any outside windows," Shadowfox said regretfully. "Lower rent and better security." It would have been nice to set up a remote sensor from across the street. A window flashed for Technofox's attention, and she toggled to it. "Here's something interesting," Technofox said. "Viktor Korolev's taking a flight to San Diego on the tenth."

"Ivan Korolev's oldest acknowledged son?" Firefox said, lifting her eyebrows. "The Crown Prince himself."

"Viktor is Vlad's nephew," Shadowfox said thoughtfully. "Vlad is Ivan's younger brother. Vlad is Ivan's top general." Shadowfox had the best feel for the personalities they would be interacting with. "In fact, he's the one I'm trying to meet tonight." She mused for a moment. "I wonder if he's giving some thought to Richard II?"

"Who?" Silverfox asked.

"Basil Rathbone in Tower of London," Technofox translated.

"I thought that was Vincent Price," Shadowfox said, frowning.

"That was the remake," Technofox explained.

"Ah," Silverfox nodded. "It holds together. Wait -- it doesn't."

"We know 7.62 is working for the Tataglias," Firefox said, finishing Silver's thought. "Why else would he send a message to one of them?"

"Good point," Technofox agreed, frowning. "It's a nice theory. If it's Korolev on Korolev, it would make a lot of sense to hire an outsider like 7.62. But if he's working for the Tataglias... I don't get it." She shook her head.

"Aren't the Tataglias up to something in Mexico?" Silverfox asked. "He's probably in Texas."

There was a moment of silence and Shadowfox drummed her fingers.

"Could be," Firefox said. "But we're in Atlanta. Viktor's a plausible target, but he doesn't strike me as a Tataglia target."

"I agree, it's weak." Technofox said. "Viktor's the only one with travel plans on the tenth. That means 7.62 can get him on the ninth but not after, but that doesn't prove anything. I think we may be drifting too far from our hard data."

"That's right," Firefox agreed. "Do we want to go into Odenberg's apartment? See if we can find any notes? Maybe a computer?"

"I don't advise it," Shadowfox replied. "What if he has an alarm we don't catch?"

"Like a bird in a cage," Silverfox joked. "Alain Delon is a babe. I wanted to sleep with him when I was still lesbian."

"Le Samourai," Technofox replied.

"You cheated," Silverfox snorted.

"Probably," Technofox agreed, closing a browser window.

"I call no more film references. If Odenberg thinks we've broken into his apartment, then he'll probably disengage," Firefox said. "He'll abandon the hit, but it'll tip him off that we know about his apartment. He might even retire if he thinks he's under suspicion."

"Then he'd get away," Technofox said. "We need to nail him, on site, with a gun in his hands."

"Figuratively speaking," Firefox said.

"Right," Technofox said. "He'll be tough to nail if he retires from the business. He can always write RPG material for a living."

"Nobody writes tabletop RPG material for a living," Silverfox disagreed. "The whole industry's a cover for organized crime."

"We know Odenberg is in Atlanta. There's someone in his apartment," Shadowfox said.

"Not necessarily Odenberg," Firefox said. "You didn't actually see anyone."

"And we still haven't proved that Odenberg is 7.62," Silverfox said.

"I'll bet his apartment would clinch that," Silverfox said firmly. "He's not going to risk driving around the country with a box of signature ammunition in his glove box. Too risky if he's pulled over for speeding. He travels clean and swings by a cache. That's probably where he keeps his weapons, too."

Technofox watched while Firefox considered. She knew this sort of decision always troubled the red vixen. If Odenberg aborted the hit, the target would be safe for a while, but they'd lose a chance to prove he was 7.62. Essentially, by backing off they were gambling with the life of 7.62's target.

"I don't want to get too eager," Firefox said. "We'll stay out of his apartment for now."

"All right," Silverfox said with a nod.

It was the right decision, Technofox thought. If 7.62 were in Atlanta, he was probably here to kill a rival gangster. It was no big loss to the world, even if things went wrong.

"I know that 7.62 probably isn't stalking Travis Walton," Silverfox said, "but shouldn't we find out where Walton is and get a guard on him?"

There was an awkward pause. "He's here," Firefox said. "In this building."

"Huh?" Silverfox blinked rapidly.

"Travis Walton is staying in this building?" Shadow asked, as though she had misheard.

"Yeah," Firefox said. "What are the odds?"

Shadowfox considered. "We probably put an ICON saferoom here because the security is excellent, and it's convenient to the airport and convention center," she said. "We already knew Walton was in town for the convention. So he'd want a place convenient to the convention center, with good security... it would be ironic if ICON was protecting him." "And it wouldn't surprise me," Firefox said. "ICON suppressed my testimony about what he did in Blue Diamond. They're already involved in turning him into a noble crusader for chimera rights."

"I don't know," Technofox said. Firefox looked at her. "I mean," Technofox said hastily, "you're right, obviously. But I don't understand the why. Where's the payoff?"

"It's not the first time," Shadowfox said. "We know ICON sent us to Blue Diamond to bring it down from the inside. Again, why did they do that? It's obviously a political mission, and ICON isn't a political organization."

"Not overtly, anyway," Firefox agreed, something in her tone.

"We aren't guarding Walton, as far as I can tell," Technofox said seriously.

"Fire," Silver asked, "Do we warn him?"

"No," Firefox said.

"ICON wants him alive," Silverfox reminded her.

"No," Firefox repeated.

"...Oh," Silverfox said, finally.

Technofox looked up from her laptop. "There he was, having breakfast in the diner, like he had a right to be there--" She heard her voice raising, and forced herself to settle down. "It's just a damned good thing I wasn't packing."

Firefox chuckled. "I was," she said. "Believe me, it wasn't easy to keep it holstered. He saw me, he recognized me, and there's no remorse in him. No shame." There was a touch of wonder in her voice. Technofox understood. They had all done their share of questionable things. They had never fought fair. But they had always fought clean.

Firefox's tone was light, but there was something in it that made Silverfox's ears perk and Shadowfox look at her steadily. Technofox was quiet.

"You're planning something?" Silverfox asked. "Not just standing by and letting it happen?"

"...Yes," Technofox replied, pretending not to see Firefox's warning look.

Silverfox's ears flattened. "And you weren't going to tell us?" she snapped.

Firefox frowned. "I don't want to involve you all."

"Except her," Silverfox said, pointing, accusingly. Technofox's ears flattened.

"Get real," Firefox snorted. "I can barely hail a cab without Technofox. I need her. I want you out because it's about me, not us."

"If it's about you, it's about us," Shadowfox said calmly.

"The man raped this girl I know," Silverfox said. "She's kind of a bitch, but I want a piece of him."

"We'd almost certainly have to bring them in anyway," Technofox added. "We're supposed to be a team."

Firefox looked away, but when she looked back she had a smile. It faded.

"Maybe you haven't thought it through," Firefox said. "If we kill Walton, we can't kill anyone else. ICON might not know, but they will be suspicious. And they'll get really suspicious if anyone else connected to us through Blue Diamond just dies."

Silverfox shrugged. "I just wanted Tigre's head on my wall. Done that. So I'm good with this."

"I don't have anyone I want dead," Shadowfox said.

Technofox thought about Todd's Friend, and was silent.

"You win," Firefox said, obviously not too put out at losing. She looked at Technofox. "What do you think Morgan knows?" she asked.

"Who's Morgan?" Silverfox asked.

"I know a Morgan. Alsatian, works security for Chicago NewsNet?" Shadow asked.

"That's him, he mentioned your name last night," Firefox said. "He knows you're an agent, but said he didn't know who for."

"He knows what we did at Blue Diamond," Shadow said. "He's devoted to Victoria -- I don't think it's sexual, though. It's more like she's his little sister."

"I have the same feeling. How well do you know him?" Technofox asked.

"Not well. Just over the net," Shadow explained. "Through Victoria. We've never met in meatspace. He said he was going to be Walton's bodyguard for the conference."

"Fucking jimbo," Silverfox said. Technofox wondered if Silver knew the word came from _Uncle Tom's Cabin,_ from the slave who beat Uncle Tom to death on the orders of their owner. It meant a chimera who worked against other chimera on behalf of humans. Technofox didn't like the word. It had a racial taint to it; it could apply to a cop as easily to a tamer, and it implied chimera-on-chimera violence was okay as long as there wasn't a human in the loop.

"I don't think so. It's hard to say what he believes," Technofox replied. "I think he's honest -- he's buying into the hype about Walton, and it's Shadow's word against the media's."

"Not even. I never told him what Walton did to Fire," Shadowfox said, nodding. "He asked his boss for a chance to work with Walton. He was pretty excited about it. I'd rather not make him collateral damage."

Silverfox hesitated, and nodded, mollified.

"You never told him that Walton raped Firefox?" Technofox asked, surprised. Technofox knew her social skills weren't the best, but somehow that seemed like something worth mentioning.

Shadowfox shrugged. "Why make him uncomfortable?" she asked. "How did I know we'd go active against Walton?"

Firefox grunted, accepting Shadowfox's subtle rebuke. "Tech, do you think Morgan knows we're a threat to Walton?"

Technofox rubbed her head. "I'd say no. It's good that you kept your temper. If Morgan knows you want to kill Walton, it's because of something Walton told him. And if I were Walton, I don't think I'd warn him about you. Morgan's first question would be why Walton felt threatened by you, and Walton would have to come up with a convincing lie. If you had come across as angry, Walton could claim you were a nut, or that you resented him for something bad that happened which he can't be blamed for. But as it is, Morgan saw the two of you have a pleasant chat, and Walton needs to convince him that it was actually a string of veiled threats."

"Which it was," Firefox reminded her.

"Not obviously." Technofox shrugged. "The two of you were doing a tango around the subject. Why would Walton avoid it unless he had a guilty conscience?"

"Morgan knows I'm an agent," Firefox pointed out. "I'm not likely to be a nut."

"But Walton doesn't know he knows," Technofox reminded her.

"Unless Morgan told him," Silverfox said.

"I don't see that," Shadowfox said. "Morgan's professional. He wouldn't run around telling people that we were agents for someone."

"Right," Fire agreed.

"Think we can turn Morgan?" Silverfox asked. "With Walton's bodyguard on our side we might be able to pull it off in the next few days."

"I don't think it's safe to rush it," Technofox disagreed. "As it is, we've got our hands full." "Besides," Firefox said. "It's even money Morgan wouldn't believe us."

"Why would we lie about something like that?" Silverfox asked.

Firefox looked over at her. "Because he knows we're agents and he doesn't know who we work for," Firefox explained. "Our motives might be impossible to work out. I hate to say it, but the truth of what happened at Blue Diamond sounds like a story that I made up to justify an attack on Walton."

"And we'd be asking him to turn on a client," Shadowfox said. "He's a bodyguard. It's not something he'd take lightly." She considered. "It would be a betrayal in Morgan's eyes. Even if Morgan believed us, he might quit instead of setting Walton up for us."

"You have a mugshot of Morgan?" Silverfox asked.

"One sec," Technofox said. She brought it up onto the plasma screen.

"Yeah, I'd hit that," Silverfox said with a nod.

"Obviously," Technofox said. "He has a pulse and he's of legal age."

"What else does a guy need?" Silverfox asked. "We should offer him nookie."

"I don't think he'd help us kill Walton in return for sex," Firefox said.

"I was speaking on general principle," Silverfox explained. She shook her head. "It is cosmically unfair that a hunk like that is not inside someone tonight. With kilometers of unused vagina in this world, it simply isn't right. And by someone, I mean me, of course."

"I think he's got a girlfriend here," Shadowfox said. "I forget her name."

"Not Cheshire, I hope," Technofox said.

"Cheshire's here too?" Shadowfox asked. "Cheshire from Blue Diamond?"

"The tamer?" Silverfox asked.

Firefox banged her head with the palm of her hand. "Damn it," she swore. "Cheshire was working for him at Blue Diamond."

The other three stared at her. "Working for him, how?" Silverfox asked, finally.

Firefox hesitated. "She would help him with me."

Silverfox looked away and Technofox shuddered. Firefox hadn't mentioned that connection before.

"So maybe Walton's here because Cheshire's here?" Technofox asked.

Firefox considered. "Yes," she said firmly. "I wouldn't bet the farm on it but I'd bet a cow and a couple of sheep." She looked at them. "They had a relationship going. Beating me up was their shared interest."

Silverfox tapped her hand against her glass. "That doesn't sound like Cheshire."

"It was a pretense on her part," Firefox explained.

"That sounds like Cheshire," Silverfox agreed.

"It's what he wanted. I wonder if she'd keep that connection going if he did," Firefox mused. She nodded. "Cheshire would play nice with him if she had some motivation. Maybe he's slipping her a few bucks. Maybe he sends her care packages." "She didn't mention it this morning," Technofox said.

"Why should she?" Firefox asked. "What's in it for her?" She rubbed her muzzle. "Bitch. I would have appreciated a heads-up. When I saw him this morning I --"

Firefox cut herself off.

"I'll talk to her," Silverfox said. "I have an in with her."

Firefox looked over at Silverfox. "You do? What?"

Silverfox shrugged.

"Friendly?" Firefox persisted.

"Friendly," Silverfox admitted.

"All right," Firefox said slowly.

"I'll see if I can get intimate with Morgan," Shadowfox said. "I've got an acquaintance with him, but if he's seeing a friend, I might not be able to pull it off."

Shadowfox talked about seducing Morgan the same way she'd talk about seducing a mob boss. Technofox didn't see any affection in Shadowfox towards him, or at least not enough to spark the offer. "Why?" Technofox asked, suddenly shaken. Even Silverfox seemed taken aback.

"I was kidding," Silverfox said nervously.

"No, as you said, it's a general principle," Shadowfox said calmly. "If you can make someone feel more for you than you do for them, then you have an advantage. It could be useful." "I kind of like him. I wish you wouldn't." Technofox heard herself say.

"That's logical," Shadowfox said. "Don't have sex with people you like."

"Don't manipulate people you like," Technofox explained. "If you want to do it for fun, great, but if you're trying to get him to like you, as though he's a cli--" she cut herself short.

Shadowfox pretended not to hear. "I think he's a decent man. But he's standing between us and someone we want to kill. He's an opponent. I can help neutralize him."

"But that's not fair to you or him," Technofox said, rattled.

"What does fair have to do with it?" Shadowfox asked.

"Put that on hold, Shadow" Firefox said abruptly. Shadowfox looked at her quizzically for a moment, but Firefox was obviously serious.

"Yes, ma'am," Shadowfox replied seriously.

Firefox nodded. "Tech, you and Shadow install the package. Silver and I will be on backup. Call if something happens. In the meantime, we're going to talk with Cheshire."

Technofox sat at the table in front of the coffee house, notebook computer open in front of her. She was sitting with her back to the wall, the display at a slightly inconvenient angle to provide shade. Even with the brightness cranked all the way up, the display was too dim to be read in direct sunlight, at least in direct Atlanta sunlight. The coffee sat next to her, untouched. Next to it was a souvenir mug labeled "Atlanta." Shadowfox liked to collect mugs from this chain and Technofox doubted she'd have a chance to buy one for herself.

Technofox was having trouble concentrating. Shadowfox was in the apartment below Odenberg's, and Technofox was monitoring the transponders in the occupants' cars. It was very unlikely they'd return home midmorning on a work day, but Murphy's Law counseled caution.

The keyboard of the notebook computer was arranged differently from the keyboard on her laptop, and the keys didn't move quite as far. Typing on them was a slightly uncomfortable experience, like stepping unexpectedly on a rock. Also, the decals on the keys were wearing down already -- some of the letters were faded and hard to see in bad light. Of course, Technofox barely looked at the keyboard as she used it, but it was faintly obnoxious, like a single stain on an otherwise clean shirt.

In the apartment, Shadowfox sent a mental command to the implant her brain was grown around. The implant sent a command to her IM-enabled wristwatch, which sent a string of text to Technofox. Moments later, after passing through at least four computers, it appeared on a window on Technofox's display:

"You up for lunch?"

Any one of the computers in the chain might have a tap.

Technofox toggled to another window, showing four different line graphs in real time. A moment later, they all showed an almost identical spike. To Technofox, it looked like Shadowfox had faked a cough. Four sensors, all working, all with infrared links to the central unit. Since each microphone was also a relay, it was possible to chain them around corners as long as each microphone had a line of sight to one other microphone and one of the microphones could see the main unit. The battery monitors for all five units showed they were on external power: Shadowfox had tied them all into the apartment wiring. Good; the batteries were only good for a couple of days.

Technofox sent an active filter command to the central unit, and immediately three of the graphs turned yellow.

"Sure," Technofox replied to Shadowfox, the next code word in the sequence.

The scripted conversation was designed to look as innocuous as possible. Even if someone knew they were ICON operatives, there was nothing that indicated a crime was taking place. Which was why Technofox believed that the "0209" dance was a reference to tomorrow's date -- a really sophisticated code wouldn't involve dancing bizarrely about with the emote controls; it would have used something much more subtle...

Much more subtle, unless...

Technofox opened a to-do list and made a quick note for herself. What if the message hadn't been for the Tataglia? Anyone with an avatar in the game in the area would have seen the dance.

The green graph turned yellow and a second one turned from yellow to green. Another spike; this one looking like Shadowfox had tapped the ceiling. The central unit would monitor the four sensors, picking the clearest signal, and forward it to Technofox. That would dramatically reduce the bandwidth being used by the sensor package and lower the chance of it being detected.

"Chinese?" Technofox suggested. "Chinese" meant that the sensor package was working on all four sensors. Suggesting hamburgers would mean there was a fault in the network and that Shadow would need to use her cell phone so Technofox could work the problem through her.

Technofox forced herself to take a mouthful of coffee. She didn't like the burned taste and she wished she had bought a mocha instead. But it was too late for that, and Technofox tried not to think about not looking suspicious. None of the people in the coffee house would look at a fox girl with a notebook computer and assume she was running a break-and-entry operation remotely.

This was the part Technofox always hated. Shadowfox was now concealing the work she had done. There was every chance something would go horribly wrong, and Technofox would have no way of knowing until Shadow missed her next "All's-Well" heartbeat in half an hour.

How long did it take to cover up minor ceiling work with spackle and paint? Maybe Shadow wouldn't need it; she had mentioned a hanging tile ceiling. The clock barely seemed to move. How could it only be three minutes since Shadow's last message?

There was a soft drumming noise. Two claws on the table. Technofox forced herself to stop.

"Cheesecake, girl?" came a voice, making Technofox jump. It was one of the staff. For a moment, Technofox wondered why he was inviting her to show off her legs. Then she noticed he had a plate of bite-sized pieces of cheesecake in his hand, free samples.

"Oh -- thank you, sir, but no," Technofox replied. She looked back at her notebook and frowned slightly, trying to look distracted instead of nervous. She had to say sir; the word was tainted by Blue Diamond, but if she didn't use it she would stand out even more than she already did.

Northerners like Technofox were generally slightly taken aback by the casual use of honorifics in the South; they sounded forced and insincere to ears that were unused to them. They were honest though, and gave daily life a touch of civilization and grace that might have appealed greatly to Technofox if she rated a "ma'am." Not even being a paying customer lifted a chimera to "ma'am." On the whole Technofox preferred Boston. There, most humans thought "girl" but didn't remind you of it every time they spoke.

The guy behind the counter had abandoned his post to bring cheesecake over. She looked around the coffee shop. It was almost empty; just one other customer, she was reading a hard-copy newspaper while delicately nibbling on an apple fritter. The barista went back behind the counter without offering to the other customer. Or had he done that first, without Technofox noticing?

The barista was probably a bit bored, and maybe curious about the strange fox girl. Still, Technofox memorized his pace and scent just in case. He was probably not an undercover agent. Nobody would put an agent into every coffee house in the city just on the off chance an ICON operative would stop by. No, if Technofox were being watched, then it was the woman with the paper, who didn't have to be set up in advance.

Technofox turned back to her computer and tried to look as though she had nothing more pressing on her mind than a bizarre network problem. She wondered if she should open a window to a porn site -- if she jumped again, it would provide an alibi.

Five minutes since Shadowfox's last message. Technofox toggled to another window. She had to work the computer or she'd look suspicious.

Mark Henderson, broker, 43 years old. He had made slightly north of a quarter million last year, a hundred-thousand dollar drop from the year before. Divorced a few months ago; Technofox wondered if the drop was cause or effect. Three children, custody going to the mother. His share of the communal property included two condominiums, and two feline chimerae housekeepers, one named Modesty.

She looked at his picture, thinking. He had owned Modesty for two years. For two years she had slept in a separate room when he used the condo, had kept his place clean, cooked his meals and taken care of his suits. From what Modesty had said, it had been a professional relationship. Why had he suddenly decided that she was his sex toy as well? And why was he pushing her so hard? If he just wanted a woman, it would be easy enough to hire a hooker -- there were several "housekeepers" in Best Condos, so many that the building had purchased an overseer from a slave brothel to maintain discipline. It would be easy to find one for fifty dollars a night or less. Stephanie would be agreeable.

So what had changed in his mind? Was he always enamored of Modesty, and did his divorce make it okay to pursue her? Would he rather rape a woman than descend to hiring one? Did the divorce make him angry at women, and was he taking it out on someone he associated with his wife? Did he think he was seducing Modesty, that it was a game she was playing?

She looked at his picture, thinking.

Sexual harassment of chimerae was common. Many "housekeeper" chimerae, like Stephanie, were primarily sex slaves. Stephanie was an exception, even though it was common knowledge that general purpose domestic chimerae had some "consort" training. If you're buying a chimera, why not get one that would be fun in bed too?

Even so, most men would take "no" for an answer.

What was it in some men, that made their dicks more important than a woman's no?

She looked at his picture, thinking of Todd's friend in Blue Diamond. For him, the sex had been about half of it. The other half was knowing she didn't want him, but that she'd do it anyway. She could see that in his face, the way he looked at her when she'd go down on him.

There were hundreds of chimera women in the same position as Modesty. And there was nothing Technofox could do for them. Why even bother with Modesty then?

Modesty wasn't doing anything Technofox hadn't had to do. And she understood the faint irritation the other women felt with Modesty. In Blue Diamond, if someone had told her she had nothing to do but keep a room tidy and sleep with the owner, well... it would have seemed a wonderful thing. Just one man to put up with.

Nobody should have to put up with a man.

Her IM window was flashing. She sent a mental command to her notebook and toggled to the window.

It was Shadowfox. The message read, "Sounds good! CU 1300."

Technofox smiled broadly, and responded with "OK." She didn't close the notebook until she saw Shadowfox across the street, out of the apartment building and waiting for a light. Elated, she packed up and left to meet her.

"I didn't know _Tower of London_ was a remake," Shadowfox said, buckling up.

"The first one was better," Technofox said. "I can prove it mathematically."

Shadowfox looked at her quizzically. "How?"

Technofox was quiet as she merged into traffic. "The second film had Vincent Price, which is good," she explained. "But the first one had Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and the guy who did the voice of Mr. Peabody's boy Sherman. Rathbone plus Karloff plus Price is always greater than Price, for all cases where Karloff and Rathbone are greater than zero."

"But don't you get more Price in the remake?" Shadowfox asked. "I'd think that sufficiently large values of Price might compensate for zero Karloff and Rathbone."

"Possibly, but you're forgetting the voice of Sherman."

"Yes, of course," Shadowfox agreed. "I should know better than to argue math with you. Thanks for the mug."

"No problem. You'd do the same for me if they made souvenir computer equipment. It's just ten thirty," Technofox said as Shadowfox buckled up next to her. "Do you want to stop somewhere for lunch?"

"Thank you, no," Shadowfox replied. "I never sleep well on a full stomach."

"Straight back to your hotel room, then?" Technofox asked.

"Might as well. Did you see if Odenberg's apartment was occupied?" Shadowfox asked.

Technofox hesitated. "I didn't see any clear evidence," she said. "But I only looked at a few minutes' worth of signals."

Shadowfox grimaced and nodded, and turned to look out the window of the car. She changed the subject. "Can you take a left up here?" she asked. "Down Memorial Drive. I'd like to go past Geronimo."

"I wonder why they called it that," Technofox said. "I mean, seriously, what would Geronimo think about a chain of strip clubs named after him?"

Shadowfox cracked a smile. "It's named after a place in Paris, but I see your point. I want to know why paratroopers yell his name. Did he fall off a mountain or something?"

"No. Supposedly it started with a bet along the lines of, 'I'm so unafraid of jumping out of this airplane that I'll yell the name of a character from that film we just saw on the way down.' Do you want to park?" she asked.

"No, I just want to see if they put up my poster."

"You have a poster?" Technofox asked, curiously.

"Yes, several. We expensed them to ICON and had Andrew do the photography."

"Nothing like a little honest graft," Technofox agreed.

"And it's a good poster," Shadowfox said. "I think you can see the love in it."

Technofox didn't like this line of conversation, even though it didn't bother her that Andrew didn't have a picture of her in his portfolio.

They were clear of the downtown area and driving through that zone that city people called "suburb" and suburbanites called "city." By which the buildings were no longer actually touching one another, and there were vacant lots of overgrown greenery instead of tended lawns and there were individual houses instead of apartments. A cemetery went by on the left, and Technofox guessed that was how the road had been named.

Geronimo's Men's Club was a bigger place than Technofox had expected. Generally, strip clubs were concrete windowless structures that resembled bunkers, furtive and ashamed of themselves. Geronimo's was two stories and art deco all the way, with brass-colored statuary built into non-functional flying buttresses. It seemed to celebrate the business. The effect was striking, but it took attention away from the four posters that bracketed the door.

The one on the far left seemed to be solid black on the first glance, but a second showed Shadowfox, backlit in a dark room so she seemed to be part of the darkness. At first, Technofox thought Shadowfox was nude. But then, looking more closely, she saw that she was topless, and wearing a black string bikini bottom that seemed to blend with her fur. Her hair was over her breasts, and if she tossed her head her nipples would be exposed. She was kneeling, her hands near her crotch. The bikini bottom was a backless thong, and a triangle of fabric that covered her sex from view. Her eyes seemed to invite you to lift it, the only splash of color her tongue, peeking out from the side of her muzzle, as though eager to taste you. The text read "EBONY -- On a Limited Engagement!"

"Truck!" Shadowfox yelped.

Technofox swore and swerved back into the right lane.

"I didn't know you were famous," Technofox said.

"Ebony is," Shadowfox corrected. "And that's mostly because of marketing. Geronimo's is part of a chain and the holding company's in ICON. So they've been trying to make it look like she's a minor sex star. It makes my job easier. With that video and the website. They must be losing a bundle."

Technofox grinned. "You forget who you're talking to. The video made a profit. ICON's accountants got annoyed by that."

"Why?"

"Because it's part of the covert identity budget. Covert identity projects aren't profit centers. How do they go to the IRS and explain that their covert identity section made a profit selling a soft core video? Unless it's all part of a cunning plan."

"What plan?" Shadowfox asked.

"Well, suppose you're not actually a covert operative? Maybe there is no ICON, and the whole thing is an elaborate hoax to get you to agree to pose naked?"

"Could be," Shadowfox said thoughtfully. "And all the strippers in the world are told exactly the same thing, because there aren't enough women out there willing to take off their clothes and wriggle to fill the demand."

"It hangs together with my theory about coffee houses," Technofox said. "They're all undercover agents too, posing as baristas, but the secret is that they really are baristas--"

Shadowfox started to giggle. "I love how you can keep a straight face and say things like that."

"It's just a good thing you get to keep your tips," Technofox said. "Otherwise, you'd be making more money for ICON than tax evasion cases."

"The marketing on my video was good," Shadowfox said. "They let me keep a cut, which was nice. Union minimum, but better than nothing."

"And you're beautiful," Technofox replied, automatically. It was an honest comment.

"Thank you," Shadowfox said, looking out the window.

"No, I mean really, really beautiful," Technofox said. "I mean, and you look so confident."

"Confident? How?" Shadowfox looked back at her quizzically.

"In that poster. You look like you know you can have anyone you want," Technofox explained. "It looks like you're thinking, 'I know you want me.' Like there's no question you'll be turned down. And you're so ... I don't know, elegant, it doesn't seem sleazy at all. It's like people would line up to kiss your shadow, and you know it." She was talking fast, gesturing with her free hand.

"A lot of people say it's minimalism," Shadowfox said. "You can see there's a woman in the picture, but she's not a distinct individual. So everyone who looks at the picture imagines the woman they want and sort of paints her into it."

"I know the real Shadowfox," Technofox said, "and I want her."

Immediately, Technofox felt a little flustered. She wasn't usually so frank. Shadowfox smiled. "You like that picture, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah," Technofox said, head bobbing. It was strange; she could pretend that she was talking about that hot chick in a picture instead of to Shadowfox. "You steer; I'll work the pedals and masturbate furiously."

"We're less than a mile from the hotel," Shadowfox said. "Keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel and you can use my body any way you want."

Technofox laughed and kept her eyes forward. "Seriously, I want to show you the feeds from Odenberg's apartment. I noticed something interesting while I was waiting for you in the coffeehouse."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It was in the log, not real time," Technofox explained, "and I didn't want to distract you."

"Oh, of course," Shadow laughed. "Sorry. It's just that after breaking into an apartment, you don't want to hear someone say, 'By the way, the police were in the next room.'"

Technofox laughed as she pulled into the parking lot. She was in a mood to laugh and enjoy herself. She checked the battery gauge and decided against pulling into a charging station, even though there were several free, because it would mean parking in the sun and she was still above 90%, and the condo wasn't more than a few kilometers off.

The outside of the hotel was more like what she had expected from Geronimo; concrete and somewhere between "needs to be washed" and "shabby." It was certainly more than one or even two cuts below Best Condo. Technofox took her notebook case and followed Shadowfox into a side entrance. Shadowfox handed her the card. "You should probably take this," she said. "We have four, and I'd rather you two had one."

"Sure," Technofox said, putting it into a breast pocket, away from any magnets. "It's not really the sort of place I'd expect a sex star to stay."

"It's exactly right," Shadowfox contradicted her. "Ebony's self supporting, but not so rich she'd be hard to buy off." Shadowfox fell quiet for a moment before continuing. "It's a little strange. The men usually come on to you like they're looking for a girlfriend, but in the backs of their heads, they're always aware that they're buying you. They'll do almost anything to avoid giving you money, but they'll spend twice as much on jewelry..."

Shadow had an impressive collection of jewelry. She kept it in a small parts organizer, each drawer labeled with a name and date. Some of it was pretty valuable.

The electronics in the room consisted of a phone and a single screen. The rest was about what she expected: clean, but minimal. At least there was a desk with a standard dock. She plugged her notebook into it, the power light came on, and she opened the screen as it woke from its slumber. It reacquired the cellular signal and logged onto the network.

"Here we go," Technofox said. "Here's something from oh nine twenty." She brought it up: a string of packets from Odenberg's room, across the secure landline. "What is it?" Shadowfox asked, leaning over her, head next to hers so she could see the screen.

"It's a request for an Atlanta weather report from WeatherNet and news headlines from Agence France-Presse," Technofox explained.

"Odenberg speaks French?" Shadowfox asked. "Oh, of course. French Foreign Legion."

Technofox plugged a card reader into the PC Slot and scanned the key to the hotel room in case she would need to make a duplicate later.

"I'd guess his personal organizer is making these requests. He's going through some sort of proxy system to make people think he's in Texas, but he's forgotten that his personal organizer hits the net as well." It was a common gaffe.

Shadowfox moved a little closer, resting her chin along Technofox's shoulder and her muzzle along hers. Technofox sat quietly and held her breath, as though afraid of frightening her off. Shadowfox opened her mouth a sliver, and ran her tongue gently along Technofox's lip.

Shadowfox broke contact, and they turned to look at one another. Technofox was sitting, looking up at her uncertainly, while the black vixen looked back down at her, and smiled softly. She touched the back of her head, ran her fingers through her hair and fur. Shadowfox reached down with one hand and undid her shoes, pulling off each one. Her toes spread as they returned to the floor.

"She likes to be coaxed, doesn't she?" Shadowfox murmured. Shadowfox opened her mouth and pressed it against Technofox's, lips parted, tongue dabbing lightly at Technofox's lips. Shadowfox caressed her head, staring into her eyes. "Well, she's worth coaxing. She deserves what she wants." Shadowfox straightened, and turned away.

"Let me close the blinds," Shadowfox said. "Let me close the blinds and get naked for her."

"I thought you were kidding. In the car," Technofox blurted out.

Shadowfox closed the blinds, cutting off most of the light. With her back to Technofox, she pulled her shirt off over her head, and dropped it to the floor. She undid her pants, and stepped out of them, leaving herself in a sports bra and panties. They were a dark blue, fading to black.

Shadowfox turned to look at her, and without taking her eyes off Technofox's eyes lifted the bra up over the curve of her breasts. Technofox's eyes dropped to her breasts as Shadowfox moved the bra up her arms and over her head. As her hair pulled free and cascaded back into place, Shadowfox lowered her arms and let the bra drop to her wrists. She caught it there, and twisted it lightly around her own wrists, making her eyes suddenly demure and ashamed; slipping into the role of a maiden, topless, hands bound before her and forced against her will to endure the eyes on her; finding it, against her will, a pleasure.

Technofox felt something inside her stir; the predator's joy in the hunt overlapping with the pleasure of mating; her nipples hardened and she felt a tingling pressure between her legs. Technofox shifted slightly in her chair, as though to move forward. She stopped herself, a moment of discomfort when she realized how exciting that thought was; to have a woman bound and offered to her. Shadowfox stepped forward to her and smiled, dropping the bra to the floor, and in that moment becoming, again, Shadowfox. Shadowfox pushed her panties down and let then drop, stepping out of them, closer to her. Technofox reached for the buttons on her blouse, and Shadowfox shook her head, climbing into her lap, straddling her.

"I want you dressed for now," Shadowfox said softly. She slid forward on Technofox's lap, licked and nibbled at Technofox's neck.

Technofox moved her hands up to Shadowfox's breasts, and Shadowfox arched her back with pleasure, gasping as Technofox's fingers touched her nipples. Shadowfox smiled and pulled back. She took Technofox's hands and pushed them down. "Hold onto the chair," she ordered.

"You'll drive me berserk," Technofox objected.

"And..?" Shadowfox asked, a lazy half-smile on her lips. "You work so hard for us," Shadowfox said. "I want to do a little work for you, now."

Shadowfox lowered her head, touched her chin to Technofox's shoulder and her breasts to Technofox's. She straightened slowly, caressing Technofox's breasts with her own. She moved them higher, fleetingly grazed Technofox's muzzle with a nipple. It felt stiff against her lip; Technofox moved to suck at it. Shadowfox leaned backwards, covered her breasts, and laughed. "Not yet," she said. Technofox lifted her hand.

"She's a little grabby," Shadowfox said. "We'll fix that."

She slid closer to Technofox, and wrapped her long legs around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Shadowfox reached out with a hand and touched Technofox's hair, running her claws slowly down, through her fur, down the side of her neck, never taking her eyes off hers.

"I'd like to kiss her," Shadowfox said. "But I don't think she can control herself. I'm afraid that if I kiss her, she'll try to kiss me back."

Technofox bit her lip. Shadowfox's hands ran down the front of her blouse, the thin fabric between Shadowfox's claw and her nipple.

"She's not wearing a bra," Shadowfox said. "She's such a naughty girl." She licked her lips. "Can she control herself? I don't think she can."

"I'll try," Technofox blurted out.

Shadowfox moved her hands off Technofox. She lowered them, stroked the sides of her breasts, moving them softly, letting Technofox stare at her nipples.

"Trying isn't good enough," she said.

"I won't," Technofox claimed, hoping she wasn't lying.

Shadowfox moved forward suddenly, breasts touching Technofox on the collarbone. She stopped short, her muzzle barely a quarter inch from Technofox's. She bridged the gap with the tip of her tongue. A deep, soft moan escaped the black vixen; her eyes closed, her tongue probed Technofox's lip. She took Technofox's lip between her teeth, applied a gentle pressure. She broke off the kiss and leaned back, stroking her breasts, teasing her nipples with her claws, her eyes daring Technofox to look down at them. Technofox couldn't resist; her eyes dropped to her nipples.

"She's so excited for me," Shadowfox whispered.

"Yes," Technofox agreed.

"So excited I think she's going to pop."

Shadowfox's breasts were smaller than Firefox's, but still large and well-formed. Shadowfox moved her hips, in a slow, mating rhythm, as though she were sliding a man's shaft in and out of herself, caressing him. Technofox could hear her breathe in time to her hip movements.

"Do you like them?" Shadowfox asked.

"They're beautiful," Technofox replied, mesmerized.

"You're beautiful," Shadowfox said.

Technofox looked away.

"Look at me," Shadowfox ordered. Technofox turned her head back. Shadowfox put her hands on her hips. "I could have almost anyone I want," she said. "Isn't that so?"

"Yes," Technofox agreed.

"And I want you," Shadowfox said. Shadowfox lifted Technofox's face. "You're special to me."

"Thank you," Technofox said, feeling warm. In that moment, it didn't matter how many other lovers Shadowfox had had -- all that mattered was her hands on her face and those sweet words in her ears.

Shadowfox dropped her eyes modestly. "I'm yours," she said softly. "Tell me what you want me to do."

Technofox was staring at her breast. "I'd like to kiss your nipple, please."

"Don't ask," Shadowfox said. "Tell me."

"Uhm," Technofox said, looking away.

"I will do anything you tell me to do," Shadowfox said softly, stroking Technofox's head. "Please? I want to do this for you," she said, kissing her gently.

Technofox hesitated, and she knew she was hesitating too long. Why was Shadowfox doing this? Would she hurt her feelings unless she did this? "I want your breast," Technofox said, finally.

Shadowfox obediently took her breast in her hand and moved her nipple to Technofox's lips. "Here you are," she said in a soft, low voice. "My pleasure."

Wordlessly, Technofox took her nipple into her mouth and delicately began to suckle. Shadowfox was still for a few minutes, and the only sound in the room was the soft noise of Technofox nursing. There was a pause as Shadowfox withdrew, only to return her other nipple.

"I love the feel of your mouth," Shadowfox said. She loosened her legs, and Technofox took Shadowfox's breast in one hand, kneading it, and held Shadowfox against her with her other hand.

"She's such a greedy little thing," Shadowfox said softly.

"Stand up," Technofox said suddenly.

They stood, facing one another. Technofox pulled off her blouse, and let it drop to the floor.

Shadowfox knelt down, looked up at her, reached up and undid her belt. Slowly, kneeling naked before Technofox, she stripped the small vixen of her pants, and her panties. She pushed Technofox lightly back into her chair, and draped Technofox's legs over her shoulders. She buried her muzzle between Technofox's legs.

Technofox stared down at her, and then rested her head back; she felt Shadowfox's back against her calves, her tongue dabbing lightly, delicately, against her pubes. Not going right for the clitoris; but working around her labia; leaving that as a promise At first, Technofox wished she could do something for Shadowfox; but she had insisted. Her tongue flicked against Technofox's clitoris.

It was strange, wordless; almost as though Shadowfox were no longer there, as though the sensation building between her legs was simply happening, as though Technofox were masturbating without having to touch herself. The room was dark and Shadowfox was barely visible; a subtle shadow instead of a woman.

Technofox leaned back, stared at the ceiling, and stroked her breasts, running fingers and claws along the lay of the fur, shivering softly when she touched her nipples,and closed her eyes, letting Shadowfox minister her gently to a climax, shuddering in her chair.

She looked down, and Shadowfox looked up at her expectantly. Technofox took her chin in her hand and lifted her to a standing position, standing herself and guiding her over to one of the beds.

She lay Shadowfox onto the bed, her black hair spilling over the white pillow, and lay down on her. Technofox's mouth found Shadowfox's mouth, tasting herself on her lover's mouth; her hand fell between Shadowfox's legs. Shadowfox cried out in surprise; her eyes bewildered.

"Why?" Shadowfox asked.

"Because I'm grateful," Technofox whispered. "Because I love you."

She was very wet, very ready. Shadowfox closed her eyes; Technofox kept hers open, watched and listened as Shadowfox's body moved and she moaned under the pleasure that Technofox brought to her. Finally, Shadowfox convulsed, gripped her with surprising strength, shuddered as the orgasm flowed through her.

"Thank you," Shadowfox said, finally. Technofox kissed her. Shadowfox's eyes brimmed with tears.

"What's wrong?" Technofox asked softly.

"Nothing. Everything's so right."

"I don't understand."

"You're here, and you're so sweet, but I have to tell Firefox something, and I don't know how."

"Tell her what?" Technofox asked. It was hard to imagine anything Shadowfox couldn't talk to Firefox about.

"I think she needs to seduce Walton," Shadowfox said finally.

"What?" Technofox asked, freezing in horror. "Shadow, he raped her, and he made it hurt. How can you even think of that?"

Shadowfox looked at her. "Because if Walton suspects her of wanting to hurt him, he'll do something about it."

"He'd never believe it," Technofox replied.

"Yes, he would," Shadowfox said firmly. She rolled over and looked at Technofox. "Most men want a woman more than anything else. Cerchez la femme -- if you're looking for a fugitive from anything but a crime of passion, find his wife or girlfriend. She knows where he is. But it's not just any woman; it has to be a special woman. Walton wants a woman who hates him but is drawn to him like an addict to her fix." She patted Technofox between the legs. "Her brain says no, but her pussy longs for him. She crawls to him and hates herself for doing it. If power is making other people suffer, he wants power." Shadowfox nodded slowly.

"He'll believe it of her, because he wants to believe it of her."

"And you want Firefox to play along with that?" Technofox said, shocked.

"Of course not," Shadowfox said, angrily. "It should be me. It's what I do." She looked away, reluctantly.

"You shouldn't," Technofox said, suddenly frightened. The idea that the magnificent creature in bed with her would ever be touched by someone who didn't worship her was suddenly appalling. Even though it was what she did. "It's obscene. It's wrong."

"I envy you," Shadowfox said finally.

"Why?" Technofox asked, flabbergasted. At that moment, Shadowfox was the most wonderful thing in the universe; how could a goddess envy Technofox?

Shadowfox looked at her. "Because when you make love to someone, it's because you love them. Or it's because it's fun."

Technofox was silent. Shadowfox went on, trailing her hand through Technofox's fur and turning her head away.

"For me, sex isn't just about love and amusement." she said. "It's a social weapon, it's a way to manipulate people. If someone you don't love loves you, or at least loves what they imagine you to be, you have an advantage."

"I know," Technofox said. She kissed the dark, beautiful woman in the bed. Technofox suddenly noticed a trace of Silverfox's scent; this was Silverfox's bed. She had been so intent on Firefox she hadn't caught that before. It surprised her; scent was so much a part of the way she perceived the world it was like a human bedding a girl and not noticing a picture of another lover on the pillow.

"I wish I could do something for you," Shadowfox said. "Something sacred, something I only do for someone I love. But I'm the team whore, so there's nothing I can only give to you."

"You're not that," Technofox said, shocked.

Shadowfox snorted. "Do you know how many locked doors I've fucked my way through?" Shadowfox asked. "How many times I've left a man's bed to put one of your sensors on a datafeed?"

"That's not..." Technofox trailed off, because she knew Shadowfox was right in a way. She furrowed her brow.

Her visceral reaction was that Shadowfox wasn't prostituting herself, that there was nothing degrading or dishonorable in what Shadowfox did. But at the same time, the thought of Firefox going to Walton -- or herself going to Todd's Friend -- it filled her with horror, and shame. Why was it okay for Shadowfox, but not for her?

"What am I then?" Shadowfox asked. "I don't take money unless it's part of my cover, but it's still an exchange. A whore is more honest than I am, I suppose."

"Nobody talks that way about Shadowfox in my hearing, unless they want their credit ratings slashed one night," Technofox said threateningly.

Shadowfox burst into laughter. "Thank you," she said. "I used to have something I only did with people I love. I wish I could do it with you now. But it's too late."

Technofox stroked her fur. Shadowfox closed her eyes with pleasure. "What was it?"

Shadowfox fell quiet, and Technofox wished she could withdraw the question.

"Before Blue Diamond," she said finally, "it was having a climax myself. Before Blue Diamond, I never had one with a ... with a trick. Aside from that, there wasn't a single physical act I reserved for a lover. There's nothing I've ever done with Michael or you guys that I haven't done with a mob boss or their bored wives. I used to be able to say that Michael was the only one I let myself go with. But in Blue Diamond... I let Master take me, and it was delicious. I've never forgiven myself for that. It's as though I've broken my word with someone."

"We all did things in Blue Diamond," Technofox said. "I think that was the worst. They made us like it."

"...Yes," Shadowfox agreed. "Andrew took some other pictures of me. Would you like to see them?"

"Sure."

"I'll send you a link." That was a hint; Technofox really needed to get going so Shadow could take a nap.

"Thanks." Technofox kissed Shadowfox on the nose. "Did you ever sleep with him?"

Shadowfox grinned, embarrassed. "Sort of. Remember when he brought me an encrypted picture in Blue Diamond? He hired me for oral sex so he could be alone with me, and I went down on him."

"He let you?" Technofox asked, surprised.

Shadowfox grinned and looked away. "I pressured him into it," she admitted.

"You were chained kneeling on the floor," Technofox pointed out. "How did you pressure him into it?"

Shadowfox cleared her throat. "I said something about how sometimes they'd check my breath for semen." Technofox giggled and Shadowfox grinned sheepishly. "I don't know why. I was just feeling so grateful to him, and I wanted to do something for him."

"I understand."

"Sometimes Blue Diamond would sort of ... sweep you away. Did you ever get caught up in it?" The last question was a little nervous, as though she wasn't sure of the answer, and it made a difference.

Technofox thought of Todd's Friend.

"Sometimes," Technofox admitted. "Sometimes sex seemed like its own justification, and I forgot the collar and the chains and I just wanted him to come into me. Sometimes I'd be tied up and I'd want the chains off so I could make it better for the two of us." She hesitated. "It happened sometimes."

"Yes."

She kissed Shadowfox. "There's a frenzy to sex sometimes," Technofox said. "I never felt it until Blue Diamond, you know." She touched the sides of her breasts, and touched claws to her nipples. "I wish it was about love, about the man I was with, but it wasn't. I don't even know their names, most of them. They were anonymous, and I didn't know anything about them but how they felt inside me, and it was enough."

A bit of tension drained out of Shadowfox. "Thank you," she said. "And ... there's something I've always liked about doing all the work. About playing with someone and not letting them play with you." She ran a hand lightly over Technofox. "It's exciting," she said softly. "I like getting people excited, I love it when I make them so nothing matters but getting their hands on me." She smiled. "I'm a bit of a flirt, I suppose."

"What you did for me now. Was that sort of like giving someone a lap dance?" Technofox asked.

"Yes, exactly," Shadowfox said. "I've always enjoyed ... teasing people." She closed her eyes and kissed Technofox. "Seeing you on that chair, knowing there was nothing in your head but wanting me. It makes me feel wanted, I suppose."

Shadowfox squeezed Technofox and kissed her face, then quickly sucked a nipple and nibbled at her rib cage, as though flushed with excitement over that thought and confession. Technofox tried to kiss her back, but missed.

"Shadow," Technofox asked. "Do you remember the first time you went home with a ... suspect?"

"Of course," Shadowfox said. "That embezzler, Kristof."

"Right... I was just thinking about that, and you know, I don't remember thinking there was anything odd about that."

"It's what I do."

"Right, but ... I don't remember wondering about it. I don't remember thinking you might not want to. I don't remember having any qualms about it. It was more like my place was in the van with monitoring equipment, and your place was talking him into taking you home." Technofox frowned. "I don't understand. I don't even remember who came up with the idea. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

It was puzzling; and it was a strange problem because there was no problem.

"Why is that?" Technofox asked with a frown. "Shadowfox, do you think I should seduce Walton?"

"No," Shadowfox replied quickly. She rolled over at looked at the ceiling for a moment. "Technofox, I think a lot about this. I feel guilty about what happened to you in Blue Diamond. I let you all down."

"Why?" Technofox asked.

Shadowfox hesitated. "Because I'm supposed to keep you three from having to do what I do every day. Suppose when I die I'm asked how I can justify sleeping with all the strangers I've slept with. I could always say that I was a whore to keep you three from having to be one. I took the sin on myself."

"Sin?"

"Tech," Shadowfox said quietly, "Some of the men I've had were just looking for some fun times with a piece of furry ass. Fine. I never had a problem with that. But some of the others I had to work on. I became the woman they wanted, and they fell in love with her thinking I was her. I lied to them. They would tell me they loved me, and I would lie about loving them, while they were inside me and trying to bring me pleasure because they liked to see me happy. They told me things, whispered things to me that I typed into reports and into court records. If that isn't sin, what is? Murder's kinder, I think. More honest."

Technofox was quiet.

"And I took that sin onto myself," Shadowfox told Technofox quietly. "I was proud to do it, because I kept you from having to do it. And then came Blue Diamond, and they made us all whores." She stroked Technofox's head. "How could anyone look at that pretty little face, and then force themselves into you? You were never meant to be touched by anyone who didn't love you."

"Neither were you," Technofox said.

"Maybe once. Not anymore." Shadowfox shook her head. "You're sweet, but I need to get to sleep. Let's take a shower."

Since she was with Shadowfox, she was happy through the shower. But when Technofox walked out across the parking lot, she felt terribly alone and sad and guilty, and she couldn't say why.