Fury Saga              by: Darkside

 

The Fury Directive

BOOK II a. Middle Game.

o - o - o -

The Senator and Scott breathed a long, hard sigh of relief as the pursuing Guild agents ran past. They heard a brief exchange of gunfire and then silence descended on them. After the violence of the past few hours the silence was welcome, and yet disquieting. The Senator wanted to peer outside the door but Scott warned against it. So far they had been forgotten and they might just stay that way. So they waited in silence, almost afraid to breathe.

A loud cheer shattered the quiet as surely as any gunshot and this made Scott nervous. A few minutes later the same Guild agent who’d sent them on their mission walked thru the door. His catsuit was torn but the gleam in his eyes said it all. He was on the winning side. "Thank you," his voice boomed.

"What?" Scott queried.

The agent’s voice had a sound of triumph "Your efforts helped us secure Hassan’s personal office. From there we could issue false orders and thus hasten our victory. You are heroes. We are sorry for your friend but her death had meaning. Her sacrifice will be talked about in the Guild for a hundred years. Once we have cleaned up here you are free to go, we will give you the papers you need to get back to your country and we will arrange a flight back to New York."

Scott’s heart soared, at last he was getting out of this hell hole and back to his loved ones. It seemed almost a lifetime ago that the evil Dr Bexley took him. In reality it was a lifetime ago that his life had changed, maybe for good. Scott was starting to feel a little depressed again as his thoughts wandered back to his wife when the Senator grabbed his delicate hand and said "Come on, cheer up, we’re going home."

The Guild agent interrupted and said, "Not just yet. You are to go to this address in Manhattan and wait. You are not to talk to your family or friends until you go there. If you do not do this you will never be back to how you were before."

Scott grew angry at this response, "Who the hell do you think you are? Telling me what I can and can’t do. Who will we meet at this place that’ll help us."

The Guild agent ignored the first part of the threat and simply replied "Dr Elizabeth Bexley will meet you there. That is all I know."

Ignoring Scott’s evil glare the Guild agent fished inside his catsuit and gave the Senator a folded piece of paper and a key, he then turned and walked out.

o - o - o -

The Guild commander stood over the sobbing Matthew and looked at Elizabeth’s limp form, "She died well," was his only comment as he turned away and started to survey the damage around him.

Matthew couldn’t believe that Elizabeth was dead. He knew that each change used a lot of energy and that sooner or later she would hit the limit of what her body could stand but this was unreal. It wasn’t like Elizabeth to have miscalculated something this big, not like her at all. His mind flashed back to the conversation they’d had in the communications room. What was it she’d said, ‘ With what I have planned next I might not. The only thing that can kill me is myself.’

Matthew sighed once more. Elizabeth had known something like this could happen. That’s why she’d told him to go to New York and wait for Salah. In her last few moments alive she’d given him the chance to be turned back. She had fulfilled her promise, and now in death she had redeemed herself the only way she knew how.

There was still a nagging doubt at the back of Matthew’s mind, maybe it was disbelief or maybe it was something else. People like Elizabeth just didn’t die. She’d have had a backup plan for just this contingency, her changeling organ was too perfect and she was too fastidious to let herself be killed by overloading her system. Besides during the Fury she’d covered every aspect of her plan and built in multiple failsafes. It was only a lucky break that had eventually stopped her. When, he decided Elizabeth was in control of a situation then very little happened that she didn’t wish to happen. She would KNOW the state her body was in. She wasn’t some amateur in the use of changeling organ. She knew every aspect of it and every way it could be used. After all she was nothing if not, inventive in using it. Creating wings for herself to fly out to him, the poison dart weapons, being able to heal major wounds without effect to herself, and finally the four armed killing machine that had ripped it’s way thru Hassan’s elite forces like a hot knife thru butter. Elizabeth didn’t give up, didn’t slow down she was inexorable and when push came to shove a survivor. A thought struck Matthew, and he gently placed her body on the ground and stood up.

"Hey, someone get me a doctor," he called out.

Matthew repeated the call for a few minutes when the Guild commander came running in. "What is it?" he demanded.

"I want Dr Bexley checked by a doctor. I need to know if she is really dead," Matthew asked.

"I will see what I can find. We owe her much," the commander said and walked away.

Matthew had to wait for two hours, not knowing if he was right or not. He stared at Elizabeth’s seemingly lifeless body, looking for the slightest sign that she was alive. To the naked eye, and to the touch Elizabeth appeared dead.

Matthew’s train of thought was interrupted by a tall lanky figure walking into the room. With him he carried a large bag marked with a Red Cross and he had the air of command about him. He bent down and said to Matthew, "Quiet, I need to listen."

Matthew waited with baited breath as the doctor examined Elizabeth in great detail. The doctor then gave a nod and stood up.

Unable to wait any longer Matthew asked, "Is she?"

The doctor’s brown eyes looked right into Matthew’s and said, "She is alive but barely. See! She is still warm to the touch. I can detect very little heart rate, maybe one or two beats per minute, and her respiration is almost non existent. She is in a state of almost complete metabolic shutdown; it’s as though she is clinging onto life as by a thread. She needs more help than I can give her. Wait with her. We will get her to a hospital."

Matthew was stunned, he was so sure that he’d detected no pulse at all. One beat a minute! That WAS no pulse at all. What the hell was going on inside Elizabeth?

The doctor picked up on Matthew’s confused look and explained, "I can offer no explanation for this, only that she needs proper treatment. Now wait here. There is no time to drive her to a hospital, we will have to fly her. We owe her much, now we pay some back."

Within twenty minutes Matthew and Elizabeth were in a chopper flying towards Adelaide General Hospital.

o - o - o -

"You can’t be Kat?" Tina exclaimed.

"Why not?"

Tina eyed Salah suspiciously, "Because you’re dead. Cathline and Matthew Stephens saw you die. Besides you had cancer."

Kat sighed, "Just because I look like Salah doesn’t mean to say I am him. As to what happened to me during the last year. That is, shall we say a long story. Besides it’s time we blew this joint and get outta here. If all’s gone well then Elizabeth’s time bomb is about to go off and the Guild will be finished. With all due respect, I want to go home. Coming?"

Tina smiled, somehow she felt drawn to this mysterious stranger known

as ‘Kat’ ,"What about Cathline? She needs medical attention"

"We’ll take her to the local ER and then we go to New York. There’s someone coming there, who I’ve been waiting to meet," tears formed in Kat’s eyes as she thought of seeing Matthew again.

"You’re talking about Matthew Stephens right?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah. It seems we have spent more time apart than together. We’ve been married for nearly five years and only a week of that has been ‘normal’. Still it’s nearly over. Come on give me hand with Cathline, I’m sure she’s put on weight since I last saw her."

"She’d thump you for saying that," Tina smiled.

"She would too," Kat smiled back.

o - o - o -

The stretcher team was waiting at the helipad as the chopper came into land. As soon as the wind from the spinning rotors had died down they rushed in and put Elizabeth’s seemingly lifeless body on a gurney, attached an oxygen mask to her face, and wheeled her away from the chopper.

Matthew ran after them and was about to go into the ER room when he was stopped by a nurse, "I’m sorry miss, you can’t go in there."

"Why not! She’s very important to me. I need her, hell the whole world needs her."

The nurse sighed, it’d been a long day, "Please, can you give me her name She looks a lot like Rachel Martin but she’s been missing for months."

Matthew really didn’t want to open up this can of worms but it had to come out sooner or later. "She’s not Rachel Martin. Her name is Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley, and mine is Matthew Stephens."

The nurse raised an eyebrow. Either the young woman standing opposite her was stark raving mad or she was telling the truth. Mind you the young Woman did look familiar but why would she be bringing Dr Bexley in for emergency treatment? They were mortal enemies as far as she could remember. The nurse decided to call the police after she’d dealt with the woman in front of her. Her response was simply, "Ok. Why don’t you sit down over there The doctor will call for you when he’s ready."

Matthew saw a free seat in the waiting area and sat down. At least Elizabeth was still alive, albeit only just, but that was enough for Matthew. His spirits rose as he thought that he was now free of the Guild and on his way home. Matthew refused to allow himself to hope that Kat was alive—he felt that if he dwelt on that too much, then all the pain and hurt of the last year would come flooding back. Memories now dulled by time would become razor sharp once more, and would only serve to break his heart once more. The same went for Elizabeth’s promise to turn him back, he did believe her intent. But would she have the know-how?

Instead, his thoughts wandered back to the Guild. By now Elizabeth would have uploaded the entire Guild database to the world and slowly but surely the purging of Guild agents from their positions of power would begin. All around the world such and such a figure would be asked to step down, face prison or worse. The full extent of Guild atrocities over the past few centuries would be exposed for all to see. Matthew allowed himself a smile, Elizabeth was right, the Guild WAS finished. Sure, a few would get away but like the Nazi party after the Second World War their numbers, and influence would slowly dwindle away. When they got the disks to the government and the truth and motives behind the attack on Tel-Aviv were exposed the Guild would have nowhere to hide. Matthew once again marvelled at Elizabeth’s plan. She was a Trojan horse within a Trojan horse. While working to get rid of Hassan she’d been working towards the Guild’s downfall.

A worrying thought struck Matthew and his good mood was shattered. The Guild would soon know about Elizabeth’s double cross, and boy, would they be pissed. He had never met this Salah, who Elizabeth was in league with but he was sure he wouldn’t take betrayal lightly. He’d seen the Guild in action against each other and knew that he’d have little chance against even one of them. Elizabeth, assuming she lived thru this, might just win, but where would that leave him?

Matthew thought a little longer and then realized that Elizabeth must have thought all this thru. The destruction of the Guild would take months, if not years to work thru and she couldn’t count on being able to hide all her ‘friends’ for that long. Whatever Elizabeth’s solution was, it was probably already in place and only she knew about it. The answers Matthew wanted to know were laying in a hospital bed, near to death and unable to help. Yet again, Matthew was at the mercy of Dr Elizabeth Bexley.

o - o - o -

Kat looked at the ER doctor, concern showing in her face, "Is she ok?"

The doctor nodded, "Yeah Rachel Martin will be just fine. It’s a fucking shame about her eye though. Whoever patched it up didn’t do a bad job considering."

Tina interrupted, "When can we speak to her?"

The doctor turned to Tina and replied, "She should be awake in a couple of hours. We’ve administered a sedative and put her on a drip to help her body recover. Speaking of such you really ought to get checked out yourself."

Tina shrugged, "I’ll be fine, say, when will the cavalry be here?"

"If you mean the feds? Oh about an hour."

Tina nodded her satisfaction and turned to see Kat’s anxious looking face, "I’m sure it’ll be ok. You did rescue us after all."

Kat paused for a few moments and then replied, "Yeah I know. It’s just that we’re on a tight deadline here. I’m not sure if we can afford to be grilled by any passing FBI agent. We still have Israel to stop and millions of lives depend on us. Now I was never privy to what Hassan and Osman were scheming, but I do know that what happened to Tel-Aviv was just the catalyst. We will wait until Cathline is able to walk and then we go. This isn’t over yet, not by a long way."

"Are you always so upbeat?" Tina asked.

Kat gave a smile, "I used to be, now I see only what will be. We have a week at the most before it all goes straight to hell. When it’s all over then I’ll be upbeat again."

A few things puzzled Tina. Why did Kat pretend to be Salah? What was Dr Bexley really up to, and more importantly was Scott still alive. Kat caught her circumspect look and guessed what she was thinking. "I’ll explain everything later on. Just let’s say that I trust Dr Bexley and that I’m sure Scott can take care of himself. In the meantime I’m Salah to anyone but Cathline and yourself."

o - o - o -

Scott and the Senator boarded the plane and sat down in the non-smoking section. Scott still felt alien in his new body, the clothes felt strange, the voice was strange, and every man on the plane gave his comely form the once over. If the senator was concerned he didn’t show it. However the relief of going home was shared by both of them. The plane took off an hour later and soon was cruising at altitude.

Scott gave a deep, womanly sigh. Home was only ten hours away.

For his part the senator was deep in thought. Clearly, he and Scott were pawns in a larger game, but who was the grandmaster now that Hassan was gone. He suspected that this Salah was behind it, but clearly this Dr Bexley had some influence on proceedings. More worrying was the Guild activities with the changeling organs. Of course if he had been his normal self he could have gone right back and exposed the whole thing and been taken seriously. Now, in his secretary’s body—with no easy proof to say he was who he said he was. The task was much more difficult than he first thought. The president would believe him and that, he decided was the only chance of exposing the whole deal.

o - o - o -

A tap on the shoulder interrupted Matthew’s introspective thoughts. He looked up to see two cops standing above him, one man, and the other a smaller brunette woman. The woman cop was saying, "Excuse me miss , we need to speak to you."

This threw Matthew a little but he then realised that the nurse must have called them. They did have Dr Bexley in custody after all. All Matthew could say was "Sure?"

"We’d like you to come to the station to help us understand what is going on," The man demanded.

"Why? I want to stay here, with Elizabeth," Matthew replied.

"From what the doctor tells me she’s not going anywhere. Hey you can relax, you haven’t done anything. We just need to know how come Matthew Stephens is suddenly Dr Elizabeth Bexley’s best buddy in the whole world."

Matthew sighed, he didn’t really have any choice so he stood up and went with the two officers. The station was about a half-hour drive away and a burley cop showed him to the interview room. The door was closed and Matthew sat down to wait.

The two officers who’d brought him in stood watching Matthew from behind one way glass. The man turned to his partner and said, "Jill, I dunno, she sure looks like Matthew Stephens."

Jill shrugged, "Me too Shane. We’ll soon know. If she’s got tattoo’s all over then it’s him, and if not we hold her until we find out."

Shane looked at Matthew for a few more seconds and then asked, "Who do you think she really brought in? It can’t be Dr Bexley can it?"

Jill’s face looked blank, "No idea. The last anyone heard of Dr Bexley was that she was swimming around in the Indian Ocean. If it IS her we need to hold her until she can be deported. Have you contacted INTERPOL yet?"

"Yeah, I’ve got her complete file coming thru in about an hour, but from what I heard she’s one nasty bitch."

Jill thought for a moment. They couldn’t hold Matthew Stephens, if it was him, indefinitely. They would either have to charge him or let him go. First things first. Check if it really was Matthew Stephens or an impostor. "I’ll go in and check her story out. We can hold her for impersonation if she’s lying."

Shane agreed. It was the best plan they had so far.

Jill went to her desk and picked up a tape recorder, checked that it had two tapes in and that it was in working order. She then signed the chit giving her responsibility for it. She walked around to the heavy cell door, unlocked it and walked inside. From his vantage point, behind one way glass, Shane could see and hear everything that went on inside the cell.

Matthew was by now getting a little bored. He’d been waiting around here for what seemed like an age and was getting nowhere fast, so when Jill walked in it was a relief. Of course this was all part of Jill’s strategy but then Matthew didn’t know that.

"Hello again," Jill said plugging the tape recorder into a nearby socket.

"Hi. Look when am I getting out of this place?" Matthew demanded.

"Hold on a sec," Jill fumbled with the tape player until it started recording. "That’s better. This is inspector Jill Spencer serial number 165432 interviewing a woman who claims to be Matthew Stephens. The purpose of the interview is to determine her identity and to ascertain if the woman currently being treated at Adelaide General is indeed Dr Elizabeth Bexley." The set piece delivered, Jill became more relaxed. It was important to get the subject at ease. Matthew just sat opposite and waited.

Jill brushed her blonde fringe back from her eyes and started to speak, "First things first. I need you to prove to me that you are Matthew Stephens. According to news reports you’ve been missing for some weeks."

Matthew thought for a second, "That’s easy. When Dr Bexley was turning me into her she made me have a large hydra tattooed over my body. I can show you if you want."

Jill was happy at this. The woman had passed the first test with flying colors, "Please."

Matthew undid his catsuit top to reveal his full, firm bosom. Just above the cup on each breast Jill saw the head of a dragon like creature. The work was exquisite with the colors still vivid and the patterns intricate and detailed. This came as a shock to Jill. She’d been expecting to find nothing and therefore dismiss the woman as a fraud. However this new turn of events turned the whole thing upside down. Hell, it really was Matthew Stephens sitting in front her. If she was telling the truth then it really was Dr Bexley in intensive care. Jill collected her thoughts and for the benefit of the tape said, "The woman has just shown me a very detailed tattoo of a hydra. In my opinion this confirms her identity as Matthew Stephens."

Matthew had just finished dressing himself and interrupted, "Satisfied, now can I go please."

"I’m sorry, not just yet. Now tell me how you came to be here and why you think that the woman you brought in was Dr Elizabeth Bexley?"

o - o - o -

Kat too was seated in a police interview room and was finding the attention uncomfortable. For her part Tina was out of her depth, she was on the receiving end of the interrogation for a change. Tina knew the drill, they’d play one against the other and try to find holes in their stories, and then slowly dissect them until one of them broke or made an error. Tina heard the handle on the cell door turn and in walked her inquisitor, a tall athletic woman with brown hair and a sharp and determined look about her.

"Hi Detective Cox. My name is Detective Sandra Wilson. I’m not going to play games with you because you probably know them all anyway."

Tina smiled, "I know. Let me guess, you’re going to ask me what the hell went on in between getting kidnapped at the New York Hilton and now. How come Rachel Martin lost an eye, where Detective Scott Harris is, where Marcel Devereux is and who’s the rag head who came in with us?"

Detective Wilson gave a knowing nod, "Hmm, I think you about covered it there."

Tina took a long deep breath. She decided, that Salah’s true identity was one particular fact she didn’t want to mention, after all things were confusing as it was. Instead she sat back on her chair and said, "Detective Harris and myself were assigned to look after Rachel Martin. Rachel had requested our presence as she suspected that Dr Elizabeth Bexley had somehow returned from her exile."

Detective Wilson raised an eyebrow, Dr Bexley was involved, that was just the perfect start to what would turn out to be a pretty shitty day.

o - o - o -

The Senator stretched out his long shapely legs and looked over towards Scott. He was still asleep and seemingly relaxed, The Senator on the other hand found it impossible to sleep on a plane at the best of times. He thought about waking Scott, just to have some company but then decided otherwise, Scott needed his rest. The large TV screen in front of him came to life and CNN news appeared. A smartly dressed TV reporter stood outside the UN building. Behind him flew the flags of several nations, one of which was at half mast. The reporter started to speak.

"Hi, this is Matt Dillon for CNN world. Tensions in the Middle East grew today at the news that Israel has put its forces on war readiness. Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran have done likewise while Pakistan has offered to ship part of it’s nuclear arsenal to Egypt should Israel’s invocation of the Fury Directive be approved. The US, British, French and Russian governments have all condemned Egypt’s actions stating that use of the Fury Directive is entirely justified. Great Britain and the US in particular voiced their outrage at Egypt’s attempted assassination of the British Prime Minister. For it’s part Egypt continues to vigorously deny any involvement in the genetic warhead attack on Tel-Aviv nearly just over three days ago. In spite of the evidence presented to the UN the Arabic nations continue to support Egypt’s stance."

The Senator took a deep breath. "Fucking hell," he swore. This was serious news. From the sounds of it the Middle East stood on the verge of war and it looked as though at least two nuclear powers were going to get involved. Things would get very messy, very quickly indeed. An even more worrying thought crossed his mind. He’d speculated that the Guild had developed changeling technology and were somehow going to use it. This attack on Tel-Aviv using genetic weapons was just too close to the Guild’s knowledge for comfort. Furthermore Egypt was one of the more benign states, and there was little chance that they would pull a stunt like this. The Senator sighed, for the first time since his transformation he felt utterly helpless. He desperately needed to get back to the Senate and try and stop the coming war. On reflection, he decided there was nothing he could do until the plane landed and he’d met with the infamous Dr Bexley in New York. The Senator fiddled with his seat position and tried to get some sleep.

o - o - o -

Matthew was about to go into the finer details of the Guild’s civil war when there was a sharp staccato knock at the door.

"Yeah," Jill called out.

Shane’s voice was muffled thru the solid door "You gotta minute."

"Sure. Inspector Jill Spencer pausing the interview at," she checked her watch, "19:25." Jill reached over and pressed pause on the tape.

"Now what?" Matthew asked. He was getting tired of this interrogation. It brought back those nightmare memories of his first trial and subsequent imprisonment.

"Don’t worry. Back soon," Jill offered, she stood up and made a rat-tat knock on the cell door. Matthew heard a key being turned and Jill went out. The key was turned and Matthew was alone once more.

Outside of the cell Jill saw Shane holding a large brown folder. She could just make out the words ‘Dr Eliz" before the rest was covered by Shane’s hand.

"I take it that’s Dr Bexley’s file from Interpol," Jill nodded.

Shane nodded, "I’ve had a quick read and thought you needed to read it."

Shane handed the folder to Jill who looked around until she could see a free desk. Jill walked over to the desk and sat on a beaten up old swivel chair. Shane followed and grabbed a nearby swivel chair and sat down beside her. Jill spent a few moments scanning the document and then sighed, "Fuck!"

Shane nodded, "Why us? As you can see the file confirms what we know of her. We could be out of our league here."

Jill read out parts of the file, "IQ is 160 plus. She’s fluent in five languages, a Medical doctorate, and degrees in Bio-chemistry, and genetics. She’s a smart bitch isn’t she?"

"That’s not all. Read on," Shane said.

"Umm. She ran the TG-Gen lab back in the US. She’s prone to sociopathic behaviour with aspects of schizophrenia or MPD. Wow, the guy who did this has classed her as ‘Lethal’," Jill exclaimed.

"Never heard of that one," Shane admitted.

"I read about it. Part of Interpol’s new classification’s I think. Put it like this, your average serial killer or terrorist carries around an ‘Extremely Dangerous do not approach, classification.."

"I know that," Shane retorted.

"Well ‘Lethal’ is a few notches above that. It means that everyone who comes into contact with the felon is either dead or maimed afterwards. In other words contact with Dr Bexley seriously damages your health.

She’s probably the most dangerous woman on the planet!"

Shane thought for a few moments, "So now what do we do? Matthew claims she’s all better now thank you very much and she’s needed to stop a new war in the Middle East."

"Dunno. All I know is that Dr Bexley is responsible for the deaths of eighteen people in the US, countless kidnapping’s, and continued genetic research in outlawed areas. I think we should get her on a plane as soon as we can. She’s the yanks problem after that," like Shane Jill just wanted out. This was bigger than both of them.

"You believe her? Matthew that is," Shane asked.

"Yeah, I do. We’ve sent units to the place where Matthew said they were held. We should hear from them in an hour or so. I think we’ll keep him in until they check his story out. He’s then free to go, and if they find this Guild Matthew has gone on about, then we’ll know the Dr Bexley bit’s true as well."

o - o - o -

"So Dr Bexley was behind the attack on Tel-Aviv," Detective Sandra Wilson confirmed.

"No not behind it. The Guild used her technology to do it. She was in league with them. She helped them in return for them helping her turn back from a mermaid."

"Do you know Dr Bexley’s whereabouts?"

"Sorry, no. Look, I’ve told you all I know, I want to get back to the hospital to see how Rachel Martin is," Tina complained. This had been going on and on for around 2 hours and Tina was getting frustrated.

"I’ll find out for you. Let me just get this one thing straight, this man, Salah, he helped you to escape?"

Tina nodded, "Yeah. He broke us out, we owe our lives to him."

Sandra took a deep sigh. She’d wanted to implicate Salah in the kidnapping but both Tina’s story and Salah’s matched, "It’s ok, he’s in the clear. They’ll probably give him a medal or something. Shame about Rachel Martin’s eye though."

"Yeah it was," Images of Cathline’s bloodied, eyeless socket came flooding back to Tina. ‘Shame’ was too mild a word for what Cathline had gone thru at the hands of Osman.

"Look, I have a few things to clear up. As far as I’m concerned it’s over. The feds and our SWAT teams are on their way to this Guild stronghold you talked about so no doubt we’ll be able to confirm things then. You should be able to go in an hour or so."

"But just don’t leave town for a while," Tina finished off.

Sandra nodded, "Got it."

o - o - o -

Jill was at her desk, filling in her report. She’d left Matthew to stew for a bit as she wanted to put a little pressure on him. Jill had adopted the habit of doing paperwork as she went along rather than leaving it until the end as Shane did. Her concentration was broken by her phone ringing "Inspector Jill Spencer," she answered.

"Hi. This is Dr Gates at Adelaide General. You NEED to get up here as soon as you can."

"Is it about the woman claiming to be Dr Bexley?" Jill asked.

"Yeah. She’s not dead if that’s what you were going to ask. Put it like this you NEED to get up here and bring the other woman along with you."

"Ok we’ll come. See you in a bit," Jill sighed and put the phone down. She had a hunch what the doctor had found. However she didn’t really want him to have found it, as it made things much more complicated than they already were.

Jill sighed, and put her pen down, and went into the cell to break the news to Matthew and Shane.

Adelaide General Hospital was just like any other modern medical facility. All gleaming white on the outside, and plastic and sterile on the inside. After checking at large, pine reception desk Jill, Shane and Matthew waited for Dr Gates to show up. They didn’t have to wait very long as some 20 minutes later a tall gangly man in a white coat walked over to them and extended his hand, "Hello My name is Dr Gates. You must be Inspectors Spencer and Jackson."

Matthew interrupted, "How is she doctor?"

The doctor shrugged "Matthew Stephens I presume. I was hoping you’d tell me. But I’ve an even better idea, I’ll show you, please follow me."

They followed doctor Gates thru a winding series of almost identical corridors. After taking an elevator up a couple of floors they were shown into a large room. In the middle of the room was a bed surrounded by electronic equipment that continued to emit a beep every so often.

Laying on the bed, attached to multiple drips lay Elizabeth. Her eyes were still closed, and as far as Matthew could see there was no change in her condition. Matthew walked over to Elizabeth, hoping to see some sign of life but he was disappointed.

Dr Gates went over to a nearby desk and pulled some X-Rays from a brown envelope. He attached them to the viewing light on the wall before calling Jill, Shane and Matthew over.

"What are we looking at doc?" Jill asked, pointing to the outline of a skeleton and various white fuzzy blobs that were being shown on the viewer.

"These are various X-rays, ultrasound and CAT Scans taken of the woman brought in us today. They show that her anatomy is very different to that of a normal human being. She seems to have a secondary heart where her womb should be, and this seems to be able to take over the instant the main one fails. A lot of her internal organs have similar failsafes build in. In her abdominal cavity, and sharing space with her second heart are a smaller liver, kidney, and even a lung. Now, it looks as these new organs can’t support the body for extended periods of time, but they do look capable of stepping in while the main organ is repaired."

"She has two hearts?" Shane exclaimed.

The doctor nodded, "Yeah that’s not all. She also has a large organ where the appendix should be. At first we thought it was an inflamed appendix, but scans show it’s internal structure is very different."

Jill was intrigued. This must be the changeling organ Matthew claimed Elizabeth had grown inside herself, "Different? How so?"

"It seems to be similar to the pancreas both in form and function. As far as we can tell it’s sole job is to produce enzymes and proteins. In other words it’s the biological equivalent of a chemical factory. It also seems to be directly attached to the spinal cord, which could indicate links to the brain or central nervous system. I’ve no idea what it does and it’s too complex to study unless we remove it. It’s so embedded in her that if we remove it she’ll die, it’s part of her."

Matthew glanced over to where Elizabeth was lying, "How is she doc?"

"She’s alive and seemingly in a state of hibernation. Her body has shut down everything except her smaller heart, a lung and her brain. It’s as though she on emergency power and even that looks as though it’s starting to fail. She’s on glucose and saline drips to help her recover, but given the unusual state of her anatomy I’ve no idea if that’ll do any good. But it’s normal treatment for extreme exhaustion. She needs to recover slowly and by herself. She’ll live if she wants to live is what it comes down to. I must say that if I was trying to give my body the best chance of survival I’d do exactly what’s happened here. Keep oxygen flowing to the brain and heart. The rest of the organs can take care of themselves for a while. The life support equipment is helping to take the strain away from her. I’d love to know how she got like this and what in hell that organ is."

Matthew looked at Dr Gates and replied, "I think I may be able to help there."

o - o - o -

The squad car drew up to the hospital where Cathline was being treated, and Tina and Kat emerged, followed by Detective Wilson. They were shown to a side ward where a slim nurse met them at the door.

"How is she?" Tina asked.

"She’s up and well. The knife wound wasn’t that serious and it penetrated the shoulder muscle. It’s just as well we got to her just in time otherwise it could’ve been much worse. She’s a little weak but there’s no reason why she should be out of here in a day or so," the nurse replied.

"Any chance of it being sooner?" Kat asked.

The nurse shook her head, "I’m sorry sir. Shock can have a delayed action so we’ll need to keep her in overnight anyway. Between you and me she’s been a right royal pain in the butt. She’s keen to get out and get on with her ‘critical mission’ as she calls it. We only shut her up after we threatened to sedate her."

Kat smiled, "Sounds like her. Can we go and see her now?"

The nurse moved aside and gestured for them to go inside.

Kat peered inside and saw Cathline propped up in bed, one arm in a sling and reading Newsweek with her one good hand. Cathline heard a slight sound and turned to face them. When she saw Tina she gave a little smile which then turned into joy as Kat walked into the room. Kat gave Cathline a look that said ‘keep my real identity quiet’, and Cathline understood by saying, "Hi Tina, Hi Salah. They let you out then?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah they’re cool. You can’t keep a good man down. The nurse tells me you have to be in here for a while and that you’re being a pain."

Cathline still couldn’t really believe that it was her friend, alive, well and standing before her. She wanted to stand up and hug her, tell her how much she’s missed her, tell her that Matthew still loved her, and tell her all the events that she had missed. For some reason Kat was still being cagey, probably something to do with that cop standing behind her. All Cathline could reply was, "What else would you expect from Anne Bonny?"

Kat smiled, Cathline was using her old password from the Fury days. Tina was feeling a little left out, but she let it pass, this was Cathline’s and Kat’s moment. She turned to Detective Wilson and said, "Hey these two got pretty close while we were in there. How about some privacy, We can wait outside."

An incurable romantic at heart Detective Wilson agreed, with the proviso that they stand guard outside the door.

Cathline spotted this conversation and called out, "Hey, what are you two whispering about?"

"Just thought you two could do with some privacy. We’ll be right outside." Tina said and turned to leave.

"Tina, Thanks," Cathline said softly.

After Tina and Detective Wilson had left Kat made sure that they weren’t being observed before rushing over to Cathline and giving her a large hug. Tears formed in Kat’s eyes and she moved to brush them away. Cathline too was overcome with emotion and said softly, "I missed you. You should have seen Matthew, it was so sad."

"I know what he went thru, I saw it all. But that’s later, come here," Kat said and went to hug Cathline a second time. To Kat’s amazement Cathline pulled away saying, "Kat.. I can’t. I don’t dare. Sorry. Maybe later."

Kat ignored the rebuff and sat down on a nearby chair, "Cathline I’ve so much to tell you, so much to explain, and yet the most critical part is yet to come. We need to get to my place in New York ASAP. Elizabeth will be bringing the proof we need and more importantly Matthew’s with her."

A flicker of anger grew over Cathline’s face, "Elizabeth as in Dr Elizabeth ‘I’ll ruin you life forever’ Bexley? The same Elizabeth who got me, Tina, Marcel, and Scott kidnapped, the same Dr ‘hell bitch’ Bexley whose DNA technology just killed half a million people?"

Kat nodded softly, "That Elizabeth."

"I missed you, but if you’re now in league with HER then I’ll have to ask you to leave," Cathline said, her voice full of veiled menace.

Kat took a deep breath. She understood exactly what Cathline felt but for the moment Cathline would have to trust her, "Look, I’ll go into this when everyone’s back. You need to hear both sides of the story to fully understand. Cathline, We, I need you. Elizabeth has just effectively killed the Guild now we need to stop Israel making the biggest mistake in its history. Cathline I need you."

"If it was anybody else but you asking I’d scream right now. I’ll go with you to New York and hear you out. That’s as far as I can go. I don’t know what’s gotten into you I really don’t I’ll assume it’s all that testosterone whizzing around inside you."

"Cathline, thanks. Be ready at 8am tomorrow, we leave then."

Cathline’s face grew angry once more, "Hey I’m not one of your Guild buddies, who you can order around. I’ll go when I’m ready to go."

"I’ve no idea what you are holding against me Cathline, but deal with it. I suspect it’s to do with Elizabeth and myself. If that’s the case remember the saying, ‘keep your friends close but your enemies closer’. Cathline, I still care for you and you are still like a sister to me. Now please get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning." Out of force of habit Kat gave a single fingered salute and left the room.

Cathline was troubled. Kat had changed a great deal in the last year. Sure Kat was still compassionate underneath, but there was an element of ruthlessness about her. Kat hadn’t said anything about the Guild members she’d sent to their deaths in that bitter and bloody battle. What hold did Elizabeth have over Kat to make her so agreeable to working with her?

Cathline had no easy answers—only that she wasn’t sure she liked, and more worryingly wasn’t sure she trusted the new Kat either. What was it Kat had said, ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’. That Cathline decided was the best approach to take.

o - o - o -

"Can I stay with her?" Matthew asked Doctor Gates.

"Fine with me, if that’s fine by them," he said nodding towards Jill and Shane.

"We still haven’t fully corroborated your story. But what we’ve seen here is good enough. Just don’t go anywhere," Shane ordered.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be here," Matthew replied.

The changeling organ and Elizabeth’s anatomy fascinated Dr Gates. So he asked "Mind if I stay and ask you some more questions?"

Matthew replied "Sure," he was just as curious to find out Elizabeth’s inner workings as Dr Gates was.

"We’ll set up two officers outside, just to be safe. They’re there to make sure she doesn’t get out," Jill said, gesturing to Elizabeth’s still form.

"Whatever you say officer, but she’s not going anywhere for a while," Dr Gates responded.

"Ok. Look we’ve gotta go. We’ll catch up with you in a few hours," Shane said and walked out, followed soon afterwards by Jill.

When they’d left Matthew pulled over a nearby stool and sat down beside Elizabeth. He took her cold, almost lifeless hand in his and sat there willing her to pull thru. Without her, he would never see Kat again and hope against hope never be turned back into himself again.

Dr Gates walked over to Matthew and queried, "I thought you two were mortal enemies?"

Matthew shook his head, "We were. Then we realised that we’d both done stupid things. She’s making up for what’s she done. I just hope she lives to be able to do it."

Dr Gates walked over to the X-Ray’s again, "She really is remarkable. I didn’t want to tell the cops this as I’m not sure about it myself, but if you ask me she’s regenerating herself."

Matthew looked puzzled, "How?"

Dr Gates settled into his lecture mode, he reserved for pre-med students. "From what you tell me this changeling organ produces the DNA altering drug based on what the brain tells it. It can replicate anything biological anywhere. You also said each change uses up a lot of energy, I think that’s an understatement. Unless her body is much more efficient than ours is, which it could well be, each full body change burns the equivalent amount of calories as a fifteen mile run. I think she’s run out of energy, and she’s in this comatose state until she gets enough to wake up again. Like a battery on charge if you like."

"So she put herself into this coma?"

"I believe so. She’s got all these extra failsafe organs to take over if the main ones fail, she’s keeping exactly the right things going to keep her alive and she’s a brilliant doctor. You mentioned something about healing bullet wounds?"

Matthew raised his eyebrows, "Yeah it was amazing, she took a bullet to the chest and it didn’t even slow her down."

Still in his lecture tone of voice Dr Gates replied, "I’m not surprised. Her backup organs would kick in long enough for the main ones to regenerate. Only a major head trauma, massive internal injury or her own choice could kill her."

Matthew was staggered, "So Elizabeth is very hard to kill. What could kill her?"

Dr Gates nodded, "I dunno, a large calibre cannon shell to the head, decapitation, or anything that would cause instant death in microseconds. I’d love to write a paper on her but others wouldn’t believe me. I’m only speculating here but as long as she could think ‘repair’ and send the signal down to the changeling organ she’d be ok. The rest of her body would take over and she’d be back to normal. Her body wouldn’t wear out, grow old or maybe even die of natural causes unless she willed it."

Matthew thought for a few moments, "That’s what’s worried me—in the past, when under great stress Elizabeth has shown suicidal tendencies. For example, when I jilted her, and when her parents died she tried to take her own life. She’s since said she was better but I’m not so sure. When we were being shot at she initially showed no sign of wanting to take cover. She just stood there waiting to be hit, as if wanting to die."

Dr Gates voiced his thoughts out loud, "Hmm, if that’s the case then she may want to die after all. If that was the case she could simply tell the changeling organ not to repair the injuries and just to let her die naturally. I suspect inside her right now part of her wants to die, and be at peace and the other wants to live and complete whatever tasks she had in mind. You know her best, which way do you think she’ll choose?"

Matthew shrugged his shoulders "If it were seven years ago I’d say she’d want to live. But now after she’s suffered so much and caused so much suffering to so many I’m not sure. Maybe the world would be a better place with no Dr Elizabeth Bexley."

"Every time in history needs its boogy man," Dr Gates replied.

"I guess. Would you mind if I had some time to myself?" Matthew asked.

"No not at all. I’ve some more tissue samples to run anyway. See ya" Dr Gates said, and promptly left the room.

Matthew looked at Elizabeth’s lifeless body. Inside her, a battle was going on, no less fierce than the one she’d just faced, and just as important. Matthew couldn’t help but feel compassion for his once mortal enemy, she’d suffered so much because of him and he so much because of her. He squeezed her hand softly and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. Maybe it really was time to forgive and forget.

o - o - o -

Kat lay awake in her hotel room. Tina had left her, at her request and so she was alone once more. Cathline’s attitude puzzled her, why was she so hostile towards her? Sure she didn’t expect a hero’s welcome, but she was reacting as if she’d just seen her worst enemy. Still, Kat speculated, shock can do strange things to a person. She allowed her thoughts to wander back to the task in hand. She was worried, Elizabeth should have called by now, and any delay could be disastrous. Already swords were being unsheathed all across the Middle East, and surely a catastrophic war must only be days away. Kat’s one source of hope was that, so far Elizabeth had come thru every time, only where the hell was she? and where was Matthew?

Still, Kat had left the Guild on the verge of collapse. She’d ordered the Guild to destroy all the evidence of any battle and move to secret strongholds on the pretence that the forces of law and order would soon be upon them. Of course if all went well about a hundred million people would know about these secret strongholds. She’d told her second in command, Kismet that she would be going off to oversee the rebuilding of the Guild. Kismet was a very capable man but not imaginative in the slightest. Under his leadership the Guild would surely fail. The Guild no longer worried Kat—Cathline and Elizabeth did however. Much depended on Elizabeth, where the hell was she?

o - o - o -

Back at the police station Jill was reading the reports from the units they’d sent to investigate Matthew’s claims. Whoever had been there had done a good job at covering up whatever had been there. When the units had arrived they found a mansion with what could be a secret facility underneath. The only thing was, that the entrance to this secret facility was embedded under several feet of freshly poured concrete. If whoever had been there had thought to do this then, the actual complex would be destroyed by now, and very little would be left to corroborate anything. They had found a small speck of blood on the floor of the entrance hall. This was being analysed at the moment but it could be from anyone or anything.

What Jill couldn’t believe was the speed in which this whole operation had been covered up. Whoever had been based there was good, very good, and all traces and leads to them would surely be gone. Having Dr Bexley in custody was certainly a good thing and both her and Shane were bound to get commendations for finally snaring the elusive and lethal American doctor. Still deep in thought she failed to hear Shane walking up to her desk. Shane rat-tatted a knock on her desk and Jill looked up, "What’s up," she asked.

"Only the biggest bust in history," he said casually.

Jill’s curiosity was aroused, "How so?"

"You remember this Guild that Matthew Stephens was going on about?"

"Yeah, seemed a little far fetched if you ask me," Jill said sceptically.

Jill could hear the enthusiasm in Shane voice, "They’re real. Someone just dumped what looks like their entire operation onto the Internet. Names, bases, financial stuff, a list of crimes the whole lot. The Guild had thousands of agents across the globe and their scope of operations is mind boggling."

"What of our Dr Bexley, is she mentioned at all?" Jill said getting back to matters in hand.

"No idea. There’s tons of it to go thru, all I can say is that I wouldn’t want to be a Guild member in a few months time. This is equivalent of exposing the entire Mafia."

Jill gave a low whistle of amazement, It wasn’t everyday an international crime syndicate was blown wide open.

o - o - o -

Matthew was shattered. The silence of the room was disturbing but the only sound was the beep, beep of the life support equipment. It was, he decided a good sound. It proved that Elizabeth was still alive and that there was hope for her recovery. In spite of his shyness he felt as though he had to let out his feelings towards her. It was, he reasoned the best time to do it, when she was lying helpless and unable to strike back.

"Elizabeth," he started and then paused, feeling a little self-conscious about taking to himself.

Of course there was no reply from the comatose woman on the bed, so Matthew continued, "So much has happened since we spent any real time alone. I think the last time we did was the day before we were due to get married. I find myself needing to tell you what I think and how I feel. Whenever we’ve met it’s always been you and how you feel, you never gave me the chance to explain. True, I never gave you the time right after I left you, but I was so confused."

Matthew paused, thinking what to say next, "When you saved my life so long ago I reached out and grasped onto the hand that had saved me. You were everything I wasn’t—rich, beautiful and brilliant. I felt as though I was the luckiest man alive. I had a fiancée who had everything and who treated me like a king. But I was never in love with you, it was the idea of being in love with someone like you I was attracted to. You knew my background, a simple country boy who left his hometown to find a better life in the city. I never had a rich dad, a place of honor at Harvard or a cushy job earning mega-bucks. It wasn’t your fault I didn’t love you Elizabeth, it never was; it was mine."

Matthew felt a tear form in his blue-gray eye and wiped it away with his slender feminine hand. Then he gathered his thoughts, and he continued, "You will make somebody a wonderful wife, I know it. I felt trapped Liz, I really did. Your dad would’ve offered me a job, you’d have had millions and we’d never have to struggle again. That isn’t me and I think you realise that. I wanted my marriage to be a struggle. So that when we came out winning I’d really have felt as though we’d grown and worked it out together. Being married to you would be like a permanent holiday, no need to work, no need to save, and no need to grow in our relationship."

Matthew looked down at his breasts and traced his finger around his nipple, "You could say I’ve had a struggle already, and life without Kat is the toughest struggle I’ve ever had to face. I could cope with having tits and being a woman as long as she was there. This last year has been hell and I’m just glad Cathline was there for me. Sorry I digress, where was I? Oh yes, Please understand I could’ve been happy with you, I really could but how would we grow together, how would we have that spark that’s needed to keep a relationship alive. The answer is we wouldn’t. I had to leave you, I had no choice. What would’ve happened when children came along huh?"

Elizabeth of course didn’t reply back. Matthew was in full flow now. The weight of seven years of pain was starting to lift, "I don’t need to answer that do I. Our marriage would’ve been a sham, an act for the world to see. I don’t want that and I thought too much of you to put you thru that kinda pain. As I saw you walk down the aisle towards me, I saw my whole life stretch before me. It was like a highway that had already been built and mapped out and I already knew every pot hole, yellow line and junction. The only way to avoid this was not to get on in the first place."

Matthew wiped another tear away, somehow the chance of losing Elizabeth had focused his thoughts, "My love, my life, Kat was torn away from me and I know the pain that causes me. I now understand what pain I must have caused you. I can’t say anything else but ‘sorry’. I was naive and selfish and I am truly sorry."

Matthew gave Elizabeth’s hand another squeeze and continued pouring his heart out, "I only realised at the last possible moment, what else could I do?"

Matthew’s auburn hair brushed over his face and he flicked it back into place, "I’ve hated every second of being a woman. Sure some of the sex Kat and I had was fun, but everytime I look down I see my failure and your fury. People have said to me ‘get over it, get a life’ but after a while the physical aspect wasn’t the problem. You did this to me. You did this to me to ruin my only chance of happiness and you tried to destroy everything I held dear. That’s what I think of when I see myself naked in the mirror, that’s the first thing that runs thru my mind when I feel the sway of my hips or the bounce of my breasts. The fact that you tried to destroy me utterly and that I failed to stop you being hurt. I tried to do the right thing Elizabeth I really did. I hope you make it because I’m not sure if I can spend the rest of my life paying for one mistake."

"You say you saved Kat, and I’ve no idea if that’s true or not. I hope you did because I need her more than ever, and you’re the only person who can help us. I think I believe that you want to help, and I’m glad you didn’t take advantage of me when we were pretending to be married. I think if you had taken advantage of my ‘conditioning’, I’d know that I couldn’t trust you. I remember you sleeping on the floor, while I had the bed and that means a lot to me. My fidelity to Kat was one of the most precious things I had. I know she fucked Cathline before I got her back but her motives were right, she wanted to see if she could live as my lesbian ‘wife’. If she’d have found out she hated it with me I’d have been devastated."

Matthew fell silent, just listening to the beep of the life support machine. After gathering his thoughts once more he continued, "I’m glad that you see that Kat and I were right together. It may seem like all roses and flowers but she could be a right royal pain in the butt when she wanted to be. BUT I loved that, the fact each day was different. Now all I see is the empty road of loneliness stretching before me."

Matthew paused and gathered his random thoughts into some kind of order, "What you did to me, to Kat, to Cathline and all the others was pure evil, and I’ve no other words to describe it. You say you’ve changed and that you’re sorry and I did believe you. But thinking about it like this I’m not so sure. When you ripped thru the Guild’s elite forces, tearing bodies limb from limb, I could see signs of your evil returning. However, it was the cool, casual way you disposed of Hassan that really struck fear into my heart. You killed him without a thought or concern, as if he was some bug for you to swat rather than a living human being."

Matthew continued, "You seem to have forgotten about your revenge on us and transferred it to something else. You say that you’ve changed and that human life is precious to you. Before your assault on the Guild I believed that, but now it seems as if you’re two people again. One is the loving, caring Elizabeth who saved me from an icy grave and who’s trying to save the lives of millions, and the other is the murderous monster of the last few years. You are yin and yang, good and evil in the same person. Your Rachel Martin body will be etched into my mind as the personification of all that is beautiful and kind about you, and that four armed killing creature you became will haunt my nightmares as your evil let loose on the world."

Matthew sat silent for a moment, listening to the hum of the machinery and then down at Elizabeth’s comatose body, "The right thing do to would be to disconnect this machine and let you die. The risk of your evil side destroying lives again would be too great."

Matthew stood up and walked to the power socket and the wall. He bent down and took hold of the plug. Just one simple pull and it’d all be over. Just a quick flick of the wrist and the ‘hell bitch’ would be gone. Unable to keep himself quiet Matthew spoke out loud once more, "For once I’m going to do the wrong thing. We still need you. Millions of people in Egypt and the Middle East still need you. We need your evil, your darker side to stop a greater evil being unleashed on the world. You’ve spent the last two years trying to come to terms with what you’ve become, and in some ways your fury has transformed you as well as me. Who knew it would come to this? I’m sure you didn’t when you first planned your revenge on me. All I wanted was to live a quiet life and be happy. Was that so much to ask? I guess you wanted the same things, maybe you still want them."

Matthew fingered the plug once more and then turning his head back to Elizabeth he walked away. Part of him wanted to end it right here, to finish what he should have done in that airport so many years ago, and the other felt an enormous sense of relief as he effectively put aside his last chance of revenge, "It’s over, Elizabeth. I’ve given up my chance to kill you, besides, who made me judge, jury and executioner?"

Matthew sat down on the stool and took hold of Elizabeth’s hand once more, "I guess the same battle is going on inside you right now, to die or to live. Your good side is telling you to live as lives depend on you, and your evil side is telling you to die because you deserve to. Or maybe it’s the other way around, your evil side wants you to live because only then can you get the justice you feel you deserve, and your good side is telling you to die so that you can’t cause anymore harm to anyone else. I’m not sure which way round it is but I do know it’s a decision only you can make."

Matthew looked at Elizabeth’s unearthly beautiful face, hoping to see a sign of life but there was none. He then looked down at his hand holding hers and continued to speak out loud, "I’ve rambled on a bit I know, and much of it won’t make much sense but it’s how I feel and matters of the heart are seldom orderly. I do still care for you, you know. We share more than just bodies don’t we? We had a great time together didn’t we? Gurney races in the hospital, food fights, dancing in fountains, and the day I proposed to you was magical wasn’t it? I’ve just thought of another reason for you to live. You need to see that not all love is unrequited. You need to be loved and to see that love is far, far stronger than hate. Having friends around you that care for you is the start of that. I’d have hoped you’d have seen that in Kat, and I after all you did to us but it wasn’t you who learned that lesson, it was us. So Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley you’d better get used to having me around cus I’m here for the duration."

Matthew looked up at Elizabeth’s face and nearly fell of the chair in shock. Two bright blue eyes looked back at him and a weak, faint voice just said, "Thank you."

o - o - o -

"Wake up sleepy head, time to go," Kat gently shook Cathline awake.

"Waaa, Go away, I was having a wonderful dream," Cathline complained.

Kat smiled, "You never were good at mornings were you? Look, you get your stuff and I’ll get a doctor so you can discharge yourself."

Cathline sat up, her eyes still bleary from her nights sleep, "What if I don’t want to go with you?"

Kat’s face showed concern, "The doctor said you’re ok."

Cathline averted her eyes from Kat’s face, "What if I don’t want to go?

What if I want to rest here before getting back to being Rachel Martin?"

Kat sat down on a nearby chair and turned towards Cathline, "That’s your choice but I’d have thought you’d have wanted to see this right thru to the end. After all the pain we’ve gone thru these past few years I’d have thought you at least would want to know how it all ends."

Cathline interrupted, "I’ll read the book or watch the movie or something."

Kat smiled again, "There won’t be a book if you’re not around to write it. I hate to remind you but there IS no more Rachel Martin. Not in the modelling sense anyway. How many agencies will be interested in you now that you’ve lost an eye? It doesn’t matter to me, it doesn’t matter to your friends but it will matter to those money grabbing bastards who think that looks are everything."

Cathline couldn’t believe her ears. This wasn’t like Kat at all, she was always sensitive and caring. She’d never have mentioned her missing eye like that, "Where’s the real Kat? What’s your real name and why are you pretending to be her?"

Kat knew she’d hit a nerve. Which was precisely what she’d intended to do. She had to find out why Cathline was acting so frosty towards her. Now she at least had a clue, "I have always been me. You don’t spend a year pretending to be a Guild member, or working with the ‘hell bitch’ without picking up a few traits from them. The old Kat died when she went into Hassan’s palace over a year ago. How I am now is what I’ve become after a year’s worth of plotting, manipulating, and now killing people. I hope someday the old, the real Kat will come back but until she does then I have to unlearn what I’ve become and go back to what I was. I just hope my friends learn to accept what I’ve become and I hope that Matthew still loves me when I get back to him."

Cathline stared at the man sitting in front of her and said, "That’s the most ‘Kat’ thing you’ve said since you’ve got here."

Kat grinned, "So you’ll come?"

"I’ll come," Cathline said softly.

Kat smiled, "Excellent. Tina’s downstairs in the car waiting for us. I’ll see you in reception once you’ve discharged yourself."

"Kat?"

"Yeah?"

Cathline was about to broach another subject but decided against it. It’d have to wait until she saw Elizabeth again, "Nothing. I’ll see you down there."

o - o - o -

The plane touched down at JFK and the senator and Scott breezed thru customs. The new ID’s the Guild had prepared for them had worked perfectly which, the senator commented didn’t say much for US airport security. It was also good of the Guild to provide them with a change of clothes, although as yet they had no idea what they were. They walked towards the baggage collection area and waited, staring at each suitcase and holdall trundle pass.

"So what next?" the senator asked Scott.

"Home I guess. I’m not looking forward to telling Rebecca," Scott answered.

"You can’t go home yet, remember. That Guild guy told us we had to go this Manhattan apartment. If we go there and get turned back then there’s no need to tell Rebecca anything. It’ll all be sorted out."

Scott thought for a moment, "I suppose."

"Besides, what harm will it do? You want to get your own back on Dr Bexley don’t you? What if your partner’s there?" the senator commented.

"I suppose I can be like this for a while longer," Scott said, gesturing to his shapely body.

"Wait a sec, there’s our stuff," the senator pointed.

Scott nodded, "I’ll go."

A few minutes later Scott and the Senator had hailed a cab and were on their way to Manhattan. Eventually they reached the door and using the key the Guild agent had given them, they went inside.

o - o - o -

Cathline, ignoring the complaints from the doctors, signed her release form, and walked over to where Kat and Tina stood. By the looks of it she walked into what looked like a major discussion.

"I thought Detective Wilson told us not to leave town," Tina was telling Kat.

"I know but there’s no time to mess around here. Can’t you vouch for us or something?" Kat asked.

Tina shook her head, "No, I’m implicated. We have to stay here, otherwise there’ll be hell to pay. We do this by the book or not at all."

"Can I help?" Cathline interrupted?

Kat turned to face Cathline, "Tina here wants us to hang around here until the cops sort out our stories. I would normally agree with her but there’s no time to waste. Each hour we delay brings the risk of Israel striking back. We’re trying to work out a plan that’ll stop us getting arrested as soon as we leave town."

Cathline smiled, "So I could have stayed in bed after all?"

Kat gave Cathline an amused look, "That’s not helping. Wait a sec, why don’t we put ourselves under NYPD jurisdiction. That’s where we need to go, and surely Tina’s buddies will cut us some slack won’t they?"

Tina thought for a few moments, "I think that’ll work. Yeah, it will do but we’ll need to be escorted onto the plane and off again. I think Detective Wilson will agree. I would."

Cathline quipped, "Besides, it gets us out of her hair."

Tina nodded, she’d thought the same thing. "I’ll go make the call."

Cathline’s face took on a worried look, "Last time we all tried to meet up Liz blew the fucking place up."

Kat nodded, "I did think of that too, but she’s different now. Besides, we’re going to my place."

Cathline glared, "If I end up splattered all over Manhattan harbor, I’ll come back and haunt you."

"I think Liz will too, as she’ll be there as well. Besides, if she wanted us dead she’s had enough chances. My agents tell me she behaved herself with Matthew and didn’t try anything on with him. So I still trust her."

Cathline couldn’t think of anything else to say and so she walked over the call box where Tina was trying to convince Detective Wilson of their plan. A few minutes later Tina said, "Thank you," and hung up.

"And?" Cathline answered.

"We have to leave right away. A squad car will pick us up and see us off onto the plane. We’ll be met at the other end, and we’ll be taken to Kat’s place. If we need to go anywhere else we need to let them know where, when and how long for."

"So we’re on parole?"

"If you like. If you weren’t Rachel Martin then we’d have had no chance."

Cathline nodded, "Let’s go tell Kat."

Twenty minutes later a squad car took them to the airport and they were escorted onto a flight bound for New York.

o - o - o -

Matthew recovered from his initial shock and said, "Thank you for what?"

Elizabeth was still weak, her face drawn and pale. She managed to say in a weak, quiet tone, "For being here."

Matthew was about to reply when Elizabeth’s eyes closed once more and she resumed her almost comatose state once more. Matthew let go of her hand, and ran over to the emergency button and gave it a hard whack with his hand. Within a minute Dr Gates and two nurses came rushing in.

"What’s up? Dr Gates said breathlessly.

"She woke up, only for a few seconds but then she went like this again."

Dr Gates turned to the nurses and indicated for them to check the now unconscious Elizabeth. While they were doing this he turned back to Matthew and asked, "Did she say anything?"

"Only that she thanked me for staying with her. Is she going to be ok?"

The doctor looked at the results of the nurse’s inspections and thought for a few moments, "I think so. She’s still very weak and needs a lot of rest, but I think there’s light at the end of tunnel now. Looks as though she wanted to live after all and that you tipped the balance."

Matthew reflected back on how close he’d come to killing her and now it seemed he’d been responsible for saving her. Still, he reasoned only Elizabeth could answer the doctor’s question accurately. Instead of questioning the doctor he just asked, "How long before she wakes?"

Dr Gates thought for a few moments and then answered, "No idea. You’d better stay here and let me know if and when she wakes up again."

Matthew nodded his agreement and Dr Gates left the room, followed shortly afterwards by the two nurses. Matthew took hold of Elizabeth’s hand once more and started to talk once more, "Well, it looks as though you want to live after all, good. I wonder if it was your good or evil side that pulled you thru. I don’t think it was me."

Much to Matthew’s surprise Elizabeth said nothing so Matthew waited, just listening to the beep beep of the machines and the gentle hum of the air conditioning. After a few minutes he continued once more, "It doesn’t matter does it? I just wish.."

Matthew’s monologue was interrupted by a weak, faint voice saying, "Thank God for that! I thought they’d never leave."

Matthew’s gaze turned to Elizabeth’s face, and two blue eyes stared back at him. Matthew was about to run and get Dr Gates once more but Elizabeth gently shook her head.

"No, not yet. I have to say a few things," Elizabeth started to say.

"Shhh not yet, they can wait," Matthew said softly.

"No. I take it the police know about me?" Elizabeth’s weak voice whispered back.

Matthew nodded.

"Thought so. As soon as I’m well enough they’ll deport me under lock and key and that will be that."

Matthew looked thoughtful, "I suppose."

"We can’t let that happen. If I’m arrested then millions are doomed!

We have to get out of here."

Matthew shook his head, "But you’re nowhere near strong enough, maybe in a week or so, but you’ve been at death’s door for nearly a day."

Elizabeth let out a sigh, "I’ll be ok. Look, I need to get out here, otherwise I’ll be on my way to death row."

Matthew looked concerned. Elizabeth looked in no state to go anywhere. He could see that her arms were thinner than they had been and the curved form under the sheets was too skinny even for ultra model standards, "You’re not going anywhere. We’ll have our chance when we get back, you need to rest and recover. Besides, once you’ve recovered you can use that changeling organ of yours. If it can penetrate into heavily defended Guild installations I’m sure it can cope with anything the NYPD have to offer."

Elizabeth coughed a little and shook her head, "The changeling organ is useless now. I worked it too hard and too fast for too long. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. Maybe in time it’ll repair itself but who knows? Still at least I’m in my Rachel Martin form and not that monster!"

Matthew nodded his head. Elizabeth was vulnerable now and furthermore unable to change form anymore, "How can you be sure? Maybe you’re wrong?"

Elizabeth shook her head and bitterly replied, "I just know, OK."

Matthew took a deep breath, "Now what? You’re the genius, remember."

Elizabeth thought for a few moments and then replied, "It’d be easier for me to get out on my own. Leave my escape to me—I have a few ideas. Just wait outside the delivery entrance at 4am this morning. If I’m not out by 5:30 go without me."

Matthew wasn’t too happy about being cut out, "I want to help! I’m in this all the way now."

Mustering as much strength as she could, Elizabeth sat up and said, "You are helping. Just that I can’t do it with you around. I know how hospitals work, remember and this one will be no different. Just be there."

Matthew shrugged, "Ok. Who shall I look for?"

"Me, silly. Now sit down beside me. I need to rest some more."

Matthew obeyed and shuffled his chair closer to Elizabeth’s bed. Matthew was curious as to how Elizabeth was going to escape from a guarded room, as Rachel Martin and with no changeling organ to help her. Still, he decided, knowing Elizabeth, he didn’t want to. Instead Matthew said, "What did it feel like, lying between life and death? Did you have any ‘spiritual’ experiences? See God? Or get a glimpse of hell?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Maybe hell’s where I’ll end up, probably as one of Lucifer’s bitches, but no, nothing like that. I just felt myself floating towards a tunnel of light. It seemed so inviting and peaceful I just wanted to drift away. I’d heard of similar things when people were near death, and I knew that entering the tunnel would mean I would die but it just didn’t matter anymore. I was just about to go inside when I heard your voice. It was seemed to be coming from outside of me so I paused and listened."

"What did it say?"

Elizabeth turned her face towards Matthew, "It said

‘You were everything I wasn’t, rich, beautiful, and brilliant. I felt as though I was the luckiest man alive. I had a fiancée who had everything and who treated me like a king.’"

Matthew was about to interrupt when Elizabeth continued, "I didn’t hear the rest but that was enough to bring me back from the brink. The tunnel was still there, enticing me, enchanting me and seducing me but somehow I wanted to know more. I’ve no idea how much time passed and then I heard your voice saying ‘I now understand what pain I must have caused you. I can’t say anything else but sorry. I was naive and selfish and I am truly sorry.’. That was like Mozart to my ears the tunnel no longer seemed so enticing but part of me wanted to go there still. Oblivion is what I deserved, I was alone, hated, and despised. Death is what I deserve for all I have done. I started my drift towards the tunnel once more but then you said ‘I do still care for you, you know. We share more than just bodies don’t we? We had a great time together didn’t we? Gurney races in the hospital, food fights, dancing in fountains, and the day I proposed to you was magical wasn’t it? I’ve just thought of another reason for you to live. You need to see that not all love is unrequited. You need to be loved and to see that love is stronger than hate. Having friends around you that care for you is the start of that. I’d have hoped you’d have seen that in Kat and me, after all you did to us, but it wasn’t you who learned that lesson, it was us. So Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley you’d better get used to having me around cus I’m here for the duration.’ "

Matthew was stunned. Elizabeth had heard parts of his ramblings and they had helped her pull thru. The only worrying thing was that she’d only heard parts of what he’d said, "Elizabeth, I can explain.," he started.

"You don’t have to. I know you love Kat and I accept that, but it was the memories you brought back and your commitment to me as a friend that convinced me to come back. The tunnel held no power over me once I saw I had something to live for."

Matthew knew the answer but wanted to hear it from Elizabeth, "Which is?"

A tear formed in Elizabeth’s blue eyes, "Friends, Matthew, friends. If my once mortal enemy is prepared to stand by me until the end because he cares about me then I must be worth something. You must see something in me that makes you want to stick by me. I’ve no idea what it is because if it was left up to me I’d have walked thru that tunnel, and now I’d be dead. Matthew I wanted to die, but you pulled me back."

"I must be honest I don’t know what it is either, maybe I’ve a little more faith in you than you have. Anyway you’d better rest now. Do you want me to get Dr Gates now?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No. Besides you were wrong about one thing."

Matthew cocked an eyebrow, "and that is?"

Fresh tears formed in Elizabeth’s eyes and she took a deep breath. After pausing for a second she said softly, "All love is Unrequited, Matthew. All of it."

Matthew wanted to respond but Elizabeth had closed her eyes once more.

o - o - o -

Acting Prime Minister Benjamin Dayan paced about his make shift office. Since the destruction of Tel-Aviv, the Israeli government and its infrastructure was on the verge of collapse. Only a few members of the Knesset had been out of town when the attack happened, and they were still in shock and bitterly divided. Of the other areas of the government Mossad had been the worst hit with much of its higher command still in Tel-Aviv.

Benjamin walked over to his window and stared at the courtyard below. Already the demonstrators were starting to gather once more, and soon he would have to give the order to disperse them. The public, his public were crying out for blood and soon he would have to decide whether to give it to them. His country was starting to tear itself apart as the factions within started to make their presence known. These demonstrations were only the start, soon those who’d lost family and friends in that horrific attack would cease their mourning and turn their anger on those who’d performed it. If he was to show any weakness civil war would surely follow as each splinter group tried to exert control over the already fragmented government.

Benjamin stared at a group of demonstrators, who’d managed to find an Egyptian flag. They waved it in the air before one of them reached inside his jacket, lifted out a lighter and set it alight. The sight of the burning flag drew a crowd, which then started to chant even louder. A single, solitary woman, about 30 years old caught his eye. She was holding aloft a large sign with the phrase ‘A voice is heard In Ramah, Mourning and great weeping. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.’

Benjamin couldn’t help but stare at this single, solitary woman alone in the crowd, her pain summing up the grief of an entire nation, her tear stained face showing the tears everyone felt inside. She was, a symbol of Israel’s pain. There was no anger in her face, only loss and tears. Benjamin took a deep breath and turned from the window, the quote from the book of Jeremiah still echoing around his mind. He walked over to his desk and sat down. He and his fellow Knesset members faced an agonising choice. Do they retaliate and kill an unimaginable number of people? Or rebuild and hope they could avert a civil war or invasion by those who thought Israel had become weak. In a way he was glad that he had insisted the UN vote on it, it allowed others to take the decision for him, and he took solace in that. His thoughts drifted back to the distraught woman with the placard and he pressed buzzer on his desk.

A burley man walked in the room, the bulge from his gun ruining the cut of his Italian suit, "Yes Prime Minister?"

Benjamin stood up and walked to the window once more. The crowd had grown larger and the burning flag was now only a smouldering rag. His eyes sought the woman out in the crown and he pointed her out to the burley man. "Ask her to join me."

"But sir."

Benjamin turned to the man and said, "It’ll be ok. Please fetch her."

The man nodded and walked out of the room. Benjamin stood riveted to the spot, staring at the sea of people below. He could feel the hate brewing down there, anger and confusion too. Why me? why us? and why now? were the questions everybody wanted to know. Unfortunately he had no answers and even his own heart was confused. He watched his bodyguard escort the woman thru the crowd and back into the building. Walking away from the window, he wondered why he’d asked her to come up? Maybe it was the desire to talk to someone other than the self-serving politicians, the war hungry generals or just someone who’d been directly affected by the catastrophe. Benjamin sat down at his desk again and picked up his pen. He wanted to create a good impression when she came in.

There was a knock at the door and the man walked in, followed by the woman. Benjamin stood up and offered the woman a seat, "Please sit down."

The woman was a little overawed, sat down without making any comment. Benjamin’s bodyguard stood behind her, his hand inside his jacket ready to pull his firearm should the need arise.

Benjamin relaxed back on his chair and started to speak, "I guess you are wondering why I asked you here."

The woman just sat there staring at him, and said nothing in reply.

"It’s ok, you’re not in any trouble. I saw you down there, and my heart reached out to you as I saw your sign. I want to hear your story, to get the mood of those whose lives I will affect."

The woman breathed a sigh of relief and started to talk, "My name is Rachel Rogoff. I lived in Tel-Aviv with my husband and four children." Rachel paused and fought back some tears. "I was away from town when they struck. I lived, they didn’t. Can I go now."

Benjamin sighed and softly replied, "Tell me about them, what were their names? What did your husband do?"

Rachel swallowed down a sob and looked away from Benjamin, "My husband was called Joel and we had two girls, Rebekah and Elizabeth, and two boys David and Daniel. My husband worked in the central bank and I worked as a secretary for a real estate company."

"Were they good kids?"

New tears formed in Rachel’s eyes, "They were great kids."

Benjamin asked, "What happened?"

"I was out of town with my boss, and Joel would have been at the bank. Our children would have been at kindergarten or with the sitter. In my hurry I forgot to kiss my little Elizabeth goodbye, now I’ll never have a chance to again. Why are you asking me this?" More tears streamed down Rachel’s face.

"Because I have some important things to decide in the next few days. Do we go to war? Or do we just rebuild and carry on. Do I give the order to kill millions more or do we roll over and accept this? Before I do this I need to know more than just numbers on a page or reports from my experts, I need to know personal stories of the people who’s lives this will affect."

Rachel’s eyes grew angry, "You want to pass the responsibility onto me?

"Not at all. It’s my responsibility, and mine alone. What would you do?"

"I’m only a secretary, what do I know?"

"You know how things are in the real world, you’ve lost all that is dear to you, and you care enough to come here and demonstrate. Now what would you do?"

"I wouldn’t strike back. Too many have died already. Let us mourn our dead, we need to rebuild not kill more people."

"I wish it were that simple. If we do not strike back then the world will see us as weak. Our enemies will attack us and kill who knows how many more. If we stay our hand then it gives others the power to use these horrific weapons against each other. If we hit back and hard then others will think twice about using them."

Rachel thought for a few moments, pondering her reply. In the end she simply said, "That is all if’s and maybe’s . If you use nuclear weapons then millions WILL die. If you do this, in Egypt thousands of ordinary people like me will be wailing for loved ones lost. The only way to break this circle is not to enter it."

Benjamin nodded his head and adjusted his glasses, "Thank you"

Rachel stood up and was about to leave when she turned and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Benjamin replied simply "Wait and see," and reached for the phone.

o - o - o -

The sun rose in a glorious blaze of red, gold, and yellow. The pollution from the urban Washington sprawl creating infinite patterns of color and patterns. Such beauty went unnoticed by the occupant of the Oval office who stood, staring out of the window at the hubbub of late twentieth century life. The vapor trails of an airliner cut two white ribbons across the sky and were now starting to pass away.

The changeling president walked away from the window and back to his desk. The events of the past few days had troubled him greatly, and now he was confused about what to do. He had read the CIA reports on the exposing of all the Guild’s operations and had initially expected to be arrested at any time, but time passed and he assumed that his cover was safe. Brief phone calls and messages to his colleagues in Britain, Russia, France and China had shown their cover was also secure and the operation was still on track. He could only assume that the parties that had effectively destroyed the Guild were unaware of his mission or had no way of stopping it even if they were. His confusion was whether to abort the mission and hide until the witchhunt had subsided or to continue even though Hassan and Osman were dead. Hassan’s last orders were to carry on regardless and not to try and make contact with any other Guild members. But if there was no longer any Guild left then what was the point, better to rebuild quietly and slowly than to go out in a blaze of glory.

A buzzer sounding on his private switchboard interrupted his thoughts and he reached over and answered it, "Yes Jane."

"The Israeli Prime Minister for you Mr President."

"Ok put him thru. Oh ,and have the crisis team meet me here in ten minutes."

The president heard the phone beep a few times and then answered, "Yes prime minister."

The Israeli Prime Minister’s accented English voiced sounded serious but calm, "I’m sorry to interrupt your business but I thought you ought to know that we have reconsidered our request to invoke the Fury Directive. We are going to withdraw our request to the UN and try and rebuild our shattered country."

The president took a deep breath. This was IT! This moment would decide the fate of the whole Guild plan. Now the Guild was almost certainly doomed there seemed little point in carrying on. However it seemed very likely that a small remnant of the Guild would survive and the completion of this plan would massively aid its recovery. HE could be responsible for the Guilds continued survival, a hero in Guild history.

"Mr President?" the voice queried from the phone.

"Wait, Prime Minister I am considering my response," the president offered.

In fact the president had already met with his cabinet and teams of advisors in case Israel decided to withdraw from the Fury Directive. He’d seen aerial photographs of Tel-Aviv and been told that the cost of reconstruction would be in the billions of dollars. At first he was puzzled by this huge amount of money, as the buildings had been left intact. But he was told that there were a lot of people using stoves, gas stations, driving cars or trains, and just basically living. When the people were killed these would still continue to run and cause fires and explosions, which with no fire department to resolve would go unchecked. Besides, nobody knew how long the DNA warhead would remain active. At the moment the only people allowed into Tel-Aviv wore full Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) suits. The clear up operation would be huge.

The president remembered the heated meeting he’d had on this subject. He’d managed to argue successfully (and just avoided having to issue an executive order) that there were larger issues than just one city in one country. He could hear the impatient breathing of the Prime Minister on the phone, so summoning up his most authoritative voice replied, "I hear what you have said Prime Minister, but I must insist that you invoke the Fury Directive."

"WHAT! How dare you order me around like some puppet state? I told you out of common courtesy and you treat me like this," the voice roared from the other end.

"I meant no disrespect Prime Minister, but please listen to me. There is a larger issue here than just Tel-Aviv. What we do know will set the precedent for the future. If we do not act firmly and according to our treaties then the whole world is open to this kind of horrific attack. My first duty is to the citizens of the United States as is yours to Israel. How would it look if we just held up our hands and said ‘hey, it’s ok’, wipe out our cities we’ll just scurry back and rebuild."

The Prime Minister was about to respond when the president continued, "I’ll tell you. It would look as though we didn’t care, we’d be safe and the world would be held hostage to genetic weapons just as it was to nuclear ones. I refuse to let that happen. I have met with my cabinet and we are in agreement when we say, that if you do not invoke the Fury Directive then we will be forced to do it ourselves. The money that was going to be used to help rebuild your country would have to be spent on providing defenses for our cities. The weapons we would have given you to help fight off invasion would have to be diverted internally."

There was a stunned silence from the other end of the phone. The Israeli Prime Minister couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The president of the United States was effectively blackmailing him into launching a nuclear attack. He now faced an agonising choice once more, launch the attack or have Israel face financial ruin. The president said that the USA would do it anyway, so those people would still be dead, only that their deaths wouldn’t be on his hands. He then had a flash of inspiration, "My country and your country have had good relations for years. I would hate to have to go elsewhere for our trade," he answered down the phone.

The president had expected that one however, and ignored the veiled threat, "Why don’t you go and think about it, rather than make rash threats that you cannot keep. Good day Prime Minister."

Benjamin slammed the phone down in anger. He refused to be bullied by the US and reached across to his phone and pressed the buzzer, "Get me the British Prime Minister."

Two hours later Benjamin slammed the phone down once more. The British had taken the same view as the Americans, as had the French and the Germans. In desperation he asked for the Russian President.

A thickly accented voice answered the phone, "Yes Prime Minister"

"Mr president. We have decided not to invoke the Fury Directive,"

Before he could go any further the deep voice of Boris Petcukocov boomed down the phone, "I am sorry to hear that. I would ask you to reconsider your decision. If it’s help you are after then I am sorry, we can hardly afford to keep our own people let alone give support to another’s. If you decide to invoke the directive we will support you.

Good day Prime Minister"

There was a buzz as Boris Petcukocov put the phone down. Benjamin could hardly believe his ears. Every leader of a world power had refused him aid or help unless he continued to push for an attack on Egypt. It was a helpless situation. No smaller country would dare to offend one of the big five by lending Israel money, for fear of crippling trade embargoes. The same went for the world banks.

If he didn’t attack, America would, and then the Arabs would strike back at Israel. If he did attack the response would be the same. The only difference being that if America was the force behind the attack his country would not get the money and more importantly arms that it needed to survive. Israel had been using American military technology for years, and although in later years it had developed it’s own, a significant amount was still American in origin. In the coming war Israel would need every bullet, tank and aircraft it could get it’s hands on, and should America refuse to help then Israel would certainly be destroyed. He if did nothing and allowed America to attack a disastrous civil war and invasion would surely follow.

So there then was the dilemma, he was trapped into killing millions to save his country. There was no way around it, and no way to avoid it. The only thing he could do was stall for time and hope someone could find a way out. He guessed he had about a week before he was forced to order the attack. Benjamin stood up from his desk and walked to the window. The crowds had swelled and the demonstration was in full swing. His eyes sought out a certain sign, but the sheer number of people hid it from view or at least he thought so until he caught a glimpse of it being thrust high in the air, seemingly in triumph. Benjamin turned away from the window, sat down and held his head in his hands. "I’m sorry Rachel, I did my best but I have no choice, no choice at all."

o - o - o -

Matthew sat in his rented car with the engine idling. His lights were off and he was sitting low in the seat. It was now 5am and so far there was no sign of Elizabeth. She was now an hour late.

Matthew’s anxiety rose when he heard multiple police sirens rush past but they soon faded into the distance. Matthew took a deep breath and settled down to wait once more.

o - o - o -

"I never thought I’d see this place again," Kat commented as she took the elevator to her Manhattan apartment.

"Me neither. Matthew visited here a few times when you were away. He never slept overnight though. This place has too many ghosts, or so he said," Cathline replied.

Kat nodded, "I know, Tina, is it alright if we stay here? We don’t need to check in every hour or something?"

Tina shook her head, "This isn’t parole, but just make sure you don’t leave me behind or run off."

Kat smiled, "Ever one to be in the thick of it huh."

"Guess so. Say, this place looks pretty exclusive," Tina commented, noting the mahogany door and guilt handles.

"It is. Anyway where’d I put that key," Kat fumbled in her pockets and eventually brought out a set of shiny keys.

Cathline looked at Kat suspiciously. "Kat, How come you managed to get your old set of keys back? What about the money we used to get here?"

Kat gave Cathline a knowing look, "Hey, I’m the head of the Guild now, work it out. Anyway, I’m getting fed up with waiting out here. I’m going inside."

Kat gently turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open, tried to peer into the gloomy darkness of the room, but in the end gave up and fumbled for the light switch and flicked it on.

Tina poked her head around the door and called out, "Anyone here?"

Cathline jumped as she heard a faint reply coming from one of the bedrooms. They were not alone.

o - o - o -

The clock in the dashboard of Matthew’s car read 05:50. Elizabeth was nearly two hours late. This concerned Matthew, Elizabeth was never late. Something must have happened to her but he’d seen no outward sign of the police. He struggled to resist the temptation to go inside and look for her, but in the end decided against it. His flight left in a little over two hours and there was no time to wait for her. Besides, the tickets, and the car the Guild had supplied him with were for this flight only and as yet he had no access to his money, so he was stuck in Australia if he decided to stay.

Matthew sighed and started the engine. As he drove off he repeatedly glanced into his door mirror, hoping that he would see the door open and Elizabeth would come running out. However once he drove out of the car lot it was very clear that Elizabeth would not be coming and that he was once again on his own.

The route to the airport was fortunately clear of traffic as the main rush hour had yet to start, and Matthew parked his car in the long stay area. Elizabeth had told him to leave it where a Guild member could come and dispose of it. Matthew popped open the trunk and pulled out his bag, and walked towards the departure lounge. After checking in and buying a newspaper he sat down on a large plastic bench and proceeded to wait.

Matthew was once again half expecting Elizabeth to waltz up to him and apologise for being late but she did not appear. She could, he reasoned, have been lying about the changeling organ and could even be amongst the passengers, but there was something about her manner that made him doubt that.

So deep in thought was he that he nearly missed the last call for his flight, and after a long sprint to the boarding gate managed to get on board. Matthew stowed his hand luggage in the space above his head and settled down to get some well earned rest.

o - o - o -

"Who’s that?" A nervous feminine sounding voice called from out from one of the bedrooms.

Tina was the first to reply, "Detective Tina Cox, Who’s that?"

"Oh Tina, thank God. It’s me, Scott," the voice replied.

Images of Scott lying on the table slowing being feminized flashed thru Tina’s mind. Feelings of shame and betrayal soon followed and Tina found herself unable to reply.

"Tina?" Scott queried.

"It’s ok. Listen, who else is with you?" Kat asked.

Scott’s voice sounded suspicious once more, "Who’s asking? Tina you ok?"

Tina managed to overcome her shame for a moment, "It’s ok Scott, he’s with me. Now please come out we need to talk."

"Ok," the voice replied.

A few seconds later a tall woman with long blonde hair walked into the room. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a plain white T-Shirt. From the unladylike way she walked in Tina could see that something was wrong. She carried herself all wrong, strode instead of taking smaller steps, and the way her hair was brushed back over her ears spoiled a perfectly stunning face. Tina’s jaw almost dropped to the floor but she quickly recovered and asked, "Scott?"

The woman nodded softly and then ran over to Tina and gave her a large hug. Tina could feel the fleshy firmness of the other woman’s breasts pressing against her own and inwardly she hung her head in shame once more.

The woman known as ‘Detective Scott Harris’ noticed none of this, and only whispered, "Thank God. I thought you’d been killed or worse."

Not thinking, Tina blurted out, "They got you worse."

Scott pulled away as if struck, "I know. They won’t even let me go see Rebecca. If I do, then they won’t turn me back or do they’ll do something even worse. I hate this, Tina. I hate the way I look, the way I feel, and the way I know Rebecca will react when she sees me like this."

Cathline had overheard the last section of the conversation and she whirled to face Kat "This was your idea wasn’t it?" she hissed and stormed off into the corridor, slamming the door behind her.

Bemused at Cathline’s outburst Kat decided that formalities were in order and sat down on a nearby leather chair. Summoning up her most persuasive tone she turned her head to face Scott and said, "Scott, please take a seat and let me explain as much as I can."

"I’d like to hear too," Another female voice sounded from another bedroom.

"Ahh, Senator Jameson I presume. Please come in," Kat requested. Actually it sounded more like an order, a fact that went unnoticed by Kat.

The woman walked in and Kat cast a curious eye over her. She was in her mid thirties, black hair in a ponytail and bright brown eyes. Like Scott she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. The woman walked, no strode to where Scott was now sitting, and sat down cross-legged beside him.

Scott nodded towards the door that Cathline had stormed out of and asked, "Did I miss something?"

Kat nodded, "You could say that. She blames me for her and your current situation. She, as you might say, only sees the small picture and an inaccurate one at that. I’m afraid I can’t tell all the details until Elizabeth gets here but I’ll fill in what I can."

Senator Jameson stared at Kat in a mixture of suspicion and fear. Kat’s manner reminded him so much of one the Guild’s high command, arrogant, aloof, and very much in charge. He wondered how Scott’s partner and Rachel Martin had gotten involved with this Guild leader and what hold he had over them. His political training had got him used to forming an opinion about people, labelling and then probing their weaknesses. He decided to play it cool, "And you are?"

Kat’s answer however shattered the senator’s categorisation of this Guild commander, "My name is Jane Stephens, but to my friends I’m Kat."

Scott’s eyes widened, "You’re Matthew’s wife, umm husband? You were killed! Your funeral was all over the news a year ago. How? why?"

Kat shook her head, "Sorry, how and why are questions I won’t answer at the moment. What I can say is that Scott, it was my idea and my command that keeps you from seeing Rebecca. I know how painful it must be for you, but all I ask is for you to stay away for a little longer."

"You Bastard!" Scott swore at Kat and lunged towards her.

Kat neatly moved to one side and quicker than Scott could react had him in a neck hold, "I’m not doing this for my own enjoyment, or your punishment. I’m doing it to try and save millions," she hissed.

Scott managed to say, "What do you mean?"

The senator interrupted, "He means the Fury Directive. You mean to stop Israel bombing Egypt?"

Kat released Scott who fell to the floor gasping for breath and nodded, "Yeah. This whole thing was set up to take down the Guild. We’ve done that part but we’ve really got out work cut out for us now."

Kat heard a door open behind and whirled around, "Cathline you’re back, great. Take a seat."

Cathline glared at Kat and silently sat down on the floor, her face red with anger and betrayal. Tina saw her reaction and asked Kat, "You want to sort this out first?"

Kat blinked back a tear—she hated upsetting her friends, "Cathline, I promise you I’ll explain everything when Liz gets here. I can’t do it until then. You have to hear her side of the story or you’ll never agree to help us. Cathline I need your help more than ever, please stay."

Cathline’s one good eye continued to glare at Kat but her manner was conciliatory, "Ok Jane I’ll stay. If only to hear you out."

Kat started to explain, "Good, Now let me try and tell you where were are, and where we’re going."

Kat scanned the room, and noted with satisfaction that the others were paying attention. She then started to speak, "I take it you all know about Hassan’s attack on Tel-Aviv, and his deception in framing Egypt for it? We, that is Elizabeth and I tried to stop it. We failed."

Kat let that sentence sink in, half a million people killed because of one mistake "Elizabeth’s brilliant plan of exposing the entire Guild and simultaneously getting rid of it’s leadership has meant the Guild is dying. It’ll take a while but it’s inevitable. Her plan also had the brilliant side effect of putting me in charge of it and thus I can ensure it’s rapid demise, while using it’s remaining resources to stop the attack."

Scott gave a low whistle—he was impressed at Elizabeth’s deviousness, "So all that fighting in Libya that was ‘your side’ versus ‘the bad guys’."

Kat nodded, "Yep, but that’s getting close to a question I won’t answer yet so I’ll move on. As I’m sure you’re also aware Israel is on the verge of launching a nuclear attack on Egypt, an incident that will no doubt start an almost unstoppable Middle East conflict. This MUST not happen."

Cathline butted in, "So, mighty Guild leader, why did Hassan want to start a war in the Middle East? What’d he get out of it?"

Kat ignored Cathline’s sarcasm and went on to answer the question, "We’ve no idea. A war would make it very difficult for Hassan to operate. We can only assume he would make a killing selling advanced American weapons to the Arab countries, and thus be in a much stronger position when it all blew over. The answer to that question is hopefully on the disks which Elizabeth is bringing back with her."

"I have a another question?" Cathline asked.

"Yes?" Kat enquired.

"You keep mentioning Liz and the Guild but you’ve never once said you’re looking forward to seeing Matthew again. What’s going on Jane? You used to miss him after only a day apart. Now it seems as though you can live without him for good. Or was that the deal? You wanted to get rid of Matthew, Liz wanted him, so you let her have him?"

Kat said nothing and glared at Cathline. Cathline didn’t understand, she could never understand what had gone on in that Guild stronghold. All Kat did was stand up and walk out of the room.

Tina turned to Cathline and spat back, "You were outta line there. Go after her and say sorry."

Cathline shook her head, "No I’m right. Look I knew her WAY before any of you guys, and I’m telling you that ain’t Kat or if it is her mind has been screwed with big time."

"That may be, but she still cares for you. Please cut her some slack," Tina replied.

Their argument was cut short by a short series of sobs from Scott and Tina turned her attention to the crying woman on the sofa. She walked over to Scott and put an arm around him.

Scott sniffled for a few moments and said softly to Tina, "Why’d she do it? Why’d she let this happen to me and why won’t she let me see my Rebecca again. Tina I’m so trapped. I’m used to being in control but this is way out of my league."

Tina thought for a few moments and pulled Scott close, "I don’t know, I was hoping she’d tell us. I’ve only been with Kat for a few hours but I do know she has a good heart."

Scott buried his face into Tina shoulders and started to cry once more, the pain, fear, and shock of the past few weeks was gradually starting to work their way out.

The senator had caught very little of what was going on and was deep in thought when a worrying thought crossed his mind, "They don’t know how to stop it."

Cathline caught the remark and asked "Who? Liz and Jane?"

The senator nodded, "Yeah. That’s why Kat wants us here. That’s the real reason why she’s waiting for Dr Bexley. They don’t know how to prevent the attack, they never planned for this."

Cathline whispered, "Oh shit!"

The senator caught himself fiddling with his pony tail once more and then guiltily swished it back behind his head, "Succinct and accurate. We’re here to help them work out what to do next. Kat hasn’t said so yet, but I bet that’s what she’s thinking. All this bickering amongst ourselves is screwing things up even more and the clock is ticking."

Scott lifted his head up. The Senator’s musings had brought him out from his self pitying mood, "So that’s what Kat was talking about when she said that Cathline wasn’t seeing the big picture. Kat knows that millions of lives depend on her and especially Dr Bexley."

Unnoticed by them Kat slipped back into the room and stood by the door, just listening.

Tina added, "I don’t think any of us are doing particularly well at the moment. Cathline here is ready to rip Kat’s head off, I’m feeling as guilty as hell about what happened to Scott, Scott’s in shock, the senator’s trying to take control of an almost uncontrollable situation, and it’s clear to me that it’s Dr Bexley who’s got some kinda hold over Kat. Not a good situation to be in."

Kat interrupted, "I think you about summed it up there, Tina."

The rest of the group whirled around and guiltily looked at Kat.

Kat strode over to where she had been sitting and sat down once more. Gathering her thoughts she started to speak, "We’re not a good lesson in group dynamics are we. It’ll only get worse when Elizabeth turns up , as most of us here have a desire to see her dead. Yes Tina, you’re right Elizabeth does have a hold over me. But that’s part of the stuff I can’t talk about. All I ask is that you put up with her and put your thoughts of revenge to one side. I need her, we need her, and millions need her."

Cathline butted in, "It’s Matthew, isn’t it. She’s got Matthew and she won’t let him go unless you co-operate. I KNEW it."

Kat shook her head, "Cathline that’s not it at all. I trust Liz with Matthew, she won’t harm him, she won’t betray our marriage, and they are coming. I’ve not let myself get too excited about it as I need to keep focused but, be sure of one thing. I STILL love him more than anything or anyone else. That has never wavered. Now where was I?"

"You were about to tell us you don’t have a clue on how to stop Israel’s attack?" the senator asked.

"Yes we do, we need to get proof of the Guild’s deception to the UN and to our government," Kat retorted.

"I hate to say this but that may be harder than you expect?" the Senator added.

"Why?" Tina asked.

"He’s talking about the changelings. We’ve no idea where they’ve gone or who they are, but we can deal with them, Elizabeth knows how. Now if you don’t mind I’m bushed and we could all do with some rest." Kat suggested. She was feeling beat, and undoubtedly she wasn’t the only one.

o - o - o -

Matthew walked into the arrivals lounge at JFK at 02:30am Eastern Standard Time. He only had his hand luggage with him and the Guild had thoughtfully given him his passport back so immigrations was straightforward enough.

As he clutched his bag close to him, he could feel the disks containing the proof required to stop the impending attack. The only thing against them now was the fact the information was heavily encrypted, and only the government had the necessary resources to read it. Elizabeth suspected the encrypted files contained much more than just details of the Egyptian deception. She thought they contained locations, and motives of the Guild created changelings as well.

Matthew still felt sorrowful that Elizabeth hadn’t made it. They sure needed her, even if her changeling organ was damaged, maybe permanently. She had a lot of information that meant a lot to Matthew. She knew where Kat was, if she was alive, she knew how to turn him back, and she also knew the intimate details of the Guild. On the way over he’d listened to the news, expecting to hear of her capture at any moment, but there had been none. His heart had soared when he saw pictures of Cathline walking out of a hospital. Although it looked as though she’d been injured she was otherwise unharmed. Walking with her was a tall, Arabic man with a well toned muscular body. The reporter had called him ‘Salah’ and apparently he was responsible for Cathline’s rescue. Matthew wondered if it was the same Salah that had sent Elizabeth the note, and was the driving force behind the Guild civil war. Walking behind Salah and Cathline was a smaller woman. The reporter had called her Detective Tina Cox, and she had been held captive with Cathline. The rest of the news contained extended coverage of the ongoing crisis and speculation that the US had said that it would hit Egypt hard if Israel did not.

As Matthew hailed a cab he felt himself drift off to sleep, it had been a long flight, and he suddenly realised, as often happens, that exhaustion had crept up on him. His next memory was of the cab driver shaking him awake, "You’re there miss. That’ll be 20 dollars."

Sleepily rummaging in his purse Matthew pulled out a fifty and told the driver to keep the change. He walked nonchalantly passed the night porter and caught the private elevator to his condo. Memories of happier times came flooding back to him, flashbacks to when Kat was alive and then of Cathline just holding him and stroking his hair as he cried for his dead wife. The words of that song came flooding back to him

‘Like the sun through the trees you came to love me Like a leaf on a breeze you blew away.’

The elevator stopped at Matthew’s floor and he walked out into the brightly lit corridor. He slowed down as he reached his door. By now he could almost hear the music of the song out loud, as if the band was playing for him and him alone.

A gentle rain falls softly on my weary eyes

As if to hide a lonely tear

My life will be Forever Autumn

‘cause you’re not here

‘cause you’re not here

‘cause you’re not here’

Matthew managed to find his key and softly unlocked the door.

o - o - o -

Kat’s eyes flicked open at the sound of the door being unlocked. A year of living on the edge of discovery had made her a light sleeper, and her fear rose at the sound of someone walking into the house. She crept past the sleeping forms of Cathline and Scott, and ducked down behind the bedroom door as she saw the lights in the living room flick on. Her fear turned to joy as she heard a voice call out, "Hello, anyone there?"

She wanted to rush out and hug the figure that had just walked in but she felt herself unable to move. A year of pain, A year of fear, and a year of loss weighed heavy on her mind. She had fought long and hard to suppress the feelings that now welled up inside her. Out of necessity she’d pushed down her feelings for Matthew for so long, and now she knew he was standing there she was apprehensive of seeing him again.

She felt her heart beat beneath her chest, just in the same way it’d done when he proposed to her, the same way, when he’d married her, and when she’d seen him walk into that office at TGEN after his escape from the police. This time was different. He thought she was dead, he thought her throat had been slit in the desert over a year ago and he didn’t know what Elizabeth had done to her. Still, they’d coped in the past and they’d cope now. She felt her eyes wet with tears, and she stifled down a cry. From her hidden position she could see Matthew walking towards the kitchen. He’d put on a little weight, and his hair was as wild and unkempt as ever. She saw him look furtively around as if he’d heard a movement.

Kat held her breath but Matthew had turned back, and was filling the kettle. He put it on the stove to boil and walked back into the living room. He flopped down on the sofa, and laid back, unwinding from a long trip. Kat saw her chance and crept out of the bedroom. She’d thought long and hard about what to say should this moment ever come but she changed her mind about what she wanted to say. She gathered herself against the barrage of questions that were sure to come, and she simply said, "Fancy a race?"

Matthew shot up and whirled around, "Salah isn’t it? What the hell are you doing in my house?"

No longer able to contain herself any longer Kat said, "Mat, it’s me."

Matthew’s eyebrow lifted in puzzlement, "Me?"

"Never mind come here," Kat said, and ran and gave Matthew a large embrace. "I missed you, You’ll never know how much I missed you," Kat whispered.

Matthew felt tears against his face, and pushed himself away from Kat’s embrace, "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Matthew it’s me, Kat. I know you don’t recognise me, but it’s true. Please come here and let me hug you. I’ve waited a lifetime for this, please."

Matthew said nothing. His mind and body were in shock. It had to be a trick, a cruel joke played on him by Elizabeth or somebody. He backed away from Kat and nearer the phone.

Kat saw the suspicion in his face and said, "Remember our first time together. We’d tried at Cathline’s house, but we were both too tired and too overcome. Our first time was in Liz’s house, our house. I said ‘Hello My love’."

Matthew whispered back, "and I said, ‘I never dreamed our first time would be like this.’"

Kat nodded, "Then I replied ‘Me neither, still at last we have chance to be alone. Matthew I don’t care if you’re a woman or not, I want you’."

Matthew sank to his knees and started to cry, "Kat, Kat I missed you, I missed you more than life itself. Please let it be you because I couldn’t cope if it weren’t."

Tears streaming down her face Kat walked over to Matthews sobbing form, and pulled him close, "I’ve always been me and I’m not going anywhere. I love you."

Matthew lifted his head up and looked at Kat’s manly, unshaven face, "I saw you killed, Why, how are you like this?"

Kat wrapped her strong arms around Matthew’s waist and pulled his head towards her shoulder, "Shh later. Let’s not ruin the moment. We’re together again and that’s what matters."

Matthew pushed Kat away and stood up. His mind was whirling with possibilities and emotion. This man in front of him, he knew about their first time together as husband and wife but that could have been tortured from Kat before she was released. Part of him wanted to believe it was her, and yet he was afraid to start hoping again. He was afraid of the hurt that would rise up and tear his heart apart once more and afraid of what this Salah was planning. He thought back and remembered a moment, a special moment that only Kat would know. It hurt him to remember it, and it brought back bitter and painful memories but it was the only way. Not looking at Kat, Matthew said, "You remember when you were ill? I think it was a few weeks before we flew out to Libya?"

"I remember. I was in pain most of the time and only had a few weeks to live," Kat replied gently.

Matthew fought back the tears, the vivid memory of that painful moment flashed into his mind, and brought with it a years worth of loss, "You’d got up in the middle of the night. I’d missed you and followed you."

Kat nodded, "I’d just been violently sick. The cancer that was eating away at me was causing me to vomit blood and bile. I’d missed the bowl and it was all over the floor. I was so ashamed and fearful that you’d seen me that way I turned to walk away. I changed my mind and simply said ‘So now you know."

Matthew said nothing, and could control his tears no longer. He rushed to where Kat was now standing and embraced her. The bottled up feelings of a year of pain and despair babbled out, "It’s you! She saved you, she saved you! My God you’re alive! I missed you! Kat my love, my heart, my soul, I missed you and I love you! I never stopped, even when I knew you were gone I never stopped loving you."

A tearful Kat returned his embrace, "I know. I missed you too, my moon and my stars. I’ve had to do some terrible things Matthew. I had to push down my feelings of loss for our sakes, for everyone’s sake and now I’m finding it hard to speak."

"Then don’t, just hold me," Matthew whispered.

Kat did so and wished the moment would never end.

Matthew was the first to pull away, "I’ve so many questions I don’t know where to start."

"You and everyone else. Liz should be with you, where is she?" Kat asked.

Still sniffling Matthew asked, "How much do you know?"

Kat thought for a moment, "Before they went into hiding my Guild contacts told me that Elizabeth was gravely wounded and that you had flown to the hospital with her. They also said that she regained consciousness and was planning to leave with you."

"She was. She told me to meet her at a certain time and not to wait if she didn’t turn up. I waited until the last possible moment before my flight was due to leave but she wasn’t there."

Kat’s face suddenly looked worried, "Was she arrested? Maybe she switched forms and flew back with you?"

Matthew shrugged, "Dunno I don’t think she was arrested, it’d be on the news by now. She couldn’t switch forms—her final assault on the Guild nearly killed her and damaged her changeling organ beyond repair."

Kat’s worried face turned ashen gray, "Oh no."

Now it was Matthew’s turn, "What?"

Kat sighed, "With no changeling organ we’re reliant on ourselves to fight the changelings. Liz was confident she could beat one of them with her improved version. Now if we have to face one we’ll probably lose. You’ve seen what they can do?"

Memories of Elizabeth slashing her way past the Guild elite filled Matthew’s mind, "Oh fuck!"

Kat nodded, "Now, they can’t match what Liz could do and they can’t shift forms that many times, but they can repair almost fatal injuries. They are certainly better fighters than Liz and that makes them deadly."

Matthew heard a sound from behind Kat and he peered past Kat’s broad shoulder to see a sleepy looking Cathline emerging from the doorway. "Cath, thank God your safe!"

A broad smile erupted from Cathline’s face and she ran and gave Matthew a large hug, "You too old friend. Bet you’re glad you escaped from the hell bitch huh. This’s made my week."

Kat gave a small cough, as if to say ‘excuse me I’m here now’.

Cathline ignored the cough and a stream of questions came rushing out, "How, why and where?"

Kat raised her voice, "Hey guys, one question at a time. Mat, you must be shattered and it’s still the middle of the night. Cathline, go to bed. Mat and I will see you in the morning."

Cathline felt a little hurt at Kat’s attitude but she took the hint. Besides, even if she was unsure of Kat’s mental state she owed it to Matthew not to spoil this moment for him, "You want me to clear out a room for you two?"

Matthew had never had feelings towards men before so as he looked at Kat’s strong body and imagined running his fingers over its firm muscles he found it disquieting. But it was Kat after all, and she’d given so much up for him. He found he enjoyed the warm feelings growing inside of him and he could almost feel Kat’s hands on his breasts and of her touching him HERE and THERE. Strange how he seemed to recall doing that to someone else. He tossed the thought aside, it was probably just a memory from a film or something.

Kat looked at Matthew and said, "You look exhausted, we’ve plenty of time for this later."

Matthew shook his head, "Not a chance. Cathline, there’s no need to clear anyone out. We’ll go to a hotel, the honeymoon suite."

Cathline smiled, "You want me to write a ‘just married sign for you’?"

Matthew smiled, "After five years? I don’t think so."

Kat put her arm around Matthew’s slender waist—not believing it was really him she was holding close. Matthew rested his head on Kat’s arm and thought the same. Matthew beckoned for Cathline to come closer and with his other hand pulled her beside him, the emotions of the moment overwhelming his ability to speak. For a few moments the three friends shared a moment of reunion. For her part Cathline was very uneasy about this being close to Kat. She couldn’t forget her misgivings, but she put them aside. This was Matthew’s moment again and she owed it to him not to spoil it.

Cathline was the first to let go and pull away, "You two had better get a move on or you won’t be able to find a room."

Kat smiled, "Don’t worry, we will. See you at seven."

Matthew turned and whispered something to Kat who then smiled, "Make that eight."

As Matthew and Kat turned and walked out of the room Cathline said to herself, "I’d love to be a fly on the wall when they do find a room." A memory from long ago of her and John’s honeymoon came flooding back, and she couldn’t help but feel the pain of loneliness once more. Sure her love for John had never been as deep as Kat’s for Matthew but she had loved him. Cathline didn’t understand, she was supposed to be the most beautiful woman alive and yet she was alone.

Cathline got up and walked to the window. Peering thru the curtains she saw the hustle and bustle of a city that never slept. Lurid neon colors stretched out towards the horizon, and the soft, white glow of a thousand streetlamps created a halo, which permeated the dark night sky. The flashing red-green light of an airliner caught her eye and she followed it past the window until it could no longer be seen.

Somewhere out there, Matthew and Kat were find a place to consummate their marriage, a celebration of love lost and then found. It was a thought that brought a fresh tear to Cathline’s good eye. Her feelings of joy were tinged with sadness. The images of John’s final moments came to her mind, of a traumatised, desperate Matthew taking aim and then firing. In spite of the rumors and gossip Cathline had never had another relationship since John’s death. She and Matthew had kissed once but then she’d pulled away, afraid of spoiling a friendship, and she’d speculated she was afraid to feel once more. They’d never spoken of it since.

Why was she alone? That question had preyed on her mind for a while now. Did men see her as an unattainable wonder, as if no one could ever match or deserve to own somebody of such unearthly beauty? Before she’d become Rachel Martin she’d read that many of the world’s top models found it hard to get partners. That any potential partner felt intimidated and inadequate. She’d always doubted that theory, until now.

But now her beauty was scarred, once again her eye had been burned from its socket, and she was faced with the prospect of never regaining it again. Her shoulder would forever bear the scar of Osman’s knife wound. Kat was right, Rachel Martin’s career was over. In some ways she’d be glad to get back to Cathline Richards once more, and leave the world of stardom behind. Maybe then she’d find someone, someone to love her, someone to pick her up in his arms and just hold her, someone to cry on, someone to laugh with, and someone who understood the pain she felt inside. She felt a pang of jealousy over Matthew and Kat. Their souls had been reunited when all had seemed lost forever. Cathline switched the light off, plunging the room into darkness once more, and pulled over a chair and sat on it. She sat there just watching the city go on living beneath her.

Out there somewhere someone was meeting their someone for the first time, out there someone was proposing to their soul mate, out there love was being lost and found. Cathline felt so empty inside, even her best friend had seemingly betrayed her. Kat who’d stood firm against Elizabeth’s evil was now an accomplice in it. Was she the only one who saw Elizabeth as evil incarnate? She was sure Elizabeth had been behind the Guild attack on Tel-Aviv, she was sure that Elizabeth had done something to Kat during her captivity, she was sure that Matthew too had not emerged unscathed from Elizabeth’s evil. Elizabeth was like a black widow in a web of deception, of plans within plans, ulterior motives within ulterior motives and she, Cathline was the only one who could see things for what they really were. But hanging over their heads was the ever present threat of Israel’s attack. Kat was right about that at least, that had to take precedence over any personal feelings.

Cathline relaxed back on the chair and continued to watch the world go by. For the moment she was willing to be a spectator and she found it strangely relaxing. Soon, in spite of herself she was fast asleep.

Some hours later Cathline awoke. She was still sitting down on the armchair and her neck hurt like hell. The sun was starting to rise above the Manhattan skyline and the cloudy sky was tinged with orange of the new day. "Ohh Man," Cathline exclaimed feeling her aching limbs.

"Uncomfortable isn’t it?" A voice behind her said.

Cathline’s first reaction was puzzlement, the voice sounded exactly like hers. Her second thought was how? By the time her third thought entered her head the voice said, "Sleeping in armchairs. Very bad for the back Y’know. I’d see a doctor."

Cathline shot up out of the armchair and whirled around to face the mystery voice. Her eyes widened as she saw an exact duplicate of herself standing in front of her. Sure this doppelganger looked thinner, more haggard, and was carrying a small bag but none the less it was Rachel Martin. Cathline was still a little sleepy from her interrupted nights sleep and the thoughts wouldn’t come straight.

"Mind if I take a seat, lover?" the voice asked softly.

That last comment jolted Cathline’s thoughts into focus "Hell Bitch!"

She spat.

"I used to be called that, now it’s just Elizabeth," Elizabeth provoked and gently placed her bag on a nearby table.

With a loud scream of rage Cathline pounced at Elizabeth who, anticipating the move neatly side-stepped and caught Cathline round the throat. Gasping Cathline swore, "Go on kill me, that’s what you came here for wasn’t it?"

"Cathline, all I have to do is twist and I snap your neck. At best you’ll die, at worst you’ll be paralysed from the neck down. Is that what you want? Is that what you crave?"

Cathline managed to find her voice and spat, "Let me go, Bastard."

"Not bastard, Orphan," Elizabeth said softly and released Cathline from her grip.

Tina heard the commotion outside of her bedroom and crept to the door. She spotted what looked like two Rachel Martin’s fighting. One of them had, had the other in a tight grip around the neck. It wasn’t until they broke apart that Tina saw that one of them was Cathline. There was only one other person who could possibly be the other Rachel Martin, Dr Bexley.

Preparing herself against the worst Tina steeled herself and stepped out from behind the doorway, "Let her go," she demanded.

"She’s not my prisoner. Look, where’s Kat, I need to talk to her?"

Elizabeth asked.

"Safe," Cathline spat back.

Tina started edging towards the phone, hoping that Elizabeth didn’t notice her movements. She was going to call for backup sooner this time and not trust in her own abilities. The last time she’d relied on herself Dr Bexley had wiped the floor with them.

Elizabeth sighed, she knew this was going to be difficult but it was necessary. She turned towards Cathline and asked, "Tell me. If I was out to get you how come Kat’s still alive and showing no signs of the cancer that was killing her? How come Matthew’s free? How come I’ve come here of my own accord when I knew you were here?"

Cathline stayed silent, she had no easy answers. All she said was, "Elizabeth, you’re nothing but devious. I wouldn’t put it past you to try and fool us and then pounce."

Still conciliatory, Elizabeth said, "True but why not let Kat die, she’s about the only one who could ever think at my level. With her out of the way my revenge would be much easier to take. Excuse me," Elizabeth suddenly rushed towards the phone and with a hefty shove pushed Tina out of the way.

"Tina, please don’t do that. I’m not here to hurt you," Elizabeth added and disconnected the phone from the wall.

Tina was stunned. Holy shit Elizabeth was FAST! She’d never seen anyone move that quickly before. Dusting herself down she stood up and waited for Elizabeth to make the next move, a dangerous strategy she decided but the only one she could see open to her.

Cathline too was amazed at the speed in which Elizabeth had moved, "I can’t fight you Elizabeth. I’d have no chance but know this, I will see you dead."

Elizabeth acknowledged, "I’m sure you will. When one is as consumed by hate as you are, then my death is your only release. I feel lonely too Cathline, more than you can imagine. I’m an outcast, a monster. I’m no longer human, demonised in the eyes of the world. More than that the blood of Tel-Aviv is on my hands. I fully realise I’m on borrowed time but what I aim to do is make this time count."

Cathline sneered back, "Tel-Aviv, that was your doing, bastard."

Cathline was taken aback as she saw pain flick across Elizabeth’s face. She’d hit a nerve and she didn’t hesitate to turn the knife, "Before you say Orphan I’ll correct you. I knew about your Mom and Dad, there’s no way in hell a monster, yes that what you are, could come from those good people. If they were alive today they would vow never to see you again, they would demand that you be sent straight to hell where you belong. As for your loneliness, whose fault’s that? You altered your body to the inhuman creature you are now, and it’s your fault the world has made you one of the demons of our time. If you’re alone it’s because you made it so."

To Cathline’s shock and amazement Elizabeth didn’t strike back, she turned her eyes away from Cathline, slowly sank to the floor and started to cry. Cathline stood above her, like the victor in some contest, and looked down as the once proud and invincible Dr Elizabeth Bexley held her hands in her face and sobbed uncontrollable sobs.

Cathline looked down impassively at the still crying Elizabeth, "You’re pathetic. Those crocodile tears won’t wash with me. I loved you, I know I’ve told you before, but I really did love you. I’ve only slept with two other people other than John, you and Kat. That should’ve told you how much you meant to me. I wasn’t going to leave you, abandon you or hurt you."

Elizabeth’s tear stained face looked up at Cathline, "I know that now. I can see that now, but you must remember I was ill at the time. I didn’t know what I was doing or thinking. Every time someone was going to come close I had to strike back before they hurt me. I can’t justify what I did Cathline, and I’m not going to try, but believe me I wanted to love you. I was just so screwed up inside."

"Heard it before Liz," Cathline snapped back.

"You don’t give an inch do you. Is your heart so cold that it has no room for forgiveness?"

"Before you came back, maybe it did but not now, not after all you’ve done. You got me thrown back into prison where Osman burned out my eye, AGAIN. You altered Kat so she’s on your side, got Scott and the Senator transformed. Allowed Marcel to die and as icing on the cake killed half a million people."

Fresh tears formed in Elizabeth’s now bloodshot eyes, "I tried to stop it Cathline, I really did. I was so close, so, so close. In my dreams I hear thousands of people screaming my name."

"Your victims?" Cathline queried.

Elizabeth said nothing and only nodded.

Cathline turned to walk away and then had a better idea. She walked closer to Elizabeth and then launched a vicious kick to her head. Elizabeth knew it was coming but chose to stay still. It connected with a sickening thud, and Elizabeth put a hand to her jaw. She pulled the hand away and felt the warm trickle of blood from her nose and mouth. Cathline then performed a low kick, followed up by a rapid series of sweeps and finally a powerful kick to Elizabeth’s chin. Cathline was about to kick once more but Tina pulled her away, "Not like this Cathline, not like this." Elizabeth just sat there, unmoving as if expecting and indeed wanting more blows. Blood poured from her nose and mouth and was seeping onto the floor in front of her.

The one sided fight was interrupted by the sound of giggling from the hallway, Matthew and Kat had returned. A few seconds later Kat and Matthew walked in arm in arm and Kat’s face dropped as she saw a bloodied Elizabeth and Tina holding Cathline in an arm lock.

"For God’s sake Cathline, I told you to drop it. Didn’t you learn anything from before? We need Liz alive and intact," Kat hissed.

Cathline stared at Kat in fury, the adrenaline still pumping from her attack on Elizabeth. For her part, Elizabeth groggily stood up, wiped some fresh blood from her nose, and turned to Kat, "Thanks, but I had it coming," she whispered, her nose still streaming blood.

Kat gave a small ‘welcome back’ smile at Elizabeth and said "Hi Witch, glad you made it."

Matthew interrupted, "How did you escape. I waited right until the last moment for you but you never showed?"

Elizabeth waved a finger as if to say "Just a moment" and then walked off into the kitchen. She returned a few moments later holding a clutch of tissue paper and an ice cube. She quickly placed it over her bleeding nose and held it there.

"Dad’s bedder," Elizabeth said softly thru the tissue.

Kat gave a small sigh and sat down on the sofa, "Right, let’s get down to business. We’ve wasted enough time as it is. Tina, wake Scott and the Senator up for us. I’m amazed they’ve stayed asleep with what’s been going on here."

Tina released Cathline who sulked off to a chair, furthest away from where Kat was sitting. In a telling gesture Elizabeth sat down next to Kat, and continued to mop her nose. For Matthew’s part this was the final proof that Elizabeth had lost her changeling abilities. If she could repair a bullet wound then a bloody nose would be child’s play. Matthew, unwilling to be apart from Kat at all sat down on her lap, and for her part Kat put a strong arm around Matthew’s slender waist.

They waited in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts until a sleepy looking Scott and Senator Jameson walked in.

Matthew was the first to speak "So now we’re all together will you please tell us what the hell is going on. Kat’s still saying nothing, I left you in intensive care and about to be arrested, and to cap it all off it looks as though we’ve just about started World War Three."

Kat responded with a simple, "That about sums it up."

Cathline couldn’t wait any longer, "I don’t get it, You didn’t need us, Liz. The Guild did it. We were just pawns in your chess game. I know Kat she’d never go along with this," Cathline spat.

Elizabeth noticed that her nose had stopped bleeding and expertly threw the tissue into a nearby trash can, "Listen. One thing at a time, it isn’t over yet. If we fail to stop Israel invoking the Fury Directive then millions of innocent people will die. Let me explain."

"You’d better," Cathline demanded.

"I knew from the symptoms I was showing that I had terminal cancer. If nothing was done I would be dead in a few months. Fortunately for me, the Guild captured me and tortured me until I would do as they wanted. Yes I did fix the DNA system, as I needed it to try and cure myself both of the cancer and of being a mermaid. The Guild saw the plans for my changeling organ and demanded that I develop it. Matthew, everything I told you was the truth."

"If you say so," Cathline replied.

Ignoring Cathline’s barbed comment, Elizabeth continued "As Hassan’s confidence in me grew, he gave me greater responsibility. I knew that the changeling organs and DNA tech in the hands of the Guild were a horrific combination. Half a million people are dead because of me and MY error. I should have catered for them moving the schedule forward, but to produce THAT many warheads in so short a time wasn’t possible."

"You fucked up big time didn’t you?" Matthew said.

Elizabeth nodded slowly, "I’ll take the points one at a time. Firstly I did need you. You made sure Salah’s forces did as they were supposed to, and I needed to show you I was making amends. If I’d have shown up and proclaimed how I’d conquered the Guild, then you wouldn’t have believed me. You’d have hated me still. You realise that the Guild had you marked for assassination. Sure, you were low on their list but they’d have got round to you sooner or later. Besides, how can I turn you all back if you’re scattered around the world."

"That still doesn’t excuse what you did to us," Cathline shouted.

"It doesn’t. I was walking a delicate tightrope. Hassan thought I was still in love with Matthew and hungry for revenge against you. Because he thought he had me contained and labelled he ignored me, and so allowed me the freedom I needed to work against him. Salah, or should I say Kat here was my master stroke."

"That’s not like Kat. She’d never go along with you," Cathline stated once more.

Kat looked squarely at Cathline, "You’re right. I didn’t at first. Liz persuaded Hassan to turn me over to her for experimentation. Liz took more blood samples than I care to think about. In the end she found a cure for the cancer that was killing us. The cure was the changeling organ. It could fight any cancer and so could cure me. A little while after that we discovered the Guild was planning to use DNA technology as a weapon of terror. We didn’t know what at the time, only that they had to be stopped,"

"So why in hell didn’t you tell me? I mourned for you every minute of every day," Matthew sobbed.

"Look, this is getting us nowhere. Ok, I’ll start from the very beginning. Then Kat’l fill in her bits OK?" Elizabeth said, trying to placate an irate Matthew.

"Go ahead," Matthew said.

Elizabeth fidgeted around for a few seconds, trying to get comfortable.

She started to speak.

"It began just before the final confrontation between Kat and myself. I had installed a security lock out into my DNA system that would prevent its use. I also made sure that any copy of the system would contain corruption routines that would render it useless. That was my failsafe to ensure the Guild didn’t get their hands on it. Even in that state of mind I wasn’t stupid enough to let the Guild have DNA technology. Sure I’d used them as my hired guns but I guessed they were much more than just a bunch of thugs. I wasn’t to know that the Guild would use my corruption routines to produce genetic warheads."

"After I had been transformed, I went thru the usual feelings of denial, anger and finally acceptance. So it remained until two years ago when Hassan and his Guild agents woke me in my cave, and took me back to his stronghold. This suited me just fine as it gave me my only chance at freeing myself of being a mermaid, and of curing the cancer that was starting to eat into me. As I said to Matthew on my island, I found out that I had been insane and that, within my genes was a tendency towards sociopathic schizophrenia. Once I had access to a proper laboratory I was able to treat the madness, and then, as though scales had fallen from my eyes I saw the enormity of what I had done, " Elizabeth paused for a few moments, letting it all sink in before continuing.

"The Guild wanted me to fix their copy of the machine, which I was happy to do, as it would help me too. It wasn’t until they demanded that I work on a changeling organ that I knew they were planning something big. I initially refused, firstly giving technical reasons why it couldn’t be done, and then other reasons, well excuses really. Unfortunately, they saw thru it and began to torture me. They put fresh water into my tank, which made my scales itch and fall out. It was like swimming in acid. I endured this for three weeks until I finally gave in. It took me nearly eight months to produce a working version of sorts.

The Guild were ecstatic and demanded that I try it out on someone. One of their leaders, Salah, volunteered, and it was from him that I learned that he was planning to overthrow Hassan. He wasn’t happy that the Guild were becoming more like terrorists than honorable assassins. He thought that Hassan was turning the Guild into something dishonorable and evil. His vision of the Guild, was as it really was all those years ago, an organization that kept the peace and only killed those who deserved it."

Tina interrupted, "Some difference. Hey we only kill the people we are supposed to kill so therefore we’re the good guys."

Elizabeth nodded her agreement and resumed her explanation.

"I agree with you, Tina. However, Salah was unable to think of a way to achieve his aims. He admitted to himself that he was not the right person to create this change. So much did he believe in his ideal that his own life didn’t matter. He also knew that the Guild was planning something big, using my DNA technology as some kinda weapon. He was unable to find out anymore, and so he took a chance and confided in me," Elizabeth then glanced across at Kat who took up the story.

"You remember I was taken from our camp in the dessert and driven away?", Kat asked.

Matthew nodded, "How could I forget? It was one of the last times I saw you."

Kat smiled softly, so much had passed since then, "Yeah, I was taken by Hassan’s guards to meet him. He sat behind his desk, proud and aloof, and asked me what I wanted. Elizabeth was there too, in her tank and seemingly spitting her hate of me from every pore. Anyway Hassan and Elizabeth agreed to consider my request and I was taken and locked away."

Elizabeth interrupted, "Hassan wanted to keep her locked away for good, he wanted to mate her with his pet tiger, although that may have been Osman’s idea. I persuaded him against that idea, suggesting that she be used as a guinea pig for my DNA experiments instead. Hassan agreed and Kat was turned over to my care."

Kat resumed, "I wanted desperately to get back to you and Cathline, but I was sedated for much of the time. Elizabeth took a blood a sample and then I was taken back down to my cell to recover. I put up one helluva fight I can tell you but it was no good, they won every time."

Elizabeth again joined in, "Initially I was going to use Kat’s DNA to cure myself and her too, time permitting. I then had a stroke of genius. I knew a way to take down the Guild, cure Kat and myself. And put to rights a lot of the harm that I had done. It would be very difficult; I would have to balance the well being of those I cared about with keeping the Guild happy. Every day I lived on a knife-edge, and at any moment my plans could be exposed, therefore killing myself and everyone I sought to protect. Anyway later that evening I had a meeting with Salah. He was having doubts about how to achieve his objectives, he could see no way that he could do it. I outlined what I had planned and he agreed, with one proviso."

Cathline asked, "Which was?"

"That he should take Kat’s place. He saw that Kat was a more formidable ally than he could ever be. He wanted to potentially give his life so that my plan could succeed. For him, it was the only way, for me it allowed me demonstrate to my ‘arch enemy’ that I really was serious about making up. I turned the original Salah into a copy of Kat, and it was Salah’s throat that was slit in the desert, not Kat’s. He was the first casualty of my war against the Guild."

Matthew was dumbstruck for a few seconds. It hadn’t been Kat that was killed or a dog as Elizabeth claimed. It had been a Guild agent who had nobly given up his life so that his dream could be fulfilled. Matthew turned to Kat and said, "I bet you didn’t go along with this right away."

Kat nodded, "The conversation went something like this.

"Ok Hell bitch, when are you going to let me out? Matthew and Cathline are waiting for me and they’ll raise hell to get me out. If you’re not going to cure me then let me go."

"You’re much too useful. Look, you want me to cure you of your cancer right?" Elizabeth said.

"Yep," I replied. That was the reason why I was here after all.

"This cure isn’t going to take 5 minutes, I need you here so that I can run tests on you."

"I thought you could come back with me. Cathline’l help," I offered.

"You really think that Hassan will let you do that, even IF I wanted to go? I’m a prisoner here too y’know. Maybe not locked away as you are, but this body is more effective than any cell," Elizabeth said, swishing her tail around in the water to emphasise the point.

"Hassan owes me," I said in retort.

Elizabeth shook her head, amazed at Kat’s naivety "Hassan owes no one. Look, your only way out of here is to help me, and your only chance of a cure is to stay here. You’re just as trapped as I am."

I could see a kind of twisted logic in this. Deep down I knew that Hassan would never let Elizabeth go. I also suspected that he wouldn’t let me go either. "What guarantee do I have that you won’t turn me into a slug or something?"

"A good question. You don’t! However, you can either trust me, or help me voluntarily or I get the Guild to drug you and you help me anyway. If you choose the second option I’ll make sure that you stay in that rather fetching tiger woman body for the rest of your life. If you choose to help me I’ll cure you of the cancer and when I turn myself back into a normal woman I’ll do the same to you. Think about it. One path you stay as you are, probably producing kittens for that tiger of Hassan’s for the rest of your life, or another path is to work with me and be your old self again," Elizabeth stated.

I took a deep breath. I really had no choice, yes I was used to being a tiger woman but I’d rather be me again, even me as Jasmine. Once again Elizabeth’s inevitable logic gave me no choice at all. I decided to push my luck, "What about Matthew? He’ll still be a woman won’t he? We’d still be the lesbian married couple we were before. I want him turned back too."

Elizabeth smiled, "You’re not really in a position to bargain are you? I’m not out to get you both anymore. Yes you really do have no choice but I have to do this until I’ve have earned your trust. As a gesture of good faith I’ll turn Matthew back as well, if I get the chance. Agreed?"

I nodded, "Agreed. I’ll help you in return for turning me and Matthew back to how we were."

I walked over to Elizabeth and we shook on it, Kat paused for a while to let it all sink in.

Cathline turned and glared at Elizabeth, "So Jane had no choice, typical kind of stunt you’d pull."

"I guess. But there was no other choice. I had to have her help. I admit I manipulated her into it but once she stepped thru those gates she was effectively the Guild’s prisoner. Hey, I saved her life, twice I might add and you still treat me as though I’m the bad guy in all this," Elizabeth said, starting to get annoyed.

Kat interjected, "Come on guys, give her a break. She saved my butt -- if she hadn’t done that I’d be dead, or a mother to a litter of tigers. Anyway on with the story, Liz."

Elizabeth sighed and took a deep breath.

"After Kat had agreed to help me I needed to inform her of my plans. The Guild thought they monitored everything I said and did in my laboratory but unknown to them, and with Salah’s help I had arranged for ‘friendly’ guards to be on duty when I needed to discuss sensitive issues. My revealing my plans to Kat was such a time."

"Kat, Meet Salah," I said.

Kat looked on in amazement as an exact double of her walked into the room. Salah was identical right down to the irregular stripes on her arms. The copy was perfect.

"What, who!" Kat exclaimed.

"This is, or rather was Salah. He has agreed to take your place, while you work here. He is prepared to lay down his life in order that Hassan is removed from power," I said soberly.

"Why?" Kat asked.

"So that Matthew and Cathline go away, and thus allow me to correct the mistakes I have made."

"But won’t he be missed?"

"Not for a while. He’s been seconded to me for a while. We have about two weeks before he’ll be missed. Besides, I have a replacement in mind."

"I could see the look on Kat’s face at all this, it was a look of horror and inevitability. She knew she was helpless to prevent this and I tried to put her mind at ease."

"Hey it’s not easy doing this to people. You want to know WHY I’m doing all this, besides making amends?"

"You mentioned taking out the Guild. Why you want to puzzles me," Kat answered.

"Because they have my DNA system and they plan to use it. They made me develop my changeling organ and I’m sure they plan to use it in something so big and horrible that it’d turn your stomach. Salah here was due to receive the changeling organ in the next few days but I’m unsure of its stability. Kat, you think I’m scary. I’m an amateur compared to these guys. Hassan’s lost so much face and honor in the Guild he’s desperate to do anything to get it back. He’s like a lion with hyenas snapping at his heels," I explained.

Kat twitched her whiskers in thought, So you’re doing this on the basis of what the Guild COULD do, rather than what they are planning to do."

"Look they’re not going to keep this bottled up, they’re going to use it and when they do people, a lot of people will die, probably very painfully. I have to prevent that at any cost."

"So what do you plan?" Kat asked.

"I guess you know about how the Guild are organized? The multiple redundancy built into their structure makes it very difficult to take them out. The only way to do it is to do it all at once."

Kat thought for a few seconds "I see, but to do that you need a lot of accomplices who will act all at once. Further more you’ll need people you can trust."

I’ll give Kat her due. She’s very quick to catch on, "Exactly.

We need to work on multiple fronts.."

Kat interrupted, "What’s all this ‘we’ stuff?"

I sighed, "The only way we are going to escape is to take down the Guild. The only way I am going to be able to turn you and Matthew back is to take down the Guild. The only way we are all going to be able to live thru the next few years without getting our throats slit is to take down the Guild, and finally the only way we are going to prevent innocent people getting killed is to take down the Guild. Is THAT enough reasons why it should be we?"

I noticed that look of resignation I’d first seen in Kat when she’d agreed to help me. She really had no choice.

"Ok, I’ll help but I feel as though I’ve made a deal with the devil."

I smiled, "No, just one of his ‘hell bitches’."

That raised a smile from Kat and the tension in the atmosphere eased a little.

I continued, "As I said we need to approach this from multiple fronts. Firstly, I need to make sure Hassan is fooled into thinking that I’m still a ‘hell bitch’ and so gives me the room I need to co-ordinate things. Secondly, I need to make sure that Matthew and Cathline are protected. Next, I need to start to gather our forces, who will rise up and stop the Guild, then I need to ensure there are enough trustworthy people at all the Guild ‘roots’ to make sure that it all goes smoothly. Within all this I need to find out exactly what the Guild is planning to do and when. And, last but by no means least make sure that forces loyal to Hassan know nothing about it."

Kat smiled, "Is THAT all. I thought it was going to be hard."

"That my dear, Kitty Kat is why I need you."

"Hey, I’m hardly inconspicuous am I?"

"You remember that double I said I had in mind?"

Kat’s face dropped in shock "NO WAY. No way, no way, no way!"

"I need someone to take Salah’s place. Look when I’m done here I’ll turn you back. You will need to recruit as many people as you can in order to help us."

Kat complained bitterly, "Why can’t YOU do it, Why not use Salah?"

"Two very good questions with two easy answers. Firstly, do you have the knowledge required to re-design the changeling organ, do you know how to get around the fixer that binds us. Yes you’re very intelligent but you’re not a biochemist. Salah isn’t up to the job. He’s managed to get a friendly set of guards working the surveillance equipment here and that’s about it. He’s in too deep to be able to think his way out and he knows it. Your Arabic is very good, better than mine is, and you learn fast. Plus you’re more charismatic than both Salah and me, people naturally find themselves being drawn to you. Besides, it’s part of the deal, this counts as helping me."

Kat’s face grew angry, "You bitch, that’s blackmail."

I nodded in agreement, "Yes it is. Until you trust me it’s the only way I can get things done the way they should be done. Listen, this is my ONLY chance of putting things right and OUR only chance of getting outta here. It’s also the only way we’re going to stop the Guild killing hundreds, maybe thousands of people."

Kat sighed, she knew she had no other choice. To refuse was to condemn not only herself and her friends but also innocent lives to Guild tyranny, "I agree. But I don’t like it."

"Objection noted. Now we have three days in which you have to learn what Salah knows. I can cover up some of it saying that the changeling organ has disrupted his memories, but that’ll only go so far."

"So that’s how you ended up as Salah," Scott answered.

Kat nodded, "Liz had worked on a cure for the Fixer version two that held us in our bodies. The cure was a changeling organ. It could manufacture the chemicals required to override the fixer and thus allow the body to change. She’d made the discovery a month or so before, but she wanted to perfect the changeling organ for herself before using it. It didn’t matter for me, I’d only spend a year or so as Salah. Elizabeth on the other hand needed firstly, to keep on Hassan’s good side and secondly, needed the changeling organ to infiltrate and take down the Guild itself."

Elizabeth continued, "Not going over too much again but we needed the edge that the advanced changeling organ gave us. Anyway I installed the changeling organ in Kat and waited for her to change. Overriding the fixer worked in cell samples but this was the first time I’d tested it for real."

Kat joined in "It was very strange. My breasts shrunk back into my chest and my hips filled out. At the same time my fur and tail was re-absorbed into my body and it became more muscular. I remember that my head hurt like hell and then I started to hurt down THERE. I fell to the ground in pain and I awoke nearly a day later as the exact copy of Salah."

Elizabeth added, "The process was painful and long winded but at least Kat was back to a human form."

Tina looked quizzical for a few moments and then asked "Didn’t Hassan notice all this? You mentioned you’d bribed the guards but surely Salah was missed? You said that Hassan wanted to keep Kat a prisoner."

Elizabeth nodded, "When I turned Salah into a copy of Kat I told Hassan I was testing the changeling organ. That covered me for having two Kat’s around. Then after the week was up I told Hassan to let Salah/Kat go as I’d finished with her. I also said it’d give Matthew more pain if she was let go and then killed in front of him. I wanted Hassan to believe that I still wanted revenge on Matthew and Kat. Therefore, to Hassan the Kat that was left was Salah."

Matthew thought it thru for a few moments and then asked "Then what?"

Kat took up the story.

"It was very strange being a man, and it took a while to get used to it. To tell the truth I’ve never really got used to having a dick dangling around. Anyway, before Salah was released we went thru the entire set of Guild protocols, his contacts etc. Now I couldn’t hope to learn all of it but I did a good enough job.

Although I was in Salah’s body there was a great deal of instability in it which meant that one day I woke up and had my old tail back or had a pussy instead of a dick. Elizabeth said it was the fixer trying to exert control over my new body. It took another two months to work out all the bugs. By that time my body had undergone so much stress that it wasn’t safe for me to turn into anything for over six months."

Elizabeth joined in.

"At first I was cautious of working with Kat, after all she was my ‘enemy’. I still had moments of insanity but thanks to my Stelazine and some hard hitting words from Kat they got less and less. She really is a remarkable woman, Matthew. I’ve never known anyone quite like her."

Cathline looked at Elizabeth suspiciously, "So after three months you were best buddies then?"

Kat shook her head, "Not at all. We had made a mutual pact, a cease-fire if you like. I needed her to turn Matthew and me back, and she needed me to help her escape and undo all the wrong she’s done. We’re friends now but we’ll never be best friends. I respect her now and she respects me and my marriage to Matthew."

Elizabeth continued, ignoring the harsh looks from Cathline, "Kat’s glossed over a hell of a lot of complex genetic work that we did in those three months. As soon as Kat was better she had to go off and be Salah. Her mission was to persuade enough Guild members that Hassan was not to be trusted, and should have stepped down as soon as he was dishonored. This task was to take many months and was fraught with danger. Fortunately, lots of Guild members were feeling that way anyway and only needed a leader to rally around. Kat was that leader. I was then faced with having to perfect the changeling organ alone and ensuring Hassan believed in my loyalty."

Kat interrupted,

"It was one hell of a job and progress was slow. I knew from my briefings that Hassan was up to no good but had no idea what. It wasn’t until a few months ago that Hassan took me into his confidence and told me what he planned to do with his genetic warheads. I was about to warn Elizabeth when one of my informants told me that I was being watched day and night. To tell Elizabeth any earlier than I did would have wrecked the entire plan, and killed us both. At the time of ‘my’ funeral I was in America and watched the whole thing on TV. Cathline you said the most wonderful things about me."

Cathline looked away, "I meant every word of it. Jane you’ve changed."

Kat didn’t notice the use of her real name and simply asked, "How so?"

Cathline turned to face her friend once more, "You’ve become colder and more ruthless. You’re more like Dr Bexley than SHE is," and Cathline nodded towards Elizabeth.

Kat noticed the atmosphere turn decidedly frosty so she decided to resolve the hostility between her and Cathline, "Look, why don’t the rest of you go take a walk or something. Cathline and I need to work this out before this gets any worse. She’s been sitting here spitting venom at Elizabeth and I all day."

"I thought she was like that all the time," Tina quipped.

Kat turned and glared at Tina as if to say ‘Back off.’

"Come on guys, I need some air anyway, let’s take a walk," Matthew said and got up.

"Yeah we can pick this up anytime," Scott offered.

One by one the room emptied leaving Kat and Cathline alone. Kat took a deep breath, she knew her friend was hurting but all she said was, "Come on let it out. Lay into me like you used to, I’ll say I’m sorry and then it’ll be right again."

Cathline shock her head softly, "Not this time Jane. Not this time."

Kat’s face showed the pain she was feeling inside, "Jane? Since when has it ever been Jane? Come on, tell me what’s bugging you. It wasn’t that stunt in the dungeon was it?"

"It’s been Jane since you got back. You said your friends could call you ‘Kat’, I’m not sure I’m that anymore. No, I understand WHY you would do that. The way you touched me HERE and THERE was to let me know that it was really you in there. We made love just the way I showed you to, nobody else would know that. You gave me hope in a hopeless situation. No, it’s the other stuff that hurts me. Liz may have made you physically human again but she’s also made you LESS human. You want to know what I really admired about you?"

Kat turned away. Cathline’s words had wounded her deeply. Kat was about to try and speak when Cathline continued, "I most admired you because you were the ‘Anti-Liz’. You stood for everything she didn’t, forgiveness over revenge, love over hate and honesty over deception. You had the most integrity of any person I have ever known."

Kat bowed her head, "Had?"

"Yes had. When you did the things you did, you became Dr Bexley in deed if not in body. You manipulated people, allowed people you cared about to be hurt, and sent people to their deaths. That’s what I meant when I said you’re more like the hell bitch than she is."

Inside Kat was hurting, one of her best friends had turned on her. She felt a little betrayed and anger swelled up inside her. "You’ve no idea what it was like, no idea at all. Look, I saw the Guild termination orders for us. They were going to kill us. I saved you. By allowing you to fall into Osman’s hands I saved you. As long as you were useful to Osman you needed to be kept alive. Cathline, you must believe me when I say we, that is Elizabeth and I saved you."

"What from, Jane? What from? It didn’t stop him burning out my eye again, didn’t stop him turning Marcel and Scott into Harem girls. That final change was your idea wasn’t it? I’d have expected that kind of stunt from the hell bitch but never you Jane, never you. From what I can make out Liz never even knew it was going on. But YOU did, didn’t you? YOU could have stopped it. YOU know what that kind of change does to a person, you saw Matthew go thru it every day he was with you. Hell, you know what it does to a ‘wife’ as well. What do think the future has in store for Scott and Rebecca huh? They’ve been married for fifteen years, what do you think will happen when he gets back, huh?"

Kat’s voiced softened, at last we were coming to the crux of the matter. Cathline rightly so felt rejected and betrayed. "Look Cathline. I did everything I could to reduce the amount of pain you went thru. Ever wonder why you weren’t raped when you were in Osman’s dungeon? Ever wondered why you and Tina weren’t punished for all that plotting you did when you were down there? How come Scott, Senator Jameson and Marcel never got screwed in Libya? I did that. I stuck my neck out for you as far as I could. I couldn’t just go up to Osman and say ‘let them go’ could I? It’d blow the whole thing sky high. Besides, the safest place was where you were. Ever wondered why you were kept in that room when all hell broke loose? Easy, because I knew that if you were let loose, you’d end up with your throat slit, and laying in a pool of blood."

Cathline glared at Kat, "I told you I understand all that, JANE. You still haven’t answered why you went around being Bexley MK2. You betrayed me big time and I don’t forgive or forget easily. You could have at least got word to Matthew that you were still alive. He nearly pined himself away that year you were gone. You not being there destroyed him more than any sex change ever did. I had to pick up the pieces you left. A note is all that it would have taken Jane, just a single note or even a single sentence."

Kat’s face dropped. The wounds Cathline was reopening told on her face and expressions, "Elizabeth wanted me to. She said it was an acceptable risk. I refused."

"SEE, SEE!" Cathline spat with venom.

Kat sighed, "If you’d let me finish I’ll explain. You know what Matthew would have done if he had known. He’d have either gone and tried to find me or waited for me to come every minute of every day."

Cathline admitted, "Yes he would have."

Kat continued, "That’s right he would have. The result of the first action would have been that he and anyone else involved would have ended up dead. As for the second, well it was highly likely that Elizabeth and I would end up dead for our troubles. If that were the case he’d have waited every minute of every day for me to turn up. He’d have waited for the rest of his life for me. He’d have never have moved on because in his heart I was alive. I couldn’t do that to him. If I died, then I’d want him to try and find someone else. I was kinda hoping it would be you."

Cathline looked away, shamed, "You’re right. He would have waited forever. As to getting together with Matthew, well we came close once but I pulled away. Our friendship meant too much to ruin it. Besides Ka, Jane, that doesn’t excuse what you did to Scott and Marcel."

Kat sighed, "Elizabeth and I were caught on the horns of a dilemma. I could allow horrible things to happen to those we loved but then they emerge alive, or try and keep them safe with the certainty we would fail, and you all would die. I don’t know how many times I need to keep drumming this point in. I hope it hits home soon because I’m getting fed up of explaining it."

Cathline glared at Kat. She’d still not grasped what Cathline was on about. Cathline screamed at Kat, "I’M FUCKING WELL TALKING ABOUT MAKING US FUCK SCOTT AND MARCEL AND TURNING THEM INTO WOMEN."

Kat looked shocked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Cathline’s face was red with anger, "You know what I’m talking about. Osman and some lackey came in and hypnotised Tina and I. We went into the room where Scott and Marcel were being transformed, and we fucked them until they were turned into women. Osman told us it had been all your idea."

The penny dropped. No wonder Cathline was furious at her. "It wasn’t like that at all. I suggested a threesome, me you and Tina to Osman. He liked the idea and slapped me on the back. A guy thing, I think. He was suspicious of me when I first turned up and I needed something to gain his trust. No, that idea probably came from Osman."

"But, But he said," Cathline stuttered.

"He was probably jealous that we’d had such a good time before. He said that to put you off me. We needed Scott and Marcel in Libya to help rescue Senator Jameson. Osman was already set on turning them into women for Hassan’s Harem. A kind of return favor for you and Tina I think. Elizabeth is pretty sure she can turn Scott back anyway. We need the senator to help try and stop Israel launching that attack.

On the face of it the risk was worth it."

"Try telling that to Rachel when Scott comes home asking to borrow her panties. Try telling that to Marcel’s family as their son’s body is flown back from Libya. No Jane, the risk wasn’t worth it was it?"

Kat had to admit Cathline had a point "In personal terms, no it wasn’t. But if it saves the lives of millions then were those sacrifices empty? No, of course they weren’t. Do we think of Vickie and James/Jane’s deaths when the lab blew up as empty, I don’t."

"That was different. They made a choice. What choice did Scott and Marcel have?"

Kat shook her head, "None at all. I promised myself I’d never bring this up but I have to. What chance did Stephanie Lane have when you injected her with the cat transformation drug? Did she choose her fate? You were so seized with hate you didn’t stop to think about what you were doing. Marcel’s death was tragic but Scott tells me he died protecting the senator. How is that different from Vickie giving her life for us? Scott can be turned back so where’s the damage there. Besides he offered to protect you, it goes with the job."

Cathline breathed out a deep breath, "I feel guilty about Stephanie Lane. You’re quite right she had no choice or chance. Marcel’s death wasn’t in vain but as for Scott how can you say it goes with the job!"

"Look, if Scott wants to lay into me for his current situation then fine, that’s between him and me. It’s none of your concern. If Scott’s happy then what business is it of ours?"

"I haven’t talked to Scott about it. He’s been asking Matthew and Tina lots of questions though."

"Of course he has. I would. Now I’ve answered all your ‘charges’ against me. Now tell me would you have done any different?" Kat challenged.

Cathline thought long and hard. The troubling thing was, was that it was so logical. There was no room for sentiment, only grim inevitable logic. Cathline still, thinking and stalling for time said, "It was a typical Bexley Plan wasn’t it?"

Kat nodded in agreement, "When she set those wheels in motion none of us had any choice. That’s the bitch of it, she did what was necessary, not what’s always right. You’re right Cathline, I have changed. I am more like Elizabeth. There’s a side of me now I don’t much like either. I’ve killed a man and helped organize a battle that has claimed the lives of thousands of people. By my actions I’ve hurt those I loved the most and that I find hard to forget. I just pray that you’ll never see the ruthless side to me again. I’m not asking that you understand or forget, just that you forgive."

Cathline thought some more. Kat was right. Kat didn’t like doing those things anymore than anyone else. Knowing all the details helped and Kat was right there too. She would have done the same if she were in Kat’s place. Cathline saw the look of deep pain on Kat’s face and realised that she’d wounded her more than she’d realised. Even when she’d been spitting nails at Kat, Kat’d never lost it, Never resorted to name-calling and never been anything but honest and open. This then was the real Kat, the compassionate, wise and courageous woman who’d gone thru so much for so long. Cathline felt ashamed and felt her face blush. Cathline managed to look up into Kat’s face and said, "Kat, I’m sorry. I’d have done the same. You haven’t changed, it’s me that’s changed. I meant every word I said about you at the funeral and I mean them even more now. Friends?"

Kat moved over and gave Cathline a large smile "I missed you Cathline. I missed your insight, your humor and your drive. Don’t let’s fight like this again, please."

"Deal, I missed you too," was Cathline’s tearful reply and she ran to where Kat was sitting and gave her a warm ‘welcome back’ embrace.

o - o - o -

Scott ran ahead to try and catch up with Matthew. Eventually he caught him up and drew alongside him. "I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these," he said nodding down to his ample chest.

Matthew raised an eyebrow "Know how you feel. Looking at myself in the mirror still turns me on. Not as often as it used to but it’s still there."

Scott nodded thoughtfully "I know what you mean. Sometimes I just want to shove my hand down there and have a real good Y’know."

"Fondle?" Matthew queried.

Scott thought for a moment and then replied, "That’s a good a word as any. I’m afraid to. Sure I’ve washed it but that’s different. What if I like it?"

"I went thru that too. But this was inflicted on me, the same as you I guess, but the difference was that it was designed to ruin me."

Scott’s voice showed a sign of annoyance, "And this wasn’t?"

Matthew shrugged his shoulders, "Doesn’t matter. The results the same. I’ve no idea if Liz can turn you back or not. All I will say is that you have a wife who loves you and friends that will stand by you, and that together you will get thru it. Tina for one, she’d take a bullet for you."

Scott rubbed his thigh thoughtfully, "One good thing has come out of this. I got shot in the leg a few years back. The bullet shattered part of my hip and I was damn lucky to be able to walk, let alone go back on duty. I used to be in pain a lot of the time, never told anyone about it. I guess I was afraid they’d retire me or dump me behind a desk. Anyway I’m pain free and I’ve lost 20 years in age so it’s not that bad. If only they’d made me a man."

Matthew was intrigued, "Who shot you, some punk? I can understand how you feel. One of the largest fears I had was whether Kat would still love me. Once I knew she did it made things a lot easier. Well until all this happened anyway."

"Actually Tina shot me, I’ll tell you the story sometime. I’m still trying to get to grips with me, the new me, let alone worrying about Rebecca, and yet she’s the one who I know will hurt the most. I read Cathline’s book a while ago, and besides the whole you and Dr Bexley conflict, the thing that keeps coming back to me was the fact that Monica Abbey couldn’t cope with her husband now being a woman. She left him all alone after years of marriage. I don’t want that to happen. I love Rebecca too much."

Matthew took hold of Scott’s dainty hand and turned to face him, "Don’t worry, if she loves you as much as you say she does, she’ll manage."

Scott didn’t reply but whirled around as Elizabeth caught up with them.

Elizabeth’s face was showing a serious, penitent look, "Scott I, I never said sorry to you back there, You too Mat."

Matthew kept quiet. This was Scott’s moment.

Scott flicked his hair back over his shoulder and replied, "I think I understand why you did what you did. You needed us in Libya to help rescue the senator. And keep us from being killed by Hassan. You didn’t have the power to prevent what happened to us, only stop us from being murdered. If you stuck your neck out too far it’d blow your cover. That’s the trouble. I don’t feel angry with you for allowing it to happen—you had no choice. I feel angry that I’ve not been allowed to see Rebecca and that you still haven’t told me if you can or will turn me back."

Elizabeth considered her reply, "The truth is Scott, that I don’t know if I CAN turn you back. If it’s in my power to do it I will, but I’m being realistic until I examine all of you, Mat included. I just don’t know. With the Guild I had enormous resources, now all I have is the DNA machine in Libya and maybe the one that was brought over here. As a backup I had hoped to be able to manufacture the antidotes by using my changeling organ but that looks unlikely now. Like it or not the best chance you have of getting back to normal is to help me stop this attack. That goes for the senator too."

Scott was used to having to give bad news to civilians but not so used to being on the receiving end. He recognised Dr Bexley’s tone, it was the same tone a doctor uses when giving a patient some grim diagnosis. Strangely, he respected Dr Bexley for doing it that way. After all he’d read about her she seemed so normal, just another professional doing her job. If she’d have made an impassioned plea for forgiveness and offered to move hell and earth to try and fix it he wouldn’t have believed her. She was, he decided an expert at looking into a person’s soul and knowing exactly how to deal with them. It was a skill she’d used as a doctor and had honed to perfection when scheming her intricate and vicious revenge on those who had scorned her. Scott was just glad she appeared to be on his side. Scott of course said none of this and turned to Elizabeth and simply said, "Just do your best ok?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Deal."

Matthew by this time had caught up with the senator who had walked on ahead. The senator had stopped by a clothing store and was staring in at the display in the store window. Matthew noticed what he was doing and moved alongside him. "See anything you like?"

The senator turned to face Matthew and gestured to the window. "Dunno. I’ve had more time than Scott to get used to it, but I still don’t know if I can live like this or not. I was just wondering whether I need to start taking an interest in such things, or if it could be viewed as an interesting diversion. That’s how I see it at the moment. I’m as curious as hell about what it feels like to be a woman and in some ways each day is a new adventure."

Matthew shrugged. "That’s a healthy way of looking at it I guess. I’ve never seen it as a diversion. I was too busy trying to stay alive or sane to worry about such things. What will you do if you can’t be turned back? You haven’t mentioned your wife in all this."

"I’ve a confession to make. My marriage is a sham, a show. We never really loved each other. I married her because I needed a pretty face on my arm to further my political career and she wanted the money and status that being a senator’s wife ensued. I never thought I’d ever be a pretty face. I haven’t thought about if I can be turned back or not. I’ve been trying to get my head around this whole Israel thing. When we get back we need to have a council of war on this. We need to get moving on this but until we know where we are, then it’s best to stay still. Doing the wrong thing is worse than doing nothing. Besides, all of us are bushed and hungry."

Matthew nodded thoughtfully. That explained a lot about the senator’s behaviour. He was behaving almost too rationally and that worried Matthew. Sooner or later how he felt had to come out. Matthew was going to mention this but changed his mind. "I think that was the general idea. Kat felt it important to try and heal some of the rifts and grudges between all of us before we moved on. She reasoned that we can’t act individually, only as a team with all of us putting our thoughts in."

The senator thought for a moment, "So I was right. They don’t know how to stop it."

Matthew defended Kat’s and Elizabeth’s stance. "That’s not entirely true. Elizabeth has an overall plan but she needs to refine it, That’s where we come in."

"Fine. I’ll see what happens when we get back. Do you think that little blue number of there would suit me?" the senator pointed to a blue lycra dress in the far corner of the shop.

Matthew shrugged, "Dunno, never took much interest myself. I figured that if I so much as showed a bit of interest in adapting then Liz would be winning. It’s a moot point though. She wins either way."

The senator raised an eyebrow, "How so? When she turns you back she’s admitted it was all a mistake."

"That’s one way of looking at it. When Liz does turn me back, she still wins. I owe her and Kat owes her. Instead of calling it quits as we did after we defeated her, we end up owing her for putting things back the way they should be. Sounds screwy I know but it’s the way I feel."

"I take your point. Say we ought to be getting back, we’re by no means outta this yet."

Matthew nodded, "Agreed. I’ll go round up the others."

o - o - o -

The changeling posing as President Andrews was worried. The papers had pictures of Rachel Martin, a female cop and Salah walking from a hospital. Further inside another story mentioned that Dr Bexley had escaped from Australia and was thought to be on her way back to the US. Hassan had forbidden any contact with any elements of the Guild while still undercover and so, unfortunately it was difficult to gather accurate intelligence on Guild matters. Part of him was pleased that the much vaunted CIA and FBI knew so little about Guild affairs, but this now worked as a double-edged sword. The release of the majority of the Guild database onto the net a few days before came as a shock to all the intelligence agencies and more so to him. It represented the death of all that he had known and held dear, and a betrayal of values.

He had to give credit to the parties responsible for releasing the database. His security advisors had been telling him about ‘information warfare’ only the other day and now, in a cruel twist persons unknown had launched a devastating and almost certainly fatal attack on the Guild, and had used the weapons of the 21^st century to do so. He regretted his inability to communicate with the other changelings but because of the constant risk of discovery and the critical timing of the plan, that was now impossible. So he thought on what to do next.

Logically Dr Bexley, Salah and maybe the others would be a potential threat to the plan but what could they do? He was surrounded by some of the most complex and sophisticated security yet developed and as long as he didn’t make an error then his cover was secure. The nature of the media and the rapid rate in which news was now relayed made it very difficult to eliminate Rachel Martin, the freak Matthew Stephens and the woman detective. Although their deaths could be blamed on Dr Bexley he couldn’t take that chance. All it would take is one slip and the media would be snooping around like a shot. Recent history with a previous president had shown that a determined individual and bloodthirsty media could bring a government to its knees. Dr Bexley was nowhere to be found and that only left Salah.

Salah was a perfect target. He was still unknown to the world, not in any Guild databases yet released to the world, and more importantly the traitor who had destroyed a thousand years of Guild history. By killing Salah he would ensure that Hassan’s values and plans would live on, and would vastly increase any chance the Guild had of survival. By right and tradition the one who killed the leader of the Guild took their place. If he did so, then he would be the one to lead. From his position of power, even the world would not be beyond his reach. The feeling of power and of destiny made the changeling president smile. A president has ways of making people disappear, ways that could never be traced, and ways that were almost as certain as slitting the throat himself. The changeling president picked up the phone and made a call.

 

Continued in Part 6b....

 

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