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worry 'bout me mixing with locals. What for? 'Fraid I'd kill anyone? Control
Baselines by pheromones? Fhuh! Why kill? Your 'crats think too highly of such
simple task. You need to think more.'
'I...I...Yeah! That was there, but...'
'Tech is resetting Combat Four for more work. Told him do job alone for
security. Read book.'
The Fey threw one of his books into McKensie's lap as she left. It was one on
tigers.
o O o
Kataya Oberon arrived back much later with a large bowl of shredded beef. She
seemed a combination of tired and elation as she dished out a bowl of Mac's
own chicken dinner. It didn't appear to lose anything with its extended
cooking.
Her hair was wet. The orange in her hair hadn't lost any of its translucent
quality. Mac decided she had probably showered in the Combat bay before
returning. He had finally managed to shower himself and dressed in his
pyjamas. Not so much to be a prude but to be comfortable. Probably
conditioning to be dressed, McKensie decided, but it was something he
preferred. Naked he was totally at her mercy and she wouldn't need to smell to
spot any body reaction. The bruises were coming out and no longer hurt, but it
was still obvious he'd had a beating.
'How'd it go?'
She opened a cupboard full of video tapes and slotted one into the video
recorder before settling down next to him on the bed.
'We go in morning. Want to rest, Mac. Think on problem.'
The opening credits of the 'Die Hard' film started to roll.
'Bruce Willis?!'
'Fhuh! Film has man roaming infra-structure of building.'
'It's fantasy.'
The Fey turned and gave a grin. 'Shows Baseline mindset thinking. I like
action films!'
'With what you do, it's more like a busman's holiday?'
'Busman's holiday?' she echoed puzzled.
'Busman who works on a bus also spends his holiday time on a bus. No change in
life style. You watching action films is doing the same thing. They can't do a
quarter of the things you're capable of.
Why not have a change? What about a romantic movie?'
'Romance films voyeurish! Prefer doing than watching. You like them? We watch
one?'
'Er..No...Not particularly, but they're supposed to be more feminine.'
'Fhuh! See enough men's asses in action films.'
'Including Bruce Willis?!'
'Too fatty. Needs more exercise. Lousy tailor. Only supplied with grey vests.'
'What about Science Fiction or horror? Plenty of action films there? Including
super-human lookalikes.'
'Show me sometime.'
'OK. I'm no expert on them though.'
They both settled down to watch the movie. The Fey sat cross-legged at the top
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of the bed next to the
Blank, quite intent on the video. McKensie found himself watching her as much
as the screen. A couple of the cats joined them on the bed. Half way through,
Kat rolled off the bed and prepared them both drinks from a small cocktail
cabinet.
'Not into beer like your Grandfather?'
'You like beer?'
'Prefer fruit juice.'
She then added the contents of his glass to her own and flicked the top of a
fruit juice bottle and poured it into his glass and handed it to him. McKensie
could still taste the alcohol in the glass as she settled back on the bed.
'What are you drinking? Car battery acid?'
'Keeps camova under control.'
'Camova? Isn't that Romany for lust.'
'Learn quickly, Mac. Stops tiger problem.'
'This isn't going to be a problem in Rio?'
Kataya Oberon gave him a coy look and licked her lips. 'Worried I molest you,
Mac?'
'That book was quite explicit: Tigresses are on heat for two days a month
where they mate up to two hundred times in that period. Where do you hide
their bodies, Kat?'
'What bodies, Mac?'
'All those male hunks you must burn out on those pub crawls you go on with
that pheromone working over-time. When you're on heat.'
'You see them already. Some of them mugged you, Mac. They just drinking mates.
Too drunk to notice.
No lunneny.'
'I saw you walking home with a different man each night.'
'Fhuh! Jealous?!'
'I..No! Just fill me in on some gaps in my education. What's the difference
between tiger and Fey when on heat? Your Grandfather says the Fey part
over-rides animal instinct. You'd walk through fire where a tiger wouldn't.
I'd have thought with sex the drives would be even but couldn't be avoided.
What dominates?'
Kat sighed. 'Neither. Drink dims the urge. Help home mate most drunk. Silly
buggers started taking it in turns getting rat-assed for privilege. No memory
of anything. Pheromone makes think they had good time. Asleep to world. Cock
wouldn't hold flag in wind if awake. Only mates. Not lovers.'
'Not angry about me asking?'
Kat kissed him on the cheek. 'I not worry. Watch film yes? Then sleep. We then
very busy.'
o O o
'It's all a question of your temperature', McKensie told her. 'Get it changed
by a couple degrees for a few minutes and we'd...you'd have an easier time.'
'Fhuh! Pity can't arrange indoor snowstorm', the Fey muttered back. 'Bostaris
air-conditioned room is problem.'
Both of them looked out at the heat-hazed Rio tarmac, waiting for the air-con
bus to arrive and whisk them out into the city from the Aeroporto Galeáo. It
was tropical hot. The Fey was clearly amused with
McKensie's attempts at Portuguese for some reason. Studying the phrase book on
the plane wasted the hours but hadn't exactly endeared him to the language. It
wasn't quite the same as his crash-course in
Romany where much of the time it was a matter of understanding word
substitution. This was a different grammar.
The temperature was humid and hot. Somewhere in the early 30s. They were
tourists amongst tourists.
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