SOKOLOFF

The building looked like a standard small warehouse with a business office in the front. As Edwin opened the door and stepped in, a slender, bearded man behind the counter whirled to stare at them, his mouth opened in horror. Then Nicolle stepped through the door behind Edwin and the man visibly relaxed.

"Dmitry Sokoloff?" Edwin asked softly.

The man behind the counter looked from one to the other. Then, "He's...he's...."

"Nevermind, I recognize you. I've done my homework and you ought to do more homework on your disguise, Doctor."

"If you're here about a refund you have to see the retailer..."

Edwin laughed suddenly and the man stopped talking, clearly confused. "I'm not here for a refund. I'm here to work on getting the complete collection!"

Nicolle took two steps past Edwin, toward the man, her head extended forward, inhaling the air. "Dimi?"

The man sagged against the wall. His voice trembled, "My God, I thought I'd never see you again."

Forty minutes later, Dr. Sokoloff walked out the front door wearing Edwin's clothes, the fake beard gone, with Nicolle in his wake. A few heartbeats after, Edwin slipped furtively out a side door wearing a slouch hat and long raincoat, studiously keeping his head down. Before he'd gone two blocks, a large man in black blocked his path. Two more bulks appeared just behind him on either side. The first man flashed some kind of official-looking card bearing a bad photo.

"Doctor Sokoloff, I am authorized to detain you..."

Just then, Edwin looked up into the goon's face. ”It's not him! Channel three, all personnel! Find the two who just left the office!" The three musketeers took off running toward the warehouse.

Certain now that Sokoloff’s guilt in selling illegal mutations had come to the attention of the law, Edwin wasted no time in getting himself lost before the goons discovered their big catch had slipped away and returned to claim him as a consolation prize. With feigned calm, he hailed an approaching AUTOBUS, dropped coins into the donation hopper and went all the way to the back. The robotic driver set off, resuming course to the next pre-programmed stop.

Three blocks later, he stepped into the facilities. Inside the cramped toilet stall, he struggled out of the hat and coat. From his pockets, he removed a newsy-sheet and his pocket-blade. He cut the hat into reasonably small bits. Some, he slipped out the little fresh air vent as the machine moved along, the rest he deposited into the bowl and flushed. He rolled the raincoat into a tight bundle and wrapped the newsy-sheet around it. When finished, he exited the tiny space and took a seat near the AUTOBUS doors.

A few minutes later, at the programmed stop he'd expected, he stepped down from the AUTOBUS with the bundle, crossed to the median and descended several flights of steps to the mag-tubes.

At the bottom of the steps, a Licensed Mendicant was performing a magic act to a few loiterers. Edwin decided this was a better place to ditch the coat than any other he'd considered. He strolled past the Mendicant's cart and tipped the rolled coat onto its contents while appearing to unroll and briefly consult the newsy-sheet. Then he nonchalantly dropped some coins into the Mendicant's collection tray and shouldered into the crowd awaiting the next maglev, being careful to be as rude as everyone else.

Forty-five minutes and many miles later, Edwin joined the edge of another maglev-awaiting crowd. A man in front of him released a catgirl’s paw and eased further into the crowd, leaving the catgirl standing alone. Edwin immediately stepped to her side and watched as Sokoloff disappeared into the crowd. No one noticed in their hurry to be about their own affairs or on their way home. But Edwin noticed that Nicolle closed her eyes, and leaning slightly forward, breathed in deeply the fading scent of the man who gave her life. Then Edwin made as if he saw someone, walked away from the crowd and Nicolle followed.

When they were in a quieter, safer place, Edwin hesitantly spoke, "I'm sorry I put you at risk of being caught with him, Nicolle, but..."

"We made a bargain.” she interrupted. “He helped us, so we had to help him. I understand. And if we'd been caught, I'd have only been sent to a shelter while he went to jail. We had time in a little park to talk over how we'd act before we went into the crowds... and about other things."

"Other things?"

"He didn't mean to make us different, Edwin. He's only just figured out how it happened. But he could have... should have... killed us all." Then breathlessly, "He said there were six of us, Edwin! Six!" She caught herself, glanced around to be sure no one overheard. "He couldn't do it, Edwin. He had a family and too many bills to pay and then when he'd seen us, we were too much like his own children. Edwin, he said he couldn't... dispose... of us even if it ruined him."

They walked on a while in silence as a few people passed. When they were alone again, she continued. "Edwin... I told him about how happy I am living with you and.... he started crying. I had to make him stop."

Edwin chuckled but she continued seriously. "He wanted me to say I forgive him but I said there was nothing to forgive because he gave me the gift of me. He seemed to feel a lot better after that. He's a little like you, he's not afraid to break some rules or be different. And he's soft inside, too."

"You seem to understand people better than we do ourselves."

"Cats are sensitive to a lot of things people don't notice, that's all." She smiled as she said, "I have cat-smarts along with people-smarts."

Edwin smiled. "Let's find a decent place to spend the night, they'll expect us to hide out in some fleabag joint. Tomorrow, we start looking up these leads he gave us." He touched the small packet of papers taped inside his shirt, the sole remaining evidence on Earth of where Dr. Sokoloff’s wonders had gone, and wondered how they'd begin tracing Nicolle's five sisters.

Next: Part 7 / 25, “Spoons”