CHAPTER 247: The Card

Jeremy had entered the living area of his home to be greeted by the sight of Barbara doing her exercises.  He took a look at her in all her glory, appreciating every elegant curve all the way down to those amazing legs she has.  Every day he quietly gave thanks that they had found each other.

"Enjoying staring at me?" she said as she touched her toes.

"Sheer admiration, sweetheart"  he replied with a smile.  She then stood up, put her hands on her hips and smiled back at him.  

He then changed the subject.  "You're up early this morning" he noted.

"I'm going to the shop this morning to receive a delivery of new stock.  I wanted to do my exercises now before showering and then heading off."  She replied, finishing her routine and heading to the sofa.  The two of them sat down on it.

"Do you need any help at the shop?" Jeremy asked.

"No.  It's not a big a job; just be there for when the delivery men arrive, sign a document and they put the gear in the storeroom.  All I have to lift is a pen.  Have you made any plans?" she replied.

"Not really...although there's something bugging me in my mind...about Darrin.  He's just disappeared."

"It's only been two days.  Maybe he's out of town visiting family or on business and he's forgotten to call you?"

Jeremy shook his head.  "No.  He's such a single-minded guy that if he says he'll contact me about the Landgraabs he will do it come rain or shine.  I think something bad has happened to him."

"And you've spoken to Action about this?"

"Yes.  He's doing some digging and I'll see him later about what he's found but...there's something I'm missing here.  Maybe he did get a message to me but I haven't figured out how or what yet."

"Well, I hope you work it out.  Anyway, I have to take a shower and get dressed.  I'm meeting the delivery men in an hour.  Don't fret though..." she said, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

Jeremy went to the study and his desk and picked up the birthday card Darrin had sent him before his disappearance.  He studied it in minute detail trying to find a single clue.

And then he realised something....something potentially big.  He put the card in his jacket pocket and headed straight over to Action's place next door.

"Sup, Jezza?" said Action as he opened the door. 

"Have you had a chance to look into what happened to my missing friend?" asked Jeremy.

"I've started an investigation and it looks like your hunch about foul play is probably correct." Action replied.

"What have you found out, Action?"

"Your friend lost his family back in 1962 when they were poisoned by a chemical spill...caused by the Landgraabs!  And then they went out of their way to avoid taking responsibility!"

"That makes sense!  That's why Darrin was set on bringing them down!" replied Jeremy.

"So I go over to his place to see if I could find any clues and...nada.  Not one thing.  The place has been cleaned out and sterilised.  It's like no one has ever lived there."

"And you think Landgraab has something to do with that?  Making him disappear?  Surely that would be too obvious, even for them!  A company employee of his level just vanishing like that and his house cleared out with no trace...even your superiors would think suspiciously of the Landgraabs!"

"Even my chief would suspect them.  But they're involved...somehow.  Maybe they hired a hitman or something.  Say, there's one clue though:  That birthday card he sent you, I'll need to examine it."

"Do you think it contains a clue?"

"You're damn right I do!  Think about it.  This cat Darrin Lew is methodical, he has a hatred of the Landgraabs and he's got compromising material on them.  But he's also a smart cookie...he knows he's being spied on....what does he do?"

"He disguises the information as something normal and innocuous!" Jeremy blurted out as the penny dropped.  "The birthday card!  But Action, it's just a simple happy birthday message...there's no information there."

"Or is there and you can't see it?  You say the card contained a typewritten message, not handwritten?"

"That's right"

"I've looked into his background.  He was in the army in the late 50s AND in cryptography.  I was a grunt in the Marines so we didn't go into all that fancy intel stuff but I know those spooks in those branches learned all about codes, concealing messages and sneaking information out under the enemy's nose.  I'm thinking a microdot here.  Now get me that card!"

CHAPTER 246: Missing Persons

John Action had just returned from a lunch date with his girlfriend, Katherine.  They had wined and dined at the Kitten Club; now that he had been given membership by the owner, Alan Cuffe.  It was a great time and Action wanted their date to continue but Katherine had a family engagement to attend and so they parted with a kiss and a hug, promising to resume their romance as soon as both had a day off.

But when Action had arrived home he found his neighbour and friend, Jeremy Saint, waiting at his front door and looking agitated. 

"Yo, Jeremy...what are you doing hanging around out here?  Locked yourself out again?  Babs thrown you out?  What gives my man?" 

"I have something weighing on my mind...it could be nothing, it could be something big.  I need to get your expert opinion." said Jeremy, rubbing the back of his neck in worry.

"On chicks, yeah, on drinks, I'm your man...but police business?  That should be done down at the station house." Action replied.

"It might be of interest to the police...let me explain..." began Jeremy.  "I have a friend...well, more like a work colleague...actually it's former work colleague.  I knew him before I was fired from Landgraab..."

"Get to the point" interjected Action.

"OK, this colleague...former colleague.  I was working with him to get the dirt on the company; he hates them as much as I do.  Anyway we fell out when I went to the police early and he wanted to wait until we had gathered more evidence."

"From what I could tell, Jeremy, Landgraab security were closing the noose around you...if you hadn't had gone to the cops when you did you could have ended up in more trouble than just getting fired."

"That's what I told him...anyway, we eventually patched things up and were working together again to get more compromising evidence against them."

"And have you?" asked Action.

"Darrin...that's his name...said he had got something and was going to get it to me so I could pass it on to you and Suzy.  That was supposed to be yesterday but he never showed up to the rendezvous point we'd agreed on.  I phoned him, no answer.  I visited his home, still no answer.  He's usually so precise and a man of his word that it's not like him to fail to show up for a meeting and then not tell me."

"Hmmm" said Action.  "When was the last time you had any contact with him?" he asked.

"Four days ago.  Is it too soon to launch a missing person's case?" asked Jeremy.

"Does he have a wife?  Any family in the city?" said Action, not answering Jeremy's question right away.

"No.  I know hardly anything about his background other than he had deep, personal reasons to hate the Landgraab family."

"So did he find any extra information and pass it on to you?" asked Action.

"He called me to say he had something and wanted to meet.  Oh, and he sent me a birthday card yesterday...but my birthday's in February!" 

"Hmmm, now that is interesting." said Action, stroking his chin.

"I thought he'd made a mistake..." said Jeremy.

"You said he was precise and methodical...so he'd have your birthday written down in a diary and would consult it if he were wishing you a happy birthday." Action replied.

"So you think he was trying to send me a message?" asked Jeremy.

"Yeah, he's one smart cat.  OK, now you've got my interest...let me look into the matter and, oh, do you still have the card?"

"Yes...do you want it?" 

"Not now.  Keep it in a safe place and DON'T throw it away!  I'll be needing it later..."

The next day at work Action thought about this missing person's case.  He consulted his colleague, Cole Michaels.

"Yo, Michaels...I'm looking into a missing persons case:  The guy's name is Darrin Lew, he's from Windenburg and he was last heard from two days ago.  Any of your 'Mod Squad' hear of anything.?"

"How old is this Mr Lew?" Cole replied.

"36.  I've got a description of him as well.  5'11", medium brown hair, average build and with a goatee beard."

"My squad covers the teen beat but I'll put the word out to see if any of our street contacts have heard of anything.  Is this Mr Lew connected to the underworld or in some important position?"

"He's an insider at Landgraab and was one of the people who got us information about Geoffrey's criminal activities so, yeah, he's important."

"You know who becomes the leading suspect if something bad has happened to him...?"

"Yeah, don't I know it!  I'm gonna be locking horns with that family again...OK, later, Michaels"

Action then proceeded to records to look up the case files he had on the Landgraabs.  Maybe there was something that could link Lew's disappearance with either Geoffrey's murder or young Malcolm's drug dealing empire.  It was there where he found his most trusted work colleague:  Bibi Stahler.

"Bibi, just the person I wanted to see" he said the moment she walked into the room.

"And what is it this time, Action?  Is what you're working on an official case or one of your side projects?" she replied.

"Maybe something that can link the the two.  It's a missing person case right now but it has links to the Landgraab Corporation."

"You are still going after them even though the Geoffrey Landgraab case has been turned over to the FBI?"

"New information, Bibi...and I've been entrusted with it.  A man named Darrin Lew was one of our informants...working alongside Jeremy Saint.  Now Lew's gone missing."

"Alright, let's assume for this moment his disappearance is linked to the Landgraabs?  Have you checked his home?  Known hang outs?"

"I'm off to check those right now...In the meantime can you run a full background check on Lew?  Any criminal record?  Where he's from originally?  Known associates, family, the works.  Can I leave all that with you?"

"Leave it with me, now...schnell!  You'd better get moving on your end." said Bibi, coolly.

WINDENBURG:  1420hrs

Action arrived at the address he was given and from the outside it looked neat and well looked after...and quiet.  After looking around the outside and seeing nothing noteworthy he tried knocking at the door to see if anyone was in and he wasn't surprised when there was no answer.

Taking a look around to see no-one was watching he pulled a set of skeleton keys from his pocket and used them to get in the house.  He would bother with a search warrant later, for now it was all about having a look around.

Once inside the first thing that struck Action was how sterile the place was.  Sure, there was furniture and all the basic comforts but no personal touches, no artwork, photos or mementos of any kind.  There was also no dust, not even under the sofa or chairs.  The whole place was impeccably clean.

Looking through the bookcase didn't reveal anything either.  Two dictionaries, a cookbook, a guide to Sim City...it was all so generic.  There wasn't a single novel or anything to indicate what Darrin Lew's taste in books were.

And it was the same upstairs:  Clean, spotless and ordered.  The bed was made with the precision you would find in a hospital.  The drawers and closet contained clothes, all perfectly folded and stored but, again, no personal effects.  Action thought about this...was this really Darrin Lew's home or merely some kind of front?  The other possibility is that someone had been here and removed all his personal belongings, anything that would reveal what kind of man he was.

Eventually Action gave up searching around.  A look for some kind of secret compartment revealed nothing and so he left, pausing to search the empty letterbox out the front.  If Lew did have compromising material on the Landgraabs it wasn't in this house.  He considered the possibility that Nancy, or whoever was running her security, had the place searched, cleaned and stripped of that material.  As for Lew...Action didn't hold out much hope of finding him alive.  He had no proof of that, just his gut instinct.

As he went back onto the streets of Windenburg he pondered what his next move would be and then he noticed there was a bar just across the way from Lew's house.  Could that be a place where he was recognised and known?  Well, only one way to find out.

It was a nice, cosy establishment...well kept but nothing outstanding about it.  Action had arrived just before the place started to fill up so he found getting to the bar and getting served no problem.  He also found striking up a conversation with the attractive barmaid no problem either.

"Say, sister, I'll have a bourbon on the rocks" he said to her.

"You got it...we don't get many cops in this joint.  You here on official business or is this a social call?" she replied as she poured him his drink.  There was definite sass to her voice and Action liked that in a woman.

"A little of both.  Nothing heavy...Miss?"

"Call me Emily" she replied.

"Call me Action" 

"Yo shittin' me?"

"No, my name really is Action.  John Action."

"You look it.  So what's the official part of your business or do we skip straight to the social?"

"I'm looking for a man..."

"And there I was getting my hopes up"

"Steady, sister, that's not what I'm talking about.  The cat I'm looking for is called Darrin Lew.  White guy, mid 30s, brown hair and a light beard.  Lives nearby."

"Darrin?  Yeah, I know him.  He visits here regularly.  What's up?" she said in surprise.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"He was in here three nights ago.  Had a couple of drinks, chatted a bit but then said he had an early start the next day so went home about 9"

"Was he with anyone?"

"No, that evening he was alone.  He usually comes in here not with anyone but just to have a few drinks and talk to some of the regulars.  Poor guy, he's still reeling from losing his wife and child a few years back.  Likes to come here to forget all the pain."

"Do you know what happened to his family?" asked Action, now very intrigued by this new information.

"I don't know the details...it happened back in '62 I think.  Some kind of accident, chemical spill, like I said I don't know the details and I didn't want to be curious and bring up bad memories for him by asking too much.  Say, is he in trouble?"

Action took a sip of the bourbon before answering.  "We're just looking for him, that's all." was his eventual reply.

The bar was starting to fill up with more customers and one of them looked in Action's direction and tried to get his attention.  Emily the barmaid noticed her.

"One of your girlfriends has just breezed in" she said, nodding towards the door.  "Tall, willowy redhead in a yellow dress"

Action looked around and saw Bibi right where Emily was indicating.  "A work colleague, Emily.  Thanks for the drink...here's a tip" and he passed her a $10 bill before getting up and going to greet Bibi.

"Ah, Action..." she began.  "I had a guess that you would be in a nearby bar...investigating, of course.  You were investigating this case of the missing man, ja?"

"You doubt that?  Yeah, got some good information as well.  His house; it's immaculate, I mean it's spotless, clinical...as a German you would love it." Action replied.

"I think that's a compliment.  Anyway I did some looking into the files of the missing gentleman and I discovered his name in one file:  Back in 1962 there was an accident..."

"And his wife and child were killed.  Yeah, so I heard.  Any specifics in the file as to how they died?"

"Yes.  At that time he was a land surveyor for the State.  In June 1962 he was doing a survey of the national park and invited his family to join him as a kind of small vacation...I think that's the proper term.  In German it is mini urlaub.  There was a chemical spill and a lot of people were hospitalised...including the Lew family.  Darrin Lew pulled through after a few days, his wife and daughter were not so fortunate."

"I was in the Marines back then and out of country so I missed that story.  Did they find who was responsible for the spill?" asked Action.

"Yes.  It was a tanker truck that crashed into the lake.  The brakes were faulty.  It was a Landgraab Corporation vehicle filled with highly toxic chemicals."

"Landgraab!" muttered Action, disparagingly.  "No wonder he wanted to bring the corporation down!  So was no-one held accountable for the deaths?"

"Landgraab were not charged, the matter never went to court."

Action pounded his right fist into the palm of his left hand in frustration.  "Damn you, Landgraab!  I tell you this, Bibi.  If anyone is capable of making a man vanish, it's that family!  You've done great work and...wait a minute!" he said in a moment of revelation.

"Vas is das?" asked Bibi, looking puzzled.

"Lew's a family man yet there were no family photos in his house.  No mementos, no pictures, no love letters from his wife, no keepsakes of their daughter growing up.  You know, the kindergarten picture on a fridge or the first school report, that kind of thing.  Landgraab had their agents clean the place out!  Those heartless bastards!  I'm going to hunt them down and make them pay!"

CHAPTER 245: Hole In The Soul

 

"Oh what a terrible dream!" said Julia out loud as she woke up.  She blinked a few times and saw the hazy shapes and colours of her bedroom, made unclear because she hadn't put her glasses on yet.

She couldn't get the images from the dream out of her head, however.  In it she was standing in a busy shopping mall, one that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles and a sea of people all walking in unison towards her with blank expressions on their faces.  Julia in her dream was pushing against this crowd, walking in the opposite direction to an exit that never got any closer.  As she pushed forwards the crowd became surly and would shove her back, further impeding her progress.  Nothing in the shops was what she wanted or needed.  There was no respite from the crowds and the store owners shouting at her from all directions.

The dream bothered Julia because she could never remember any dream she might have had beyond a few seconds upon waking up.  Indeed she didn't believe she actually had dreams and was sceptical about the theories of Freud and Jung when it came to dream interpretation.  But still the images of her struggle to make her way out of a shopping mall amongst zombie like crowds remained vivid in her mind.  

She made herself some breakfast, which she forced herself to eat as she had lost her appetite.  Even her home seemed somehow lacking in life.  She had always liked the minimalist decor she had chosen for her house and didn't care for much in the way of homely adornments or creature comforts but looking around the place it suddenly seemed lifeless and devoid of character.

There was little time to wallow and once breakfast was finished she got ready for work.  Often Julia liked to bury herself in it and she had an work ethic that bordered on single-mindedness.  An unusual illness, a rare malady that she had special knowledge of or a chance to help one of the senior registrars would be ideal.

Instead she had to help a man who had a mediaeval knight's helmet stuck on his head.

"Hngghhh urungen hraneenenblarg"

"I see, Mr Locke, so it happened at a bachelor party.  You're not the groom or best man are you?"

"Nrumen.  Ngai nguffin aru dadoo middad"

"I'm relieved to hear that.  Now I think it'll be a matter of applying plenty of lotion and loosening those screws on the side.  I will need some assistance...Mr Marino, would you step into bay 6 please?"

Angelo Marino was a new hire for the hospital, an orderly who seemed eager enough to hit the ground running on the first day of the job.

"Yes Doctor Epstein?" he said, entering the bay and catching sight of a man wearing a hospital gown and a brass knight's helmet.

"Fetch plenty of baby oil lotion and a screwdriver from maintenance.  Then I'm going to need your strength to pull this helmet off of Mr Locke.

"Stwenth?  NGAI!  Wilm if hrurrrrt?  Ngai donna hrunt mgai fache do be dummaged!"

"If you hold perfectly still you should be alright, Mr Locke."  She was getting frustrated by Mr Locke's flapping about in a panic when nothing had happened yet.  It was if he actually wanted to keep the helmet on, she thought.  Maybe they'd have to use the restraints if he started to panic again.

So this was the exciting and high status life of a city doctor in a top hospital...she thought, glumly.

The procedure went well enough and the helmet was eventually removed although Mr Locke cried like a baby and acted as if he was going to die at any moment.  When it came time to write up her notes from the case it was a real struggle to find any motivation.  

As she was struggling to type it all up her friend and work colleague, Harper Newell, stopped by to see how she was doing.

"Was it you who had to get that helmet off that guy's head, Jules?" Harper asked.

"Yes.  And what a pain in the ass that guy was as well!" Julia replied.

"Wow, Miss Straight Arrow swears!  It must be a rough day!" 

"It's nothing major, Harps, it's just all the little things that I usually find slightly annoying are just really bugging me right now"

"Are you free to meet up after our shift?  Get some drinks, unwind?" asked Harper.

"I've said I'd go along to the monthly Jokesters v Pranksters festival in town but I don't feel up to it.  I would like to hang out with you afterwards though."

"How about I tag along to the festival and we can get some drinks and spicy food to help pick you up?"

"That might just work..." said Julia.

When the shift at the hospital ended both agreed to meet at the festival after getting changed and freshened up at their respective homes.  Even with one of her closest friends along for the trip Julia was still dreading this evening.

She wore her everyday clothes, not bothering to doll herself up for the occasion.  She needed the company more than the excitement of the festival.

Making her way to the Arts Quarter, she got herself some food...tonight there were a lot of Asian food vendors making very powerful Thai curries that caught a few of the other festival attendees by surprise.  Julia had to admit the sight of a grown man freaking out over spicy food was funny.

Julia didn't have to wait long until Harper showed up.  "Hey Jules, how's things going here?"

"I haven't been here long but the most amusing thing at the moment is how strong this curry is" Julia replied.

"Don't remind me..." said the man who couldn't handle it.

The man got up to leave and rushed to the nearby public bathroom and Harper sat down next to Julia to chat with her friend.

"So I forget, which team are you normally on:  Jokesters or pranksters?" asked Harper.

Julia let out a sigh.  "I forget...Jokesters...no, Pranksters.  As a matter of fact my head is in such a jumble I can't think straight about teams."

"It's worse than we thought!  So what's brought this all on, Julia?  You're not usually melancholy.  Indignant at improper behaviour, yes, but depressed?  That's not the friend I know."

"This is going to sound silly"

"Try me"

"OK, I had a dream last night that bothered me.  I was being swallowed up by the crowd, I couldn't make progress and I was becoming a nothing, a nobody."

"Sounds like an anxiety dream.  We all get them.  I sometimes dream that I show up to work in only my underwear."

"That's a common dream" commented Julia.

"But the thing is they're someone else's underwear!" 

"Oh..."

"OK so work's not firing you up at the moment, is it?"

"No."

"And your music?"

"The gigs have dried up since my partner, Joelene, turned pro.  I still practice but the fire still isn't in the belly when I play."

"OK...you're going to hate me for mentioning this but:  Social life."

"Well, there's you, Francesca, Summer, Liberty..."

"OK, I'll refine my question...social life that involves men." 

"Well...that's another matter.  I mean, I have followed everyone's advice and tried dating a few times but each time has been a disaster or at least a massive let down.  I've had a teenager who's besotted with me and wrote a folk song in my honour..."

"Oh if only a handsome guy would write a folk song about me" said Harper, wistfully, as she looked up to the sky.

"A man who my parents set me up with who's main concern is promoting his business.  Then there was the guy with anger management issues and the man who's having a messy divorce but he's the messy one."

"Well, there was one other guy who was an absolute dish if you ask me..."

"HE'S IN THE CONGO!  He thought saving civilians in a war zone is more important than taking me to dinner.  Well, it is, but that's not the point."

"But that is the point, Julia.  I've known you since you were an ambitious intern, pushing aside any thought of romance, marriage or family and completely focussed on your career.  And then Vincent entered your life and you haven't been the same since."

"Pshaw!  I'm not in a funk because of a man!" Julia scoffed.  

"Aren't you?  Think of it logically.  Have you noticed any changes in you since you met him?"

"Well, we all change a little over time.  I mean, what struck me about him was his dedication, earnestness and gentlemanly manner.  Yes, I suppose I value those characteristics in someone and they are hard to find these days."

"OK, leaving aside for one moment just how handsome he is *sigh*, how did you feel when you were around him?"

"I felt energised, admittedly.  His intellect and approach to medicine was such that I found it invigorating working alongside him.  And he's also a man of culture so I enjoyed non-work time with him as well.  Again, stimulating..."

"And that's what's missing in your life.  OK, forget romance...let's put that aside for a moment.  It's the intellectual stimulation you're missing.  Since he left for the Congo there's not much replacing that vibe, that buzz you and he had.  Murakami is more of a stern taskmaster than a work colleague, Fran and myself are nurses, not top doctors and those who the hospital has brought in since Vincent left are all a bit bland careerists who don't provide you with the same excitement.  And that, Julia, is what's eating you:  That without someone to bounce off of and share a wavelength with you're worried about being one of those cyphers we work with day in, day out.  You've got a fear of going from promising hot shot to career mediocrity."

"Wow, you should be a psychiatrist.  Seriously.  That's spot on analysis there.  Yes, that makes sense!" said Julia, her eyes lighting up.

"Glad to be of service, Jules.  Now let's get a drink!" replied Harper.

The two young women stood up and walked towards the bar.  "Maybe I should go to the Congo, what do you think?" asked Julia.

"To a warzone?  Are you really cut out for that?" Harper replied, cynically.

"I need that intellectual fizz Vincent provided...where am I going to find it?" 

"Well instead of jumping on an airplane and landing in a civil war how about writing to him instead?  Have you written to him since he's been gone?" asked Harper.

"Well...no.  But that's a good idea.  I shall write to him.  I will ask him about his work over there and about what I've been working on here..."

"Great idea, that's a good place to start.  While you're at it why not ask whether he'll be back in America any time soon?  Maybe you could meet up if he's back in town, even if only briefly.  See how he thinks about you."

"Gosh.  Golly gee.  You know, I need to write to him...now, could you write down a few notes about what I should include in the letter?"

"Oh Julia...you need all the help you can get" said Harper, smiling.

CHAPTER 244: Angel Of Death

Every morning it was the same.  The unit known as Leanne McGregor awoke, donned her body cohesion suit and did her stretches and exercises to make sure her human body was functioning at peak condition.  Since changing her appearance she had found that she was more prone to liquefying and that she had to don the suit more so than in her previous form.  The tell tale signs of a thin layer of bodily fluids covering her flesh followed by a sudden looseness of limb function gave her some time to either don the suit or else spend time in the bio-conversion chamber.  This was her third human form since arriving on Earth and it was proving the most troublesome.  The problem wasn't her looks, although she was still very fond of her second form, it was that the bio-conversion technology was still experimental and there was still so much that was unknown about genetically altering the body over and over again until all cohesion broke down.  Such was the price she was paying for the mission...

As she was stretching and working out her legs suddenly gave way.  She could feel her inner structure weaken and she ended up on her knees, trying to get her legs to function.  

"No!  Not now!  There's so much I have to do today!  Just...keep...going..." she said out loud with exasperation in her voice.

The suit did its job and repaired the cartlidge that was breaking down and soon she was able to stand again.  Another hour wearing the garment should fix the problem but she thought that maybe she had done too much exercising and had weakened her systems.

She went to lie down on her bed whilst the suit did its job.  She couldn't relax but instead sat there inwardly cursing that her plans would have to be delayed because this stupid form was proving troublesome.  She thought about home and whether she would ever see it again.  If she did how would she and the others of the advance party would be welcome by her own kind if they knew they had been altered?  Then she thought about how she came to be in the advance party in the first place.  Unlike the others she had not volunteered.  She had committed too many crimes on the homeworld and her punishment was to be genetically altered so she could shapeshift and then be sent to this backwater planet.  She was spared conventional punishment because her talent for murder made her useful to the cause.

An alarm went off telling her it was time to change.  She took off the suit and changed into conventional human clothing, noticing that she was solid.  Already behind schedule she grabbed her secret communicator and opened a channel to her supervisor.

"Probyka, Lurgid" she said to the person who answered the call.

"Yop English, Kar-el" came the reply.  The voice on the other end was masculine and a deep baritone.

"My apologies, Luke Kendall.  Is this a convenient time to talk?" she said, switching languages.

"It is.  Is everything alright?"

"We have a potential situation, Luke Kendall.  My surveillance of hu-manns on our risk list as detected a problem."

"What is the nature of the problem?  Which hu-mann poses a risk?"

"It's two.  One you're aware of, the other is new and you won't have encountered them before.  They are Jeremy Saint and Darrin Lew."  said Leanne, wondering if Luke Kendall would be angry or annoyed by what she had said.

"What have they done?" asked Luke.

"The two men had a meeting two days ago where Jeremy Saint asked Darrin Lew to investigate the Landgraab Corporation's most secret files.  Darrin Lew has access to them and I believe he is going to turn them over to Jeremy Saint."

There was a long pause on the other end of the communicator, then Luke said slowly and softly.  "Most secret implies our dealings with the Landgraab family and the work they are doing for us."

"It does...it also implies the things the Landgraab family did before our first contact with them.  I believe they had some of their competitors assassinated." Leanne replied, matter-of-factly.

There was another long pause so Leanne decided to fill the space with a suggestion.  "Luke Kendall; I propose the safest solution is to eliminate both Jeremy Saint and Darrin Lew.  Stop them before they can get started."

"Nancy Landgraab and Malcolm III Landgraab have requested that they deal with Jeremy Saint and that we are not to target him" came Luke's reply.

"As I am responsible for mission security, I must disagree with this policy.  I can eliminate both without a trace and if the Landgraab family are proving too great a hindrance then I can eliminate them as well..."

"Enough!" Luke cut her off short.  "Already your assassination of Geoffrey Landgraab is attracting the attention of the hu-mann investigators.  We must only eliminate hu-manns if it becomes absolutely necessary, not as a precaution.  Our existence must remain a secret.  Say yes if you understand me."

"Yes" she said with a heavy sigh.

"You will not eliminate the Landgraab family nor will you eliminate Jeremy Saint or his associates.  Say yes if you understand me."

"Yes" she replied, still annoyed that she couldn't eliminate anyone.

"You did the correct thing in alerting me to this issue.  Keep me informed and I will issue your instructions when the time comes.  Nilharoi, Leanne McGregor"

"Nilharoi shebber shenty, Luke Kendall" she replied, shutting off the communicator.

If it becomes absolutely necessary... she thought to herself.  She began to concoct a plan.

Leanne McGregor's suspicions were well founded as Darren Lew had indeed been up to something and that wasn't good for her mission.  He had been digging around in the archives for evidence that would seriously undermine the Landgraab family; possibly even destroying their reputation forever.  Darrin Had spent nearly two years in the company, secretly collating any information that they didn't want the world to know about. He knew where the dirt was.

The tricky part was how to get all this information to Jeremy.  He couldn't just smuggle the document out himself, not when he knew he was being watched by company hawks like Alice Ethington, there had to be a secret way.  

When he left the documents room he saw a work colleague walking past him.  She called out "hey are you going to sign Carstairs's birthday card?".  That gave him an idea.

Like a lot of men of his generation he had been in the United States army, including two years in the cryptography division.  That had taught him a few skills that would now come in very handy.  He would have to access the company computer but was confident he could smuggle the information out in an unusual form.

It took patience and precision to mock up a Birthday card And print a suitable message that would contain a clue as to what the true nature of the card meant.  He just hoped Jeremy was smart enough to  work out the clue in the card.

Leanne McGregor was working on her own schemes but she needed more information before she acted on them.  She didn't seek approval from Luke Kendall before she went to visit Affluista Mansion but once she had carried out her plan then she was sure he would approve of her actions, retroactively.  She had waited outside the mansion, out of view, until she had seen both Big Mal Landgraab and his grandson, Malcolm, leave the house.  She knew that Big Mal was not easily intimidated by her or her kind and little Malcolm...well, she thought him amusing and would entertain thoughts of having intercourse with him in the human way before absorbing him, was but a distraction which she could do without right now.

Nancy Landgraab would be alone, her family plus her new cleaning lady were gone, and Leanne knew Nancy was more frightened of her than any other Visitor.  She thought about the previous cleaning lady, the one who panicked and fled after she had performed a mind scan on little Malcolm.  At some point she would have to be tracked down and eliminated.  Leanne had so much on her plate she thought about delegating that task to one of the others.

Leanne didn't bother to knock on the door or ring the bell.  Instead she used her MultiDevice to unlock the front door and then walked straight into the mansion, where she found Nancy pondering a game of chess.

"Greetings, Nancy Landgraab" said Leanne.

"Wait?  What!  How did you...." spluttered Nancy when she saw Leanne.  She didn't finish her question because she already knew the answer 'how?'.  

"Do you know that on Earth it is customary to knock first?" said Nancy, indignantly.

"Most inefficient" Leanne replied, sitting herself opposite Nancy at the chess table without being given permission.  This too annoyed Nancy.

"What do you want this time?" said Nancy, who was resigned that this Leanne would never respond to lessons in etiquette so instead shifted to trying to get to the point with her.

"I hear you've had another breach in secrecy, Nancy Landgraab" said Leanne.

"We're dealing with it" Nancy replied in a deadpan voice.

"Hmm, that is what you said last time before Jeremy Saint confessed to the FBI.  We had to take serious and immediate action when that happened.  Do we have to take the same steps this time?"

"Now wait a minute!" said Nancy, becoming agitated.  "You murdered my husband!  We said we would deal with that situation and we were:  He would go to prison for a few years, that's all, but that wasn't good enough for you so you went and murdered him!"

"He presented a significant risk.  Your argument is both emotional and sentimental and therefore invalid.  Geoffrey Landgraab was eliminated because you refused to have Jeremy Saint killed.  Now we face the same problem all over again:  Jeremy Saint and his new co-conspirator, Darrin Lew."

"I said we are dealing with it.  These two men are being closely monitored..." said Nancy.

"Not good enough" interjected Leanne.

"I don't want any more killing!" said Nancy, with the first signs of panic in her voice.

"It's not about what you want, Nancy Landgraab.  This is about the secrecy of our mission and your wealth and power."

"Saint's out of the company...he poses no more threat to us if he is merely isolated and has no more information that can harm us."

"But others are feeding him that information.  Darrin Lew must be neutralised"

"I forbid any more killing!" said Nancy, pounding her fist on to the chess table.

"I see I have to make you more amenable to our strategic aims"  Leanne replied, touching the temples of her head and concentrating until a beam emanated from her forehead.

Nancy was struck by the beam and became dazed.

"Darrin Lew must die!" thought Leanne as she transmitted that thought into Nancy's brain.

"Darrin Lew MUST DIE!" she said again.  "Say it after me...Darrin Lew must die!"

"Dar...rin....Lew must....d...d...d..."

"Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Darrin Lew must die!" said Nancy, completely mind controlled by now.

"Say it again!"

"DARRIN LEW MUST DIE!" shouted Nancy.

"You ordered it"

"I ORDERED IT!"

"By your command!"

"BY MY COMMAND!"

"Now say it again, all of it"

"DARRIN LEW MUST DIE!  I ORDERED IT!  BY MY COMMAND!  I AM RESPONSIBLE!"

"Good!" said Leanne, with relish and then she stopped transmitting.  Nancy slumped into her chair, dazed.

Leanne reached for her communicator and tapped a few buttons on it.  Then she watched Nancy's face, contorted with a mixture of pain and confusion, with a sense of sadistic pleasure.  "Hu-maans are so easy to manipulate", she said.

After a few minutes a man entered the house and like Leanne he did not require to be let in.

"Ahh, Davis Goode, you have arrived on time." said Leanne to the new arrival.

"Is Nancy Landgraab complicated?" Asked Davis.

"No, she's quite a simple hu-maan.  Driven by a lot of base desires" replied Leanne.

"No, that is not what I meant.  Is she complimentary?  Is that the Earth word?  You know, balugliag?"

"The word you are looking for is 'compliant'.  Yes she is, I have her under control for the next two hours."  Turning to Nancy, Leanne said "This is Davis Goode.  He is a Visitor.  He will look after you while I complete the mission you ordered.  Say 'yes' if you understand me"

"Yessssssssssssssss" gasped Nancy, still looking off into the distance.

"If the son or the father return, keep them under control, Davis Goode" 

"I understand" he replied.

Leanne returned home and changed outfits so that she would look more like a woman of business.

And then it was to Landgraab Corporation headquarters to carry out the final phase of her plan.

Using a combination of her disguise skills, advanced gadgetry and her innate powers over humans she was able to access Darrin Lew's files and trace what he had been looking for on the company computer.

As she had suspected, he had accessed files on the hidden pocket dimensions dotted around the city and also had delved into the history of the Landgraab family:  Especially the parts that related to their contacts with her own kind.  That was troublesome:  If this information were to fall into the hands of Jeremy Saint and Suzy Humphries this could jeopardise the whole mission on Earth.  She cursed her supervisor, Luke Kendall, for being so blind to the threat and weak about the response.  It was time she acted for the good of the mission.  Only one thing confused her.  At a recent point in time, Darrin Lew had used the company computer to produce a birthday card...she was aware of this human custom, but it was odd that Lew had done something so frivolous.

She had learned that Darrin Lew was on a lunchbreak so she went downstairs to the lobby and lay in wait for him.  Patiently she sat there as staff came and went but eventually he arrived.  He let his gaze momentarily linger on her; he didn't recognise the woman sitting there but she was very smart and attractive.

She stood up and walked over to him.  "Mr Darrin Lew?" she said.

"That's correct...you are?" he asked.

"My name is Leanne McGregor.  I wish to speak with you on a matter of urgency"

"Leanne McGregor you say?"  The name seemed familiar to him but he couldn't place where he'd heard it before.

"Yes...if I can just take up a few minutes of your time I will explain my predicament" she pressed.

"Well, what is this about?  Would you like to step into my office and you can tell me more?" he asked, confused as to who this person was and what she wanted.

"You see, it's about security..." she began to say, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Security?  That's not my department..." he replied with a nervous touch to his voice.  Was this another of Nancy's honeytrap company spies, he thought?

"I think you'll find that security is all our concern, Darrin Lew" she said, taking a step closer whilst trying to entice Darrin.  Leanne knew all about manipulating men through sex and desire and she was trying to exude her charms to keep him from leaving her.

"Did...Mrs Landgraab...send you to check up on me?" he asked, haltingly.

"Mrs Landgraab has authorised me to deal with you, Darrin Lew" and once she had locked her gaze on to his she hit him with a thought wave.

"Must...resist!" gasped Darrin.  He tried to look around to see if there was anyone there who could help him but there was no one.  Then he tried running away but found his feet stuck to the ground.  He could feel his mind slipping away and soon he lost all autonomy.

"Follow me, Darrin Lew" she said to the transfixed man.  She walked ahead of him and he dutifully followed, his mind no longer his own:  A virtual automaton completely in her thrall.

She went to a little used and known place in the corporation building, where only the maintenance crew would go.  She used her device to open the lock of the door and the two of them walked in.  Then she locked the door behind her.

"No one will disturb us, Darrin Lew" she said.  As he stood motionless, she surveyed the room.  There were machines, pipes, pumps and power generators which hummed, whirled and chugged along.  Leanne nodded and added "and no one will hear us either".

Darrin started to fight back against the mental paralysis he was under and was able to force his mind and voice to say something.

"What...are...you...doing?  Who...are...you?" he strained to say.

"Who am I, Darrin Lew?  I go by the name Leanne McGregor but my real name is unpronounceable to your kind.  And this is not what I actually look like but I do admit, I have a certain fondness for this form."

"I...need...to...know....who...you...are..." Darrin continued to say although every word he spoke hurt his voice and mind.

"Oh you do, do you?  Well, I suppose it's only 'fair' to let you know who you are dealing with before we continue.  Well, here we go...be prepared for your puny brain to be shocked." she said, mocking him.

Then something both amazing and terrifying happened.  Darrin watched as she appeared to shimmer, her body becoming a blur to his eyes.  He clothes dropped to the floor and for a brief moment he saw her naked human body before it first changed colour, then form into something completely different, something utterly alien.

"Oh no!" Darrin exclaimed, as the realisation of who this 'person' was and what it represented hit him like a brick through a glass window.

"Oh yes!" she replied, laughing.  "I am not human!  Go on, get a good look at me, take it all in."

Darrin's mind suddenly snapped free of her control as it confronted this shocking revelation.  "The Visitors!  It makes sense now!  The Visitors are aliens!"

"This is the part I really like; especially when it's one of the smarter hu-maans who works it out.  Like that artist or that historian...it made the process of absorbing them all the more pleasant."

Darrin was slowly starting to regain control of his body and began to back off.  "Absorb!  What's that?" he gasped.

"Something that is inevitable, Darrin Lew" was her reply.

He continued to back away but he was cornered with no where to escape to and he lacked the full control over his movements which could get him to charge past her and run out into the busy part of the building or even the street.  Instead he movements were leaden and stiff.

"It'll be better for you if you didn't prolong this, Darrin Lew" she said, still teasing him.  She began to move towards him, he body moving sensually as she enjoyed her natural form.  To Darrin it looked like a macabre dance, utterly transfixing and terrifying at the same time.

"Please...don't!" he gasped, pathetically.

"Your time as Darrin Lew has come to and end...time to be absorbed" she replied, reaching a hand out to touch him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Within a few seconds, there was no physical trace of Darrin Lew left.  Leanne was alone in the power room and she kneeled where he had last stood, enjoying the sensation of absorbing someone.  It was something she lived for, like the hit of a hard drug.  She was in no rush to move on and instead would linger in this place as she enjoyed the sensation.

Once the buzz began to fade she stood up and resumed human form before putting her clothes back on.  Then she unlocked the door to the power room and left the building leaving no trace of Darrin Lew left behind.