They met back at the hovervan after the club closed for the night.
”So,” Red said. “She didn’t show up at the club. What do we do next?”
Scott rubbed his chin. “Well, Snake has tried running her down and it didn’t work very well. She’s going to regard them as enemies.”
Jay laughed. “Now why would she come to that conclusion, just because they tried to gas her and blast her?”
Scott gave him a quelling look and continued. “We need to apprehend her, but we don’t need to antagonize her if we can help it. We don’t know much about her, but I would like to recruit her if possible.
”We know where she lived and where she worked. She’s likely still here, even though the Snake criminals and Cartel harassed her. Therefore, I’m thinking that there’s probably something she wants in one of those two places. It could be her paycheck at the Nightbirds, since it’s been waiting for her two weeks or so.
”Tracker. You said that the scent traces were a couple weeks old?”
”Yes, sir,” Tracker replied, “at least in the apartment. A couple of the tiger traces were more recent but without going into some of the more populated areas I couldn’t track the girl very well.”
”Okay. So, she hasn’t been seen for the last couple of weeks, and according to the police captain, the tiger hadn’t been active for the last couple of weeks as well until last night. Now the tiger’s been seen again, and Cartel is hunting for her again. For some reason, they’ve both been out of action. Even if what she wants is her paycheck, she’ll probably go back to her apartment as well. We’ll stake out both her apartment and the club, since they are close together. I’ll take her room. Red, you take the club. My guess is that she’ll come to the rooming house, and since you fly, you can get there quickly. Jay, cruise around overhead. Tracker, scout on the ground and try to pick up her scent again.”
”We don’t want to come on with the rough stuff, so, Jay, when we find her, float her off her feet so we can catch her. That should be the least likely to injure her.”
After only an hour, at 3 A.M., Tracker’s whisper came over the radio. “Mr. Nolan? I’ve scented Miss Duval. She is very frightened, almost unbalanced.”
”Great. Keep track of her, but don’t let her spot you,” Scott said. “Jay, close in.” Jay drifted quietly overhead.
Two blocks down Chestnut, Tracker suddenly stopped. Something moved in the shadows at the corner where one of the street lights stood dark and broken. He strained his eyes as he adjusted his bionic sight into the ultraviolet. The figure was human and appeared clad in a pale, skin-tight outfit. She had long, dark hair reaching almost to her ankles as she crouched behind an abused newspaper box.
”Mr. Nolan,” he whispered into his radio. “She’s at the mouth of the alley between the rooming house and the bingo-parlor.”
”Jay, see if you can catch her,” Scott ordered.
Jay ghosted silently overhead as he followed Tracker’s guidance. Soon he found her pale shape in the shadows. Aiming carefully, he pointed his finger, releasing a negative-weight beam.
Before the beam could strike, she sprang back, leaping away from the wall in a rolling dive and came to her feet in the middle of the street. As she did so, the moon emerged briefly from the clouds. She stood unclad, the illusion of pale cloth shattered by the dim glow of a still-functioning streetlight down the road. She raised her face to Jay with an expression of hopeless defiance.
”Why will you not leave me alone?” she cried in a heavily-accented voice. She raised clenched fists to the sky. “I will serve you never!” Then her body blurred and changed into the tiger. She turned and leaped through the wall into the bingo-hall.
”Stop,” Jay shouted.
Scott ran to meet Tracker at the corner. Jay landed a moment later. Tracker could hear the soft harsh buzz of Red’s whisperjet as he flew to join them.
”Antoinette Duval changes into the tiger we saw,” Jay said, heading for the bingo-hall at a run. Red ran ahead to the building’s door. Scott nodded as he followed Jay.
”Would that tally with the scent traces you picked up?” Scott asked Tracker.
Tracker, loping easily beside the running man, nodded. “Yes, sir, it would. Where I was interpreting the girl coming in and meeting the tiger, then both backtracking their trail without deviation would be much better explained as the tiger changing into the woman, or the woman changing into the tiger, and leaving.”
The sign painted on the inner surface of the dirty glass read, “Gold Rush Bingo”. The door was locked, as expected. Red pulled a lockpick from his pocket and set to work on the ancient lock. A moment later he heard a click and opened the door.
Scott turned to the others. “Jay, air support. Back up whoever sights her. Red, around back. Tracker, come with me. And remember, we want to recruit her if possible, don’t frighten her further. Let’s go.”
Tracker took a small flashlight from the sporran on his belt and shined a diffuse beam on the ceiling. It filled the room with a faint glow that was more than enough for his bionic eyes. Moving slowly, he walked between rows of tables towards the front of the small auditorium as he searched for the tiger. “Miss Duval,” he called softly, “don’t be afraid. We are friends. Miss Duval, look at me. I am an animal, like you. I won’t hurt you. We only want to help you. Don’t be afraid, Miss Duval.” He kept up his soothing flow of words as they continued to look for her.
”Mr. Nolan,” he summoned without changing the tone of his voice, “I found her. In the corner, behind those crates.”
Tracker watched the tigress crouched in the corner, starved, distraught, but defiant. Her fur bristled, her ears lay flat against her head, and her slitted eyes glittered as she pressed futilely against the wall. Her lips curled back to show four-inch fangs. She snarled as Scott moved to Tracker’s side.
”I see her,” Scott said. He studied the tigress for a moment. “Such raw courage,” he said, almost reverently. “She’s trapped and is telling us she won’t go down without a fight.” Careful to make no sudden movements, he sat down cross-legged on a table, in full view of the big cat. Tracker lay down beside him on his belly.
”Miss Duval,” Tracker resumed in a soothing voice. “We will not harm you. We want to be your friends.”
”I don’t think she understands you,” Scott whispered.
”You’re right,” he answered. “At the moment, she is animal only. Look at her ribs. She’s starving. That’s probably why she can’t go through the wall again. She’s too weak.” He turned his head to look back at Scott while keeping an ear turned towards the tiger. “Can we get some meat for her?”
Scott spoke into his radio. “Captain Jones, there’s an all-night grocery just down from the Nightbirds. Buy all the red meat you can get and bring it back.”
”On my way, sir.”
For ten minutes, Scott and Tracker watched the tigress. Her fur no longer bristled, but she still snarled a warning whenever they moved.
”I’m back, sir,” Captain Jones said over the radio. “Got enough meat for two tigers, at least.”
Tracker stood slowly. The tigress snarled and pressed back against the wall, trying again to escape.
”She’s too starved,” Scott analyzed. “Going insubstantial must take a lot of energy for a creature that large. Get the meat. I’ll watch her.”
Tracker returned a moment later with a large box piled with meat. He dumped the meat on the floor and began ripping the wrappings off, throwing the trash back into the box. When he finished, he slid the box off to the side. He plunged his hands into the pile and spread it out a little. Then he returned to his place on the floor, carrying a flank that looked past its selling date. “There’s plenty for all, Miss Duval. Let’s eat.”
After a moment, the tigress slipped forward like an orange shadow, her eyes riveted on the two Defenders, and crouched by the meat. She looked at Tracker and bared her fangs at him in a silent threat.
”It’s all for you, Miss Duval,” he assured her in a soft voice.
She stared at him a moment longer, then tentatively grabbed a roast and retreated back into her corner. Seconds later the piece of meat was gone and she looked longingly back at the pile. Rising to her feet again, she practically stalked the pile and plunged her head into the meat. She gulped down each steak or roast in a bite or two, licking up the hamburger as though lapping water and watching them throughout. Once Scott shifted position and her head jerked up. She glared at him for several moments, lips curled back, before returning to her meal.
At last the tigress returned to her corner, little remaining of the repast. She sat and watched them while she groomed her fur, then lay down and gazed at them through half-closed eyes. Now that she was no longer starving, fatigue began taking over. At last, her eyes closed and she fell asleep.
The great orange and black body blurred and Antoinette’s slender, naked figure took its place, her repose little different from that of the tiger.
Scott eased silently to his feet and moved to the front door. There he found the van blocking the doorway, its back doors wide to create a gate preventing any passage other than through the van itself..
”Figured this way we could get in, but no-one else could,” Captain Jones whispered.
Scott nodded and picked up a blanket. “Call the police. Ask them put a cordon around this place to keep everyone away. And have them get in touch with the people who run this place and keep them away, too. We don’t want any disturbances. While your at it, relay to Red and Jay that they’re to keep watch. Make sure no one tries to come in through side or back doors. I’m turning off my radio until we know which way things will go.”
”Yes, sir.”
Tracker watched as Scott returned and crouched by the sleeping woman, studying her face and body. Then he covered her with the blanket, careful not to wake her, and returned to his table. Tracker could smell the man’s sexual desire.
”I’ll watch alone, sir,” Tracker whispered, “if you wish to sleep.”
”Not a chance,” Scott replied in a low voice. “The first few moments after she wakes up will make or break this whole effort.”
Tracker nodded. “Then I’ll go wash. The rest rooms are far enough away that the sound of water shouldn’t disturb her sleep. I’ll be back soon.”
They watched, drowsing by turns, as the hours passed.
