London Wild (15 page)

‘We are checking them over, making sure they really are domesticated cats and not just pretending. It seems
that many wild cats that have been caught lately have been using the protection of certain human families to hide them. It seems that they act all cute and cuddly in front of their supposed masters, but late at night when their family is asleep, they strike out. It’s our job to go around and check every domesticated cat to see if there are any anomalies. I’m afraid rules here have been broken that need to be seen to.’

‘Er
, right, mate,’ Jhosatl spoke hesitantly. ‘Well I can guarantee that Amba here will be properly fixed next time you see us perform.’

‘I’m afraid you miss the point. Due to the new edict, even if there was nothing wrong with your cat, we would have to take her with us so that she can be checked properly. If she’s a legitimate pet she will have been raised at the Cattery,
so we will have records of her there. Once we’re sure, she’ll be returned to you none the worse for wear. Do you have the documents stating when and where you bought her?’

Jhosatl shivered
. ‘No-not anymore. I-I moved house and they were something I left behind. I guess I didn’t know I’d need them again.’

‘I’m afraid so
, sir,’ the soldier told him. ‘Don’t worry, though; it’s not the end of the world. Just because she has no purchase history doesn’t mean she’s a killer. It just means there’ll be more work for someone. Nevertheless, we will have to take her with us, I’m afraid.’

Jhosatl’s hand moved reflexively towards his laser. But Amba caught the hand and made it look as if she just wanted to hold his hand as a goodbye. She knew he wouldn’t survive a shootout with four of the Elite
,
even if they were just trainees. She loved him more than herself. Besides, how could he rescue her if he was dead?

‘I’ll go with them. I look forward to seeing you again soon
,’ she said and gave him a look that read that she was expecting to be rescued. After all, it was his fault she was in this group in the first place.

Jhosatl nodded
. ‘You won’t be there long. I’ll talk with the minister of music if I have to. I’ll get you out.’ He then removed the collar from her neck and the chain from her ankle, though it was obviously breaking his heart to do so.

Amba smiled, a tear run
ning down her face. She offered her hands to the nearest of the Elite Guard, and he placed a pair of manacles on them. He looked as if he would have liked to manacle her legs too, but she’d have to walk to their vehicle.

One member of the audience who hadn’t left yet uttered the word ‘scum,’ under his breath as the four took Amba away.

‘I have connections in the Cattery,’ Sult said comfortingly to Jhosatl. It was the first time he’d talked about his past. ‘I think I might be able to find out what they’re doing with her and when we can expect her back.’

Jhosatl smiled halfheartedly. ‘Thanks, mate. She’s not very good at situations she’s not in control of. I’m afraid she might have a panic attack or something.’

‘She’ll be fine,’ Judith offered.

‘She’s domesticated,’ Colin said, also trying to help. ‘Once they see that they’ll let her go.’

Sult nodded
. ‘I don’t know, though; I’m just a little suspicious of their motives.’

Jhosatl nodded sadly
. He sat on the corner of the stage, his feet dangling over the edge. He had a rescue to plan, but all he could think of was her tear-streaked face as they led her away.

Day Two

Warnings

Young Herbaht are usually taken on their first hunt with their parents when they are no more than eleven years of age. Most will go on their first solo hunt at the age of twelve.

Tracking Devices

The most dangerous part of London for an undisguised Herbaht to be around at any
time of the day or night was within a radius of about half a mile to a mile around the old parliamentary buildings. Other than the museum itself, every building in those areas was a shop, an office block or some type of tourist trap. As a result, every street in the area was considered a main concourse. Every street was lit as clear as day even during the darkest nights, even during holidays. Traffic on those streets tended to go at no more than a crawl. Anyone could look into a passing vehicle and clearly see the features of the driver, despite the fact that the passing vehicles would have their internal lights off.

When February promised to give Kitty a tour of London, she had originally intended to include that most dangerous of areas in the tour. She had moved skittishly around the outskirts of the area
, looking for a road that didn’t have too great a tail back. Any time it became clear that they would be joining a queue of traffic, February turned the vehicle down another street or turned the vehicle back the way they had come. It wasn’t easy, and many times she found herself going down streets they had already visited in the same direction as before, only to have to leave the same way as before. February was beginning to feel as if they were going around in circles. Eventually she gave up; she could always give Kitty a virtual tour of the area on her computer.

Other than this part of London
, though, Kitty was given a very detailed tour of the city. Some of it she had seen before when on outings with her master, but most of it was new to her. Only once were they in danger of discovery, and February remained calm throughout, getting them away from the scene as soon as it began to develop.

At around fifteen minutes past midnight they arrived at a large square area of sand and gravel that seemed to act as the car park for a small derelict
-looking building in the middle of one side of the square. There was also an old sign in the corner of the square, the wood rotted and resting lopsidedly from its one remaining post to the ground, declaring that this entire area was about to be redeveloped. It didn’t appear that any work had ever actually been done here, and the sign must’ve been a good few years old.

Other than the one derelict building on the square itself, there were houses on three sides just across a road from the square. The fo
urth side seemed to be bordered by what had once been apartment flats but had been converted into office blocks. All the lights in the offices were out, though many of the houses seemed to have at least one light on. 

They weren’t the only ones parked here. Most of the other vehicles were probably owned by locals
; all of the surrounding houses had driveways, but they were only big enough for one car to park on and most families in this day and age had at least two. There were also sale notices on some of the vehicles; the owners might have brought these from a mile or more away. Wherever there was somewhere to park, someone seemed to be trying to sell something.

For some reason Kitty had imagined the cars driven by February and other wild Herbaht to be somehow different than those driven by humans. She couldn’t say why she felt this
; it was just a feeling, and maybe she had wanted the car to feel more feline. She was disappointed when she realized that the car February parked them next to and indicated as hers was one of the more common makes of car parked on this scrap of wasteland.

Kitty’s eyes ran quickly over the derelict building
. The left side of its roof had caved in, and if there had ever been any paint on the door, then there was no sign of it now.

‘What was it?’ Kitty asked
, nodding towards it.

‘Some sort of meeting hall
. They used to do wedding receptions and anniversary parties and the like, I think. It was once a meeting hall for our people too. They sold the place and went elsewhere when the roof caved in. The company that bought it was going to redevelop the entire area, but they got involved in some sort of scandal.’

‘A scandal?’
Kitty asked, interested.

‘They knew they were buying from Herbaht
; they got a very good price for the land, but then the locals got to hear about it. They were lucky just to go out of business. The Herbaht who had owned the land was careless when dealing with the humans and paid with his life. The land is state-owned now.’

‘It looks a little like an old pavilion,’ Kitty commented. This world was a dangerous place when even just selling land could get you killed. Why hadn’t her master prepared her better? Kitty tried to ignore the butterflies that were dancing in her stomach
; this was her life now, and she’d have to live it or wilt.

‘Could’ve been,’ February replied, ignoring or not seeing the expression on Kitty’s face
. ‘They’re always building and rebuilding in these outer-London areas; there could’ve been a sports ground or something nearby which has now been built over. I’ve never been that interested.’

February then surprised Kitty by climbing out of the vehicle without first checking that the coast was clear. In the holomovies they always checked
that the coast was clear before moving into something possibly hazardous. She then reached across the driver’s seat and lifted the two laser rifles out of their cradle. It was true that the car park itself wasn’t lit, but February had left the vehicle’s headlights on, and she headed toward that part of the car where she would be in full view of anyone passing on the nearby streets.

Kitty climbed out of the vehicle too. It would be difficult to hold a conversation with a sheet of plastiglass between them. Besides
, it would be good to get away from that corpse. She had been getting used to it being in the car with them, but she still didn’t like the almost accusing look the corpse’s now gray face seemed to be giving her. 

Besides, something else had been bothering her since they first started the tour. Something February had said about the tracking devices in the laser rifles didn’t ring true. ‘I know you said they wouldn’t give chase anymore
, but I was still surprised that we didn’t hear any more sirens. I have to admit I was glad we didn’t too.’

February shrugged indifferently
. She had started to remove the tracking devices from the laser rifles, using the light from the headlights as an aid. Herbaht had good night sight, but she still needed the extra light to see what she was doing. She worked fast and methodically, though, and already one tracking device lay on the stone and sand floor of the car park and she was replacing the panel she had removed to get to it. ‘I told you, they never pursue on the tracking devices in the lasers. They wait until we get home and then pounce.’

‘So, I assume that removing the tracking devices from the weapons before you take them home is unusual?’ asked
Kitty. ‘I mean, I see that you do it, but you’re in a minority. Few others, if any, do.’

February blinked
; she seemed a little confused by the question. ‘No, it’s common practice.’

Kitty spoke slowly
, as if working things out as she spoke. ‘They are always removed, and yet no one ever gives chase on them?’

February seemed frozen to the spot for a moment. She acted as if she had been struck by an epiphany. Then she started to undo the panel on the laser rifle she had just closed. ‘It does seem very strange.’

Soon February had the panel off the rifle again. Then she looked inside at the mass of wiring beyond, trying to see if anything looked as if it didn’t belong. It was delicate work, as she would want to avoid pulling any of the wires from their connections if she could avoid it.

‘The first was on top,’
said February as she worked, ‘as if they had given up hiding them. As if it was all a game that they had assumed they were going to lose.’

Kitty nodded
; she was glad she hadn’t had to spell it out to her new friend. She needed February’s help and really didn’t want to risk the chance that she would’ve offended her by having to actually tell of her suspicions. ‘I guess that sort of makes sense, though I’m a little surprised they would make it too easy. It would almost make it obvious that there was a second.’ Kitty almost covered her mouth; she felt she had sounded as if she was gloating.

‘Okay,’ February commented under her breath, not looking up
, ‘don’t rub it in.’

‘Any sign of the second?’ Kitty asked.

‘It’s here,’ February commented half-absently as she reached in carefully and removed the offending device, ‘much better hidden; it was disguised as some wires that don’t seem to have any actual bearing on the operation of the weapon. At least, I hope that’s the case.’

‘Otherwise the laser won’t work?’ Kitty suggested.

‘Yep,’ February replied. She dropped the wires to the floor and began to return the panel again. ‘I’ll have to warn our people. I guess we’ve been getting too complacent. As you said, the fact that the devices were so easy to remove should’ve been warning enough. This means they might already know where many of us live. I wonder why they haven’t struck.’

‘They are probably waiting to come down on everyone at once. If they raided some houses, it would warn everyone else. Are you sure you found all the devices? There might be a third
, a fourth, even a fifth.’