DISCLAIMER
Enter Kate McCardle and Allie Lowell, and we're going into James Bond territory here. The scene described is borrowed a little from the James Bond movie, Live and Let Die.
DETECTIVES KATE AND ALLIE
The Diary Room - The Next Morning
Kate McCardle watched Cybill slip the diary back into its draw. She waited until Cybill left before going over to open the draw and remove the diary. She had heard that Cybill and Maryann had got married from Rose. Rose had suggested that under Galactic Federation law, because the union was consummated by the mixing of blood, even if it was under duress, the marriage was legal and official.
"I wonder who's going to tell them?" Kate said
"Tell them what?"
Kate looked up and saw that Allie Lowell had joined her. Kate silently gave Allie the diary. Allie read the part Kate had just read.
"See what you mean," Allie said "I think they should be told."
"You're going to tell them."
"Maybe through the diary."
"Coward."
"Just being practical," Allie said "That's what the diary's for."
"What about Laverne and Shirley?"
"I agree with Cybill," Allie said.
"About?"
"Shirley's obsession with her dream. It's blinding her to the fact that she loves Laverne."
"You've seen that?"
"Kate, have you seen the way Shirley looks at Laverne?"
"Maybe we should arrange for them to get married."
"I don't think New Texas will allow us back anytime soon," Allie said.
"There are other planets that might arrange such a marriage, Al," Kate said "Talking about New Texas, do you think we should tell what happened to us whilst our two Thelma and Louise's were running New Texas's law enforcement ragged?"
"The story of how we got ourselves chained to a bomb," Allie said.
"And survived to tell the tale," Kate finished.
"Your choice, Pal."
Kate smiled.
"Why not."
Kate and Allie headed out of the room, with the diary in Kate's hand.
Flashback - A Bar, Downtown New Texas
Kate and Allie entered the bar and looked around nervously. The place heaved with people, all kinds of people. Humanoids, like the kind who goosed Allie as soon as she walked through the door.
"Did you see that?" Allie complained.
"Sure did," Kate answered "You should be flattered."
"Flattered," Allie said "It bloody well hurt."
Two spiky headed aliens with green skin pushed past them. One of them touched Kate's rear as he did so.
"Hey!" Kate shouted glaring at the alien.
"At least mine was human," Allie said "You get a spiky green dragon."
"Allie!"
"What?"
"We have a contact to meet, remember."
"Of course."
Allie half chuckled as she and Kate headed to the rendezvous point - the booth closest to the rear door. As they sat down a man came over to them bearing drinks.
"McCardle and Lowell?"
"That's us," Kate said.
"Compliments of the house," The man said placing the drinks in front of them "Your friend will be seeing you soon."
Both Kate and Allie watched the strange man leave.
"McCardle and Lowell," Kate said "I like that. Makes us sound like a couple of TV Detectives."
"Like Starsky and Hutch?"
"Can't we be McCardle and Lowell, it has a nice ring to it."
"We could be Hanlon and Adams," Allie added "That has an even better ring to it."
"I prefer McCardle and Lowell."
"As you wish, Detective McCardle," Allie said.
Allie looked at the drinks suspiciously.
"You think we should touch them?" She asked.
"You think they're drugged, Detective Lowell?" Kate half teased.
"They could be, Detective McCardle," Allie answered "This is an alien planet."
"Or it simply could be a way to make contact."
Kate picked up the drink and took a sip and found that she liked it. Seeing the look of concern on Allie's face, she decided to play a trick on her. She slumped to the table, her head resting on the wooden surface.
"Kate?"
Allie shook Kate
"Kate, Please."
Kate took Allie's hand.
"Do you love me?"
"With all my heart," Allie answered "You know that. You're my best friend."
"And you'd die without me?"
"Yes, I would."
Kate suddenly sat up.
"Then thank god I'm not dying anytime soon."
Allie swiped Kate on the arm.
"That was not funny, Kate," She said.
Kate took another sip of her drink and gestured to Allie's. Allie sighed.
"Ok, you win."
Allie took a sip. Her eyes opened as the taste of the drink hit her taste buds.
"This is good," Allie admitted.
Kate touched Allie's arm. Their eyes met and looked into each others eyes for a full minute before Kate finally said:
"I wonder where our contact is?"
It was a question that seemed to trigger all sorts of answers. The first answer was the booth turning one hundred and eighty degrees and throwing them both down a slope. A few seconds of eternity, and some screams later, they hit some matting at the end of the ride. Allie picked herself up from the matting and rushed over to where Kate was sitting up. She helped Kate get to her feet.
"What the hell was that?" Kate asked.
"The answer to your question?" Allie suggested.
"Or a trap."
"Could be that," Allie agreed.
They waited briefly to be taken into captivity. There was nothing else they could do, as there seemed to be nowhere to hide, but to wait for those men with big guns they always seem to run into in these situations to come and slip those obligatory chains on their wrists. Over the last six months Kate, Allie, Cybill, Maryann, Laverne and Shirley had seen their fair share of chains. They had been chained to walls, hung in chains from ceilings, or sometimes chained together in dark dungeons. In six months, two divorcees from New York, an actress and a former socialite from Hollywood, and two former bottle cappers, and army reservists from Milwaukee had seen so many things, been in so much trouble, fought so many bad guys that they were in danger of being stars in a real life B movie. The day Rose, Donna and Martha took them on board the Tardis was the day their lives changed forever. It could be argued that finding out that they were alleged daughters of a mythical Saxon god was the moment their lives changed, but this was virtually the trip of a lifetime, and totally life changing, as well as terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. That was why when nobody with big guns arrived, there was a sense of relief and disappointment at the same time.
"Okay," Allie said "What now?"
"We find our contact."
They started walking down the corridor, trying every door they came too and finding them frustratingly locked.
"I wish they could have just taken us to our contact instead of throwing us down that damned chute," Allie complained.
"This is that film isn't it," Kate said.
"What film?"
"That James Bond film," Kate said "The one with Jane Seymour."
"Live and Let Die."
"That's the one."
Allie shrugged at the thought.
"So if we follow that logic," Allie said "We open a door, say this one and somebody looking like Jane Seymour will be there with some Tarot cards in front of her."
Kate looked at the door Allie was pointing to.
"Try it."
"Kate!"
"Humour me."
Allie held out her hands in surrender and tried the door. It opened at her touch. Allie froze, so did Kate. Allie looked at Kate and then took a deep breath. Kate took Allie's hand and squeezed it as Allie opened the door. There in front of them was 'Solitaire' with Tarot cards. Allie quickly shut the door again.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Maybe we're dreaming this," Kate said.
Allie opened the door again and saw that 'Solitaire' was still there. She shut the door again.
"No dream."
"What do you want to do, Pal?"
Allie took a deep breath and entered the room, dragging Kate with her. The woman stood up.
"Detectives McCardle and Lowell, welcome."
"We're not Detectives," Kate said.
"Trust me, Mrs McCardle, you are," The Woman said "Please take a seat and I'll give you a reading."
"We're trying to find our contact," Allie said.
"I'm not that contact," 'Solitaire' said.
"Then…"
"But I may know where that contact is."
"How?" Kate asked.
"Through the cards."
"Why did I have feeling she was going to say that," Kate said.
She sat down. Allie looked at her in amazement.
"We can't stay here."
"Al, we need clues," Kate said "If this woman can tell us where our contact is through the cards…"
Allie sighed, shook her head and sat down next to Kate. 'Solitaire' went through the routine associated with a Tarot reading before placing six cards in a square on the table. As each card was turned over, she gave an interpretation of the meaning of the card. Three things emerged, they were in danger, anybody could have told them that, they were very close to finding the truth.
"In what way?" Allie pressed.
"Greyskull has two timed some very serious people, some very powerful people," 'Solitaire' said "People who would kill to protect themselves."
"And set outsiders up to take the fall for them?" Kate countered with.
"Very much so," 'Solitaire' answered "These people are so important that being seen to commit a capital crime would be disastrous for them. So they would either hire a hit man or set someone up to take the fall for them."
"Someone like Maryann Thorpe and Cybill Sheridan."
"Or Kate McCardle and Allie Lowell, or Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney," 'Solitaire' smiled "Mrs Thorpe and Ms Sheridan were just unlucky it was them."
"What about the witness?" Allie asked.
"Very close," 'Solitaire' said "But you may not find her alive."
Allie looked at Solitaire.
"You're kidding us, right?"
"Solitaire never jokes," The Woman said.
Both Kate and Allie froze for a moment and then laughed.
"Good one," Kate said.
"Why do you say that?"
"You've just called yourself Solitaire."
"That is my name," Solitaire said.
Now Kate and Allie's mood changed to being quizzical. Solitaire smiled as she recognised what the joke was about.
"It isn't my fault that Ian Fleming created a character with not only my name but also my skills," Solitaire added "Maybe I should sue. What do you think?"
"Ian Fleming's dead," Kate said "It might be a bit difficult."
"Not as difficult as you may think," Solitaire said "And dead people can talk as well."
"How?"
Solitaire's smile broadened.
"Time is wasting," She said "You must leave."
"Where?" Allie asked.
"Follow your instincts," Solitaire answered.
"Our instincts?"
"You have very strong instincts, both of you," Solitaire "You have inherited those skills from your fellow Daughters and from Robert of Huntingdon and Marion of Leaford, use them."
Kate and Allie got up.
"Thank you," Kate said.
"I'm only helping the service of justice."
"What was the third thing you wanted to tell us?" Allie asked.
Solitaire turned over the last card. It was the lovers card.
"That's the two of you," Solitaire said "And Laverne De Fazio, Shirley Feeney, Cybill Sheridan and Maryann Thorpe. Don't fight it, the die has already been cast, and has been the moment you met Laverne and Shirley. However, I suspect you already know that."
Kate and Allie looked at each other. That was probably true. They took each others hands and left. Solitaire shimmered into Athena.
"Be careful, Kate, Allie," Athena said "It hurts me that I can do no more."
With that Athena disappeared.
The Tardis Console Room
"I can't believe that our Solitaire was Athena in disguise," Allie said "Why didn't she just reveal herself to us."
"Because she couldn't get officially involved," Kate answered "This was the only way she could do it."
Allie looked at the Diary again. She was stunned when Donna told her and Kate that Athena was their Solitaire. When she was told why, she understood, but considering what happened next, they could have done with Athena's help.
"Thinking we could have done with her help?" Kate said.
"I love it when you can read my mind like that."
"Not really," Kate said "I was thinking of the same thing. If Athena had been with us, we wouldn't have fallen into that trap."
"Yeah!" Allie said
The thought of how they fell into that trap still rankled. They just walked through a door, feeling confident that nothing was going to happen and felt very hard taps on their heads. They could have used chloroform rather than coshes for god's sake.
Flashback - Kate and Allie's Prison
"Al?"
Allie opened her eyes and felt a blinding headache hit her like a tidal wave.
"Headache?"
"A whopper!" Allie agreed.
"Don't worry," Kate said "I feel the same way."
Allie looked down and saw the distressing sight of chains around her waist. She could also feel somebody tied to her.
"Don't worry, Al, it's me," Kate said.
"Why did they hit us like that?"
"They wanted to escape?"
"And tie us up like this?"
"They wanted to make sure we couldn't follow," Kate said "There's something else. Look ahead of you, Allie."
Allie looked up and saw the obvious sign of a dead woman slumped on the opposite wall. She stifled a natural urge to throw up at the sight ahead of her.
"Our contact?"
"I assume so."
"That's just great," Allie said "We're screwed."
"We could try and break these chains," Kate suggested "Our hands are free."
"We're not Superman, Kate," Allie said.
"But we are Daughters of Herne," Kate suggested again "Maybe we have Buffy Summers' slayer strength inherited within us."
"Or Willow and the Charmed Ones' magical abilities," Allie added "It's worth a try."
Both Kate and Allie managed to get up and start to pull on the chain that linked them to a solid and unmovable pole.
"It's not moving, Allie," Kate said.
Both Kate and Allie pulled at the chain even harder, using all of their combined weight and their combined strength to try and break the chain. It wouldn't break, it wouldn't even buckle. They sat back down again, defeated. Allie pulled at the chains that held her and Kate tightly together. They then thought about using inherited magic. Nothing happened.
"Why?" Allie slammed her hand on the concrete ground and almost wailed.
"Maybe something needs to happen for us to inherit those powers," Kate said "Some sort of union."
Allie took a deep breath and pulled at the chains around her waist.
"I'm really starting to hate chains," Allie said.
"You and me both, Pal."
Kate managed to turn herself around so that her head was resting on Allie's shoulder.
"You okay, Allie?"
"No better than our friend over there," Allie answered.
"We're not dead, Al."
"We may as well be," Allie said "Do Rose, Donna and Martha know where we are? No. And why weren't we killed? Why were we simply chained together like this."
"Allie!"
"Whoever did this to us has got something planned, something nasty."
"For god's sake, Allie!"
Kate held onto Allie tightly. The action released the tightness of the chain but so much that they could wriggle their way free, but enough for Allie to twist herself so that they were eyeball to eyeball, their faces and their bodies touching.
"I'm so scared, Kate."
Kate lightly touched Allie's head with hers.
"So am I, Pal."
They looked into each others eyes and saw something that they'd never seen before. The third thing that Solitaire had suggested was that they were lovers. Both Kate and Allie had scoffed at the idea, but now with them in this predicament, with their bodies touching like this, it was almost irresistible. But then Allie stopped.
"We can't do this."
Allie smiled.
"Not yet anyway?"
Kate kissed Allie on the cheek.
"Allie, you are a minx."
They rested each other's head on each other's shoulders, both holding onto each other to lessen the tightness of the chains around them, both feeling each other's breath on their shoulders, both hearing each other's beating hearts. Then Kate heard something other than Allie's heart, something sinister.
"Al, what's that?"
"What's what?"
"That ticking."
They both looked over and noticed for the first time a grey metallic box on a table.
"I hope that's not what I think it is," Allie said.
They got up and tried reaching the table but found that the chain held them back just out of reach. They could see, however, that the box was open and had what looked like a timing mechanism which was counting down from sixty minutes.
"Told you," Allie said.
"It's a bomb!" Both Kate and Allie screamed.
Both Kate and Allie tried to get as far away from the bomb as possible but found that they couldn't, the chain wouldn't let them. They tried pulling at the chain again, hoping that sheer panic would break that chain, it wouldn't budge. Allie could feel her breathing and her heart accelerating. Kate put her arms around her in an attempt to calm her down.
"We'll be alright."
"That's a bomb, Kate," Allie said "And in less than an hour it's going to go off and we're both going to be dead. How are we going to be alright?"
"Because Rose, Donna and Martha will find us."
"How? Telepathy?"
"They sent us here," Kate said "They know where we are."
"They don't know about this underground bunker."
"Allie, I'm trying to be positive here."
Allie sunk her head on Kate's shoulder. Kate could feel tears on her shoulder and started to stroke Allie's hair like a mother trying to calm a child.
"This is like that incident Laverne and Shirley told us about," Kate said.
"What incident?" Allie asked.
"Laverne and Shirley chained themselves together in an attempt to protest against having their electricity cut off by the Milwaukee Gas and Electric Company."
"And found themselves chained to a bomb," Allie said "That was three sticks of dynamite linked to a timer. Easy to deal with."
"Really?" Kate said.
"They opened the safe, threw the dynamite into it, and shut the safe door," Allie said "The safe cushioned the force of the explosion. Even I would have thought of that."
Kate glanced at the box.
"You've got to be kidding," Allie said "Firstly, there's no safe and even if there was a safe, could it contain the explosion? Secondly, that box is out of our reach. Thirdly, even if we could reach it how far could either of us throw it. Fourthly…."
"Alright! Alright! Allie, it's impractical," Kate said "What do we do?"
"Pray?"
"For what?"
"Wisdom? A miracle?"
"What we could do is search the body for clues."
Allie looked at the body perched up at the far wall.
"Who conducts the search?"
Kate looked at Allie. Allie violently shook her head.
"You've got to be kidding," Allie protested.
"You're in a better position than me," Kate said "And these chains are too tight for us to change places. You have to search the body."
Allie looked at the dead woman. Her face was a picture of fear and disgust.
"I want to die knowing who killed us," Kate said "Maybe she has the answers we need?"
"The person who killed her probably has the answers we need."
"Al, It's worth a look."
Kate nuzzled Allie's neck.
"Please?"
Allie sighed.
"You get the next dead body," Allie said "If we survive this."
"Scouts honour," Kate said "If we survive this."
Allie looked at Kate and took a deep breath. She and Kate then moved over to the dead body together. Allie looked at the body, and then at Kate again. Kate urged her to conduct the search. Allie took another deep breath and began the search. It wasn't long before Allie found a pass that proved who the dead body was. Her name was Elvira Costello, she was the personal secretary and lover of Senator Ron De Largo. De Largo was Greyskull's closest ally and personal friend. If he was involved in the assassination of Greyskull and the framing of Maryann and, by association, Cybill, then the implications were enormous and would mean that if they survived this, Rose, Donna, Martha, Laverne, Shirley, Cybill, Maryann, and Kate and Allie themselves would have to get out of New Texas fast.
"It's circumstantial," Kate suggested on seeing the pass.
"It's damning," Allie suggested in return.
They both turned to look at the grey box which housed the bomb and almost wanted to cry like babies. They had a lead, but there may well be no way they could follow up that lead unless they got out of these chains and out of the room before that bomb blew. Despair crept in and forced Kate to hold Allie closely as the latter broke down.
"How long do we have?" Allie finally developed the courage to ask.
"Do you really want to know?"
Allie nodded. Both Kate and Allie crawled over to the bomb and hauled themselves up. They could see that they only had thirty minutes.
"What do we do?" Allie asked.
"We could cry for help."
"Will they hear us?"
"We have to try something."
Allie looked at the body and then at the scared look on Kate's face.
"On three."
Kate nodded.
"One!"
"Two!" Kate added.
"Three!" They both said and then they shouted "HELP!"
It was the first of many cries.
Twenty Minutes Later
Both Kate and Allie looked at the grey box again. They had called for help at least once every two minutes for the last twenty minutes and nothing happened. No Rose, Donna or Martha, not even somebody investigating who was shouting for help. It was looking hopeless. Kate felt herself rocking Allie as tears cascaded from her eyes. Kate didn't feel any better. They were about to die and there was nothing they could do about it. Then out of of the pit of despair came rescue. The door blew open and Rose, Donna and Martha entered.
"Kate, Allie!" Donna said "Thank god. Are you okay?"
"Fine," Kate said "Just untie us and get us the hell out of here."
Donna produced a sonic screwdriver and used it to free Kate and Allie. At the same time Rose went to look at the bomb, whilst Martha examined the body.
"Her name is Elvira Costello," Allie said.
"Ron De Largo's personal secretary?" Martha said.
Allie nodded.
"That ties up with what we've found," Donna said "De Largo and Greyskull were business partners until Greyskull got a little greedy."
"De Largo had Greyskull killed, and set up Maryann and Cybill to take the fall," Kate deduced.
"How long have you known?" Allie asked
"We've suspected it for sometime," Martha said "It was only confirmed thirty seconds ago when you told us who she was. She was going to tell you everything. De Largo got to her first, and tried to get rid of the evidence by having you killed here and Maryann, Cybill, and probably Laverne and Shirley, killed whilst trying to escape justice, and definitely Rose, Donna and myself killed in some sort of accident."
"You could have told us," Allie countered.
"Guys, can we argue later," Kate said "That bomb is on a timer."
"There's plenty of time," Rose said taking the sonic screwdriver from Donna.
"You're kidding, right?"
Rose started to dismantle the bomb.
"She's not," Allie said.
"Rose?" Martha said.
"We have no choice," Rose said "There's enough explosives in this box to wipe out at least three blocks, and we don't have time to evacuate the area."
"Just shout bomb," Kate suggested "That will do it."
"That will create panic," Donna suggested "They'll be running around like headless chickens. If Rose cant defuse it in time, it will be a massacre."
Donna went over to join Rose.
"Can you do it?"
Rose looked at Martha, Donna, Kate and Allie.
"Yes."
"Oh hell!" Allie said.
"You don't have to stay," Martha said "You can find Laverne, Shirley, Cybill and Maryann and get them back to the TARDIS."
"And leave you three to die," Allie said "I don't think so."
"Who will fly the TARDIS if you die?" Kate added "We certainly can't, and I doubt Laverne, Shirley, Cybill or Maryann could either."
Rose, Donna and Martha looked at each other. Kate had a point. If they died, Laverne, Shirley, Cybill, Maryann, Kate and Allie would effectively be stranded on a planet that was prepared to have them all executed at the slightest infraction of the rules
"Then make sure that you write it up in the diary correctly," Donna said "No melodramatics. I don't like reading crap like that."
"We promise," Allie said.
"No crap," Kate finished "No melodramatics."
"All yours, Blondie," Donna said.
Rose looked at the bomb in front of her. Donna, at Rose's gesture, took a hold of the bomb to ensure that it was held still. Martha guided Kate and Allie out of the room to ensure that at least one of them would be alive to fly the TARDIS if Rose failed.
The Console Room
Kate stopped writing and looked at Allie. It wasn't even close. Five minutes later Rose and Donna emerged with Rose carrying the detonator in her hand. The Law Enforcement officials arrived to deal with the new deactivated bomb after Martha tipped them off. They were of course long gone in order to go after Laverne, Shirley, Cybill and Maryann.
"We promised them no crap, no melodramatics," Allie said.
Kate gave Allie the diary to read. Allie read the diary and looked at Kate.
"You sure you want to tell them that?"
"Someone has to," Kate said "They take way too many risks."
"They also take too many risks with their companions," Allie suggested "They did with us and Laverne and Shirley on New Texas."
"We had to for Cybill and Maryann's sake."
"The point is, Kate, that Cybill and Maryann shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place. Both Shirley and Cybill said we should have left when we saw that guy being executed for stealing."
Kate smiled.
"Probably the only time they've agreed on anything."
Allie allowed herself a smile at that suggestion.
"You have to admit, Al," Kate continued "That life with Rose, Donna and Martha isn't boring."
"Kate, It's bloody dangerous."
"But not boring?" Kate repeated "Just say so and I'll make them take us home."
Allie looked at Kate for a moment. It was true that she was missing Jennie and Chip, and Kate was more than likely missing Emma. However, Donna, Rose and Martha did say that this was important. They did say that she, Kate, Laverne, Shirley, Cybill and Maryann needed time together in order to bond, that lives depended on them growing and bonding together.
"It's up to you, Allie," Kate said "Just say the word and I will badger them until they do take us home."
"Do you want to?"
"Do you want the honest answer to that?"
"Yes."
"The answer is no."
"Why?"
"There's something invigorating about this life," Kate said "I feel alive, I feel refreshed."
"Life with me was boring then?"
"Far from it, Allie," Kate said "But we were both becoming stale. We needed to get away, to explore what it was like to be free, to be reckless."
"To be alive?"
"Exactly," Kate said "The last adventure showed how dangerous this life can be, but didn't you feel excited?"
"Kate, we were nearly blown up," Allie said "We were involved in a fire fight that could have got us killed. We were physically expelled from New Texas because we upset the apple cart. Better still, it's possible we could be married not only to each other, but also to Laverne De Fazio, Shirley Feeney, Cybill Sheridan and Maryann Thorpe."
"Didn't you feel excited?" Kate repeated "Come on, admit it, you did."
"What about Emma?"
"Max needs to spend more time with her, and she has Charles and Claire," Kate said "And didn't Martha say that wouldn't be gone long."
Allie found a chair and sat down. She had to admit that she had been feeling a little restless, a little unfulfilled. Going back to school helped, but it wasn't filling the void that the divorce from Charles had created. She looked at Kate and felt something that had been missing for some time - Love. She loved Kate. When she played dead in that bar, her heart nearly stopped. When they were chained to that bomb, there was a sense of contentment, as bizarre as that sounded. She was going to die holding the woman who shared most of her life including its ups and downs, and that made her feel contented. She had to admit that she did feel excited about what happened next, that they played a leading part in the rescue of Laverne, Shirley, Cybill and Maryann from that mine they had been imprisoned in. Admittedly, Maryann, in particular, had started making their jailors life hell, but all four of them were close to death when Kate and Allie intervened. She had saved the lives of four people that mattered to her by doing something that Alison Adams Lowell had never done in her life. That made her feel good.
"It's your call, Allie."
Allie looked into Kate's eyes. She could see that Kate Hanlon McCardle wanted to go on. So did she.
"No Kate, you don't have to ask Rose, Donna and Martha to take us home. Charles and Claire can have Jennie and Chip for a bit longer."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
Kate hauled Allie to her feet and hurled her around in the same way that Robert of Huntingdon did all that time ago.
"I love you, Allie."
"I love you, Kate."
Kate released Allie and then took up the pen again, and began writing.