36. Shego with a Badge

By the time we neared home they woke up. It sounded like they picked up where they'd left off in a conversation. Me and Stevie do that, it's like they've been married for years.

"I don't see what you're so tweaked about, KP. She didn't try anything."

"She never had a chance." Kim was fuming. "Lucky for me she snared Sasha with that little cable. If it had been me, I bet she'd have turned the dial to broil."

"There's no need to worry." Ron leaned back. "The Ronster's a one-woman man, and you're the one for me. Besides, she never sent any signals."

"Never sent?!" Kid half shouted, half laughed. "I'm in love with the densest man in the universe…in two universes! Why am I surprised? I got you into the back seat of a car and you were still in the dark. I had to put your hand…"

Boy turned red. "Uh, KP, TMI for Sasha."

I cleared my throat in agreement. Kim shook her head. "Sorry, Big Sis."

"It's okay, it's not like I never used that move."

"Hey!" Ron sank down where I couldn't see him. "How do you know which move she used?"

"You're a guy."

He sat back up. "Yeah, and a guy knows what's going on…sometimes. And Yori's out to restore Yamanouchi. She's the Sheath Bearer, she needed the Sword."

"I think she was being a little more metaphorical with the whole sword and sheath thing, Ron."

"What do you mean, KP?"

Kim sighed. "Ron, you took Latin, the word for sheath is?"

"It's…oh."

"Okay, next topic." I got out and looked over my tunic. There were burn holes. Ruined.

"We've…"

"Got to get moving." Kim and Ron were out. "Ron told me about the time limit."

"Time limit?" So, Shihan told you, Ron? Not sure why he did that.

"Yeah," Ron was amazingly calm. "Shihan told me about his report. I think he's being optimistic about an invasion. Drakken with a few death rays and an army of synthoclones could take over this world in a long weekend."

"Hey, we're not that soft." Why am I so defensive? Some weird 'my universe can beat up your universe'?

"He's not saying that." Kim looked grim and more than a little sad. "I've studied your world a lot and Ron's right. Your world can be vicious, but it's never seen war like ours has."

Ron didn't look at all goofy. "I don't blame Shihan. If I were him, I'd probably do the same. They'd lose a lot of people coming after us, but that wouldn't stop Yamanouchi. They're ninja. The essence of Bushido is to die."

Okay, Sasha, time to play against type. "Hey, enough of this gloom fest. Shihan's right, the Japanese take a long time to decide anything. The Brain Trust'll come through first. For now we've got business."

Kim nodded. "Somebody threatened Marsha. And they're going to pay big."

Nbc

We laid out a few plans and everyone went to get some sleep. I tried to picture Marsha playing with her grandparents. Her smile helped me to doze off.

Reneca and I actually went in that evening. She needed to see Matheson. (She wouldn't admit it, but hey, I'm a woman.) There was someone else I needed to see.

Blakeman was apologetic. "The computer's a total loss. Hard drive's burned out, the disc reader's gone, you'll have to just buy a new one."

"Thought as much. Any idea who could've done this?"

"A few." He scratched his head. "They were smart; very, very smart. Every line that could've dealt with the kids was read, lifted, and then burned out. It can't be retrieved. Our guess is they went for those first, after that they did a general smash and grab. It's like burning down a house to hide a break-in."

"But what does that say about the perps?"

"Well, normally I'd say there are dozens of suspects. But this wasn't some garden variety hacker. A lot of time went into this, and a lot of computing power. Not what some kid would do for kicks."

"So we're talking?"

"Could still be about Pump. Mob has plenty of interest in it, and access to the computing power and expertise needed. I hope that's it. We can get at them."

But you doubt it, don't you Blakeman? He wanted to avoid my eyes but I wouldn't let him.

He sucked in his bottom lip. "My guess is it's intel. Just too thorough for anybody else."

He opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of jewel cases. "We saved your files. They're all marked. Download to a new computer should be a snap. Call me if you have any problems."

While I looked over the cases he pulled out one more. "Here's the photo file. We tried everything…called everyone we knew, and everyone they knew. Couldn't do a thing. We're so sorry. You still want this?"

Heat rose around my eyes. I had to catch my breath. "Yeah. A lot of these aren't on anything else. You saw the one with…the old woman? That was Grandma Pulaski, holding her great-granddaughter. She died two days later. Marsha's gonna see those eyes."

I felt a hand on my arm. He was looking right at me. They say trolls are evil. "You find them, Sasha, and when you find them, you hurt them! We've talked it over: we'll doctor tapes, change reports; we'll bury evidence in a hole so deep it'll take a paleontologist to dig it up! Just get them!"

"Count on it."

Nbc

I wanted to use my phone, but I was sure Du had it bugged. Legally by now, bet he's been listening in on me ever since the shoot-out at Dante's. The nerds had a secure line on a computer. I punched in the number.

He must have had caller i.d. The woman who answered didn't bother to cover herself.

"'Allo, luv. You want to speak to Mike?"

"You bet your cheerio-whatever. Can I see him?"

She turned the camera to face the bed. He was in the middle. Girl on the right was as black as coal. One on the right was Asian.

I shook my head. "So you're having Neapolitan tonight?"

"It's the flavor of the month." Thank God Mike made a toga with a bed sheet before he got up. The Brit girl turned away and he gave her a smack on the rump. "Why don't you girls just play? I won't be long."

Thought I was gonna have to yell to get his attention, but he turned before I started. His face was grim.

"Mom told me what happened the last time I called. I'm sorry, Sis."

"Thanks, but I'm not looking for sympathy."

"Know what you want." He started typing, he didn't even slow down when he turned to see what the giggling behind him was about. He looked back to the camera and smiled.

"There! That file puts your hand on every set of short hairs of every criminal organization in Go City. All you gotta do is pull. If anybody knows anything, they'll squeal."

I stared at the file on the screen. "Thanks, Big Bro. I hope this…"

"Sis, this isn't my insurance policy. That one would bring down everybody. Haven't waved that one around since the DA went after Daddy that time."

New DA, guy named Donny Sortch, went after Daddy once, accusing him of everything but the kiss at Gethsemane. (I think he had Daddy as an accessory there.) Sure, he didn't have any real evidence, but a lot of guys were willing to perjure themselves for a nice get-out-of-jail-free card. Things were starting to look bad until Mike started playing hard ball. By the time he quit making calls the Mayor, the City Council, the state legislature, the Congressional delegation, both Senators and the Vice President were all breathing down the DA's neck. He closed the investigation and served out a quiet term. He's doing real well in divorce court now.

"Sis, I'm not even gonna guess who's behind this. If it's the mob, it's nothing new for them to threaten family. Hell, they threatened us once. Daddy threw the messengers out of a second story window. Shut them up."

Never heard about that. "Thanks, we'll take it from here. Enjoy your vacation."

He shrugged. "I figure, another hundred thou and I'm coming home. Clear the road, Sis. Now, my dessert's calling. Bye."

"Bye, Big Bro." Hope you've had your shots. I turned to face Blakeman and company.

"At least destroy the sound."

Nbc

The first target was obvious: big organization, major money maker, and medium security. A hit on a place like this would show we meant business. We crouched outside the warehouse door. Why is it always a warehouse? Kim looked at her kimmunicator.

"Go, Wade."

"Okay, I've got control of their security. No alarms. Once you get started, I'll send in the 'B' team."

Kim nodded. "Let's go."

I used Mike's knock. The man opened right up and got Reneca's baton in the chest. After we tied him up we split. Kim took to the ceiling, while Reneca and I made our way past the boxes.

Big organization: this belonged to Baba Jaga; there were dozens of men running machines handling hundreds of liquor bottles per hour. A major money maker: the fake tax stamps represented thousands in lost revenue for the city and big profits for the sellers. The medium security sat around a table playing cards.

"Freeze!" We ran out with our guns drawn. Nobody got dumb. I went around pulling guns. The last one was a big guy named Nikoli Marshenkov.

"Sasha, what gives? This isn't an election year."

"This isn't politics, it's personal. Somebody pushed me, Nik. I'm pushing back."

One guy looked to his buddy and spoke in Russian. "What is the stupid bitch talking about?"

I busted his lip with my gun butt. "Sorry, the stupid bitch is clumsy, too."

Nik shook his head. "Everyone stay calm!" He turned back to me. "Sasha, it would be best for everyone if the two of you left before…"

"Before what? Security wakes up?" I looked up to the observation cabin overlooking the floor. Glass shattered as Kim swung in through a window. A man screamed as he went half-way through another one. Another crashed through the door and rolled down a flight of steps and just lay there. Next a rifle flew out the doorway and landed near us. The magazine was missing, the bolt was stripped out and the stock was broken.

Kim walked out of the door, dusting off her hands. The guys stared at the wisp of a girl. I just smiled.

She won't be happy when I tell her you called me a bitch.

"I miss anything?" Kim folded her arms and looked over the boys. They really couldn't believe their eyes now. The workers had all run off the moment we came in. Most likely illegals. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her kimmunicator. Must be on the special frequency.

"The 'B' team's in, Sis."

Somebody came running from the other part of the warehouse. "Nik, we got trouble!"

"Really? What's going on over there?"

"There's a couple of guys and…they're beating up your car!"

"WHAT?!" Just then we heard a loud crumpling sound, along with glass shattering. You could hear somebody yell 'Oh Yeah!' over the mayhem.

"What're they using, hammers?" Nik frowned.

"Nothing!" The other guy was shaking.

"Impossible, that's a Diamer! The body's one piece of hand-tooled steel!"

The horn went off next. Another smash and it shut off. Two guys walked in. You could see the smile under Ed's mask. He was juggling a pair of bottles. Ron was all business. He looked around.

"This looks like one of those parties we never get invited to, KP. Guess we'll have to crash."

Kim knew what was coming. The rest of us just ended up gaping. Ron started to shine blue and float. His hair stirred and it was like he was the eye of a hurricane. Crates came off the shelves and circled him. Soon the air was thick with flying bottles. Gotta hand it to Ed, he took it all in stride. A brown bottle called to him. He snagged it.

"Hey," Reneca shouted, "if you see a McGoingle's, get it for me!"

His hand shot out and he pulled in a green bottle. "Single malt?"

"That's the poison!"

Ron opened an eye. A bottle left the cyclone and smashed through the ones on the lines. More followed. Others crashed into crates and boxes. The place began to reek of alcohol.

Nik was shaking. "Sasha, what the Hell's this about? HOW'S he doing that?"

"Ask Baba. Maybe the Witch would know."

"Please, Sasha, stop! She'll kill us!"

I didn't believe him for a moment, but the message was sent. "Okay, Monkey Boy, you can call off the storm."

He settled down to the ground. The remaining bottles set down as pretty as you please. I got into Nik's face as my little gang lined up behind me.

"You tell Baba I want to know who I gotta kill. That's it. Tell me, and I'll leave you alone. Don't tell me, and I just might lose it. You don't want me to do that."

Nik didn't bother with any counter-threat. We dropped their guns at the door, minus magazines; of course, I was mad, not stupid.

We got to the cars. Ed pulled off his mask. "Man! I'd forgotten how much fun it is to just DESTROY something! Wish I could figure out how you're tapping into kinetic energy like that, Ron. Got time to come to the lab?"

"Nah, we have other appointments tonight."

"Thanks, Ed." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I felt a lot better knowing he had somebody with him in there."

The big guy had his crazy smile on. "Hey, just because we're not related doesn't mean you aren't family. Now, we better all get moving."

You're right there. We've got a lot to do, and a time limit.