VIII: Enter Scruffy

6 weeks later, Nightfall approached a newspaper stand in Berlint. She wore the same pants she had for Handler, or ones just like them, but whatever she wore above was covered by her coat. A man of uncertain age looked up at her and smiled. He had glasses, curly hair and a hint of freckles. He gave her a quick inspection. "Hello, lady," he said. "How are you doing? I have something you might like…" He held up a periodical with the title THE LIBERTINE. "It's a free-love periodical, gray but legal, they set it up as a gossip rag but they say the publisher has connections in the Unity Front, I heard you were looking into them…"

"Are you done with my special order?" she said. "And we talked about this last time, Franky."

"All right, all right, business," the man who had gone by Franky Franklin once in his life said. "You can take off the coat," he added as he led her to a stockroom. "It's really pretty warm."

"I'm fine," she said. She crossed her arms as if she were indeed too cold.

"So anyway," Franky said, "they get real dirt, though they never name names. They've been running down a crazy story. It goes that an SSS officer and a WISE agent went to bed together under orders, and then wouldn't quit. They're calling them Puppy Dog and Ice Queen. The latest is that they took out two assassins on their way to a shack-up. Here it is… `He focked up those two Red Circus fockers, she got him focked up drunk, and then they focked off and focked each other all night…'"

"Fine, I'll take it," Nightfall said. "Free. Show me my order."

"You bet." Franky took out two large envelopes, then opened one. "Here's what you asked for. It's backdated. That means my contact made sure that if someone looks in the archives for the original, they will find it. Take that into account for my fee."

Nightfall considered it. It said at the top, CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE. One of the names was Yor Briar. "Good," she said. "It should pass any inspection. Now what's in the other envelope?"

"Well, for you, I put in some extra work," Franky said, with a grin that immediately made her think of deducting several teeth. "This is what you need."

She glanced inside at the contents. It could be counted as another forgery, the same way that a child's finger smudges and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel both counted as a painting. "This is just insulting, Franky," she said.

Franky shook his head. "You really haven't done this, have you?" he said. "Look at it this way. What do you think customs agents see more often, an up-and-coming state officer with a double-barrel smoker he says is his wife… or one he's really married to?"

"Fine," Nightfall said. "You said you had something else, from a mutual friend."

"You bet," Franky said. He took out another envelope. She opened it immediately. It held a file. Paper-clipped to the top was a photo of a woman not unlike herself. "Our friend gave instructions that it should be given to anyone in contact with Yuri Briar. Short version, Anastasia Romenko. Agent for Carpathanian intelligence. Young, but rising fast. 18 months ago, she was sent to Obda on a simple honeytrap operation. She went into a tavern to meet with a mid-level functionary for the Ostanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She left with her subject. She was never seen again."

"We knew about her," Nightfall said. "It was the Carpathanians. They could have been the ones who botched it. What do you have that's new?"

"Take a look," Franky said. "The Carpathanians said they never got a picture of their subject. Maybe they didn't, but a Hugarian observation team did." The photo he held up showed two people leaving the same tavern where she had met Yuri Briar. One was the woman in the first photo. The other…

"It's not conclusive," she said. "It might not be him." She knew it was Yuri Briar.

They went back to the counter "Here's your bonus. The rest will be deposited as usual." She tossed a 5-dalc note on the counter.

"If you ask me, she probably just did a rabbit run," Franky said. "It happens. If you do what I do long enough, you get to know the type."

"I didn't," Nightfall said. "Good-bye, Franky." She drew her coat tighter as she stepped outside. "Dammit. Always bring a spare…"

She stepped out into the early spring weather. She wandered until dusk became night, twice stopping for a drink. After a time, she took a turn down a street that decent and sensible women usually avoided at any time of day or night. This was remarkable enough that she had gone a good way before the first skulking figure started to close in on her. He was cautious enough to follow for a block and a half before he closed in. That was when a gentle hand took hold of his shoulder. He actually turned to speak to the newcomer, before an arm locked around his throat. He looked back in the direction of his quarry, in time to see a terrifying Valkyrie rushing straight for him. With a shriek, she kicked, and his next clear perception was opening his eyes on the inside of a slaughterhouse. A very friendly face leaned in.

"Sorry, but I needed to ask," the man said. "Were you by any chance working for someone when you followed this woman?"

The man blinked, then stared, first at the smiling man, then at the woman standing just at the edge of the light. "Good God," he said. "You're him. That's her." He shook his head. "No no no, I don't no work for nobody. Just let me go, I swear I won't say nothing."

"No," the woman said. She filed her nails with a long, thin knife that gleamed as bright as chrome. "You won't.

"Don't mind her," said the smiling man. "She's just had a rough day. You're fine. Except… I'm wondering about what you meant about me and her. Have there been people talking about us? Oh, and now that I think about it, just following an innocent woman down Pest Street at 8:30 at night doesn't really sound any better, does it?"

"Innocent?" said the captive. "Nobody innocent goes down-!" His vision was filled by a fist.

"Sorry, but I had to stop you right there," said the man. "It sounded like you were going to say something that might make the lady mad. You really don't want to do that. In fact, I should get her home. Otherwise, I'd love to stay and chat."

"No," the woman said, stepping fully into the light. "I like this one. I want to play with him a little."

"Sorry, we need to go," the man said. "We have our big trip tomorrow. You've been looking forward to it, haven't you?" He turned back to the captive. "You're free to go. At any rate, you will be when your friends find you. You all get along just fine, right?"

Then he threw his arms around the woman as she lunged. "Twilight!" she shrieked. "Twilight, you patronizing dog-focker! Why send Franky to tell me what I already knew?"