~~~Forward~~~ Okay you kats, we're about to embark on a journey of evil
proportions:  people in positions of protection and trust betraying the
very people their supposed to protect and those that are actually doing
the job. 

I absolutely HATE people like that. This ain't gonna be as cute-z pie as
my others. 

And, while you're at it, drop by my SWAT Kats site. It's puny and
pathetic, but it's there with some great links, er, excuse me lynx.

	http://members.tripod.com/~Asis_the_Warrior/SWAT_Kats.html

			~Chella 
 			(rachella@juno.com)
____________________________________________________________________

Book Seven:  Spying


	Katareena unlocked her apartment door and let it swing shut
behind her. She let herself smile smugly at how well she was taking all
of it and walked to the fridge for some milk. Detachedly, she watched her
paw tremble as she picked up the carton, then her scar pulled painfully,
making her drop and spill the milk. 

	Listlessly now, and minus her smile, she closed the refrigerator
and watched as the puddle spread over her checkered kitchen floor and
around her black high heels. After a few seconds of staring blankly, she
bent down to pick up the carton. The face of a missing kat smiled up at
her and blurred before her eyes. 

	Mad now, because she absolutely *hated* crying, she pitched the
empty milk carton into the trash can. Reena was partially appeased by the
solid thunk. "Nothing but net..." she half-joked, knowing if she tried,
she could pull herself out of the slump she had let herself fall into.
She got up and walked to her room, leaving the puddle of milk.

	She went to her room and changed into a halter top and
comfortable shorts. In a daze, she went though the motions of washing the
make-up from her face and brushing out her honey-gold hair. Reena dropped
her heels into the sink and ran cold water over them, not knowing or
caring if it would ruin them. When she was satisfied that there was
nothing else she could do, she set them on a towel under the fan to dry,
then she went back to the kitchen to clean up the milk. 

	As she wiped up the milk, she grinned a little, the phrase
'there's no use crying over spilt milk' spinning though her mind.
Katareena finished and walked to the couch, dropping the sponge in the
sink. She plopped herself in front of the T.V. and used the remote to
turn it on. 

	Ann Gora was standing in front of the cemetery, looking about as
sincerely grave as she always did - which wasn't very grave at all. "This
is Ann Gora at Megakat Memorial Cemetary where six brave Enforcers have
been laid to rest..." she gave background information she had given for
the past week, then almost leaned into the camera. "...but this is not a
singular incident. Five years ago, Delta force B suffered an almost
identical mishap." The screen flashed with pictures of her brothers and
their comrades.

	A cry of pain escaped Reena's lips, but she didn't notice, she
was watching as the news reporter dashed across the manicured lawn of the
cemetery to catch up to Commander Feral. He almost seemed to move like he
was trying to escape personal demons, but he halted abruptly and faced
Ann Gora. "Commander Feral," she panted, but was interrupted by Feral.

	"Ms. Gora, other than the fact that I deeply regret the loss of
Delta force B's members, I have no comment." His voice booked for no
questions, as it always did, but there was a tone there that Ann Gora
seemed never to have heard before. She gulped and nodded. Feral moved off
and the reporter turned to the camera with another one of her fake
smiles.

	"This is Ann Gora, signing off." Katareena sat staring at the
television as the commercials belted out too-happy jingles. 

	The promo for her movie 'The Flame Within' came on and she
watched half-heartedly as the clips from the movie were thrown across the
screen, wincing occasionally at the slightly sappy dialog. Next time she
would read every line before accepting a role! 

	When nothing else on looked good, she turned the T.V. off and
turned on the CD player. Reena let the music lighten her mood to the
point where she could think rationally about how exactly she could carry
out what Salem had asked her to do. 

	Katareena sat there until she realized she was sitting in
darkness. She looked at the clock. For four hours she had sat there, and
for all nine lives of her, she *still* couldn't find a way. Reena turned
off the CD player and went to bed, hoping she would find the answer in
her dreams. 
_____________s____________w_____________a______________t____________
	The answer didn't come though dreams, which wasn't surprising
considering all the nightmares that had kept her tossing and turning
until she slept only from exhaustion. 

	Though the layers of sleep, she heard the phone ring. Awake and
knowing there was no way out of it, Reena got up from the bed and
answered it. 

	"It's after one o'clock! What are you doing *there*?" Marma Lade,
her agent,  asked in an anguished voice. 

	Katareena groaned as she looked at the clock by her bed. She was
supposed to have been at MBC studios preparing for the interview with
David Litterbin she had never made up since the near-fatal incident a few
weeks ago. "How long do I have?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and taking a
mental inventory of her wardrobe. 

	"Let's see...it'll take you at *least* thirty minutes to get here
though all the traffic that's around her because of *you*. Another thirty
for make-up...oh, I'd say you'd miss the taping of the show only by about
*two hours*!"  

	Reena closed her eyes. "Why didn't you call before?" 

	"I *did*!" Marma grumbled, "You know, if you had *tried* to make
them mad, you couldn't do a better job. The show is supposed to air the
same day as 'The Flame Within', and *that's* why we scheduled it for
today!"

	Katareena rummaged though her closet anyway as she talked, "I
know, I know...it's just after the funeral-"

	"The *funeral*?" her agent squawked, "Didn't I expressedly tell
you *not* to go???" 

	Reena sighed. "Yes....listen, how many minutes do I have really?"

	There was a pause as Marma apparently looked at a clock and
counted. "They start taping in twenty minutes. Maybe they can save you
for their last guest, have the 'Stupid Tricks' first or
something....maybe an hour - but you'd still have to take time for
make-up and-"

	"I'll be there," Katareena said, and hung-up. She took the pink
and green sundress she had been examining from the hangar and put it in a
garment bag. At the bottom of the bag, she put the white sandals and a
small pouch of the white plastic jewelry she was going to wear with it,
then she reached behind the secret panel in her closet and laid her
treasures by the bag.

	She stripped and took a quick shower, wrapped a towel around
herself, ate, and brushed her teeth. Reena let her hair hand loose to dry
as she got dressed and laced up her sneakers, then grabbed up the garment
bag and what she had pulled from behind the panel and raced though her
apartment. The door was hurriedly locked and then she went full throttle
up the stairs to the roof. 

	After a cursory inspection, she put on the Glove-a-Trex she had
made herself and fired a rope to the building adjacent to hers. She
gritted her teeth and swung to the next roof,  she knew her muscles
weren't prepared for something like this. She was uncomfortable doing
what she was by daylight, with so many eyes available to see her, but who
would they see other than their newest vigilante, Klawz? As she raced
across the roof to the next, she grinned and corrected her thought, Klawz
with a garment bag. 

	In twenty minutes, she had made the trip from her roof top to the
MBC roof top. She had only about thirty minutes left to get dressed and
have her make-up done. Marma would be appeased. 

	Klawz looked around and was pleased to notice that there were no
security cameras or guards on the roof-top. She unzipped her flight suit
and stepped out wearing jeans and a tee-shirt. Reena made a bundle of the
flight suit and the Glove-a-Trex and hid it, then jimmied the roof door
open and went down to the studio.
______________s______________w_____________a_____________t__________
	Jake sat on the beat-up couch watching his favorite show "David
Litterbin", listening absently as Chance moved around in the hangar
below. Litterbin was closing up his program by telling what he was having
the next day. Jake was about to change the channel when Litterbin started
announcing his guests.

	"...that funny little she-kat Paula Pound and here promoting her
movie 'The Flame Within', Katareena Perkins!" 

	In a flash, Chance was at his side. "Reena, on Litterbin
tomorrow? Great!" He moved off, slowly returning to the hangar. 

	"Sheesh..." Jake mumbled and changed the channel.
____________s_____________w_____________a_____________t____________
	 In some forgotten corner of the city, someone else was as
pleased as Chance with the chance to see Katareena on the Litterbin show
and he too changed the channel.
____________s_____________w_____________a_____________t____________
	The next night, at least two pairs of eyes watched as Katareena
glided on-stage and gave David Litterbin a hug. "Heard you found the
place alright," Litterbin said as they both sat, probably causing more
than one head to be scratched from his non-sequitur. Katareena laughed
and assured him that she had made it just fine. 

	Apparently just realizing that anyone at home wouldn't get the
reference, she smiled at the camera and explained. "I overslept." She
blushed a little as she dimpled. 

	"I hear your new movie," Litterbin glanced down at a card, "'The
Flame Within' opens tomorrow."

	 "Yes, it opens tomorrow starring me and David Dukatny from the
'M-Files'."

	Litterbin tapped his ever-present card on his table and grinned,
"Great name...gotta have him on my show sometime. So, what's the movie
about?"

	"It's a romance based on 'Katsablanca', only set in more
futuristic times. Instead of Megawar II, it's Megawar III, supposedly ten
years from now."

	Litterbin tapped his card on the table again and grinned at the
camera, "Oh yeah...gotta love *that*..." The audience laughed and he
chuckled himself a little before turning back to Katareena. "Got another
movie comin' up?" 

	She shook her head slightly. "No, several scripts have been
offered, but none have interested me."

	"I've been in a movie once....'Wanna buy a monkey?'" The audience
laughed and Katareena giggled along with them.

	"I saw that movie!" she put a paw on his arm. "You were good,
really!"

	They chatted for a while longer until the commercial break and he
invited her to stay though it. When the commercials were over, he brought
out another of his cards. "You've been such a good guest that I want you
to read the Top Ten List today. It's called "Top Ten Reasons Katareen
Perkins Will Do Nothing But Enforcer Movies". Here you go." He offered
her the card and she laughed good naturedly as she took it.

	"Number ten...the great wages..." the audience laughed and
Katareena grinned to the camera. "Sorry all you Enforcers out there!
Number nine...the cool uniform.......number eight...the company
vehicle......number seven...constant interaction with the SWAT Kats..." 

	Her smile faded a little and she looked at the camera for a
second before continuing. "...Number six...it's better than the video
game.....number five...it's not - quote unquote - 'another sappy
romance'.......number four...Commander Feral constantly yelling, 'The
Enforcers will handle this!'......number three...all the free
meals.....number two...get to meet new and *interesting* kats......and
the number one reason Katareena - er... *I* won't do anything but
Enforcer movies is -three words -'oh those flyboys!'" The studio audience
roared their approval and Litterbin stood, clapping.

	"Give her a paw, folks, she was a good sport!" The camera panned
to the crowd of kats that leapt up and clapped and cheered for Katareena.
When the camera came back, Litterbin was giving Katareena a hug and
inviting her back some other time. 
_____________s____________w_____________a_____________t_____________
	Katareena came back to her apartment feeling like she had been
pulled though several wringers and then stomped on for good measure. When
the taping was over, she had to call a cabbie who wouldn't stop
complimenting her on her movies. And to top it off, all the muscles that
she hadn't used in a week were sore now. 

	"I've got to go to the gym..." she muttered as she took off her
sneakers and dropped to the sofa. Her head touched the pillow and for one
second of the time she had been awake that day, she found peace. Then she
heard the noise.

	Reena kept her eyes closed as she just listened to the kat come
closer to her. When the intruder was within reaching distance, she sprung
from her resting place and swung her fist. She experienced the totally
infuriating feeling of having her wrist caught before she had laid a paw
on the kat. 

	"Salem, I swear one day you're gonna - !" she growled, her eyes
and nose level with his as she gritted her teeth.

	He smiled smugly. "Hi Salem, it's great to see you! Why, it's
wonderful to see you too, Taree, have you been having a good day?" Salem
paused and grinned. "*That's* how it was supposed to be. Do you want to
start again?"

	Reena smirked. "Only if you would consent to *not* catching my
wrist this time..."

	They stood there, her wrist in his grasp, staring into each
other's eyes for a second. "Well, have you?" Salem asked softly.

	She tilted her head a little. "Have I what?"

	"Been having a good day?" 

	Katareena pulled her wrist from his paw and slumped back to the
couch, closing her blue eyes and covering them with her arm. "No," she
said, her voice muffled slightly. The sofa gave a little under Salem's
weight as he sat beside her. 

	"Tell me about it," there was a pause and Reena could *hear* him
grin. "I've got nothing better to do until I get a lead..."

	"I stayed up late trying to think of a way to do what you asked,
then didn't sleep well, *then* overslept and nearly missed the-"

	"The taping of the Litterbin Show. You know, Taree...if you were
*trying* to  make them mad you couldn't have done a better job."

	"That's just what Mar-" She uncovered her eyes and looked at him.
"What Marma said on the phone this morning..." A chill went up her back
and she tried to see what his expression was.

	"I...er...had to put a bug on your phone, Taree...never know how
much they know..." Salem hung his head a little. "I figured it was better
you didn't know."

	Katareena looked at him, knowing he was hiding still more, but
decided that if what he was hiding was the fact that he had seen her as
Klawz she didn't want to know. "Okay, Salem. You had to bug my phone -
now *un*-bug it!"

	His dark head bobbed up. "I can't do that."

	She stood and glared down at him. "You can, you will, or I'll
figure out how to do it myself!" Reena bit down on her lip so she
wouldn't reveal any more of her hidden talents, but she kept her look of
hot anger on his green gaze.

	Salem looked at her as if weighing the pros and cons and nodded
once. "I'll see what I can do."

	Katareena put her paws on his broad shoulders and leaned in until
their noses almost touched. "What do you mean you'll 'see what you can
do'?"

	"I'm only a field agent, Taree. I have authority over everyone
but T- uh...a higher up. I have to throw major decisions like this by him
first."

	His eyes begged her to believe him and after a moment of doubt,
she realized it made sense. "Okay Salem, but make sure you do *all* you
can do, okay?"

	"I promise." They looked at each other for a second. "Now, let's
see what we can do about our plan -"

	The phone rang and she put a finger to her lips before she picked
up the receiver. "Hello?"
_________s____________w ________________a_____________ t____________
	Salem listened intently to the one-sided conversation, knowing he
would be able to both hear the tape later and read the transcripts, but
also knowing that the facial expressions could also be filed away in his
brain for further reference. He had to know more about Taree than she let
on, and more that he had discovered on his own.

	"Hello?" she asked, then listened. Her face went from curious, to
an expression of an idea just forming, to the joy of having a solution.
"Really? Send it over right now - I want it in an hour, can you do that?"
The authority in her voice defied any denials and she got her
affirmative. "Good. One hour." She hung up the phone and nearly bounced
with euphoria. "Eureka! Our plan!"

	"Our plan?" Salem asked and she moved quickly to the couch and
sat next to him. 

	"Not just any plan, mind you - but a brilliant, great,
splendiferous-!"

	He laughed and waved his paws. "Okay, okay, we have a plan...mind
telling me what it is?"

	A small smile lurked on her lips and she said, "Oh, you'll
understand when you get the tapes of the call."

	"Taree..."

	Reena laughed. "Just kidding. Guess who's been offered another
Enforcer movie?"

	"You?"

	"Me. Guess who's going to almost refuse saying that she has no
idea how to be any type of Enforcer but a pilot?"

	Salem grinned, liking this new mood. "You?"

	She giggled and nodded. "Me. Guess who's going to get some
'training' at Enforcer Headquarters when she's done talking?"

	"Ann Gora."

	"She just might! But I was referring to me!" Katareena said,
laughing with him. 

	"So, that's the plan, eh? Now, how are you going to find out
inside information?"

	Reena's laughter faded from her eyes if not from her face. "I
have my ways, Salem."

	He heard the subtle warning not to pry in her life and decided to
abide by it, for now. "Okay...but you be careful, you understand? I'm
supposed to be watching after you."

	"You are? Who says?" She asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

	"Allie and Morris."

	"Oh....well....you know brothers...." Reena's gaze skittered away
from his. They sat in silence until Salem got up minutes later. 

	"I'll be going now...see you soon, Taree."

	"Yeah....soon..." she said softly as the shadows lengthened. He
let his eyes rest on her for a few more seconds before he left the
apartment. 
______________s____________w____________a_____________t_____________
	When the script arrived, Katareena stayed up into the wee hours
of the night reading it. Every line, every casual flick of the wrist was
read and practiced. She was pleased with "Just a Desk Job". It was about
an Enforcer clerk who had to take care of a hostage situation that arose
in the station. It was perfect. 
_________s____________w ________________a_____________ t____________
	"You want what?" Marma Lade asked the next morning. 

	Reena grinned, knowing that Marma wouldn't see. "I've only done
Enforcer movies where I was behind the control panel of a jet or
helicopter, Marm. You know that. I have no *idea* how to do a desk job! I
mean, just where is this clerk chick allowed to go?"

	Her agent let out a gust of breath. "Where ever the script takes
her! C'mon, you can't just demand that the local Enforcers Headquarters
let you wander around!"

	"I won't, Marm. You will."

	"What?" the she-kat groaned, knowing she'd be talked into it
eventually and giving up. "Fine. I'll ask, but you'll get no promises
from me!"
_________s____________w ________________a_____________ t____________
	An hour after the two had said their good-byes, Marma had called
back saying that everything was set, an Enforcer would pick her up and
take her on a tour. 

	"From ten to five for as long as you want. After they let the
drunks go home and before the tougher crowd comes in. It'll also be
during the time your character would be working anyway," Marma explained.

	"Okay. When will the Enforcer ge-" The doorbell rang and she
asked her agent to hold on. Reena pushed the button on the intercom.
"Yes?"

	"Patrolkat McFurrson, ma'am." It was Salem's voice. She hurriedly
pushed the button to let him into the stairwell for her side of the
building and went back to the phone.

	"Nevermind, Marm, he's here. 'Bye." Katareena hung up and went to
the door to wait. A few minutes later, there was a knock. "Who is it?"
she asked, too many years of caution overriding the fact that she was
sure of who it was.

	"Patro-" She didn't even let him finish, she opened the door and
pulled him in. When she turned to him, she realized the kat's face didn't
belong to Salem. Reena was just about to think up an excuse when she
noticed his eyes. His laughing grey-green eyes.

	"Salem, what the heck are *you* doing here?"

	He grinned and looked into the mirror that was hanging near the
door. "What? Is the disguise not good enough?"

	"If you can mask your eyes and your voice it would be perfect."

	"Crud. I knew I should'a gone for the contacts! Oh well." Salem
turned to her and continued. "Well, missy, we'd better-a get you to the
station!" His voice had deepened and his speech pattern made him sound
every inch the second or third generation Enforcer. 

	She grinned. "Well-a then," Reena's voice altered to a similar 
lilt. "Let's get-a goin'!" She picked up a copy of the script and left
the apartment.
____________s___________w_________a_______________t________________
	They went throughout the whole station, him naming the floor, the
room, and the reasons why she might be there if she were a clerk.
Katareena stored them in her memory bank and tried to ignore the
Enforcers and civilians in the building that stopped and stared. Because
she seemed to be busy, she was spared the usual ask for autographs.

	When they left, Reena was very pleased. He drove her back to the
apartment and walked her upstairs. "You don't need to take me around
anymore, I think I've got what I needed," she said causally as she
unlocked the door. She could feel him looking suspiciously at her and
turned, grinning. "What?"

	"You're up to something..."

	She reached up to pat his cheek, grinning still wider. "It's best
you don't ask."

	His eyes were all serious as he held her paw to his face, then
brought it to his lips and kissed it. Conflicting emotions warred within
her and she pulled back, confused. Salem's grey-green eyes flashed hurt,
then she could distinguish no emotion at all in them. "Good night,
Taree."

	"Good night, Salem." Katareena whispered, then broke eye contact
and went inside. 
_________s_____________w___________a______________t________________
	She just couldn't handle it anymore. Everytime she was shown some
type of affection by Salem, thoughts of T-Bone emerged and she felt
guilty. Her first love versus her current one. It was tearing her up
inside. What she was going to do was beyond her, but she knew she had to
do something soon. 
_________s____________w ________________a_____________t____________
	The next day Katareena  packed a bag and went to the gym.
Thankfully, she had dressed down enough that except for a few questioning
glances, no one bothered her. 

	She was stretching out when she noticed someone watching her.
After giving him a warning look, he came over. It was Salem, again in
disguise, but she could tell it was him. Reena kept stretching and
mumbled, "I can't go anywhere alone anymore..."

	Salem smiled a little and joined her on the mat. "They know I'm
alive for sure now. I don't know how, but they do. They also know that
I've got a civilian helping me. I've got to protect you ya know."

	Reena blew a stray hair out of her blue eyes and growled, "Well,
if you weren't always around, no one would know it was me!" 

	"I can't help it, you know..." Salem was staring into her eyes
with such intensity that she couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed his
wrist and whispered fiercely.

	"The handball court, now!" Katareena got up and checked out a
ball and the room and walked into the nearest handball court. Salem
followed her and locked the door behind them. "Okay, Salem. Quit it now!"
she said, her voice rebounding from the walls and becoming distorted.
Anyone in the viewing room above wouldn't be able to understand them.

	"Stop what?" he asked, leaning against the wall.

	She didn't really want to answer the question, but she did
anyway. "The flirting, the looks, following me around....just stop,
okay?"

	"Life's crazy enough, eh?" he said, not really expecting her to
answer this time. 

	The non-answer riled her and she squeezed the handball as hard as
she could so she wouldn't throw it at his head. "Yes, Salem. It is," she
said tightly. "If you want my help, I can't be followed or bugged or
watched or anything! You'll have to find someone else if you're going to
do those things." She paused, realizing that her alter ego, Klawz was
speaking. 

	"I'll see what I-"

	"No Salem. You'll do it or you won't have yourself a spy. You'll
do it starting *now*!" She threw the ball at him, which he caught, and
stalked out of the handball room, grabbing her gym bag and leaving the
gym. The bag was thrown into the back of her car and she got in as fast
as she could, then went as fast as the law allowed though the streets. 

	When she was sure she wasn't being followed, she pulled into an
alley way and checked her vehicle for homing devices. To her absolute
disgust, there was one and she yanked it off. After a few seconds of
looking around, she spotted a flower delivery service van pulling up in
front of a set of apartment buildings. Grinning wickedly, she placed the
device on the bumper and returned to her car...and her cell phone. 
_____________s__________w_____________a____________t_______________
	"That jerk!" she seethed as she pulled into another empty alley
way near the Enforcer station fifteen minutes later. "That litter chewin'
furball lovin' *kat*!" she added as she stepped into a pair of coveralls.
"Damn Salem!" she growled as she tied back her hair, put gloves on her
paws, dark glasses on her nose, and grabbed a tool box from her trunk. 

	Katareena looked at herself in the car mirror critically and
after a few smudges of dirt on the knees of her coveralls, she was happy
with the effect. She took a glance at her watch and leaned against the
hood of her car, waiting. After a few minutes, someone she could trust
with her deepest secret pulled his van into the alley. 

	The old ex-Enforcer climbed out and joined her. "Hi'ya Kid."

	"Hi'ya Charlie. Here's the key, take your wife for a drive." She
smiled widely. 

	His face wore a worried expression. "Katareena.....you sure
you're up to this? I mean...you don't mind doin' the real job, do ya?"

	"Who? Me? I'm tellin' ya Charlie, this'll help me with my
career." She gave him a significant look. He knew what she was referring
to, and she wanted to give him every reason to remember how much he liked
the SWAT Kats...and those like them...

	"Geez, Reena...if you're father weren't my partner and if I
didn't know you could do the job..."

	She kissed him on the cheek. "You'd still have let me talk you
into it!"

	He ran one paw in a nervous gesture over under his cap. "Okay,
here's the work order and here are the keys to the van. The form says
you're Kathy Ross. You're supposed to do the first floor lamps..." 

	"Thanks Charlie. I'll be careful. Not only will you never have
anyone ask if you sent me, you'll get compliments on how good the lights
work now - I promise!" They hugged and he got in her car, while she
climbed into the van. 
______________s_____________w_____________a______________t__________
	Katareena pulled up in front of the Enforcer building and climbed
out. Then wearily made her way to the back of the van and retrieved her
toolbox, then slaundered into the Headquarters. 

	At once she was assaulted by the hectic look of the office. It
seemed that if someone wasn't moving, they were neglecting to answer the
shrill ring of the phone on their desk. She paused for a second, trying
to get used to the utter chaos of her surroundings, then made her way to
the nearest occupied desk. She dropped her toolbox on a clear spot and
the Enforcer's head popped up to investigate.
	
	"Ya got lights ta fix?" She dug around in one of her many dingy
pockets and brought out the work order. 

	The kat took it from her gloved paw and examined it closely, then
turned a speculative look to her face. "Ma'am...you're going to fix our
lights?"

	"Yep."

	"But you're -"

	"I'm a she-kat. What of it?" Katareena leaned over his head with
a tight mouthed frown. "Ya wanna make somethin' of it, Buster?" 

	He seemed to consider for a second before leaning back a bit.
"No. Here, you can start with mine."

	She opened her toolbox and picked up the lamp, bringing it closer
to her eyes. "What's wrong with it?" she asked as she turned it on all
the settings. Everything seemed to be fine.  

	"Well..." he said lazily, his foot almost casually shifting to
the power strip under his desk. "Sometimes it just flickers," his foot
joggled the plug. "Like that." He added as the light blinked at her. 

	"It could be the Mandiza circuit," she began, and when he looked
appropriately confused and listened intently, she knew he didn't know a
thing about circuitry. She spouted off a few more imaginary terms.
"Or...." she dragged the word out and put the lamp down, resting both
arms on his desk and leaning towards him. "you can stop joggling the
power strip. Maybe if you put it further away from where you can reach?"

	He smiled and she smiled back.  She knew she was in. 
_____________s______________w_____________a___________t____________
	Katareena was lead around the still buzzing office room and the
lamps were pointed out to her.  Then she was taken to the kat's locker
room - after a few minutes delay of sending kats in to make sure it was
empty - and was shown the row of overhead lights that wouldn't work, no
matter how many new bulbs were put in. 

	She decided to start there and assured the Enforcer that she
would be fine...if someone would go to her van and get a few supplies. He
sent a rookie after the inventory and she began by taking down the
removable panels in the ceiling. Well, a more appropriate phrasing would
be directing the taller Enforcer to which panels should be taken down,
because she was much too short to reach them without the ladder she had
asked for. 

	When the ladder was set up, she began working and after a few
minutes was pleased to discover it was a very simple problem that could
be corrected quickly and without a lot of effort. The Enforcer - Officer
Bob he had asked her to call him - had been elected to try and help her,
though it seemed he was really there to watch her and make sure she
didn't do anything funny. Katareena climbed down the ladder and fished
though the small gadgets in her toolbox. 

	"What exactly was the problem?" Officer Bob asked, leaning
against a row of lockers and staring wonderingly into the web of wires
and pipes. She climbed the ladder and explained in as much technical
jargon as she could remember, pointing out the key points and ended up
completely confusing him. She fixed the problem and looked around from
her perch, trying to decide where the best places were to plant bugs. 

	She hadn't forgotten the job Salem had asked her help over. She
just had her own ways of doing it. Katreena didn't need little things
like restrictions and codes putting her out of the way - and she didn't
want officially-recognized cover-ups to rob her of discovering just who
had killed her brothers and the other Enforcers. 

	"Hmm....would'ja mind taking down the panels there...there...and
there, Officer Bob?" The look on his face was priceless, it was
determinedly set *not* to ask her just why those panels needed to come
down. She hid her smile as she placed the first bug in among the wires
she was facing.

	Twenty minutes later she was shown the door to the she-kats
locker room. Katareena grinned at Officer Bob. "What? You're not c
	Katareena made very sure she wasn't followed the next day as she
went out of the city and to her hangar. Not that anyone would have
suspected anything, but because if Salem had tracked her down he'd have
ample clues to who she was. She was going to listen to the transmissions
the bugs had picked up. 
____________s____________w____________a___________t________________
	After eight hours of being bored senseless with locker room talk
and whispered words of love, she finally hit upon a thread of
information. She was about to fall asleep when she heard it, so she
stopped the tape and rewound it.

	"Pssst! Adams....*he* says the chick might suspect something."

	"The actress? Her?"

	Katareena's heart stopped, and picked back up again. She *had*
heard what she thought she had!

	"Yeah. We're supposed to watch her."

	"We ain't gonna...do nothin'...are we?" the kat known as Adams
asked nervously. 

	"Naw...well, not yet. Hey! Quiet, here comes Feral!" 

	There their conversation stopped and didn't resume. She dashed to
her computer and started typing in words, then pushed the 'search'
button. After an hour, the computer had scanned all the tapes for the
words 'actress', 'Katareena', 'Perkins', and 'Adams'. When she played
them, all were useless, so she dumped them and started listening to the
tapes again manually, which was going to take some time since new
messages came in every minute. 
__________s___________w____________a__________t____________________	
	After two days of spying on the station, she finally got another
lead. 

	".....gotta destroy the tapes." 

	"Tonight? But I thought we were going to use them to set Feral up
for the crashes!"

	"*He* says he thinks the actress is getting too close..." 

	The bug couldn't pick up any more of the conversation because the
two kats had moved out of range. 

	"I'm getting too close, eh? How does *he* know that?" She began
to feel less secure about spying. "Where are you going to destroy them?
Huh?" Katareena muttered as she rewound the tape and listened again.
______________s____________w__________a________t___________________	
	After another scan for 'tapes', 'frame', 'framing', 'destroy',
'Adams', 'Katareena', 'Perkins', 'actress', and 'Feral', she got another
clue.

	"You gonna bring the tapes?" 

	"Yeah, *he's* going to give them to me tonight in the locker
room."

	"Why do you need me?" the other kat whined nervously. 

	"As look-out. C'mon, let's go get a donut."

	Katareena listened to the tape a few more times and tried to
think of a way to get into Enforcer Headquarters again, this time,
totally unnoticed. She couldn't think of a single way, but she could
think of many ways to get in *noticed*. Reena reached for the phone. 
_________s__________w___________a__________t_______________________
	Commander Jun looked up as the door opened. A paper-pusher stood
there, nervously clutching his paws and looking over his shoulder. "Yes?"
she asked, hoping he'd get on with it quickly. Like Commander Feral, she
didn't like to have her time infringed upon.

	"Uh! Ka-Katareena Perkins to see you!" 

	"Well, don't just stand there - let her in!" Jun took off her
bifocals and slipped them into her pocket. Katareena soon glided in with
dark glasses on her nose and a scarf over her hair.  "Hello Miss
Perkins." She said, standing and offering the actress a chair, an amused
smile on her lips. 

	"Thank you. Glorious day, isn't it?" The she-kat sat, smiling.
"You got the flowers okay, right?"

	"Yes, they were lovely, thank-you. You got my card...?" 

	"Of course!" she spotted the open briefcase on her desk and
frowned. "You were about to leave when I called, weren't you?" 

	"Yes, but I had a few more things to do, so I stayed..." Jun
trailed off, inviting her guest to explain herself. But Katareena just
jumped up, a guilty expression on her face.

	"If you were about to leave we can do this another time!"

	Commander Jun finally decided against pussy-footing around the
issue. "Do *what*?" she asked bluntly. 

	"Why, I'm trying to get research for my acting! I might play a
Commander one day!" 

	The older she-kat smiled and shook her head a little. "I'll tell
you what, I'll buy you a drink and we'll talk."

	"Oh no! I'd rather do it in the office, it's so much more
official that way! Tomorrow maybe?" 

	"Tomorrow would be fine, say eleven?" 

	"Sure! And - kats alive! What's that noise?" 

	"Shift change." 

	"Oh! Well, see you tomorrow!" The actress waved gaily and left.
Jun sat back down having the suspicion that Katareena didn't come to the
Headquarters for a chat about being a Commander, but why she *had* come
was beyond her. 
____________s__________w___________a___________t___________________	
	Katareena hurried down the hall and to the stairwell. Quickly she
made her way down the stairs and to the kat's locker room. Thankfully,
she met no one on her way and the locker room itself  was empty of kats,
who had just left and wouldn't be needing it for another hour at least. 

	Because she had been there before, she knew exactly where she
would hide, in the air shaft over the lockers in the far end. Without
thinking what would happen if an Enforcer had left his wallet in his
locker and walked in on her, she stripped and jumped into her Klawz
uniform, stuffing the sundress - wrinkle free, thankfully - into her
canvas bag.

	 It took some work to climb to the air shaft, then to fit even
her slim body in there. She made her way to a turn around point pushing
the canvas bag in front of her and tried to make the change as silently
as possible, knowing any movements by her would be broadcast almost all
over the building. Klawz crawled back to the air shaft she had entered
though and waited.
______________s__________w____________a__________t_________________
	By the time evening had rolled in and the time *he* and the two
kats would meet approached, Klawz had seen enough male bodies to last her
a lifetime. 

	"At least I know that our Enforcers are in shape..." she murmured
to herself, a grin on her lips. 

	Not long after, two scrawny kats in uniform entered the locker
room, obviously nervous. "Where is he?" One asked in a small voice. 

	<That's Adams.>

	"He said he'll be here, so he'll be here!" The duo moved in and
out of her line of vision as they searched for listeners. She heard the
door open before the other two and crained her neck to see though the
slits. Unfortunately, she couldn't see the newcomer.

	"Here's the tapes. Take them and burn them." The voice was male,
but hoarse to the point where it was unrecognizable. Klawz mentally
snapped her fingers in vexation.

	Adams stepped forward and squeaked out, "Why don't *you* burn
them?"

	Klawz watched, almost detached, as an arm lifted, gun in paw, and
shot the kat. He fell to the floor in a sprawl, blood gushing fast and
furious enough from his chest for any MegaWood horror movie director's
approval. Klawz bit her lip so as to not let loose to the gasp that was
forming. Not that it would have mattered, the fallen kat's comrade made
enough horrified noises to cover up the approach of a high school
marching band. 

	"You killed Adams! You killed Adams in the locker room! The
*locker room*!" 

	The murderer yanked hold of the kat's uniform front and lifted
him until his boots dangled helplessly an inch from the floor. "Do you
want to be next?"

	"NO! No!"

	"Then shut up! You and Adams were cleaning your guns when his
went off. Go call an ambulance, I'll have to destroy the tapes myself. I
should never have let you bring him in!"

	"Cleaning our guns in the locker room?" the kat asked, but
apparently received a cold look for his thoughts. "Yeah, cleaning our
guns..." he muttered, and scurried off. The other kat paused for a moment
over Adams' body then left. 

	When the door closed behind the murderer, Klawz pushed open the
door to the air shaft and slid halfway out before flipping over and
landing in a crouch, one paw on the locker room floor for balance. She
stood and glared down at the dead Enforcer. 

	"You deserved better than to be offed in the locker room, but not
much," she snarled at him, then left the locker room. 

	Klawz peered around the corner, thankful she hadn't brought her
helmet, just the mask and uniform. She could hear raised and excited
voices coming from one direction, so she chose the other, hoping the kat
with the tapes had done the same. Each time she was faced with a decision
about which way to go, she tried to think of herself as the kat, carrying
something he'd rather destroy than be seen with. 

	Soon she found herself in an abandoned part of Enforcer
headquarters. From the noises coming from outside, Klawz could tell that
they were near the place where a jet had crashed a few years back. It had
never been rebuilt because of the lack of funds. A small noise *inside*
called her attention towards a blocked off section. She followed
cautiously, seeing the prints in the dust and hoping they would warn her
if the kat was aware of her. 

	She looked up. His silhouetted form stood by the window which had
been closed off with a plastic tarp. The dying sun muddled it's way
though, creating shadows that wouldn't have been there normally. The kat
reached into his pocket and drew out three tapes and a lighter. As he
flicked it on, his face was briefly visible. It was Salem. 

	An anger that she didn't know she was capable of forced a yell of
fury as she leapt for him, knocking the lighter from his paw and the
tapes soon followed. Her own paw closed around his throat and pinned him
against the wall by the window before he really had a chance to react. 

	"Who?" he croaked out.

	"Klawz. I'm Klawz. You're supposed to be dead. You're not
supposed to be here burning evidence that could convict you of twelve,
no, make that *thirteen* counts of murder!"

	"Didn't!" he gasped as she squeezed his throat harder. 

	"Don't tell *me* your crap!"

	"Taree!"

	Klawz let go and backed off a few feet. "What? What did you say?"
She was pissed that he had probably known who she was from the get-go. 

	Salem leaned over and rubbed at his throat. "Taree, I didn't do
it."

	"How dare you stand there, telling me this after I saw you murder
that kat and start burning the tapes? Do you think I'm *stupid*? Do you
*think* I'm *playing* with you?" 
	
	He shifted so he was once again framed in the light of the
window. "You're right. I did it, okay?" His voice was that hoarse growl
from the locker room.

	"Why?" The word wasn't so much a word as a cry of pain. "Why? He
was your *friend*!"

	"Ha! Friend! I was willing to let him in on some deals. Allie was
going to turn me in! How's that for a friend?"

	"And the last time?" She had to ask, or she'd go for his throat
again and strangle him.

	"I offered one of them a cut, guess I don't learn from my
mistakes, eh?" He smiled a happy-go-lucky grin which seemed almost evil
in the light of what a monster he really was. Then before she had an
inkling of what he was going to do, he jumped at her. 

	Klawz threw herself to the dusty floor and let him sail over her.
She pushed herself up and was ready for his next attack. As he rushed
her, she stepped to the side and grabbed his shoulders. Salem didn't know
what had happened from the time she side-stepped, to the time his
momentum laid him flat in the air, to the time he landed with a
breath-robbing 'thud' on his back on the ground. 

	As he rolled over and gasped for air, she gathered the tapes and
put them safely in a pocket. "Salem, you're though. You'll never see the
light of day again - you'll be thrown into a jail cell so deep and dark
that the rats won't even come to visit!"

	Salem got up and made as if to come at her. "Don't try anything
stupid," Klawz ground out. 

	His usual smile graced his face. "I'm doing the smartest thing
I've done in the past five years. You'll never see me go to trial!" He
rushed at her again and she leap frogged over his shoulders and behind
him. 

	Salem wasn't so fortunate as to find a way out of the situation.
He went though the plastic on the window and yelled his surprise all the
way down. About ten stories of it.
________s_____________w___________a_________t______________________
	"This is Ann Gora live on the scene of a most unusual incident!
The sabotager of the Enforcer jets has been discovered...after he met his
grisly end on the street in front of Enforcer Headquarters earlier
tonight.....Commander Feral! What happened?"

	"Mark 'Salem' Nealson had been making deals with criminals since
he made Patrolkat. Five years ago, he offered his partner Allie Perkins a
cut. When he refused, Nealson arranged for the accident on the mission
his squadron was on."

	"So Nealson also arranged the more recent crashes, and faked his
own death?"

	"Yes. After the first crash he was given a position in Internal
Investigations, to discover who was making deals within the force. He
used his rank and authority to con other Enforcers into his deals. Once
again he offered a friend of his a cut, and again he was refused. Telling
his superiors that he knew of the planned attack on the squadron, he
arranged it so that some of our older and out of date jets would be
piloted from the ground, saying he knew which pilots were targeted. It
was a cover he used when he again downed many loyal Enforcers, all to
cover up his own illegal actions."

	"And how can you know all this?"

	"Some tapes...arrived...at my office soon after his body was
discovered. A note was attached to explain some of the details."

	"Do you know who brought you the tapes?"

	"No comment." 

NEXT BOOK:  VERNES