Hunting Mink

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘I do?’

  ‘Damian, would you say it’s that easy to keep your eyes on Bianca’s face in that dress?’

  Damian felt his cheeks heating. ‘I’m male. It’s an unfair question.’

  ‘Admittedly.’

  ‘Okay,’ June said. ‘Yeah, the cleavage does draw the eye.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Elaine said.

  ‘It’s not like she’s the only one I can’t look in the eyes,’ Damian tried, and then realised that was not helping.

  ‘Why thank you, Damian,’ Cygnus said, smiling. ‘June does put some effort into showing off my boobs in these outfits. It’s nice to know her efforts pay off.’

  ‘Shouldn’t you be telling me off for objectifying women?’

  ‘Probably. If it makes you feel better, consider yourself chastised. Or possibly chest-ised. And I really wish I hadn’t made that joke.’

  ~~~

  ‘Okay, so I admit it,’ Damian said, his voice soft since, via some form of hypnotic suggestion, Bianca had persuaded him to slow-dance with him, ‘Cygnus is… nice. Human, even if she doesn’t look it.’

  ‘Told you so,’ Bianca said.

  ‘She did say she wasn’t exactly an Ultrahuman though. I could make a strong case for not generalising.’

  Bianca chuckled softly. Damian felt the vibrations through his chest and it reminded him of her breasts pressed there. Somehow or other, despite his basic ineptitude, she was dancing with her body almost glued to his and he had yet to step on her toes. ‘You’ve enjoyed yourself so far?’ she asked.

  ‘I… Yes, I guess I have. The chief said hello, like I was a family friend. His wife complimented me on my dress sense. I wanted to crawl into a hole, but compared to the way that guy usually talks to me…’

  ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know,’ Bianca said. Her hips shifted, sliding across his. ‘Or sometimes how well you know them.’

  Damian swallowed and tried not to think about how she was moving. ‘That’s not how it should work.’

  ‘You’re saying that to an attractive businesswoman? Not that I’m complaining. Much. The number of people I’ve suckered into things because they saw blonde hair and boobs, and missed the brain. I can’t actually deny the sheer utility of a society that takes too much at face value. Social connections are important. Maybe they even should be. No man is an island and all that stuff.’

  ‘I guess.’ Her body shifted against his again, sliding and pressing closer, and then easing back. He found himself trying to follow when she moved away. Maybe the woman was using some sort of hypnosis on him.

  ~~~

  ‘She is good,’ Cygnus said as she drifted along with June in her arms.

  ‘Who?’ June asked softly. Her own attention was entirely on her partner because, no matter what shape Penny took, June loved being close to her and this was the first time they had ever really done anything like this in public.

  ‘Bianca. Damian really isn’t much of a dancer, but she’s making him look good. She’s also just about having sex in public. If they’re not in bed together tonight, he prefers guys.’

  ‘He doesn’t. You know, this has to be the first time we’ve done this. In public.’

  ‘Dancing? We’ve danced at Red’s place.’

  ‘Not like this.’

  ‘We’ve… Okay, not like this. You know this has me a little worried, don’t you?’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ June placed a delicate kiss on Cygnus’s neck, just below her left ear. ‘I was already a target. I might as well get all the benefits for it.’

  It was a valid point. They were where they were, dancing at Bianca’s party, because June had been targeted as a friend of Cygnus’s. ‘I suppose I might as well get the benefits of worrying about you too.’

  ‘Exactly. So shut up about it. I am not giving this up because of what might happen. Things are wrapping up. We probably have too more slow numbers and then everyone will be leaving.’

  ‘Okay,’ Cygnus said, though which statement she was agreeing with was not clear.

  ‘I want to take a dance with Elaine. She’s sweet, and she doesn’t have anyone at the moment.’

  ‘I can cope with that. I said I wasn’t the jealous type.’

  ~~~

  ‘I thought they’d never go,’ Elaine said as she poured drinks.

  Bianca lay back on one of the sofas in the lounge of her suite and sighed. ‘I usually feel like I should have armed thugs ready to persuade the last few to leave.’ Beside her, Damian was looking a little uncomfortable at his current circumstances. Bianca turned her head to look at him. ‘Take your jacket and tie off, Damian. We’re stuck with these outfits, but you can relax now.’

  Damian gave a little grunt and began undoing his tie. ‘Don’t know how you got this to fit so well. The collar is actually comfortable.’

  ‘I found out where you got your uniforms and got your sizes from there. One of the benefits of having a huge, influential, wealthy company behind you. One with a really phenomenal research department.’

  ‘I have to make do with Red and Twilight,’ Cygnus said, ‘but between them, they can usually find out just about anything.’

  ‘Though we’ve never asked them for someone’s suit size,’ June pointed out. ‘That might be a tough one.’

  Cygnus shrugged. ‘Twi would probably just sneak into their room at night with a tape measure. You’re drinking now, Elaine? You barely touched any downstairs.’

  ‘Yeah, well, June can tell you about my alcohol tolerance. I didn’t want to end up… I don’t know, stripping on the stage or something. Now it’s not a problem.’

  ‘Yay!’ June said, grinning. ‘Unleash the booty!’

  Elaine handed Damian a glass of whiskey. Her cheeks were colouring. ‘I have a big ass.’

  ‘You have a gorgeous ass,’ June countered. ‘It’s all round and… and…’ She gave up and just went for miming squeezing motions with her hands.

  ‘You just worry about Cygnus’s ass,’ Elaine told her.

  ‘I don’t really have one,’ Cygnus replied.

  ‘You do,’ June said. ‘It’s all firm and tight and…’ More squeezing mimes followed.

  ‘Aren’t I the one supposed to be doing that kind of thing?’ Damian asked, fixing June with a bemused look.

  ‘Well, maybe, but I’m a little drunk and you’re being too much the gentleman.’

  ‘Huh. Okay, let me spoil it. I don’t really want to bring the mood down, but this UID business…’

  ‘She’s not allowed to talk about that,’ June said quickly.

  ‘To the press,’ Cygnus said. ‘Damian’s a policeman. If it goes no further…’ There were nods from the others. ‘We’re under investigation, Twilight and I, for taking out a drug distribution facility in Washington, DC.’

  ‘They don’t like having anyone on their turf,’ Damian said. ‘We have something of a similar problem here.’ Cygnus raised an eyebrow, so he went on. ‘There was a task force set up to take on the local tongs. That means that pretty much everything to do with prostitution, drugs, human trafficking, and a fair number of other things tend to fall under the jurisdiction of the TAATF. Generally, if we find anything, they take it off us.’

  ‘That actually sounds legitimate. The place we hit had been operating for years. It took Twilight’s… contacts a matter of hours to find the place once we knew it was in Washington. I… don’t like to speak ill of the police in front of another one…’ Cygnus trailed off and frowned. ‘You think this task force is corrupt.’

  ‘I have… suspicions.’

  ‘Okay, we’ll leave it at that. Anyway, I think this is an ass-covering exercise by the authorities in DC, but… Well, we broke the rules so there should be an investigation.’

  ‘The question is,’ Bianca said, ‘whether that investigation will be a fair one.’

  ‘I think,’ June said, ‘that the question should be why aren’t we drunk yet?’

  ‘That’s a good question. Catch up, Elaine, and then the r
est of us can get on with it.’

  Elaine frowned. ‘You might as well get started. You know what I’m like once I start.’

  21st August.

  ‘I think that Elaine may have had enough,’ Cygnus said, smiling at their drinking companion. ‘She does have a cute snore.’

  Bianca looked across at her friend, who had curled almost into a ball on the sofa, and frowned. ‘I suppose we should wake her up. She’s going to ache all over instead of just in her head…’

  Cygnus shook her head. ‘We’ll take care of her. We have that spare room in our suite and I think I can manage to carry her.’

  ‘If you can manage a submarine,’ Damian said, ‘I think Elaine should be no problem. I still can’t believe you did that.’

  Cygnus shrugged and got to her feet. ‘I was improvising. I usually do something stupid when I have to do that.’ She paused in the middle of reaching down for Elaine. ‘Thinking about it, it’s usually something stupid involving lifting heavy objects.’ She lifted Elaine up from the sofa as though there was no weight to her at all.

  ‘Nm… Jus’ ten more min… ’s a cucum’er…’ There was an exchange of looks at the little speech, but Elaine appeared to settle again.

  ‘I’ll handle the doors,’ June said. She got to her feet, wobbled a little, and then reached down to slip her heels off. ‘Okay. Had more than I thought.’

  Damian got up, apparently because it seemed like good form. ‘It was nice meeting you both. Have a good trip back to New Millennium.’

  ‘We may see you in the morning,’ Cygnus said, ‘but thanks. It’s always nice to meet an honest cop.’

  ‘Thanks. Uh, I should really be getting home.’

  ‘Nonsense, you’ve had as much to drink as I have. Driving is out and you’ll never get a cab at this hour.’

  ‘There’s a spare room here,’ Bianca said. ‘I won’t take no for an answer. You can stay here and head out in the morning.’ She turned to Cygnus and June. ‘I will see you both before you leave, so I’ll just say goodnight.’

  June flashed Bianca a rather knowing smile. ‘See you in the morning,’ June said. ‘Maybe early afternoon.’ Then she set off with Cygnus behind her holding a bundle of Elaine.

  As the door closed behind them, Damian turned to Bianca. ‘Spare bedroom?’ he asked.

  Bianca nodded. ‘Mmhmm.’ She pointed off to the right. ‘It’s that one over there. En-suite bathroom and a nice, big bed.’ Damian turned his head to look at the closed door. When he looked back, Bianca was sliding the straps of her dress off her shoulders. The silky garment slipped down her body to pool at her feet. She was naked beneath it. ‘I was kind of hoping you would sleep in my room.’

  It should not have come as a surprise, but Damian found himself momentarily paralysed. ‘I expect there are a few hundred good reasons why I shouldn’t do this,’ he said after a second.

  ‘I expect there are.’ She was not moving. She just stood there, naked, letting him make the choice.

  ‘I can’t actually think of any of them right now.’

  ‘I’m hoping that’s because all the blood is draining away from your brain.’

  ‘Uh… Yeah.’ He stepped forward, hands sliding over her hips, and their mouths met. Her skin was hot. Her tongue slid over his and tasted of red wine. Her scent filled his nostrils and told him there and then how much she wanted him. She was a riot of impressions assaulting his senses.

  Somehow his shirt was undone and her hands slid it off his shoulders. Her fingers began to work on his belt. ‘Last chance to think of one of those reasons,’ she said.

  ‘Think. Yeah, not happening.’

  His slacks dropped and he gasped as her hand slipped into his boxers. ‘Let’s see if I can’t take away your power of speech too.’ And she slipped to her knees, pulling his shorts down as she went.

  ~~~

  Damian’s eyes snapped open, and then he relaxed with a long groan. There was a soft pop, like someone pulling a lollipop out of their mouth, and Bianca’s grinning face appeared above him.

  ‘Oh good,’ she said, ‘you’re awake.’

  ‘Like I had much–’ She was moving, straddling his hips and sinking onto him in one move, and he cut off with a gasp.

  Bianca leaned forward, resting her arms on his chest while her hips performed some sort of intricate geometric progression which stopped him thinking about speaking again. ‘So, I thought we could have a shower and some breakfast,’ Bianca said. ‘You don’t have to go immediately, do you?’

  ‘Go? No.’

  She giggled and lifted slightly to lick the tip of his nose. When she sank back, it almost killed him. ‘If you need to come sooner, that’s not a problem. I did kind of spring this on you, and I did say we would have a shower before breakfast.’

  ~~~

  June fell back onto the bed with a gasp. ‘O-okay… Okay… Not saying… Cygnus isn’t better… in bed.’

  Grinning, Cygnus crawled from between June’s thighs and up the bed to lie beside her. ‘Maybe you should catch your breath before you try coherent thought.’

  June took a deep, steadying breath and let it out. ‘Caught it. But, as my still-singing nerves will attest, you’re good at that. All I’m saying is… Penny’s plenty good enough. If we really want to get gymnastic about it–’

  Cygnus kissed her friend on the cheek. ‘I get it. I think the reason Penny isn’t freaking out about doing it is… is you. I don’t know why you think of her the way you do. I couldn’t ever understand it, even before I changed, but the fact you do…’

  ‘I just think she’s beautiful. Okay, not physically. If we’re being all philosophical, Penny’s not the most attractive girl in the world by a long stretch. She’s got inner beauty in spades. I don’t think you’d exist if she didn’t. And you’re not quite the same, in bed or out of it. I don’t see why I should stick to just one of you, in bed or out of it.’

  ‘Okay, well, as long as you keep thinking of Penny the way you do, I don’t think there’ll be a problem. I mean, you really make her nerves sing too, and you love her… us… me. It’s mutual, by the way.’

  ‘It’s just not something she’d normally express in such a physical manner.’

  ‘Yup. Think we should go see whether Elaine needs painkillers?’

  ‘After a shower.’

  Cygnus sniffed. ‘Okay, yeah, after a shower.’

  Part Three: It’s a Riot

  Union of Ultrahumans HQ, Antarctica, 22nd August, 2014.

  ‘I’m not making any such statement,’ Cygnus said. ‘I have no proof of wrongdoing regarding anyone in Washington. And neither I nor Twilight have made any claims to that effect.’

  ‘The press–’ Special Agent Hammond began.

  ‘And you know that. You’ve been monitoring pretty much everything we do, so has the Union.’

  ‘We have,’ Alice Last stated. The wife of Doctor Ultimate was not actually a lawyer, but she was representing the Union of Ultrahumans and their two members.

  Well, since Delphine had insisted on being present in the interviews, the Union had insisted on another representative as well. Viviane was standing behind Alice and Cygnus, not at all pleased with the enclosed space of the interview room. Cygnus had the feeling there was a growing ball of barely suppressed anger there, waiting for a reason to explode. ‘We have monitored all the media presentations of this matter,’ Viviane said, her cool eyes fixed on Delphine.

  ‘No statement made by either Cygnus or Twilight has indicated any lack of confidence in the DC police, the UID, or any other agency,’ Alice went on. ‘The press has made their own deductions.’

  ‘Quite reasonable ones,’ Viviane added.

  ‘Conjecture,’ Hammond stated flatly.

  ‘Then you should talk to Twilight,’ Cygnus told him. ‘I don’t have proof, but she does. She told you she does in the first interview today, but you ignored her. We found that interesting.’

  ‘Very interesting,’ Viviane said, looking daggers at Delp
hine.

  ~~~

  ‘She tried no less than seven times to invade Cygnus’s mind!’ Viviane was not in a good mood. ‘Seven! Twice, even three times, shows a degree of persistence. Seven is either desperation or sheer, bloody-minded idiocy.’

  ‘Calmly, Viviane,’ Alice said. ‘I know the environment is taxing, but–’

  ‘I’m angry, Alice, not phobic.’

  ‘And,’ Doctor Ultimate said, ‘Viviane has a point. My own instruments detected seven cosmic energy events with frequencies associated with psionic abilities. I’m calling a meeting of the Grand Council.’ He was frowning when he said the last sentence. ‘Twilight, you’d best begin the next interview. I have something to do.’

  Viviane and Alice were silent as he left the room. Cygnus waited until the door closed before saying, ‘He didn’t stutter or anything. Not once.’

  ‘No,’ Alice said. ‘That’s not always a good thing. Come on. Twilight, Viviane, let’s get this over with.’

  ~~~

  Twilight sat down at the interview room table and fixed her jet-black eyes on Delphine. Then she took a memory stick from her boot and placed it on the table. ‘Everything I’ve gathered, to date, on the corruption in the DC police department.’ She paused and then added, ‘And a few other people who were bribed to ensure that the federal reserve remains inviolable.’

  Delphine reached for the stick, but Hammond beat her to it. ‘Where did you get this information?’

  ‘It was obtained for me by sources I’m not prepared to reveal,’ Twilight replied. ‘The actual sources of the information are all included. Police files. FBI files. Secret Service internal investigations and vetting. The CIA have been using the reservation to hide people since the Special Policing Act was put in place.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous,’ Delphine snapped.

  ‘You’re not in there, Delphine. I guess you didn’t get read in. Look, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It just needs the right people in the right places. Conspiracies work best when there are few people in on them. Believe me on this. I have some experience.’

  ‘How can we be sure this information isn’t falsified?’

  ‘You go to the original sources. This is just the collated package.’