But that wasn’t the strange thing.
The strange thing was that, from the moment the Senator arrived until the moment he struck the ground ... ... no one had seen even a trace of a cockroach.
CHAPTER 2
J'wo months later. ..
The woman was a blur of motion, moving almost faster than the eye could follow. Originally, the odds seemed stacked against her, surrounded as she was by more than a dozen assailants, all of whom were female as well. But in moments, it was clear who truly had the upper hand.
The woman leaped up in the air, somersaulting past a pair of her astonished foes, and let herself fall to the floor, where she knocked their legs out from under them with a sweeping kick. In an eyeblink, she was back on her feet, meeting her next attacker with a rapid-fire series of jabs to the body and head. Before the attacker so much as hit the ground, she had already grabbed a staff from her assailant’s hands, spun around, and used it to deflect the gleaming sword blade that slashed down toward her. Even as she bent one knee to absorb the impact, she planted the other foot smack in the middle of the swordswoman’s torso, sending her staggering back as she whipped the staff around to strike the swordswoman (who no longer held the sword) in the side of the head.
“Whooooa ...,” said Bobby.
“I have to apologize,” Sarah whispered, in a hushed tone of awe.
“For what?” Bobby whispered back.
Sarah spoke without once taking her eyes from the scene of carnage before her. “When you and Grunge asked if we were up for this, I thought it was just another stupid guy thing. But the sheer level of mastery these women have developed.... Too bad Kat couldn’t make it to see this. It’s incredible.”
“Mmmmm . . . catfight. ..” Grunge murmured. He leaned back in the dark with a blissful smile. A thin line of drool eased down his chin to splash on his chest.
Back up on the movie screen, another pair of attackers, wielding chains and an ornate battleaxe, were chasing the woman toward a blank wall. Without breaking stride, she leaped up at the wall. She used her momentum to literally run several steps up the wall before flipping back over and using her weight to put down her opponents with a double kick.
Only one of her assailants was left now. However, from the way that all of the action suddenly screeched to a halt, the quick cuts, and the fast zooms into tight close-ups on the two women’s faces, it was clear that the last one was the most dangerous of all. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, each one taking the other’s measure. The woman breathed heavily from her exertion so far, while her final opponent looked cool.
Then, the silence was broken. With a pair of piercing screams, they ran toward the other and simultaneously took inhumanly long leaps through the air. They met in mid-flight, delivering and parrying a breathtaking hailstorm of blows before completing their trajectories and landing on the ground to carry on the battle at blinding speed.
“Check that out!” Roxy squealed, her body tense with excitement. “How do thev do that, like in mid-air and stuff?” '
Bobby shot her a sidelong glance. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Excuse me?” he said, taking another handful of popcorn. “Aren’t you the one who’s always messing around with gravity?”
“Well, sure,” she replied, “but that’s different. I mean, this. . . .” Roxy turned to Grunge, who was sitting on her other side, with his arm draped around her. “Y’know, sweetie?”
“That Michelle Yeoh is hot” Grunge said, his gaze fixated on the screen.
Roxy stiffened.
After about an hour or so, the lobby of the theater rang with laughter as the four friends spilled out of the matinee, jabbing at each other with mock-martial moves as they made their way through the lobby, toward the exit. Even Sarah, who was usually the most serious of the group by far, had allowed herself to get caught up in the moment, improvising catlike moves with a lithe grace.
“Beware the wrath of the Dragon Lotus! Haiii-ya!” “Your wrath is as nothing before the teachings of the Golden Way!”
“Ha! With moves like that, dude, it’s more like the ‘Golden No Way!’ ”
“Hey, hey, hey! Let’s remember who’s the genuine martial arts master here!”
“Shyeah! Newsflash: Getting kicked out of a dojo for lack of discipline when you were ten does not make you a martial arts master!”
A skinny, acne-ridden usher, no older than the teenage patrons, watched the group and rolled his eyes. It never fails, he thought, shaking his head. After every single show, it’s always the same thing. There’s always somebody who thinks he’s the next Jackie Chan. Well, at least this particular bunch seemed to be playing instead of looking for trouble. And at least they were heading for the door.
Not that he would have minded if the girls stuck around. The taller, graceful one was almost six feet tall and all curves. Her dark skin and the straight, jet black hair that reached down to her waist suggested that she was Latina or Native American or something. Whatever it was, it gave her an elegant “otherness” that the usher wouldn’t have minded exploring for himself.
Her friend’s looks were almost a total contrast, but she was equally cute in her own way. She was shorter and slender, with a relatively pale complexion. Her bangs were dyed pink to match the mini-skirt that barely covered her hips. In place of a blouse, she wore a frilly halter top that showed plenty of skin beneath her leather jacket. Fishnet stockings and go-go boots completed the outfit, giving the overall impression of a downtown girl who’d seen plenty of action. The usher figured he could do with a little of that action himself.
Of course, that wasn’t to say that the usher had any realistic intention of approaching either of them. He hadn’t tried asking a girl out since the humiliation that he still referred to, with a shudder, as “the Mindy Incident.”
Besides, these girls were with a couple of guys already. Fairly intimidating guys, at that. One of them was tall and muscular, with close-cropped blonde hair and a small, matching tuft of blonde hair on his chin. As far as competing for the girls’ attention was concerned, the blonde’s matinee-idol looks put him way past the usher’s league. All he could do was hope the guy was gay.
The last member of the quartet was intimidating, too, but in a totally different way. He was, by far, the shortest of the group, but at the same time, he was also the broadest by a considerable margin. Loud and unshaven, he gave the impression of being able to step out of the shower already grimy and just a little bit scuzzy. He was a mass of muscle, and he showed off his build by not wearing a shirt, despite the brisk winter weather outside. His jacket hung open, displaying a tattoo of a winged skull that was splashed across his chest.
Suddenly, the usher broke off his idle musings and froze, as his eyes locked with the blonde guy’s. Immediately, he realized he’d been busted. Rule number one of avoiding trouble in New York City was to never, ever stare at anyone, and absolutely not to make eye contact. It wouldn’t do any good to look away now, though. He’d already been caught, and if these guys were looking for trouble, he’d given them their opening.
The blonde guy held his gaze for a bit, his lips curled in a knowing smile as though he knew exactly what was on the usher’s mind. Then, with a slight nod of acknowledgement, the blonde guy turned away. He and his friends tumbled out the door and into the crisp afternoon air, still laughing and sparring among themselves.
The usher breathed a sigh of relief. He went back to sweeping up stray kernels of popcorn from the floor.
“Ohmigawd! It’s freezing out here!” Roxy grabbed the lapels of her leather jacket and pulled it close around her body.
“Well, duh,” Bobby said with a grin. “It is December. Maybe the mini wasn’t such a great idea after all, huh?” Roxy stuck her tongue out at him. “Fashion demands sacrifice, pal. Besides, it’s easy for you to say! Not all of us are walking radiators like you, y’know.”
The snow had started to fall while they were watching the movie, and there was already a
bout half an inch of the slushy, brown stuff coating the city streets. The tall buildings around them gave rise to a wind tunnel effect that intensified the chill wind that cut through them to the bone.
Just then, a passing cab sped by. It bounced through a nearby pothole, spraying their legs with the icy muck that had accumulated inside. Roxy’s fishnets afforded little protection.
“Ewwwww!” she squealed. “I hate this city!”
Sarah zipped up her down parka with a shiver. “Well, I’ve got to side with Roxy on the weather thing,” she said. “A lifetime in Arizona and La Jolla didn’t exactly leave me loving the cold.”
She thought for a moment. “Hey, ‘walking radiator,’ ” Sarah added, “don’t you think you can do something about this?”
Bobby shrugged, “Sure,” he replied, “if you’ll keep the snow off us.”
“Deal.”
Bobby started to raise his body temperature, careful not to go too high. Higher temperatures wouldn’t do him any harm, but the gang was in civilian dress right now and the sidewalks were crammed with passers-by. Somehow, he suspected that transforming his body into a mass of living flame would probably blow their cover.
At the same time, Sarah concentrated, subtly manipulating the weather patterns around them. You’d have to look closely to spot the change, but even though the snow was still falling, not a single flake was landing on any of them. Fortunately, it wasn’t likely that many people would be watching them all that closely. Many of them were keeping their heads down because of the snow. And besides, this was one time when the city’s “no eye contact” rule worked in the group’s favor.
“Mmmm .. .’wayyyy better. Toasty warm,” Roxy said, rubbing her hands together. She called over to Grunge: “Hey, Grungie—come get in out of the cold!”
Grunge was standing some distance away, near the entrance to the theater. He was staring at a poster for the movie they had just seen.
“Yoo hoo,” Roxy called again. “Earth to Grunge?” Grunge jumped a bit, startled, as though he’d been off in a world of his own. He turned toward his friends with a leer. “Man,” he said, “that Michelle Yeoh’s a hottie! Did you see the way she was moving in there? All those tricks with flipping around and running up walls and all? Just imagine what she could do under ... ahem ... other circumstances, if you know what I mean ..
“Dude,” Bobby replied, “we always know what you mean.”
Grunge continued, undeterred. “Yup, yup, yup. Talk about your zero-gravity lovin’. Mm-hmm!”
Roxy gave Grunge a look that made the winter weather pale by comparison. Bobby rubbed his eyes, looking pained. Sarah simply wasn’t amused.
.. What?” asked Grunge.
Roxy’s eyes narrowed. “So you want gravity tricks, huh?” '
“Uh oh,” muttered Bobby.
“Well, maybe what you really need is a good, cold shower!”
Suddenly, the slushy snow hanging off of the marquee above Grunge doubled in weight, instantly becoming far too heavy to stay in place. Grange shouted in surprise and indignation as the watery slop splattered over his head and shoulders, covering him in the dripping mess.
“Y’know, I don’t think it’s so cold after all,” Roxy said, an edge in her voice. “I’ll see you all at home.” She spun on her heel and stormed off.
Sarah looked at Bobby with a resigned air that testified to the number of times they’d done this before. “I’ll get her, you get him?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Sarah hurried off after Roxy. “Roxanne! Wait up!”
Bobby casually strolled slowly over to where Grunge stood, still dripping wet.
“What?” said Grunge, honestly baffled.
Bobby sighed. He draped an arm around his best friend’s shoulder. “Grunge-man,” he said, “you’ve got a lot to learn about women.”
Grunge looked genuinely surprised, and more than a little offended. “Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis? I know plenty about women! Hey, I read Penthouse Letters every month. Even wrote a couple ..
Bobby sighed again. “Listen, you and Roxy’ve been going out for, what, a month or two now?”
“Yeah.”
“And how do you feel about her?”
“How do you think I feel? I dig her. She’s my sweetie.”
“And she digs you.”
“Damn skippy. I’m the man.”
“Well, ‘the man.’ how do you think it makes Roxy feel when she hears you going on and on about Michelle Yeoh?” '
Grunge pondered that for a minute. He scratched his head in confusion. “But I thought chicks are always after us to be honest. Share our feelings, and all that bull. So I was just being honest about my feelings about Michelle Yeoh ..'
Bobby shook his head. “Dude, there’s honest, and there’s honest. You’ve got to choose your subject matter a little better. You want to talk about your love of kittens and puppy dogs, that’s cool. But they don’t want to hear about you having the hots for somebody else.”
Grunge nodded sagely, taking it all in. “Guess that figures.”
“Guess so.”
“Guess I should go apologize, huh?”
“Guess you’re catching on.”
By the time Bobby finished talking with Grunge, Sarah had already caught up with Roxy. The two of them were standing halfway down the block, having a conversation of their own.
“... I mean, it’s not like I don’t know how he is. I know how he is. I knew that before we started going out,” Roxy was saying. She paused for a moment while she lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. She held the smoke in her lungs for a long moment, then released it all at once. The swirling tendrils of smoke mixed with the vapor from her breath in the chill air.
“It’s just...” Roxy looked around as though searching the buildings around her for the words she needed. “Well, it’s bad enough when it’s some eight-foot-tall supermodel with pneumatic boobs bigger than her head. At least then I know what’s missing about me.”
“Roxanne, there’s nothing missing about you ...” “Oh, get real. ‘You’ve got a good heart, and that’s all
that matters, and besides, you’re cute as a button, blah blah blah.’ Look, I know I’m not built like you, and I’m sure not built like Kat. And it’s cool. I accept that.
“But Michelle Yeoh? Michelle freakin’ Yeoh?! She’s, like, my size! If he starts liking her better than me, then, well, what’s up with that? What am I supposed to do about it?”
Sarah opened her mouth to answer. But before she could say anything, Grunge came running up to join them. Bobby followed behind. “Hey, Rox! Hey! Hold up!” Grunge came to a stop beside Roxy. She turned away. “C’mon, baby, don’t be like that,” he coaxed. “I’m dirt. I’m pond scum. I’m a horn dog who hasn’t thought with his brain since puberty.”
“I don’t believe you’re hearing me disagree.”
“But I’m sorry, okay? I’m really, really sorry. That stuff doesn’t mean anything. My mouth just works faster than my brain sometimes. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything. Y’know? I just get like that around hot chicks.”
“Oh, good. It makes me feel soooo much better knowing that you didn’t do it on purpose. You just get like that around hot chicks.”
“C’mon, I’m trying here, okay? Just cut me a little slack. You mean a lot to me.”
Roxy didn’t say anything.
“There’s gotta be a way I can prove I’m serious about this ...” Grunge said.
He thought for a second, then snapped his fingers. “I know! I know how I can prove it to you!”
He raised his hand solemnly—or as solemnly as he could. “From now on, I, Percival Edmund Chang, will never talk about another woman, or sex, or anything like that in front of you again!”
The others stared at him in stunned silence.
Then they burst into howls of laughter that left them barely able to stand.
“What?” Grunge asked. “What’s the joke?”
Roxy wi
ped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “Oh, Grunge, sweetie, that’s really sweet of you. Really. But..She broke off the sentence as another fit of laughter seized her.
Grunge looked around at the hysterical trio, a little offended. “What, you don’t think I can do it?”
Bobby stopped coughing barely long enough to catch his breath. “Shyeah. Dude, no offense, but you couldn’t stop talking about sex long enough to microwave popcorn!”
“No, huh? Shows what you know! If I put my mind to something, then it’s a done deal! I’m all about will power! I’m the very model of will power! I’m the mack daddy of will power!”
The only response was a gale of laughter that dwarfed the first one.
“O ... okay,” Bobby said, struggling to get himself back under control. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll..He fought off a giggle. “I’ll bet you a hundred bucks .. . that you ... that you can’t go a whole week .., without talking about sex.”
Grunge shook his hand with a slightly-too-firm grip. “Money in the bank, dude. You’re on!”
Sarah wheezed and clutched her aching stomach. “Oh, now I really wish Kat was here. She shouldn't miss this.” She took a deep breath. “Where is Kat, anyway?”
“Don’t know,” Roxy replied, snuggling back up against her boyfriend. “All she said was she had stuff to do.”
In another part of the city, Caitlin Fairchild made her way through the crowded streets, heading nowhere in particular. Kat wore only a light jacket over her turtleneck and jeans, but she barely noticed the cold or the snow around her. Part of the reason was her super-tough skin that made her impervious to all sorts of things, not the least of which was the cold. Mostly, though, it was because she was lost in thought.
Apart from the cold, Kat also barely noticed the stares she got from virtually every man she passed. Only a couple of years ago, Kat had been a mousy teenager with glasses who rarely elicited a second glance from the males on campus. But that was before she’d gone gen-active and transformed into a six-foot-three amazon with striking red hair and a figure that made Pamela Anderson look like Olive Oyl. Since the big change, she’d grown so accustomed to the stares of astonishment and naked lust that they just became part of the baggage that came with the deal.
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