by Katarina Kane » Sat Sep 16, 2023 10:44 pm
Meanwhile...
If there was one benefit to the awkward meeting between Katarina Kane and Leo Eskandari -- well, her Leo Eskandari, at the very least -- it was a healthy respect for the man's sense of smell. It was possible -- perhaps, she hoped, even probable -- that this Leo didn't share the same abilities as his beastly counterpart, but it was what she had to work with at the moment, and work with it she would.
A Command to an unsuspecting man in the park, enjoying the summer day perhaps a bit too much, gave her a cup of warm lager. A moment later, it was dumped over her head, as she tried to mask the distinctive smell of the river and the mud and the salt she must logically be tracking behind her. A quick splash through the water park helped cut things that much more -- and she made the act of ignoring that she was slightly more comfortable in damp clothes a more active pursuit than normal. She looked different; she smelled different, and that was about all she could manage at the moment, other than just getting distance between her and the others.
She also made sure that she "borrowed" a hat and sunglasses as she continued to make her way across the park towards the high street.
Sunglasses...
Ryn could take care of herself. If anyone could, it would be Ryn, Katarina tried to reassure herself. Whatever she had been through, whatever had turned her into the broken machine she had become, it had made her tough. She wasn't abandoning her; she was making a strategic retreat to attempt to recapture the upper hand. Logical. Strategy. Safe. She'd be no good to the girl if she was being poked and prodded in a lab, after all.
That gnawing feeling in her gut was probably the aftereffects of the portal, or perhaps what passed for alcohol here in the UK.
So. What to do. Where to go.
Part of her, deep inside, screamed to go for the ocean, but that part was a jerk and a liar, and could safely be ignored.
Answers presumably lay at that university the two had spoken of, but that was not a safe direction to go in at the moment. Access to the lighthouse would make a certain degree of sense; it was a clear landmark, gave a high vantage point, and was spoken off interestingly by the two natives as well. But going there would be a sure way to get captured instantly, even if it was the last thing they'd expect. If they were part of a clandestine agency, they'd have more agents there, of course. And if they weren't, and this was all some sort of coincidence, then there'd be no point in checking it out in the first place.
Calling PATHS. Now there was an interesting idea. If this place did double for her own, perhaps they had their own PATHS; perhaps the emergency phone number would work. Backup is always useful. That didn't quite seem right either, though -- her PATHS had her practically as a hostage; who knows what this strange PATHS would do? Anyway, she hadn't seen a payphone yet, and this strange device, a phone according to the Manticore, didn't seem to work. It was broken in some way. Perhaps it needed to be charged? There was no way a battery could fit inside. Solar, perhaps? The oil crisis had pushed people to look into that; perhaps they had perfected it here. Still...maybe not.
Right. Let's go through the fundamentals of reconnaissance. She was already on site. She didn't have backup waiting in reserve; she was on her own. Orient on the objective -- gather information, find out what this place was, evaluate it as a threat, seek ways to close the portal. Report all information rapidly and accurately -- well, that couldn't happen while she was on this side of the portal; and she didn't have much to report now, anyway. Retain freedom of maneuver, check; avoid decisive engagement with a superior force and develop the situation further. Gain and maintain enemy contact, and then develop the situation rapidly.
Right. OK. Gaining contact right now would be a terrible idea; she had no idea what she was up against. So, information it was. A library, perhaps. A newsstand. A coffee shop. Something towards the center of town; memorize the streets, memorize the alleys, be ready to move, always check the windows across the way, but keep moving.
And so Kata Kane continued to make her way downtown, walking fast.