Nikki squeezed Isaac's hand tightly as they stepped into the YIRAAS Tulsa office. Isaac squeezed back trying to be reassuring and they walked up to the front desk.
"Hi," he said. "I'm Isaac Hanson and this is Nikki Dufresne -"
"Oh good, you're here," said the secretary. "This way please."
She lead the two through a nearby door and down a long hallway to another room. It was pretty bare and the secretary gestured for them to have a seat.
"Mr Drasini will be with you shortly," she said, and left.
Nikki and Isaac sat down. Nikki immediately shot up again and started pacing around the room.
"I'm guessing you're a little nervous," Isaac said, trying to to seem too amused.
"Yeah, well, y'know, it's not every day I blurt out secrets that are likely to get me arrested."
"Well," said a man entering the room. "We'll try to make your interview a little more comfortable. I'm Mr Drasini. You must be Miss Dufresne?"
"Uhh, I, yes."
"Please, come with me. You can stay here, Mr Hanson."
Isaac nodded.
"The interview will be empath scanned," Mr Drasini went on as he led Nikki through the second door.
"Okay."
"The empath will know you're nervous and will take that into account," Mr Drasini went on and tapped his ear. "They're in a nearby room and communicate with me like so. So if I pause regularily that's why."
"Okay," Nikki replied.
In the room was a table and two chairs. Nikki sat down in one of the chairs and Mr Drasini turned on the recorder and began the tradtional opening line before turning to Nikki and sitting down.
"You consent to being recorded?"
"Yes."
"And you are aware you're being empath scanned?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Let's begin. I understand you're a member of the Fudge Gang?"
"Yes."
"Why don't you tell me what you came here to tell me, and I'll ask any questions as we go along."
"Okay," Nikki nodded, then paused. "I'm not really sure where to begin."
Mr Drasini chuckled.
"How about what you do for them?"
"Oh, well, I'm a spy. They had me, erm, 'befriend' this guy who was connected with the 'Alion' project."
Mr Drasini looked up with interest at the word 'Alion'.
"I was doing that for umm... a year I think. Close to a year anyway. It was starting to dry up a bit though, and they went and killed one of our operatives elsewhere, so they decided to kill this guy instead."
"Ahh. And his name?"
Nikki gave it and Mr Drasini nodded thoughtfully, then a distracted look came on his face and Nikki figured he was listening to the empath. Nikki wondered not for the first time whether this was actually a good idea.
"Yes, I'd heard about his death," Mr Drasini murmered. "I was also aware of his connection with the Alion project. The Fudge Gang seem very interested in that."
Nikki shrugged.
"I'm afraid I don't know too much about it. Mostly I downloaded files and planted bugs."
"You know a lot about that sort of thing?"
"Well," Nikki hesitated. "I wouldn't say a lot. I did umm, about a years' worth of training and then I became a member."
"Yes, I'd heard there'd been a slight change in their recruiting practices. How were you recruited?"
Nikki shrugged.
"My contact approached me. I had previosuly been overheard expressing my... well, see I can hardly be an underwear model forever right? I've done fifteen years worth of acting classes but I wasn't interesting in pursuing acting as a alternate career - I've already dealt with one competitive career path. Anyway so I'd been overheard complaining about my future prospects and trying to secure them, and they offered me training and - if I passed - a job as a spy. Well, espionage seems so exciting on the TV right? Of course what they don't tell you is that it's got lots of boring stretches and full of tedium and it can get very confusing as to who's side you're on sometimes, but yeah. So I did a year of training as a spy. It was originally going to be two or three years, but they found out I was a ninjitsu black belt, so on top of that and my acting classes -"
"You're a black belt?"
"Uh huh. My Dad made me take lessons when I started modelling at 12. I didn't want to at the time, because y'know, hate sport. And I thought Dad was just being paranoid about predators, but it's come in remarkably useful over the years, and it's also had the unexpected benefit of keeping me fit. Or at least helping to keep me fit."
"I see."
"Anyway, so I did my year of training and when they were satisfied with me they made me a member and a couple months later I got that particular job. They told me in advance they were going to... yeah. They wanted to make sure I'd be at work at the time so I couldn't be connected with the death in anyway," Nikki shivered slightly. "I knew the police would probably want to talk to me, but I... it really freaked me out."
Nikki tapped her fingers on the desk nervously. That wasn't the whole story and she knew it. But could she, should she tell about the further orders that she got?
"And they told you to lie low?"
Nikki nodded and Mr Drasini tilted his head slightly to the side as he listened to the emapth.
"Miss Dufresne?" he inquired. "Is there something else?"
Nikki hesitated and finally nodded.
"They umm, they knew Isaac was an alien."
"I see."
"They decided to free me up specifically because we were in a relationship and they believed that Isaac was connected with some people in YIRAAS Security, I guess, that they wanted to get close to. That he knew them personally and thought it was likely they'd meet socially. I don't know who - they didn't even give me the name YIRAAS. They knew that Isaac knew I was a member, y'see and they didn't want to give me any information he hadn't already given me."
"Go on," Mr Drasini nodded.
"I didn't know event hat much straight away. Not until after Isaac told me he was an alien. I kinda freaked out," Nikki admitted ruefully. "They actually helped to allay my, umm, initial fears. And told me if I didn't go he'd probably set a telepath on me - which they kinda wanted to avoid."
"Standard proceedure for the last sixty or so years," Mr Drasini smiled. "So, you went back to spy then?"
"No," Nikki shook her head. "I went back because I love Isaac. They weren't the ones who were going to be in a romantic relationship with an alien, and if that meant my memories got tampered with if I didn't go back, then so be it."
Mr Drasini raised his eyebrows as the empath confirmed every word she said.
"You are aware that, having acted as a spy for them, the last thing they would have allowed would have been a telepath into your head? That you might have gone the same way as -"
"Oh!" Nikki gasped, for plainly the thought hadn't occured to her.
"Hmm. An adversion to killing?"
"I know how to kill people," Nikki replied. "However, I have a certain healthy respect for life and living and I do not take to casual references to murder. Call me naive, but they just don't occur to me."
"Admirable, I'm sure, but you may want to rethink your position. You're dealing with some dangerous people."
"I know, believe me, I know."
"How much does Isaac know?"
"He knows I'm a member. I told him they told me to lay low - which they did as far as the murder is concerned. I just, sorta, told him that I was trying to lay so far low that they might forget about me."
"He was the one who organised this meeting, right? I assume he didn't believe it?"
"It was his idea," Nikki nodded. "I don't think he didn't believe it so much as he thought I was wishful thinking."
"Smart of him. What can you tell me about the Fudge Gang tattooes? I assume you have one?"
"Yes. I was given some special make up for covering it up for photo shoots," Nikke replied rolling up her sleeve. "It's startign to wear off but you can see it."
Mr Drasini leaned forward to have a look.
"I understand there's a particular... trick to recognising a genuine tattoo from a forgery."
"Yes. See those dots under the two cubes?" Nikki replied, tracing her finger just under the lines of dot."
"Yes?"
"It's in code - I can't read the code as it's only taught to members higher up in the chain, but there's a certain format that we've been taught to look for. This section here is my name. This section here always has seven, umm, digets, if you will which is my member number. This is the date I was tattooed which was the 20th of January, 2005. I'm not sure what this part is supposed to be, and this part is another seven diget number, I'm not sure what."
"Interesting. Do you mind if we get a scan of your tattoo later?"
"Sure. If you can wait until tomorrow you'll get a clearer picture."
"Very well. Now, what were your orders regarding Isaac?"
"They gave me a case of five bugs to plant if and when I had the opportunity," Nikki smiled wryly. "I have one with me now. Not on, of course."
"Oh? Why did you bring it here?"
Nikki paused, then decided as she was being empathically scanned anyway she may as well be bold.
"Because I had no idea if you would be one of Ike's friends or not, nor any idea of how this meeting would go. Call me opportunistic but I decided to prepare for all possibilties," Nikke replied. "I was given leave to do whatever it took to provide the information they were after."
"Were you now?" Mr Drasini mused. "And what exactly as persuaded you to come clean?"
"Isaac."
"I see."
"I really love him, I do. And he doesn't want me to be involved with the Fudge Gang. And frankly, after this whole murdering business I'm not sure I want to have anything to do with them either. I'd kind of like to be alive to enjoy my retirement."
Mr Drasini chuckled.
"Well, I don't think we can actually extract you from being in the Fudge Gang, not unless you were willing to give Isaac up along with all your friends and family."
"Witness protection?"
"Something like. There is another possibility."
"Yes?"
"How would you like to be a double agent?"
Nikki look dubious.
"I don't know..."
"You wouldn't have to do anything differently to what you've already been doing. We'll set things up so that you get these 'social occasions' with Isaac's friends - and I suspect I know who they are. You just give us the bugs - we'll tell you where we're planting them, and you pass that information onto your contact. Any additional orders you get, tell us and we'll help set things up."
Nikki nodded slowly.
"And in return?"
"Any insights into the Fudge Gang that you can give us."
"I'm not exactly very high in the organisation..." Nikki said hesitantly.
"The Fudge Gang only got into the espionage business recently, relatively speaking. You're probably one of the best spies they have and you're about to prove how invaluable you are to them," Mr Drasnini replied.
"Me? Hey, I'm not that naive. I'm no professional spy."
"Up until a couple of years ago the Fudge Gang only divuldged in petty crime. At worse they did courier service for the bigger criminal organisations. Now, albiet you would have had a lot more time in training if you had joined one of the more, erm, professional espionage companies. They must have be thrilled to recruit you with your past experience and probably desperate to get you through training as quickly as possible."
"Great. So now I'm an amature spy with a rushed training," Nikki sighed. "Yeah. okay, I already knew that."
Mr Drasini chuckled.
"So, you're interested?"
"What happens if I say no?"
"I can't force you to spy for us. We'll do our best to look after you but we have limited resources and unfortunately the Fudge Gang is not high on the list of YIRAAS's priorities so..." he shrugged.
"Out of your jurisdiction? Too many humans?" Nikki asked dryly.
Mr Drasini look startled (and momentarilty distracted as the empath added something).
"We do consider the Fudge Gang to be primarily a human concern, yes. This is because most of their activites fall into the, erm, local law. They're not guilty of alien hunting - which I'm sure you can understand we disaaprove of. There are only a handful of aliens in the gang, and while they have connections with some actual alien criminals and criminal organisations their offences against aliens are few if any. I have a very small staff to work with although sometimes I can borrow the occasional agent from other departments on special occasions."
It was Nikki's turn to look startled.
"You're in charge of the Fudge Gang investigations?"
"Yes."
"Oh! Well, I... I hadn't... I didn't..."
"Expect to go straight to the top?" Mr Drasini sounded amused. "Like I said. Small staff. And being primarily human, defectors would be more likely to go to the police rather than us. Just for the record Miss Dufresne, we're not being racist or anything when we use terms such as 'human matter'. Humans greatly outnumber the aliens on this planet. We do our best to police our own people, but we only have limited resources. So we tend to label certain things "not our business" which are primarily or completely human except when they start hunting aliens. Then we get annoyed. The fact is that the Fudge Gang is one of the very few human criminal organisations we investigate at all."
"I see," Nikki replied, considered for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess I'm in."
"You guess?"
"Well, y'know, now you know what my orders are I can hardly go behind your back now can I? Besides I still have to have regular meetings with my contact and they are going to know where to find me. I could probably only stall them for so long before they decide they're barking up the wrong tree and decide to send me elsewhere or something," a rueful smile crossed her face. "Besides, I really hate this casual talk about murder and stuff. I know he was my mark any everything, but he was a nice enough guy and I liked him. Maybe not in the way I was pretending to like him, but still. And then too, I think I'd rather do something than sit on my hands waiting for the hammer to fall, so to speak. I got myself into this mess, I should at least do something to get out of it."
Mr Drasini nodded thoughfully.
"You realise you are going to have to tell Isaac about this? Aside from the obvious reasons, we'll probably need his assistance."
Nikki nodded.
"Okay, well, I would like to arrange further meetings with you, partly to talk about your previous work for the Fudge Gang, and partly to make plans for our furture work together."
"Okay."
"Was there anything else?"
Nikki stared to shake her head, then stopped.
"Actually, there is one thing..."
"Oh?"
"Well, the occasion that Ike found out about me being a member. We were in the dining room of my home, and that was the only place either of us mentioned it. Yet when I had my meeting, they already knew they Isaac knew."
"Ahh, and you suspect a bug?"
Nikki nodded.
"We could remove the bugs from your apartment, but I don't think that would be wise."
"Oh?"
"I think they might get just a little suspcious if you remove bugs when you just start working a new set of orders like this."
Nikki considered then conceeded.
"However, I think we could probably keep Isaac's place bug free, if it's not already. Mr Hanson - Isaac's father - used to be a member of the YIRAAS Council, and security regarding our council members has always been on the priority list. We'll send someone over to run a scan and make sure that the jammers are functioning and/or upgraded. That's everything?"
"I think so."
They spent the next couple of minutes arrangeing the hows and whens they would meet and pass information in the future and the meeting came to a close.