Penumbrials Ch. 00: First Contact

'No, I don't. But I could buy at least a few with the money I saved up in the last few years.'

Adalet stared at the roof of the car for a few moments. 'After this whole thing is done, I don't ever want to see you guys again.'

Terry chuckled and Dormin smiled a little.

Ebo appeared from the side of his house in a blue training suit with white stripes, looked left and right, and jogged towards the park at the end of the street.

Dormin opened his door. 'Time for a walk.' he said and started his jog along the other side of the street in a training suit he had found in Karl's closet.

Ebo took a deep breath when he jogged into the park. Despite still being in the city, the dense population of trees here made the air more breathable than downtown or at the office park he worked at. The ring of trees surrounding it also blocked the view of the city and with a little imagination he could pretend to run in the country each time.

He took his usual round which was long enough to counteract the damage from working at a desk all day but didn't take up too much time before dinner. And he could squeeze it in at a time when there were few people at the park. Like the jogger who passed him now.

'Good evening, mister Bankole. I'd like a word with you.'

Ebo looked sideways at the man jogging next to him. 'Do I know you?'

Dormin glanced at him. 'No, but I know a little about you, the important part being you work at Elecore and you've been working with some very interesting hardware.'

Ebo's heart pounded harder. 'Who are you!? What do you want!?'

Dormin gave him a polite smile. 'Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that we know the hardware you've been working on is important enough for security at your company to try to kill certain persons for. Including law enforcement. We don't really like that.'

Ebo stared dead ahead. 'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

'We saw the hardware trying to gain access to anything it could get in contact with. Someone must have taught it how to do that and we want to access it to stop doing that. And since your name was mentioned on the paperwork for those things, you're our lead.'

Ebo glanced around him. 'I can't tell you anything. It's all top secret and it's not safe to break the rules. I can't even quit my job for fear of what they might do.'

'Well, I'm good at breaking rules, and other things.'

Ebo swallowed and felt cold sweat running down his back. 'Look, I would endanger not just myself, but my family. So unless you can do something about that, all the breaking you think of doing won't make a difference.'

Dormin glanced at Ebo's face. 'All right, what if we could make you and your family disappear? Can you start a new life without going back to anything in your current one?'

Ebo's eyes went wide. 'What? You mean like a new identity and all?'

'Yes.'

Ebo thought about the current situation of being dragged into working on a project he suspected wasn't quite as legal as they had made it out to be. There was something about the origin of the portable units and the code source that worried him. He didn't want to think about getting arrested by some agency one day over this. Or get killed. Even if this chance was low, he needed to take it. 'Get my family to safety and I'll tell you what I know.'

Dormin nodded. 'I'll get back to you.' he said and held out his fist to Ebo.

He hesitated for a moment, then bumped his fist with the stranger. The man took a different path and jogged out of sight between the trees. He let out a quick and deep breath and let the shakes take over his body. He had no idea what would happen from now on, but if it meant keeping his family safe he'd do whatever it took.

Dormin slowed down near the car, put his foot on a low stone planter and retied his shoe, glancing around. The only other person in the street was a woman walking away with her dog at the other end of the street. He slipped quickly into the car. 'Can either of you get a new identity for his family?'

Adalet raised her eyebrow. 'What, why?'

'He's not talking because it would put his family in danger, so we have to find a way to make them disappear.'

Terry leaned forward between the front seats. 'I know a guy who can make all sorts of identifications. And I can add new records to several official databases to create a legit background. They'd have to move to a city on the other side of the country though.'

Dormin nodded. 'I get the feeling he'd have no problem with that.'

Adalet started the car and drove away, passing Ebo on his way back home.

***

Terry returned to the car after the visit to a small shop specialising in gaming hardware, located in an obscure part of the city with enough small streets to look like a maze. She stepped into the back after a quick check for people watching her. 'They can provide the items in one day when we supply them the photos.'

Adalet watched the antique neon sign flashing at the front of the shop. 'I know a few people in this business, but I've never known about that shop.'

Terry grinned. 'You can get a lot more done in the gamer scene than you could with your standard criminals.'

Adalet chuckled and drove off. 'Guess I'll have to start hanging around some new places in the future.'

'Just don't tell anyone you know me.'

Adalet stopped the car a few blocks down. 'I need some new things to wear while I can't go back home yet.' She turned to Terry. 'Don't you?'

Terry nodded. 'Yeah. Otherwise I might end up wearing the same outfit as Dormin.' she said and chuckled.

He gave her a look. 'Hey, I need some new things too. Karl's taste in clothing isn't the same as mine. Do you have enough cash though? Don't pay with a card.'

'Oh right.' said Adalet. 'But then I don't have enough for all the things I need.'

'No worries.' said Terry. 'I have a card for a decoy account. No one will know it's us.'

'I don't want you to need to spend on me though.'

Terry grinned. 'I can take it. Besides, you saved my life so it's just a little pay back.'

Together they went into a short covered shopping street with a few clothing stores in between, keeping their faces away from the cameras at the entrance. Dormin went into a men's shop and the women into a larger fashion store further back.

He was the first one to return to the car with the women coming back just minutes later, then drove back to Karl's place via a detour to avoid traffic cameras.

Dormin first took a shower back at Karl's place and when he came out he saw Adalet had changed into a white night shirt with thin vertical black stripes, and Terry into a black night shirt with one of the animal characters from a popular game. The shirts hung loose but hid little of the smooth shape of the top of their breasts and the tiny bumps sticking out. He only took a glance to avoid creating a shape of his own in his pants and sat down.

Adalet chuckled when she watched Dormin wear only his black pants. 'We might as well share outfits with you only wearing the bottom half and us wearing only the top half. Saves money too.'

Terry leaned back in her chair with her laptop and smiled a little mischievous. 'Actually, I wear nothing at all when I'm home, so if I do that here it would save even more money.'

Adalet chuckled again. 'I'll bet he wouldn't mind if you did.'

Terry gazed over the laptop screen at Dormin. 'Oh? Wouldn't you?'

Dormin gave her a little smirk. 'I don't think my heart could take the extra strain on top of the both of you looking so sexy now.'

'Even when you've already seen me in my fur yesterday, including her?'

He chuckled. 'I can survive if it's for just a moment. All day is something else.'

Terry looked at Adalet blushing. 'I'm tempted to see what happens. You in?'

Adalet glanced at Dormin before getting out of her chair and heading to the kitchen. 'I think I'll have a snack. Anyone want some?'

Terry chuckled. 'Depends on the snack. But I'll have a shot anyway while I set up a couple more fake bank accounts for you. Then we don't need to carry a lot of cash around.'

Adalet grabbed an energy bar and the leftover liquor and glasses. 'But what about the money for those?'

'No worries. I've manipulated funds from several criminals who were busted because of some anonymous info I sent to the police. I had sent most of it to charities and kept some of it for myself in case it ever came in handy. Like now.'

Adalet nodded as she sat down. 'We can really use someone like you on the force.'

Terry smiled a little. 'Too many restricting rules. And I'm not completely clean either.'

'Well, if you don't mind I'd like to ask for your help in the future when I can use your skills on a case.'

Terry gave her a smile. 'Sure. Happy to help.'

When she was done later Terry gave Adalet an account in the name of Amanda Silva, Dormin one in the name of Dave Ostberg, for herself a new one with the name Tammy Vaughn, and had sent photos and a request for new identifications to her contact.

Dormin looked up from Terry's other laptop which he used to work out a plan for Ebo and his family while distracting him from glancing at the two pairs of shapely legs in front of him constantly. 'Facial recognition will pick up our duplicate photos though when they do a search.'

Terry shook her head. 'I've manipulated the photos so they look different to the algorithms scanning them. But they still look like us.'

Dormin smiled at her. 'Nice job.'

She grinned and stretched. 'It's just something I have an affinity for.'

Adalet yawned when she was done checking the police network through the connection Terry had set up on her mobile. 'They're looking for you, Dormin, in connection to the disappearance of me. They have no matching ballistic reports on the shells found at your home.'

Dormin nodded. 'I'm not really surprised at that.'

Adalet put away her mobile and stood up. 'Well, I'm getting to bed. Staring at a screen for too long always makes me sleepy.'

Terry put away her laptop. 'I don't have that problem, but I'm tired enough to call it a night.' she said and stood up. 'Good night, and don't do anything weird while thinking of our sexy looks.'

'Terry!' Adalet said and blushed.

Terry sniggered. 'Kidding.'

Adalet sighed. 'Good night.' she said and followed Terry to the bedroom.

Dormin chuckled. 'Good night, ladies.' he said while watching Terry's tail sway seductively and the curves of Adalet's behind underneath the cover of her night shirt. He sat back and continued working on his plan to distract himself again.

***

Dormin joined up with Ebo on his run the next evening. 'We can arrange everything for you to start a new life at another city. How do they feel about turning their life upside down at once?'

Ebo looked up at the early evening sky for a moment. 'My wife knows the stress I've been having lately, she has no problem leaving and starting somewhere fresh. My son is a bit of a loner. I don't think leaving will be a hurdle to him.' He glanced at Dormin. 'Can you guarantee we'll be safe?'

Dormin pondered about the answer. 'I can't guarantee anything more than us trying to prepare for any contingency. It's going to be your decision in the end.'

Ebo and Dormin jogged in silence for a while, the only sounds their steps on the gravel path and the occasional bird up in a tree.

Ebo clenched his jaw for a second before he could get himself to make his definite answer. 'All right. At least you're honest.'

Dormin gave a nod. 'We'll be in touch.'

Ebo saw him take a different path again and sighed. He doubted he'd get any sleep that night.

Dormin stepped into the car with Adalet and Terry. 'It's on.'

Terry took out her mobile. 'I'll confirm the order for IDs.'

Adalet drove away and glanced at Dormin. 'Have you got a plan to get them out?'

'I think so. I'll need your help to make it work, Terry.' he said.

'Okay, what do you need?' she asked.

'We're going to substitute the family and make them dead.'

***

Terry looked at the login from the system used by the city morgue. She took a shot at several names and standard passwords and got in fairly quickly. 'Okay, I'm in. What are we looking for?'

Dormin tried to ignore certain instincts while she sat on his lap in her night shirt. When he had asked her to infiltrate the system she picked up her laptop and sat on his lap with the excuse of letting him look at the screen at the same time. If he'd lose his cool now she'd definitely notice. 'Three bodies similar to Ebo and his family. Check for homeless people.'

'You want to use them to think they died?' she asked. 'They won't look the same.'

'I know, which is why we also need to stage a little fire and you need to change their dental records so what they find will match. A lot of these homeless people are used for medical experiments and education, so we designate three for delivery to one of the schools, then pick them up later and remove their records to make them disappear. No one will know.'

Terry nodded. 'Okay. Let's see who's available.' she said and shifted a little on his lap.

He hoped they'd find the right bodies before the warmth, softness, and scent of hers became too much for him. Especially with Adalet trying to hide her grin.

A little later he was relieved they were done. Terry's tail stroked his crotch while she stood up and he got an eyeful of her behind. She looked at the bottom of her laptop for a few seconds before returning to her seat, satisfied with the blush she had created on his face.

Adalet leaned her head closer to Terry's while Dormin concentrated behind the other laptop working on the rest of the plan. 'You're going to make him attack us in our sleep.' she whispered.

Terry grinned a little. 'You don't have to thank me.'

Adalet opened her mouth and closed it again. 'You really are a fox.'

Terry nodded and returned to her usual information gathering.

***

Adalet woke up at the end of the day and sat up in bed, waiting until she could stop yawning. Terry stirred next to her and rolled over, facing her. 'Time to get up again?' she mumbled.

Adalet nodded slowly. 'Yeah.'

'Aren't you disappointed?'

'Why that?'

'That he didn't try to take us while we slept?'

Adalet snorted and coughed while Terry chuckled. 'You really are bad!' she said when she could breath normal again. 'I can't believe you had no interest in men before.'

Terry rolled on her back and grinned sleepily. 'Well, you're suddenly interested in him too.'

Adalet blushed. 'But I'm not behaving like a cat in heat.'

'Only when you were drunk.'

Adalet looked up at the grey ceiling. 'Oh geez, don't remind me.' she said and stood up. 'I need a shower.'

Terry sniggered a little and stretched to chase away her sleepiness.

Adalet came out of the shower smelling something she had first smelled some days before. She found Dormin cooking a similar dish he had made before at his home.

He threw a mix of chopped vegetables in the wok and started stirring. 'I turned on the gas and and bought a wok when I did the groceries after I woke up. Thought we could use a good meal to start the night.'

Adalet peeked into the wok. 'Only meat and vegetables?'

He nodded. 'Don't want to make it too heavy with pasta, rice, or potatoes. And it's chicken only this time, although in two flavours.'

Terry came up to them. 'Smells great.'

'He said it's one of his favourite style dishes.' Adalet said.

Terry smiled. 'Ohh.. Good looks and can cook. We'll have to keep him.'

Dormin chuckled. 'Shut up and grab some plates.'

***

Dormin parked the second hand car they had bought from an elderly man, who retired to a nursing home, on one of the small car parks in the street behind the block where Ebo lived. He took a path between two houses to the small backstreet, walked along it to Ebo's place and jumped the fence after making sure no one saw him. He knocked softly at the backdoor and a surprised Ebo showed up. He let Dormin into the kitchen quickly.

'We've got a plan to get you and your family to safety.' Dormin said. 'We're ready to execute it tomorrow.'

Ebo nodded. 'Okay. By the looks of it the project with that hardware is done and I haven't seen some people who worked on it since several days. And no word on where they went.'

Dormin frowned. 'I hope it's not as bad as it sounds.'

'Ebo?' came a voice from the hallway. The next moment his wife Lilli walked into the kitchen and was startled by the presence of Dormin.

Ebo took the slim, blonde woman gently by her arm. 'Lilli, this is the man I spoke with in the park. He said they have a plan to take us away tomorrow.'

Dormin gave her a nod. 'But it does mean leaving everything behind, even things with sentimental value that can identify you.'

She looked at Ebo, then back at Dormin and nodded. 'I understand, but it's better than what spooks Ebo.' A knock on the front door startled her.

Dormin peeked out of the doorway to the front door but saw only a silhouette through the small window next to it. 'Are you expecting anyone?'

Ebo peeked from behind him. 'No.'

Dormin looked at Lilli and gestured to a corner of the kitchen. 'Stay here. Where's your son?'

Lilli looked up. 'Paki's upstairs in his room. Probably listening to music through his headphones.'

There was another knock on the door. 'Good.' said Dormin and turned to Ebo. 'See who it is, and if it's trouble lead them here.'

Ebo nodded quickly and hurried with a racing heart to the door. He opened it and stared into the grim face of one of the security agents he had seen at work. A glance at the pistol he held was enough to drain the blood from his face.

The man pushed him back and stepped inside with another man following him and closing the door. 'Where's your family?' Ebo gestured back with a trembling hand. The man pushed him forward to the kitchen. As soon as Ebo stepped through the door he was pushed aside hard by Dormin. He twisted the man's gun from his hand and fired it twice in the man's stomach. The man behind him was too startled to react quickly and Dormin shot him twice in the chest.

'Shit!' Dormin said and reached a hand out to Ebo to help him up.

Paki almost stumbled down the stairs when he rushed down. 'Mom! Dad!' he shouted and froze at the sight in the hallway.

'Paki!' said Ebo. 'It's all right! We're safe!' He gestured for the boy to come and he moved quickly to his father.

Lilli hurried to them and cupped Ebo's cheek and touched his chest. 'Are you okay!? You're not hurt, are you!?'

Ebo took her by her shoulders. 'I'm okay. Just scared.'

She nodded and hugged him and her son tight while he glanced at the two bodies on the floor. 'The first one works security at Elecore. I don't know the second one.'

Dormin nodded and checked for any identification but found none. 'This wasn't planned, but maybe it's a good thing.' he said and called Adalet. 'Change of plans. We move them tonight.' He disconnected and scanned the back through the window. 'With any luck no one will have noticed the gun shots.'

'These houses have thick insulation.' said Ebo. 'The neighbours will have heard nothing.'

Dormin nodded. 'Good, because we need time now and not more people showing up.'

By the time Adalet and Terry arrived at the house, the family had packed their essential things and was waiting in the living room.

'Oh great.' said Adalet when she saw the bodies and smelled the burned gun powder. 'More complications. When these are found they'll have a new mystery on their hands.'

'Maybe not.' said Dormin and looked at Terry. 'Can you add a record to the ballistics database?'

Terry nodded. 'You want to plant evidence pointing to Elecore?'

'It just so happened that out of all the unregistered weapons one was indeed registered.'