Chase Me Faster
Catherine Gale and John Steed and Emma Peel
THE AVENGERS
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by Caroline Miniscule
Prelude: Lost Rocket Summer...page 2 Cathy swung out of bed and strode into her bathroom, stepped into the shower and turned on the water without bothering to undress. What was happening to her? She had faced death many times in her life, and defeated it every time. Even before she'd started working with John Steed and his Department S she'd faced death...the death of a charging rhino or lion...and for two years she'd faced death at the hands of violent men and had come through unscathed, physically and mentally. But her most recent escape from the burning houseboat...that had scarred her terribly. Not physically, of course, her burns had been only superficial. But mentally....mentally her confidence was shaken..not in herself, surely...but in John Steed....Steed was the grim reaper with a bowler instead of a cowl and an umbrella instead of a scythe...and a gleaming, heartless smile. Cathy took a deep breath. Irrational...irrational feelings...Steed had put her in danger many a time but had never let her down...he put himself in danger as well and knew that she'd pull his fat out of the fire if need be....Cathy laughed weakly...fire, fire...'what a day, what a day for an auto de fe....' "Now this is getting ridiculous," she said aloud, "when I start singing Candide I know there's something wrong." She stripped out of her clothing, wrapped herself in a kimono and went into her library. The walls were lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves, interspersed among the books were African tribal masks and various other memorabilia from her time in Kenya. On a tremendously large 'lazy Susan' placed in front of her comfy leather chair were arranged four chess sets, each in various stages of play. A pile of letters and postcards lay on one table, for a week she had not looked at her mail...now she sorted through the envelopes and took out only the postcards, for they were chess-by-mail postcards. She glanced through them, and found one signed Dan Dare. Cathy smiled. 'Dan Dare' was the name of the British astronaut who appeared in the comic strips. It was an in-joke between her and a scientist friend, a man who intended to build and man the first rocketship into space. She hadn't heard from him in over two months. He was in the Bahamas, doing some kind of work at the United States missile tracking station there. 
Cathy spun the lazy Susan so that Dan's board was in front of her - each of the boards she used had been designed by her, using her wood-carving skills, to reflect the personality of her opponent....for games with Dan she had carved a space motif - rocket ships straight out of Dan Dare for the pawns, things like that. She read Dan's move and played the move on the board. Then, absently, while she studied the board, she took a cigarette from its box and flicked her lighter. Suddenly her eyes were caught by that flickering flame and she stared at it, mesmerized. Abruptly she snapped the lighter shut, grabbed up her cigarettes and tossed them into the rubbish bin. She took a long, calming breath. She closed her eyes, took another breath, visualized calmness returning to her body. |
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