Tzavros jumped several feet backwards as Sukoloff landed with one of his perfectly controlled touchdowns on top of the desk.
    "For goodness sakes, man, use darkroom. That not nice. It good job my heart in good shape with you around. One minute nothing, then crash, Sukoloff arrives. Thump, there goes another set test tubes and bang there yet another crack across desk."
    "How�s the testing?" said Sukoloff ignoring the lecture. "Come up with anything?"
    "Well, you might be right about progesterone acting against sting. Taylor went through my list and compared it to his records. It turns out that one of girls, Mrs Cape?..."
    "Who?"
    "You no know her. She been here long while but working in canteen, cook you know?... No you don�t, do you? Been married long time and is expecting baby. That definitely slide on what blood stayed healthy. But that doesn�t explain other two."
    "What other two?"
    "In my first list? The one hundred? Three were clear in first hundred. Taylor has given our findings to authorities and they are going to test further. There�s also tests being done on that young copper that lasted two days from sting."
    "He�s a male so he couldn�t have been pregnant. There is something though... I read it somewhere, something to do with... No I can�t think."
    "While we waiting to see if progesterone is antidote, authorities have been informed we are dealing with it. I said we using top secret light weight suits to enter any place suspected of harbouring little pets. So far, we haven�t had any more deaths from stings, so hopefully that was only swarm and you won�t have to go out again. Not that they worry you."
    "Hopefully we�ve seen the last of them. But don�t get your hopes up. Remember it was said that they were the Guardians and we haven�t found a base large enough to be Kijac�s headquarters. If there�s another swarm it would be there to guard it and Sasam. Let�s just hope that the swarm I destroyed was the only one and with it went their hopes of any earth ruling ideas. So continue with the tests, Zav, three were healthy remember. That�s one pregnant, what caused the other two to remain healthy? Any more married ladies?"
    "No."
    "OK... Test again, maybe it�s a different substance or maybe someone�s not going to be very happy, one or the other."
    "I keep testing and keep muddling up samples, I think three were healthy. That two with progesterone and one other. Then I run down list and check all my notes and realise there is only two, one progesterone and one other. Anyway, Alex doesn�t want us mucking about with girls."
    "I bet he doesn�t," said Sukoloff smirking. "Or maybe it�s Steele. Yes, Alex would defend him as well, American pride I think. Test again, I think you�ll find that you are right with three. Get Taylor to help, and don�t muddle up again. Once is an accident. Twice is incompetence and remember it�s an accident that we are looking for."

"I am taking all stations off the phase B alert as we have had no reports of any wasps since the swarm�s removal. Also there have been no sightings of King or any other high ranking Kijac. I think at the moment we are safe to stand down to phase C and resume our usual tasks. Our field men are to remain on standby to continue the search for Kijac headquarters and Sasam." Henn stopped briefly to glance around at his men, then continued. "Mr Bayfield and Mr Tretow, there�s a cuckoo on Fifth Avenue who says he�s the worlds finest scientist and that he�s invented a machine that turns all bananas into apples. Remove him to a nice quite corner please. Try sticking him in the Himalayas on top of some nice tall, cool mountain.
    "Mr Dwire and Mr Klyne, find the idiot who likes to pilfer bulbs from traffic lights, take him to the same place, or further.
    "Reports please, Mr Steele, on just how the fire hydrant leapt out at you whilst you were only doing 20 KPH. Then not content with that, you were so shocked by the fire hydrant�s behaviour that you mistook the rocket launch button for that of the radio and demolished a police car.
    "One from you, Mr Tzavros, on why your lab had to be closed again until the smell dispersed."
    "I was with perfume making, Sir."
    "Perfume? Is that what it�s called in Russia?"
    "It went wrong, Sir"
    "Did it I wonder. I do know Mr Steele wanted you to make a sent that would attract the opposite sex to him like bees to honey. But artificial cow fragrance, Mr Tzavros?... Excuse me?... What are you doing?... Mr Tzavros, are you listening?... Mister Tzavros? Did you wish to talk to Mr Sukoloff? Oh, it�s a private matter is it?"
    Tzavros continued to ignore Henn and mouth words at Sukoloff until he was answered. "You got my results?"
    "I muddled again."
    "How on earth did you manage to muddle simple labels. All you do is take sample and write the donors name on tube�transfer it to slide which is also labelled with that persons name�then you cross it off list, it�s that simple."
    "That what I did, but always ends up same and..."
    "Stop! How dare you. I�m in the middle of giving the report here. We are not interested in who�s samples have been muddled, we are interested in the daily routine of this organisation..."
    "Security for Mr Henn."
    "Go ahead, security."
    A gruff voice answered, "Sir, this is armoury security, we have a cat down here."
    "That�s where it went," said Sukoloff chuckling.
    Raising his eyebrows Henn glowered at Sukoloff, "Just a minute security... Non Sepias out please... " The instant the office was clear he shouted, "Now, Vacily, explain."
    "It bite me, so.... I drop it."
    "Why take a cat down to armoury in the first place?" Henn asked frowning. "Are we expecting an army of super mice or something?"
    Ignoring the remark Sukoloff mumbled, "I wasn�t in the armoury, I was.... Above it."
    "There�s nothing above... Vacily? You weren�t flying?... In my department?... With a cat? Good lord, man, just think for a moment will you, what if you went through a wall or a closed door?"
    "Splattered catty," answered Steele.
    "Catty patty," Tzavros retorted.
    "Could have been cat-astrophic," Bayfield added.
    "Misters, if you continue to interrupt I will remove you from this office," Henn shouted banging the table. "Explain, Sukoloff."
    "I did tell you, I said that I could push mouse through wall, so I experimented. Somehow I can carry mice in my pockets... Through walls and..."
    "White mice?" asked Bayfield.
    "No they were... Sort of light brown, quite pretty for mice."
    "That explains how they got there," said Bayfield nodding.
    "Where? Where did they go?" asked Henn as his eyebrows did a loop the loop again.
    "First floor, agent�s washroom... Ladies that is."
    There was only a, "whoops" from the culprit and more laughter from everyone apart from Henn.
    "Continue, Sukoloff."
    "You did lose rabbit?" asked Tzavros.
    "Yes I did, I spun a little bit and dropped it. Where is he?"
    "Landed on copier, he�s... He�s been multiplied," Tzavros snorted.
    The office became full of laughter and snorts, apart from Henn who was stamping his foot and yelling, "Silence, silence, I don�t want to know what has landed where, just why?"
    "Security for Mr Henn," spat the intercom.
    "Yes, what now?" shouted Henn impatiently.
    This voice was less gruff with a trace of an Italian accent, "Security, level two kitchens, Sir. We have a budgie in the microwave. It�s a live one and there�s a large snake around the waste pipe, Sir."
    As another "Whoops" drifted across the room, Henn told the puzzled man he was already sorting the matter out and pointed a finger at Sukoloff who stuttered, "OK, I yes. It clever really, you see if I carry something and it doesn�t look, I can fly with it through walls. I seem to create force field and living things can pass through safely."
    Henn�s mouth opened then snapped shut, finally he managed to speak, "How do you get a cat to shut its eyes?"
    "Cover it, how do you think? Thing is animals don�t like me because they know what I am. Usually they struggle and bite. Did you know that�s pretty painful?"
    "I don�t care. What use will this do anyway unless you�re thinking of starting a pet store?"
    "Instead of the ghost busters we could be the pet busters," said Steele.
    "Bust as in break?" asked Bayfield.
    "Last warning, Gentlemen," snapped Henn.
    "For your information cat experiments might come in very handy. Imagine if we had somebody trapped somewhere, I could fly in and carry them out, simple."
    Henn thought for a while, the possibilities of this experiment were endless, if it worked. "In theory it could work if it was one of us. But if it wasn�t how would we explain you walking through walls and what happens if they open their eyes?"
    "Splat! And a new coat of paint on the walls."
    Henn stood up shouting, "I warned you..."
    "Ahem, I do beg your pardon, Alex, that was I."
    "You, Joseph?" Henn gasped, his whole staff had been pixilated. "Oh, for goodness sake. Right, Sukoloff, carry on with these tests, but no more flying in the department. Use Central Park, don�t raid the zoo and only fly with a human when you are sure. Then only in the open and at night, understood?" Then he noticed the defiant grin on Sukoloff�s face. "I mean it, old friend, no more flying in my department; no more landing in my apartment; no more animals in this building or my apartment. At the moment I�m fed up with accidents."
    Sukoloff retaliated as soon as Henn finished, "I bet you are, Alex, at your age too."
    "I don�t know what you�re implying, but whatever it is don�t. What�s up with you? Not got jet lag again have you?"
    "Nothings wrong with me, unlike someone in this department. I have no worries at all. I can�t do that remember."
    Tzavros looked at him closely, trying to see the truth behind the laughter. He knew exactly what Sukoloff was hinting at, but did this kind of talk hurt him? Or had all memory of physical love been forgotten.
    "Come on, Zav, stop dreaming. To the lab, my friend, and let�s complete our work."

"That�s it! Yeah I did it! We did it!" yelled a triumphant Tzavros as he replaced the phone.
    "You got my results?"
    "No, but that was Taylor. It is pregnancy that antidote, but not progesterone."
    "What then?"
    "Dead cop! He had just taken one tablet of immune suppressive. It wasn�t sting that killed him. He caught bad flu that around and couldn�t fight it. My two clear were one pregnancy and one kidney transplant."
    "God, how stupid can you get! FE 9 is an immune activate which induces anaphylaxis. Of course! I knew there was something I should have remembered. The immune system in pregnancy is suppressed, otherwise the baby would be rejected. Well done, my friend. We have an antidote."
    "Yes, we know what FE 9 is, but we can�t put everyone on immune suppressers."
    "No, but we can carry it just in-case of a sting. Anyway there is still one more on your test list. One pregnant, one transplant, what else?"
    "Well, as to that, it as if I suddenly raw trainee again. Mistake after mistake."
    "I think you could be tired, you have been working on this problem for weeks. I think you need a nice exciting bit of action again. I don�t think we really need to complete these because we know the results and know the antidote, even if it�s difficult to use, let�s quit."
    Tzavros sighed deeply as he looked across to Sukoloff, "I think you�re right, all this talk about love and pregnant ladies. It must hurt you quite a lot."
    "No, why should it?"
    "Come on, Vacily, I know you like everyone to think everything about you normal. But, I must know and I�ll never tell what you tell to me. Sometimes, just sometimes, don�t you ever wish you could? You know? Like a live man?"
    "It�s too late now for any regrets," said Sukoloff giving a small laugh. "Maybe when I was younger it might have been nice, I don�t know? Possibly? I don�t know if I�m that type."
    "Vacily?" whistled Tzavros shocked at what he had heard. "Do you mean you never have in all your life, not even once?"
    "Well, yes," he said giving a slight shrug of the shoulders. "I suppose I thought about it, especially as I got older and you suddenly realise time is running out. But I was never in a relationship strong enough. You know what the job�s like, Zav, you never know if you�re going to be around tomorrow. Now that I am in that kind of relationship, well... I can�t. Yes, come to think of it I suppose that it does hurt. If I�d met Jodie, let�s say, twenty years ago, then I would have thought about it a lot. But I know that�s as far as it would have got, thinking, that�s all."
    Tzavros�s mouth stayed open for quite a while until he managed to speak. "I just can�t believe this. I did know it wasn�t possible now, with you being dead. But I also thought must be terrible not to and maybe you just forgotten what was like, but never? Never even once? Vacily! I don�t think that�s normal."
    "Of course it�s normal. You mean to say that you do think about it? When you know that, with us, death is an occupational hazard? I don�t think that�s fair on the girl involved."
    A small aghast groan escaped Tzavros now and he began to pace the floor constantly shaking his head. "Think about it! Course I think about it! Heck man, what do you think I am? I do more than blasted think about it. I might not be Steele or Alex, but I normal man and I thought you were too."
    "Zav, what are you talking about?"
    "Listen, I do understand with some men... I know some men find it easy... Well maybe not easy, it can�t be easy, can it? Well it wouldn�t be for me. But they choose that way of life for sake of their religion. But that�s totally different. Vacily! I just don�t know what to say to you... Heck man it�s ghastly."
    Sukoloff noticed the disappointed tone to Tzavros�s voice then gave a chuckle. "Hang on a minute, Zav, what subject are you talking about?"
    "Same one as you. I ask you if you ever wished you could. You then said you never had. Lord, I don�t believe it, never once? Vacily, that�s awful. Gosh, man, does Alex know? I mean, does he mind? Well didn�t he tell you it not quite normal? Lord, Vacily, you�re nearly sixty and never once? Even as a very young man? I mean I could understand it if you�d tried it and didn�t like it, but never?"
    Sukoloff was laughing loudly, mainly at the look on Tzavros�s face. "But never what, Zav?"
    "Bonking, Vacily, you know? Going just little bit further than kiss?"
    "Right, let�s start again. You are talking about sex, I am talking about the outcome of such. I was always normal, with normal sexual needs. I am still normal with the same needs, much more now because what I have is love not as you so finely put it, bonk. What I can�t do is have a family, that is totally impossible. But I can love."
    Giving a relieved sigh Tzavros sat down, "Oh! Oh I sorry, I thought, well we all thought that you couldn�t. We thought that it was just mental love for both of you and the physical side was just... Well dreams, the joy just remembered, or that you forgot it completely."
    "Really?"
    "We did, we thought you were like two small children content with holding hands and the warmth of a hug. I�m sorry, oh boy, I thought for a moment that you might be weird... Hang on a minute, if you do... Vacily! What happens if you�re on Gross�s Heavier drugs? Vacily! Maybe my tests... Well maybe I�ve not made a mistake at all, the results have always come out the same, always... But I just thought... Well we all did, Oh, Vacily!"
    As the frown deepened across Sukoloff�s forehead, the main intercom echoed across the laboratory. "Sukoloff, Dr Taylor�s office, urgent."

The alarms wailed their warning note and sent agents scurrying with their gun�s at the ready.
    "Security for, Mr Henn."
    "Henn here?"
    "Reception, Sir... That window... It smashed again. From the inside this time. Could you tell the labs to quit with the sonic booms... Sir."
    Henn glanced over towards Proctor and frowned. "What on earth�s he up too?"
    This question was answered when the main intercom blared across the building, "Tzavros for, Mr Henn. Clear all stations... I repeat, flight controls are bust. Clear landing areas."
    Henn was slow to react and continued to frown until the intercom brought him back to life. "Reception security, Sir... The window? The same one? The unbroken half?... Isn�t any more. Something just went through it, from outside this time, Sir?"
    Henn cleared the office and called back. "Security, stand down, everything is under control. We have a small localised tornado or something of that nature. Mr Tzavros? Landing strips are clear, get in here and explain."
    "Staying here for moment. Have slight problem with very angry young agent who out for blood. I trying to handle it, but short of murder I think you should expect war to break out and expect whirligig any second."
    Tzavros was right, the whirligig arrived smashing into the communications console as he did. "Ouch! Who put that there?"
    As Steele snorted Henn scowled at him. "How about a Sorry!"
    He sat down and stared unblinking at Henn. "Oh yes, sorry about your coffee table, Alex."
    "You were in my apartment again, why?" shouted Henn.
    "What do you think? Looking for you."
    As Proctor began to laugh, Henn continued. "You used D Mode and the experimental jet; you left this building, went to my apartment; then used D Mode and came back when all the time you knew I was in the office? Why didn�t you walk in the door, or have you forgotten that you do have legs?"
    "Oh, not the window again? I�ll pay for it."
    "You will that," Henn said nodding. "And the coffee table, it�s only just been repaired after your last uncalled for attack on it. Anything else broken?"
    "Don�t think so? No? I missed the sink. Your bath did already have large crack in it."
    "It did not!"
    "No? All right then, the bath."
    Proctor could stand no more, "I thought you had stopped crashing, so what caused this sudden engine failure?"
    Henn watched Sukoloff as he sat so still, clutching a small envelope tightly in his hand and smiled. "Tax man finally got you did he? About time too, I�ve written them enough letters about it and your suspiciously lumpy mattress."
    Without the usual I�ve-been-got twitch, Sukoloff handed the envelope over to Henn as if it was a million dollar note and Henn carefully looked at the contents then frowned. "Yes, very interesting, my friend, if you like photos of pop art."
    As the photo was passed around, Sukoloff still continued to sit and Tzavros ran in laughing. "You in big trouble, very big trouble and don�t ask stupid question again. How indeed, I did explain how and you lost temper and said you knew how."
   "Oh, crikey, Vacily!" laughed Bayfield as a furious Philip Galloway ran in and grabbed Sukoloff by his jacket. He then proceeded to knock him against the wall shouting, "You bastard, all of you so called top men are the same."
    Sukoloff calmly caught the fist that headed his way and started laughing. "I said I was sorry, but... Oh boy... Oh, does it feel good." Then he ducked as another fist headed in his direction and Tzavros tried again to calm the young man.
    "Phil, I did explain, it wasn�t Vacily�s fault, well... Not exactly, well... Put it this way, he didn�t know that it could happen. He had no idea. Well nor did I, did you, Alex?"
    As Galloway was held by a laughing Bayfield and a puzzled Steele, Henn shrugged. "What are you talking about? What�s he done? And it�s Mister Henn not Alex."
    Bayfield held up the photo, "This I think... I hope... All his own work, well done, Vacily."
    Galloway kicked against his captors in an effort to strangle a grinning Russian. "You�re all potty. You�re all completely nuts. I suppose you do it all the time don�t you, you bastards. Just because you�re top men and think you�re important you think that you can sleep with every girl in the department. You�re so clever that you don�t even bother taking precautions and when one gets pregnant you then say, �Well now that�s a mystery, how did that happen?� then you laugh and tell each other the facts of life and still you can�t think how you did it. You are all utter..."
    "Just hang on a minute," snapped Henn. "I�m not quite with you. What gives you the idea that we go around irresponsibly getting every girl pregnant and then don�t even know why or how? I think you might find that the days of unplanned pregnancies are gone among consenting adults."
    Bayfield was doing his usual stunt of snorting in-between loud laughs, then Steele started with his roar and Tzavros gave a cool, collected grin and addressed Henn, "Sir, I do hate to contradict. See, some irresponsible person in this department didn�t know how to make little babies. I discovered his little secret when I was looking for antidote to sting. We have unplanned, never in million years anticipated tiny miracle on way."
    As everyone held back Galloway from yet another assault, Henn started with his colour change routine. "I warned you Russians about these tests. These are private things you are mucking with. This is people�s private lives and if one of our agents has been irresponsible it�s not your business to go around laughing and smirking at it. I don�t want to hear any more on this subj..."
    "Don�t become so irate, Alex... Sorry, Mister Henn." Sukoloff twitched and a slight pink tinge came to his cheeks and he whispered, "It wasn�t you after all, although I would have put my mattress on the fact that it was... Me, that�s who the irresponsible one is, me!"
    Henn laughed and continued laughing as he spoke. "Vacily, really, a jokes a joke. But let me explain, to procreate, to create a life... Well, to do that, my friend there is a very complicated procedure that you no longer are capable, physically, of doing, even though you think you can, or want us to think you can. But you can�t... That photos a scan! An ultra scan of an unborn baby. Of course it is, how stupid can you get... Vacily?... Oh stop grinning, man, it�s not! It can�t be! My friend, is that yours?... Yes? Oh you, smart Russian. That is wonderful. That is so beautiful. I don�t know what to say apart from this. All our lives we have been outdoing the other, Vacily, my friend, you win, this I can never beat. I promise you I will never go one up on this, mainly because I don�t want to."
    Galloway gave another lurch and Henn snarled at Sukoloff�s whispered comment of, "See what Trixie says about it."
    Then the young Galloway started shouting his disgust. "Bastards all of you. You�re all irresponsible bastards. You will marry her, Sukoloff. How many other young girls have you tampered with and then left? You, Henn? How many for you? This is all a game isn�t it? Bloody bastards."
    Henn calmed him slightly and told him to go and think for a while, that all was not as it seemed and he would be told the full story soon, then he turned to Sukoloff. "This I never thought I�d see, a shotgun wedding for you instead of me, only you don�t want to be rescued do you? No I thought not, now I think you�d better go to your Jodie and apologise to her Father. He�s not going to be exactly friendly about it. Vacily? Don�t tell him you didn�t know it could happen. If you do you might get the shotgun without the wedding. Try something like, �I love her, Mr Galloway, and I�m very rich because I own three mattresses and a pillow case.� That might just do it, I hope. If you do get bullet holes, don�t drink in public. Leaking humans usually throw suspicion on their solidness."

Despite Henn�s warning that Sukoloff should try walking while in his present happy state, the instant he took off the intercom came on.
    "Mr Henn! Sir? That window? Well what was left of the thing? Isn�t... Sir. All of it, well it�s outside, Sir."
    Henn managed to keep his voice remarkably calm until after he had given security the all clear, then roared with laughter, this was made worse by Tzavros telling the tale of Sukoloff and Dr Taylor.
    Jodie had fainted whilst walking with her brother, he of course had panicked and being still close to headquarters had taken her to Taylor.
    Once with Taylor, with the aid of Tzavros�s sting list, Taylor realised that there might not be an error, that because of Gross�s heavier drugs there was the possibility that Jodie just might be expecting. After a few questions, such as; "Are you taking any precautions against pregnancy?" to which Jodie had replied, "There�s no need, you know that." Taylor had done an ultra scan and to Jodie�s amazement it revealed a normal living, moving, non see through infant.
    That was when Galloway went berserk and Taylor called Sukoloff. Jodie, of course, was by now crying, not from the fact that this was an unplanned pregnancy, but with joy that something they never thought could happen, had. She was going to be a mother.
    Sukoloff was told and laughed, he was told again and he asked "how?" Tzavros of course, began a very lengthy talk on the facts of life and received a thump from the older, very bemused Russian. Taylor then redid the scan to show Sukoloff his perfect creation and Sukoloff did his first ever supersonic flight�backwards, without going into D Mode first. Doing so left a deep Sukoloff shaped dent in the steel walls of the physical room. It was then, after rebounding from the wall, that the vertical lift facility became operative and a large hole appeared, first in the ceiling and then in the floor as gravity brought him back down to earth. After he had finished hugging a still weeping lady, he took off to continue his quest to demolish PIA New York single handed. All with the pretence of telling his closest friend Alex Henn of his latest and most important mission, the continuation of the Sukoloff line.

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