spELlcaster Part 1

Aesop woke me, making an alarming racket that nearly caused me to involuntarily bend. I didn't, of course, even after gaining my senses and realizing what Aesop's incessant noise meant, because I'm done bending. Have been for eight months, ever since I acquired Aesop and went into hiding.

But now. Aesop's constant siren song could only mean one thing.

They'd found me. Or, rather, us. Aesop was just as wanted as I was, if not more so.

I picked Aesop up, and stroked his back several times, causing him to turn off his alarm mode, and he began to purr. He flicked his tail, and the computer screen to my left blinked to life. A GPS style map of the area around my apartment was displayed. A man and a woman were getting out of a black government issued sedan and heading toward the door.

Aesop looked at me, the question of What now unspoken, but certainly requiring an answer. I rubbed Aesop's chin, which shut off the computer, and turned on a few lights in the living room. "Now, Aesop? We see what they know and we do what we always do - improvise."

A knock on the door.

"Showtime."

I put Aesop down and approached the door. "Yes?" I asked, peering through the peephole. I could see the male agent had been the one to knock. The female agent held a handheld computer of some sort. Aesop may be able to manipulate it, but it could take up to 15 minutes before he would be able to. Could I delay them for that long? Would I even have to?

"Is this the residence of --" the male agent began, but was interrupted by the female agent who said, "El, this is Agent Stone with the RDA. We know you are in there. We know you have the cat. You need to let us in so we can speak with you." She paused momentarily, probably swallowing her pride before saying, "We need your help. It looks like the Fumans are back."