Chapter twenty five

       "YOU DID WHAT?"

        I was back at the bunker telling Kazimir what had happened and he wasn't reacting very well to the news. In fact he had gotten off his chair and started shouting quite loudly.

        "She was running out the door without even slowing down to eat breakfast or even pretend to put on makeup. She was in such a hurry that she left her purse. We are talking about the anal retentive Marina who doesn't like it when when her buttons don't all align correctly and she actually forgot her purse. I knew something big must have been happening, I had no time to come to the bunker to disguise or arm myself and you were out with dad. My choices were to follow her or let the opportunity pass me by. Look this isn't the first time I have ever followed my mother, hell I've been doing it since I learned to drive, granted I didn't think that she was quite this dangerous and I would be walking into something so big.  OK I'll admit it, in hind sight it was a stupid thing to do but it was worth it, the information I learned far outweighs the risks I took."

         "No information is worth your life ! "

         "She can control dead bodies without making them Atelli for up to three weeks, you know I can see through Atelli disguises but unless I knew to look, I would have never discovered her mole. Now that I know what she can do I will look closely at everyone I meet. This is vital information Kazimir, the kind of information that bites you in the ass at the worst possible moment. But now that we know we can prepare contingency plans."

          "She can WHAT?"

          "Control dead bodies , and we wouldn't even be able to recognize that they are dead until they start rotting."

           Kazimir sighed and sat back down,"Tell me everything , once again from the top and don't leave anything out. By the way don't think that this gets you off the hook for your idiotic actions, there will be consequences."

            *        *        *

          By the time he had squeezed every drop of detail about what had happened and what I had observed it was almost noon and we went to a small Moroccan joint to have some shawarma for lunch. I had the chicken shawarma and it was absolutely divine. Afterwards Kazimir informed me that it was time to meet my new martial arts instructor.

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          To be honest I didn't think that any amount of martial arts training would help me defeat an Atelli in close combat but I was still a little excited to meet the special teacher that Kazimir had arranged for me. He drove me to a small residential area with modest homes and parked in the driveway of one of the houses. Kazimir went out of the car and approached the door of the villa with me close behind him. Surprisingly he didn't knock on the door or ring the doorbell, instead he took a key out of his pocket and let himself in.

        Once inside he called out, "Narumi , I have brought your new student."

        A few seconds later a small Japanese woman appeared from the end of the hallway we were in. She was a slightly older woman with hints of gray showing in her silky black hair that she had in a bun using chopsticks. She was wearing a traditional looking blue Kimono with large pink sakura prints on it. When she walked towards us her movements were the epitome of grace, it was like watching the swaying of a willow tree. This captivating woman walked right up to Kazimir and gave him a light kiss on his lips. Then Kazimir said something that blew my mind,

       "Narumi this is your new student Sophia, Sophia this is Narumi , your new teacher and my wife."

        Narumi smiled at me gently and said,"I take it from the thunderstruck expression on your face Kazimir didn't tell you he was married?"

         I just shook my head , I hadn't regained my ability to speak.

         "Well don't take it personally dear, he doesn't like to volunteer information unless he has to, it's a bad habit you pick up when you are in our line of work."

           Kazimir turned to me and said," I have some errands I have to run so I have to go, but you're in good hands when it comes to my wife. She works as a martial arts instructor for the KGB so she won't go easy on you, I'll pick you up by the end of the day."

         Narumi sighed and said, " Those who can, do; those who can't , teach."

         Kazimir snickered and suddenly a small knife was flying at Narumi's face, just as suddenly the knife was caught in a fan that she took out of the sleeve of her kimono. Kazimir just turned around and left with a few parting words.

          "Honey , I don't think that saying can apply to you."