"And it has made no difference to your department?"

"Why should it, we employ expertise, she is one of the brightest stars in biological fieldwork I have seen for many a year. Her reputation is growing exponentially. She is also one of the prettiest girls in Portsmouth."

Easy As Falling On A Bike.
by: Angharad
part 15 doz.

"You realise you are going to be going from one studio straight to another do you?" said Des.

"What do you mean?" asked Simon.

"These programmes clash for air time, Newsnight goes out on BBC before the news bulletin finishes. Did you remember that?"

Frankly I hadn't, but the alternative had been to record the interview, which means they can then edit it. Although I have great respect for these people, I don't know how much I can trust them. My story is so old hat these days, there are so many transsexuals in the world, it isn't really news any more, so it's the Simon connection which is the draw, and through him the bank story.

It's a journalist's dream really, Russian doll stories, starting with the smallest first and the biggest for the finale. The time rolled on, Paxman was cutting it fine. Then at just before ten pm, I was led to the studio, Simon came along with me. We had both been in makeup and were ready for the Newsnight interview afterwards.

We were led into the studio and settled down. It suddenly struck me that Simon was still with me and was being fitted for a mic. He was staying, he looked like a frightened rabbit. I squeezed his hand, he looked at me and smiled. They did a very quick sound check and the news bulletin started. They did four stories, then suddenly we were led to two chairs on the side of Helen's console.

"Last week we saw dramatic pictures of a rescue of a baby from a burning car on the M5 motorway, and we spoke to our unlikely heroine, only to discover she had caught a sneak thief the week before, which was captured on camera and we have that clip now."

I looked at the monitor and saw a very poor quality picture of me, jump on the thief's back and bring him down to the floor, and the policeman intervene. It was the first time I had seen it, I wish they had prepared me for it. Simon's eyes were out on stalks. He squeezed my hand.

"We reported then," continued Helen, "that this special woman was engaged to be married to Lord Cameron. We have since learned that special, isn't quite a special enough word to describe her. For this thief catching, baby rescuing, dormouse juggling, planet saver has another special quality. She was born a boy."

My stomach tightened and I'd felt tense since they'd shown the same film of the car fire and the dormouse dive, that they had before.

Helen swung around to face me, "Cathy, when did you realise you should have been a girl?"

"As soon as I realised there was a difference between boys and girls and I was in the wrong group." I felt myself blush.

"So from a very early age?"

"Yes, in nursery."

"And how was life growing up as a boy?"

"Difficult, it's very hard when you know that everyone has expectations of you but you don't share them. It is very difficult with parents and family."

"I'm sure, what about school and university?"

"I'm pretty sure there were lots of people who thought I was gay, I was called it often enough, but I wasn't, I was transgendered or transsexual."

"Then you changed sex?"

"Yes. The university has been a tremendous help and support, I can't thank them enough for that."

"I don't know you looked after their Mammal Survey Project when Professor Agnew was ill."

"It's part of my job. The prof looks after me, I help him as I can."

"We spoke to Professor Agnew a short while ago," the image on the monitor changed to show Tom.

"When did you know Charlie wanted to be Cathy?"

"Cathy confided in me a long time ago."

"And it has made no difference to your department?"

"Why should it, we employ expertise, she is one of the brightest stars in biological fieldwork I have seen for many a year. Her reputation is growing exponentially. She is also one of the prettiest girls in Portsmouth."

"How do the students feel about her? We asked a couple."

Bugger me, I thought, they had found some of my tutorial group. "What do you feel about learning your biology tutor used to be a man?"

"That is total bollocks, no one that pretty has ever been a man, use your eyes!" The next time I saw Ivan, I was going to hug him to death.

"Yes, agreed Louise and Lesley, I don't care what she had on 'er birf sistificate, she's a woman, always 'as bin. She's a good tuta too, betta van the uvver one."

I was cringing.

"With us in the studio is Lord Simon Cameron, Cathy's fiance. How did you feel when you learned of Cathy's secret?"

"Probably about as surprised as she was when she found out my dad was a viscount."

"So you both had secrets?"

"Yeah, and I think we were both surprised, but by that time we were in love with each other. I couldn't believe that anyone who was naturally as beautiful as she is, has ever been a man. I agree with the students, I think she has always been female but just had the wrong tackle."

"What did you think, when you found out Simon was a peer?"

"I wanted to end the relationship because I thought it would create lots of negative publicity for him and his family."

"But I wouldn't hear of it, and my family once they met her fell in love with her too. My ancestors had some pretty awful characters amongst them, murderers, thieves, traitors you name it they probably did it. Nowadays, that's only of interest to historians. Cathy's past is only of academic interest, what we all love, me, my family, her family and her colleagues and students alike, is now and the future. She is a beautiful and beautifully natured woman, and we all love her to bits, her history is just that history."

"There is talk that your father's bank is the subject to a hostile takeover bid, and that the group after it have been rumoured to have some unsavory connections."

"It's because of them, this story has become such news. They have been trying to use Cathy's relationship with me to besmirch the reputation of my family and their position as trustees of the bank. In my opinion that is like trying to use the Virgin Mary to destroy the reputation of single mothers."

"So this story has broken to try and denigrate your family and influence a shareholders meeting?"

"Absolutely."

Cut to Jim Doble, finance correspondent. "Cameron's bank is merchant bank which recently took over the High Street Bank, at a suspected cost of 20 billion pounds, the combined bank now holds assets of somewhere in the region of 600 billion. It is this which the hostile bidder is after, primarily to launder money.

According to rumours from a reliable source, the bank in question is an Asian one with interests in both China and Russia, both areas where the shadow of organised crime has led to huge profits from ruthless marketing of drugs, sex and illicit arms supplies. These people don't let anything much get in their way, and both Lord and the future Lady Cameron are under police protection, an attempt being made on her life earlier today."

Back to Helen, "What happened with the attempt on your life earlier Cathy?"

"I cycled to work today, and on the way home was pursued by a large four wheel drive car, they had several goes at running me off the road and one or two other road users. I only escaped when the police intervened and stopped them."

"So they chased you and tried to knock you off your bike?"

"Yes, they chased me all over Portsmouth. They also made threatening phone calls during the day."

"Do they realise they're up against wonder woman?"

"No but they will when she beats them," joked Simon and I blushed, poking him in the ribs."

A studio manager led us away as the next item was shown, and we met with the producer again and Des. "Got you a DVD of the interview. Newsnight will have to be postponed, Jeremy's train broke down somewhere in Wiltshire in the middle of nowhere."

" 'ere get this," commented the producer, and pointed at a monitor.

"News is just coming in of an attack on Viscount Stanebury, which the police are treating as an attempted murder. His car was riddled with bullets as he drove from the bank's head office in the City to his home in Hampstead. Reports are that he was unharmed but shocked by this attack." They showed the Audi and a policeman pointing to bulletholes.

Simon went white and I felt my own stomach flip over. This was far too serious for me. But I couldn't just disappear, I had to take Stevie for his results next week. Oh boy, what a day!