"Psst, hey... Planeteer Polina, wake up."

She blinked and opened her eyes. "We're there?" She looked around groggily. Kwame was helping Gi out of the geo-cruiser and Wheeler was standing over Linka, his hand on her shoulder.

"Feel okay, babe?"

"Da, just tired." She unbuckled her seatbelt, a little embarrassed about falling asleep and not waking up upon landing. They hurried to join the others.

"So, where to?" Wheeler asked.

"Looten's factory is over there." Kwame pointed. "I guess that is where we should start."

"I can smell the chemicals from here," Ma-Ti said, wrinkling his nose. "How he is dumping them in the water supply and getting government support for it I'll never understand."

They trekked through the scattered trees, relying on them for cover as they approached the buildings looming out of the fading light.

"Ever get the feeling that things are just a little too quiet?" Wheeler asked the rest of the Planeteers after a while.

They were all on edge, the warehouses silent and throwing long shadows across them as they moved forward in the twilight.

"Shouldn't there be workers around?" Gi asked. "At least, some sort of security?"

"I don't think we want to run into Looten Plunder's security," Ma-Ti answered quietly.

"What is the best way to attack this?" Kwame asked. "Should we find Plunder first?"

"It doesn't look as though he's around," Gi said nervously. "There are no lights on or anything."

"Maybe he's gotten cocky in the five years since we left," Wheeler said. "If he's got government support he probably thinks he's safe."

"Not even government support makes you immune from protesters or vandals," Gi pointed out. "There should be somebody here."

"It is strange, all right," Kwame answered carefully. "Shall we see if we can get inside and take a look around? That might help us decide our best course of action."

They stole forward, Wheeler burning his way through the chain-link fence, and then melting the lock on one of the windows. They dropped inside, one-by-one, crouching on the floor of an office scattered with papers.

"Why do men not keep their workspaces tidy?" Linka asked in an exasperated whisper.

Gi giggled and Wheeler just rolled his eyes with a smile.

Linka began poking through the desk as Kwame edged his way to the door and peered out.

"Nothing," he murmured. "It is completely still."

"Nothing here, either," Linka replied. "I think this is just a spare office. It would be more helpful to find Plunder's."

"Let's go, then." Wheeler led the charge, keeping close to the wall of the corridor and keeping his ears turned to the slightest noise that might alert them to danger.

The end of the corridor opened up into the main warehouse. Moving equipment and stacks of yellow barrels were positioned haphazardly. There was a strong smell of chemicals in the air.

"Look at it all," Ma-Ti whispered in horror. "He's dumping all this in the river? No wonder people are getting sick."

"Where's it all coming from?" Wheeler asked. "Is he manufacturing it or is it some sort of waste product from something else?"

"We'll go and find out," Gi whispered. "If we take a look at it we might be able to figure out exactly what it is. Linka, why don't you go ahead and try and find Plunder's office?"

"I'll go with you," Wheeler said immediately. Their first possible meeting with Plunder in five years, and he wasn't going to risk Linka running into him alone.

The group split – Kwame, Gi and Ma-Ti disappearing silently between the towering barrels, Wheeler and Linka stealing up the metal stairway on their left to the office that overlooked everything.

Linka immediately sat at the computer and began striking keys rapidly.

Wheeler watched her for a moment before he sensed something wasn't quite right.

"You okay, babe?"

"Fine," she answered curtly.

"Are you mad at me?"

She sat back with a sigh, and looked at him. "Nyet, not really. Just – I can take care of myself, Wheeler. I do not need you to baby-walk me at every moment."

"That's baby-sit, babe. And I know you can look after yourself, but this is Plunder we're talking about."

She shrugged wearily. "Do you think I had someone with me on every mission I went on the past year? Do you think I had someone to watch my back all the time?" She raised her eyebrow. "Remember, it was me who fought you off and got out of that factory in London."

"I remember." He felt frustrated, though. "I just – I don't want anything to happen to you. Not while I'm here." He stood behind her and ran gentle fingers through her ponytail. "I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt somewhere and I could have stopped it."

She looked up at him and took his hand, shaking her head wordlessly, her anger dissipating into the air as quickly as it had come.

He smiled at her and nodded at the computer. "Come on babe, get him."

He watched her type rapidly, unable to follow what she was doing at all, but finding himself highly impressed by it.

"He is sending money somewhere," Linka murmured after a while. "A lot of money."

"Where to?"

She shrugged. "I cannot really tell. It could be that he is bribing someone in the government to allow him to keep this up..."

"That means there's another guy out there aching for an arrest," Wheeler said, kneeling beside her and gazing at the screen.

"I could be wrong about the bribe," she said, her eyes searching through blocks of numbers and text. "But it looks like the most logical explanation to me. Though why he would suddenly care about what other people think, I do not know... And I do not think the chemicals are manufactured here – it looks as though they are being brought in, on a schedule."

"When's the next shipment due?" Wheeler whispered.

She scrolled down and hit a few more keys. "Tomorrow. Four truckloads, each carrying fifty barrels of waste." Her eyes widened and she pointed suddenly, her finger trembling against the screen as she indicated what she wanted him to see.

Delivery due from Verminous Ltd.

Linka was about to track further traces of Verminous Skumm in Plunder's computer system, when the building was suddenly flooded with light.

She ducked to the floor immediately, and Wheeler crouched beside her, clenching his right hand into a fist.

Ma-Ti, tell me that was you turning those lights on.

Nothing.

"Ma-Ti is too close to the waste to talk to us," he whispered, edging along the floor to the door. He glanced out to the open floor below them. The other Planeteers weren't in sight.

"I think we need to get out of here babe," Wheeler whispered. "Let's see if we can get into one of the other offices until we can figure something out."

That was going to prove difficult, however. As they were about to make their move, someone appeared on the main floor below them, heading for the stairs.

"Bozhe moy," Linka whispered. "Argos Bleak!"

Wheeler grabbed her and pulled her back into Plunder's office, looking desperately for a place to hide.

"Quick." He tugged at the ventilation cover in the wall by Plunder's filing cabinet and ushered Linka in. He followed, crawling backwards and clipping the grill back into place just as Bleak entered the office, whistling softly.

With horror, Linka realised she had forgotten to turn the computer off or return it to its neutral state.

Bleak opened the top drawer in Plunder's desk and pulled out a thick envelope before he noticed the computer. The whistling died on his lips and he leaned forward, squinting at the monitor.

"Fuckers," he whispered, glancing around the office. Wheeler shrank back, but Bleak's eyes passed over the grill without pausing.

Bleak picked up the phone and punched in a number angrily.

Linka craned her neck, trying to see.

"Someone's been in 'ere, boss," Bleak said. "Your computer's on and someone's been going through the files."

Wheeler glanced back at Linka and she shrugged apologetically.

"Right you are." Bleak slammed the phone down and glanced around the office again before he stalked out and closed the door behind him, locking it securely.

"Way to be alert, Planeteer," Wheeler whispered over his shoulder.

Linka smacked him as best as she could in the confined space. "Out," she hissed. "We have to find the others."

They crawled quietly out of the vent and peered out of the window to the floor below. Bleak was stalking around the barrels and equipment, his face twisted with fury.

"Can we make it?" Linka whispered.

"Not yet." Wheeler craned his head to the left, following Bleak's path along the room. "We'll run to the right and into that corridor, okay?"

"You need to get the lock off this door first, Yankee."

"Oh, right." He melted the lock and tugged the door open, peering out and trying to find Bleak again. He was nowhere in sight.

"Quick!" Linka hurried past him, grabbing his hand and tugging him into the nearby corridor. She held her ring hand in a tight fist.

Ma-Ti?

They both breathed a sigh of relief as Ma-Ti's voice washed over them.

We are outside. Argos Bleak is hunting around. Meet us back at the geo-cruiser.

They both hurried to the window, but froze as Plunder's voice thundered through the echoing warehouse.

"Bleak!"

Wheeler crept back to the door, unable to resist catching a glimpse of Plunder five years on.

"Babe!" he whispered gleefully. "Plunder's going bald!"

Linka crept to his side and they peered out over the edge of the metal railing separating the walkway from the open space below.

Plunder was indeed going bald – though vainly trying to ignore it. His ponytail started much further back on his head than it used to, but he still insisted upon having one.

"I can't find 'em," Bleak answered, appearing below them. "You'd better go and check your office out. I locked it so they couldn't get back in – everything is as I found it."

Plunder stomped up the stairs, muttering to himself angrily. Wheeler and Linka shrank back against the wall behind the door as he swept past them.

"Time to go, babe," Wheeler said softly. She nodded her agreement and they crept back towards the window, pushing it open silently.

"Bleak!" This time Plunder's voice was positively frightening.

"You first," Wheeler urged, helping her up onto the sill.

"I will catch you," she whispered. She dropped silently from the window, catching herself with a strong updraught and landing gently on the grass below before offering a hoarse whisper to the man above her. "Wheeler!"

He clambered up onto the sill and dropped, slowing significantly as she caught him in another strong current from her ring.

It was more a sixth sense than any significant noise that caused Linka to haul Wheeler backwards and behind a corner of the building. A side door burst open a split-second later, and Bleak stalked out into the moonlight, followed by Plunder.

"Go and get the dog," Plunder snapped. "I swear the lock on that door had been melted, and that means those fucking Planeteers are back again. There's a firebug around here somewhere." His eyes roamed across the yard, hunting for intruders.

"The dog will sniff 'em out," Bleak chuckled, heading around the side of the building.

Wheeler and Linka had no choice but to run for the nearest door and disappear back inside the warehouse.

"Bozhe moy," Linka breathed. "We've got to get past them."

"Really?" Wheeler asked breathlessly, raising his eyebrow. "You don't want to stop and chat with them for a while?"

She chose to ignore his sarcasm and tugged him back into the first office they had broken into. The window was still open and they could see Plunder out in the yard, his hands on his hips, his eyes still searching the darkness for movement.

"He's right where we need to go," Linka said in dismay.

"He knows it's us, too," Wheeler said grimly.

"Not for sure," Linka said hopefully.

"A melted lock is a pretty good indication." Wheeler said, his ring glinting in the dim moonlight.

A barking dog nearby sparked Linka into action. Holding her ring through the open window, she sent a blast of air towards Plunder, knocking him forward onto his stomach.

"Damn it!" He struggled to his feet again and spun around furiously, his eyes searching the building.

"Upstairs, babe," Wheeler whispered. "He'll run in here and we'll drop through the window again." He stood up sent a loud wolf-whistle out into the yard, blowing Plunder a kiss through the open window before grabbing Linka's hand and making a run for it, a furious Plunder racing for the door in the side of the building.

Linka landed a lot harder than she did the previous jump, and barely caught Wheeler in time. They scrambled to their feet and ran for the hole in the fence, the dog barking furiously somewhere at the front of the warehouse, Bleak and Plunder shouting to one another.

Both Planeteers breathed a sigh of relief when the geo-cruiser came back into sight.


"So it's chemical runoff from whatever Skumm is creating," Gi said slowly, chewing her lip. "There are hundreds of barrels – but a lot of them are empty. The waste has probably already been dumped into the river."

"Skumm makes deliveries every five days," Linka said, recalling the information she had pulled up on the computer. "Plunder then dumps it into the river, and bribes the government so there is no investigation into the poisoned water."

"What about all the people getting sick? And all the fish and plant life dying?" Ma-Ti asked in disbelief.

"Even if the citizens are concerned, without a proper investigation by the right people, this will not stop," Linka answered furiously. "I think this goes much deeper than we originally thought. I wish we knew what Skumm was up to."

"Did you find out where this stuff is coming from?" Gi asked.

She shook her head. "Nyet. But there is another delivery due tomorrow. We could follow the trucks back and stop the chemicals at the source."

"Good idea," Kwame said. "Until then, we should get some sleep. It is late, and Skumm and Plunder will be on guard more than ever now that they know we are back. Tomorrow could be a difficult day."

"I think that's an understatement," Wheeler muttered, shrugging out of his jacket and curling up in his seat. He looked longingly over at Linka, who was curling up across the aisle. Not only was he in for an uncomfortable night – he couldn't even wrap himself around his fiancée. He sighed and rested his head against the window, cursing Plunder and those like him.