+++5.553.986.M41+++
+++The Hole, Subsector Ossibus, Sector Askellon, Segmentus Obscurus+++
+++The Barren (downtown Khurry) - Majumdar's Motor House+++

After the fight, they had raced off, but hadn't left the Barren. Sergeant Akhil had directed them to Majumdar's Motor House, another black stone house with a wide shoddy metal gate. Inside, Lars had been surprised to see that Majumdar actually had a garage with room for a few dozen groundcars and enough equipment to make a junior engineseer drool. Apparently one of Akhil's troopers was a nephew of Majumdar and after a few words of the trooper with the chief mechanic, they parked the Rhino at the far end of the depot and were left alone.

Now, Lars found himself alone with the girl. He had contemplated a variety of reasons for the presence of the girl at Radashendra's house: a spy for one of the gangs, a spy for the Kaptin, or maybe, she was with Radahendra himself. Whatever it was, she might know where to find his contact.

The girl had reclined to one of the corners of the passengers compartiment of the Rhino. Now that Lars could observe her properly, he could see that she was dressed in the typical attire of the Khurry citizenry: A roughly weaven, brown dress, with long sleaves without further adornments. She wore a single earring, but the little stone that had been set in it, had fallen out. Her face was smeared with dirt and her thick black hair had been cut short rather sloppyly.

Lars had borrowed a few pieces of equipment of Majumdar's mechanics, a crowbar, a pair of pliers and a blowtorch. He wasn't planning on using them - it was only a kid after all - but setting the right mood for this conversation would bring him a lot closer to his objective.

"What's your name, kid?" he began. The girl looked at him defiantly, clearly not impressed by the collection of prosaic tools. "Deepa. What's it to you, bajin?" Lars took a step closer and lowered his voice. "Let's keep this conversation on a friendly basis, shall we? ... So Deepa. What were you looking for on that rooftop? You weren't gonna get a lot of alms up there, so I'm guessing someone set you up there." The kid didn't change her attitude. "Don't know if I can tell you, bokon. Why were you there?"

Lars sighed. He could look past the disrespect, but not the attitude. So he grabbed the pliers and pointed them at her. "Look, I'm regulator Akira. Adeptus Arbites. I'm not one of the locals that you can fool or play with. It just doesn't work like that." With a snap he clasped the pliers shut to emphasize his tone. "I'll be asking questions. And you'll be answering them. And that's the last friendly reminder you'll get. Don't you think anything else." He didn't grin or scowl. He just talked to her like he was stating some boring facts. Internally, Lars felt uneasy though. He rather wanted this girl to talk without having to resort to torture. But if his mission demanded it, he would.

He looked closely at the girl's expression and although the girl still offered him a cool attitude, Lars could see that he had her rattled. He could see many scratches and a few bruises on her hands, so she probably got punished physically regularly, so it wasn't the prospect of pain that scared her. He could see in her eyes that it was fear of the unknown. Although this girl was streetwise, she'd never had a run in with an arbite. Lars decided to play that out.

"I'm looking for Talmai Radashendra. I need to speak with him. Urgently. You were hiding near his house. So, I'm asking you again, why were you there? What were you looking for?" Lars immediately saw a change in attitude in the girl after he asked his questions. The girl started talking immediately, eagerly now. "I am working for Talmai, sir. He asked me to keep an eye on his house after he had to run. He said: 'Deepa. When there's someone that comes knocking to my door, you take a good look and come tell me.' He also said that he would double my pay if I managed to find out who came looking for him." Lars took a step back and laid down the pliers, feeling relieved. "So, where can I find him, Deepa?" he asked, giving the kid a smile. The regulator kept checking for signs of deceit though. Deepa looked like she survived on the streets, which meant that she would have learned to lie through her teeth if life on The Hole was anything like elsewhere in the Imperium. "Further north, sir. Although I would suggest you leave your ride and switch it for another. The gangs are going crazy, attacking any officers that are separated from the main force. And although Talmai always tells me to stay out of trouble, I'm not sure how he would react to your Rhino on his doorstep."

Lars tried to gauge the girl's responses. Her answer seemed honest enough. And although he had been intimidating her, it didn't feel like something she had said out of desperation.

"Ok. I'll take your advice." Lars conceded. But before the girl could get too comfortable, he added. "But you're coming with me. You seem to know your way around." Lars could see the disappointment in her eyes. "And I'll pay you handsomely for your services, Deepa." he continued, "How about fourty thrones."

Lars didn't really know what currency they were exactly using in downtown Khurry, but the amount he had mentioned would surely be enough for the girl to be out of trouble the next couple of months. Immediately he could see that her interest was back and he could see how she was forming her first question. "I'm not paying you anything up front, though." Lars interrupted her, "With the arbites we need results first."

Lars left the Rhino and returned the equipment to the mechanic. Next he adressed Akhil. "Sergeant. It seems we will follow different paths from here. The girl knows where to find my contact, but the Rhino will attract unwanted attention. I'll head out from here. You can return to HQ. I'll just borrow your specialist. An extra gun won't stick out too much, but it might make the difference if we run into trouble."

The sergeant acknowledged the orders and saluted him. Lars thought he saw something, perhaps a bit of annoyance with Lars picking apart his unit, but the man turned on his heels and reorganized his men. In the meanwhile Lars convinced Majumdar that it would be in his best interest to borrow him one of the ground cars in the garage. With the exchange of a handshake and another purse of his thrones, they separated quite amicably.


+++5.554.986.M41+++
+++The Hole, Subsector Ossibus, Sector Askellon, Segmentus Obscurus+++
+++Downtown Khurry - The Barren+++

"Here it is, sir. Just to your right." Deepa pointed at a muddy and rather tight street. Lars didn't bother with the indicators of the sturdy Chennai 4x4. He was too busy with keeping an eye on his surroundings. The street Deepa sent him in, was barely more than an alleyway. Once inside, Lars could see that it was a dead end, and that he would have to drive to the end of the street to make a turn. He could also see three figures on the rooftops left and right from the alley, one of them carrying a grenade launcher. They didn't seem too worried by the sight of the groundcar, but then again, they could set this situation to their hand in an instant.

"Not the best tactical position to be in, regulator." Vishna added, rather unhelpfully stating the obvious. Lars ignored her comment and drove on through deep puddles of dirty, brown water, splashing the car and the houses with it, until he came at the end of the street. He drove it close to the right side of the road and with a creaking noise, pulled up the handbrake.

"So now what Deepa. We just walk in?" the regulator asked. "That would be a change of pace." Vishna said, rather dryly. "Just keep an eye on those men, Vishna." Lars answered a bit annoyed. "So tell me Deepa, what did Talmai tell you to do." The girl shrugged and kept looking out of the windscreen. "Well... Just walk in and give the password." From the back seat Lars heard a soft snicker.

He peered through the dirty windows and saw a ragtag interface unit attached to the wall next to the plain brown wooden door. He was just about to turn towards the kid, when she added: "The password is angkatan laut sakabèhé." Lars cursed. "Yeah, why make things easy huh. Stupid frak. Say that again?"

As Deepa repeated the sentence a few times, Lars couldn't shake the feeling that he had had enough of the complications. After all, it was this guy who had asked for an evac. And now here he was, launching himself right into a dirty turf war, banging on doors and memorizing stupid slang passwords that didn't even remotely resemble decent low gothic.

"Strange password for this place." Vishna commented when Lars finally had mastered the pronounciation of the local argot. "Why? What does it mean?" he asked, looking at the mercenary via the rear view mirror. "Navy over all." she answered. "Yeah, you got all kinds of crazy with us." Lars agreed.

'And stupid too. Why would he pick a password that leads to his connection, Akira.'

Lars remembered from the file that Radashendra had been a navy NCO before he settled down here on The Hole. His usefulness was tied to the man's past. The majority of his time he had served on the one of the Navy's patrol cruisers, The Swordsman. With his patrols he had covered the whole of the subsector. And had made contacts in many ports on many worlds.

"Ok, kid." Lars said after a short pauze, "You head to the door and give the password. I'm not sure they'll understand me when I give it. I'll follow you. Vishna, keep your weapon at the ready, but stay by the car. If this turns ugly, you'll have to supress those men on the roof while we get back in the car. Let's do it."

Lars gently opened the car door and walked to the building entrance. Deepa stepped out from the Chennai and accompanied him. Vishna retrieved a pack of Beedi-sticks - the local equivalent of lho-sticks, she had told him, only a bit more spicy - and lit one, while she casually let her improved Mark III lasgun slip from her shoulder. Lars pressed the worn blue button of the interface and heard a bothersome buzzer at the other end. Half a minute later, the answer, however short, came. "Ya?"

Lars lifted Deepa up who said the password, loud and clear. At the other end the voice remained silent. With an electronic click the door opened and swung inside. Lars could see how the wooden door had been reinforced with durasteel bars - not enough to keep a professional out, but good enough to withstand most assaults - and he beckoned Vishna to join them. The room beyond smelled bad, like fungus, and was empty, naught for a stairwell to the first floor and a door at the back, leading onwards.

Before they could wonder where to go, someone appeared at the top of the stairs. The lighting was pretty bad, so Lars could barely make out if it was a man or a woman, but beside him, Deepa whispered that it was Talmai. Lars frowned. As the man came closer, more light from outside fell on his face. He didn't recognize Radashendra from the pict in the file. The fact that the man's eyes, lower jaw and right side of the skull had been replaced by metal parts and bionics, could explain some things though.

"Aaaah. Little Deepa. I see you performed well, little girl." Radashendra began. "Ya, mister Radashendra. This is the man that has come looking for you." Deepa reported. "Not really what I asked, eh, little walang." Radashendra said with a half smile on his face, showing some yellow teeth. "Perhaps not, mister, but good enough for the reward, no?" Deepa tried, putting on her most likeable face. "We'll see, we'll see." Radashendra said, waving his hands in a dismissive matter, "Not so fast little laler."

Lars could hear Deepa snort softly, but didn't react. She seemed to have brought him to the right place. When the man stood before Lars, he opened his mouth and gone was the slang from Khurry and The Hole. Instead the man spoke proper low gothic, with a tongue that betrayed the fact that he'd been travelling. Lars could hear all kinds of intonations and accents, from all over the subsector.

"Regulator Akira. We received your message. I'm here for your pick-up." Lars said, pointing a thumb at the door behind him. "Welcome, regulator. I didn't think you would get here that fast. As you can see, things are... heating up, around here." Radashendra gave him the same half smile he had given Deepa. Lars wasn't in the mood for exchanging pleasantries though. "Indeed. I've got a shuttle in a secured landing bay. We just need to get to the Khurry space port and we can be out of here." The man clapped his hands together, keeping them in front of his body, wringing them together, like a carpet salesman that feels like a deal is slipping through his hands. "Yes, but..." Lars could see that the man was starting to sweat. Clearly, Radashendra was nervous. "It's just that... I've still got business here." the informant continued. "Anything to do with that?" Lars indicated the bionics with a little nod of his head. "No. Not exactly regulator. That's something from a bit longer ago." Radashendra replied, "No. The last file I sent the judge contained some information that has since become obsolete. Or rather, that has led to some other clues. It would be quite the shame were we not... to retrieve that information." Lars looked a the man a little incredulous. "This city is on fire and you want to finish a case?" Radashendra's face darkened as he answered imperatively. "The Imperium is at war and you want to leave it without vital information?"

Of course Lars couldn't argue with that, but he still couldn't completely shake the feeling that something else was going on. This man had asked for an exit from the judge, and here he was now, with the finish in sight, making detours. But Radashendra made a compelling argument. Everything that could help the forces of the Imperium to win the constant war they were in, would be of use. Although Lars hadn't seen any war actions from up close, he had seen the after action reports of Belloran's service. They might not be able to assist on the front lines, but the work of the judge had been a boon to Imperial efforts nonetheless. Without their interventions the logistics would be hampered, information that could turn the tide of battle would have been withheld and naval operations might have been less succesful. Lars remembered his old friend Svensson, how he too would insist that everything one did at the docks, was to strenghten the Imperium and that going the extra mile, was just what the Imperium needed to tip the battle in her favour.

Lars sighed resigned. "Ok. So, what's that business you're talking about?" Seeing how he had won the argument, Talmai's face cleared up. "I just need to have a word with some men, here in Khurry. Nothing that should take too long." Lars on the other hand, still felt annoyed for jumping through another hoop. "Then let's get on with it, shall we. Vishna. Lead the way."

"What about my money, mister Radashendra. sir?" The two men looked at Deepa, who was looking at them from beneath two thick eyebrows, cracked in a disgruntled frown. Lars had almost forgotten about Deepa, but true to his word, he counted out forthy thrones. In the meanwhile, Radashendra went back up and came down with two bleached blue, kashweave bags. From one of them, he retrieved a simple purse and counted out a few local coins, handing them over to Deepa with a smile. The girl thanked them both and with a wave from her hand, she headed out.

Lars looked how she adroitly slipped out of the door and quickly disappeared. She truly was a kid of the street and Lars was sure that she'd find her way, even if this city was on fire. He looked back at Radashendra who was rummaging through his sack. "We should do the same, Talmai. To the car."