Victor and his crew arrived early on the Monday morning, dragging in a trailer full of tools, lifting hoists, and the large equipment needed to weld and fix the fuel tanks and other parts in place. As they started to prepare, the team gathered off to one side, giving them room to move.
"So, what are we going to do with the truck and the trailer when we're off on this job? Are we leaving them here and just paying for them?" asked Tads.
"I assumed that someone was going to drive back to the ranch with them at first – but it is a long way, and they'd have to get back. And of course, if they run into trouble on the way, we're all split up. And other than Marius, only Shimazu and myself have any real experience driving the truck," Aswon responded.
"It's about fourteen hundred klicks as the crow flies, so more like eighteen hundred with the way the roads are; so probably talking about a very long day of driving if you can split the shift between two or perhaps three of you, but doable. But that's not accounting for trouble, or traffic." Hunter pulled up the map on his display and showed the various distances and possible routes he'd worked out.
"And where is our mission in relation this this?"
"All the way over here, Aswon". Hunter manipulated the map, having to zoom out a bit more to get all three locations in view at the same time. "But, the good news is that if the truck is back at the ranch, and you can get from the ranch to Baku, it's not that hard to get a flight to Volgograd – then we just need to get the last little bit back to here. And if you're not carrying anything dodgy, the air trip shouldn't be too bad."
Aswon reached over and moved the map around a little, trying to better gauge the distances involved, and accidently swiped over to another page. The map was replaced with an image of a sleek silver craft with a massive fan mounted on the rear.
"What's this?" Hunter pushed Aswon's finger off the display, and the swiped over a few times, moving the picture to a rugged four wheel drive instead.
"I've been doing a bit of research, and browsing the local markets and second hand sales forums and sites, trying to find us some craft. All of these are light enough, and small enough to fit in the back of the chopper, even after we put the fuel tanks and living accommodation in. They might take up most of the remaining room for some of them, because of the shape – but they'll fit, ok?" He looked around the team to make sure they understood.
"Ok, first up is this four by four. It's a Russian UAZ469, a fairly decent off-road jeep type vehicle. It's got two bucket seats up front, and a bench on the back so we'll fit four or five of us in, and there's a small load bed at the back for cargo. Petrol powered, but the tank is a little small, so the range isn't that great once you hit off-road. Handles the mud and trails really well, but has a bit of a reputation for being shit on the tarmac – the suspension is so soft it's like driving a jelly apparently. It's got loads of ground clearance though, and is rated to ford water up to 600mm deep. There's a good few of these about, as they were dead common a few years back so there's lots of second hand choice, and that means they're pretty cheap – I reckon we can get a decent one for about twenty grand."
He swiped over, replacing the battered green four wheel drive with a catalogue picture of a hovercraft, clad in white plastic with a red racing stripe down each side and a pair of large ducted propellers at the rear. The cabin doors were opened like gull wings, showing a plush interior.
"Don't mind the stock footage – this is the luxury version, but the best picture I could find easily. This is the Slavir-9 hovercraft, designed in Finland but made in Novgorod. A big heavier and much larger than the UAZ, this is the one that's toughest to fit in the back. Also petrol fuelled, the range is much greater, but the handling is a bit more dicey – they're solid off road because they hover, but they need a delicate touch. That's not a worry though, as this one comes with a full Rigger interface, meaning Marius can plug in and work his magic. Only room for four people in here, and the cargo area is the same size, but can't carry quite as much weight as the UAZ, about as fast but accelerates much quicker – provided you don't wipe out of course. Bad news is that even the ones of these I've been looking at that are for duties in rural areas for taxi or bus duties and stuff run about 80 grand. They're nice vehicles, and well made, but pricy because of the quality of the manufacture."
He swiped over again, back to the slender silver shape they had seen at first. It looked like a racing boat with an airplane engine strapped to the back, that someone had forgotten to paint – while at the same time gave off an aura of speed.
"This is a Tupolev A-4 Aerosled. Weird thing – I hadn't heard of them before this. It's basically a boat that has an ultra-shallow draught – no more than 50mm submerged normally, so you can take it in even the shallowest water without issue. But, it also has these runners along the bottom like a sledge, so it runs on snow and ice just as well – they use 'em for keeping small villages and houses supplied up in the tundra. And yes, that's some kind of big ass turbo-fan engine on the back and a two metre propeller – both probably robbed off the same plane, given the manufacturer. Petrol driven, but really efficient, so this has the longest range – but the lowest weight capacity. Bizarrely enough though, this seats eight, provided you like getting buddy with people. So I reckon we can put supplies in the seats instead of people and probably be ok. By far the fastest, it's sorta half way between the UAZ and the hovercraft in terms of responsiveness from what I can tell. No rigger gear in it, but there is a datajack, so we can at least use a virtual dashboard – and there's a couple of these knocking around at under twenty grand, provided we don't mind second hand."
"I like the hovercraft the best – we want the quality and the workmanship. And it looks fun. But I suspect from the expression on Kai's face that we cannot afford it," Aswon glanced at Kai for confirmation, seeing the nod of agreement.
"Well, we can always do a little look around the area, and find some low life scum that have one of these craft, and deal with them. Then we get a free vehicle, as they won't need it anymore." The rest of the team turned to look at Tads, with slightly bemused expressions. "Hey, only if they are BAD people."
"While I admire your practicality Tads, that's another job we're getting involved in that has no payment. I think we have enough on our plates at the moment." Aswon shook his head at her in wonder – then stopped for a moment and thought that he was talking with someone who had apparently walked from her village somewhere up on the northern coast of Russia all the way down to the Trans-Caucus League. She might be moral, but she was also incredibly practical…
The team flicked back and forth through the pictures, discussing the various advantages and disadvantages of the craft, and how they would best make use of them. Without really accurate information on the area, it was hard to make an ideal choice or determine which was "best" for the purpose, and they suspected that each of them could be made to work.
Nadia beckoned Marius to step away from the group for a moment, and spoke quietly to him.
"I have an idea about the truck. I think you should stay here with the workmen to supervise them, along with Aswon and Kai. Hunter, Shimazu, Tads and I should get in the truck and drive back to the ranch. Between Hunter and Shimazu, they can do shifts of driving, while the Witch stays in the trailer and does her spells. When we get back to the ranch, I will stay there, and make preparations for the work that needs to be done, while the others get a plane or a train back here to meet up with you. If the work is going to take several days, they can be back before it's complete."
"That's a good idea – are you sure you're happy to go with them?" Nadia shrugged a little and looked slightly unhappy.
"I will miss being with you. But I think it is for the best. I can be most useful there, and from what has been said, the vehicles you are getting for the back of the helicopter are not that big…"
Marius nodded to her, and they returned, in time to see Kai turning towards Hunter.
"Can you get online and just check the stock price on these shares here, for that Turkish Steel mill?" Hunter quickly pulled up a page, having clearly anticipated (or hoped) that Kai would finally agree to sell.
"As of twenty five minutes ago when I got an updated price, they're worth about nine thousand five hundred, after paying taxes and brokerage fees."
"Oh? Hmm, that's not much. Might as well keep hold of them for now then, it's not going to help us much." The rest of the team exchanged glances, but Kai ignored them. "I've been thinking about the truck and the trailer as well. I think we need to talk to Vishtar, and see if we can work out a price – overall, it's probably cheaper to keep them here than it is to pay the fuel and travel to get them back to the ranch – let alone if something happens like another bandit attack, tax men, corrupt officials or local warlords. And we don't know where we're going next."
Nadia stared at Marius, but he just shrugged at her, and said nothing. Kai made a reasonable point about the cost of fuel and travel, and unless they were away for quite a while, the daily billing wouldn't match that. It did trigger a memory from their orientation tour though.
"Hey, Kai. When we were shown around, he said there was left luggage as well as the lockers in the pods. And that we could leave stuff for other people to collect and such like. There might be space for the truck and trailer to be stored somewhere that's not a full cave like this, but a smaller one somewhere – you should probably ask about that, it might be cheaper."
"Good call – I'll do that when we see him next. In the meantime though, let's plan out this journey east a little more."
Victor and the workmen made a start on dismantling the chopper, laying out parts and running control wires while the team moved over to the cheap table and chairs that served as the furniture in the pod and gathered around to discuss the mission.
First of all Hunter and Marius showed the location of the target zone, and the very old, low resolution and probably out of date information about the topography of the area. The area was lousy with lakes, ponds and other small bodies of water, linked by streams or canals of some kind, along with a spider web of tracks and small clearings. Despite their best efforts to analyse the pictures, they were defeated by the awful quality – and no amount of saying "enhance" seemed to work…
It was about 2300km to the target zone, so they had to refuel somewhere along the way, and somewhere on the way back – that much was certain. They remembered that their employer, "Ludmilla" had said she might be able to help with that, so it was added to the list of things to discuss with her when they called. Approaching from the southern arc seemed to be the best general idea, as it meant only crossing about four or five hundred kilometres of hostile terrain to reach their target.
Aswon detailed the plans for the combination heater/cooler box that would be required to transport a live specimen, to keep a sharp temperature gradient between the warmer soil and the colder surface. He also told the rest of the group that it might be worth getting a whole bunch of potted plants or other growing natural items to store around the box, to improve the area. When they smiled at him, his frown deepened.
"No, seriously – I mean it. This isn't a joke. We need to keep this thing in a neutral area astrally. Bad mana will kill it, according to the expert. Surrounding it with life, neutral and natural life will help. Otherwise if one of you gets injured and is in pain, or is even having thoughts of murder or retribution against someone, it could be enough to shock the plant and send it into decline. And that's the difference between earning a quarter of a million Nuyen, and handing over a dead plant and having a pissed off employer to explain things to." The smiles faded, particularly amongst the non-magically active members of the group as they considered how their mood might affect things in an unseen way.
Aswon took a deep breath to calm himself, then struck out on a tangent, describing the list of winter gear he thought they should get, based on his experience of mercenary operations in the past that had taken him to more northerly latitudes. The list grew as other people chipped in their thoughts, and there was the feverish clicking of keypads as the list was updated and expanded with everything they might need to survive and prosper in the tundra.
"Hey Aswon. If we're getting one of these boxes made for the plant, should we get multiples made up? Making more than one of something normally isn't much harder or more expensive once they've worked out how to do it? And then we can get ourselves some of these plants to use for us, if they are that rare and expensive?"
"It's a nice thought, Shimazu – but I don't think we have the time, expertise or facilities to make use of them ourselves. We'd need to have an enchanting space set up and ready to go, and as far as I am aware, only Tads is really skilled at that sort of thing. For her to do her best work then, we need to find a forest to set up in, and make sure the environment is just right – and provide her with a whole bunch of stuff, and most importantly leave her for a full lunar cycle to work on it. I just don't think we're at the right sort of time to do that."
They considered for a moment, and agreed that having the team tied down to a specific location and unable to move or take a job for 28-30 days would not be ideal, let alone they were poor enough at the moment, in terms of ready cash, that setting up the workshop would likely wipe them out – not so much buying the workshop, as they'd already done that from Aslick back in the TCL – but in making them stay in one place for a whole month, with limited opportunities to make money and keep the workshop guarded against intruders. The enchanting process was so arduous, according to Tads, that it allowed for only minimal sleep during the evolution, and the slightest outside interruption could spell disaster. Instead they turned back to the matter of the plants, trying to work out if there was any particular elements of the soil or the air that would need to be replicated to best ensure that the plant had a good chance of surviving.
An hour or so later, they were pretty much ready, with a list of things to research and purchase, and a smaller list of things to discuss with their employer. Hunter and Kai headed out of the pod, leaving the rest of the team to supervise the work on the helicopter – which was looking somewhat skeletal now in places with panels removed and the superstructure laid bare.
They split at the main tunnel, Hunter heading for the entrance of the cave to get a decent uplink connection and update the shopping list and perform his research, Kai heading along towards pod one and the recreation area, hoping to find Vishtar. He was in luck, and spotted the operations manager as he entered the rec area, talking with the cook. A subtle cough and a raised finger let him know he was wanted, and Kai sat down to wait for his conversation to finish.
A minute later, his business with the cook was concluded, and Vishtar walked over to Kai and took the seat opposite him. After a few pleasantries, Kai outlined that he wanted to leave the truck and trailer here while they went out on a job, as 'left luggage' – but obviously didn't want to tie up a pod for all that time, though if that was the only option and Vishtar was happy with it... Vishtar in turn considered, and then sat back in the chair and steepled his hands together in front of him, resting his lips against the tips of his fingers.
"I think we can sort something out. If you don't need access, there are some side tunnels and small caves that are big enough for your truck and trailer to be stored in, with no problems. You wouldn't want to live there, or work – but that's not an issue is it. Fifty Nuyen a day for storage charge and looking after things." Kai smiled and reached over the table to shake his hand at the offer. By his estimation the job was going to take about two weeks in all, so the 700 Nuyen charge was probably less than the fuel costs to get the truck down to the ranch, let alone the return travel costs.
With that, Vishtar excused himself to go and make some preparations for the storage, and attend to some other details. Kai pushed himself up from the table and turned to leave, then noticed that he was being watched – quite intently. He glanced over towards the table and saw the three swarthy individuals they'd identified as the "Zephyr" crew, the ones they'd met in Constantinople. As he studied them for a second, the spokesman for the group made a small beckoning gesture and then pointed at the seat at the end of their table. Somewhat intrigued, Kai wandered over.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"
"Hello. I just wanted to make sure that there was no problem between us. From before. When we were watching the police show, with the shooting."
"Oh, right. No – no problem, we're all fine. No problems at all."
"Good, good. I didn't want to have any misunderstandings between our teams. We like police shows, you see. Do you like police shows?" Kai thought for a moment – there was clearly a sub conversation going on here, but he didn't quite 'get' what the guy was hinting at.
"Yes, I suppose so. They're not my favourite, but I can watch them and enjoy them?" He hedged, trying to remain sort of neutral on his opinion and keep his options open. He watched as Mustapha reached into his inside pocket, and for a moment wondered if things were about to get ugly. He relaxed again though when then hand withdrew holding a small chip case between two fingers, which was then slid down the table towards him.
"This is 'Police Chases 9'. It is one of our favourites. We hope you will also enjoy it." Kai slapped a hand down on the chip case as it slid past him, stopping it from sliding off the table. When he raised his hands he saw what looked like a bootleg copy of a police trid show, along with the slightly badly duplicated insert sleeve complete with obligatory spelling mistakes and weird choice of fonts.
"Thanks, I'll watch this with my team. So, are you guys here long?"
"No, we leave tomorrow morning, before dawn. More work."
"Well, perhaps we will see you again sometime then. Until then." He smiled and nodded, pocketed the chip and slid out from the seat, leaving the rec area and heading back to the team. As he got to the main entrance way and was about to cross towards the tunnel leading to their pod, he saw one of the pull trucks appear through the illusion over the entrance, towing a large silver plane.
He leant against the wall of the cave, and watched as the craft was slowly towed along the tunnel, figuring it was interesting to see another team arrive. It was a tilt wing – on the larger end of things that he'd seen, and was finished in a shiny metallic finish. As the craft went past, he realised that that entire surface was covered in the same silvery hue and the surface was smooth and slick everywhere he could see. It looked built for speed somehow, lean and glossy and he was a little glad that Marius wasn't here, just in case he got aircraft envy. The plane was towed off and turned left – so heading for one of the lower numbered pods, indicating they were held in reasonably high regard it seemed. With a shrug, he resumed his walk back towards pod six and his team.
When he was back at the pod, he gave the chip to Hunter, who had returned a few minutes before he had, and asked him to check things out – carefully. After examining the case carefully and then opening it, out popped a standard data chip. This was inserted into the deck, with all the standard anti-viral and malware settings cranked up to the max. The contents appeared to be benign though – with 99.5% of the capacity being filled with a single large video file that when checked was indeed a series of police chases from around the world with explosive or action filled consequences.
But, also on the disk, hidden in a small data file obscured in the index area of the disk was a plain text data stream. Inside the text file were just a few characters.
'37.339, 26.605. Recognition code: Minos-Papprika-229-Vaggelis-Chatzis'
Hunter got out his map utility and bashed in the co-ordinates, and the map zoomed to the small Greek island of Patmos. The map was blurry and low detail with the data normally downloaded on the fly via the matrix link, but the numbers seemed to zero in on the eastern most area of the island on the northern half, and there was a small notification pin indicating a place of interest – 'Navayia church'.
"I doubt it's their base of operations – but I wonder if it's another smuggler stop like this one? I mean, not caves and things, but with fuel and other smugglers stopping by." Kai looked around at the others, and no one disagreed with his assessment. They saved the information onto their map, making sure it was on the data layer protected by their logic bomb set up in case the team was ever captured. Kai looked around and noticed that Marius was sitting on a chair slightly away from the group, apparently asleep – his head was lowered to his chest and his body was slumped. He pointed at him, and raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask the question, Hunter filled him in.
"He's running VR simulations on the routes. I downloaded as much map data as I could get over this shitty matrix link on the phone, and he's put them in his rigger deck. So now he's going over the routes and looking for sensor deadspots, radar shadows, canyons, anything he can use to mask the journey and keep us off radar and other sensors during the trip." Kai nodded in understanding and decided to leave him to it.
As it turns out, it didn't matter. His eyes fluttered open suddenly and he sat bolt upright.
"Was war das?" He looked around quickly, checking the ceiling and floor as he did so. "Did you hear that – a massive rumble?" The others looked confused, then concentrated. Aswon, Kai and Tads caught the tail end of the noise, an almost subsonic rumble that they heard on the limits of their hearing. Strangely enough, nobody felt anything – it clearly wasn't blasting from the quarry which should have sent rumbles and vibrations through the ground.
"Maybe it is blasting in the quarry, and the caves are protected against the movement by some kind of magical effect – we can hear the sound, but not feel the blast? If so, that's a pretty strong set of mojo!" As Aswon finished speaking, he dropped into astral and started to look around, but couldn't detect anything new or changed in the environment. "I'm curious – I'm going for a look."
Aswon got up, as did Tads, Kai and Shimazu and they headed out of the pod and towards the main area of the base, trekking through the huge limestone caverns on the almost kilometre long journey. They had made it back to the main massive limestone tunnel that provided the main thoroughfare for the base when they bumped into Vishtar, apparently heading their way. He waved for them to follow him, and led the way back towards the rec area and pod one, then stopped at a tunnel leading off into a cave about thirty metres deep and twenty wide. The team looked at each other for a minute – they must have been slightly disoriented, as they couldn't recollect seeing this cave before on their trip to the rec area.
Vishtar however walked into the middle of the area, then turned to face them and raised his hands to his side, indicating the cavern. In the inky blackness of the cavern, his cybereyes glowed faintly, green emeralds of glistening light.
"This is where your truck will be stored while you are away, plenty big enough I think. And the first area that I want you to ward, if you're still willing to provide service for the base?"
The team agreed, and then had a discussion about how powerful a ward they were going to try and implement. The more powerful it was, the harder it was to create, and the smaller the margin of error – on the other hand with four of them working on the area, they had plenty of time and sets of eyes to notice any mistakes or errors that would cause the enchantment to fail. Vishtar informed them that he would provide the warding materials for them, allowing them to ensure that the wards were permanent, along with a small surplus of materials for the team as payment for their time. Putting up the wards would take about eight hours of concentrated dedicated effort, chewing up three days of their time; the first for the cave where their truck would be stored, the second for the public entrance way and the third for the recreation area.
As Vishtar left having secured their agreement Tads looked around at the cave carefully, extending her senses and looking at the cave astrally. Her breath caught a little as she detected patterns in the mana, and she slowly moved around the room, examining the rocks carefully.
"This IS new. Magic did this, and not long ago either. It's a spell I've seen before, but not at this power… it's…." she seemed lost for words as she contemplated the size of the cave and the tons of rocks that would have had to be moved and reshaped to make the space, "it's an impressive bit of work, and we should be careful about breaking stalactites and things."
They headed back towards their pod, Kai breaking off to go to the entrance, while the others began the long trek once more. Still – it was good for their fitness. Making himself somewhat comfortable in the nook by the entrance, Kai broke out the phone and hit the contact button for Ludmilla.
When she answered, Kai could hear gentle music playing in the background, along with the occasional distant voice. They exchanged pleasantries, then got down to business.
"Well, we've been doing some preparation for the mission, and called in some favours to get some information about the plant. One of the things we've found is some very specific conditions for growth and survival. I'm just sending you a file now." Kai hit the icon to release the pending documents from the transfer queue, then resumed his discussion. "As you can see, the engineering challenge is quite high."
"Oh, I won't look at it now darling, I'm a little busy. But I'll pass it on to my people."
"Right, well – the box is a challenge, so if that's something your engineers or team could help with, it would vastly improve our ability to bring you a live specimen, rather than a selection of gathered cuttings and relevant material."
"Well, a live specimen is much better, yes. Very well, I'll have my people look into it."
"Excellent, well, the next thing is that you mentioned you might be able to assist with refuelling options. We have a route planned, that takes us probably through the northern part of the 'stans, then up into Yakut. But looking at the distance, we need to refuel at least twice."
"Yes, yes, of course. Well, I have a man at Tara airport. That's a short distance south of the border, so that should suffice I think. I will have a message sent to him."
"Thank you. That helps a great deal, and makes the mission much more likely to succeed." Emboldened by his success so far, Kai went for broke.
"There is one other matter, and it's something I'd rather not have to raise of course – but we're running into some issues with operational costs on this one because of the nature of the mission. I was hoping that we could arrange some of the payment up front to help defer these costs – say about fifty thousand?" There was silence for a moment, and Kai wondered if he'd misread her.
"Very well, I'll send the funding through now. I'm sure you won't disappoint me, or fail in the mission."
"Of course not, and thank you again. We'll do our best to make sure you're not disappointed – we'd hate to turn up empty handed as much as you would to see us, I'm sure."
"Yes, of course I'd hate that. I'd have to shoot you, and that just creates an awful mess." The voice was lacking in any humour or jesting, and was delivered in a calm and flat tone that sent a little shiver up his spine. Perhaps it was time to show they really were on the ball here.
"Would you like me to send over the dossier and information that we've gathered so far?"
"Oh, grand! Marvellous. I'll pass you on to someone." With that there were a number of clicks, and the call was transferred to another person, a suspicious-sounding male.
"Yes?"
"Um, hi – it's Kai. I was just talking with your boss, and I have some data to transfer to you."
"Ok."
Kai thought about asking for more details, but figured that Ludmilla knew what she was talking about, and instead sent over the information dossier on the plant, and after a moment's thought, sent the information about the box as well, just in case. With that done and the file transfer complete, he flipped the phone shut and turned to face back down the tunnel.
Striding towards him were two people – a male elf who looked about thirty, and a female human, possibly in her mid-twenties. They were both good looking – unsurprising from the elf where their natural physiology tended to be easy on the eye for most humans. While he'd been studying them, they had closed the distance, and he could make out more detail – both were dressed in flight suits, with the elf's being a brightly-coloured red, quilted and decorated with patches with the names of a number of leading corporations dotted around, while the other was much darker and plainer. Kai noticed she was staring at him, her eyes flicking up and down, over his body – clearly assessing him.
"Hey friend, how ya doing today? Great day for flying huh?" The voice was cultured and refined, but sounded friendly. The elf had a broad smile on his face as he greeted Kai, and started to pull up a large sat-phone from under his arm where he'd been carrying it.
"Hi there, yes, it's a grand day. Though we've been a bit busy to fly. I'm Kai."
"The names Stripes, nice to meet you." As they spoke, Kai was aware of the companion checking him out, stepping slightly to his flank and examining him thoroughly. After a few seconds, she turned away, glancing around the tunnel and checking behind them as well, giving him a view of the large shotgun slung on her back. "This here is my friend, Gemini."
"Nice to meet you both. So, did you fly in today? Was that your tilt wing I saw earlier – the silver one?"
"It was indeed, that's ma girl. The Mondrian." Kai flicked his eyes up to the board to double check – yes, there they were, the Mondrian had replaced the Paladin in pod 1. "She's a beauty, isn't she!"
"She sure is. I'm not sure I ever want my pilot to see her, he might get jealous. We're in pod six by the way." Kai gestured at the board, where the name showing in pod 6 was still showing as 'new craft'.
"Ahh, new fish huh, well I hope you're settling in ok."
"Yes, we're new, but hoping to settle in, make some friends, do a little business. You know how it goes. Oh – one of our team is a mage, no surprise I'm sure – but she can conjure up a superb steak if you're interested?" Stripes smiled broadly, showing a row of perfectly even teeth.
"Sounds good to me, my friend!" There was a quiet beeping from Stripes' watch, and his smile faded a little. "Excuse me, I gotta make a call." He moved to the side of the tunnel and then connected a cable from the sat-phone to a subtle datajack at the side of his neck, hidden under the collar of his flight suit. As he did so, Gemini stepped around Kai to stand next to him, with her back to the stationary figure, her eyes scanning up and down the tunnel alertly.
"Well, I guess I'll see you later. " Kai turned and walked away swiftly, making it clear he intended not to eavesdrop, and headed back through the tunnels, walking from puddle of light to stygian darkness and back again, as he wandered through the caves to their berth.
The rest of the day was filled with preparations for the trip – ordering winter clothing and supplies to be collected in Volgograd, dealing with the repair crew working on the chopper and maintenance on their kit, along with mundane items like doing their laundry.
The following morning, they headed to the rec-area and saw that the Zephyr, Bandit and 69pp were gone, with the 69pp space taken up by a new entry reading 'Bogbuster'. Whoever they were, they weren't early risers though, and the breakfast area was empty of other teams. While the non-magically active members returned to the pod to carry on their preparations, the rest of them found Vishtar and collected a large bag of warding materials, then headed off to the new cave to put up a powerful ward.
Opening the bag, they found a veritable horde of semi-precious gems, all sparkling and dancing with mana, glistening like a nest of fireflies when looked at astrally. They got to work, and by the end of the day had used up all of the gems making an intricate pattern of gemstones and chalk marks on the walls, finding little clefts and pockets to fit the gems into and forming a geomantic shape in the cavern. As they fitted the last gems and made the last marks, the complex matrix of magically attuned crystals and symbols glowed faintly, the ward springing to life around the space and creating a powerful barrier to astral intruders and effects.
Tired after a long day of effort, Kai none the less turned to Tads as they were finished.
"I have a little job for you – after a break and a drink. I want you to create a steak please, and deliver it to Stripes and his crew in pod one. A really nice, big, thick steak – the best one you can do. If you don't mind. I just want to create a good impression."
"Sure Kai, sure. I'm just going to sit down for a few minutes then and rest my eyes, then I'll get on with it. Have you got a…" Kai pulled out a small sheet of thin plastic with a flourish, and offered it to her. "Bag or something. I see you have. Ok, I'll get on in in a few minutes."
She heard the others leave, and just sat still for a few minutes, meditating and relaxing, consciously trying to relax muscles that had been tense all day with the painstaking work. Her hands touched the rock walls and floors, feeling a connection to the world. It wasn't a forest, where she was most at home, but it was natural rock, part of the living world, and helped sooth her mind. She caught herself almost dozing off, and sat up with a start, then checked her chrono – a good fifteen minutes since the others had left. But she felt somewhat refreshed, and ready to carry out her task.
Gathering her energy, she manipulated the mana in the area and concentrated, forming it into raw food ahead of her. To normal eyes, seemingly out of nowhere a steak appeared, centred on the thin blue sheet of plastic. It was thick, as thick as a thumb and nearly as long as her forearm, with a thick white layer of fat around one side, and small veins of fat marbled through the surface. The red meat glistened in the light of her torch, the structure of the meat clear along the edges. She was pleased with herself, even though it perhaps wasn't to her taste – but she couldn't see how someone would fail to be impressed with that as a gift. Pushing herself up, she headed towards pod one and stopped just short of the wide hazard marking that delineated the edge of the public space.
"Hello in the pod! Kai sent me to deliver a gift for Stripes! Do I have your permission to enter?"
Her voice echoed a little, and in response a head popped out of the hatch about halfway down the side of the aircraft.
"COME ON OVER!"
She crossed the line and headed over towards the aircraft, adjusting her angle slightly as she saw the human figure come out of the hatch and duck under the aircraft, heading towards the living area. The facilities here looked nicer than theirs, relatively speaking – chairs were larger and better padded, the table was a proper table rather than a decorators paste table. Well, she figured, that was the value to having a better reputation.
"NICE TO MEET YOU, I'M SURE. STRIPES MENTIONED WE MIGHT HAVE COMPANY!"
She was dressed in clothes that appeared to be a million miles away from Tads. The shirt was silk, rippling under the lights festooned around the craft, and her trousers were made of some equally shiny material that flowed elegantly as she moved. Even her boots were shiny, made of some kind of leather as far as she could see. Her hair was wild and large – but not dishevelled. It just looked like her hair was far too busy doing something to lay flat in a particular style.
"I'M NELLY, NICE TO SEE A NEW FACE. GOOD TO MEET YOU, WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER TO THE TABLE AND GRAB SOMETHING TO EAT OR DRINK?" Her voice was loud, without being grating. It boomed, and rolled. It had….gusto. Yes, definitely gusto. It was a voice that was meant to be heard, and one that could never pass on a secret while others were around. Tads wasn't sure she wanted to be the subject of that booming voice for too long as the sole recipient, so she headed for the table and thought about how quickly she could deliver the gift and then leave without it being seen as impolite. As she turned to look at the table, she stumbled slightly as she took in the view.
The table was covered in food. Literally covered. Trays had been set out on the surface of the table, and each of them was covered in a mound of food. Fresh fruit in piles – apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, high enough to be a severe danger of fruit avalanches if not treated with respect. Next to them were stacks of cheese, flavour after flavour stacked in a pile of squares, wheels and lumps. A tray of bread was next to them, rolls of every description piled high. There was fish, and cold meats, sauces and things that Tads had never heard of, let alone tasted.
"WHY DON'T YOU GRAB SOME FOOD, WHILE I POUR YOU SOME WINE?" The figure reached for a large amphora and a pair of glasses, then poured two exceedingly large measures of thick red wine into them, easily half a litre. She tasted one, and smacked her lips appreciatively, then held out the other towards Tads, who was still staring in shock at the mountain of food.
"HERE YOU GO, A NICE LITTLE LUBRICANT TO HELP THE FOOD GO DOWN. PERHAPS I CAN GET SOME MUSIC GOING, TOO. SO WHAT'S YOUR NAME THEN?"
"They call me Tads. Um, and thank you, but I'm sorry – I'm not really a red wine person. But thank you for the offer, I don't wish to be rude."
"OF COURSE NOT, DON'T BE SILLY. NOT A FAN OF THE RED GRAPE, EH? WELL DON'T WORRY, WE CAN SOON FIX THAT!" She flicked the glass, dashing the red wine onto the floor in a long smear across the cave, then set it on the table and reached for a second amphora, as large as the first. Grasping it by the neck, she poured out an equally large measure of sparkling white wine, and turned around again. "THERE YOU GO. SOMETHING LIGHT AND DRY – A PERFECT ACCOMPNIMENT TO SOME FISH, AND SOME OF THE MORE FRUITY CHEESES!"
Tads winced under the full force of her personality. It was like someone had distilled Germaine down into a concentrated essence, then dialled that up to 11.
"Again, thank you – but I'm sorry, I'm not really a wine drinker. But don't…" It was too late. The wine was flicked out of the glass with a twist of the wrist, forming another dark smear on the cavern floor alongside the first, the wine slowly forming a tiny river as it worked its way across the floor in tiny cracks towards the lowest area.
"AH-HA! SO YOU'RE A MEAD PERSON! I LIKE IT!" She reached under the table and pulled out a large container, similar the ones Tads normally stored her oats in. With a click of her fingers it was filled with dark golden liquid, and Tads saw the flash of power as she manipulated the mana with ease. While her knowledge of the spell to create food was basic, making only small amounts of simple things – it appeared that this was what you could do with a much higher force and power spell.
"So thanks, but not mead either…" Click. A container full of Gin. "thank you, but please stop." Click, a rectangular container of Vodka, "and let me explain, I'm not…" Click, a smaller container of something oily and clear that made the hairs in the end of her nose itch, "really much of a drinker…" Click, a small plastic tub of dark liquid that had flecks of something light in it, that swirled and sloshed from side to side, "…of alcohol at all." The fingers paused, mid-click, and a frown crossed her face. "Sorry, it's not you, or anything you've made, I just don't like to drink anything that affects me like that!"
"OH, I SEE. WELL, I DON'T REALLY SEE, BUT OK. VIMTO IT IS!" Click. By now, she'd all but run out of spare containers, and the dark bubbling liquid was created in a small container probably more suited to delivering nuts on a bar counter. Tads took it from her outstretched hands, and sipped at it, trying not to give offence. It was fruity, and very bubbly, and made her nose wrinkle – but it wasn't alcohol, so she gently sipped at it, smiling broadly in-between to allay the look of concern. She was very glad when another figure swung under the fuselage of the aircraft and walked towards them
"Nelly, I hope you're looking after our guest ok?"
"OF COURSE STRIPES, EVEN IF SHES A VIMTO DRINKER. EVERYTHING OK?"
"Yes, everything's fine. Nice to meet you, I'm Stripes. I'm guessing you're one of Kai's team?"
"Yes, yes. And um thank you Nelly. Yes, I'm Tads, and Kai sent me with a gift for you." She proffered the package over to him, but winced a little internally as she compared her efforts to the smorgasbord that Nelly had prepared. Likely enough the value was not going to be perceived quite as highly as Kai had hoped. None the less, Stripes took the package and opened it up, looking at the slab of meat inside.
"Well, please pass on my thanks to Kai, and to you as well of course. That's very much appreciated, and I think we'll share this out for our evening meal tonight if that's ok? I'm sure cook can whip up something great, and we can add some of Nelly's secret sauce."
"I'LL GET RIGHT ON IT BOSS!" Tads was pleased to see that even Stripes seemed to lean away slightly to avoid getting it full force.
"Well, I must be getting back to my pod. Thank you for your time." Tads placed the half-drunk cup on the edge of the table and started to back away.
"NONSENSE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE EMPTY HANDED! HERE, TAKE SOMETHING WITH YOU FOR THE TRIP. ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE NEW HERE, AS YOU'LL BE ALL THE WAY AT THE OTHER END OF THE QUARRY." A serving dish was pulled out, and Nelly started to load it up with a selection of fruit, meat, cheeses and some large shrimp, along with some bread rolls and other food. Tads was only allowed to leave once she had a good four or five kilos of fresh produce balanced on the tray, making her way slowly and cautiously over the rock floor.
It took her a long time to get back to the pod, even after stopping to put as many apples and other bits of fruit into her pockets to stop them escaping. She was hoping for a bit of sympathy when she got back, but instead it was Hunter who summed up their feelings when they gathered round to examine the food. After spearing a particularly succulent looking shrimp, he slowly chewed and savoured the texture and flavour.
"You're getting better at this!"
Tads scowled, and then explained, warning the rest of the team about Nelly and her propensity. Rather than taking her warning seriously, it just seemed to encourage them, and there were several murmurs of perhaps going to the rec area in case there was someone able to create almost limitless quantities of alcohol and having a personality willing to just give it away.
And so it was that the team headed over to the recreation area, for an after dinner social call – apart from Tads who went and hid in her lodge – to continue working on Shimazu's sword as she informed them and Aswon who was going to keep a watch on the pod. They sauntered down the passageway in a blob, chatting as they went as they filled each other in on the happenings of the day, progress on the repairs and updates on the delivery schedule.
Arriving in the rec-area though, the saw no sign of the Mondrian crew – instead the area seemed to be filled with dour-faced and rank-smelling individuals wearing a mish-mash of uniforms and heavy coats. The volume levels dropped as they came in, as they examined the team, then rose again as they continued talking and drinking.
The team headed over to the other side of the room and snagged a few tables, then settled in, glancing around and eying up the large and rowdy bunch of newcomers. They had taken over three tables - two tables of six of the burly men, and then one more table with two occupants. The men seemed to be the crew, while the two were officers perhaps. Certainly one of the figures wore a uniform that was not the patchwork of the men – indeed it matched entirely, but appeared to be based off some kind of previous regime. It was all black, with discreet red flashes on the shoulders and at the collar, and a small silver medallion at the neck. His neck bulged slightly over the tight collar, and he looked to be a broad and powerful man. His hair was shorn short, and a scar etched across his forehead just below the hair line. Dark bushy eyebrows over sunken eye pits concealed his eyes until he turned and examined the team directly, his cold blue eyes looking dead and devoid of emotion.
"He's got some stuff in his head, and I think a datajack down the back of his neck. Bits of his body look murky – not cyberware. So I guess he's got some bio-enhancements as well." Shimazu looked down at his chest while he spoke, picking at some imaginary lint on his clothing, hoping that it would help disguise what he was saying.
"The men are talking about it being near the end of the season, maybe only time for one more job before they break up. Discussions around what they are going to do over the summer – lots of references to drinking and whoring, hoping the summer is a short one and that the rains come, so they can start work again." Marius dialled back the sensitivity on his hearing, cutting down on the rowdy chatting and banter between the men.
Shimazu flicked his attention up again, and this time examined the second figure on the officer's table, dressed in a long dark greatcoat with large fur trim. He stared for a moment, then froze. The seconds ticked by, five, then ten. Kai nudged him in the ribs.
"Don't be so obvious, Shimazu." Shimazu shuddered and pulled his attention away, then placed his hands on top of the table with his fingers interlinked. The others saw his arms shake a little, and his fingers turn white as he gripped them together tightly.
"I don't know what he has done, or who he is, but he's definitely an active mage of some kind. But there is a darkness around him, some palpable force of evil. It's like looking at that burnt out chemical plant on the coast we passed a while back. Nature is just… wrong around him. Distorted. And he's pretty powerful too, at least as strong as Tads, I think." He took a deep breath and held it, then let it out slowly from his nose. As he did so, he forced his fingers to relax, and unlinked them, letting the blood flow back into them.
As he did so, the uniformed figure slammed down his mug on the table, and the volume level dropped abruptly. Most of the men turned to watch him, twisting in their seats. He stood slowly, and tugged his uniform straight, then swaggered over towards the team. All the other conversations stopped, and now he was the focus of the room. He got to the end of the table and stood with feet shoulder width apart, hands on his hips.
"You are the new team, yes? In pod six?"
"We are, yes." Kai answered. He kept his voice flat and neutral, not challenging, but not sounding fearful either.
"We are the Bogbuster crew. You would do well to remember that we are better than you. We are bigger than you. You are below us!"
Without waiting for an answer, he spun on his heels, and marched back towards his table to resume his position. Several of the men grinned, displaying rancid teeth and broken smiles, clearly impressed with their boss putting the new guys in their places.
Slowly the volume level increased as the men returned to their drinking – with lots of laughing and dismissive jokes being heard. The team looked around the table at each other, then turned to face Kai.
"Not yet. Let's find out who these monkeys are, before we do anything."