LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This is an unauthorized fanfiction. No rights to any copyrighted names, characters, settings, storylines, etc is being claimed except for those of my own invention. Futhermore, no financial gain is being made from this story.

NOTE ON TEXT: Because of the size of the file, I was forced to split this story into two parts. There are no chapters to this, just one long story. As you can no doubt tell from the title, this is an Australian story. It uses Australian spelling and terms. A short glossary of Australian terms has been included at the end of part two.

Made in Australia

A waiter threaded his way through the exquisitely turned out guests, serving extra glasses of champagne to those that had already drained their first glass. One of those was a short, balding westerner who sipped his drink as he considered the view over Tokyo Bay through a set of floor to ceiling windows. A slight mist had gathered over the waters, and appeared to glow slightly as the light off Genom Tower was filtered through. Here and there large cargo ships could be seen, either being slowly manoeuvred into the docks by automated tug boats or heading for the open sea under their own power. An elderly Japanese man came to stand by the westerner and said something to him. The Westerner responded with a polite remark, tinted with just the right amount of charm.

The Japanese man smiled and was about to say something more when a loud crash was heard from the adjoining kitchen, followed by a series of small explosions. Something burst through the door, flinging it off its hinging and across the room where it crashed into a small group of guests. The thing let out an electronic wail and leapt forward, landing atop a stunned man, crushing him under its weight. Suddenly people were screaming and running for the exits. The westerner, dumbfounded by terror, backed up slowly till he felt a wall press into his back. Sliding down it, he curled into a quivering ball on the floor by the window, preying he wouldn't come to the attention of the rogue boomer.

The boomer roared again and flung an arm towards another man. A series of knife blades and other cutting instruments emerged and sliced open the man's back, exposing bone and internal organs. Then there was a commotion by the main door as two security boomers attempted to push their way past the surge of frightened guests. People were flung aside until the boomers had a clear path to their malfunctioning brethren. They charged and griped the rogue boomer, flinging it back into a wall before pouncing on it. Caught in the grip of two boomers with superior strength, it wailed again. Then things went awry. The security boomers suddenly released their grasp on the rogue boomer and turned towards the humans, their eyes glowing a fierce red. As the westerner looked on, they began changing and mutating before his eyes, until there was almost no difference between them and the rogue boomer.

Without warning, the window exploded inward, showering glass through the room as three figures broke through. He cringed away, thinking them more boomers, though they were different to the normal models. They shared a basic, feminine shape, though they bore what appeared to be a visor rather than the approximate facial features of normal boomers, but each also had separate trimmings and colour schemes. One was a deep blue, almost purple, the other green and the last a combination of red and pink. With incredible agility for a boomer, they leapt into the fray. Explosions rocked the rogue boomers wherever the blue one punched or kicked them. Others were sliced open by a pair of ribbons extending from the head of the green one, while the red and pink one kept back and harried the boomers with some sort of weapon mounted in its arm.

Within moments it was over. The rogue boomers lay broken and non-functional after the attackers reached inside them and crushed their cores. Then they turned and left the way they came, paying no attention to the stunned guests. Moments later heavily armed troopers from the AD Police appeared and warily approached the remnants of the boomers. Seeing them already neutralized they set about securing the crime scene with an open air of frustration and attending to the frightened guests. Ambulances were summoned and first aide was administered to those that needed it, while those that were unharmed were interviewed and statements taken.

Recovered now after the shock of the attack, the Westerner gave his statement, then was allowed to leave. Rushing downstairs to the street, he caught a taxi and sped back to his office at the Australian Embassy.

***

Peter Wilson reloaded his pistol and placed another dozen holes through the head of the man shaped target in quick succession, his seventh for the morning. He reloaded again and replaced the target before squeezing off another dozen, putting all the bullets within a fraction of each other.

He reloaded an eighth time and put up another target. The buildings basement pistol range was empty save for him and the Rangemaster. Not too many people in this building carried a gun and Peter was thankful the stiff necked bureaucracy above him hadn't yet gotten around to rewriting the requirements to do away with this range.

Outwardly, Peter was unremarkable in most ways; thirty, of average height and weight, a strong, solid build and dark hair kept short. Handsome in a plain way. The sort of appearance that was able to easily blend into a crowd and hard to remember, which was a boon to his job. Yet anyone that studied him closer would quickly notice how lean he was, a fitness that rivaled that of most athletes.

Peter squeezed another dozen rounds and checked his watch as he reloaded and almost dropped the round as he realize he was running late. He had to be in a meeting upstairs within a few minutes. With a resigned sigh, he unloaded his weapon and safed it before clearing his lane and moving to the cleaning tables where he striped and quickly wiped it down. By the time he had reassembled it and returned the unused the bullets, it was almost time and he had to hurry to catch the elevator.

Stepping off at the fourth floor, Peter quickstepped down the corridor to Michael Dewhursts office, Field Services Manager, Operations Division of the Joint Intelligence Office, his boss.

Dewhursts secretary, Margaret Moneypenny, looked up as he entered the outer office. "Oh, Pete, Mr Dewhurst said for you to meet him in the conference room."

Peter rolled his eyes, turned on his heels and hurried out of the office. "Thanks Margaret." he called over his shoulder. The conference room was a few steps down the hall and large enough to accommodate over a dozen people, but presently only two men occupied it. One was short and well into his fifties, his face heavily lined with gray thinning hair with a noticeable bald spot. Yet Michael Dewhurst was still as sprite and quick as a man half his age. He sat at the head of the table and on his right was another man unknown to Peter. Middle-aged, balding and with a pair of thick glasses, Peter immediately figured him as an analyst or a case officer from one of their parent agencies. They both looked up from the folders they were reading as Peter entered and closed the door behind him.

Dewhurst indicated for him to sit to his left. "Pete, do you know Stanely Roberts from ASIS?"

"G'day. Pete Wilson." Peter said and shook the man's hand as he sat down.

"Pleased to meet you. Stanely Roberts." he said.

"Okay, now that introductions are out of the way, lets get this briefing started." Dewhurst said as he organised his notes and hurried through the standard introduction. "As with everything else we do, this briefing is classified and classed Secret. Only those present or otherwise mentioned are authorized to know the purpose for it and what is discussed here. Does everybody consent to that?" He already knew everybody did, but it was a formality that had to be observed.. He then continued on, reading from his notes and directing it to Peter. "The purpose for this briefing is to brief you on your next assignment. Mr Roberts will brief you on the situation, after which I will brief you the details of your assignment." He then indicated for Roberts to continue.

The ASIS man passed a folder to Peter. "I understand from your file that you're fluent in Japanese?"

"Amongst others. A lot of the places I go speak Japanese for various reasons, so it helps." Peter said and opened the folder. It was a dossier on the Genom Corporation, one of the large megacorporations that had come to dominate the world's economy in recent decades, and included detailed information about their boomer products.

"Have you ever been to Japan?"

"Once passing through, about three years ago. I was only there for a couple of hours and never left the airport, but Tokyo still looked pretty smashed up after that earthquake."

"You're aware the city has been mostly rebuilt now, due mainly to the large supply of boomers that Genom Corporation has manufactured."

Peter nodded and continued reading whilst keeping one ear on what Roberts was saying.

"You're also aware that there has been some suspicion as to the safety and reliability of boomers. There's no substantial evidence, but there are too many persistent rumours of them malfunctioning to be ignored. These rumours along with recent trade disputes with Japan and political pressure from the trade unions and the Labor Party have led to us denying Genom Corporation an import license. Currently they are the sole patent holders for the boomer technology in the world, thus making boomers next to impossible to get here in Australia."

"Believe me, it's more than just a rumour." Peter said.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow you?" Roberts said.

Dewhurst interjected. "Peter's not really a fan of boomers."

"Really? So you've had encounters with them before?"

"Something like that." Peter said. Roberts motioned for him to continue. Peter looked at Dewhurst.

"He's cleared." Dewhurst said with a nod.

"I was up in Borneo on a mission with a few SAS teams to take down a major drug and piracy operation. It was a pretty straightforward mission until Intel let us down and failed to notice that the bad guys had in their possession three boomers jury rigged with some major firepower. Damn things near tore us apart. I got shot twice and spent the next six months in hospital, and I was one of the lucky ones. Unless you're packing a tactical nuke, those bastards are damned near impossible to kill. Why something that tough is available commercially, I'll never understand." Peter said.

Roberts jotted down a note on a pad, before continuing. "We believe Genom has many friends and 'paid associates' where it counts, both in politics and the media. We have a suspicion that they're censoring bad press about their products. Yet there are a large number of people who share your opinions. There's a general feeling of distrust towards boomers. Many see them as cheap labour taking away jobs, while others say they're too unsafe and should be destroyed." Roberts passed another folder to him. "Now, if you'll read this report, it will explain quite a bit about your assignment.

Peter opened the file, taking note of the words 'SECRET' and 'AUSTRALIAN EYES ONLY' printed across the front. He skimmed through the cover page and saw it was a report filed by ASIS's Station Chief at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. Flipping over, he quickly read through the three page report, then went back and reread it to make sure he got it right the first time. Still not quite able to believe it, he went through and read it a third time, unconsciously shaking his head as he did.

"Quite unbelievable, isn't it?" said Roberts.

"Is this an intel report or a T.V. show?" Peter said as he closed the folder. "People wearing armoured suits and fighting hand to hand with those things. It's insane, pure and simple. You're sure the Station Chief hasn't lost his marbles?"

"He underwent his yearly psychiatric review two days after writing that report. He passed with flying colours." Roberts said.

"Well, I'll be goddamned!" Peter said and tossed the folder onto the table. "This is like something from a bad movie!"

"That seems to be the general reaction to that report." Dewhurst said with a coy smile.

"So I guess you want me to go over and check this out." Peter suggested.

"Basically, but I'll get to that after Mr Roberts has finished with his situation briefing." said Dewhurst.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "There's more?"

"I mentioned earlier that Genom Corporation is the sole patent holder of this technology in the world. But now that looks set to change. Recently, an Australian company has developed it's own boomer technology, which is promising to be a lot safer and more reliable than the Japanese versions, and is now applying for a patent. If this company is granted one, it will mean billions of dollars in export sales and thousands of jobs, which I'm sure you understand has the government very excited. Our only worry is anti-boomer groups like these Knight Sabers. We need to determine what sort of threat they pose, if at all."

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait a minute. Backup it up. Boomer's here? Since when?"

"That's not your concern, Pete." Dewhurst said.

"Sir?"

"The government wants this, and that's all that matters. Now if Mr Roberts has finished with his briefing?" Dewhurst looked at Roberts, who indicated he had. "Okay. This operation will be codenamed Orca." Dewhurst passed another folder to Peter. "It is classified Secret and on a need-to-know basis.

"Your objective will be to determine whether these Knight Sabers pose a threat to the Aussieboomer project. You will travel to Japan and conduct a covert investigation into the Knight Sabers to determine whether they exist. If so the extent of their operations, the structure of their organisation and the identities of the persons involved, and finally what their aims and objectives are and whether said aim's and objectives threaten or are detrimental to the Aussieboomer project and/or other national interests.

"The exact method of your investigation will be left to your discretion. You will be assigned a team of four Surveillance Officers from ASIO and an ASIS field agent who's had some investigative experience. All of them are fluent in Japanese and two of the Surveillance Officers are from asian backgrounds. The operation will begin next Monday. We have you and your team booked on a flight to Japan on Friday, so that gives you the weekend to orientate yourselves. The company in question is seeking to apply for a patent in six months time, so this operation must be concluded a report finalized for presentation to the Director-General in five months."

"Five months? That's not much time, particularly with such a small team." Peter pointed out.

"True, but until the Station Chief's report, we had nothing reliable enough to warrant an investigation on something that may not have even existed. If you come across strong enough evidence, you can make a request for extra manpower. You will have full operational authority, but you will be reporting to the Tokyo Station Chief who will be liaising with us. You will be inserted in Japan under the cover of an APS team there to evaluate security at the Embassy."

"I should be able to run this operation out of there." Peter thought aloud.

"That's acceptable." agree Dewhurst. "You won't have diplomatic immunity, so don't go breaking any laws, or at the very least, don't get caught doing it. Do you have any questions."

Peter nodded and indicated the Station Chief's report. "Is this all we have on the Knight Sabers?"

Roberts answered. "Unfortunately, it's our only solid information. Video footage of them is hard to get, although news crews were present at several of their takedowns. Japanese police and the government don't admit their existence, instead stating that groups of anti-boomer vigilantes are responsible. Genom won't even admit that, saying they're just rumours spread by their competitors and aimed at damaging Genom's business. The Station Chief's eye witness account of them in action is the only reliable source we have to go on. There's more information on the internet, but we aren't able to verify its authenticity."

"What else can you tell me about this Aussieboomer? Like how is it supposed to be better than Genom's?"

"I can't reveal too much, but it is being designed from a safety point of view. Not only will there be quadruple independently redundant systems to prevent these boomers going rogue, but they will be physically incapable of harming humans."

"How are they going to ensure that?" Peter asked sceptically.

"It's pretty technical, and that's not my forte, but basically a chip separate from the boomers central processor constantly monitors its functions and should it detect any changes in the boomers behaviour, it automatically ejects the core."

Peter recalled what he knew about boomers. The core was what made the technology possible. He supposed it was feasible to stop a boomer by destroying the core or at least separating it from the boomer. Yet he still wasn't comfortable with the idea of having boomers introduced into Australia. He pushed those thoughts aside for the time being.

"When will I get a chance to met my team?" he asked.

"They will arrive here at ten hundred hours on Wednesday so you can brief them." Dewhurst said. They already know they're going to Japan, but that's all they've been told. We'll also have all the paperwork ready by then. Any other questions?"

Peter shook his head. "Not at the moment."

"Then I'll adjourn this briefing." Dewhurst said and stood. Peter and Roberts also stood and Roberts handed him a business card.

"You can contact me at this number if you need anything more."

Peter pocketed the card, then shook the man's hand, collected his papers and left the room. He had a bit of work to do before Wednesday.

***

The doorbell rang, forcing Peter off the couch with a grumble. Why were people always interrupting him when he was trying to watch T.V.? Always when there was something interesting on, never any other time. Maybe he should just get rid of it so he could get some peace and quiet.

An old black Labrador/border collie cross looked up from its bed under the stairs as its master walked by, then went back to its dozing. Peter opened his front door, revealing a large blonde man of about the same age as him dressed in Army greens and with a Major's rank on the epaulettes.

"Jesus Christ, Bill! I was trying to watch some T.V.!" Peter griped.

"My heart bleeds for you." Bill Hawkins said with a sarcastic grin. "Now you get to watch me instead."

"Isn't stuff like you supposed to be censored?" Peter said as he let him in.

"Supposed to be, mate." Bill said as they shook hands. Not what one would call handsome, Bill had an honest and friendly face and manner that endeared him to everyone, yet he had the same hard look in his eyes that Peter had.

Bill and Peter had been friends ever since before they were old enough for school. A pair of little terrors, they were always getting themselves into some trouble, though they had the good sense to steer clear of anything too dangerous. Mostly they were just out for a bit of fun. After graduating from high school, they had both entered the Army directly through the Royal Military College at Duntroon, short cutting the typical officer induction and training, done through the Australian Defence Force Academy right next door, by a year and a half. Immediately upon graduation, both tested for the Special Air Services branch and began their lives in Special Operations. But for Peter that ended only a few short years later when he was head hunted by the JIO. Bill, instead, continued on in Spec Ops, finally being promoted to Major and placed in command of the SAS squadron based in Canberra, ready to react to any attacks on the government.

"So come in." Peter said as he closed the door and stepped back to allow Bill into his small townhouse. "Beer?"

"Yeah, thanks mate." Bill said as they started through the living room for the small kitchen. "I got your message. Where're you off to this time?" Bill said. Sam, the tired old dog, finally realizing there was someone in its home, picked itself up and wandered over to sniff the arrival. Bill gave him a pat and a gentle scratch behind the ears, before the contented dog wandered back to its bed for some more sleep.

"Japan, mate." Peter said as he pulled two beers from the fridge and passed one to Bill.

"Thanks." Bill unscrewed the cap and took a swig. "Japan? That's a bit different."

"Yeah I know. No field rations or having to catch and kill dinner this time." Peter said as he took a swig from his beer.

"Oh I don't know about that." Bill said with a grin. "You hate sushi."

"The American's have had a presence there for nearly a hundred years. I'm sure I'll be able to get my hands on a few burgers or something." Peter said, shrugging off Bill's jab. "Cheers." he said and they clinked their beer bottles, then headed for the couch.

"You don't mind watching the animals for me while I'm gone, do you?"

"Nah, mate. I'd love to have 'em." Bill said as they sat down in front the T.V. "Hey, did I tell you? Looks like I'm being transferred back to Perth."

"Back to regular SAS?"

"Yep. No more baby sitting politicians. It's back to Borneo and Java to kill pirates, terrorists and drug dealers."

Peter offered a congratulatory hand to his friend. "Good for you, mate! Hell, we might even run into each other now and then."

"Yeah, that would be good. How often do you go north?"

"Not allowed to say."

"Damned secrecy." Bill said as he took a mouthful.

***

Peter waited in the JIO lobby as the two cars pulled up outside the front doors and deposited their five passengers before driving off again. Peter watched them as they entered. Three men and two women, two asians, a man and a woman, both in their mid to late twenties. Two whites, also a man and a woman. The man was about Peter's age, but the woman looked about ten years younger and Peter figured her as a new recruit. The final man was a tall Aboriginal about five years older than Peter.

Peter stepped forward and introduced himself. "G'day. I'm Pete Wilson. You must be the guys from ASIO?"

The Aboriginal took his hand smiled broadly, flashing pearly white teeth against his black skin. "G'day man. Matt Shearer. This is John Cooper, Mary Whitford, Charles Rhee and Anne Yang." he said, introducing his colleagues.

Peter shook their hands. "Pleasure. Welcome to the JIO. If you would come with me, I'll brief you on our job." he said as he guided them towards the elevators.

Matt fell into step beside him. "So I hear we're going to Japan?"

"Yeah. Hope you like sushi?"

"Love it, man."

"That's good, cause I hate the shit."

"Just give it to me man, I'll eat it all." Matt said with a chuckle. Peter judged right away that he was quick to laugh. Matt was the senior surveillance officer and head of this team.

"So, what is the JIO? I've never heard of it." asked Mary Whitford, the young recruit.

"The Joint Intelligence Office. We're basically, as the name implies, a joint operation run by ASIS and ASIO to identify, evaluate and counteract external threats to Australia's internal security. You've never heard of us because we don't encourage gossip."

"So you're black ops?" asked John Cooper.

"Not really. We're an official government organisation that's acknowledged by parliament and subject to ministerial oversight. We just don't advertise like ASIS or ASIO do, and we shy away from publicity. But you didn't hear any of that from me."

"Understood." Matt said with a sly grin as they boarded the elevator. Peter punched the button for the third floor. As the elevator rumbled upwards, Peter quickly filled them in on the history of the JIO.

Ever since the late 1990's, the once tranquil Pacific and South East Asia region had become a hotbed of violence and lawlessness. Rising ethnic and religious tensions and independence movements had torn apart the old Republic of Indonesia and turned the worlds largest archipelago into a mishmash of tiny island states and independent provinces. Conflict became common place between rival ethnic gangs as warlords and militia's terrorised the mostly poor and agrarian people.

Many attempts were made by the United Nations and western countries to reunite the various factions under a new democratic government, but every effort met with failure as tensions and bloodshed escalated, fueled by secret weapons sales by several of the Mega-coporations that had recently emerged to dominate the world's economy.

Finally, after many years, some sort of order began to emerge as various islands and former provinces declared themselves independent states. Many however lacked the resources and experience to go it alone, while others were refused aid and recognition by foreign powers for various reasons, usually because they were led by men wanted for war crimes. These states turned to less agreeable means of making money, namely piracy and drugs.

The growing threat to international shipping from pirates and to western societies from the cheap drugs being produced in the region resulted in developed countries taking more forceful measures. Warships actively patrolled the shipping lanes through the region while soldiers were sent to hunt down and destroy drug plantations and protect aid efforts.

But the warlords and drug barons weren't going to sit idly by and watch their livelihoods be destroyed by western powers. Instead they struck back, and a new wave of terrorism swept the globe. Australia became a primary target for these terrorists due as much to its leading role in the ongoing war as it was to its proximity to the region and stability, leading to it becoming the base of operations for much of the western worlds efforts.

As if that wasn't enough, the threat from China was growing, due to Australia's relationship with the United States as those two superpowers faced off over Taiwan. And without the buffer zone that Indonesia had once provided against an attack from the north, Australia's coastline was now exposed should China choose to open up a second front in the coming war that many saw as inevitable.

With these new threats, Australia's current defences were judged inadequate, and several new measures were taken, including the formation of the JIO. The JIO was initially tasked with liaising between the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Australia's foreign intelligence service, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australia's domestic intelligence and counterespionage service.

However as the threats grew and the attacks increased, so did the JIO's responsibilities. From its original mission of liaison, intelligence gathering and analysis, counterespionage and black ops were later added, and specialized paramilitary units were formed for operations throughout the region. Many of the men who made up these units were pilfered from the Army's Commando companies and SAS squadrons, including Peter who had led a SAS unit as a Lieutenant until being lured away to the JIO by promises of plenty of action and not many rewards. But of course Peter didn't tell his surveillance team that. Not right away at least.

They arrived on the third floor where Peter led them to a conference room. They entered and Peter indicated for everyone to take a seat. As they sat, he handed out folders marked with the classification 'SECRET'. "If you'll all just take a moment and read what's in your folders, that will pretty much explain what we'll be doing." Everyone opened their folders and began reading while Peter patiently sat and waited for them to finish.

After about five minutes, John Cooper looked up with an incredulous look on his face. "You can't be serious!"

"Dead serious, mate. The JIO doesn't have a sense of humour, as I've found out many times." Peter said.

"You mean stuff like this really happens?" Anne Yang asked wide-eyed.

"Apparently. Believe me, I was as surprised as you lot are when I first heard about it, and it takes a lot to surprise me these days." He paused and saw that everyone had finished reading their reports.

"Well, now that you've all finished, I'll get into why we're here. Basically, we have to investigate these Knight Sabers and, one," Peter said, counting them off on his fingers, "determine if they exist. Two, determine if they're a threat. And three, take actions to neutralize that threat if so ordered."

"What do you mean by neutralize?" asked Mary, her young face pale from thinly concealed fear and nervousness at being chosen for such an extraordinary assignment.

"Probably better you don't know." Peter said, deciding she most likely wouldn't react well to that possibility. "Besides, you won't have anything to do with that."

"How likely is that possibility?" asked Matt.

"Don't know. We don't have enough hard information to even hazard a guess."

"And that's our job to get that information."

"Got it in one, mate." Peter said.

"What sort of investigation will we be conducting?" Matt asked.

"One with limited resources. Just the six of us, though the JIO will be picking up all expenses. As you read, it's estimated these Knight Sabers are a highly organised, well armed and well funded group. They most likely have no more than a dozen members, all known to each other, which will make infiltration next to impossible. We have no idea where to find these Knight Sabers, so we're going to have to wait until they are drawn out by one of these boomers turning hostile. Fortunately that seems to happen quite frequently in Japan, so we shouldn't be sitting on our arses too long.

"People, catching the Knight Sabers is not going to be easy. It's going to require quite a bit of luck. The Japanese police have so far had no luck tracking them down, and I've recently been informed that they are now regarding them as terrorists. Fortunately, we aren't constrained by the legal noose like the cops are, but it's still going take every ounce of our skill and training just to find them. Though that will most likely be the hard part. After we find them, I'm sure we can then settle down to a nice, quiet routine of surveillance and investigation. This will be very similar to counterespionage, so you lot ought to feel right at home." he finished off with a grin. The looks he got told him they all doubted that.

***

MegaTokyo airspace port was a lot busier than Peter remembered. But what had been the rubble of old Tokyo when he had last visited was now a bustling city ten times the size. Peter and his team, as he was now thinking of the five surveillance officers he led, were all dressed in suits and had flown business class. All of them carried forged Australian Protective Services ID's, and Peter even carried some false paperwork to lend credence to their cover.

The first thing they all noticed was the large number of androids, these so named 'boomers', that were around, performing the menial jobs that humans used to do for minimum wage. Peter watched each and every one of them extra carefully, alert for any signs that they were about to malfunction. 'Going rogue' as it was called here. Peter thought it an overly understated term for going on a murderously destructive rampage.

After passing through customs and immigration, they collected their luggage and joined the crowd surging into the arrivals lounge. There they found the waiting Embassy official.

"G'day. Pete Wilson and team." Peter said as he produced his fake APS ID.

"Welcome to Japan. If you'll follow me, sir, I'll take you to the Embassy." The man said and led them outside to a waiting mini van.

The drive to the Embassy would have been a quick one, but for the traffic. The Australian Embassy was located with the embassies from several other countries near the Japanese government district. There was little in the way of talk on the ride in, everyone was weary from the early start and long flight.

When they finally arrived at the Embassy, the official pulled into the parking garage, then escorted Peter up to the fifth floor office of the Deputy Advisor to the Commissioner for Trade, the Embassy's Station Chief. The rest of the team was led by another staffer to a lounge where they could relax and wait.

Because Japan was a friendly nation, not much in the way of political and military spying occurred. However, because it was one of the economic powerhouses of the world and Australia's largest trading partner, there was a great deal of economic spying. The Station Chief was the top spy in the country who ran the many spy networks and doubled as a legitimate diplomat. The Tokyo Station Chief was a man by the name of Andrew Upham. He was a short man and slightly tubby, obviously a result of all the fine foods served at the many functions he attended and not enough exercise. He was in his mid forties and balding with a bad comb over. He was also one of ASIS's top economic spies, if Peter recalled correctly.

Upham rose from his desk and crossed his office to greet his new arrival. "Hello. I'm Andrew Upham. Welcome to Japan." he said as he shook Peter's hand

Peter introduced himself. "Pete Wilson. How're things?"

"Not bad. Why don't you please have a seat." he said, gesturing to the many chairs around his relatively spacious office. Peter sat across the desk from Upham and quickly examined the room. There was a small window with a not unpleasant view over a park. Most of the walls held bookshelves that were crammed with books, mostly on business, economics and international trade. Uphams desk was similarly nonchalant, with a few writing utensils, a computer and videophone, and a hologram picture of his family.

"Is it okay to talk here?" Peter asked as Upham sat down.

Upham nodded. "Wouldn't be much of a Station Chief if I couldn't talk about things in my own office."

"I read your report and everything else I could get on these Knight Sabers. Do you have any more to add about them?"

"Just what's in my report."

"Would you mind going over it again?" Peter asked, leaning forward slightly.

"What I can remember, certainly. I was attending a black tie dinner over at Mercer Corporations Japan headquarters when a boomer in the kitchen went crazy. I'd heard about those things before, but I'd never seen one happen till then. It was like a nightmare. Anyway, it tore apart the kitchen before smashing its way into the dining room. It was upturning tables and slashing anyone that came near with these inbuilt knives and cooking utensils. Mercer's security boomers where sent in to stop it, and they managed to damage it somewhat until they too turned rogue. I don't know, it must be contagious or something.

"So now there's three malfunctioning boomers and the AD Police were still five minutes away. That's when these three people in suits of powered armour came bursting through the window. Took them all of half a minute to kill those boomers. I was impressed. Then they just turned around and left, just before the cops got there.

"I had to hang around for another half hour whilst the cops took my statement, but after that I raced back here and wrote down everything I saw. I figured someone in Canberra would be interested in it." his eyes narrowed slightly. "I was told you were coming and what you'd be doing, but I wasn't told why. This is more than just a fact finding tour, isn't it?"

"Sorry, but if Canberra didn't tell you, what makes you think I can." Peter said.

Upham sighed and smiled. "Well you can't blame me for trying. Besides," he added with a twinkle in his eye, "we're spies. It's in our nature. But I digress. How were you planning on conducting your investigation?"

"Low key to start off with. I don't really have the manpower for anything else. At the moment I just want to observe them in action for a bit and try and get a feel for their tactics and MO. We'll see where we go after that."

Upham nodded slowly. "I'm afraid I can't help you with that. I'm a business spy. I wouldn't have the first clue about combat."

"Don't worry. I know a thing or two about that." Peter said, being intentionally vague.

Upham smiled. "Thought you might. You'll need it if you go chasing these Knight Sabers."

"I can take care of myself." Peter said with no false bravado. "What are conditions like locally?" he asked, changing the topic.

"It's bad and getting worse all the time. The AD Police try, but they can't be everywhere at once."

"And the boomers are." Peter finished for him. "Our gear still due in tomorrow?" he asked.

Upham nodded. "Special delivery. Full diplomatic tags all the way through. Japanese customs won't touch it."

"Good. That ought to keep the prying, bureaucratic eyes away from it, though a couple of people are going to be wonder why the embassy didn't buy new computers locally." Peter said.

"The story is the departmental contract went to a company in a marginal government seat. Everything's politics."

"Everything is." Peter nodded and glanced at his watch. "We'll unless there's anything else, I'd best go get my team and check into our hotel."

Upham nodded and stood to show him out. "The Fubuchi. You'll like it. It's not five star, but it will fit with your cover."

Peter yawned and stretched as he stood. "Frankly after that plane ride, anything will do."

"It is a fair haul, isn't it." Upham agreed as he let Peter out. "I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning for a briefing. I get in at eight."

Peter checked his watch again out of habit. "Sounds good. I'll see you then." He stepped out of the office and Upham closed the door behind him. The official who greeted him at the airport was waiting for him outside.

"If you'll come with me, sir, I'll take you to your hotel." Peter agreed and followed the official downstairs to the street, detouring to collect the rest of Peter's team along the way.

***

The Fubuchi was a moderately priced hotel a short walk up the street from the Embassy where the many minor officials visiting Japan were accommodated. The official checked them in and walked them to their rooms, before heading back to work.

Peter entered his room on the ninth floor, dropped his bags by the door and walked immediately to the window. Opening it, he looked around. The hotel was situated on a corner and Peter's room overlooked a major arterial road. There were many high rise buildings across the street which looked like a mix of office and apartment blocks. Peter closed the window and drew the curtains, then flopped back on his bed and fell into a fitful sleep.

***

Peter woke early the next morning, a little before six. After a few stretches to get the blood flowing, he pulled on shorts and a T-shirt and jogging shoes and headed downstairs to the street. He started a slow run around the block, keeping it easy till he got his bearings in the unfamiliar territory. Passing the Australian Embassy he heard a loud roar above him. Looking up, he saw a helicopter take off from the roof of the embassy. Finding it curious, he filed it away in his mind to be brought up later.

After running without incident for a while longer, he arrived back at the hotel shortly after half past seven where he showered and shaved, followed by a quick breakfast delivered by room service. At quarter to eight he collected the rest of his team and walked briskly back to the Embassy.

In the Embassy's secure conference room on the top floor they found Upham and another man waiting for them. The other man was tall, with a bald head and a severe look to him that made it difficult for Peter to judge his age. Upham stood and waved for everyone to take a seat. He then sat at the head of the table with the unknown man on his right. Peter sat opposite the man with his team filling down the table. After everyone was settled, Upham conducted the introductions. "Mr Wilson, this is Dick Johnson, head of Embassy security." Pete and the man shook hands and exchanged greetings. "Mr Johnson is also our resident Knight Saber expert. He's been following them since they were first reported."

"It's part of my job to be aware of any threats to Embassy security." Johnson explained.

"Anything new you can tell us?" Peter asked.

"Well what do you know so far?"

"Not enough. They wear powered armour suits and fight boomers that have gone rogue, often getting there before the cops do. They are either vigilantes or mercenaries and their suits appear to be years ahead of anything anybody else has. We're not even sure how many there are. We've seen reports ranging from two to two dozen."

"I'm pretty sure there's less than half a dozen." Johnson said. "Up until a couple of months ago, most reliable sightings were of two figures, one wearing armour coloured either dark blue or dark purple, we're not sure, and one wearing red and pink. Then a new one in green armour began appearing alongside the first two. There used to be sightings of one wearing white armour, but not for a while now.

"So we have possibly four suspects." Peter said. "Could we maybe see a map of all reported sightings?"

Johnson keyed in a few controls on the desktop and a map of Tokyo was projected on the wall. Dozens of red dots indicated all reported sightings of the Knight Sabers.

"There doesn't appear to be any pattern to it." commented Mary.

"There isn't. I've run it through the computer hundreds of times, it's completely random. I've even tried to extrapolate the location of their base based on time from the boomers going rogue till the time the Knight Sabers appear, but all I get is a half dozen areas covering several blocks scattered from one end of the city to the other." Johnson said.

"Have you tried hacking the police computers to see what they've got?" Peter asked.

"Several times, but we keep getting blocked when we try to access the Knight Sabers files. I think the Knight Sabers monitor the computers of both the AD Police and the regular Police."

"So they know to cover their tracks. That means we're dealing either with professionals with covert ops training or amateurs with brains." Peter concluded.

"I'd lean more towards the amateurs." said Johnson. "They've developed too high a profile for them to be professionals."

Peter nodded. "I agree. This is nothing like what I would do if I were in their position."

Upham spoke. "So what's your plan?"

"Like I told you last night. We wait and watch until we catch these guys in action a couple of times. From that we can establish their MO, and then take it from there."

"Just how do you propose to 'catch them in action'?" Upham asked.

"This morning I noticed a helicopter taking off from the Embassy roof. Whose was it?"

"That would be the Ambassador's private helicopter. He uses it to fly to appointments outside Tokyo. It's quicker and a lot more economical than an armoured limo with a police escort." Upham said.

"Would he mind if we borrowed it when an incident occurs?"

"I doubt it. The ambassador believes what the Japanese politicians and diplomats tell him; that rogue boomer stories are just urban legends and that boomers are totally safe." Upham said.

"Though he might be persuaded if pressure was applied from Canberra." Johnson said with a coy smile.

Peter smiled. He knew right then that he would get along well with this man. "I'll talk to my boss about that."

"Better do it soon. Most boomer incidents occur at night, and we haven't had any for a few days. I think we're overdue." Johnson said.

"Yeah, I'll get right on it. For the rest of the day, I reckon we should look through everything you've got on boomers and the Knight Sabers." Peter said. "I'll send Matt and Charles here out to the airport to pick up our shipment. Plus we'll need to hire a couple of cars. Know where we can do that?"

"We'll take care of it." Johnson said. "We have an arrangement with a local car dealership. What are you looking for?"

"Something that won't look out of place in any part of the city, but with a navigation system." Peter said. Johnson nodded.

"We'll, since we've all got something to do, I'll adjourn this meeting. We'll meet here every morning at the same time for daily briefings and progress reports. Good morning." Upham said as he stood, collected his papers and left. Everyone followed suit and went to their normal work or assigned jobs.

***

Peter sat in the Embassy's security centre, sipping a coffee as he poured over a sighting report on the Knight Sabers, looking for anything that might give him a clue as to their identity or motives. He looked up as he heard the door open and saw Johnson walk in.

"Burning the midnight oil?" the security chief asked.

Peter checked his watch. It read 23:49. "No. You?"

Johnson shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do." He walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. "I've got a feeling there's going to be an incident tonight. Like I said, we're overdue, and since you guys are here I've got to stay here at the Embassy."

Peter stretched. "In a way, I kinda hope you're right. Paperwork was never my thing, and I'm itching for some action."

"I thought that's what you intelligence boys did, read stuff and figure things out." Johnson said, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

"I'm more on the field ops side of things. Can't say much, but I'm not an Intelligence Officer."

Johnson nodded in understanding and was about to say something more when a security officer at one of the many work stations in the centre spoke up.

"Sir, sounds like something's up with the AD Police. I'll think you'll want to hear this!" the man called and switched on the speaker. For a few moments all they heard was static, then a voice filled the room, a pilot's judging from the background noise. "All units, all units!" it cried. "We've got a mad boomer that's fused with a racer tearing up the Gulf freeway in the KS Quadrant. All pursuit units are ordered to respond!"

"This sounds like it!" Peter cried as he jumped to his feet and raced for the door. He pulled a radio from his pocket and spoke into it. "This is Two. We got a real one. Gulf Freeway, KS Quadrant. Units one and two get rolling. Matt and I are headed for the chopper." Peter shoved the radio back in his pocket as he raced up the stairs to the roof. Flinging open the door, he found the Ambassadors helicopter already rotating and Matt holding the door open for him. Peter ran and jumped aboard and Matt yelled for the pilot to take off. Within moments they were airborne and headed for the coastal highway as Peter was still struggling to fasten his belt. "How long?" he asked the pilot.

"Five minutes sir," the pilot responded. "but ADP's already set up an air exclusion zone around the area. We can't get within five kilometres of the boomer."

"Can't we get diplomatic clearance?" asked Matt.

"Not without the Ambassador aboard." the pilot replied.

"Five kays is close enough." Peter said. "Lets get our gear set up."

By the time they reached the air exclusion zone, Peter and Matt had set up their equipment, including several radio scanners, electromagnetic field detectors, video camera's, audio amplification equipment and even a miniature radar that would track anything moving relative to the helicopters speed and direction within a hundred feet of the ground.

Peter sat studying the radar's display in his lap. He could pick out the boomer tearing down the highway at over three hundred kilometre's an hour and several police cars forming a cordon around it, keeping the public at bay. He pointed at one track a kilometre behind the boomer. "Judging from the amount of radio traffic coming from this car here, I'd say that's the field commander's vehicle." he said over the helicopters intercom. "Sounds like either a Detective McNichol or Wong is in charge. I can't really tell which."

Matt leaned over his shoulder from the back seat. "I'd say you're right." he pointed to another track a kilometre behind the police cordon. "What's this here?"

Peter moved the radar's signal interrogator over the track and studied the readings. "Looks like a truck."

"A truck that just happens to be staying a kilometre behind the cops." Matt pointed out.

Peter picked up a pair of eletrobinoculars and looked through them towards the highway. "Yeah, that is kind of fishy now that you mention it. I got it now." He paused and raised an eyebrow. "Looks like a large delivery truck. Start filming it, just in case." Peter ordered. Matt grabbed a camera with a large zoom lens.

Peter held the binoculars with one hand and thumbed his radio with the other. "Unit Two?"

"Unit Two, over." Mary replied.

"There's a large delivery truck holding about a kilometre behind the police cordon. Get on their arse and stay there."

"Copy that. We're on it. Two out."

A couple of minutes went by without much else happening. Matt spoke with irritation in his voice. "Man, you think anything's going to happen soon?"

"Patience, mate. You of all people ought to know you can't rush these things."

Matt sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just hate to wait." Matt was silent a moment, then suddenly spoke out excitedly. "Man, there's something happening!"

Peter held the binoculars closer to his face, as if trying to pull the scene close to him. Through the binoculars, he watched as the top of the truck opened up. A flash of light filled his vision for a moment, and he saw the silhouettes of two figures leap from the truck with amazing speed. "TRACK 'EM!" he yelled as he automatically moved the binoculars to follow them.

"I got 'em!" confirmed Matt.

"Two, Unit Two here." Peter's radio squawked. "We just saw two something's, I wouldn't call them people, rocket out of the truck, over."

"Copy that." Peter replied. "We saw 'em too. We're tracking 'em from up here." he said as he stared at them through his binoculars. "I think this is them! One wearing red and pink, the other green. That has to be the Knight Sabers."

"No shit, Sherlock?" Matt replied. "Jesus Christ! Would you look at that!" he exclaimed.

"I see it, but I don't bloody well believe it." Peter agreed as he saw the two figures touch down on the road and take off at a sprint. "I don't believe this! They're overtaking a speeding police car on foot!" Peter said incredulously. "Tell me you're getting this!" he said to Matt.

"I'm getting it, man!" Matt confirmed. Peter tore his eyes away from the incredible sight long enough to check the radar display. "Fuck me! Their ground speed's nearly four hundred kilometre's an hour!"

"They can't be human." Matt said.

"Definitely." Peter agreed. "Okay, they're approaching the boomer. Let's see what they do."

They watched, Matt through the camera and Peter through his binoculars, as the two Knight Sabers quickly gained on the speeding boomer. When they levelled with it, the smaller one in red and pink leapt, thrust out its arm and appeared to fire a weapon at the boomer. Peter watched the boomer's head jerk as something struck it, but otherwise appeared unharmed. The green one then leapt aboard boomers racer, but was easily shrugged off. The green Knight Saber struck the ground, rolled and came to its feet and took off after the boomer again without loosing too much ground.

"Incredible!" Peter breathed.

"Two, this is Unit Two, over." the radio squawked.

"Two." Peter replied.

"The trucks breaking off and heading back into the city. Do you want us to follow? Over."

"Discreetly. Make sure you're not spotted."

"We're on it. Unit Two out." Mary confirmed.

Peter focused his attention on the scene playing out on the highway below them. The two Knight Sabers now seemed to be content to just run behind the boomer and not attack it. After a few moments the radio squawked again. "Two, Unit Two. We've lost the contact. It turned onto some back streets and we broke off rather than risk exposure. Over."

Peter picked up the radio. "That's okay. Head back to the highway, we've still got two Knight Sabers here."

"Copy that. Unit Two out." came the reply.

Nothing happened for the next several minutes except that the two Knight Sabers seemed to be tiring. Then John came over the radio. "Two, Unit One. We just had something in armour on a motorbike pass us in the opposite direction."

"Going towards the boomer?" Peter asked for clarification.

"Affirmative."

"Was it a Knight Saber?"

"Well, seeing as I've never seen anything else like it, I'd have to say 'yeah'."

"Copy that. Hold your position." Peter said. He peered through the binoculars again and saw the other two Knight Sabers come to a screeching stop. "What's going on now?" he said to himself as he followed their gaze past the boomer. "Christ! John wasn't kidding. Matt, you got the third one?"

"I see him. Nice bike."

"Yeah, though I'm wondering why they need a bike at all if those suits can move that fast."

"I'm actually wondering what he plans on doing with that bike now." Matt said. "Looks like he's planning on ramming that thing!"

"He's crazy!" Peter said as he watched. The third Knight Saber, this one dressed in a dark bluish hue, drove the bike head on for the boomer. Just before they impacted, the Knight Saber pulled the front wheel of the bike up and used he's momentum to bounce off the front of racer and sail over the boomer. The Knight Saber thrust out his arm and punched the boomer in the chest. A focused explosion ripped through the boomer, carving a large hole in it.

The Knight Saber landed expertly, turned his bike and took off after the boomer again. As he gained ground, the Knight Saber crouched lower down on the bike and, what Peter could only guess to be armour plating, enveloped the bike and rider to create a more aerodynamic shape. The mounted Knight Saber leapt forward and quickly closed the gap between him and the boomer. Once again the Knight Saber leapt over the boomer, this time rolling so he punched the boomer from behind. Another explosion ripped through the boomer, this time destroying its core. The Knight Saber landed and stopped to watch the boomer careen out of control, smash through the highway's concrete barrier and crash into the harbour below. Then, with what looked like a self satisfied nod to himself, the Knight Saber turned and sped away.

"Stay with him!" Peter cried. "What's happened with those other two?"

"They took off." Matt said. "Headed into the city, where we lost 'em."

"Okay. We'll stay with the one on the bike then." Peter picked up the radio. "Units One and Two, keep back from the bike. We'll follow 'em from here."

Mary and John both acknowledged and Peter directed the pilot to follow the remaining Knight Saber.

The pilot dipped the choppers nose to accelerate and also pulled up on the collective, taking them higher. For several minutes they followed the Knight Saber as he sped down an off-ramp and onto the streets of the city. After taking a twisting route through several alleys and back streets, the Knight Saber met up with the large truck again.

"Units One and Two, we've located the truck rendezvousing with the third Knight Saber in an alley," he quickly read off the GPS coordinates. "Get over there and get a tail on them. We'll observe from the air."

Mary and John both responded and Peter soon spotted them trailing the truck as it drove through the city. "This ain't going to be easy, mate." Matt said. "We've only got two cars and if their smart, they're going to be watching for a tail."

Sure enough, the truck soon left the main road and turned onto some back streets. Unit Two, who had been following the truck till then, drove straight ahead, instead letting Unit One behind them take the turn.

As the truck wound it's way through the streets, both cars took turns following it. When the truck made a turn, the car behind would break off and the other would race to take up position behind it, all directed by Peter in the helicopter.

***

Sylia Stingray turned into yet another street and watched the rearview mirror. As expected the car behind them drove straight ahead, ignoring the turn. A few moments later another car appeared behind them from a side street.

"We're being followed." she said as she made another turn.

Priss Asagiri, dressed only in her skin suit, stuck her head into the drivers compartment. "Where?" she asked.

"Two cars, switching off behind us and a helicopter." Sylia said, pointing into the air out the windscreen.

"ADP?" the singer asked.

Young Nene Romanova stuck her head through as well. "No. Neither the ADP or the regular cops use those sorts of cars, and that helicopter's a purely civilian model."

"Then who is it?" Linna Yamazaki asked, trying to crowd in as well.

"I don't know. Hold on. I'm going to try and loose them." Sylia said as she floored the accelerator and threw the Mobile Pit around a corner.

***

"Damn! They've spotted us." Peter cursed. He picked up the radio. "All units break off, we've been spotted. Rendezvous back at the Embassy. We'll debrief in the morning. Good work everybody."

"Well that was interesting, man." Matt said as he put the video camera down and relaxed back in his seat.

Peter twisted around to look at him. "Mate, that's the understatement of the century."

Matt grinned, flashing pearly white teeth against his black skin. "It's all in good faith, man."

***

"That was easier than I thought." Sylia commented.

"Have we lost them already?" Nena asked. "Man, they mustn't be very good then!"

"We didn't loose them, they broke off." Priss said, peeling the skin suit off herself.

"But why?" Linna asked.

"Because they realized that they'd been spotted." Sylia said. "They're trying to keep a low profile."

"What does that mean?" Linna said.

Sylia's eyes narrowed as she thought about the question and it's ramifications. "I'm not sure." she said.

***

Peter stalked into the conference room, carrying a sheaf of papers in one hand and an extra large cup of coffee in the other. Dark rings below his eyes told of how little sleep he had gotten the night before, so rapt in the events of that night was his mind that it just kept replaying it in his head. Nothing in all his years of combat had prepared him for it. In a way, it was like his first taste of battle all over again, with the lingering psychological effects that accompany it. While it was combat, it was also alien to him. The weapons and tactics used were unfamiliar, and the enemy hadn't even been human. The whole experience had just been so gung-ho, a professional like Peter had trouble believing it had actually happened, and it had gotten to him.

While no stranger to sleep deprivation, he was usually only subjected to such torture in a combat situation where the added adrenaline in his system kept him awake and alert, but now all he had to rely on was the caffeine in the coffee.

He looked around at everyone seated at the table and saw that Johnson and the rest of his team had gotten just as little sleep as he had. The only one who was fresh and alert this morning was Upham.

"Well, I see you all had a big night last night." the Station Chief commented.

"Yeah, sorry you missed it." Grumbled John from down the table as Peter took his seat across from Johnson. Upham ignored him.

"Well, shall we start with what the hell happened last night?"

Peter nodded and proceeded to relate what happened, indelibly etched in his memory from half a night of thinking about it.

"Quite a story. You got all this on video?" Upham asked after Peter had finished.

Peter tapped a few controls on the desk and the footage shot last night was projected onto the wall. They watched it through once in silence, then Peter rewound the tape and played it through again, this time adding comments and observations.

"These suits they wear are just incredible. Not only do they provide protection, but they also seem to increase the wearers strength and speed." Peter said as they saw the red and green Knight Sabers overtake the police car.

"Are you sure they're human and not a machine?" Upham asked.

Peter fast forwarded the tape to just before the two Knight Sabers broke off their pursuit. "Positive. By this time a machine would still be going strong, but these two are showing signs of fatigue and tiredness. Their body posture and the way they move are the same as someone who has overexerted themselves and is about to drop from exhaustion."

"What do we know about their weapons?" Upham asked.

Peter rewound the tape to just before the Red Knight Saber fired his weapon at the boomers head. Peter let that play through then rewound it again, this time pausing just as the Knight Saber fired. "If we pause here, then zoom in and enhance the image," Peter said as the computer zoomed in on the Knight Sabers arm. As the image enhancement software made several sweeps of the screen, several small spike like objects became visible. "we can get a good look at the ammunition fired by the Red Knight Saber."

"They look like nails." Upham commented.

"A rail gun." Johnson said. "Nasty."

"What's a rail gun?" Upham asked.

"It's a gun that uses a magnetic pulse to fire spike like nails instead of conventional bullets. They're designed for armour piercing and aren't as lethal as a bullet, but because of their size they do a lot more damage." Johnson said.

"So what does that tell us."

"It means that by using a rail gun instead of armour piercing bullets, which are much more effective but also deadlier when used against humans, they're trying to limit civilian casualties."

"For what reason?"

"It could be any number of them." Peter said. "Could be for the PR, could be for liability, or maybe they just don't like hurting people."

"It could also be to avoid any serious investigation of them." Johnson said. "The regular cops have over a dozen warrants out for their arrest, but the most serious charges brought against them are illegal weapons possession, interfering with police investigations and destruction of private property. Both the regular cops and the ADP view them as each others problem, so there's been no concerted effort to investigate them. But that would change if they were wanted for murder. So far the only deaths in Knight Saber related cases have been caused by the rampaging boomers or an unlucky cop with poor aim."

Peter nodded. "It's no fun having a murder charge hung round your neck. That could be a good explanation for the rail gun. That and nails are easier to remove surgically than a bullet."

"What of the green one?" Upham asked.

Peter played the tape to the point where the Green Knight Saber leapt onto the racer. "This one has no weapons that I can identify. The only thing that could be possibly be thought of as a weapon would be these electrified whip like ribbons coming from the back of his helmet."

"That doesn't sound like a very effective weapon." Johnson commented. "Maybe you just missed it."

"Maybe." Peter said. He paused the video, then enlarged the image till the Green Knight Saber filled the screen. He got up and walked to the wall for a closer look. After studying the image for a few minutes he shrugged. "I still can't see anything like a weapon." Then something struck him as odd about the Knight Saber. "Hang on a minute. Zoom in on his chest."

Johnson manipulated the controls till the Knight Saber's chest filled the screen. "Correct me if I'm wrong," Peter said. "but aren't those breasts?"

"Looks like it." said John. "Ladies?" he said looking at Mary and Anne. Mary blushed, but Anne shot John a dirty look and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Peter.

"See if the computer can build a 3D model of the Knight Saber."

Johnson played with the controls, and a minute later the video was replaced by a rotating profile of the Green Knight Saber. "That ain't a guy." Peter said. "The build's too slight, the shoulders and waist are too narrow and the hips too wide for that to be a man."

"Pull up the other two." Upham ordered. Johnson manipulated the controls again, and similar profiles of the other two were displayed next to the first one.

"They're all women!" Matt said.

"You reckon?" John said sarcastically.

Peter stood there, with his hands on his hips and surprised etched on his face. "Well, I don't think any of us were expecting this." he said.

"Can we be sure they are actually women?" asked Upham.

"Oh, they're definitely women." John said. "Those suits are too snug around the crotch for any man's liking."

"Eww, thanks for bringing that up, John!" Anne said crossly.

"Ah, c'mon, you know you love it." John smirked.

"People, please!" Upham interrupted. "I'm not going to have any sexual harassment suits here."

"Yeah, right. Sorry." John said.

"Now, if we can get on with the rest of the briefing please."

***

"It performed better than I expected." Priss said as Nigel Kirkland connected the diagnostic equipment to the motoslave. Nigel just grunted in response.

"Did you hear about last night?" The singer asked, her words somewhat drowned by the noise outside the K's workshop.

"That you were followed?" Nigel asked, not taking his eyes away from his work.

"Mm-hmm." Priss nodded. "Sylia wants to know if you have any thoughts on the matter."

"I'm a mechanic, not a spy." Nigel said.

"Didn't think so." Priss turned and climbed on her bike.

"However," Nigel said. Priss turned to look at him. "if they broke off when they realized you'd spotted them, I'd say they were professionals."

Priss put her helmet on and started her bike. "That's what I thought." she said and tore out of the shop and onto the street, narrowly missing another car which honked its horn angrily.

***

"I really think this is a waste of time, man." Matt complained to Peter as he guided the car through the traffic on the street.

"Got any better ideas to find a lead?" Peter asked rhetorically. They had been cruising the streets around where they lost the Knight Sabers the night before, hoping to find some clue as to where they went.

They turned onto a street in a light industrial area. Suddenly a young woman on a red motorbike swerved in front of them. Matt slammed on the brakes and beeped the horn, but the woman ignored them. "Stupid girl!" he cried.

Peter turned to look at where she had come from, and felt his heart skip a beat. "Hey, isn't that the bike we saw last night?" he asked, pointing to a bike that was being worked on by a tall mechanic with long hair.

Matt glanced at it. "Looks like it."

"Go around the block., we'll get some pictures of it." Peter said, taking out a camera and prepping it.

Matt drove around the block and Peter snapped over a dozen pictures as they passed by a second time. "Let's head back to the Embassy and get these developed." Peter instructed.

***

Peter sat in the Embassy's security centre, drinking a coffee, as he examined the two pictures on the table in front of him. One was a capture from the film from last night, the other had only just been developed. Both bikes were identical enough for them to be the same one, but Peter studied them still, looking for any minor differences that would set them apart. While not a biker himself, he knew enough about motorbikes to know this one was unique and not a commercially sold product. He wanted them to be the same bike, but he had to be sure about it before he made any decisions.

After an hour of searching both with his eyes and with a computer, they still came up a match. "Any luck?" Johnson said as he entered the centre.

Peter turned to him and pointed to the two pictures. "Tell me they're not the same bike."

Johnson bent over and examined both pictures carefully. After a minute or two, he looked at Peter. "Sorry, they're the same one."

Peter jumped to his feet and punched the air. "Yes! We just got out next lead."

Johnson's eyebrows jumped. "So soon?"

"Yep. Much as I'd like to claim credit for it, it was just pure dumb luck."

"That's always the way with the big breaks."

"If this really is the bike that was used last night, then that means this guy here either works for them, or this is their maintenance depot."

"Sure he's not just a mechanic doing a tune-up on a customers bike?"

"Not a chance. This bikes totally unique, there's not another one like it, and to entrust that to some mechanic who's not on your payroll is a serious breach of security."

"Fair enough." Johnson nodded. "So what are you going to do?" he said.

"First we find out everything about this guy, then we start a surveillance on him and his shop." Peter said excitedly as he strode out of the security centre, eager to chase this lead.

***

Nene chowed down on another handful of munchies as she went through the program code one final time. It had been a long day at the ADP Tower and she was now glad to be home. The fallout from last nights boomer incident had reached all the way into the dispatch centre and everyone had been ducking for cover. Nene couldn't remember another time she had been so relieved as she had at the end of her shift when she had successfully managed to avoid the Chiefs fury.

The incoming message icon on her screen began to flash, drawing her attention to it. Nene tapped a button and Sylia's face appeared on the screen. "Oh hi Sylia!" Nene said cheerfully.

"Nene, I need you to do something for me."

"Huh? What?" the young blonde asked.

"I need you to hack into the Ministry of Intelligence computers and get a list of all spies and operatives working in Tokyo."

Nena gagged. "The Ministry of Intelligence?! Sylia that's suicide! Their security's even better than Genom's, plus they have National Security laws to back them up as well!"

"I'm sure you'll find a way around it. I have complete confidence in you." Sylia said with a smile before shutting down the connection.

Nene sighed. This was going to be an even longer night.

***

Peter entered the security centre and walked straight to the coffee machine. After pouring his eighteenth cup for that day, he glanced at the clock on the wall. Eleven forty five. Peter cringed at the thought of another sleepless night. He cast a look at the amount of coffee left in the pot and calculated that, at the rate he was drinking it, he'd need another four pots to see him till the morning. He didn't even want to think what all that caffeine was doing to his system.

He walked over to where Charles was seated at the workstation his team had commandeered from Johnson's men. "Anything yet?" he asked.

"All I can get are public access documents on the business. I'm not a hacker. Sorry." Charles apologised.

"Don't be. I've got the hackers back at JIO searching for the good stuff. What have you gotten?" Peter pulled up a chair and sat.

"I've got copies of their Deed of Incorporation, Deed to the land, registry of their business name and other legal documents."

"No financial records?"

"Nope. They're all confidential."

"Well that's just more work for the guys back home then." Peter said. "Show me what you've got." Charles called the up the necessary documents on screen and they spent several minutes going through them.

Just as they were finishing the registry of the business, a beeping caught their attention. A flashing icon on the screen announced an incoming encoded file transfer.

"This looks like it. Go get the others." Peter told Charles.

"Sure." The surveillance officer said, then left to fetch the rest of the team.

Peter took Charles' seat at the terminal, entered his authorization code and waited for the file to download.

Within a minute several megabytes of information on the K's motorbike garage had arrived and Peter was looking over it. Charles returned, bringing with him Matt, Anne and Johnson. Peter looked up from the console.

"Looks like we struck pay dirt. We've got bank statements, invoices, receipts and enough other financial records to put an accountant in heaven. Plus we've got personnel records on the owner-operator and his only-" Peter stopped and double checked what he was reading.

"What?" Matt asked.

"Those bloody lazy computer geeks!" Peter fumed. "They didn't send anything on that kid that works there!"

"Did they know you wanted that stuff?" Matt asked.

"Hell yeah! I specifically asked for everything on everyone that worked there, which means Kirkland and the kid." Peter blustered. He picked up the phone and tapped a button on the computer. Hard copies of the documents began printing out. "You guys get started on those. I'll call Canberra and sort this out." He said crossly.

The Surveillance Officers looked at each other either rolled their eyes or groaned, before getting stuck into the pile of documents.

After ten or so minutes, Peter put down the phone and came over to them with a puzzled look on his face. "So what's up? They gonna get this stuff now?" Matt asked, not looking up from the bank statements he was reading.

"According to those hackers, there is nothing on him. They looked high and low and couldn't find any record of Kirkland ever having an assistant."

"Is he required to keep written records of his employees?" Matt asked. "Maybe he just never bothered."

"He is. I checked that. The fact that there's no records indicates there's something funny happening. Could be he's just trying to avoid payroll tax." Peter said as he dropped himself into a spare seat.

"Or it could mean this kids involved with the Knight Sabers." Johnson said.

"I doubt it. He's too young to be caught up in this sort of thing."

"Well, think about it." Anne said. "He's, what, sixteen? Yet he's not in school, and in Japan, that's really odd. He has to be doing something with his time."

"Maybe he's an apprentice?" Matt suggested.

Peter shook his head. "To be recognized as a qualified mechanic afterwards, he'd have to go through the whole apprenticeship scheme, which means government and employment records."

"So what do we do?" asked Matt.

"Keep up our surveillance and follow Kirkland and the kid when they go anywhere." Peter shrugged.

"I think this might be important." Charles said suddenly, holding up a piece of paper. Peter took it and read the part Charles indicated. Peter's eyes went wide and he muttered a soft "We'll I'll be damned!"

"What?" Matt asked.

"Turns out this Kirkland was part of the team that first developed the boomer technology."

"Seriously?" Anne asked.

"Right there in black and white." Peter passed her the paper. "What the hell's someone like that doing working on motorbikes? You'd think he'd be working for Genom or have been head hunted by some other corporation."

"Yet another piece to the puzzle." Johnson said.

"Yeah." Peter nodded in agreement. "And this one's a real brain teaser."

***

"Central, Unit two, over." Anne's voice was heard in the Embassy Security Centre. Johnson came over to where Peter was seated so he could hear better.

"Central, go ahead." Peter replied. He glanced at the clock and noted the time. 19:15, almost time for dinner.

"Junior is on the move, over." Anne said, using the code name for Kirklands assistant, whose name they had learned from several days of surveillance was Mackey.

"Where's he heading?"

"At the moment, east. Over." Anne reported.

"What's east of there?" Peter asked Johnson as he pulled up a map of the area on the computer, which they both examined.

"The only thing of note is this upmarket residential and shopping complex a few blocks away." Johnson pointed out. "Everything else is just a mixture of private residential and commercial."

Peter considered for a moment, then radioed Anne and Charlie. "Unit two, Central. Stay with Junior. Report back in five."

"Unit Two, copy that. We're rolling. Unit Two out." Anne confirmed.

For several minutes they tracked Unit Two as it wound through the streets, following Mackey. Ten minutes later, they found themselves outside the residential and shopping complex. Anne came on the radio. "Junior has headed into the complex. We'll have to proceed on foot to stay with him." she reported.

"Copy that. Proceed on foot, but maintain discretion." Peter ordered.

They waited tensely for a minute until Anne reported in again. "Central, Unit Two. Junior entered a shop in the complex. We're checking it out now. Stand by."

Peter and Johnson shared a look. "What sort of shop is open at this time of night?" Peter wondered aloud.

"Central, Unit Two. Shop is a women's fashion boutique, by the name Silky Doll. From the looks of it, it's closed up for the day. Over"

Peter was surprised by that. "Say again, Unit Two."

"I say again. Subject just entered a women's fashion boutique. The name of the shop is the Silky Doll, and it is currently closed for business. Over"

"Yeah, copy that Unit Two. Stay there until Junior leaves." Peter closed the radio link. "What the hell is he doing in that sort of shop after hours?" He wondered aloud again.

"I'll go find out what I can on this shop." Johnson offered.

"Right, thanks. Let me know when you find something." Peter said as Johnson left his side, then turned to monitor the remote sensors they had set up to watch the front of K's Garage. After about ten minutes, Johnson reported back.

"I think you'll want to see this." he said and called up a file on Peter's computer. "The Silky Doll. Fashion Boutique store on the upper shopping concourse of the building. Owned and operated by one Sylia Stingray."

"Stingray? Why does that name ring a bell?" Peter asked. Johnson called up another file featuring personal details and a picture of an attractive young woman in her mid twenties. "Christ! Her father invented boomers?" Peter said incredulously as he read it. He leaned back in his seat and thought for a moment. "And Kirkland worked on his team. This is too much of a coincidence. Anything else on her?"

"A bit actually." Johnson called up another file. "Turns out she not only owns that shop, but the entire building. She lives on the top few floors and rents most the remaining space out to other businesses."

"That plus her fathers money means she's loaded." Peter commented. Then he thought for a moment. "So what's the connection between Junior and her?" he wondered out loud.

"Central, Unit Two. Junior is on the move, over." The radio crackled to life with Anne's voice.

"Central, copy that. Where to?"

"Looks like he's heading back to Screwdriver." Anne said, using their code name for K's Garage.

"Copy that. Stay with him."

"Copy that. Unit Two out." Anne said and clicked off. Peter leaned back in his chair and sighed. Yet another late night.

"Another lead?" Johnson asked.

"And a big one." Peter confirmed.

***

It was midday and Nigel and Mackey were just about to break for lunch when another customer entered the garage, a westerner pushing a hire bike. As Nigel stood to see what he wanted, the customer pulled a guidebook from his pocket and read from it in stilted Japanese. "Ah, bike....broke. Fix it?"

"Yeah, we can do that." Nigel replied in english, much to the surprise of the westerner.

"Oh, that's great. I don't think it's anything serious, it's just not idling."

"Here, let me look at that." Nigel said and took the bike from the man who stepped back to look about the shop while he worked. Nigel started the engine and revved it for a few seconds before letting it drop back to idle, but the bike sputtered and stalled. Pulling off part of the cover shroud over the engine, he poked around till he found the fuel injection.

"Here's the problem." he said. "Someone's set the fuel mixture incorrectly. Only take a minute."

"Oh, great, great." the man said and continued to look about.

"Mackey, get me a Phillips head." Nigel put his hand out. A moment later Mackey placed the correct screwdriver in his palm. "Now keep the engine revving while I adjust the mixture."

Mackey started the bike again and did as he was instructed while Nigel tinkered about. "Okay, that should do it." he said after a moment. Mackey let go of the bike and the revs dropped, though this time it didn't stall. A few more minor adjustments had it purring away.

Nigel stood up. "That's it." he said.

"Great." the customer said. "What do I owe you?"

Nigel shook his head. "Don't bother, it only took me a minute."

"Oh really? Thanks, that's very nice of you." he mounted the bike. "I'll put a good word in for you when I return the bike. Maybe the hire company will send some business your way."

"Maybe."

"Thanks again." he said as he waved and drove out of the garage, leaving Nigel and Mackey to get back to work.

The man turned left onto the street, then worked his way through a maze of streets till he turned another corner and stopped next to a car parked on the side of the road. He reached into his jacket and pulled something out which he passed through the open drivers window.

"Get back to the Embassy and start working the video." Peter instructed Anne. "I'll return the bike to the hire company. Have Matt pick me up in half an hour."

"Right." she said. Peter drove off. Anne turned the car around and drove away in the opposite direction.

***

Matt glanced at his watch, then went back to watching the front of K's Garage. Seven thirty five. He and Peter had another two hours to go until they were replaced by Charles and Mary. There was very little activity at this time of night, and Peter had gone to get them dinner.

The car door opened and Peter got in, carrying a large, greasy fast food bag. "You'd think you'd be able to find some decent Chinese around here." Peter griped as he ripped open the bag and passed Matt a burger, fries and coke.

"Why don't you just get some Japanese food?" Matt asked as he hooked into his burger. "There's cafe's all over the place."

Peter shrugged and looked at his watch as he took a bit of his burger, then checked a small electronic notepad. "According to our schedule, they should just be finishing cleaning up for the day. Mackey will then ride his bike to Sylia's for dinner and Nigel will take that opportunity to go do some shopping, which will take him between half an hour to an hour."

"Yep." Matt said as he munched through his dinner. It had taken them a week of surveillance to be this sure about Nigel and Mackey's routines, but they still wouldn't place bets on them.

A moment later a figure emerged from the shop wheeling a push bike. "There's Mackey." said Matt. Nigel emerged moments later, locked the garage doors behind him, then walked up the street in the opposite direction to Mackey. Ordinarily they would have followed him, but not tonight.

Peter waited till they were out of sight, then tossed the rest of his burger out the window and grabbed some clothes from the back. Contorting as best he could in the confined space, Peter removed his jacket and shirt and jeans, revealing black fatigues. His shoes he swapped for a pair of combat boots and he topped it all off with a black balaclava which completely concealed his face. Grabbing a combat vest off the back seat, he pulled it on as he jumped out the door.. "Won't be a minute." he said and quickly scanned the street for anybody that might see him. There were none.

Moving quickly, he dashed across the street, vaulted over the fence outside the garage and hugged the front wall of the building. Sidestepping along the wall to the front door, he examined the lock. It appeared to be a simple keypad, but Peter pulled a scanner from his vest and ran it over it anyway. Sure enough, behind the keypad he detected a bioelectric sensor that would only open when it sensed the correct persons bioelectric field. While this one didn't appear to be a standard commercial unit, the principle behind the design was the same. He scanned the area around the lock and located the wires leading from it to the motor which opened the doors. He pulled another device from his vest and attached it to the wall over the wires. It took a moment to scan all the electronics within its range, then used its own electromagnetic field to reproduce the signal to be transmitted to the doors motor. With a slight creak, the garage doors began to open. When it got wide enough for Peter to duck under, he stopped them and removed the device.

Once inside Peter made his way to his chosen spot, a small power point in the far wall. He had spent hours going over the plans for the building and the secret video until he had memorized every little detail. Quickly and easily opening it, he attached a small electronic device behind the plastic and then replaced the cover. Heading into the small office, he placed another device inside a light fixture, and another inside a potted plant, taking special care to aim it directly at the CPU of the computer.

Heading outside, he closed the garage doors then took a moment to ensure everything was exactly where it was supposed to be, then ran out of the yard, vaulting over the fence again. The street was still deserted and Peter dashed to the car and jumped in. He checked his watch. The entire operation had only taken five minutes. He grinned in spite of himself. Matt started the car and pulled away from the curb. "All done?" he asked.

Peter nodded, tossing his combat vest onto the back seat and pulling his normal jacket back on. Matt handed control of the car over to the autodriver, then pulled a portable console from the back seat and switched it on. Immediately the screen lit up with two images from inside the garage, transmitted by the bugs Peter had just installed. A third window opened, detailing all the data that Nigel's computer was currently processing. "It's all working." he reported.

"I should bloody hope so." Peter said.

"When'll the phone be tapped?"

"Later tonight. Hackers back home have to wait until the exchange gets quiet for some damn reason."

"Okay. When do you think we'll find something?"

"Soon hopefully. After those first couple of breaks, Canberra's now getting a little disappointed that nothing's happened for the past week."

"Man, you shouldn't get their hopes like that."

Peter grinned, then the radio crackled to life. "Watchtower, this is Central." Johnson said. Peter picked up the handpiece. "Go ahead."

"We've just received word that there's a boomer out of control in Sodom." Peter and Matt looked at each other blankly.

"Where?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Sorry, I mean Sodo ward. It's the red-light district in Tokyo, so it's been nicknamed Sodom."

"Shit! That means there'll be a lot of people around there." He nodded to Matt who retook control of the car and turned it around. "Okay we're on our way. Where in Sodom?"

"Tearing apart some nightclubs in the centre of the district. I'm sending you the address. The AD Police are on their way."

Peter watched as the data Johnson sent appeared on their car computer. "Copy that, we got it. Get everybody else rolling. Let's just hope they show." Peter clicked off. He didn't need to clarify who 'they' were.

***

The drive to Sodom took ten minutes and they parked a few blocks away from the action. Peter went forward to see what was happening whilst Matt readied their equipment. The scene that greeted him when he arrived was what he had expected. A large crowd had gathered, blocking an intersection and surrounding a moderately sized building on the corner in the process of being destroyed from the inside out. AD Police troopers were keeping them at bay with the help of a sprinkling of Regular Police who had been called in to assist with crowd control. Beyond the crowd, Peter saw more ADP Troopers taking up tactical positions around the building. Debris littered the streets and footpath, and several troopers were using it as cover. Several patrol cars were parked nearby and a Tactical Response Van was just arriving. Amongst all the uniforms he saw two men in plain clothes who appeared to be directing the operation; a tall one with a leather jacket and hard look to him, and a shorter one in a white suit and flamboyant shirt. It didn't appear like the Knight Sabers had arrived yet, so Peter jogged back to the car and collected Matt.

They circled around the scene for a short distance, ending up in a dark alley. There they climbed a fire escape to the roof of a building with a clear line of sight to the building the boomer was in, and hunkered down amidst the air conditioning to wait. Peter kept his head above the machinery so he could scan the sky. According to their reports, the Knight Sabers always arrived from above, so Peter concluded they either used their thrusters to hop from building to building like some mechanized Superman, or they were dropped from an aircraft.

After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Peter spotted three shapes moving against the blackness. He grabbed his electrobinoculars and trained it on them. Sure enough he saw the now all too familiar shapes of the Knight Sabers.

Matt already had the video camera ready and started filming. They watched as the Knight Sabers touched down on a nearby building and surveyed the scene. "What are they doing?" Matt whispered.

"Looks like they're working out a plan." Peter whispered back as they saw the Knight Sabers gesture and move like they were locked in conversation. "This is interesting." he said. "Seems like they operate on consensus rather than rely on a proper chain of command."

Finally they appeared to agree on a course of action. Two of them, the dark blue and the green ones, lit their thrusters and rocketed over to the roof of the wrecked building. Judging from the shouts and frantic activity below, Peter judged they had been spotted. The red one remained though and appeared to be monitoring the events.

"What's she still doing there?" Matt asked.

"I'm guessing she's their support element." Peter said. "She hangs back and monitors the battle and the surrounding area and all communications, and probably also provides them with fire support."

"Monitors the area? Think she can spot us?"

"I don't know. She doesn't seem to have seen us yet. Just keep your voice down, don't move and don't operate any unnecessary electronics. The air conditioning plants should mask the camera's EM field."

"We hope." Matt said.

Suddenly the radio in Peter's pocket crackled to life. "Watchtower, Centra-" Johnson's voice was cut off mid sentence as Peter hurriedly thumbed the off button. But he wasn't fast enough. The Red Knight Saber turned her head in their direction and both men held their breath.

Peter always hated these times, the apprehension as they waited to see if he had been spotted always irked him. He wanted most to move and take some action, but anything he did would most definitely give away their position. Most times he'd been lucky enough to avoid detection, but twice his luck had run out, and neither of those times had been much fun. He gritted his teeth and waited to find out if this would be number three. Silently, grasped his gun and flipped the safety off, though he doubted regular bullets would have much of an effect on that armour.

The Red Knight Saber stared at them for a hellishly long time, and Peter was almost sure she'd spotted them and was alerting the others when she turned her attention back to the fight across the street. Both men slowly let their breath out, but Peter kept his hand on his gun.

Another couple of minutes and several explosions later, and the other two Knight Sabers appeared on the roof of the building across the street and took off into the night sky. The Red Knight Saber lit her thrusters and joined them. Peter watched them disappear into the night and thought he saw the red one cast a last look back at them.

Once they were gone, both men slumped back against the machinery breathed heavily. "That was too god damned close, man." Matt said.

Peter said nothing for a moment, then slammed his fist into the metal wall behind them. "Christ, I'm an idiot!" he growled.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, man. Everybody makes mistakes. It's part of life." Matt said.

Peter looked at him with a sorrowful expression. "Not if you want to survive in our business, mate. More often than not, one mistake gets somebody killed, no matter how minor."

"Worry about it later, man. Let's get back to Embassy." Matt said as he stood. Peter took a deep, calming breath, then stood and followed him.

***

"They're back." Nene said as she and the other Knight Sabers flew back to base.

"You mean the spies? How do you know?" asked Linna.

"Whilst you and Priss were fighting the boomer, I picked up part of a radio transmission to someone on the roof of a nearby building."

"You're sure it wasn't just ADP or a civilian?" Priss asked.

"No, it wasn't on any police or civilian bands. The transmission was cut off as if somebody realized they'd left their radio on or something."

"Nene, did you see anybody?" Sylia cut in.

"No. They were hiding amongst some air conditioning plants and there was too much interference for my suits sensors."

"That settles it then. There's definitely someone out there trying to catch us in action." Sylia declared.

"So what do we do?" asked Priss. "Lay low for a while?" There was silence on the airwaves for a while. The three Knight Sabers touch down on a building and took off again. "Sylia?" Priss asked.

"I don't think we can." Sylia said in a quiet voice "Not whilst there's boomers going rogue and killing people."

"So what'll we do?" Nene asked.

"I'm not sure. Get back to base and we'll discus it. I'll call Nigel and Mackey over as well."

***

Peter was silent the whole drive back to the Embassy. Matt parked in the basement garage. After storing their gear in one of the Embassy's secure lockers, they took the elevator to the ninth floor where the security centre was located. They entered and Johnson looked up at them, concern on his face.

"Are you guys okay? We've been trying to contact you."

Peter nodded. "We had to turn the radio off, it almost gave us away."

"I understand. So what happened? We're monitoring the ADP's comms and they sound pretty pissed off that the Knight Sabers beat 'em to it again."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Peter said as Matt hooked the camera up to the computers and played the tape. They sat and watched as events unfold for the second time. "That's when you tried calling and we had to turn the radio off." Peter said as the Red Knight Saber turned to look at the camera.

After the tape finished, Johnson said "You guys came close to getting caught."

"Yeah. I think in future we maintain radio silence." Peter said.

"That might be prudent." Johnson said.

"Who's on the Garage?" Matt asked, changing the subject.

"Ah, yes. That's what we've been trying to get in touch with you about." Johnson said. "About twenty minutes ago both subjects left the garage after receiving a phone call."

"Is our tap in place?" Peter asked as he checked his watch.

Johnson shook his head. "Not yet. It wasn't over the listed lines anyway. It was on a mobile we didn't know Kirkland had."

"An unlisted phone? That's interesting. Where'd they go?"

"Oddly enough, to Stingrays shop."

"To her shop? But it's nearly nine o'clock. What sort of boutique is open at this time?"

"Not law abiding ones, I can tell you that." Johnson said.

"Are they still there?" Matt asked.

Johnson nodded. "John and Anne are watching the front of the place."

Peter stood and started to pace. "Okay. The Knight Sabers were just on a mission where they may have spotted us. Now both our contacts have entered a shop owned by the Dr Stingrays daughter who has enough money to be financing the Knight Sabers."

"That's more than just a coincidence." Johnson said.

Peter agreed. "This should be enough to convince Canberra to send us the resources to start surveillance on Sylia Stingray."

"The more the merrier, man." Matt grinned.

"C'mon." Peter said, starting for the door. "We'd better get over to Stingray's and find out what's going on."

Matt sighed, and glanced at Johnson. "Man, doesn't that guy ever sleep." he griped before following his boss. Johnson smirked and shook his head, then went back to his job of overseeing Embassy security.

***

Sylia looked around the assembled crowd before speaking. The entire Knight Sabers crew was present. Priss, Linna and Nene were still in their hardsuits, but had removed their helmets, and Nigel and Mackey had only just arrived, looking worried.

"We have a major problem." She began. "It would appear that someone has taken an interest in us. Who and for what reason we don't know. You all know that last week someone tried to follow us home after that boomer went rogue on the highway. And just now Nene intercepted part of a radio transmission from someone on the roof a building overlooking our latest mission. You want to tell us about it, Nene?"

"I'll do better than that." Nene said as she walked over to a computer terminal and plugged her suit in. "I managed to save my suits auto-recording of it before it cleared the buffer. I'll play it to you, but I gotta warn you, it's in english. But don't worry, I can translate it for anyone if they don't speak it, I'm pretty fluent." Nene said and pulled a cutie pie face.

Priss rolled her eyes. "Just play the damn thing." she said in accented english. Nene gaped in surprise momentarily, before turning to the terminal and pressing a button. Sylia smirked slightly.

"Watchtower, centra-" they heard a voice say in english before it was cut off and replaced by static.

"Sounds like call signs." Priss stated.

"Yeah. I believe whoever it was, was trying to say 'central' or 'centrally' before he got cut off." Nene said.

"Um, I didn't understand it." Linna admitted. "I don't speak english."

"They said 'Watchtower, centra'" Nigel translated for her.

"Oh, thanks. Well, I suppose 'Central' would make sense if it was somebody using call signs." Linna said.

"Yeah. 'Central's' would be their headquarters and 'Watchtower's' whoever was watching you." Mackey agreed.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, kid." Priss said with a coy smirk. Mackey blushed, feeling rather foolish.

"If they're using call signs," Nene said, "that means they've got some sort of training."

"So what does this tell us?" Nigel asked.

"Well, everything we've seen so far indicates a high degree of professionalism." said Sylia. "Their unwillingness to give chase when I tried to loose them last week, and their choice of hiding spot tonight. If it hadn't been for the radio transmission, Nene would never have spotted them."

"Yeah, that's probably true." Nene admitted.

"I'd say they're from some large organisation or agency and not, dare I say, a group like us. Nene, have you managed to hack the Ministry of Intelligence yet?"

The young blonde shook her head. "No, not yet. I have to be careful. They employ hackers like me to hunt down people who try to break into their systems. I've managed to gain access to some low level secured areas, but not the information you want. I'm still working on that."

"You're hacking the Ministry of Intelligence's computers?" Linna asked in surprise. "Is that safe?"

"Of course not, silly. That's why I'm being careful." Nene giggled.

"Keep trying Nene. And I want you to expand your search to include known foreign agents."

"So you're convinced it's a foreign agency and not the Government?" Priss asked.

"I just want to cover all bases." Sylia said. "The fact they were speaking english and with an accent indicates they're foreigners, but I still want to check Japanese intelligence, just in case."

"What sort of accent is it?" Linna asked.

"It's not American." Priss said "They're the ones I'd expect to be taking an interest in us, but I've had enough experience to know they're not."

"It sounds more British or Australian." Sylia said. "I'll admit I've never been very good with accents." she looked around questioningly. "Any ideas?" Head shakes and murmured 'no's' all round. "Well, in that case then, we now have to decide what we're going to do."

"What we should do is lay low for a while." Priss said. "The only way they're going to find us is if they follow us back to the Pit after a mission. All we have to do is not go out, and they'll soon loose interest."

"And what if another boomer goes rogue." Sylia asked.

"So long as it's nothing serious or life threatening, the ADP can handle it."

"What?" a surprised Nene almost shouted. "Priss, you've always hated the AD Police! Now you're saying they're okay?"

"I'm not saying they're okay, I'm saying as long as there's nobody in danger, they can take the risks."

"And what if there are people in danger?" Linna asked.

"Then we limit our exposure, and take some precautions."

"Like?" Sylia asked.

"We take different, circular routes to arrive and leave. We maintain radio silence. And we're there as long as it takes to get the whoever out of danger, then we get lost."

"Any other ideas?" Sylia asked.

"I agree with most of what Priss said." Linna spoke up. "Except I think we should aim at taking the boomers out in the most discreet way as possible. We've seen how the AD Police try to deal with rogue boomers. They do more damage than the boomers themselves. If we let them take out the boomers, they'll destroy half of Tokyo."

"So?" Priss said. "Better to let them take the blame than us get caught by some spies."

"Do we even know why they're investigating us?" Mackey asked.

"More than likely Genom's behind it." Nene said with venom in her voice.

"No, it's not Genom. They wouldn't go to a foreign government and risk suck exposure." Sylia said.

"Are you sure it's a foreign spy agency and not some gaijin mercenaries?" Priss asked.

"It's not Genom. They have their own operatives. These people are a totally new player in this game. One that we have to find out as much about as possible."

"Well, I think I can identify the accent." Nene said. "There's some voice recognition software on the ADP's mainframe that can do it."

"Do it. And while you're at it, find out how many people use that make of helicopter they used last time. If it's limited to a relatively few customers, we could probably guess at who these people might be. We'll meet back here in forty eight hours. There's to be no communication between anyone before then unless it's urgent, and then it goes through me. I want everybody to limit contact with each other as much as possible until this blows over. All we know so far is that somebody is trying to follow us back to base after a mission, there's no telling if they've already got us under surveillance.

"Does anyone have anything else to add?" There were slight head shakes and silence all round. "Then we'll break up and meet back here in two days."

***

"What? Why?" Peter asked Dewhurst over the videophone in Johnson's private office off the Security Centre. The security chief had graciously lent him the room whilst he took the call from Canberra.

"Neither ASIO nor ASIS has the manpower to spare at this moment." Dewhurst said in a somewhat apologetic way.

"But I thought this operation had top priority?" Peter argued.

"So did I, but when I presented your request, it was flatly turned down."

"Why?" Peter pressed.

"That's the only explanation I was given." Dewhurst said.

"That's complete bullshit!" Peter cried, jumping to his feet. "Since when in the last ten years has either ASIO or ASIS been short of manpower?"

"Peter, you of all people should know circumstances change."

There was some anger beginning to seep into Dewhursts voice, but Peter didn't care. "Not in the space of two weeks, they don't. At least not like this. If there was some kind of major operation under way, I would have heard about it through the grapevine." He shouted at the videophone.

"God damn it Peter, it's not my fault! This came from way above me!" Dewhurst shouted back.

"Well just how the hell do they expect me to do my job without enough people?" Peter shot.

"Well you'll just have to make do, cause there's no way you're getting any help now!" Dewhurst said with a hard edge and then shut down the link. Peter stared at the now blank screen, fuming. How could they turn him down like that? Weren't there thousands of jobs and billions of dollars riding on this? How was he expected to make an accurate assessment without the proper resources?

Blind anger welled up inside Peter and he smashed his fist into the wall in frustration, accompanied by an enraged snarl. Pain immediately exploded through his hand and he let out an involuntary yelp. Cradling his hand, he flexed his fingers, ensuring nothing was broken. Fortunately nothing was, but it would be tender for a few days.

His primitive urge to lash out at something satisfied, Peter stalked back into the Security Centre, seething with a tightly contained cold fury.

"I take it from all the shouting that it didn't go well?" Johnson said somewhat warily.

"You reckon?" Peter shot back as he headed for the coffee pot.

Johnson watched in silence as Peter poured a cup and drained it, then poured another cup. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Now, we've got a few decisions to make." Peter said, staring into his coffee cup as he swirled the contents absently.

"Such as?" Johnson prompted.

"Such as do we move surveillance from Kirkland and Mackey, our only two confirmed leads at the moment, to Sylia who may not be involved at all and possibly miss another break. I just wish Canberra would have given us enough people to watch both at the same time." he lamented.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Some BS about them not having the manpower to spare."

"How do you know they don't?" Johnson asked.

"Cause ASIO and ASIS have agents coming out their combined arses. Their current combined strength stands at almost five thousand, of which over half are field agents. Even if the shit did hit the fan over something, they'd still have enough agents spare to send a few over here."

"Well, then explain why they won't let you have any." Johnson said, trying to be reasonable.

Peter looked up from his coffee. "Best I can figure is that somebody upstairs has their panties in a knot over something to do with us. I just can't think of why. I mean, we're on the verge of tracking down the Knight Sabers and far sooner than I would have thought possible. What did we do wrong?"

Johnson shook his head apologetically. "You'd know better than I would, mate. I'm just head of security at an Embassy, you're the spy here."

Peter nodded in mute agreement. "I s'pose. I'll make a few calls, see what I can shake loose from people back home." he checked his watch. "But that can wait till morning, it's not important enough to wake people up at this hour."

"Till then?" Johnson asked.

Peter yawned and stretched the knots out of his arms. "Well, with Kirkland and Mackey bedded down for the night, I might do the same. Mind if I crash on the couch in your office?" he said, looking longingly through the open door at the comfortable looking sofa jammed up against the far wall.

"Actually I do mind. I was going to sleep there." Johnson said with a grin. "There's some really comfortable couches downstairs in the lounge, will they do?"

Peter yawned again and he struggled to keep his eyes open as almost two weeks of very little intermittent sleep caught up with him. "Mate, right now I'd settle for a hard concrete floor."

"Well, why don't take yourself downstairs and I'll send somebody in a minute with some blankets and pillows."

Peter's reply was stifled by another yawn, but he nodded and headed towards the lift. It would be good to get a couple of hours of sleep.

***

Peter arrived late to the morning briefing. "Sorry." he said, taking his usual seat. "I overslept. I guess this last week or so just caught up with me."

"Yes, well, I'm glad you were able to join us." Upham said without any conviction. "I understand you had a rather unpleasant call last night."

"Yeah. Canberra turned down my request for extra manpower." Peter said as he organised the papers in front of him.

Upham picked up a piece of paper from his pile and read it while speaking. "You want to place this Sylia Stingray under surveillance. You suspect her of financing the Knight Sabers." Upham put the paper down. "Having met Sylia Stingray, I find it hard to believe that the daughter of the man who invented boomers could be involved with a group that seeks to destroy them."

"You've met her?" Peter managed to keep his jaw from dropping open. "Where and when?"

Upham sat back in his seat and thought for a moment. "About a year ago, at a black tie party at the Genom building. The unveiling of the those new female models I believe it was."

"And? What was she like?"

"Smart, but that's to be expected from the daughter of Doctor Stingray. She also struck me as thoughtful, perhaps even brooding. Although I didn't see it that night, she is famed for quite a temper."

"And why don't you believe she can be involved with the Knight Sabers?"

Upham looked Peter directly in the eye.

"Because she loves her father. She spoke about him at great length, always in a positive light. I don't believe she could hate something someone so dear to her created."

Peter thought on that for a few moments. While it was inconceivable that Sylia Stingray could be attempting to undo her fathers work, it was not impossible. Peter had seen too many strange and even insane situations in his time to discard anything as impossible. No, none of this new information would change his view of her as a potential suspect, but it would go towards building up a character profile of her. Then a thought struck him. He phrased his next question carefully. "Does Canberra know of this?"

Upham nodded. "I prepared a report on her when they asked me for information in preparation for this operation."

John spoke up. "Is that why they turned down our request?" Peter cast a black look at John, who didn't seem to catch it.

"No. It's because they can't spare the manpower." John was about to speak, when he finally noticed the look Peter was giving him and held back.

Peter could tell Upham had no clue what was going on, and that he was just regurgitating whatever Canberra told him. This was going to throw a major monkey wrench into his investigation. Upham wouldn't let him investigate Sylia Stingray, yet he had to if he wanted to move his investigation forward. It was time to employ some new tactics.

"So what do you plan to do now?" Upham asked.

"Well, since we don't have the extra manpower, our only option is to continue our surveillance on K's garage and Nigel Kirkland."

Upham nodded his agreement, then moved on to other routine business before ending the meeting. Everyone gathered their papers and headed for the door. Upham was first out and down the corridor, headed back to his office, when Peter emerged. As he did, Matt caught his arm and spun him around.

"Man, what are you doing?" he hissed. "Just yesterday you were saying Stingray's our next break! Now you're sticking your tail between your legs just cause of this?"

Peter grinned. "Hell no! We're moving our surveillance from Kirkland to Stingray, starting now."

Matt blinked, somewhat taken aback. "But you just said...."

Peter inclined his head down the hall in the direction Upham had gone. "That was just to shut him up. So long as he thinks we're investigating Kirkland, he won't bother us."

Matt grinned. "What he don't know what hurt us? That's good to know. Just be careful, man. If he gets even a hint you're not doing what you say you're doing, he's going to be extremely pissed off."

"Well, he won't know if everybody keeps their mouth's shut and lets me do the talking."

"Got it." Matt said with a nod. "I'll pass the word."

'Do that. Then we'd best be making tracks for the Silky Doll." Peter said and headed for the lifts.

Peter and Matt watched the front of the Silky Doll from a spot down the street which provided a good line of sight of the shop, yet remained inconspicuous. It was now mid afternoon, and they had yet to see anything or anyone out of the ordinary.

Throughout the day, Peter's mind wouldn't put the subject of Canberra's refusal to rest. He had forgotten to make those phone calls before he left in the morning, and so would have to wait until he got back to the Embassy before he got some answers. But that didn't stop him trying to work it out for himself. So far, the best explanation he could think of was that it was a personal vendetta by someone higher up. There was no operational reason to cut him off, they were making rapid progress in the investigation, and that always meant it was padded with more resources, not choked with less.

If it was someone's petty vendetta, then it meant they considered the satisfaction gained by seeing him fail as sufficient to offset the risk to their jobs and possibly personal freedom for hindering an official investigation. Peter tried to think of who could harbour such ill will towards him, but came up empty. He had always played fair and given people credit where due, though such morals were mostly irrelevant in the world of covert ops. What mattered most was the results, not the means nor the people who got them. Everybody knew that and everybody played by the same rules. To do otherwise meant you weren't a team player and were ostracized by the rest of the community.

Peter shook his head, trying to clear his mind and concentrate on the task at hand. It was difficult however, his thoughts kept returning to it. Something just didn't add up, and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse before it got better.

"Man, this is going to be a long wait." Matt said, emphasising the 'long'.

Peter finally snapped back to the present. He looked up at the shop and saw a young woman enter. "We're not going to find anything sitting on our arses out here. We need to go inside and look around."

Matt stifled a laugh. "I really see you going into a lingerie shop." he said sarcastically.

Peter turned to him and grinned evilly. "Oh, I'm not going in."

Matt suddenly became very defensive. "Well I'm sure as shit not going in there either!"

Peter's grin widened. "I didn't mean you. I have the perfect candidate in mind."

***

"But why me?" whined Mary as Peter handed her the modified handbag. "Why not Anne?"

"Because she's scheduled for tonight's shift and is getting some sleep at the moment." He said, then added "Besides, it's fun to watch you squirm like that."

"I'm not squirming." Mary protested as she unconsciously shifted her weight as a result of her nervousness. Both Peter and Matt tried not to laugh. "But still, why do I have to do it?"

"No more talk. Times a-wasting." Peter said as he pushed her out the car door. Mary steeled herself and closed the door, then stood and waited for a break in the traffic to cross the road. Peter grabbed a portable console and called up the readings from the sensors secreted in Mary's handbag. He picked up his radio. "Comm check." he said.

"Check." Mary said into the concealed audio pickup.

"Copy that. From now on, maintain radio silence at your end."

Mary made put her hand to her head, ostensibly to scratch behind her ear, but instead made a discreet thumbs up signal. "Copy that." Peter said. "Sensor feed is good." he called up another screen on the console. "Ah Mary, turn the handbag around. The camera is pointed backwards." Mary breathed a slight sigh of frustration and moved the handbag from one shoulder to the other, turning it around in the process. "Okay, that's good." Peter said.

A break in the traffic came and Mary dashed across the road. She hurried up the steps to the building and made her way past the promenade cafe that was situated next to the Silky Doll. Peter and Matt watched her progress through the camera. She entered the Stingray's shop and Peter saw an upmarket fashion boutique. Racks of scanty clothes and lingerie lined most walls and women from all walks of life perused them He even spotted a man inspecting a pink lace negligee, and Peter hoped he was shopping for his girlfriend or wife. A massive tank of water filled with exotic fish dominated one of the walls. "Move the camera around a bit so I can get a better idea of the layout." Peter ordered. Mary began to move and the camera's feed tilted and swung like crazy for several seconds, then settled down and Peter got a better view of the shop. He searched the many faces for someone familiar and soon spotted Sylia Stingray. "Hold it there." Peter commanded. "That's Stingray behind the counter."

"You know, you should have her do something, otherwise she's going to look pretty funny just standing around." Matt suggested.

Peter nodded. "I know." He spoke into the radio. "Okay Mary, go and have a look at something, but keep Stingray in view." The camera moved again as Mary walked to one of the racks and began perusing the merchandise. Mary proved adept at keeping the secret camera angled towards Sylia, and Peter watched as she served a woman. When finished Sylia scanned the customers and Peter's breath caught in his throat when her eyes came to rest on Mary. Sylia stepped out from behind the counter and made her way towards the Surveillance Officer. "Heads up Mary, Stingray's coming your way." he warned.

"Hello there, may I help you?" he heard Sylia ask chirpily.

"Ah yes, thank you. I'm looking for something for a date tonight." Mary replied. Peter heard an insincere warble in her voice and he hoped Sylia would just interpret that as nerves about this 'date'.

"Oh, how wonderful." Sylia said. "You have an excellent figure. You'll want something to show it off." She rustled through a rack for a few minutes. As she did, she made idle chatter with Mary. "I just love your accent." she said. "Where are you from?"

"Australia." Mary said.

"Wonderful. I've always wanted to visit Australia, but I can just never find the time. You know how it is."

"Yeah." Mary agreed, her vocabulary restricted by her nerves.

"Ah, here it is." Sylia said and pulled out the skimpiest dress Peter had ever seen. "This is just the perfect thing for that lucky man tonight."

Mary took the dress. "Oh, I really don't know." she said.

"Why don't you try it on. I'm sure you'll agree you won't find any better."

"Oh I couldn't." Mary protested.

Peter looked at Matt. "What do you think?"

"Stingray's really pushing for a sell. I think it would look funny if she didn't try something on." Matt said.

"I agree." Peter spoke into the radio. "Try it on, then buy it. There's a credit card in the purse."

Mary hesitated for a little before finally surrendering to Sylia's constant pressuring. The camera's view again tilted and swung like a boat being tossed at sea, before finally settling down and Peter saw they were in a change room. Mary set the handbag down, making sure the camera was pointed away from her. Matt and Peter shared a rueful look, then Peter turned his attention from the camera feed to the other sensors. "Okay, we're not detecting any security that's too sophisticated so far," he called up the EM field tester "WHOA!" he exclaimed, his eyes almost bulging out of his head. "Check out these readings." He said to Matt.

The older man looked over Peter's shoulder. "Jesus H. Christ! Something's chewing up the juice over there."

"Mary, move your handbag around it bit. We need to get a fix on this EM field we're detecting." Mary picked up the handbag and moved it around the room. There was no pattern in the change in the readings when she moved it from side to side, but when she moved it up and down, a pattern emerged. When the handbag was raised, the field readings dropped slightly, and when it was lowered, they rose.

"Something's definitely under there." Matt said, thinking aloud.

Peter nodded in agreement. "Okay Mary, buy whatever it is you've got and come back."

The camera view swam a moment as she put it down. A few moments later it was picked up again and carried out of the change room. Mary paid for the garment and Sylia placed it neatly in a bag which Mary then carried out of the store.

Mary crossed the road and hopped back in the car.

"What did you buy?" Matt asked with a grin.

Mary turned bright red and shook her head frantically, clutching the store bag close to her. Matt chuckled and Peter tired, unsuccessfully, to repress a smirk.

"Wait here for a bit." Peter said as he opened his door and hopped out.

"Where you going, man?" Matt asked.

"I'm just going to do a walk around of the building." he said as he closed the door.

Peter waited for a break in the traffic and crossed the road. Climbing the steps onto the lower concourse, he began walking around the building in an anticlockwise direction, playing the part of any other pedestrian when he was actually discreetly examining every facet of the structure.

Approximately thirteen storeys tall, undoubtedly with more below ground. Peter found the round columns which formed the corners of the building an interesting design feature, especially how one appeared to be twice the size of the others.

Turning off the main street, he entered a wide alley that separated this building from the others in the street. Around here the walls were much plainer, without the large floor to ceiling windows that dominated the other two sides. What was mounted on these walls was a plethora of surveillance devices; camera's, motion sensors, proximity detectors. There were enough intruder alarms to make this place just as secure as Fort Knox, if not more so. As he walked down the alley, he noted many of the camera's turned to track his progress. He kept his face turned away from them.

Around the back of the building he found a large, heavy roller door, obviously leading down to a parking garage. He slowed down slightly as he passed it so as to have time to inspect it. There were no locks or keypads on the outside, so Peter had to assume that it was operated by remote control. Picking up the pace again, he continued around the corner and back onto the main street.

Hoping back into the car, he indicated for Matt to drive. The older Surveillance Officer pulled into the traffic and started a circular route back to the Embassy. "So what did you find?" he asked.

"Enough security there to satisfy the Secret Service." Peter replied.

"Really? Why so much?" Mary asked.

"I wouldn't have a clue." Peter said, shaking his head. "But I'm sure as hell gonna find out."

***

Peter leaned on the only table in the Security Centre, perfervidly studying a holographic map of Stingray's building. Marked in different colours where the locations and field of views of all the security systems they had identified so far, turning the map into a technicolour mishmash. Plans and routes through the building flew through his mind and he systematically and thoroughly examined every one of them for flaws before discarding them and moving onto the next one.

Johnson appeared in the Security Centre and made his way to Peter's side, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Got a plan worked out yet?" he asked.

Peter, his concentration broken, looked at Johnson a moment, then back down at the map and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No." he said with a slight shake of his head. "I haven't done a covert break and enter in years. I keep coming up with plans that would only work if I was assaulting the building with a special forces unit."

"Old habits die hard. I think your problem is you're still thinking too much as a soldier. You need to start thinking like a thief."

Peter smirked. "I was taught not to steal stuff."

Johnson smiled back. "So was I, but you learn as you go." He looked at the map. "Unfortunately, whoever designed this security system was both good and had a lot of money." He studied the map for a moment. "But, you know, there might be a way." he pointed to various highlighted parts of the map. "This system seems to have been designed to provide both early warning and physically keep people out, rather than the normal detection and deterrent philosophy most systems are based on. See how it relies mostly on security gates and firewalls to isolate parts of the building?"

Peter nodded. "So how do I turn that to my advantage?"

"Well, to properly secure the building most of the sensors are located on the outside, to provide early warning and detection. Once you're inside, the systems aren't as comprehensive. They don't need to be."

Peter nodded understandingly. "So once I'm passed the first lot, things are a lot easier." He regarded the map for a moment. "Most of the outside sensors are aimed at the ground, which is to be expected. I can see three possible ways around them. Hide somewhere in the store and wait till closing, in through a window on one of the upper floors, or down from the roof.

"Hiding in the store would be the least riskiest, but also likely to have the least probability of success. I'm sure it would get sealed off at night. Going in through a window is the worst of the lot. According to the plans for the building, all the windows are permanently sealed, which means I'd have to break the glass, so we can rule that out. That then leaves us with the roof...." he trailed off, leaving that thought to hang in the air.

"And just how are you planning on getting onto the roof?" Johnson asked.

"I'll be spotted if I try climbing. That leaves me with only one option, an aerial insertion."

Johnson choked on his coffee in surprise. "An aerial insertion?" he sputtered. "I thought this was supposed to be covert."

"It's possible. I've done it before, but then that was in a relatively isolated area, not the middle of a major city."

Johnson shook his head. "I've got to see this." he said incredulously. Peter grinned at him.

***

The Embassy helicopter flew as low over the buildings as the pilot could go without arousing suspicion this late at night. Peter sat in the back, dressed from head to toe in his black fatigues and combat vest and with a rappelling harness strapped around his waist and upper thighs. Matt was the only other occupant.

"Five minutes." The pilot said over the intercom. Peter nodded and gave a thumbs up sign, then opened the helicopters door. A chill wind rushed in and tugged at him.

"Sure you want to do this, man?" Matt said, a slight edge in his voice betraying his nervousness at the thought of anyone jumping out of a perfectly good helicopter.

"Of course. I used to do this for fun!" Peter said as he checked his gear and harness for a fifth and final time and then had Matt double check it. Satisfied that all was as it should be, he gathered the rappelling rope and paid out about half the required length. Tossing that out the door, he shouldered the rest of the coiled line and set himself into position; heels just on edge, facing inwards. Gripping the line in the correct manner, he stood at the precipice and paused. He looked up at Matt who was cowering as far back from the open door as possible. He gave him cheery smile and a wave before leaning back into a sitting position and feeling himself fall backwards out of the helicopter. The wind rushed by him as he glanced downwards and watched the amount of free line below him rapidly growing smaller. As he drew perilously near the end, he adjusted his grip on the line, allowing the harness to grip and break his descent with barely a metre left.

Sitting back in his harness, he watched as the buildings of Tokyo passed below him. They were approaching Stingray's building from the west where the buildings were relatively short and provided them with a rather unobstructed corridor through which to fly, which was fortunate as the last thing Peter wanted was to smash into the side of a skyscraper or get tangled in aerials.

"One minute." he heard the pilots voice in his earpiece.

"Copy that." Peter acknowledged. He looked to the east and spotted his target building, lit up from below. As they neared it, the pilot slowed down somewhat, but Peter still had to time his drop carefully as they couldn't risk raising suspicions by hovering over the building.

They cleared the last tall obstacle before Stingray's building, a communications tower, and Peter dropped the remainder of the line. The building grew near and Peter began to make out details on the roof. The surface of a large pool that ran up the centre of the building dominated the roof, surrounded by a well maintained patio and rooftop garden and a penthouse that occupied a full quarter of the space. He picked out his chosen spot, a clear area of the patio well away from any lights or security cameras.

Peter unshouldered the rest of the coiled line and dropped it, allowing it to uncoil to its full length. He watched the end and judge it too high for his purpose. "End of the rope is too high." he said over the radio. "Come down a metre and a half."

"Copy." The pilot replied. Peter felt his stomach jump as the helicopter dropped just over one and a half metres. Peter checked the line again, judged it suitable and informed the pilot.

Stingray's building loomed barely metres ahead of him. Peter adjusted his grip again, releasing the friction brake and restarting his descent. Unlike earlier, this was a controlled descent, aimed at placing him on the roof of the building just as the helicopter flew over.

The concrete surface of the patio rushed up to meet him and Peter released his control to drop the final few feet. Landing on his feet, the rubber soles of his boots making barely any sound, he immediately dropped to a crouch and surveyed the roof top. As expected, no one else was about and the sole security camera was pointed away from him.

With a slight tugging, the end of the line worked its way through his harness, coming free with a slight snap. "Central, Sneaker down and free." he whispered into his radio.

"Central copies." Johnson's voice was quiet but clear in Peter's ear. Peter waited a moment, watching the helicopter disappear into the darkness, the rappelling line hastily being reeled in by Matt. He waited a minute longer, ensuring no one had seen or heard his landing. Positive he was so far undetected, he set off in a crouching run across the patio and around the pool, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. He reached the penthouse and took a moment to examine the lock on the door. It struck him that Stingray must really be paranoid to lock a rooftop door that was over thirteen stories up with no external fire escapes or other means to access it.

Running his scanner over the lock, it came back negative, meaning it was a simple mechanical mechanism. Pulling two wire probes from a hip pocket, he inserted them into the keyhole and worked them back and forth. After a moment, he heard a satisfying click and he opened the door and slipped through.

Inside he found a sparsely, but tastefully decorated covered pool deck. Light from the city poured in through the large floor to ceiling windows that opened onto the roof, illuminating large sections of the room, but casting the rest into dark shadows. Reaching into a pouch on his combat vest, he withdrew a pair of goggles. Resembling a flexible LCD display which was held in place over his eyes by a strap, the set activated as soon he slipped them on. Peter blinked at the sudden brightness that met his eyes, like someone had just flipped on a light. He looked around the room, the goggles automatically adjusting for light levels as well as converting other forms of radiation into the visible spectrum, allowing him to pick out the electrical wiring in the building and any motion sensors. Fortunately this room was clear.

Spotting a large pot plant near the lounge area, he moved over and inspected it closely. Judging it adequate for his needs, he fished another electronic bug, identical to what he had installed in Kirklands garage, out of his combat vest and shoved it into the pot plant, burying it at least an inch below the soil. Satisfied this room was adequately bugged, he moved down a hall into the rest of the building.

Walking in a slow, deliberate fashion, he stopped outside the first door he came across. Testing the knob, he found it unlocked and pushed it open a crack. Inside he saw a spacious bedroom with a magnificent view of the city. The centre of the room was occupied by a large bed upon which slept a beautiful young woman. Peter immediately recognized Sylia Stingray and backed out, silently closing the door. He judged it too risky to attempt to bug her bedroom, especially while she was sleeping in it.

Stepping back out into the hall, he continued down, locating a few other empty bedrooms along the way, guest rooms most likely, and he methodically bugged each one. Finally, after bugging the last room on this level, he located a staircase and continued down to the next level of the residence. After inspecting for any alarms or intruder detectors, he explored this area. As expected this was mostly just the main living area which featured lounge and family rooms, a dinning room and kitchen and a study, all of which he bugged. He also came across another bedroom, this one occupied by an old man with long white hair and a full moustache. Meshio Henderson. Sylia's butler. As Peter shut the door, he contemplated how nice it must be to always have someone at your beck and call.

By now the only area left for Peter to bug was Sylia's Silky Doll store. He made his way down several flights of stairs to a mezzanine lounge area which overlooked the store, he didn't want to take any elevators on the off chance that someone was awake and monitoring their motions. He opened the stairwell door and immediately drew back. The whole area was covered with multiple motion sensors and proximity alarms. Pulling out another device from his combat vest, he switched it on and let it scan the EM spectrum for the frequency the motion sensors used. The sensor defeater was a highly classified device developed by a few electrical engineers employed by the CIA and then manufactured under a secret contract by Marconi Electronics. The device nullified any abnormal signal returns to the motion sensors and replaced them with false normal returns, fooling the sensors into seeing nothing out of the ordinary. The beauty of this particular device, adapted by the technical geniuses at ASIO, was that it also worked on ultrasonic motion sensors as well as the ultraviolet ones. With the device active, he wandered warily over to the railing and looked out over the store.

Racks of lingerie, a few change rooms and that giant fish tank which ran the entire height of the building were just as they were in the video they shot. The enhanced vision goggles picked up multiple motion sensors throughout the store, in addition to laser trip beams. This close to the bottom of the building, he was also seeing the massive amounts of electromagnetic energy being radiated by whatever was below.

He examined the store, then the low wall he was leaning against, and spotted the perfect place for the next bug, hidden amongst the greenery of a decorative vine that hung over the railing. He attached the device to the wall and arranged the leaves to hide it, yet still provide a clear line of sight to the main door.

Satisfied he had done all he could this night, he was about to turn and head back up to the roof for extraction when he noticed something odd about one of the change rooms. The enhanced vision goggles were picking up several high voltage power lines running down a space a short distance behind the room. Thinking they could be connected to whatever it was below, Peter decided to investigate.

Making his way carefully down the stairs, he stopped at the foot and looked around. There were several motion sensors located throughout the shop, in addition to the laser trip beams and several more forming a grid over the front windows and door and several security cameras trained on every inch of the store. With the motion sensors already nullified and Peter able to see and easily avoid the laser beams, the camera's would prove his only obstacle.

He quickly examined each camera and determined their fields of view. With a smile, he silently thanked whoever had installed them for they had obviously been meant to catch shoplifters and watch the front of the store, not catch anybody intruding from the inside. Stepping gingerly, he duck walked from the stairs to the change room, keeping behind the racks of clothing. Reaching the change room, he pulled open the partitioning and slipped through.

From Peter's experience, one could always tell how upmarket a shop was by their change rooms, and the Silky Doll was extremely posh. The room was extremely spacious and included a couch, a stylish end table against the other wall, and the all important floor to ceiling mirrors.

Peter walked to the far mirror, behind which the goggles picked up the EM field from the high voltage wires, as well as the telltale signs of an electric motor. Intrigued, he stopped and looked around the room. In a corner he spotted a hidden motion sensor and traced the small wires connecting it to the motor. Walking right up to the mirror, he inspected it closely. Two very fine cracks run vertically up and down the mirror, and the space between them was just wide enough for one person to fit through. He placed a hand on either side of one of the cracks and gave an experimental push. He felt the section between the two cracks give slightly in comparison to the rest of the mirror. He smiled to himself. Of all the secret doors he had encountered in his life, this was one of the most cleverly constructed ones that wasn't in government use, but like all secret doors, once you knew what to look for, they were very easily spotted.

Peter pulled his electronic lock scanner from his combat vest and ran it over the motor behind the mirror. The scanner interrogated the motors simple circuitry and replicated the electronic signal to activate. The door moved back from the mirror slightly and then slide aside, revealing a short passage to an elevator with glass walls that run up the inside of the fish tank. Peter stopped short of the elevator and peered inside. He spotted a small bioelectric sensor in the elevators panel. Glancing up and down, he figured that the elevator would run between Stingray's residence on the top floor and whatever was underneath the building. The presence of the bioelectic sensor hinted that a computer was monitoring the elevator and would no doubt log any use of it.

Backing out of the elevator, Peter closed the secret door and left the change room. Sneaking back through the shop, he ascended the stairs and worked his was back up to the roof. Once outside, he locked the door he entered the building through and crept back to the spot he had landed at.

Setting a final bug amongst some shrubbery, he whispered over his radio. "Central, Sneaker, standing by for extraction."

"Central copies, Buzzfly is on the way, ETA two minutes."

"Copy that." Peter whispered and sat back on his haunches to wait.

Two minutes later a distant beat of propeller blades was heard from the north and quickly grew louder. Peter looked up and spotted the Embassy helicopter rapidly approach, the rappelling line hanging beneath it. As before, the pilot was going to fly directly over the building, and Peter would get only one chance at grabbing the line.

As the helicopter approached, Peter could see the pilot slow down as much as he could without appearing suspicious, and readied himself. The helicopter passed overhead, and Peter, fighting against the buffet from the rotor, launched himself at the line. Gripping it with both hands, he hauled himself up and felt his stomach drop as the pilot picked up his speed and altitude.

Pulling his legs up, he wrapped the line around his feet to form a foothold and began ascending. By the time he reached the top several minutes later, he was sweating and exhausted from the climb, and his arm muscles ached from having to haul his weight straight up. Clambering back into the helicopter's compartment, he felt a welcome hand from Matt grab him and haul him in. Collapsing on the floor, he took several deep breathes before leaning up on his elbows and looking at the Surveillance Officer who was just finishing pulling up the dangling line. "I'm getting too old for that." Peter quipped with an exhausted smile.

"Turning soft are you?" Matt replied with a grin.

"Must be. Ten years ago I would have been able to do that without any hassles."

"So, did you get all the devices in place?" Matt asked as he closed the helicopters door.

Peter nodded. "All over the residence and shop. We'll hear every word that's said in that place." he said. "I also found a secret elevator that connects the residence and shop with whatever's underneath." he added in a nonchalant fashion.

Matt's eyes went wide. "A secret elevator? Where?"

"Would you believe inside that massive fish tank?"

Matt sat back and leaned against the door. "Inside the tank?" he repeated to himself. Shaking his head, he said "Well bugger me and blow me a wet one!"

Peter gave him an odd sideways glance.

Matt looked up and caught it. "Not literally."

Peter smiled humorously and shook his head. "Whatever you say, mate."

***

A rough shaking of his foot brought Peter fully awake. He automatically shifted his position and his hand was already on his gun, when he realized it Johnson at the end of the couch, shaking him awake. Peter breathed a slight sigh of relief as Johnson said "You might want to hear this."

"What?" Peter asked, standing and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Stingray's awake."

This roused Peter to full consciousness and he followed Johnson out of his office and into the Security Centre.

Cooper got up from the work station they had commandeered for their remote surveillance and let Peter sit. "Listen to this." he said and pressed a button. A video recording appeared on the screen, showing Sylia Stingray, dressed only in a short gown, sitting at a table on the rooftop patio eating breakfast with Henderson waiting on her nearby. After a moment, Sylia appeared to get unnerved by the way Henderson was watching her and put her cutlery down.

"What is it Henderson?" she asked, not looking up.

"I was just wondering if you had made a decision yet, Milady?"

"No, I haven't. I'm waiting till everybody arrives tonight with what information they've collected, then I'll make one." Sylia paused and looked at her butler. "But of course you already knew that, so what's really on your mind Henderson?"

Henderson hesitated a moment before replying, obviously choosing his words carefully. "I am.... not quite sure as to whether you realize what the stakes are now."

"I know what's at stake." Sylia said quietly.

"Do you? These people aren't another law enforcement agency. If they decide it prudent, they will kill you."

Suddenly Sylia was on her feet, knocking the table over as she stood "And just what do you think the ADP's been trying to do for these last few weeks?" she screamed at Henderson. Henderson just stood there and didn't flinch. Sylia caught herself and reeled in her temper. "I'm sorry Henderson, I'm just under a lot pressure at the moment."

"I understand, Milady. Would you like something more to eat?" he said, drawing Sylia's attention to her breakfast which was now scattered all over the patio.

"No, thank you Henderson. I'm going to take a shower now." she said and walked back inside.

The recording ended, leaving a blank screen. "That just happened a few minutes ago." Cooper explained.

Peter nodded. "Great. Now we know there's going to be some meeting tonight." He leaned back in the chair. "Though I'm a bit worried about how much they've been able to determine about us; they've already figured out we're not cops."

"You think they're onto our surveillance?" Cooper asked.

Peter shook his head. "If they knew they were under surveillance, I doubt they would have spoken so openly."

"Will this finally get us some help?"

"No. Given Canberra's sudden change of heart over this operation, they're going to need something more tangible than this."

Cooper nodded understandingly and returned his attention to the monitor.

***

Peter sat at the workstation in the Security Centre, watching a patchwork of live feeds from various devices. He had decided not to put anybody out the front of the building tonight, just in case Stingray was watching for observers, though he kept Charles and Mary watching the front of K's Garage. Earlier that day he had hidden several more bugs throughout the gardens and landscaping that surrounded the shopping concourse so they could watch how people arrived.

Peter leaned back in the chair and stretched. Matt, who had pulled up a second chair behind him to watch, leaned forward and mumbled "Shouldn't be too much longer."

Peter nodded and grumbled as well. "Why can't these things happen at our convenience and not theirs?"

Matt grunted an agreement as Johnson wandered their way and leaned over Peter's shoulder. "I take it nothing's happened yet?"

"Well about an hour ago we saw a snail in the garden." Peter said with mock enthusiasm.

Johnson looked at his watch. "Well, it's been forty eight hours since that last meeting, something should happen soon."

"Yeah, that's what we think too." Peter said as he turned his attention back to the computer screen. Some movement on one of the feeds caught his eye. "Whoa, here we go." he said as a woman on a red bike rode up along the shopping concourse and parked outside the Silky Doll.

"Hey! That's that woman that cut us off the other week! Just before we spotted that K's garage." Matt said.

Peter shook his head in disbelief. "I should have known." he said. They watched as she dismounted and removed her helmet, giving them a clear view of her face. It was pretty, her most striking feature being her eyes, but her dark hair was wild and unkempt. "What do you wanna bet she's the one in blue." Peter said, judging her height and build.

Matt shook his head. "No way. I'm not betting against that."

The biker girl entered the Silky Doll and Peter switched to the bug inside the shop, with which they tracked her progress through the change room and into the secret elevator. Switching back to the external view, they waited a few more minutes until another two young women arrived together. One had brown hair cut short at the back but long at the sides and the other had short blonde hair.

"There's another two." Matt commented.

Peter nodded in agreement. "That's three. One to go. I wonder if Kirkland and the kid are going to show up as well tonight?"

"Just have to wait and see." Matt said.

They didn't have to wait long. Almost immediately after the two girls descended to whatever was below the building, the mechanic and his assistant arrived. They too took the elevator down too. Then Peter and Matt waited another half hour, but nobody else showed.

"That looks like that's all of them." Peter said.

"Still no sign of this supposed fourth one." Matt commented.

Peter nodded, then added. "Well, three's better than nothing." he leaned back in his chair. "Now we just have to wait for them to come out. In the meantime, let's get to work identifying these other three."

After pulling the best pictures they could get of their faces from the recordings, their first step was to search the JIO's database for any match. As Peter expected, there were none, so he expanded it to include the databases from all Australian intelligence agencies and foreign ones they had intelligence sharing agreements with, principally the CIA, NSA and FBI in the United States, MI5 and MI6 in Britain and the FSB in Russia, what was once the infamous KGB. They also came back negative.

"Well that's to be expected." Peter said, leaning back in his chair after getting the negative result message. "They're too young to have really caught anyone's eye before."

"We had files on Kirkland and Stingray." Matt pointed out.

"Because they were involved in the original boomer project. We had files on everyone, right down to the janitors and their families. We're not going to find anything on these three from the intelligence community." Turning to Johnson, he said. "Can you get us into the police files."

"Sure." the Security Chief said, walking to a workstation. "The backdoors we used should still be there." he typed in a few commands, then waited a minute while the connection was established through a disused but still functional fax line in the basement maintenance office. "All right, you're in." Johnson said with a nod.

Peter thanked him then attempted to initiate a database wide search, but was met with an authorization error. "What the?!" he exclaimed.

Johnson came over to have a look. "That's new." he said. He tried a few different combinations of letters and numbers, but kept being denied access. Finally he gave up. "You're going to have to get the proper hackers back in Canberra to get that for you."

Peter shook his head. "To do that I'll need Upham's consent as Station Chief. That's why I haven't had a phone tap put in place on Stingray."

"So how are we going to do this then?" Matt asked.

"Since our hacking abilities are somewhat limited at the moment, we'll just have to do it the way they did before computers were invented. We'll hit the streets."

"You can't be serious!" Matt said with a derisive snort. "With just the seven of us in a city this size, it will take years."

"Then the sooner we start, the sooner it'll get done." Peter said with a wicked grin. He stood up and gathered together his papers before heading for the exit, giving Johnson his first clear view of the girls faces.

"Hang on a minute, Pete." He said.

Peter stopped, turned and hurried back to Johnson's side. "What?"

"I've seen her before." Johnson said, indicating the biker.

"Where?"

Johnson stood and looked around the Security Centre. "Williams!" he called, spotting a young guard watching a bank of security monitors.

"Sir?" Williams said, dividing his attention between the monitors and his boss.

"Who's the lead singer of that band you keep on going on about? The one that plays at that club."

"Sekira? That'd be Priss Asagiri, sir."

"Is this her?"

Hurrying over to Johnson and Peter, Williams took one look at the picture and nodded. "That's her, sir. I'd recognize her anywhere." he suddenly looked concerned. "Ah, she's not in any trouble, is she?"

Johnson looked at Peter.

"No." Peter said. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught on our surveillance cameras is all."

The young guard looked relieved. "That's good to know, sir."

"All right, back to your work." Johnson dismissed him. Williams nodded and hurried back to his security monitors.

Peter turned to Matt. "What was that you were saying?" he verbally jabbed with a broad grin.

Matt rolled his eyes and held up his hands in resignation. "Fine, we're off to a good start."

Peter's grin widened. "Looks like I've got a little clubbing to do."

***

The elevator doors opened, admitting Nigel and Mackey into the Pit.

"Let's get this meeting underway." Sylia said. "Nene, have you managed to hack the Ministry of Intelligence's computers yet?"

"Yep. I got what you wanted Sylia." the young blonde said as she walked to a computer terminal and inserted a disk. A long list of files appeared on the screen. "I also managed to identify that accent, and it is Australian. I then cross referenced it with this list of known and suspected foreign agents and found that about two weeks ago a team of Australian Protective Services officers arrived in Tokyo to evaluate security at their Embassy."

"So?" asked Linna.

"So, I did some more checking and found that a security review was conducted just a few months ago, and the next one wasn't due until next year. Kinda strange that they would see the need to conduct another so soon, don't ya think? And you know what else I found?"

"What?"

"The day after that team arrived, a delivery of new computers for the Australian Embassy arrived, marked with diplomatic tags so customs wasn't allowed to touch it."

"And why ship computers in from Australia when they could buy them here." Sylia finished off.

"Yep." Nene nodded. "What do you want to bet those computers were actually surveillance gear and other spy gizmos?"

Priss spoke. "What sort of surveillance gear?"

"Oh, you know, the usual, listening bugs, tracking devices, remote surveillance units, that sort of stuff."

"Sylia, would we know if they'd planted any of that around here?" Priss asked.

"Well I do conduct regular security sweeps of the building, but unfortunately these new devices are very difficult to detect. You could be staring right at one and you won't see it. Nene, what about that helicopter?"

Nene winked knowingly. "There's only six customers for that model in Japan, three are owned by corporations here in Tokyo, two are owned by a flight school in Nagasaki, and guess who owns the sixth."

"The Australian Embassy?" Linna asked.

"Bingo!"

Sylia pondered this new information for a moment. "It's still all just very circumstantial, but there's too many pieces that just fit together for it to be a coincidence."

"So what do we do? We can't attack an Embassy." said Priss.

"No, we can't. That'll just draw too much attention." Sylia agreed. "Priss, I want you and Nene to suit up and scout it out. Find out what their security is like."

Priss and Nene nodded and left to change into their skin suits.

"What do I do?" Linna asked.

Sylia smiled. "You're going to help me look for any bugs in the building. Nigel, you and Mackey return to your shop and look for any there."

"Right Sis." Mackey said and hurried to the elevator. Nigel followed him without a word.

***

"There's the Embassy." Priss said to Nene over the radio as they sailed through the air.

"Yeah, I see it. We don't want to get too close until I have a chance to check it out first." Nene replied.

"Right. We'll land on that building there." Priss pointed to a building a few blocks from the Embassy and several stories taller than those around it, providing them with a clear line of sight.

They touched down and Nene set to work scanning the building.

"Well?" Priss asked impatiently after a few minutes.

"Just give me time, okay. It's not like I can do this in a second, you know."

"Well hurry it up. We're too exposed out here."

"All done." Nene said and stood up.

"And?"

"Well, let's just say we don't want to go flying in there. They've got an automated surface to air missile launcher and a radar on the roof."

"The government let them do that?" Priss asked in surprise.

"Don't you know? Because of what's happening in the South Pacific, three of their embassies have been attacked in the last five years. They're right up the top of every terrorists hit list along with the United States and Israel."

"That rules out an aerial attack. How close can we get without being spotted?"

"We should be able to get within a couple of blocks if we keep our jumps small and stay under their radar."

"Then what are we waiting for." Priss said and took a running leap to the next building, firing her thrusters for a little extra momentum. Nene copied her move and landed just as Priss took off again, landing on the next building. Nene followed and they made their way to within two blocks by leaping between the buildings.

Nene settled down to scan the building again from a closer distance, and Priss crouched next to her.

"My, my, look at all the camera's. It's like a television studio over there."

"But you can do something about that, right?" Priss asked.

"Oh sure. I'll just use the same trick I pulled on the ADP at the factory."

"We'll save that until we need it. What else can you see?"

"We'll, there's tons of other sensors. None out the front for obvious reasons, but there's plenty around the sides and back. Whoever designed this set up was good. I don't think even a fly could get close without their noticing."

"Okay, what about their defences?"

"Nothing visible, I'd have to pull the plans to find out what they've really got. But for this time of night, there's still an army of people crawling around inside."

"Weapons?"

"Just pistols at the moment, but that's not to say they don't have anything larger tucked away."

"What about boomers?"

"Just one or two cleaning boomers."

"All right, that's about all we can get for tonight without getting spotted. Let's go." Priss turned and began leaping between the roofs, heading back to a point where they could safely resume their normal method of travel. Nene followed her.

***

Sylia and Linna stepped into the inside pool deck, each holding a sensitive EM detector which they ran over every wall and conceivable place to hide a listening device. More sensitive than any commercially available detector, Sylia had had Nigel make several of them shortly after recruiting him, and used them quite frequently. They'd already swept every other room in the building and come up with nothing.

"Still nothing." Sylia said, her voice not reflecting the conflicting state she was in, between relief that they hadn't found anything and frustration at not finding anything.

"Ah, Sylia?" Linna said. Sylia turned and saw her aiming her detector at a large pot plant. "I'm getting something from this plant."

"Let me see that." Sylia took the scanner from Linna and examined the display. There was a very faint signal, barely registering, but definitely out of the ordinary for a plant. Tossing the detector onto a nearby couch, Sylia knelt and began digging around in the dirt. After several minutes, her hand grasped something small and solid and she withdrew it.

She stood and opened her hand, presenting what she found for Linna to see, a small electronic device about the size of a shirt button and covered in soil. Then, without warning, Sylia dropped it on the ground and crushed it under foot.

***

"Oh shit! Holy shit!" Matt said as one of the video feeds went dead.

"What?" Peter said, coming over to him.

"They just found the one in the upstairs pool deck."

Peter leaned in front of Matt and tapped a few controls. Rewinding the video footage back, he watched as Sylia groped around in the soil, found the bug and then crushed it. He slammed his fist down on the desk hard enough to make the computer monitor jump clean into the air.

***

"That was a bug?" Linna asked, regarding the destroyed bit of electronics with some curiosity.

"Yes, and there's undoubtedly more of them." Sylia said.

"But where? We searched the entire building."

"They must be making them so power efficient that not even Nigel's detectors can pick them up."

"Then how come we spotted that one?"

Sylia inspected the plant. "This is a pH hungry plant. Maybe the alkaline in the soil magnified the bugs EM field just enough for it to register."

"Wow. Maybe I should get some for my apartment."

"C'mon." Sylia said, heading for the elevator. "I'll call Nigel and see if they've found anything."

***

"What about the others? Have they found anymore?" Peter asked as he scanned a status display of all the bugs he had planted.

"We saw them going from room to room and scanning everything with those EM field detectors, but they couldn't find the others."

Peter sat back, somewhat relieved. "It was just that one. All the others are still there. Unfortunately, now they know they've been bugged, they're going to be doubly careful about what they say."

***

"Yeah.....all right......I got it." Nigel said and hung up the phone, then slipped it back into the pocket of his overalls. "That was Sylia." he said to Mackey who was running another detector over the walls of the Garage. "They just found a bug in the upstairs pool deck."

"Really?" Mackey said, stopping his scanning.

"Yeah. She also says these bugs are undetectable by our scanners. They're EM field's too weak."

"So how do we find them?"

"The old fashioned way. We use our eyes and look." Nigel turned and headed into his office. There, he knelt by the sole pot plant and began digging around in the dirt. Finally he gripped something and pulled it out. A small button shaped and sized device lay in the palm of his hand. Clutching it carefully, lest he drop it, he walked back out into the workshop area.

"Find anything?" Mackey asked as he searched a tool box, physically pulling every tool out and inspecting it. Nigel said nothing, but walked over to a work bench and dropped the bug on it. He then picked up a pair of jumper leads, plugged them in and touched one on either side of the bug. There was a flash accompanied by a sharp sizzling sound and a plume of smoke as the surge of electricity fried the devices delicate circuitry.

***

"There goes the one in Screwdrivers office!" Matt said.

Peter sat in front of the computer, chin resting in his hands watching two lots of video feeds, one from K's Garage and one from Stingray's residence. So far they had accounted for five of the seven subjects; Stingray, Kirkland, the kid and one of the Knight Sabers, and he found himself wondering where the other two were. Priss Asagiri's bike was still parked outside the shop and they hadn't seen them leave any other way.

"Unit Two, Central. You still outside Screwdriver?" he said into the radio.

"Central, Unit two. Yeah we are." Charles replied.

"Get over to Kmart pronto." he ordered, using their new code name for Stingray's shop.

"Unit Two, copy that." Charles replied and clicked off.

"So what do we do now?" Matt asked.

"There's not much we can do about those bugs at the moment, they'll have to wait till later. Right now I want to find those other two Knight Sabers."

***

Priss and Nene stepped out of the launcher to find Sylia and Linna waiting for them.

"So what did you find?" she asked.

"Let's just say you don't want to be a fly on a wall around there if things go to hell." Priss replied. "You find anything."

Sylia held out the remnants of the bug.

"Wow. That's small." Nene commented.

"And Nigel just found one in his shop." Sylia told them. "Fortunately, his remained relatively intact."

"So what do we do now?" Priss asked.

"Well, first of all, I want to look at the information you and Nene collected, then we'll decide. Until then, all of you go home and get some rest. I'll call you when I need you."

***

Peter sat, watching every remaining video feed for any sign off the other two Knight Sabers. He had watched Stingray and the other one enter the elevator down to underneath the building, possibly to meet with the other two, he supposed. Kirkland and the kid were still tearing their garage apart looking for more bugs. Fortunately they didn't seem to think to look inside their power points and light fixtures, so the remaining bugs were still active. He could still see the discovered bug on Kirklands workbench, and hoped the anti-tamper systems had managed to destroy the internal circuitry.

The radio crackled into life and Charlie's voice could be heard. "Central, Unit Two. We just arrived on station and noticed two subjects returning via the roof."

"Unit two, Central, copy that." Peter clicked off.

"We didn't even noticed they'd left." Matt commented.

Peter agreed. "And where the hell did they go?" Although he wouldn't say it, he already had a deep suspicion.

***

Peter drove past Hot Legs nightclub at a sedate pace, observing the security in place. At the entrance a half dozen burly bouncers kept a crowd of young night clubbers from swarming the establishment. Driving past he found a spot down the street to park and walked back. He decided to leave his gun behind, even though it made him feel somewhat vulnerable and not quite right without it.

Nothing much else had happened last night. They had watched the three Knight Sabers leave, gotten some more pictures of them and dug up as much information on Priss Asagiri as possible, but were still unable to identify who the other two were.

He joined the end of the line and waited. When he eventually got to the front, the bouncer looked him over and checked his attire was suitable. Peter, anticipating some dress regulations, had worn a shirt and a good pair of slacks with a matching jacket.

Once the bouncer was satisfied, Peter paid the cover charge and waited while another bouncer ran a scanner over him to look for concealed weapons.

"What time does the band go on?" Peter inquired when the bouncer finished his scan.

"Couple of hours." the man replied then turned to the next patron in line.

Peter stepped into the entrance and walked down the stairs to the club.

It was a little after nine, yet the club was already packed from wall to wall by a sea of people, all moving in time to some new age dance music being played loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. Peter pushed his way to the bar and managed to find a spot near the back wall. It took a while for the bartender to get around to him, but Peter was content to wait. To avoid seeming out of place, he ordered a beer, then settled himself down to wait, while occasionally sipping his beer and resisting the temptation to guzzle it. He couldn't afford to become intoxicated, so that one beer had to last him all night.

Finally, after several hours of waiting, what little lights there were dimmed and the dance music was replaced by the DJ's voice encouraging everybody to give a warm welcome to the band Sekira. The crowd went wild then fell silent as an odd electronic pitch filled the room, accompanied by an irregular beat, followed several seconds later by an explosion of spot lights and heavily distorted guitar.

Peter counted four members in the band, two men on lead guitar and bass and another on the drums. His attention, however, was drawn to the figure near the front of the stage, a young woman with wild hair and wearing a red suit. She swayed in time with the music, then suddenly grabbed the microphone and began singing. Peter smiled to himself. He had definitely found the blue Knight Saber.

Peter removed a small camera from his pocket and focused it on Priss. He filmed her for over a minute, before shutting it off and putting it away, satisfied he had enough footage. Picking up his half finished beer, he settled back to watch the show. The music, while not exactly to his present liking, would have appealed to him ten years ago, and Peter felt a stab of nostalgia for his youth. Looking around, he realized none of the other patrons couldn't be any older than twenty five, and Peter suddenly felt like an old man among a sea of children.

Pushing such thoughts and feelings aside, Peter once again settled back to wait. He occupied his time by inspecting the security in the club and searching the faces in the crowd for the other two Knight Sabers. Finally the band played their last song and retreated backstage while the crowd cheered and chanted for more. After it became clear the band wouldn't be returning, the DJ started his music and the crowd began dancing again.

Peter leaned over the bar and caught the bartenders attention. "Excuse me, I'm a private investigator," he flashed a fake PI licence the JIO had hastily prepared for him earlier that day, then held up the pictures of the other two Knight Sabers. "and I was wondering if you'd seen either of these two women before?"

The bartender took the pictures and examined them closely. "Yeah, I've seen 'em here before. I think they're friends with that singer that was just on."

"Really?" Peter said, feigning surprise. "Would I be able to ask her a few questions?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask the manager that."

"Could I speak to him?"

"Sure, I'll just go get him." the bartender said and moved through a door into a back room. Moments later he reappeared with a middle aged man in a business suit. The bartender went back to serving drinks while the Manager came around the bar and greeted Peter.

"I understand you'd like to ask our Priss some questions?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm looking for these two women," he handed him the pictures, "and your bartender said they were friends with her."

The manager looked at the pictures and said "Oh my. Yes they are Priss' friends."

"Do you know them?"

The manager nodded. "A bit. That's Nene and this is Linna. I don't know their last names unfortunately."

Peter took out a notepad and pen and made a show of jotting that down.

"May I ask what this is concerning?" the manager said.

Peter shrugged. "Divorce case. Some woman's paying me to track down dirt on her soon to be ex-husband. She reckons he's been fooling around, so I want to find these two and ask 'em a few questions about him." he said in a bored tone, as if he had done this a hundred times before.

"Ah." the manager said. "Well, for what it's worth, they've been here a few times, but I've never seen them with any men before. They just come here with each other."

Peter nodded as he wrote. "Okay, and can you tell me anything more about them? Family names or such?"

"Sorry, I don't know their family names, but I do know young Nene works for the AD Police."

"Really?" Peter was genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, I think she said she works in the information centre or such, I know she works on a computer all day."

"And what about the other one, Linna?"

"I don't know where she works, but I think she said it was a junior sales position with some company. I don't remember which one, I'm sorry. Priss would probably know."

"May I speak to her?" Peter asked.

"If you'll just wait here, I'll go and ask her." the Manager said and was about to leave when Peter's phone rang.

He pulled it from his pocket and answered. "Yeah?"

Johnson was on the other end. "Pete, a call just came in for you from a Michael Dewhurst in Canberra. He wants you to call him urgently."

To say Peter was surprised was an understatement. From the way he had blown up at his boss earlier, he had half expected Dewhurst would never talk to him again. "All right, I'm on my way." He hung up, then turned to the Manager who had waited patiently. "Sorry, but something's come up and I have to leave now. Thank you for your help." Peter said and started to leave.

"Would you like me to tell Priss you want to speak with her?" the manager said.

Peter thought for a moment. "Ah, no, thank you. I'll catch up with her tomorrow." he said, then left before the Manager could get another word in.

***

Peter entered the Security Centre, where Johnson directed him into his private office. Peter sat behind Johnson's desk and dialed Dewhursts number into the videophone. Dewhurst picked up and Johnson was surprised to see he was still at work at this late hour.

"Pete." Dewhurst said.

"Evening, sir. You called?"

"Yes. Your team's being recalled."

Peter sat speechless for a moment, unsure as to whether he had heard his boss correctly. "Recalled? How come?"

"That's just the order from above. Your team of Surveillance Officers will cease all participation in this investigation and return to Australia tomorrow. The Embassy should have already received your tickets and travel arrangements. You will remain in Japan and continue your investigation."

"You've got to be kidding. How the hell am I supposed to investigate jack shit without any backup?" Peter felt like screaming but managed to keep his voice to a reasonable level this time.

"Don't even try to take it out on me again." Dewhurst said coldly. "This came from way above. I had nothing to do with it."

"Would this be the same 'above' that blocked my request for a larger team?" Peter asked, his voice thick with menace.

"I don't like what you're insinuating." Dewhurst replied. "As far as I know, there is no plot to shut down this investigation. The resource that were placed at your disposal are needed elsewhere; end of discussion. Are we clear on this?"

"Yes, sir." Peter forced himself to say, then switched off. He suddenly felt the urge to shoot somebody somewhere that would affect a very slow and painful death. He'd been betrayed, or so he perceived it. Despite what Dewhurst said, there was definitely someone attempting to derail his investigation. Twice now he had been stopped when he was on the verge of making a major breakthrough. Somebody did not want him to complete his report on the Knight Sabers, and that someone wielded considerable influence.

As he sat there, staring at the blank screen, his anger rose and boiled violently. The urge to lash out and break something became almost overpowering as pressure built inside him. As if in anticipation, his already abused hand began to throb, cutting through the fury that clouded his mind. With a degree of will power that later surprised him when he reflected back on this moment, he regained control of his anger and pushed it back down until it turned from an intensity like a volcano about to erupt to a cold, hard ball in the centre of his being. With a sudden clarity of thought, he knew he now had to find whoever it was that held this grudge against him and why.

But first, he had an investigation to complete. He stood and re-entered the Security Centre. "Johnson?" he said. The Security Chief looked up from a computer screen upon hearing his name. "The ADP's database we tried to hack last night, did that include personnel files?"

Johnson shook his head. "No, those were all criminal and case related. Why?"

Peter moved close to Johnson and lowered his voice so only he could hear. "Because one of the Knight Sabers is a cop."

The expression of surprise on Johnson's face would have done the Warner Bros. best animators proud if they had been able to capture it. "A cop? Are you serious?"

"The manager at that club identified the blonde one as a Nene who works in the ADP's dispatch centre."

"Talk about sleeping with the enemy! Hacking the ADP's personnel files shouldn't be that hard."

Peter nodded. "Could you do that for me. I have to gather my team together and give them some bad news."

"Important?" Johnson. Peter just nodded, then turned and left the Security Centre.

***

Priss had just finished changing after the show when there was a knock at the door. "Hey Priss, can I come in?" the Manager called.

"Yeah." Priss said as she grabbed her boots and pulled them on. The door opened and the manager stepped into her dressing room.

"Great show tonight." he said. "You really drew in a crowd."

Priss stood and grabbed her jacket. "Thanks. You got my money?"

"I left it with Maxon." he said.

Priss made a disgusted sound at the prospect of having to wring her money out of the bands overly large drummer and pushed past the Manager.

"Oh, by the way there was a guy looking for you earlier."

Priss stopped and turned to look at him. "What guy?"

"A private detective. Said he was after those two friends of yours, Nene and Linna. Something about digging up some dirt in some divorce case."

"Where is he now?"

"Something came up and he had to leave just after you finished on stage. Said he'd catch up with you tomorrow."

"Did he ask you any questions about me or my friends?"

The Manager nodded his head. "Yeah, he showed me their pictures and asked if I knew them."

"And what did you tell him?"

The Manager shrugged. "What I know. Their names and that they were your friends. Said he'd take it up with you tomorrow."

Priss looked at him for a moment, her face set in a perfect mask of neutrality that didn't even hint at the disgust she held for this man right not. She turned and walked away, heading for the back door to the alley where she always parked her bike.

Once outside, she put her helmet on, and started her bike. She glanced around to make sure nobody was close by, then took out her phone and dialed Sylia.

"Yes Priss?" Sylia asked on picking up. "I hope this is important."

"It is. Some private dick was around here tonight asking to see me and flashing pictures of Nene and Linna around."

"What?" Sylia exploded. "They have pictures of us? Do they know our names as well?"

"They do now. My idiot manager told him Nene and Linna's names."

Sylia was silent a moment as she composed herself, then quietly said "This whole situation is really starting to get on my nerves. I'll call Nene and Linna and let them know what's happened. I'll also tell them to stay at home and call in sick tomorrow."

"Do you want me to come 'round?" Priss asked.

"No. If they tracked you to Hot Legs, they may be following you. Just head home and act normally."

Priss smiled cockily. "If they are following me, they're going to have a hard time keeping up."

"I'll call you tomorrow with more instructions." Sylia said and hung up. Priss put her phone away, jumped on her bike then tore out of the alley.

END OF PART ONE