The team climbed aboard the aircraft and checked it out, moving around cautiously and examining it with care. Climbing the stairs built into the inside of the fold-out doorway, they entered a cabin about three metres wide, and maybe four or five long – with a mirror of the door they'd entered by on the other side of the cabin, with the same set of contoured steps built into the interior of the hatch. A sliding door was just to their left, leading to the nose of the craft, and they noticed that the door was very sturdy-looking and had a locking mechanism.
This was clearly a passenger cabin, and eight fairly large seats were laid out in an unusual formation. Just behind the starboard side door was a pair of seats, pointing forwards. Each was quite wide and had a large harness built into it – a waist belt, strap that rose up between the legs and a pair of shoulder straps that all connected to a buckle or locking mechanism in the centre. No matter what manoeuvres the pilot put the aircraft through, the passengers were going to stay in their seats, and even the head-rests were contoured and supported on the sides.
Behind the first two side-by-side seats were the remaining six in two rows of three – one on the port side, and two on the starboard side. The starboard seats were behind the front two, but they faced each other, so a pair of the seats were rear facing, their backrests butted up right against the backrests of the front seats. The same thing happened on the left side of the gap between them, with the two seats facing each other. It possibly gave more legroom for the passengers and probably allowed easier access, but of the six seats in the back of the cabin, three of them faced to the rear, which would be a fairly unusual experience. The cabin was also fitted out much more like a commercial passenger jet, with the interior walls being panelled, rather than displaying the interior of the outer skin and the mass of cables and control systems. It wasn't particularly upmarket, but it was likely to be considerably quieter in the cabin as a result of the sound insulation, and probably a lot warmer, too. Marius stopped and examined the smoothly-contoured inner surfaces and then headed back to the door for a moment and examined it.
"This has the same kind of locking and sealing mechanism as a passenger aircraft. Multiple locking points, dead-bolts and a good seal. A very good seal. This compartment will be able to be pressurised in flight. That may only be to protect against gas weapons, but I suspect that it will also be to allow flight at considerable heights – unlike the old aircraft." He gave the door seal a quick check, then moved to re-join the others, heading towards the aft of the aircraft.
Another sliding door on the aft bulkhead of the passenger compartment slid into the wall, and was again lockable – though this one was lighter-weight than the door leading to the cockpit area – though it, too, was gas-sealed. The door lined up with the gap in between the two facing single seats on the left side of the aircraft and the two double seats on the right, and provided fairly easy access though into the cargo area beyond.
About seven metres long, it was as wide as the passenger cabin, though this looked considerably more spartan and basic, and much more familiar. The floor was grooved to provide a better grip, and there were a number of lockdown points and receptacles for straps, chains and other fittings set into the deckplate in a regular pattern. At the front of the cargo area were points to secure palletised goods, with two positions on each side of the fuselage. A lightweight set of spars folded down from the fuselage wall, connected by thick cables to the roof beams, creating a mezzanine area for another two pallets on each side, directly over the bottom ones – and the area in-between was large enough slide a pallet out without disturbing the others, if you were careful.
Behind the bulk cargo area though was a space taking up the other half of the cargo bay. Hunter wandered over to a small decal that was affixed to the wall and squinted at the basic illustration and small writing that pointed to various areas.
"According to this, there's tie-down points for a Badger LSV. LS… oh – light strike vehicle. Picture looks a bit like a four wheel vehicle, probably something similar to a Land-Rover. Ahh, yeah… there's notes for the different variations of the Badger, showing which points to use to keep it secure and balanced. But it looks like we could get a regular car in here and lash it down, as long as it's not too tall."
"The ramp lowers just like in the chopper or the tilt-wing. The old one, I mean. I guess the design just works, and there's not a lot you can do to fix it." Aswon examined the controls and checked the pitch of the ramp and the construction material. "It's got a non-stick surface on it, but it's a pretty steep angle – I don't think we can plan to store more on the ramp while its closed."
"Any door guns?"
"Nope – no sign of fittings either Hunter. But there is that rear turret – and I think that's the access hatch into the ammo bins up there." He gestured towards the tail of the aircraft, and a large boxy door painted with distinct black-and-yellow hazard stripes.
"What are the two hatches on the side?"
"No idea. Marius?"
They watched as the pilot clambered up the ramp and opened one of the hatches and checked the notice on the inside of the door, before activating his commlink torch mode and shining the beam into the container for a few moments.
"Interesting – drone racks. Two of them. Slightly canted outwards, there must be access doors on the outside. Well concealed doors. According to the signage here, these are designed for Sabre scouts. I do not know what those are, but they look to be vector thrust-based designs, so something like our Dalmation."
"So we can launch two mini-fighters, in flight?" Hunter asked, ears perking up.
"Ja, seems so. Might have to slow to recover them – depends on how things handle. But we have no drones to fit in here at the moment. They would need to be modified. Or we need to find some of these Sabre scout drones on the black market…"
Marius turned and led the way forward, moving through the forward door back into the passenger area, and then though the security door. Immediately on their right as they entered was a pair of bunk beds, once again similar to those used by crew on long-haul aircraft. Each had a sliding divider to give some privacy and to block out the light, and a narrow but full-length mattress. Like the bunks in the truck, they were clearly compromises – both Hunter and Shimazu would struggle to fit in there, and there certainly wouldn't be much spare room – but more normal-sized people would find them perfectly adequate to sleep in either on the ground or in flight. Next to the bunks was a combination toilet/shower, very similar in concept to the one in the truck, though engineered to a far higher standard and much less claustrophobic. Built into every spare bit of space around the bunks and the shower, though, was storage that also looked to have been taken straight out of the airline catalogue, with removable modules and blocks that could be locked in place with spring loaded clips, giving room for water, food, crew supplies, spare clothes and small amounts of equipment.
Finally, one more door led into the cockpit itself, containing two more seats, built like the ones in the passenger compartment but possibly even larger and more heavily padded. Both had conspicuous rigger and datajack cables hanging nearby, reaching down into the side panels, while in front of the seats was a smooth expanse of dashboard, scores of displays and bits of equipment laid out in a dense pattern. Both seats had a joystick and set of pedals, though they were all slid out of the way at the moment, no doubt the manual backups for when battle damage had disabled the rigger interfaces – though it was likely that anything that took out the rigger network had probably already wrecked the aircraft entirely. The military did like their redundancy though, so it was hardly surprising to see.
A lift-up panel between the seats gave access to the back of the forward turret, and they found another of the sturdy doors with hazard stripes clearly marking the opening. Hunter squirmed down onto his belly and checked the gun system.
"Enfield arms, twenty millimetre ATG5… ahh, yeah – autocannons. So fully automatic. Looks like they're designed right into the system, so they have to be fully remote-controlled. I'm guessing they're designed for the aircraft, don't look like a modular system." He shuffled back and then rocked back up onto his knees and looked at Marius. "Probably means though that they're designed around the airframe, or the other way around – so they should handle pretty well."
"PERMISSION TO COME ABOARD?" an unknown voice called out, and Kai who was at the back of the group turned round and headed to the exterior door.
"Hello? Who are you?" He asked pleasantly – but not agreeing to access yet.
"Tech Sergeant Chen, Fleet Air Arm. Been told to come and supply a briefing on aircraft operations." If he was bothered about being pulled away from his other duties, he didn't show it.
"Ah, excellent. Very good, please, come in. Our pilot is just settling into the cockpit, and I'm sure he'll be thrilled to meet you." The tech sergeant nodded to him and then squeezed past the team, struggling a little when it came to Shimazu in the narrow passageway, but doggedly working away until he reached the cockpit and settled himself into the right hand seat.
"Guess you're the pilot then, from the jacks. Ready when you are, sir."
"This will take some time, and I would like to be able to concentrate. If you could perhaps go aft and check out the seating area?" Marius politely suggested – and the team headed back to the passenger area, letting Marius close the door behind them. Aswon just caught the start of the conversation before the door closed, and smiled.
"So, how much flying experience do you have?"
"Fairly good. I have over a thousand hours logged in heavy-lift choppers, and more recently…" The door gave a little hiss as it closed and sealed, and Aswon wandered back to join the rest.
"So – Marius is probably going to be busy for a while, it seems – him and that techy are getting on, though. I think he'll be up to speed in no time. Question is then – where are we going, and what are we doing?"
"I would like to head back to my village. Check in on things, and potentially get some warding materials – I think we need to get this aircraft protected as soon as possible, and I know we can get materials from there."
"Sounds like a good idea. We know they have plenty of stock." Kai smiled at her. "We should probably contact Ludmilla and confirm the delivery as well – I can do that in a minute, now I think of it. But also to let her know about the loss of the old aircraft. She did say she'd contribute to repairs – though how this is going to work, I don't know. But, to start with, we probably need to get a flight plan sorted to get us to Sweden I guess, to retrace our steps. Hunter – can you pull the details off your deck for that?"
"No." Kai frowned at him, but Hunter continued before he could interrupt. "Whatever details I had are almost certainly not going to work for this. We need to sort out the transponder and fudge all kinds of details. But for the moment, forget about landing at any commercial airport, anywhere. We need to keep this under the radar for the moment, until we work out all the details. But this looks like it's fresh out of the factory, and only sold to the military, so we're going to have some work to do before we can just land at a passenger terminal."
"Oh."
"Can we get insurance on this one? Is that a thing? Like you do with cars? In case it gets blown up? I don't think we'll be this lucky again." Tads asked.
"No – not only no, but hell, no!"
"I have to agree with Hunter – it's unlikely we'd find anywhere that could provide cover for us, given what the aircraft is, and that we have no deed of sale or anything like that. But if we break this one, Hunter just needs to put his crown back on and shout at people until we get a new one. He's the king, you know!"
"You can go right off people, you know that, Aswon."
"Oh no, sire, please, don't have me thrown into the dungeons! Have mercy!"
"I'm not gonna hear the last of this, am I?" Hunter sighed and looked around, and spotted that there were datajacks set into the armrests of the seats. He pulled out his deck and then connected up, accessing the internal network for the aircraft and started to poke around to see what he could find. "Marius – mate, can you enable access to the network, I'm getting a security lockout." He called over the comms a moment later as his deck was rudely ejected from the connection. He waited a few seconds, then tried again, getting into the systems as Marius was directed to the security menu by the tech-sergeant, and finding he had general access that allowed him to start to explore.
"So – are we warding the inside or outside, Tads?" Aswon looked around the cabin and then glanced through the door into the cargo space.
"I think inside again. I'm guessing the panels come off the wall here to allow for maintenance and repairs. So it needs a bit of preparation, but should be doable."
"Why not put it on the outside?" Kai asked.
"It's a two-edged sword. On one hand, it covers everything, including the engines, flaps and other systems – which is good. Protects them from spirits and magical creatures, mana storms and such like."
"Ahh, it's coming back to me now, you've told me this before haven't you, Aswon. But stuff on the outside is vulnerable if we do the ward inside… but if we do it inside, the ward is hidden, and we're not wandering around with a giant bubble of magic that's dead obvious to see…"
"Right. I mean, that goes two ways as well. A really powerful ward might put off a bunch of people. But it also gives something that the team have done as a really obvious magical barrier, that they can assense and learn all about us from."
"I think inside, masking." Tads wrinkled her nose and then took a deep breath. "And I'm actually thinking a stronger ward than last time."
"Stronger? Seriously? I think the one we had was pretty good…"
"I know, Aswon. But we're stronger as a group now. So I'm thinking we can do better. Like about half as strong again. I want whatever tries to get inside to run into a wall so hard it's going to see the back of its own head, and anything that is strong enough to somehow get through that to be so disoriented by the effort that Shimazu can introduce it to the concept of a day so bad that it jumps to the top spot on their list."
"Well, I suppose we can try. It's going to take a whole day to do that though, at the very least. Not that THAT should stop us really. Ok then… It's not like the extra cost of warding materials is going to matter that much. What's spending fifteen thousand instead of ten thousand compared to the kind of budget we're looking at on other things now like Hunter's cyberware or new protocol thingies for Marius?"
"Tads, got a question for you." Hunter sounded distracted, and when they looked over to him, he was sat back in the chair, head tipped back and his eyes closed, concentrating on the data feeds dancing through his brain as he jacked into the aircraft's systems. "Would it be better for you to do this warding thing back at your village?"
"Not really. I think we might get the materials there free – and I would like to go back. But it wouldn't help us actually put the ward up, or make it faster or stronger."
"Ok. Right… I think I have the hang of this now." His eyes opened and he blinked several times as the physical world snapped back into focus. He looked around, then realised that the rollout screen he was looking for had been one of the many things left behind as they evacuated from the crashed aircraft. "Bollocks. Ok, crowd around the screen…" The small screen on his pocket secretary lit up, giving a tiny display that was hard to see – but the team crammed around it as best as they could.
"We're here, in England. This blank spot on the map, RAF Brize Norton. And from a query on the aircraft systems, it has about the same kind of efficiency as the old tilt-wing. But it's got four wing tanks, not two, and though it's got a bigger fuselage and is heavier, we've also got four engines. So, instead of just about scraping out a two-thousand kilometre range, I think we should be good for about three thousand in this. Obviously combat manoeuvres will lower that, as will any nape of the earth we have to fly – but that's the same as the old one too…"
The map panned out, showing all of Western Europe, and a couple of spots appeared – though at this scale and on the tiny screen, it was impossible for them to realise what they were looking at without Hunter to interpret the data. One dot started to flash and pulse on the map.
"We have enough range to reach the island down off the coast of Greece, the one with that evil goblin woman and the cyclops. Room to land there, we know we can get fuel, and it's an easy hop back to the ranch, too." The dot settled down to a dull red glow, and a different spot appeared, a little way north. "Or we can go to Bulgaria – this is the place just west of the local airport, that they ran a tap from. Got the funny-coloured fields near it, and that toxic chemical plant where we picked up weapons for Patrick." The second dot faded, and a third flashed, though this one strobed yellow and red instead. "That's the quarry – but it's showing as marginally out of range. If we got lucky with a tail wind, we might make it – but we'd have zero margin for any kind of nonsense. So I don't think that's something we should consider." The dot faded again, and finally the fourth started to flash, a little way further north. "And this is Ludmilla's – this is inside range by about the same amount as the quarry is out of range, so we've still not got much margin of error… but again, we know she has a big old helipad and fuel to use."
"I'm thinking Ludmilla is our best destination." Kai squinted at the display and then gave up trying to get any more detail from it. "She owes us pay and expenses, and we've just done a job for her. I think getting in some face to face time would be good. And that also puts us closest to Tads' village, so we can get back there once we have some more fuel barrels."
"I would LIKE to go back, but we don't have to. I can get up there astrally and talk to people as well, just to be clear. I'd hate to use all that fuel just for a very quick visit…"
"Well, the other reasons still stand. So, Hunter – if we're going to Ludmilla's place, how many countries do we go through? Or how many borders do we have to run, rather?"
"Surprisingly few. Out of the UK, across the north sea and over the thin part of the neck of Denmark, then back out into the Baltic Sea, into Latvia and across most of the country, then through the border with Russia and across a few more hundred kilometres of land until we skirt around Moscow."
"Going across the Black Tide might be unpleasant, just to warn you – especially as we don't have any wards up at all yet. We'll have to be on our guard for that part, as there's nothing stopping any spirits or beings just getting straight inside!" Tads cautioned them. "On the other hand, I've just remembered that we did promise to sort out some tunnels at the Samara base for the Brigadier. So if we're at Ludmilla's, that puts us pretty close I think."
"Tads, I don't think that matters now," Aswon grinned at her, "not given where the Brigadier is now. I think he probably had it on his 'nice to have' list, but it's not his base. At least I don't think it is – it's probably just a training camp and his unit was cycling through it, and he's not going to be too fussed about it. I mean, I'm sure he'd generally be in favour of anything that makes Russia stronger, but not enough to be bothered to chase you up for it." He shrugged, then turned back to Kai. "On the other hand, I also agree that we should return to Ludmilla. She did offer to pay for repairs suffered during the job – though I don't know if she'll see it the same way as we do."
"That's settled then. Hunter, can you try to plan a route for when we're ready to leave?"
"Sure thing…" Hunter closed his eyes again, sinking into a fugue with the deck and his mapping software.
"Hey Kai – the space in the back – for the vehicle. The Badger. Do you think you can wander over to the depots over there and see if you can get one? Tell them it's missing, and we need it?"
"Thanks for the compliment… I'm persuasive, but not THAT persuasive. You do know the British are some of the most miserable people in the world, right? Charm, wit and sophistication is wasted on them… no, I don't think that's doable. Sorry – not even going to try."
"I can hear you, you know," Hunter muttered absent-mindedly.
"I know. Doesn't mean I'm wrong, though." Kai looked over to Hunter, but he didn't respond further, his attention focussed on their route once more.
"Actually, another thought has just struck me. One of us should sit up front to start off with, instead of Hunter. There's no windows back here, or in the cargo area. The only place we can see out and spot anything magical coming is the cockpit. And we haven't got the optical system, so we're blind as a bat, magically."
"Hmm – you're right. Sounds like a plan, Aswon. I guess Hunter can do most of what he needs to back here, through the datajack he's using now. Ok, that's settled. Let me contact Ludmilla and tell her we'll be on our way later, and that we had some issues…" Kai settled back in the seat and tapped the contact name, waiting for the call to connect.
"Kai, darling, how are you?"
"Ludmilla, all the better for hearing you. Though truth be told, we're not having a great few days."
"Oh? Is there something wrong? Trouble with the delivery?"
"Trouble yes, but not with the package. That was all delivered without incident, and on time. But then there were…complications. We got involved with some…local trouble let's call it, and we lost an engine. Unfortunately we made a rather rough landing very soon afterwards, and the aircraft was not in good shape."
"Oh, Kai… that is bad news. Do you require some assistance getting out?"
"No, no, I think we have that covered. We've managed to secure an alternative vehicle – we can fill you in later on in more detail, if that's ok?"
"Oh – here? Later? I have some plans later this evening, but otherwise, that's fine. So what happened to your old vehicle – does that need taking care of?"
"We err… ran into the Wild Hunt, it seems. And no – after the fire, I think pretty much any traces of evidence are long gone. But that's the issue – so is all of our gear and supplies. So we're going to take a fairly heft hit on the expenses I'm afraid."
"Oh, things… well, send me a list, and we'll make some arrangements."
"That's very kind of you. I'll get something over to you shortly – I'm sure there's nothing there that a lady of your stature couldn't get hold of."
"Of course. But if you'll excuse me, I have another call. Let me know when you're coming, and I'll see you later."
"Until later then…" Kai waited a moment to see if she'd say anything else and then disconnected the call.
"So… what do we need then? I should start a list, and then we can get it over to Ludmilla to make preparations for things, if she can." Aswon went to grab a datapad, then realised that it too was now a crispy burnt mess in the wreckage of the other aircraft. With a sigh he started to tap away on his commlink, stabbing delicately at the screen as he composed his list."
"Well, first thing I think we need is the transponder thing – I don't like not being able to go legit when we really need to." Kai steepled his fingers together in front of him, tapping the tips of his fingers on his chin. Clothing and personal hygiene kits we can sort out ourselves. Datapads and screens are also easy enough to get hold of. It's going to cost, and we should maybe work up a list to get the pricing on them, and get some cash out of her for those, but we don't want to bother her with trivial supplies."
"No, that's not wise. But we lost all three of the heavy machine guns on the old bird, and they're not particularly easy to get, so they should go on the list. As well as the armour-piercing ammo we had for them. A replacement sniper rifle and ammo for me. Warding materials and some telesma for Tads. Fuel barrels and a full load of fuel to go in them. I think Marius had a Doberman loaded into the drone rack on the old craft, so we'll need a new one of those as well, along with the gun that went on it. I'm not sure what it was, but it was a light- to mid-weight machine gun, I think. Or a really chunky assault rifle modified for belt-fed ammo. Not sure, but we can check with Marius."
"I can get a replacement sharpening stone easily enough from elsewhere. Otherwise there's some books and other items that are easy to replace for me." Shimazu shrugged. "Maybe some replacement lock picks – they're not always easy to find…"
They chatted away for a while, building up the list of gear split into two sets – one to forward to Ludmilla for her to make arrangements on, the other for them to get from a more general supplier. Hunter finished the route mapping and then got Aswon to squirt the lists over, taking over from him on the much more capable and user-friendly computer.
"Oh, I found out a bit more about the aircraft while I was having a gander. The whole thing is covered in ruthenium polymers! Cracking stuff!"
"That's both good and bad news…" Aswon frowned as he considered. "Great for stealth, but rubbish at camouflage." Kai raised an eyebrow to him, and he pondered for a moment, working out how to explain. "Ok, so you can get photo-voltaic paint right? Map out the shape of the vehicle, and program that into a computer. Then you can send an electric charge to the voltaic system, and get it to change colour depending on the power of the charge. Can do pictures and text, depending on how good the computer is and how fine the resolution is on the paint diodes. So we can hide ourselves as a delivery truck, or a florist, or a corporate taxi – whatever. But the ruthenium polymers are a different kettle of fish. They have sensors built into light projectors, all hooked up in a network over the surface of the vehicle. Think of it like a camera on one side, linked to a trid unit on the other. So it shows a picture of the space on the other side of the aircraft, no matter which way you look at it – making us pretty much invisible. Sometimes there's motion blur or lag if the background changes too much, or unexpected things cross into it – that's what tipped me off when I spotted it. But it just does that – invisible or nothing. Not colours, not writing – just a picture of what's on the other side."
"Oh – ok. I get you… great for hiding, but no good for a disguise. We're either hidden, or a big silvery tilt-wing. Hmmm."
"Yup. On the other hand, we have Tads and her ability to disguise the vehicle with an illusion. I don't think this is bigger than the chopper was, so the spell should work on it?"
"It think so. It doesn't feel like I can't…" Tads laid a hand on the wall of the cabin, feeling the aura and mass of the aircraft around her. "Yes, I think so. Though it is obvious magically, of course…"
"Woah!" Hunter sounded genuinely shocked, and the rest of the team turned to look at him. He didn't say anything further though, and the silence stretched out until Kai coughed.
"Hunter, something to add?"
"Gimme a min… just trying to find some reference numbers… ok – something to be aware of. The aircraft is fully fuelled – and ARMED."
"Yeah – we saw the turrets from the outside. Those cannons mounted front and back will at least give us cover to replace the machine guns. Though I think only you and Marius will be able to use them properly, if they're turret-mounted, rather than directly controlled."
"Yeah, Aswon – that's the close in defence stuff. They're both reporting at 98% percent capacity, loaded with regular explosive ammo."
"Regular or explosive?" asked Kai, trying to clarify.
"No – regular explosive. When you get to this kind of calibre, the standard rounds are high-explosive normally. Would probably punch through the side of our truck easily enough, even without being the armour-piercing stuff, just based on the sheer power of the round. A single shot on a person would be enough to blow a chunk through them the size of a dinner plate."
"Wait a minute – you said 'close-in defence', didn't you? Is there something else?"
"I did, Aswon, glad you're paying attention. There's also missiles loaded. According to the schematic, they're under the deck here, two rotary launchers, feeding single launch tubes, one on each side of the fuselage."
"Weird, I didn't see any firing ports?"
"I think they're retractable – presumably as part of the stealth design. But these are emrams."
"That… nice? Is that nice? I'm not sure what an enron is, I have to admit." Kai asked.
"EMRAM. Medium Range Air to Air Missile – M. And it is – nice, I mean. I don't know how big the warhead is – they look to be current generation as far as I can tell, so classified details. But the one thing I can say with some fair degree of certainty is that the 'medium' range in the title refers to an engagement range of thirty to seventy kilometres. Beyond visual range for most encounters."
"Whoah." Aswon repeated quietly.
They continued to work on their list of gear that they needed to replace and get a shopping list together while Hunter did further research on the aircraft, until just before lunch. Marius appeared at the doorway, the RAF technician just behind him.
"I have completed my familiarisation. We are ready to leave."
"Bloody quick study he was, too." The tech moved to the top of the steps and drew himself to a position of attention, then snapped off a sharp salute, before turning and heading down the steps. Marius watched him descend, then hit the control to close the door.
"Are we ready to leave?"
"Yes, let's get strapped in everyone." Kai looked around and plumped himself down in the middle of the back row and started to strap in. "Aswon up front, please, for magical cover. Marius – Hunter has a course laid in for you. If you can update us after take-off on our ETA, I'll update Ludmilla."
The team found themselves seats and strapped in, and two minutes later the auxiliary power unit rumbled into life, building up pressure in the hydraulics and charging the on-board systems. A minute after that the forward port engine kicked into life, followed a few seconds later by the starboard, before the rear pair of engines were engaged one after another, and the craft rolled out onto the taxiway, heading for the western end of the runway.
"Tower, this is Bravo Foxtrot One Seven Five Niner, requesting clearance."
"Five-Niner, runway is clear. Winds one-eight-three at three knots."
"Copy that tower, rolling now." They felt the increase in thrust and the jet engines rose in pitch, accelerating them down the runway. Marius used the full length of the runway to go for a very gentle and conservative take-off, rotating back and feeling the aircraft leap into the air, soaring up as the jet pods propelled them faster and faster, the altimeter climbing up until they topped six thousand metres. Marius levelled off here, above the normal altitude for private aircraft, but below the flight level of commercial jets and transports.
"I will still require some time to acclimatise fully to the new aircraft. But I have noticed something distinct about the systems." Marius called back to the main compartment over the PA system. "It has a personality of sorts. An edge I have detected. It is…" there was a pause, which was most unlike Marius. Even more unusual was the laboured sound of indecisiveness. "It is difficult to describe. The closest I can think of is like a trained attack dog. The pilot system and computers have a tendency to want to lock onto any sensor contact in range and bring up the weapons system…"
"Is that going to be an issue?"
"I do not think so, Kai. But it is something to be aware of. The second thing is that this aircraft needs a name. It is certainly appropriate for it to have one."
"Let's have a think, then…"
They rocketed eastwards, flying without incident until they had cleared the Danish coast and entered the Baltic Sea, flying between Sweden and Germany. A lone fighter seemed to have detected a faint signal on his scope and turned to investigate, spending the next fifteen minutes fruitlessly tracking back and forth in their wake, getting nothing but the faintest echo or sensor ghost for their efforts. Eventually they broke off, heading to the north and probably back to their base to refuel, leaving the team to continue onwards towards the coast. They crossed into Latvia without a twitch of the border radar, flying the length of the country without incident, then repeated the same easy transition into Russia. As they closed in on 18:00 they spotted the vast lake formed by the Volga river ahead of them – ten kilometres wide and a hundred kilometres long as it was held in check by the dam, before turning back into a more conventional looking river as it made its way further south.
Marius called ahead and confirmed the pad was clear, and then, ever mindful of the high-voltage power lines that surrounded the southern end of the dam, set the aircraft down on the helipad with his usual finesse. Ludmilla's crew were waiting, and as soon as the engines powered down a dozen engineers appeared out of the double doors leading into the structure, moving barrels of fuel out on hand carts, and bringing out the fuel hoses to refill the aircraft. They'd just arrived at the aircraft when they saw Ludmilla emerge through the doors wearing a flowing dress and a small fur throw, heading their way. She stopped and gave the new aircraft an appraising look, then continued over. Kai, Aswon and Shimazu headed over to meet her, while Marius and Hunter supervised the refuelling and loading of the supplies. Tads curled up in her seat and then her body slumped as her spirit jumped out, heading north at high speed.
"Kai, glad to see you made it. And interesting choice of vehicle."
"As I said, we managed to liberate this from its former owners. Can't be choosy, in times of need!"
"I would hardly say this was being choosy. No matter… as long as you are all well."
"We are indeed – and I hope your delivery contact reported in that everything was satisfactory?"
"They did. And I did agree to pay for some expenses on this one, didn't I…" She gave Kai a piercing stare, but Kai just kept a fairly blank expression on his face and nodded at her.
"Indeed you did. We're not trying to abuse that, but we had a lot of gear on the old aircraft. Unfortunately we got hit not long after take-off, so we had full tanks, and the extra fuel in the back as well. Close to four thousand litres all told, so when the aircraft went up, there wasn't a lot left afterwards.
"Well, I've made some arrangements. I have a transponder unit for you – it's gone in with the fuel barrels already, and it has a small library chip I was able to get hold of as well. On the other things, I've made some calls and have things lined up, but it's going to take some time. A contact of mine will be making delivery of a new rifle and some heavy guns for you, along with a drone – but they won't be here for at least two weeks, maybe as much as five."
"Thank you – the transponder we'll get fitted as soon as we can, and that will help immensely, and the rest of the gear we'll come back for once it's arrived. And of course, we'll be happy to look for some more work as well, I would imagine – if you have anything available."
"I shall consult my books and see what orders and requirements we have. I'm meeting with some people tonight, at a ball, so there may be something come from that." She gestured with one hand down at her dress, and Kai nodded and smiled at her – though she didn't look any more stylish or better dressed than he remembered from their last visit.
"Excuse me," Shimazu stepped forward, level with Kai and Ludmilla looked over at the normally quiet bodyguard.
"Yes?"
"I was just wondering what became of my leeches? Or your leeches rather. The leeches."
"Oh my! Those were marvellous specimens! Absolutely marvellous! They had some very interesting and unusual chemistry going on that's been an absolute delight to investigate. In some regards they're very similar to the mosquito – they contain a veritable lab of chemicals in their secretions, and some of them are quite potent anaesthetics, along with some quality anti-coagulants to make sure that the host's blood doesn't clot as they're trying to feed."
"The leeches seem to work on a system that expresses nitric oxide synthase in the cytosol of the salivary gland cells. The NO produced is stored in the SG lumen bound to NO-carrier haemeproteins called nitrophorins. NPs bind tightly to NO in the acidic SG lumen, but release NO when the pH becomes high, that is, at the host skin (pH~7.4). NO elicits potent and transient relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. We've spent quite some time investigating the role of salivary NO in the R. prolixus feeding behaviour and the salivary vasodilator activity of the host microcirculation, and feel we're making some real progress – there's all kinds of applications."
Shimazu and Kai nodded along, listening to her description as she continued to further explain the bio-chemistry involved. Their medical training meant they understood some of the processes involved, but Ludmilla's explanation made them feel that they were paddling around in the shallow end of the pool, while she was swimming more than comfortably in the deep end. They just about managed to grasp that Ludmilla, or her scientists were busy weaponising the leeches unusual chemistry, though, trying to cross the soul-draining and lethargy inducing agents found in the leeches with some more mobile and controllable creatures.
They were thankfully interrupted as Tads climbed out of the aircraft and headed over to meet them, a smile on her face.
"Everything ok, Tads?"
"Yes, just been north for a checkup. All good." She looked over to Ludmilla. "I like your dress. It's got lots of… swish?"
"Thank you my dear. I'm off to a ball later." She checked her watch, and made a small face of annoyance. "Actually, I'm off to the ball very soon. So, I may have to leave you I'm afraid, Kai, at least for now."
"No problem, Miss. Ludmilla, we can't take up too much of your time." He checked his commlink as it buzzed, and read the message from Tads. 'Can do her a makeover if she wants?' He looked up and smiled at their host. "If you're going to the ball, might I offer our services? We happen to be able to do a spell that will revitalise the skin, plump the lips and enhance the eyes – something of a makeover?"
"No, that won't be required. I think I'm more than adequately prepared." Kai felt the temperature cool and read her body language which suddenly became opaque and closed, and realised that she'd been at least a little insulted by the offer, or possibly offended.
"Of course not – it was just in case you wanted to change your look to something unusual or unique perhaps. But you're clearly wanting to be ready to leave, so I'll just thank you again, and we'll not delay you any further." He gave a little bow, and at least saw the edge of her smile return as he redirected his comment.
"Thank you, Kai. Oh – this is for you." She passed over a certified cred-stick to him, and he gently took it from her and placed it straight into his pocket to look at later. She gave a nod of the head so small she probably wasn't even aware she'd done it – but Kai took that as a sign that it was the expected behaviour.
"Oh, have you heard anything from the other team? Captain Hook and his people?"
"Yes, I have. They're still in the airport at the moment, working on getting through security – but they're not concerned. Just playing it carefully and working out their next moves. They spoke very highly of you and your people."
"What are they like?"
"Competent. They were never the fastest of couriers, but that's to be expected with a zeppelin. But they were reliable and professional, and I'm sure they'll be back in business soon." Ludmilla's smile intensified, and she laid a hand on Kai's forearm. "You did well. But now I'm afraid I must be away. Until next time!" She headed back inside, accompanied by her staff, leaving the team alone on the helipad. They boarded, and spent a few minutes securing the fuel barrels in place, checking on the cargo to ensure it wouldn't move in flight before returning to the passenger cabin and settling down into their seats, while Marius started to pre-flight them.
"Right – back to the ranch then, I think?" Kai looked around and saw nods. "And we can check what's on the…oh frak. Ok – one things we didn't remember to add to the list." He waved the credstick in the air and there was a chorus of groans. "Right, Hunter, one to add, please. One credstick reader, tied to the company account."
They lifted off, fuel tanks topped off and once more with a reserve in place – though Ludmilla had only supplied enough fuel to refill the old aircraft – not the new one. Still, it wasn't like they were going to use even their primary fuel supply on the run back to their base, let alone the reserves, and it would be easy enough to get some more barrels.
"I went back north while you were fuelling. Everything is ok at the village – and the yield is still going up. The tribes are starting to get ready for manufacturing, and some of the herders are distributing the orichalcum out now to the neighbouring shaman. I've also checked on the Brigadier's headquarters unit, and he's happy with how things are going. And all of the Nenets captured so far have been released and are back with him now, getting medical checks. They looked a little stunned by what was happening, so I tried to give them a run down on events and let them know it was going to be ok. I think they understood me ok… but whatever happens, they're being looked after ok."
"And you're happy with the situation?" Kai checked.
"Yes. Everything is good with my people."
"Ok, good. I think it might be a good idea to check back on them for a little while. I get the impression the Brigadier is playing a little fast and loose with his orders from Moscow, or at least interpreting them quite creatively. We want to make sure that he's still in charge – things could change very rapidly if he does get moved on…Hunter – has there been any news about Mitsuhama?"
"Nothing yet. I've got a couple of simple bots out crawling Shadowland for posts about Nenets, Barents Sea, Nenets, that kind of thing – just to see if there are any rumours floating about. All quiet so far."
"Good. Well, let's get back, and get resupplied, and see what we're going to do next then!"
The two thousand kilometre journey back south was uneventful, the new aircraft handling like a dream as Marius got used to flying it, and the stealth features combined with the concealing spirits letting them slip past the border radar without so much as a twitch. The sky gradually darkened as they closed in on the ranch, blues fading to black and a magnificent star-scape revealing itself overhead as they reached clear air over the Trans-Caucus League.
They arrived back at the ranch a few minutes after eleven, finding Nadia and the family waiting for them, alerted by a call. They had dropped the spirit concealment about five kilometres out, and disengaged the ruthenium polymers too, so they were clearly visible as they came in to land. Marius shut down the engines as quickly as was safe, aware that the helipad was going to take a lot more abuse from the jet exhaust than the tilt-rotor engines, and also because of the deafening noise they created – making a mental note to talk to both Nadia about reinforcing the pad and Tads to see if something could be done about the noise…
Once safe, they opened the doors, and let Marius disembark first – let him catch Nadia mid-leap and hold her tightly.
"Oh Marius – I was so worried. What happened? Where is the old helicopter?"
"We ran into a few problems, but it is ok. We are ok. We just had to get new transport… and we need some new equipment. But everything is ok."
"What could have happened though, to make you get a new one. I don't understand?"
"I can explain everything to you, in time. How is Junior?"
"He's asleep, in the room." She waggled the baby monitor set to listen in on him. "I was worried the noise would wake him."
"Yes, we need to think about that. But for now, we could head back inside. To bed." He raised his eyebrows to her, and she smiled at him, then caught his hand and led him away from the helipad and back towards the house.
"Well, that's the last we'll see of him for a few hours at least." Hunter smirked. "Oh Marius, you're so big… oh Marius… OH…." As Marius walked away, one arm was wrapped around his wife, but the other flexed out behind him, clearly raising a middle finger towards Hunter.
"Can we help you inside with anything?" Rusudan asked, moving forward to the rest of the team.
"Thanks, but we've got pretty much everything we have right now."
"This is very shiny… is this your new vehicle?"
"Yes…"
"What is it called?"
"Well, we discussed names on the way back. Hunter thought it should be called 'Danny-Boy', while Aswon quite liked 'Swordfish'. I think Shimazu suggested 'Excalibur'… but in the end we decided to keep it simple and go with 'Broadsword'."
"That seems like a fitting name. If you would like to come inside, we have refreshments?" Rusudan moved towards the house, but Kai's attention moved to the side, where Uncle Agi was stood waiting patiently, one hand raised to catch his attention.
"Uncle Agi?"
"Good evening, Mr. Kai. I wonder if I might beg a few moments of your time. To discuss something ?"
"Of course. Why don't we go for a little stroll – I'm assuming this is something you wish to discuss quietly?"
"As you wish, Mr. Kai." Kai shrugged, then gestured to the path leading up towards the hills and the activity centre, then fell in alongside their visitor. Behind them Shimazu waited until they were a few steps ahead, then followed along behind them, his silent footsteps matching them pace for pace, while one hand rested on his sword, his senses alert in case he was required.
"I hope the family have been looking after you?"
"Indeed they have, Mr. Kai. My stay here has been most interesting. I must thank you for your hospitality and generosity."
"You're very welcome – I'm glad you have enjoyed your stay."
"Indeed. It has been a long time since I was so well received." Uncle Agi patted his belly appreciatively.
"So – what can I do for you?"
"Well, Mr. Kai – I have some friends that I would like to introduce you to. Local businessmen, and I think we could find some matters of mutual interest."
"Hmm. Do they want to come and stay at the ranch?"
"Oh, that's very kind – but I don't think that will be necessary. Perhaps a short meeting, just three or four friends, coming for a small chat about matters of interest. Would midday be convenient?"
"I think we can arrange that. Maybe put some food out."
"Thank you, Mr. Kai, you are most generous with your time and efforts. I will speak to them and make arrangements."
They turned, heading back to the house while Uncle Agi described how he'd spent the last few days wandering around the local town doing odd jobs and fixing things for people, finding out all about the local area. Once back inside, they found the rest of the team except Marius, sitting at the large table in the dining area, tucking into a buffet of snacks. Uncle Agi excused himself and headed upstairs, leaving most of the team together.
"Got an order going in to some suppliers in Baku for a whole bunch of gear, getting it couriered down for tomorrow, just in case." Aswon announced. "Clothing, tech, supplies, that kind of stuff – so we can restock the Broadsword and get ready for deployment."
"Good. Ok – Uncle Agi has some people he knows coming for a meeting tomorrow, arriving at 12. To discuss some matters of mutual interest, he says. Don't know anything more than that. But there's something going on…"
The mood around the table grew more sober as they exchanged looks, then started to discuss what that might mean.
"I'll take overwatch on the roof with the Purdey. Hunter, you good with covering from the ground floor with the rifle?"
"Gotcha."
"I'll have spirits standing by, ready to go."
"And I think we all know that Shimazu's going to be doing a good impression of Kai's shadow…" Aswon grinned at him. "So other than maybe keeping the family out of the way, what else do we need to do?"
"Brief Marius – but in the morning. But until then, let's relax a little and get some rest."
They tucked back into the food and drink, chat flowing around the table – apart from Kai who couldn't quite put a vague feeling of unease out of his mind. He didn't know why, but something told him that the meeting in twelve hours time wasn't going to be an innocent chat about business.