Marius got the team loaded back in the truck, and got the engine started. As soon as the last person was aboard, he pulled out and started to head into the city centre, dodging through the evening traffic. Kai hit the intercom button once they were in motion.
"Marius? Where are we going? And why are we in such a rush?"
"Nadia called, she requires a pickup. She is located at the Al-Hameed department store, and has a limited window of opportunity where she is unmonitored."
Kai released the button and sat back, then looked around at the others – all of whom found something or somewhere else to be looking. Hunter appeared to be trying to stifle a smirk – but it was clear that this was going to be one of those "leadership functions" and it was on him to resolve this. He activated the button again.
"Um… right. Ok. Well, slow down a touch, before we attract the attention of the police. And give me a random run down a side street or back alley in the next two blocks. Tads, as soon as Marius is off the main road and we're out of sight, let's have a disguise please. Everyone else – weapons ready but safe, just in case…"
The truck turned down a side street, and rippled as it reached the mid-way point. A dingy grey colour swept over the side, and a large logo appeared down the centre, proudly proclaiming "Nadia Removals". Tadibya neglected to mention to anyone what the disguise said, just that it was done… Marius pulled back onto the street, and to the rest of the world rather than a powerful and well armoured Russia truck, there now appeared to be a grey, non-descript removal truck, with worn shock-absorbers and a dented bumper.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the rear of the department store, following the sat-nav directions and finding themselves at the entrance to the parking structure. Marius pulled over to the side of the road and braked, then ran a quick sensor sweep.
"Ach. Problems."
Shimazu, in the front right seat, looked around the street, trying to find the issue, and after a second or two, asked Marius to explain when he couldn't see anything.
"Well, the machines that control the barriers – they look like they require a SIN to be operated. If they're like the systems I've seen before, if you go in the shop and make a purchase, they give you free parking – otherwise they charge you a fortune for using their spaces. But either way, you need to use ID to get in there, which leaves a trail."
"Oh. Can't we hack the machines or something to get around that?" Shimazu glanced at Hunter as he said this, as he seemed to be responsible for most of the matrix searches and computer use so far for the team. Before Hunter could say anything though, Marius spoke again.
"I said problems though. Even if we did get past the barrier, by my estimation, we have less than eighteen millimetres of clearance based on the height of the decks. On the flat we would be fine, but over the top of ramps, we would scrape the roof. I am not scraping the roof of my truck."
Several of them smiled as they heard the defensive tone of his words. Even though they had only had the truck for a few weeks, and had quite blatantly stolen it – it had become quite clear that Marius regarded it as his, and guarded it with jealous pride. Kai looked around the street, and spotted a few cameras, but none seemed to be covering their current position.
"Why not give her a call and get her to come to us, then?"
The intercom light blinked out, and they waited in silence, the truck reverberating as the large diesel engine ticked over. About two minutes later though, they saw Nadia striding down the exit ramp, wrapped up in a headscarf and coat, and carrying a few large carrier bags with her. She squeezed around the barrier, and checked up and down the street – paused for a moment as she saw the truck, and then quickly crossed the distance and headed for the rear doors. Kai, Tadibya and Hunter moved into the rear section and opened the back door, helping her to climb aboard and closing the door behind her once she was clear.
Nadia looked around for a moment, looking uncertain and somewhat vulnerable as she stood in the subdued lighting in the living accommodation, surrounded by strangers. For a moment, she was a scared girl, way outside of her comfort zone, in a strange vehicle and the company of wandering mercenaries that she knew little about other than some wild stories from her father. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, and then laid down the bags on the surface of the table, heading for the door into the front of the truck. Kai saw Tadibya and Hunter looking at him, shook his head a little, and then followed her into the front cab.
Nadia slid through the doorway, and spotted Marius in the middle front seat, strapped into the harness and with his head lolling to one side, the silvery snake of the rigger interface jacked into the back of his skull. To his right was the large form of Shimazu, his toned muscular bulk filling the seat more than adequately. Shimazu turned and looked at her for a moment, then returned to watching the street outside. To the left of Marius was the more slender and slim form of Aswon. In between Aswon and Marius was a gap, probably no more than twenty centimetres wide…
Resolutely, she climbed into the front of the truck, and with a hand on the shoulder of Marius to steady herself, started to squirm down into the spot. She quickly filled up the room, and then started to press in between the bodies, the fit becoming tighter and tighter. After a few seconds of wiggling, Aswon hit the release buckle and pulled himself up and over the seat back, into the rear row of seats, abandoning his position to her. Nadia slid into place, buckled in and then grabbed Marius by his upper arm, wrapping herself around him with a proprietary air and resting her head on his shoulder, to watch the world go by as they drove through the city centre.
Aswon pushed his way past Hunter and Tadibya, both of whom were smiling at the interaction, and into the back where he waited for a straight piece of road and climbed into his hammock.
The silence was broken by the ringing of Kai's phone. With a relieved look, Kai grabbed at the phone and took the call. It was quickly clear that it was Germaine on the phone, and Kai listened for a minute or two, before frantically waving at Hunter for a connection lead to his tablet. Moments later when he was connected up, a picture appeared on screen.
It was a building interior, a long concrete hallway with a high trellis ceiling, grimy and dirty with flaking walks and ancient pipework standing proud of the walls. Buttresses ran down the hallway into the distance, nearly a metre across and giving a sense of weight and solidity. Down the very centre of the floor was a set of iron rails, embedded into the concrete and obviously designed for some chassis to carry materials with great weight. To the right of the picture were high windows, covered in grime and filth, some smashed and then boarded over with cheap-looking extruded plastic. The light filtered through the windows, casting rays of light into the interior, with dust motes caught dancing in the beams, a frozen moment in time. It looked cold and barren, with no signs of comfort or homeliness, wherever it was.
Kai continued to listen for another two minutes on the phone, and then the image changed again.
Another abandoned building, but this time the purpose was obvious – it was a theatre or cinema of some kind. Fading and torn chairs, covered in plush red fabric curved gently in a series of tiered decks facing a large screen, with battered velvet curtains in bunches on either side. Again, the plaster was peeling and ripped, with rents in the ceiling and rubble strewn all over the floor. Some of the stage was ripped up and cables ran across the scene haphazardly.
Kai continued to listen, and after a few minutes thanked Germaine and told her they would consider and be in touch, before hanging up and smiling at the others. He quickly explained that Germaine had found two places they might want to consider. The first was an old concrete factory, where they used to make pre-fabricated sections of heavy structural material. Abandoned for some time, it was located north west of the city centre in an industrial area, in a poor state as regards comforts and security – but solid as a rock structurally and with room for them to get up to all sorts of things. Hunter swiped back to the first image, and examined it closely, zooming the picture and panning around.
"That's long enough for a decent gun range for rifle fire, maybe even for sniping. Walls nice and solid, easy to rig up heavy machinery and workshops. No tunnelling in. I like it."
Kai flicked to the second image, and relayed the information for that location – a city centre trid-cinema, also abandoned for some time. It was easier to get to, but they were much more likely to be seen coming and going – although the area was much busier and gave them more incidental cover. The building would be smaller, but likely to be extensively soundproofed, and was designed for large crowds to be present – so it had catering and toilet facilities scattered around, and several large rooms with good ceiling heights.
Hunter made some quick notes, and attached to each of the pictures and fired them through as a message to Shimazu, before looking at the others.
"Not going to discuss this stuff with that girl here. Which you still need to sort out, boss."
Kai sighed a little and pushed through into the front of the truck, moving to sit behind Nadia who was still holding on to Marius like a teenager on a first date…
Kai settled into the seat behind her.
"So Nadia. Where are you going? Where do you want dropping off?"
"I stay with Marius. He is nice man, and help me, and he has a trusting face. I stay with him, I think, is best for me," she responded, either not recognising the implicit hint to leave, or just ignoring it. "I cannot go home, I am tainted. I have no money, but I will work, and do things. Marius will help me, I am sure."
Kai glanced at the microphone embedded in the ceiling, spotting the pickup light, but didn't hear Marius respond. His physical body gave no sign of interaction, and he wisely didn't join in the conversation.
Kai asked her some more questions, determining that she was nineteen, and that she had two older brothers and a younger sister, that they all lived in the house with Turul and her uncle, and that her father was often away on business for extended times, drumming up business and setting up new contracts, while Nadim managed the logistics and haulage side of things. Nadim was the elder brother, and though the business was a partnership, Turul mostly let Nadim run the company.
"So why are you running away? What is it that is so bad that you need to leave home, and leave like this?"
Nadia twisted around in the seat and for the first time since sitting down, let go of Marius. She frowned as she stared at Kai for a moment. Then tipped her head to one side, considering him. He stared back at her, waiting for her to speak. When she did, her tone of voice had changed, and was much less pleasant, the words coming out with brusqueness and a lack of warmth.
"Where is my cup of tea? Go make me a drink, at once!"
Kai looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. To the amazement of the rest of the team, he just nodded, and then climbed into the back of the truck, and started to clatter around with the kettle.
Whilst he was out of the way, Hunter leant in towards Tadibya and whispered in her ear, "What does she mean – tainted? Like, a mage or something?"
Tadibya shrugged, but then turned and asked Nadia the question.
"Magic? NO. I am NOT a witch."
A firm look came over Tadibya's face and she leant forward in her seat, staring with suddenly cold eyes at Nadia.
"Young one – you should be careful who you call a witch. Unless they are one, you are likely to offend someone like that. Generally, people with a magical gift are either Shaman or Mages. If in doubt, I suggest you use the word mage, as a general term, and it will probably help ensure that nothing nasty happens to you!"
Nadia blinked at the sudden ferocity from the other woman, and closed her mouth, choosing not to say whatever had been in her mind. Tadibya relaxed a little, and spoke more calmly.
"As it happens, I'm a Shaman," a wry smile pulled at the corner of her mouth, "but the rest of them call me Tadibya."
Kai returned with the tea, and carefully climbed into the seat and offered it to Nadia, who took it without acknowledgement with her left hand. As he let go of the cup, her right hand rose up and smacked him across the cheek with sudden and unexpected speed. The sound of flesh on flesh was like a gunshot, sudden and loud in the cab.
"Where is the biscuit! How can you be so stupid! Go get me a biscuit at once or I shall beat you!"
Kai locked eyes with Nadia again, a red imprint of her hand spreading on his cheek. His eyes didn't waver, didn't break contact with her, but his hands made a calming motion on each side of him. He wasn't sure if she heard or understood the faint noises that followed her outburst, but he was gratified to hear the sound of safeties being re-engaged from the others in the cab.
"I think I understand why you wanted to leave your uncle's house. Just one moment." And with that, he went to get her a biscuit. On his return, he spoke with her some more, establishing what he'd already guessed - that growing up in the patriarchal household had been a constant struggle against rampant sexism and discrimination. Kai encouraged her, asking her about her life and manipulated the conversation subtly. Nadia was obviously bright and intelligent, but had been denied access to certain subjects like science and engineering which were "for boys", though she had a good grounding of maths – presumably so her uncle could trust her with the shopping. Despite the handicap, she was adept at the essentials of logistics and management, and understood the haulage business well. She was also reasonably likeable and charismatic, and though not well-skilled, had some ability to read people well – as had been seen with getting Kai to understand her position and how she had gone about that.
Whilst Kai and Nadia were talking, Hunter had pulled up their route on the auto-nav, and marked up a turning onto a side trail. Marius queried the reason for the diversion, so Hunter sent a brief message back that it would be a good place to stop and drop the girl off. Marius neither responded or stopped, instead continuing to roll down the highway to the south west, heading for Shirvan and the talismonger contact.
As they drove down the highway, Nadia continued to chatter away with Kai, talking about her lack of significant religious beliefs but her adherence to religious cultural icons for the sake of safety, the deep-seated bitterness she felt towards her uncle and some – but not all – of the men in the family, and how she helped the business to run. As she relaxed, she finally addressed the important question – was she going to be allowed to stay?
"Before we get to that, first we need to sort out what we're going to do about your father. He's going to worry, you know, and he may well call on us – as we have stayed with your family recently. I'm not sure we want to lie to him, and betray his trust." Kai watched her carefully, reading her body language and obvious desire not to hurt her father, vie with the absolute commitment to not going back to her uncle. "Perhaps we can work out some way of getting a message to him so he knows you're safe, but without knowing where you are."
Aswon pushed through from the back, and nodded his agreement, adding his view on the importance of family and tribe, but saying that this sounded like a good compromise, so she could still live freely. Kai nodded in support, and continued, "Well, although I seem to be calling the shots, in this case that's something you'll have to raise with Marius, as you're entirely his responsibility and problem," and then grinned as he was rewarded with the truck suddenly jinking to one side in surprise, responding to a mental command from the rigger.
Nadia was about to say something, a humorous quip perhaps to take advantage of the situation, but instead she just stopped, her mouth hanging slack at the visage in the back seat. Her eyes were as round as saucers, and looked nearly as big, and a strange high pitched whine escaped her lips.
Kai turned to see what she was looking at, and was greeted with Tadibya staring out of the window on his side, her hands raised into two claw-like grips, and her face entirely enveloped with a projection of her totem. Large ethereal antlers sprouted from her skull, and twinkling fur covered the massive mouth. Kai snapped his head around to look out of the window into the darkness, looking for whatever had attracted her ire – she must be working powerful magic for the form of her totem to be so apparent.
In the darkening gloom to the west, there was only one source of light – a ranch perched on a gentle slope some distance back from the road. A yellow light spilled from the lamps outside, illuminating the front veranda and a clearing, where the warm light from the house mixed with three sets of colder, harsher lights from the vehicles that had stopped. Kai was just in time to see everyone hit the floor – the presumed home-owners and what looked like a party of burly men intent on attacking them. The spell was almost certainly her stunning magic – but it was indiscriminate, as the team had learnt before at the scrap yard. If she could see them, they were likely to be blasted with it. And by the looks of things, everyone there had been blasted hard enough to ensure that not a single figure was moving.
"Marius, next left, hard turn! Everyone, hang on, and gear up – looks like we're involved in some kind of house shootout or something."
The mood shifted abruptly in the truck as everyone grabbed weapons and ensured they had a round in the chamber, or shrugged on combat jackets pulled from the hooks next to the doors. Nadia continued to stare at Tadibya, until the shaman noticed and turned to look at her.
"Sorry I called you a witch, Shaman."
Tadibya was going to reply, but instead made a grab for a handle and the seatbelt as Marius slung the truck into a tight turn. They all felt the left three wheels leave the ground and the truck tip up to the right as they skidded around the ninety degree bend at an unreasonably high speed, before slamming down onto the ground again, the wheels hammering up and down as they ripped along the track leading up to the ranch. The high speed turn had left them doing over forty kilometres per hour up the track, the military suspension smoothing up the uneven surface and they ate the distance rapidly.
Hunter threw back the hatch over the rear seats, and crouched underneath with his assault rifle ready, Aswon had his hunting rifle in hand and was by the back door and Shimazu had managed to draw his sword and was ready to deploy as soon as the truck slowed. At that moment three men stood up from behind the cars, and raised small arms to point towards the truck. They fired, and a veritable hail of bullets hit the truck. The sounds of the rounds ricocheting off the hardened steel plates hung over the engine and the thick bulletproof glass of the windscreen. None of them had the stopping power to even dent the truck, but they scraped off long streaks of paint where they hit, leaving ugly gashes clearly visible. After spraying what looked like a full clip at them, all three ducked behind their vehicles, presumably to reload.
"Uh oh!" Kai grabbed Nadia and held her tightly, fearing what would happen. She squirmed a little, terrified at what was going on, and not understanding his intention. With no time to remonstrate, Kai just overpowered her and wrapped the seatbelt around her, and then pulled her down onto the padded seat to ensure she was as safe as possible.
"Schießen du nicht mutterlose huren auf meinen truck!"
They all felt the truck accelerate, and a moment later it rammed the middle car, driving it up and over the body of the man and crushing him underneath. It didn't seem to bother Marius at all that he was going to have even more scratches to get rid of now, and possibly a large amount of biological material to wash off the truck – what was important was that the man who had the temerity to scrape his truck was suitably dealt with. The engine screamed for a moment as Marius drove forwards, then there was a bump as the body was propelled from under the front right wheel. The screech of brakes rang out, and everyone was thrown forward by the sharp manoeuvre, Hunter nearly pitching out of the turret ring and having to hold on tightly with both hands, his rifle falling on its sling to his waist.
As they truck screeched to a halt, trying not to push the rammed vehicle over the unconscious bodies ahead, the rest of the team bailed out. Aswon started to aim at the figure on the left, but checked fire as Shimazu jumped ahead of him, sprinting hard with the sword held aloft and the light sparkling along the blade. Instead he tracked right, keeping the other shooter under surveillance. Hunter scrabbled up and into position, also covering the right.
A flash of movement to the left, and the man there started to rise, fumbling in a fresh clip. Shimazu appeared before him silhouetted in the dazzling beams of the truck. He flew through the air, clearing the load bed of the truck the man was sheltering behind, one leg tucked up high and the other extended behind him where it had propelled him from the ground. The sword was held above him in a two-handed grip, and as he started to arc down towards the ground the blade swung through the air with a swoosh.
The man tried to defend himself. If he'd been facing a run of the mill assailant, he might even have done a credible job. But Shimazu was faster and stronger by far than any regular human had right to be, and had trained long and hard enough that the blade was an extension of his body. The defensive efforts were for naught, and the blade entered under the left armpit, driving up through the body and exiting on the right side of his neck. It wasn't a decapitation – the blow removed far more than the head. The slice of shoulder and neck flew off into the darkness, hidden behind the spray of blood and gore that erupted from the corpse as it slumped to the floor.
Hunter caught sight of the other man, and tagged him with a couple of rounds, knocking him down and back into cover, the shots painful, but not lethal. He slid out of the truck and ran down the nose, vaulting onto the car and aiming down to cover the man, whilst Aswon sprinted around the right side of the truck. As they looked down at him, the wounded man saw two gunmen holding their weapons on him with rock-steady aim, and some kind of ninja to his other flank, casually flicking blood from his sword whilst the stump of a body collapsed behind him. He dropped his gun and with a wince, raised his arms in surrender.
"Do you know who we are? Who I am? I am Hamad Dejeti! You, all of you have made a mistake and will pay. You will…"
The angry ranting was cut short as Hunter smashed him in the face with the butt of his rifle, and sent him spiralling into unconsciousness to join his friends. He took him into custody, using plasti-cuffs to quickly bind his wrists behind him, then moved to secure the five other men who were still unconscious from the massive stunball spell let loose by Tadibya. The one driven over and the one attacked by Shimazu were clearly deceased, but the rest were lined up in a rough line and kept an eye on.
Aswon found what looked to be a family on the veranda, with the man sporting a number of fresh bruises from the beating he had evidently been receiving before their intervention. He was also covered in petrol, the empty jerry can by his feet. With care, Aswon lifted him up and entered the house, ignoring the frantic barking of a dog somewhere in the rear, and started to push open doors until he found a bathroom. Moments later he was rinsing him off, pouring soap and shampoo all over him to mix with the water, before some stray spark turned their rescue into an unwanted arson incident.
Outside the rest of the team gathered weapons and loot, checking the wallets and phones they had found, and moving the family to a safer position. Shimazu checked around the back of the house, ensuring there were no more attackers. When he returned, he cautioned Tadibya to be careful – astral space was polluted and raw around the back building, and it looked like some horrific event had taken place there. She flitted around the back of the building, and saw the swirling maelstrom of death that still lingered around the stable block – something horrific had happened there, and astral space was on the verge of tearing – she certainly didn't want to get any closer than she had to.
Through it all, Nadia sat in the front of the truck, next to the slumped form of Marius, holding his hand as she watched the events taking place. Now that the adrenaline was coursing through her system, but her mind realised there was no danger to her, she panted like a drug addict as the excitement of the situation washed over her.
Kai checked over the bodies, realising it would still be some time before anyone woke up.
"Marius, I assume we're all clear on the sensors. Please keep an eye out. Everyone else, let's get the family comfortable and these…. people…. ready to answer some questions."
The team set to with a purpose, and the last rays of sun disappeared behind the hills as night fell.
