Date Friday 20/02/2060, Location 39.85396, 48.97281

As the truck rumbled through the chill morning air, Marius transferred just enough attention back to the physical world to check the jammer was plugged in and working correctly. The display showed it was broadcasting on a wide spectrum, drawing power from the truck's systems and blasting out noise across huge swathes of the electromagnetic spectrum. The road was quiet and deserted at this time, so no passing motorists noticed a travelling bubble of disruption and loss of service.

The road was quiet enough that Marius just kept half an eye on the driving and started to tweak the jammer, opening up a narrow band and excluding the frequency of his satellite uplink and the teams encrypted comms network. It only took a few minutes to set up, and ensure that the frequency hopping ear-buds stayed inside the clear areas – but now the team could chat freely and still be reasonably certain that their captive couldn't call for help when he regained consciousness.

Hunter was checking the map, scrolling and zooming around, an intense look of concentration on his face as he studied the limited information on the screen. They were about 15 kilometres south of Shirvan when he asked Marius to slow, and then turn off the road. They travelled a short way along a farmer's track, and slowly descended into a defile with a shallow stream running through it, until they were below the level of the road, masked to both the north and south by earth, with their view constrained to a narrow angle front and back – where it would be easy to spot anyone approaching.

As soon as they stopped, Aswon dismounted from the truck, carrying his Purdey, and started to climb the slope. On reaching the top, he found a convenient tree and swiftly climbed up into the boughs, his tattoos glowing briefly as he called upon their power. Even though the trees were devoid of leaves this early in the year, his drab clothing blended into irregular shape and he was all but invisible in the dark.

Back in the truck, Tads moved to examine Mammadova. She stared at him for a full thirty seconds, thinking about what he had done, how he treated people, and the kind of son he'd raised and what he in turn had done to the people in the local town. Rage built within her, her contempt and disgust with the actions of a monumental bully building upon her dislike for him, becoming a seething whirlpool of emotion within her. She reached down, tapping the storm of power and channelled it, forcing it into Mammadova's unresisting mind, shaping his thoughts and mental reactions.

"Fear… compliance…doubt…uncertainty…obedience…powerlessness," She muttered under her breath, pushing those feelings into him, repeating her mantra. The magic wound its way into his mind, forcing neurons into new alignments and changing his reactions. A moment of doubt entered her mind, as she thought about how her totem had reacted previously to her use of magic to defeat the Mafia – but was just as quickly vanquished. This was the head of the snake. The cause of the suffering, no teenager trapped in the only path available to him – this was a man who chose to walk down a dark and twisted path. She continued to pour power into him, until she was left feeling hollow and empty, and sat back on the bunk silently contemplating him.

On the other side of the truck, Kai laid out a selection of medical equipment, like he'd seen once in a movie where someone had been interrogated – he hoped Mammadova had seen the same film. He glanced over at Tads and saw her nod silently at him, then finished arranging his 'tools' carefully.

"Nadia, can you go through his phone, see if you can find anything interesting – particularly if he actually does have any contact with Aliyev. " Nadia nodded, and grabbed his phone from the small pile of possessions, and swiped his thumb across the sensor to unlock it, before moving into the front to work on the passphrase with Marius. They were soon attaching it to their deck and running the decryption utility on the security database, brute forcing their way into his private records.

"So – how are we going to do this?" Kai looked over at Tads first then at Shimazu.

"We can try to push him out of his comfort zone. Make him experience something really weird. We could… I don't know. Paint him a funny colour, like a human sacrifice to dark gods or something like that. Make him think we're cannibals and we're going to ritually consume him. That should freak him out…"

Kai and Tads stared at Shimazu with open mouths at the bizarre idea, then their eyes swivelled to the doorway to the cab as Nadia appeared.

"That's crazy – and not in a good way. That's not going to push him out of his comfort zone – that's just weird. He's used to wielding power, and having absolute control – THAT is what you need to take away. Stop him from communicating, stop him from having power, and take away control from him. NOT painting him a funny colour and pretending to eat him." She disappeared into the front again, and the muttering got quieter as she settled back down with Marius to work on his phone.

"I could levitate him, hold him in mid-air?" Tads offered. "That takes away a lot of his control. If he's got his hands tied behind him, and he can't move, or spin, that should make him feel powerless." Kai nodded approvingly and Tads concentrated for a moment and they watched as the body slowly levitated into empty space, suspended on an invisible cushion of force.

"Well, ok, we got him out of the house, we could still play it that we're the rescue squad – come to get him away from some scheme or something? We can just play it by ear I suppose?" Kai mused, starting at Mammadova, still slumbering quietly.

"Pretend to be his friend, let him think he can buy his way out of this? Offer him the prospect of power again," shouted Marius from the front of the truck. A moment later, Nadia appeared in the doorway again and stared at Shimazu.

"You still have those horrible leeches, right? Well, if there's a time to put one on someone and then flick salt at them, that's probably now."

"Oooh – yes. I mean they look nasty – but it's a magical creature. And we've seen very little magic around here at all. He's almost certainly not used to dealing with magic, or have a handle on magical threats. That's going to do the trick." Hunter smiled broadly, almost rubbing his hands together in glee, while the others looked considering or vaguely horrified.

Hunter got up and poked at Mammadova's belly, wincing as he did so.

"Right about here, I reckon."

Kai ignored him and gently poked Hunter in the side, drawing another wince and a sharp indrawn breath.

"Sit. Looks like you took a few more rounds in the armour than you let on."

Kai and Shimazu moved round to Hunter and helped him strip off his armoured vest, carefully peeling back the blood stained fabric and Kevlar/ceramic strips. The side of the ork was perforated in multiple places where fragments of the light pistol rounds had burrowed through the armour into the flesh. Deep red viscous blood oozed out of the perforations as the compression of the armour was removed.

They worked in silence, struggling to cut away at the tough ballistic fabric of the form fitting armour, to expose the flesh, then working with forceps to remove fragments from the wound before cleaning the area with antiseptic spray. Before the blood could ooze out again, they inserted sterile packing material into the holes and covered the area with synth-skin, then a layer of cushioned dressings. It only took a few minutes, but afterwards the winces of pain were gone and he was moving much easier.

Shimazu had been concentrating on his work so much he'd not spotted Tads come up behind him and use her magical talent to heal his scrapes and shallow wound, the golden light from her hands mostly covering his back and side, out of his line of sight. She moved back quietly, sitting back down without a word and returning her full concentration on keeping Mammadova floating.

Shimazu grabbed a jar, and found a set of tongs to handle them with, and sat staring at the large black glistening shapes as they oozed around the jar, chasing after the small amount of foliage and trace of meat that had been dropped in for sustenance.

"Ok, we have cracked the message encryption. There are definitely messages back and forth between the two targets. Including mention of payments." The loudspeakers in the back relayed the message from Marius, with the strange uninflected tone that indicated the message had come directly from his mind, rather than being physically spoken. Kai hit the intercom button and responded.

"Payments? Which way?"

"Both ways. Never says how much, or what for. So almost certainly bribes, or permits, or for services rendered. Nothing that would stand up in court or for a lawyer, but clear indication of business dealings, and suspicious as hell as they don't say what for, like a normal person would. We're reading through more now, and it's much the same. Discussions of jobs, and things, but without details or with code names. Basic level security or fieldcraft – makes sense as long as you know the context, but otherwise you can't prove anything."

Tads peered at Mammadova, then flicked into the astral and examined his body. His head contained the tell-tale black tendrils of cyberware, and his eyes appeared to be solid black lumps. Traces wrapped down his spine and into his limbs, but the majority of stuff was in his head. She told the rest of the team, trying to describe how it looked compared to the things in Hunter or Marius. Although they couldn't be certain, they agreed that it was probably best to assume that he had communications gear of some sort, and that the jammer should stay on and functioning.

"Do you think we could salvage the stuff in his head and sell it on the second hand market?" Kai asked. There was a resounding silence, then Marius called over the intercom.

"Is this what we're reduced to? Are we really robbing people for their cyberware now?"

"No, no – you're right. That's not what we're about. Besides, we don't have the contacts or the equipment." There was silence again. "Hey – I was joking! But no, let's not do that."

Kai tried to wake up Mammadova, pinching and twisting at his flesh on the side of his neck and the back of his hand, but it didn't wake him. Shimazu reached back behind him and flipped open the fridge, and slid Hunter's medicine to one side so he could reach into the tiny freezer section at the back. He grabbed a handful of ice cubes and then slid them under Mammadova's collar. After a moment or two there was a gasp, and the eyelids fluttered and then opened slightly, blinking into the overhead light. His pupils were dilated and unfocussed, still not tracking correctly after the trauma inflicted upon him. Kai looked down at him and smiled.

"Hello, Mr Mammadova."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm your captor…" Mammadova spat, a gobbet of phlegm landing on Kai's cheek and starting to ooze down. Kai remained motionless for a moment, then calmly reached for a tissue.

"Well, I'll take that as one of your three questions. I was about to say your captor – or possibly your rescue. But we'll have to see. You may 'buy back' one of your questions with a sincere apology."

"You will get nothing from me you, yellow swine!" Mammadova flexed his shoulders, and they could see his arms testing the bonds behind him. A moment later they saw a look of panic on his face as he realised he wasn't touching the floor, and had no purchase point. Shimazu turned away and hit the transmit button, whispering into his pickup.

"He's rattled. The magic has made him feel out of control." Kai nodded, a broad smile forming on his lips.

"We were sent, Mr Mammadova. Sent by someone…. Higher up the food chain, let's say. Sent to stop your son from killing Aliyev."

"My son? Ulvi? Why would he do something like that?" Confusion twisted his features at the news.

"He wanted the power. Someone got to him, Mr Mammadova. Someone told him he could have it all. They used him as a pawn, to take out Alieyev. And then to strike at you. They wanted a puppet they could control."

"No! That's a lie. Ulvi would never do that. Would never turn against me!"

"Oh, Mr Mammadova. He did. We have proof. First he turned half of his troops loose on the others, then he started to plunder your accounts and skim off your assets. Then he was to take you out, and take over control of the organisation. With a new politician in his back pocket, he was poised to take over the area and become a real power. So he thought." The lies spilt from his mouth, but his tone was deadly serious, and the insidious magic that Tads had cast upon the mafia boss went to work, making it seem plausible and even likely to him.

Kai let the words go to work, the worms of doubt burrowing through Mammadova's mind, making him think about recent dealings, and see everything in the worst possible light. Doubt, confusion and now anger twisted his features, as his mind worked through the possibilities, shaped by the magic into scenarios that he wouldn't otherwise consider.

"So. What do you want?"

"We just want to get paid. We were going to get paid to save Aliyev – but Ulvi got ahead of us. We didn't get told to save you – but we figured that you might want to have a word with Ulvi before he just blew up your house, or your car and killed you."

"You want money? You're mercenaries?"

"Freelance operatives, Mr Mammadova, with expenses and bills. But we thought that if you wanted to take control of the situation, then you may be a good person to rescue."

"Wait, my house? Blown up? My car? MY CAR?"

"Some of the people in your house were in on it – that's why we had to get you out. But your house can be rebuilt. And don't worry, your car is fine. The garage is untouched. We couldn't see that beautiful piece of art damaged by Ulvi's betrayal." Mammadova's relief was obvious at the news that his car was intact, and Kai followed up quickly.

"Of course, we need to move fast. Ulvi doesn't know what happened to you, not yet. But we don't want him to decide that you're dead, and the car is his. We can't see him driving around in your car, acting like he owns the place." The relief turned into a scowl as his imagination worked through scenarios, his paranoia sending him to dark places.

"Do you have a safe house, somewhere to go that Ulvi doesn't know about? We did research on him, but not on you – you were of secondary importance. But we have to get you to somewhere safe if you're going to deal with Ulvi and stop him stealing your car."

"Yes, I have somewhere. So what is it you want?"

"Well, that should be obvious. We can be bought – we're mercenaries, like you said. The question you want to ask is 'how much is my life worth?' How much do you want to keep Ulvi from stealing everything you have built up, and worked hard for?" Mammadova was quiet for a moment, but his jaw muscles worked silently as he considered his options.

"I have money in my personal account. If you can get me to a cred-term, or an auto-teller I can get twelve, perhaps thirteen thousand out to pay you. IF you can get me somewhere safe."

"You can't do this remotely?"

"No, not unless I use my terminal at home – and Ulvi would be watching that, wouldn't he?"

"Yes, that's right. Ok, so twelve to thirteen thou, that's a good start. What else? Do you want your car saving as well?" The jaw muscles worked again, and they saw his body tremble in rage. The spell was obviously working, as he wasn't questioning the integrity of what he was being told, just assuming the worst about Ulvi.

Kai held up a finger to Mammadova, then put the other finger on his ear-bud and pretended to listen to someone. After a few seconds, he waved at Shimazu and the jar.

"Mr Hat, our employer says Mr Mammadova is holding out on us, and that maybe he doesn't appreciate the seriousness of the situation. Please bring out one of the magical beasts." He looked down at Mammadova and sadly shook his head. "I'm very sorry, I thought we were going to be able to come to an arrangement. But my employer says you need to be reminded of the situation you're in."

Shimazu unscrewed the jar and removed one of the leeches with the tongs, holding the glistening black body carefully and turning it in the light. Kai pulled up Mammadova's top and unbuttoned the bottom shirt buttons, exposing his belly.

"I'm very sorry about this. I'm not even sure what they do. All we've been told is that they're some kind of horrible magical creature that feeds on their host, and infests them." Kai gave a little shudder and turned away slightly. "Proceed, Mr Hat."

"No! WAIT! I have more. I mean I can get more. You CANNOT DO THIS!" Shimazu paused, the leech hovering 30cm over the belly. Kai turned back and listened, politely and intently.

"My business. There is money in the checking account. Nearly thirty thousand. I can get that, from the bank. I can give you that, to get me somewhere safe so I can deal with that bastard." Already they could hear the change in his voice. The team were not the enemy now – Ulvi was. He was turning his attention on what he needed to do to *get him*, to deal with the traitorous and wayward son.

Kai looked down again, then suddenly gasped, and once more held a finger to his ear.

"You're going to have to do better. My employer's patience is not without limit, and he says that your cyberware alone would fetch us more than thirty thousand. Please hold still, Mr Hat, you may continue. Seriously, Mr Mammadova, don't resist or fight them – apparently it makes it less painful." Kai's voice was tinged with regret, but cold and businesslike – as if he'd just ordered a replacement coffee maker or some other inanimate device. Shimazu started to lower the leech again, and the tip of the cold and slimy tail touched onto the hairy flesh just below the belly button."

"NOOOOOOOOOO! WAIT! I have more! I mean I can get more!"

"I can get more from my tribute account. The money I pay to my boss for my region. There must be nearly a hundred in there. Easily! But, it's not mine! He will come looking for it – he will hunt you down if you steal from him. But I will give it to you!"

Shimazu lifted the leech back into his jar and screwed on the lid, then turned away to store them on the shelf. Under cover of the motion, he activated his mic again.

"He sounds like he's telling the truth to me. Lots of tells on his face, and there is a definite split in personality between dealing with us and talking about Ulvi. I think that's all he's got immediately available."

"Who is your boss, Mr. Mammadova? Who would you be taking the money from?"

"Gregori Peggario, of course"

"Oh, of course. Well, that doesn't sound like a plan." He sighed heavily, then 'listened' to his earbud again. "Well, it's not ideal, but we've been authorised to help you, for the money from your own account and the company. We can get you to a safe house, and bring you the two nephews that were not in on the plan, to help against Ulvi. But you have to tell us that you will deal with Ulvi, and stop him from taking over your business and stealing your car."

They listened to the stream of assurances and profanity as Mammadova swore bloody vengeance on the son who would betray him to unknown organisations. Nadia quietly suggested to them during his tirade that they drive south to the next major town and use the bank there – to cut down on the chance that he had some kind of personal relationship with the staff or that they would recognise that he was under duress.

The truck headed south towards the town, and during the journey they worked up a "doodad", a small project box with some flashing lights on and a coil antenna. Mammadova was informed that this was his personal jammer, and it would stop Ulvi and his men tracking him down to strike at him until they had gotten to a place of safety. Once they had the money from the bank, they would use their equipment to allow him to make untraceable calls to mobilise his forces and call in his trustworthy men.

The journey to Lankaran was uneventful, and they covered the 160km in a few hours, pulling up on the edge of the town to wait for dawn and the bank to open. Mammadova had sunk into a sullen silence, and the team remained quiet, dozing or keeping an eye on him in turn. Slowly the minutes slipped by, and the sky lightened in the east as the winter night gave way to morning. Traffic slowly picked up as people made their way into work or to the markets, though it was no bustling metropolis. Hunter kept an eye on the news, which was still showing the same segments of outdoor footage, showing the politicians house and the police line, with the reporters talking about what could have happened – it was clear that no precise details had been revealed. In between news updates, he sent a quick text to the new number for Jules, asking if everything was ok.

Eventually, the clock showed 09:15, and Kai decided to go to the bank. Kai sculpted his face to look like a fairly non-descript local, and put on his disguise clothes again. He and Mammadova climbed down from the truck and headed into the bank, where he strode up to one of the desks and informed the young man there that he was making a withdrawal, from both a personal and a business account.

Kai watched carefully, keeping an eye out for tricks or alarm signals, but after Mammadova gave a thumbprint ID, entered his 8 digit code and dashed a quick electronic signature across the pad, he was gratified to see a transfer of first thirteen thousand, and then twenty six thousand Nuyen flow over onto the supplied certified stick. Mammadova nodded curtly at the bank employee, and left without another word, Kai trailing after him with the credstick now holding nearly forty thousand extra. As they got back into the truck, Mammadova turned to face him.

"Ok, I have paid. You'll take me to the safe house now, yes? In Hajgabul? With my nephews?"

"Yes, we'll take you to your nephews, and you'll be safe with them." Kai swirled his finger around in a "wind it up" motion, and the truck rumbled into life and pulled away, heading north back towards Shirvan. They made their along the road sedately, just travelling slow and steady. They'd gone about half the distance back to Shirvan, and the team and their guest were all relaxed – or as relaxed as they were going to get. Kai turned and smoothly pulled out the taser, and shot Mammadova in the side of the head, frying synapses and driving him back into unconsciousness before he could respond or even recognise what was going on.

"Ok, let's find somewhere to pull off the road and get rid of the body. Shimazu, can you deal with him please."

"No! Not in the truck if you don't mind. The stain on astral space is horrible to deal with. If you're going to kill him, do it outside!" Tads folded her arms and looked defiant, and Shimazu and Aswon both nodded in agreement with her. Kai shrugged and acceded, not really caring either way. It didn't take long to find a deserted piece of road and Marius carefully pulled over to the side. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes for them to dig a shallow grave, and carry Mammadova out to it. His body was ziptied into position and pushed down into the hole, ensuring that he'd be under the surface completely. Hunter checked his head carefully, examining the cybereyes and the interfaces. He frowned, and then grabbed the taser from Kai, and carefully lined up the prods with the inputs of the datajack, and fired again after making sure nobody was touching the body.

Lightning arced and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air as he kept the trigger pressed in, emptying the capacitors completely, and for a moment, a small flame actually flared out of Mammadova's left eye as electrical circuits burnt out. When Hunter checked again, he nodded and grunted in approval. The massive blast of energy should have overloaded all of the circuits, way past the normal levels of shielding and protection built in – and if he had any internal footage of their discussions over the last day, they should be well and truly scrambled and burnt out.

Shimazu leant in and sliced off a generous chunk of his buttock, earning some dirty looks from the rest of the team, but they understood – even if they didn't like it – when he dropped the fresh flesh into the jar with the leeches, who soon oozed their way over to the succulent gift and started to devour it. As Shimazu put them back into the truck, Tads cast her sterilise spell over Mammadova's body, cleansing it of their traces. Once he'd fed the leeches, Shimazu returned to the body and leant over, sliding a large clear plastic bag over his head and another tie zipped shut around his neck. They saw the body spasm as they were covering it over with wet sods of earth, but it had stopped by the time he was covered in a shallow layer of earth, and they were back on their way soon after.

They were back through Shirvan and pulling into the ranch driveway when Hunter's commlink buzzed – a text message from Jules confirmed that 'all is good'. Hunter replied, asking him if he could talk, but Jules signalled that now was not a good time, and later would be better. They parked up, leaving the truck just in front of the trailer and returning to the house, checking that the family were ok and settling down for a drink around the long dining room table. Hunter checked the news again, and then updated the team.

"Ok, they've released some details. Confirmed that there was a terrorist incident, and that at least one person has been killed, though they're not confirming who it was. One person has been rushed to hospital with life-changing injuries, again no details released. Lots of supposition that it must be the politician otherwise it wouldn't be so secretive. Based off that, there's lots of political commentary about the situation – appears our man Aliyev was on a lot of business committees and steering groups in their parliament, and he was well tied in with industry. They're saying if he is dead, it could lead to some shift in the political spectrum and changes in business practices…"

They considered this, and idly discussed what it could mean for a few minutes, with the general consensus being that if there was any chance of a change in situation, Ares would probably be happy, and Jules would get some credit for making it happen, rather than getting shafted for leaking Ares corporate data – so that was good.

Kai decided to give their part-time policemen from Hajgabul a call, to check in with them. He got through quickly, and asked them how everything was, hearing that things in town were good – they were all getting back to normal, and people were much happier than they had been for a while. Kai talked about the situation in Shirvan, and made it clear without saying explicitly that the situation in the news was "related" to what had happened in their town, and not to worry about the Mafia so much anymore. They seemed quietly optimistic, informing him that they would keep their heads down, but ears open.

Kai smiled as he hung up then turned to face the team.

"Right, all good on the local front. One last loose end to tie up then – sorting out Vusul's family, and making sure Tads is happy." Tads smiled at him, but also looked nervous, her uncertainty over the 'right thing to do' radiating from her.

"That's good to hear – I'm still not entirely sure what we need to be doing." She saw Marius start to scowl. "I know we need to do something – I just don't know exactly what it is we need to do. Not specifically anyway. Just generally."

"We know Tads, we know. But if we work on getting them a better life – making things nicer for them, and trying to repair their family, that's the sort of thing, right?" He watched her nod emphatically at him.

"I just want to point out, again, that I am against you involving my family in this. The chances of it all going wrong are too high." Nadia held onto Marius's arm as she spoke, using him as moral support. Nobody was surprised to hear her say it, and she'd been strident, and constant enough about it that they figured she really was entirely serious by now.

"Ok, that's fine Nadia. But let's take a step back here and figure out what we need to do. Tads – don't worry about what we need to do for a moment, instead, tell us about Elk."

"Elk is a gentle and wise protector. He is a guardian of the pack, of the herd, of the land. He stands majestic before his opposition, proud and willing to stand against evil. When there is no threat to be faced, he wanders the land in deep contemplation, learning of the natural order and the spirits of the land. Elk fears little as he knows that when he falls, another will replace him. He is no predator, but will stand strong against oppression." As she spoke, Tads seemed to relax, her eyes defocussing. Her voice took on a strange cadence, and it appeared as though she was reciting something that had been taught to her a long time ago. Realisation seemed to wash over her as she did so.

"Elk doesn't have a problem with using magic to kill when we need to. But we used magic to stun them – then executed them while they were helpless. We butchered them – but we didn't need to. Not all of them. This Vusul – he was young. He was walking down a dark path, that would lead him to evil – but he wasn't too far along yet. He could have been saved. Should have been saved."

"I have a horrible feeling that perhaps what you need to do is go find the family and confess what you've done, admit the mistake and try to put it right. At least from the sounds of things." Aswon had his hands interlaced together under his chin, trying to work out what he felt was the right course of action from her description of her totem. "If we can get the family back on their feet, back on a good path – then we've done the honourable thing. If we put ourselves out, and help them, then we repay the debt we owe."

"Yes, exactly, Aswon – we need to offer them better choices, or opportunities. We can't make them walk the path, and if they turn away then that's their choice. But we have to offer them this chance."

"Can I just point out, that you want to be careful how you approach this. If someone turned up at my door, and said they'd killed my son or brother, they were very sorry, but here's this big chunk of money, or offered me a chance to go with them to some strange place for a new life – I'd tell them where to go. That sounds like a recipe for disaster to me." Shimazu glanced around the table, getting nods from them as he laid out the logic. Tads didn't want to agree, but had to, when he put it like that.

"Hang on a second…. Nadia. If we're making the assumption that he's from a Muslim family – isn't there the concept of paid reparations for crimes against a person? Culturally I mean?"

"Hmm? Well, yes, Aswon, sort of. It's…. complicated. But yes, diya is a thing."

"What is complicated about it? We killed him, we pay them money, then it's a done thing. Simple."

"Well no. As a male, he's worth full diya – if it had been a woman, then only half as much. And if it turns out that he wasn't a practicing Muslim, then he's worth less in the eyes of the court. If he was a Jew, or a Buddhist or something, then maybe only one sixteenth. And it depends on the approved cost of livestock, as diya is always measured in terms of values of a camel. No, seriously – I'm not making it up." She punched Marius on the arm as he snorted, and Hunter just let rip with a belly laugh at the idiocy of the system. "So, no, it's not simple. But there is a precedent for it, and it might help."

"So, if it's a thing, can we go get the family, tell them something, get them up here and get them working on the ranch for a while, to sort themselves out? I know the ranch isn't making money at the moment, but we can sort that out for a while." Aswon fixed Nadia with a stare, as he laid out his question, waiting for her to nod agreement.

"And if we get the matrix connection sorted for the ranch, we can try to ensure the children get a proper education as well, on the home schooling sites. To give them a chance, too." Tads added. Kai called for Rusudan, who appeared out of the office at the other end of the ranch, and questioned him about the viability of taking on a few staff to help out.

"Alas no Kai, I don't think we can. We have barely enough to keep us supplied, and very few bookings. I wish we could help, but cannot see a way to do it."

"Ahh, well this should help then. First of all this is a certified stick – it definitely has money on it this time." Kai gave a lopsided grin as he handed the credstick over. "So that's just short of twenty thousand to cover the running costs of the ranch, including the extra mouths to feed. And secondly, we have a VIP coming sometime soon, so we'd like for her to have a fantastic experience – I'm sure we'll get some more bookings from that." Rusudan seemed stunned, but accepted the stick and wandered off to make arrangements for a spare room.

With that sorted out, they agreed that Tads, Nadia, Shimazu and Kai would go into Shirvan and go see the family. Shimazu drove the new truck, making sure the load bed was clear and clean to accommodate the return trip. When they arrived at the slums, Nadia took the lead, knocking on the door firmly, while the others stood to the side, keeping an eye on the street and staring back at the watching locals, while Shimazu stayed behind the wheel.

When the door was opened, Nadia greeted the woman with a smile, asking if she could come in to talk about Vusul. The woman looked nervous at seeing the strangers, but opened the door wider, inviting them into the house. They filed in, moving to stand against the wall in the suddenly cramped bedsit, watching the young children back up into the corner on their nest of blankets and clothes. The room smelt of unwashed bodies, stale food and dirt – and now they could see physically, it was plain to see that the bathroom was not functional and was filthy, and they were using water from bottles in the kitchenette.

Nadia smiled at the woman briefly, then grasped her hand in both of hers, and began to talk to her about the local mafia, and how they had angered businessmen and politicians. She spoke firmly, and without pause, making sure she wasn't interrupted. What she said was true – but missed out huge parts of the story, and didn't implicate the team directly. Instead she described the actions of the Mafia, and how Vusul had been swept along with them, and how despite his youth, he had fallen prey to the enemies of the Mafia.

The woman was crying now, while the children looked on uncertainly, picking up on their mother's distress without understanding why. Nadia continued to talk to her, telling her that the team felt responsible, that they should have been able to save Vusul, recognising that he was not really a bad man – but they had been a little too late. But they knew that Vusul was only doing this to save his family and to look after them – and that he was only doing the bad things because of his love for them all. As a result, the team wanted to take them to a new place, just north of Shirvan – where they could get work, legitimate work, that would let them rebuild their lives. It was a chance to start over, like Vusul would have wanted…

Kai concentrated on giving a patriarchal nod of approval, and controlled his body to subtly give off a sense of welcome and warmth. They had to answer some questions, but it appeared that she had already come to the conclusion that something was wrong, with the absence of her son. It only took twenty minutes to convince her to join them, and another ten to pack their meagre belongings into bags and load the family up into the truck for the short journey north.

Once they were back to the ranch, Vusul's mother and sisters were welcomed by Naena and Eteri, and taken upstairs to get settled into a room and given a hot bath. With the two families working on settling in, the team settled back down around the dining room table.

"Right – hopefully that's sorted out then. I don't know if you can ask your Totem about this Tads, or we just have to wait and see – but unless we find out anything more, hopefully it's dealt with." Kai glanced at Tads and saw her shrug, then nod at him. "So, we've been busy for the last while, I'm thinking that maybe we need to settle down, keep a low profile and take a week to ourselves to rest, recharge, practice new skills and take stock – and keep off the radar."

As he looked around the table, he saw nods of agreement all around.

"I can finish learning my spells, and see if I can talk to my totem. Maybe try and hide my astral trail somewhat from the people looking for me."

"I can try to increase my mastery of my body, and practice with my spear and see if I can gain some proficiency with it? Maybe we can spar, Shimazu?"

"Sure, I can do some practice with my sword too. Combat is combat, and it might be good for me to practice against someone with a reach advantage."

"I was planning on learning some more Chinese, and practicing with my throwing knives" added Hunter.

"I'll join you with the study on the Chinese language – it's probably going to be useful for getting some cheaper imported parts for vehicles and drones. And otherwise we can work on the truck and the vehicles." Marius motioned to himself and Nadia.

"And I can probably do with some practice with the old pistol – we've got plenty of cheap ammo haven't we, Hunter?" Kai smiled as Hunter snorted and nodded agreement. "Ok, so that's decided then. Let's take a week, get some rest, then we'll look for some more work from somewhere. Make the most of it!"

The team pushed back from the table and split up, heading out to gather equipment and find somewhere to practice, learn, study or relax in.