Date Friday 05/03/2060, Location 43.5821, 39.75945

The team met up at around 8am in the breakfast room, sharing a few yawns after the short night's sleep - all except Aswon, who looked disgustingly well rested and chirpy. The breakfast fare was basic - the "buffet" was small, with little choice and most of it was soy - but at least it was well flavoured soy and some care had been lavished on its presentation.

While the others were nursing cups of coffee of soyrange - a soy concentrate so good it even included pulp - Aswon slipped out of the room and worked through his contact list until he found the number for Mr Hu - his arms dealer in China. He hit the button and made himself comfortable.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Mr Hu - it is Aswon."

"Ahh, good day to you. Are your stars in ascendance today?" They chatted for a few minutes, getting the polite preamble out of the way. Once protocol was satisfied, Aswon got down to business.

"So Mr Hu. We are running a cargo to this Brigadier Chernikov. I am curious - why would a legitimate army commander require black market goods? Why would he need ammo?"

"Are you certain that is what you are taking him?"

"Well, it's in standard military crates - but you're right, that's an assumption I had made. I suppose it could be anything, in a disguise. It's not like they would look out of place on a military base. But still, there is something that raises my curiosity here."

"I see. The question is of course - how curious are you?"

"I just said, quite." There was a little confusion in Aswon's voice.

"I mean, if I have to take some people out to dinner, or offer them a concession on some parts they require - how MUCH are you curious?"

"Ah, I see. Well, curious as I am, this job does not pay handsomely. I would go no further than a thousand."

"Very well, let me talk to some people, and see what I can find out. Until later."

Aswon returned to the dining room and found the rest of the team just about done with breakfast. Tads had some research to do, but really wanted to see if there were any talisleggers or magical shops in town - so Aswon volunteered to take a few of her smallest formula with him to see if he could find a buyer. Hunter wanted to check out the local hospitals, and see if he could top up his supply of anti-coagulants, and wanted Kai to go with him to help negotiate a better deal. Nadia and Marius were heading back to their rooms to relax for a while, and were heading out to meet Marius's friends later in the day. Shimazu looked around the rest, and offered to stay at the hotel and keep an eye on their stuff and the vehicle, as he could practice his katas in the car park without issue as long as the hotel staff didn't mind.

Kai approached the hotel receptionist, waiting for him to finish his entry on the computer before he coughed quietly.

"Good morning sir, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'd like to hire a car for the day, maybe two. So we can go sightseeing around Sochi."

"Ahh, well, I can help you with that sir. But may I ask, have you visited the town before?"

"No, I haven't. It's the first time for most of us actually."

"Then I would suggest not hiring a car yourself. Instead, I would recommend a taxi. The traffic here, particularly in the old town is... challenging, shall we say? We have found that many people spend more of their time in traffic, and less time seeing the sights of our lovely city. I can suggest several firms who will be happy to arrange transport who know the city well."

"If you can arrange that, that would be great, thank you. We'll probably need taxis all day, around the city."

"Then in that case I will see if I can arrange for a car and a driver for you for the day. It would probably not be any more expensive than a whole series of bookings, and then you know your car is available."

The receptionist called a company and arranged for a car, while Kai went and told the team what was going on.

The driver arrived twenty minutes later with a mid-range saloon, old but well cared for, with leather seats burnished by the movement of thousands and thousands of customers until they were smooth spots of discoloured material marking where their bottoms should be. They slid in, and told the driver to head for the tourist quarter or street - or wherever they could find the shops that claimed to sell magical goods. With a nod, the driver put the car in gear and pulled away sharply.

The next thirty minutes were an experience, and one that led Kai to believe that he'd made the correct decision in listening to the hotelier. The traffic was manic, with a typical Russian approach - those in the biggest, or most battered, or strongest cars had right of way. Or possibly those with the least blood in their vodka stream - and at every junction there was a high speed game of chicken while the drivers evaluated the complicated mix of big/strong/fast/drunk and worked out their position in the hierarchy. Mixed with that was some of the worst road planning they'd ever seen. Hunter's internal GPS started to throw errors as they took roads not marked on maps at all, or they found themselves on roads above or below other roads that led to different one way systems. The mix of medieval old town with narrow cobbled streets and the remains of stone fortifications and ancient gateways that funnelled traffic into single file, and more modern concrete sweeping boulevards, that swept up and over other roads but turned traffic away from the direction it appeared to travel. The town had had money poured into it a long while ago, and a massive series of "improvements" made - but at some point the money had run out or more likely had been soaked up by graft and corruption, and large sections of the new construction was incomplete or had fallen to ruin, leaving the city a mess of tangled roads. The driver, however, seemed to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the area, and drove up and down narrow side streets and at one point what seemed to be someone's back yard and wove his way through the streets until they were almost down to the harbour, and pulled into a crowded street stuffed full of shops advertising all manner of services.

"Can you wait here for us?"

"I'm being paid for the day, yes?"

"Yes, the whole day."

"Then yes, I wait here for you, if you wish."

Leaving the taxi behind, they saw the driver push his seat back and recline it fully, then pull his cap down over his face, apparently happy to catch forty winks while he was being paid. The three of them wandered down towards the harbour for a quick look around. To the south was the private marina, full of a variety of boats moored to a series of plastic floating gangways. Most of the boats were small daysailers, between three and five metres long - but one row had a series of bigger and more luxurious vessels between ten and fifteen metres long, clearly a class above, and right at the far end of the marina were two yachts in excess of twenty metres long. There were obvious cameras on high poles covering the more expensive boats, but otherwise security seemed quite light. Aswon had a quick look around the place on the astral plane, and found it to be a massive sea of swirling astral energy. There were some spots of brightness, pockets of joy, love, hope and admiration. He could imagine sons learning to fish from their fathers, a couple making love for the first time on the gentle swell while the sun went down. Equally there were dark spots, fell horror and vicious hatred. A captured drug smuggler with two in the back of the head. A rival businessman who didn't realise that he was dealing with organised crime. A sociopathic youngster experimenting with drugs and killing his friends before taking his own life as his burning boat sank around him. The gamut of emotions lay over the marina like fungus growing on old food, pockets of emotions bursting and growing all over the visible area.

Turning away from the private marina, they walked up towards the commercial area. The plastic walkways gave way to massive concrete quays, with room for large freighters to tie up securely. A couple of cranes sat at the end of the set of rail lines, awaiting their next ship to unload, and the area included massive concrete driveways for freight vehicles to load and turn in. As they walked around, they spotted a couple of dock workers watching them - but they seemed content to keep them under surveillance as long as they didn't do anything.

"Well, at least we have an idea of where we need to be to meet the boat. And it looks like security should be ok to work around. Let's go sort out what Tads wanted."

They headed inland and back up the street they had parked on, walking past the snoozing driver, and soon found a number of "magic" shops. They quickly determined that three of them were fakes or scams, selling trinkets and magical items with no shred of actual power, clearly aimed at tourists. The other three appeared to be the real deal, though. Looking astrally, one of them had a fairly powerful ward around it, while the other two were warded but at a much lower level. They started at the most well protected, hoping that it would be their best bet.

Entering the shop it was immediately obvious that it belonged to a mage - a hermetic who saw the use of magic as a thing of order, values, formula and scientific principle. Everything in the shop was neatly ordered and categorised, described in strict categories and schema, divided into areas of specific criteria. As they studied the shop, a man emerged from the back, cloak sweeping behind him and billowing in his wake. Arcane sigils were picked out in midnight blue velvet against the black fabric.

"Good day! Welcome to my shop - the finest shop is Sochi. Are you after anything specific?" He surveyed the small group, his nose wrinkling slightly as he took in the unorthodox trio in front of him. Aswon spoke first.

"Hello, I am Aswon. I come on behalf of my friend, who has magical formula to sell. She is a strong wise woman, with much power, but has no need of these formula anymore. She seeks cash, or perhaps trade in kind." Aswon focussed on a price list showing some common items - the magical components required to create a ward around an area, and saw they were more expensive here than typical.

"A wise woman? You mean a shaman? Oh. So you don't have a proper user of magic then?" Disdain dripped from his voice, into a sudden silence. Aswon and Kai stared at him, anger rising at the scorn he showed. Hunter leant against a pillar and smirked, happy to let the other two deal with this.

"I think perhaps we should try the other shop."

"Yes, you might find them more to your taste. Simpler, and full of more mumbo jumbo."

The three of them left, quietly with Hunter glancing back at the mage and giving him a wink, designed to confuse and infuriate him. He caught up with the other two outside.

"So, he was an ass. Next shop?" Aswon nodded, his hands trembling a little as anger coursed through him. He took a few deep cleansing breaths and the trembles faded away, and he led the way to the next shop. They entered the next shop, and found it to be a world away from the first shop - it was dark and cosy, dimly lit and with shelves cluttered with items that appeared to be laid out with no real rhyme or reason. As their eyes adjusted to the dim light, they spotted a man laid in a hammock at the end of the store. His head flopped to one side and an eye opened - just the one, to examine them. Aswon repeated his greeting, and message, staring at the man in the hammock and awaiting his response.

"Ahh, interesting. May I see?" Aswon nodded at him, and pulled out a small but intricate dreamcatcher, with coloured thread forming a complex pattern in the centre. The man clicked his fingers and an invisible force gently lifted the dreamcatcher out of Aswon's hand, levitating it across the shop to above the hammock and then spinning it in place. After examining it carefully, the spell returned it back to the tribesman, gently lowering it back into his outstretched hands.

"Yes, I like this - I could take this. What else do you have to offer?" The trio relaxed at his much more welcoming demeanour, and Aswon described the other items that Tads had listed, giving an indication of the level of power required to successfully cast them. In return, the shop owner swung lazily in his hammock, occasionally running his fingers through his hair with an almost sensuous movement.

"I can take all of the items you list, and give you a good price in cash for them, if they are all of the same quality. Or, I could offer you slightly more than that for goods in trade from the shop. And if your friend has anything...else. Well, maybe we can discuss that, yes?" Aswon looked carefully at the figure - was he asking if Tads just had more formula to sell, or was he asking if she had other things - less legal things, that he would be interested in purchasing?

"I will speak with my shaman and let her know the good news. We will return later, I'm sure." Internally Aswon had already pretty much decided that this was the shop they should deal with - he just got a selection of the right vibes from this one. He left the shop, with Kai smiling, nodding and following in his wake. Hunter bought up the rear, as usual. As Aswon reached the door, he called out over his shoulder.

"Is there anything you require? Anything we can perhaps provide for you?"

"A coffee would be good. Maybe one of those ones with the sprinkled bits on top."

"Coffee? Um. Ok. I think we can do that."

"How about one mixed with caramel, and a good dollop of whipped cream…" quipped Hunter.

"I'm intrigued - ok. Sure. I'll have one of those."

Back on the street, they blinked in the bright light and exchanged looks.

"Might as well check out the third shop, just to be sure." Kai looked over at Aswon who shrugged, but didn't argue. Hunter yawned, giving the very appearance of complete disinterest. With no objection raised, Kai led the way into the third shop, pushing open the door and hearing the jangle of an old-fashioned bell as the door hit a curved piece of metal. Moments later a youngish man appeared in the doorway leading to the back of the shop.

"Good morning! Welcome! Do come in! How lovely to meet you!" He strode across the shop floor quickly, one hand raised and aimed straight at Kai. Kai barely had time to raise his own hand before it was grabbed and pumped up and down vigorously. "Welcome! Yes indeed, welcome to my shop! It's a pleasure! Are you looking for anything in particular? Can I help you find it? Or are you just looking? Either way is fine, of course!" Words continued to pour out of his mouth at a rapid rate of knots, with him barely pausing for breath - certainly not pausing to let anyone actually answer his questions. Each of the team members was greeted enthusiastically, their hands shaken with gusto and great energy.

Eventually the shopkeeper ran out of either breath or things to say, and Aswon managed to get a word in edgeways, and made some general enquiries about warding materials - at which point he was firmly guided over to a shelf and was shown the various wares, one after another in rapid fire. The man darted left and right, quickly thrusting things up towards Aswon's face, and then taking them away again before he could really focus on them. As soon as it was polite - and possible - to do so, Aswon thanked the man for his hospitality and said they would have a think, and maybe come back later, then quickly pressed out through the door.

Back in the street, the intensity and energy levels were turned down from 11, and they took a breath. All three of them felt slightly dazed, as if they'd been hit by a vehicle and swept along in its wake.

"He was a bit keen, wasn't he?" observed Hunter, glancing back at the doorway and ensuring that they were not being observed or pursued."

"Yes, unless I'm very much mistaken, a dog shaman. Very friendly, very loyal normally. But if I had to guess, I'd say he was someone with a spaniel as his avatar or totem." Aswon shook his head as he replied, still somewhat bemused by the intensity of the man.

Back at the hotel, Tads climbed up into the back of the truck and went through her preparations. Knee pads - check. Gloves - check. Climbing harness - check. Respirator - check. She worked through the mental checklist, and when it was complete, relaxed and projected out from her body - but instead of heading out into the world like she did when she was scouting, she went... well, where she went was still discussed hotly by a number of great minds. Wherever it was, it was no place on the physical world, a realm of pure magic where thought and form merged into one. She was met, as ever, by the Dweller, a strange being of immense power that guarded access to the metaplanes. He questioned her on her purpose here, listening as she proclaimed her desire to learn a new spell to aid her team, before asking her a series of magical questions. Apparently satisfied, he waved for her to proceed. No sooner had he done so than Tads found herself facing a foe - looking very similar to the enemy she had faced in her last astral quest.

Tads sprang into action, not wanting to repeat her mistake from last time. She moved to attack immediately, throwing a flurry of strikes at her opponent and immediately forcing it back on the defensive. Her hands grasped and pulled, seeking to get a tight hold on the enemy, until finally she managed to get the leverage she needed. With a flick of her hips she tossed her opponent high into the air and across the grey room they seemed to be in. The figure arced through the air, landing with a loud thud and burst of exhaled air - but only for a moment as Tads had followed the flight of her foe and a split second later her knee landed across the throat, cutting off air and defeating her enemy.

The figure gurgled slightly, and with a gasp Tads realised that the gurgles, no matter how garbled and faint made sense to her - it was the knowledge that she sought. Moments later the grey world faded away, and she found herself back in her body, hanging from the harness. Several hours had passed, and her mouth was dry and parched – but that seemed to have been the easiest, and certainly the most direct, astral quest she'd heard of. Hmm. Maybe there was something to that…

She had not long unstrapped herself from the harness and returned to the hotel for a drink and a rest when another taxi pulled up at the front entrance. Moments later, Nadia and Marius descended the steps from the first floor and headed out, waving a brief farewell to her.

"I'm off to see my friend, Alex. We may not be back until late – maybe even tomorrow morning. See you then!" His voice cut off as they pulled the back door shut and the taxi pulled away, leaving Tads to sit at the table with her water and plate of soy snacks and an open mouth.

Back in the city, Aswon asked the taxi driver if he knew of somewhere interesting for lunch. When they were all in the car, the driver set off, quickly wending his way through some back streets and narrow lanes. He pulled up in a little dirt alley and waved for the team to get out and follow him into what appeared to be an open-fronted shack.

The place was rustic, to say the least. Half the chairs were milk crates with scaffold boards lashed on with ropes, and most of the tables were barrels or large industrial containers with pallets secured to the top. Lightbulbs hung from the ceiling with twin braided cables covered in vulcanised rubber, and the counter was a large and badly warped piece of Formica. Everything looked old, third-hand, upcycled and then upcycled again.

The owner greeted the taxi driver warmly though, obviously knowing him well, and waved them to a choice of tables. The large woman wore a loose-fitting sleeveless dress, and her arms were covered in pocks and freckles from a mass of tiny burns. She bought over a large wok-like pan, and several old plastic tubs full of diced meat and vegetables, and a small stack of thin slices of black bread. The taxi driver meanwhile had pulled up a small circle from the middle of the table, revealing the methane burner underneath and lit the cooker, the gas making a large pop. The wok was heated up and then the food thrown on, cooked by the driver and then scooped out and served on the bread, eaten in the style of a donner or tortilla. Despite the primitive surroundings, the ingredients were decent quality soy and the food had a certain rustic charm.

Once they'd eaten, they set off towards the private hospital on one of the main boulevards to the east of town. Kai directed the driver to go around the back of the building, his nose pressed up against the window until he saw what he was after. As soon as he spied the smoking shelter, he called for a stop, hopped out and told them to park up and wait for him, then strode over to the staff enjoying their cigarettes, Hunter trailing along behind him.

Wearing his "doctor" coat, Kai put on a big smile as he approached the half dozen or so staff, a mix of nurses and porters. He saw one of the men quickly lower a flask from his mouth and it disappeared around his side – so quickly he wondered where it had gone.

"Good afternoon everyone. Wonder if you can help me… oh, and don't worry about the flask – I've had three already today! I'm from the other hospital, and I'm after a supply of some drugs for one of our patients. Turns out he's after the good stuff instead, and he's willing to throw a little money at the problem. Can one of you perhaps help me find the pharmacy?"

"You want drugs? For a patient? You have money to spend?" one of the porters queried.

"Yes indeed. Now, I know we're not supposed to just come in here and swap drugs around without paperwork and all the rest of it, but the patient wants some confidentiality you see, so I was hoping we could do this without official involvement?" The porter grunted as Kai explained, then motioned for them to follow him. He led them inside the building and led them towards one wing.

"What drugs do you need, and how much?" Kai looked at Hunter and raised an eyebrow.

"Rivaroxaban, a one month supply, ideally." Kai nodded as Hunter spoke, adding his assurance and using his body language to convey appropriate overtones.

"Wait here. I go check." The porter disappeared through a staff door, and they waited casually for him to return, looking around them to pass the time. The hospital seemed ok – a little run-down and tired, but clean and intact, and there was a quiet air of order and process to the place. A few minutes later, the porter returned.

"Yes, they have. Not much though, so transfer fee is required. Fourteen thousand roubles." They divided by two to convert to Nuyen, and winced. Kai coughed, and then faced the porter again.

"Oh, that's quite pricy. A bit more than we expected. I'll need to check with the patient. Are you on shift for another couple of hours, and we can come back?"

"You come back in a few hours, will be fifteen thousand." The porter smiled back, his lips parting to reveal yellow and brown teeth.

"Right, right. Ok. Thanks then, we'll look for you in an hour. The porter shrugged, and led them back to the rear door, returning to the shelter and pulling out another cheap cigarette as he re-joined the conversation with the other porters.

Kai and Hunter headed to the car, re-joining Aswon and the driver.

"To the public hospital, please. This one is a touch too expensive." The driver pulled out and headed back into the city centre a little, into one of the older districts crammed with Soviet era concrete tenement blocks. Kai didn't even have to direct him this time – the driver headed around the service road, threading his way through bin yards and parking areas until he found the smoking area, then waiting for Kai and Hunter to head out, before finding somewhere to wait with Aswon.

Kai went through the same routine, this time with a nurse who looked tired and drawn. When she heard what they wanted, she beckoned for them to follow her into the hospital building. As they entered, they immediately picked up on the differences between the two buildings. This one had paint flaking off the walls, and the cheap linoleum on the floor was pocked and tattered, revealing concrete in places. Graffiti covered some walls, light fittings dangled with blown bulbs and some of the doors looked to have been repaired with scrap timber. As they arrived at the pharmacy, the nurse took them to the front of the queue and waved to one of the men in white coats who was patiently listening to someone at the front of the queue.

The man came over, and gave the nurse a wan and tired-looking smile. He was in his late forties by appearance, with slightly wild and unkempt hair and a pair of cheap glasses perched on the end of his nose.

"Hi there. We're after some medicine for a private patient. Rivaroxaban, a one month supply, ideally. There's been an awful mix up with purchasing, you see…" The man shrugged and shook his head.

"No Rivaroxaban – is too expensive. We have Warfarin though. Can do bulk supply."

"Ahh, excellent. Then can we have a month… in fact, can we take two month's supply? How much would that be?"

"Two months? Five thousand roubles." Kai heard Hunter make an approving grunt behind him and smiled.

"Excellent. I presume certified credit is ok?" As he spoke he pulled out a credstick and the pharmacist nodded. The cred stick was run through the reader and 2500 Nuyen was deducted with a thumbprint and code authorisation. The technician turned and headed to a fridge, pulling out a small tray of vials from one of the shelves and peeling off several labels and putting them onto other vials on the next shelf down, before placing the unlabelled containers in a small and flimsy plastic box, then sliding it over onto the counter.

Hunter leant over, and pulled out a small selection of paper currency from their journey to Constantinople. Grabbing a few notes, totalling about a hundred Nuyen in value, he placed them down on the counter and slid them over to the technician. As he did so, with a slow and careful moment, he reached over and pulled the flap of the lab coat out of the way, so he could read the nametag.

"Thank you, Pavel. I appreciate your help."

Pavel looked at the money for a moment, then slid it into a pocket with his left hand, while his right hand lowered over the box, preventing Hunter from moving it. Hunter raised an eyebrow at him, but the technician ignored him, flipping open the box and then quickly looking through the vials, one after another. He seemed satisfied with all but two of them, which he took back to the fridge and exchanged with two new ones, which were placed in the box instead. When he was done, he pushed the box towards Hunter with a smile.

While Kai and Hunter were dealing with the pharmacy, Aswon had been sat in the car, just idly watching the world go by. He felt his commlink vibrate, and pulled out the small device to check who was calling – ahh, Mr Hu. He hit the accept button, and greeted his friend again. The pleasantries were quicker this time, in light of their recent communications, and Mr Hu soon got to the point.

"It was actually somewhat easy to find out some information – and it's intriguing. Brigadier Vasiliy Cherkenov is in charge of the 38th Motor Rifle Division, a fairly recent appointment. They're regarded as a good unit – not elite, but a solid and well regarded one with a long history. He however is a long-term officer, a graduate of the Frunze military academy. He comes from a family of soldiers, and that probably helped his early career – certainly he would have been well received and looked after as a favour to his father and great uncle. However, he graduated high in his class and established a strong reputation as being a good tactician and sound strategist."

Aswon listened carefully to the summary, scrabbling to swap the phone to his left ear so he could make notes with his right hand.

"Moreover, he has a reputation for caring for his men – really caring. Goes out of his way to get them paid, decent food and supplies. Unsurprisingly this earns him a remarkably high degree of loyalty from his troops. While a normal Russian division can normally be counted on to be only 50-60% of its stated paper strength due to equipment or personnel, Cherkenov has a reputation for getting 90% rates – and moreover, he's been noted on in military circles as coming down hard on those who falsify readiness reports. Even when they're the relatives of other officers – he turfs them out of his unit to somewhere else, one way or another. A soldier's soldier."

Aswon frantically tapped away with one hand, making brief notes of the information as best he could.

"He is also, however, a true communist with impeccable credentials and devoted to the 'Rodina'. Possibly why he's managed to get rid of the useless but connected hangers-on – his loyalty is without question, and he really does seem to care about his country to a remarkable degree. Noted, it seems for his endless energy, and remarkably direct and powerful charisma. The chap I talked to said that talking with him was like talking with your school teacher or mother – you just felt like he knew exactly what was going on, and was judging you to see if you were telling the truth or not. Anyway, that only cost me a bottle of decent rice wine, so pretty reasonable. Is that enough for you, or do you want me to dig deeper?"

"Thank you, Mr Hu – I think that will be fine. Certainly it's a lot more about him than we knew before, and I think that's enough to get a good judge of character. I'll send you some funds when we're back at the hotel and I've got access to a decent signal and cred-reader."

Kai and Hunter returned, so Aswon spent much of the return journey to the hotel relaying the information on the Brigadier to them, expanding his notes and trying to remember everything Mr Hu had told him. One of the things he did emphasise was the loyalty to the country – and raised the question of just how the Brigadier would respond to a bunch of foreigners turning up in a Russian military vehicle. Kai had a think for a moment, before responding.

"We tell him the truth. As little of the truth as we can, but the absolute truth. We took the truck as a prize, after a force of Chechens was defeated. We don't know who they begged, bought, borrowed or stole it from – but they had it, and we took it after they were dealt with." Aswon nodded in agreement.

"He should respect that. Pragmatic, and strong."

As they were heading out of town, the other taxi dropped Nadia and Marius off at a street corner. A burly man dressed in a faux leather jacket and blue jeans appeared out of the shadows and enveloped Marius in a large hug, kissing him on each cheek in the Russian fashion. He stood back for a moment, examining Marius closely without saying a word, then apparently satisfied, turned and looked at Nadia. Marius quickly introduced her to Alex, describing how they'd met briefly less than a year ago, when Marius had helped him out.

"Helped me out? Listen to my little brother! He saved me. Saved me! Pah, where it not for him, I would be dead. So, now my little brother is coming to my town, we look after him. And his beautiful friend. Come! Let us get a car and go meet Vladimir!"

Alex pulled out a shim stick from inside his jacket and walked up to the nearest parked car, then proceeded to work on the door until the lock popped open. Putting the shim away, he pulled out a sequencer and jammed it into the lock, humming a catch pop tune under his breath until the device found the right sequence to start the engine.

"Come on, hop in to my car! Let's GOOOOO!"

Marius shrugged, with a smile and opened the door for Nadia and then climbed in after her, while Alex pulled away in a roar with a screech of tyres. He drove aggressively, making a great deal of use of the horn and not being afraid to ram other vehicles out of his way as they made their way deeper into the district, the houses becoming bleak grey monuments to a bygone era. They arrived at a café and found Vladimir, and a few other Vory members too. They descended onto a large table, staring at the two men sitting there until they left, and appropriating the space for themselves.

When the waiter arrived, one of the group pulled out a knife, and waved it under his nose.

"Bring us beer, and food. We'll tell you when to stop. If you call the police, we'll burn this place down, you understand? With you in it." The waiter paled and nodded, and almost ran into the kitchens. A minute later he returned with a half dozen large bottles of cheap Vodka, and a small mound of shot glasses, then beat a hasty retreat.

They drank, and Marius told Alex, Vlad and their friends what had happened to him in brief terms over the last few months, and how he had met Nadia. He didn't hold anything back, but neither did he give specifics of time or date, or names of targets. His story of theft from the Iranians and the Jews were met with cheers, and the rescue of Nadia from oppression to bring her into her new life of crime was applauded and toasted vigorously. The slaughter of the men at the ranch for daring to shoot at his truck was met with howls of laughter from Vladimir, who apparently shared the same love of vehicles with Marius.

They drank more, and got louder and more raucous. Tales flowed around the table of things stolen, jobs done, policemen intimidated and time served. The vodka flowed like water, and shot after shot, after shot was toasted and sunk. Marius and Nadia were ok to begin with, but my early evening were clearly hammered. The food had run out a while ago, and now it was neat Vodka hitting their stomachs and entering their blood streams.

Unaware of this, a few miles away Aswon, Kai and Hunter had grabbed Tads, now recovered from her quest and had returned to the talismongers down by the docks. They warned her of what was to come, and quickly checked back in with the dog shaman, ensuring that there wasn't any crazy formula in there that they had missed. As it happened, there wasn't, and they left as quickly as they politely could, and moved along to the second shop.

Re-entering the darkened and quiet room stuff full of things was like entering a different world. They spied a few other people browsing shelves, poking at things and making excited noises. The shaman was still lying in his hammock, swinging gently from side to side. He gave a minute little wave as he spied Aswon then cleared his throat.

"I'm awful thirsty man." Aswon went wide-eyed for a moment and a look of mortified horror crossed his face as he realised that he'd completely forgotten.

"I'll be right back!" He turned, and as soon as he was out in the street accelerated into a run, looking for a coffee shop to get something – anything – with caramel, chocolate sprinkles and a big blob of cream on top.

Back in the shop, Tads had approached the Shaman, and was showing him her formula, describing each one and its use. The shopkeeper seemed interested in them, taking each with his spell and examining them closely. They had almost reached the last one when Aswon reappeared, holding a large coffee cup with cream overflowing from the top and a rich smell of coffee mixed with caramel started to fill the air. The shaman took it and sipped at the contents, making a happy noise that rolled in the back of his throat, but no matter how carefully he handled the cup, some cream ran down the side and dropped onto his clothing.

"Eugh! Dirty!" He concentrated for a moment, his eyes slitting and going narrow and his face broadening somewhat, and with a flick of his fingers his clothes changed, the colours going from a muted set of dark grey robes to a brighter white – and more telling, with no sign of the spilt cream. The other customers in the shop gave little gasps of amazement and looked impressed with the obvious display of magic.

Carefully, Tads pulled out the largest piece, her dreamcatcher formula for her influence spell. It was intricate and obviously far more complex than any of the other pieces, representing the greater power and control required to cast and use it, and also the greater effect it would have. The shaman sat up at that, and looked at it closely, then raised his voice.

"Shop's closing I'm afraid. Sorry, need to restock for a while. We'll reopen in fifteen or twenty minutes." The other customers looked disappointed, then gave little squeals of alarm as invisible fingers urged them towards the doorway, gently propelling them out and closing the door behind them, then shoving home the bolt to lock the door.

"Ok, that's an impressive piece. And very illegal. So, what is it you want, people?" Aswon smiled, pulling back his lips and revealing the huge implanted teeth. For a moment the shaman bristled, but then his entire demeanour changed and he smiled. Tads smiled too, and then spoke.

"Well, I'd like to get rid of these old formula, and maybe there's some new things to pick up. I'd like to learn more about enchanting too. And of course, I'm interested in magical goods and materials, to help with the enchanting. So, let's negotiate?"

They talked with the shaman, and established that although he could enchant, it wasn't really his speciality. He agreed to share some matrix links with Tads, just as a courtesy. Aswon showed him his spear, but although he could see that it was a weapon focus, and that there was something 'odd' about it, he was unable to determine what it was. Tads tried to talk him out of his magical fingers spell, but was firmly told that if she wanted it, she'd have to buy it.

They haggled over the price of the spells, gradually coming to an agreement of just over ten thousand all told – until the shaman clicked his fingers and told her he might have something better for her. Reaching into a draw under the counter, he pulled out a large and rough looking nugget of gold.

"Mined by hand, the old fashioned way. Clean and pure – perfect for enchanting. If you want, I'll swap you this lump, for your spells." Tads held out her hand and the lump of gold floated over to her hand, dropping heavily into her outstretched palm. She turned it this way and that, examining it carefully on the astral plane and watching the swirl of mana around it, watching the interaction of power as it hit the pure material. It didn't take long for her to nod her head in agreement and clinch the deal. They shook hands, and the shaman introduced himself as Toloya Popov, as he exchanged details with them. Tads purchased a couple of new spell formula from Toloya, that she thought would be particularly useful.

After that, they asked if he knew much about paracritters – specifically leeches. Toloya shook his head.

"Not really my thing. If you want to know about stuff like that, much as it pains me to say it, try the nerd a few doors up. He does have a lot of books on stuff like that."

They concluded their business and headed up to the hermetic mage's shop. Along the way Aswon warned Tads that she was likely to find a somewhat frosty welcome there, based on how she performed magic, but Tads just shrugged, apparently unconcerned.

Back in the shop, the mage greeted them – with a certain amount of derision and carefully veiled contempt. Aswon ground his teeth, but said nothing, and Tads examined the stock on display. The drawers and displays were all very neatly ordered, which did make finding things easier she had to admit, but it was so very…well….anal. She shrugged – each to their own.

Kai asked the mage about books, concerning leeches, particularly magical leeches from Kurdistan. The mage raised his eyebrows in surprise at the specificness of the request, but managed to find a treatise on paracritters that dealt with the area. They agreed on a price of two hundred Nuyen and left before the sarcasm returned, and then headed back to the hotel. Shimazu was still in the courtyard, working out as he had been all day, dripping with sweat and a number of empty water bottle were lined up against the wall where he'd stopped for breaks from his practice.

After showers and cleaning up, they settled down for dinner, not waiting for Marius and Nadia based on the message they had given Tads earlier. Shimazu was curious about the book and settled down with it after dinner, while the rest of the team relaxed, enjoying a quiet night.

The following morning, Shimazu returned to his training, while Tads went to her lodge and spent most of the day learning her spell, mastering the intricacies of linking her mind with another, allowing silent communication and sharing of knowledge. Kai and Aswon returned to their studies, spending some quiet time in their room with their heads focussed on the matrix.

Hunter called on the taxi driver, asking him if there was anywhere he could go to shoot, without attracting attention from the local law. An hour later, he found himself being driven up into the old Olympic villages, perched high on the hills overlooking Sochi. He found the old shooting area, which had been converted to some kind of gun club, and after coming to an arrangement with the caretaker, started to shoot.

He'd gone through a couple of magazines when he noticed that the caretaker was leaning against the wall, watching him intently – far too intently. At first he was worried that he'd been recognised somehow, but as he was getting ready to confront the old man, his reflexes jangling, the caretaker pushed himself away from the wall and sauntered over.

"It's your back foot. You probably don't realise it, but you twist it ever so slightly when you fire your second shot, and it throws your aim off, just a tiny bit."

Hunter froze and looked at him, dumbly. The man continued to close, and stood behind him, wedging his foot up against his, and told him to shoot again. He did, and was amazed to find that he did in fact twist, without realising it. The ice broken, they started to talk, and Hunter found out that he wasn't just the caretaker – he had in fact once been the coach for the Olympic pistol team, and was a dab hand with the firearms himself.

After some further negotiations, with Hunter making it clear that he particularly valued the old man's time, they came to a better 'understanding'. Hunter paid him five hundred Nuyen in hard currency, and in return he got one on one coaching for the next six hours, correcting posture and shooting position, working on his breathing and sight picture. It proved to be a worthwhile day for him, and he felt that his performance was markedly better by the end of the day compared to how it had been.

When he got back to the hotel at tea-time, he found the rest of the team looking slightly concerned. Marius and Nadia were not back yet – nothing had been heard from them all day. Their comms were off, and Marius wasn't answering his internal commlink either. As the day had worn on, Kai and Aswon had called them several times, wondering where on earth they could have gotten to.

They'd just finished dinner when they heard a vehicle pull up outside the hotel, honking its horn in long blasts. Fearing the worst they filed out of the entrance, and saw the side door of the panel van slide open. Marius fell out in a stumble that almost pitched him head over heels, and Nadia followed, not doing any better. From their expressions, they were both still absolutely hammered, their eyes unfocussed and their words slurring. The driver pulled away sharply, clipping a parked car, bouncing across the road and then weaving down the highway narrowly missing other cars as he did so.

As the rest of the team examined the two drunks they noticed that Marius had a bandage wrapped around his right hand – although when they looked closely, it wasn't a bandage at all, but strips torn from a shirt. Underneath his hand was red and swollen, his knuckles split and dried blood caked over the webbing between his fingers.

"Oh Marius…. What have you been up to?" asked Kai.

Marius looked at him blearily for a moment, then staggered to the small conifer tree in the plant pot by the side of the entrance, pulled out his penis and urinated noisily into the leaves, smiling beatifically. Nadia cackled at the sight, and a moment later both of them staggered into the hotel, heading for the staircase leading up to their rooms. Stairs proved to be a difficult concept however, and after some stumbling and sliding, they both slumped, halfway up the wide staircase, laying their heads on the apparently very comfortable stair pillows, and drifted off to sleep.