Kai wrapped up the remains of his lukewarm kebab and wiped away the grease from his fingers. It tasted slightly fishy, which meant it was probably some kind of seaweed or algae derivative, and he looked around for something absorbent to soak up the oil and stop it stinking up his fingers, clothes and the whole troop bay.
"So, how difficult is this job then, Marius? How far do we have to go?"
"Hunter, a map, please? Thank you." He zoomed out on the map when Hunter flashed it up on screen to orient himself, then highlighted some locations. "Very well, we are here, on the west side of the straights, located in the old airport. The pickup location is also on the western side, but actually next to the water, up here." The map scrolled to the north, following the waterway until it reached the Bebek district. Just to the north of a small strip-marina that lay along the waterway was the Pulihoz Grand House, a large restaurant spread out over several buildings. To the rear of the main building was a large goods yard and a small warehouse, which Marius highlighted. "This is the pickup location. From the scale on the map, we should be able to land in this yard, if it is empty."
The map zoomed out again, and swung over to the east, crossing over the densely packed buildings for about fifteen kilometres, until Marius spotted a large road that ran parallel to the E-80, and zoomed in, highlighting a large industrial complex. As he zoomed in further he panned around, watching the co-ordinates change until he spotted the correct location.
"Here, this is the destination. The Bahar Kofte and Sucuk warehouse. They are a restaurant based in the east side of the city, but this warehouse is a front or cover for some other activity. That is our destination."
"Rather than flying over, would it not be better to take the mini-van?" Tads asked. "I mean, it's smaller, less conspicuous generally, and won't attract as much attention as landing the tilt-wing."
"It would be, but there is a problem. Well, several problems." Marius extended one finger, pointing at it with the index finger of his other hand. "First, it will take significant amounts of time to drive up to the location, due to the traffic. Even late at night. And even longer to drive back south and over the bridge, and then out to the location. And then to drive back, all the way to here." He raised a second finger and pointed at them both. "Secondly, if we attempt to cross the river, we will inevitably end up crossing the bridge. Which means going past the Lionheart security checkpoint, who will no doubt check the vehicle and find the contraband."
"Maybe they wouldn't check us? I mean, I can always use an illusion in the back of the van?"
"It is my understanding, Tads, that they are now checking every vehicle that crosses the bridge, to ensure that nobody sneaks a car bomb onto the remaining span. If they damage the bridge, it would cause huge disruption in the city – far more than we see now. So they check every vehicle carefully, to prevent more terrorist attacks. And that is why the traffic is so bad."
"And all it would take is for one of the guards to be magically active, to be a physical adept with The Sight even, to spot the spell in the back, and raise the alarm." Aswon shook his head. "Too risky."
"And even if they didn't spot the spell, it's still gonna be obvious." Hunter paused for a moment, but they just waited for him to speak. "Honestly – think about it guys. If you put four hundred litres of booze in the back of a vehicle, plus some passengers, it's going to bottom out the suspension. If they open the door and they're not finger-wigglers, they're gonna know something is wrong because the van's way too heavy for what they can see. It's obvious."
He was right – now that he'd said it, it WAS obvious, and it was likely that someone at the checkpoint would notice if they drove up a van that was clearly heavily loaded but appeared empty to the casual check.
"So, we will fly. Arrive at the yard, pick up the cargo. Fly to the destination, set down the cargo. Then leave the city and head back to the ranch. We should keep it simple."
"I agree, Marius. But Aswon, I think you should call your friend Sofi, and see if he can offer any advice or assistance." Kai added, then turned back to Tads. "Can you summon us a spirit? A powerful one? More powerful than you would normally risk or bother with. If we can avoid being seen or heard, it will make everything go so much smoother."
Tads smiled slightly at his choice of words and nodded.
"I think so. I'll just need a few minutes to prepare."
"Great – you can do that while we wait for Aswon to call his buddy. Hmm. How about flying up in Lionheart camo or colours?"
"No – absolutely not. We don't want to drag them into this, or have them chasing us as well. And from what I understand, we absolutely don't want to be associated with them on the east side of the water!" Aswon retorted hotly.
"Red Crescent."
"What, Tads?"
"Red Crescent. Hunter, can you find their image online. Muslim equivalent of the Red Cross. I ran across one of their convoys when I was walking south. Generally they're no different from the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders in their aims, they just have a religious slant to what they're doing. But they're very well respected amongst the Muslim community. I doubt even the most violent fanatics would go looking to pick a fight with a transport in their colours."
"Good call, ok, Hunter you crack on with that please. Aswon – make the call?" Aswon nodded to Kai and made the call. It connected, and Sofi's face appeared on the small display, bleary-eyed and slightly bruised. The image squinted and then a look of guilt and dismay washed over it.
"Oh shit! Aswon! I… I'm crap, sorry mate. I forgot. We were out for hours, then I got involved in some other stuff, and that led on to something else, and then I just crashed… what time is it?"
"Don't worry about it, Sofi – I understand. Really, I do. Lost count of the number of times I've crashed hard after a long patrol. But I just wanted to touch base with you before we left. Looks like we're shipping out again fairly quickly, so we won't get to meet up for that drink."
"Crap. I'm really sorry, mate."
"Don't – I mean it. I understand. But I've got a quick question before we go. Got a little something to do in the city before we leave. Just need to ask – is there anywhere we should avoid?"
"The entire east bank?" Sofi snorted in derision. "Sorry, that's not helpful, but it's also kinda true. The whole place seems to be going to hell, and there's violent mobs all over the place. We're about a heartbeat away from some kind of riot or massacre, I'm not sure which."
"Can we fly over the city?"
"Commercial flights are fine, they're way too high…oh, half asleep. Ignore me – that's not what you meant is it. Look, I mean don't fly low. Like in a balloon or a microlight or something – nothing they could hit you with a rock or thrown missiles. Otherwise you should be ok. But I'd still advise against it. Just get out for a while, and don't get caught on the ground by a mob."
"Alright. Listen, Sofi – take care of yourself and make sure your guys are watching your six. We'll be back at some point, and we'll catch up then."
"Take care, mate." Even as Sofi was reaching for the disconnect button Aswon saw the screen lurch as he dropped back onto the bed, the camera view sliding wildly across what looked to be a barracks room, before the signal terminated.
He looked over towards Kai and was about to speak when he suddenly stopped, his mouth slightly open. Just beyond the team leader sat Tads, gesturing through the air with a look of concentration on her face. He watched for a moment to be sure of what he was seeing, his frown deepening further. Lifting up the commlink, he checked the log, confirming the length of call he'd just had with Sofi…
"What's up, Aswon?"
"Tads is still summoning. Is she ok?"
"Is she?" Kai twisted around and watched for a moment. "So what? She does that…"
"Never for this long. Normally it's just a few seconds for a spirit. She's been at this one for a minute or two. How does that even work? I didn't think you could do it that slowly?"
"Can't you just do something slowly?"
"If you fall over, can you fall down slowly? No. Something just take the amount of time they take. Unless this is something…"
"New?" Tads spoke quietly, and they swung around to look at her. "Back in the UCAS, when we were waiting in the hanger. I spent some time preparing myself, and went to see Elk. They taught me something new."
"How to work slower? How does that help?" Kai asked.
"More carefully. Summoning the power over a more sustained and gradual time, so it's less damaging. I have your spirit as requested – a big one." She gave a mental twitch and the spirit manifested, a huge swirling mass of air that roiled and twisted around her, obscuring her from their view for a moment. Despite the fact that she was right there, only a metre away from them, she just seemed to fade out of view. A second later she was back, solid and material, as if she'd never left. "But no headache. At least not with this one."
"Oooookaaayy." Aswon quirked an eyebrow and examined the space around her carefully, noting the power of the spirit – about twice as big as the ones she normally summoned and protected them with. "That's… interesting."
"Maybe to you, but not to me. Are we prepared for takeoff?" The pilot's voice was tinged with impatience.
"I think we're all good here." Kai glanced around, and got a series of nods. "Yeah, we're good. Let's go." He hadn't even finished speaking when the sounds of the engines could be heard, the fuel pumps kicking into life and the turbines starting to whir. Two minutes later they were at speed, and the craft surged into the air, rising up into the darkness and swinging to the south-east, heading to the water. Once he hit the coast, Marius swung through east to north-east, following the waterway. As he flew north he saw automated beacons pop up on his display, establishing a no-fly zone over the bridge that forced him to detour around it. Swinging to the west to remain over the friendlier side of the city, he could see the massive snake of traffic that clogged the bridge and the surrounding roads, and the enormous car park at the first junction. Red and blue lights flashed, while portable work lights bathed the whole area in brilliant high-intensity white light.
Lionheart APCs were set up in a zig-zag pattern, allowing cars to transit only one at a time, under the watchful eyes of troops manning the heavy-machine gun turrets, while further back troops swarmed over the vehicles, checking them carefully. It slowed traffic to a crawl, and a sea of lights spread out down the highway behind them in turn branching out around the side streets, splitting and narrowing down every small lane, cut through and passageway, stretching out as far as they could see. A quick flick of the sensors over to the eastern shore showed a similar situation, the inspection point a mass of traffic and flashing lights, angry drivers and stressed troops. It was easy to see why Sofi was stressed, and had warned them about travelling that way.
They flew on though, heading north towards the large waterside restaurant and the warehouse behind it. As they came in to their final approach, they could just about make out the northern bridge, a kilometre or so further on. The lights cut out abruptly on the western third, and as Marius adjusted the image they could make out the faint ghostly glow on the night-vision display of twisted girders and road plates, torn up and point out at strange angles, while cables whipped in the wind. Down in the water a number of hazard buoys were arrayed around the western half of the channel, marking out where the debris from the car-bomb had sent thousands of tons of steel and asphalt plummeting down into the water below, and choking off the entire northern part of the city from their closest crossing point.
The bridge disappeared from view as they flew lower, the powerful spirit wrapped around the tilt-wing masking their signature and calming the windstorm thrown up by the rotors, while Marius carefully lowered them into the yard, dropping them down to the ground with only a faint bump. He'd turned as he landed, keeping the cockpit facing towards the restaurant and the road, as the most likely source of trouble, while the rear ramp pointed towards the warehouse doors, propped open just enough to let a slim person slide through.
The whine from the engines faded as the ramp dropped, Aswon and Hunter standing to either side with weapons ready.
"Cover me, Aswon, I'll go check it out."
"Nein! I have to go first. I have a code-word for the contact." Marius pushed himself out of his seat and made sure his pistol was safely located in the thigh holster on his right side, then squeezed through the door and down the troop bay, striding purposefully down the ramp and across the short amount of cobblestones to reach the warehouse door. He was acutely aware that he was very visible, silhouetted against the lights of the city as he stood in the open gap in the doorway. As he stopped for a moment, cycling through his vision mods in his eyes to work out the best source of navigation, someone flashed a small hand-held torch three times, aiming it down at the ground between them.
"Achtung, I do not like to be kept waiting!" It wasn't the code phrase he would have chosen, but it was what Andre had given him.
"Herr Schmidt?" The voice was young, possibly teenaged. And it had an edge of fear and trepidation to it.
"Nein. Herr Doktor Schmidt!" His voice carried clearly into the warehouse, and he heard faint echoes from the storage racks to the rear of the space.
"One moment, sir." A pool of light appeared further into the warehouse and to one side, revealing a local boy, gangly and slender. Marius could see him picking something up from the desk as he pulled his hand back from turning on the desk lamp, then watched in confusion as the boy slid on a blindfold over his eyes. "I am ready sir. The cargo is right here." Marius shook his head, wondering what Andre was up to, but pushed the warehouse door open wider and then walked in, spotting a pallet of boxes next to the boy, just visible in the illuminated circle. He heard Aswon and Hunter closing in behind him, but ignored them, concentrating on the path ahead.
The warehouse was full of shelves, stacked high with food stuffs and spares for the restaurant, with the youth standing next to a small desk and a filing cabinet, presumably used by the warehouse manager. As he closed, he could see the young man tremble slightly, taking shallow and rapid breaths. Hearing Marius approach, the boy pointed down at the pallet of cargo and Marius could see it had a pallet lifter already in place on the far side, ready to pump up and wheel the cargo out. He moved around and started the process of jacking up the forks, and then frowned and shook his head as Hunter moved up next to the young boy. The ork had taken a deep breath and was miming shouting into his ear – which might possibly have caused heart failure, but was just as likely to cause him to lose his shit and do something unfortunate. Hunter deflated and moved over to help Marius, looking a little sullen.
"Take care with the cargo. It is very delicate. And ensure it is well strapped down. We do not want this shifting in transit."
"Yes Herr Doktor!" Hunter replied with a grin, pushing the lifter carefully and sliding the pallet towards the door and out across the yard. Marius shook his head and followed, while Aswon kept position just inside the door, rifle held across his body but ready to take action if required.
It only took them a few minutes to move the cargo up the ramp and get it safely lashed down, and Hunter pushed the empty pallet truck back inside. Waving Aswon out, he tapped the teenager lightly on the shoulder.
"Two minutes." Turning and heading to the door, he glanced over his shoulder as he pushed the warehouse door closed, seeing the boy standing in the same position, waiting as he mentally counted down. With a smile he strode across the cobbles again, and hit the ramp close button as he squeezed into the corner. It wasn't worth moving further up – they were only going fifteen kilometres, and by the time he'd sat down, he'd be getting up again!
As they flew east, both Marius and Aswon observed the streets, noting the occasional mob of people moving around. They were armed with improvised melee weapons, and didn't represent a threat to them, but were indicative of trouble on the ground – and who knew what trouble they would cause. Certainly it wasn't safe to be wandering around alone down there, no matter how well armed and armoured you were – all it would take is an ambusher jumping you and tying you up in melee, with others coming to assist, and it would be all too easy to find yourself outnumbered twenty to one by an irrational and angry crowd who saw you as the root of all their problems.
Their destination was fortunately in a large industrial estate that lay on a main arterial route running along side the highway. Mostly dark, large warehouse and industrial units were set on square concrete pads, hulking buildings with loading bays and large car-parks reminiscent of a time when the local work-force could have afforded their own transport. The target was easy to find, being located next to a large roundabout, and Marius bought them around on a slow sweep, spotting a single figure sitting on a loading dock, smoking a cigarette that glowed brightly on his infra-red scans. He spiralled into land in the loading bay, surrounded on two sides by the building, with what looked like an office annexe providing partial obscurement on the third side, leaving only a narrow channel between the two buildings. The figure continued to smoke – which meant either he really hadn't spotted them at all or was at least expecting someone. As they came closer to the ground, some evidence of their downwash evidently became visible, despite the spirit's best efforts, and the figure looked up with curiosity – but no alarm, as Marius came in for his touchdown.
Once again Marius jacked out from the bird, heading out and down the rear ramp along with the others to meet the contact. The man had jumped down from the loading dock, grinding out the cigarette under his boot and was squinting in their direction, trying to make out the people and shape of the aircraft through the concealing powers of the spirit.
"Good evening. We are going for dinner – would you prefer lamb or chicken?"
"Neither, I prefer beef."
"Very good. You must be Neehar."
"Yes, you have a delivery for me?"
"We do. Do you have a pallet truck?"
"No. There are fork lift trucks, but they are all in the warehouse on charge. I could get one, but it may alert the rigger…how many of you are there?"
Marius didn't answer, but stepped forward off the ramp and out of the concealing effect of the spirit, and nodded to the man as he spotted him clearly for the first time. Aswon, Hunter and Kai also stepped out, while Tads lurked on the ramp – she'd had enough experience to know that females without covered heads sometimes caused issues, and this was the easiest way to avoid that.
"Ahh – perhaps we can lift one corner of the pallet each?" Neehar said hopefully.
"It is all yours once we have it down off the ramp." Marius responded, and watched as the man's shoulders slumped. He felt no sympathy – if he didn't want to lift and carry the load bit by bit, he should have made preparations to move it! Marius beckoned him over, and turned, retracing his steps slowly and carefully until he felt the ramp under his foot, then stepped into the concealment effect, his rear hand waving the man to follow him. With only a little hesitation, the man followed, his eyes widening as he stepped onto the bottom of the ramp and perceived the tilt-wing clearly.
The team ignored him for the moment, letting him gawp, as they undid the straps holding the cargo in place and then slid it to the edge of the ramp. The presence of the cargo sliding towards him stirred him, and he moved to one corner, steadying the load and getting ready to lift it. He'd either not noticed Tads lurking in the background, or had chosen to ignore her presence – either way he didn't seem to have a problem. With a grunt, they lifted the pallet of cargo, and carefully moved down the ramp. It was slightly awkward – Aswon's height made his corner higher than the others, pushing the load slightly off-balance, but fortunately Hunter could lift his corner to match and hold it in place, meaning it was only off balance in one axis rather than two. Still, they took it carefully, moving slowly and making sure the cargo didn't shift.
Aswon's head came up as his superb hearing caught something, and he hissed for them to stop. A moment later Hunter and Marius heard the noise too, and they started to pick up the pace a little, forcing Neehar to do the same as they closed on the edge of the loading dock.
"Sounds like a mob, estimate thirty plus. Coming this way, fast. Estimate fifteen to twenty seconds. We need some cover out here." Aswon spoke quietly but clearly, and Neehar glanced back at him as if to ask what he meant, or how he thought he could do something – unaware that Aswon's throat mike was sending his words back to Tads in the aircraft.
"Got you covered." She responded in their ear-buds, and moved to the edge of the ramp so she could glance around it and towards the incoming sound. Once more she concentrated, drawing in mana to her with a series of gestures and chants, taking her time to build up the power. Seconds passed, and the noise level rose, louder and louder as the mob closed on their position. It sounded like they were running down the edge of the building now, and would be upon them in seconds. Finally the trid-phantasm sprang up, making a flat plane across the width of the loading dock. From the far side it displayed an empty bay, just a few small pieces of litter blowing around gently, no lights or life to be of any interest. Without having to hold back some of her skill and power to deal with the dump of magical energy from the casting, she had channelled all of her skill into casting the most convincing illusion she could – and it was pretty close to perfect.
"I got an idea," Kai murmured. "Hey spirit – there's an angry mob just around the corner. Go and appear right in the middle of it, and distract them, then lead them away from here , quickly." Neehar again boggled at him as nothing seemed to happen, but barely a second later there was a couple of screams and the level of shouting suddenly intensified, along with the sounds of attempted violence. A moment later a single figure ran around the corner of the building, running for his life and heading straight towards the tilt-wing. "Quick, onto the dock!" Kai urged them on, taking the last two steps towards the loading dock and getting his corner wedged up on the concrete block. As soon as it was secure and wouldn't fall, he released it and turned to run towards the tilt-wing, drawing his taser as he did.
Neehar released his corner too and then vaulted up onto the dock, pulling the pallet forward while Hunter and Aswon shoved until it was securely in place, watching as they both turned and peeled off to head back to the aircraft, too. Pulling out a knife, he quickly hacked at the shrink wrap, grabbed a box and then lifted it carefully, heading for the doorway next to the big loading door, to stash inside.
The lone running figure ran 'through' the illusion then slid to a halt as he suddenly saw a few men 'appear' out of thin air, his eyes widening in surprise. For a moment, the wobbly shape of the aircraft appeared, a nebulous bulge in the air, black metal and engine pods reflecting streetlights from the highway for a moment before it faded from view.
"Hands on your head, close your eyes and don't move. If you comply, you won't be hurt, and we'll save you from the mob that was chasing you, too." Kai called out, raising the taser to point at the man's face. His eyes locked onto the weapon, and he stared at Kai in fear, his chest rising and falling with the aftermath of his sprinting.
"Kai – say this to him. 'İngilizce biliyor musunuz' – that's do you speak English?. İngilizce biliyor musunuz." Kai tried that, and saw the man swallow and nod his head a little, eyes still fixed on the weapon pointing at him. A moment later, he seemed to finally manage to think clearly, his brain relaying Kai's shout at him a moment before.
"I speak little. No hurt?" He raised his hands, placing them over his eyes, palms covering the eye sockets. It wasn't what Kai wanted, but it was probably close enough.
"Hunter, come translate will you. Find out what the story is here." Kai moved back, aiming the taser over towards the corner in case any of the mob ran around after him, while Hunter moved forward and dropping into Turkish.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Tomar."
"And why were they chasing you?"
"I was listening to music, music they said was against the faith. They wanted to punish me."
"Hmm. Ok, where do you live?" Hunter listened to the address, then realised he didn't have a clue where that was, and didn't have access to a map to look it up. "Ok, how far away is that?"
"Ten minutes, to the south."
"Ok, listen. We have made the mob go away." Hunter wasn't sure how true that was, but the sounds of shouting and screaming were certainly getting quieter as the spirit led the angry mob away from them, so he took it as a good sign. "We are going to leave in a minute, too. We will hide you first. When we are gone, uncover your eyes and go home, quickly. Understand? Nod if you understand." Hunter saw him nod quickly, flinching only slightly as Kai grabbed his arm and led him around the tilt-wing and into the narrow space between buildings, gently shoving him into a crouch between two large industrial bins.
"Guys, I'm detaching a spirit to conceal him, keep him safe – at least until he gets home. He probably won't even know it's there."
"Good call, Tads. Ok, delivery made, let's get out of here." He looked over to the loading dock, seeing that Neehar had nearly finished carrying the boxes in from the dock, stacking them up just inside the door. By the time they were all back aboard the tilt-wing and the ramp was raised, the last box was inside the building and Neehar had gone inside, slamming the security door closed behind him. Marius jumped into the pilot's seat and rapidly connected up his rigger jacks, powering up the bird quickly and getting ready to take off. Tads was in the back on the viewing port, slowly smoothing away the magical energies from the trid-phantasm, erasing any sign that she'd ever been here, while Hunter hovered by one of the sliding doors and Aswon the other, ready to open and fire if they need to cover their retreat.
Up into the sky they went, rising up to a thousand metres quickly to get them way out of range of anyone on the ground, before Marius turned and accelerated east, heading out of Constantinople at eighty percent thrust. Once clear of the ground, the team returned to their seats, Hunter changing the colour scheme of the vehicle to a random and non-descript grey as he connected up to the electronics system.
The journey was smooth, though, with no challenges or pursuit, and they quickly left the city behind them, flying out into the countryside. Along the route, they passed a few familiar places – the truck stop on the highway where they'd had the unfortunate encounter with the courier company who had mistaken them for someone else, the monastery out in the wilderness that they'd seen the large mana spike at when travelling down to the smuggler base in the med. Other than that, they crossed the countryside quickly and quietly, the spirit still concealing them as they travelled. Once clear of the city Marius dropped down much lower, keeping below the peaks of hills and using the terrain to further obscure them where possible, as their location bead slowly crept over the map, on their long journey back towards the ranch. They were more than ninety minutes into the journey, well into Eastern Turkey, when Aswon suddenly recoiled in his seat, jerking at the cables leading from the viewing headset.
"Marius! Up!" The craft nosed up immediately as Marius responded.
"How far? What threat?"
"Um… just higher. Nothing live, no attack. But… jeeez, what the hell is going on down there? That's…..awful." He fell silent for a moment, just adjusting the view before he started to talk again. "Something has happened down there that has killed all the wildlife. All the plants. It's just…barren. Looks horrible on the astral, devoid of life. Trees are dead, heather has gone. No signs of any animal life at all. I think someone's poisoned the area, or used some kind of chemical attack. Some variation of agent orange or something like that." They felt the nose tilt up again as Marius got some more altitude, just in case there was lingering traces of gas or chemical munitions in the area. "There's hundreds and hundreds of hectares of just dead land, this whole valley end is gone."
"Something to add to that. Now we are higher, the sensors can see more. Down towards the main highway, port side – I can see several villages that have been destroyed. It appears burnt out."
"Hunter, get on the news, will you, see if you can find anything. Or Shadowland?" Aswon asked, still manipulated the viewing prisms to look around them. "You may want to stay out of astral, Tads, it's… unpleasant."
"Something to note – the village we are passing now is still warm. The fire was fresh, sometime today. Not on fire now, but it was earlier I would bet. And there is a heat graduation through the village, showing the direction of the fire. From both sides, in towards the middle, then out along the road. That is not a natural event."
Hunter had some information for them a few minutes later, though it raised just as many questions as it answered. First he played them the news report from the Turkish media, thankfully dubbed with English subtitles, announcing that the Turkish army had launched an assault on several suspected PKK strongholds, using artillery strikes to blast away at their hiding places and strike at the enemies of the people, clearing out the vermin that were seeking to destabilise their country and destroy the Turkish people. The propaganda was laid on thick, though it did at least stop short of accusing them of eating babies, but it was clear that the noble, heroic and virtuous Turkish Army were doing only what they had to do, to defeat the murderous savage guerrillas.
After that though he showed some of the messages being posted on fringe groups and hidden noticeboards, and a few articles recently uploaded to Shadowland, claiming to be from the PKK. Some pictures appeared too, showing men, women and children covered in horrific chemical burns, blinding and debilitated by direct exposure with whatever poison the army was using to bomb the mountain strongholds. Then it moved to a grainy and low-quality video showing guerrillas moving in to a village, storming the houses and dragging out the people, shoving them away from their homes and workplaces before the teams moved in with flamethrowers, torching them all and working their way through the settlement. The announcer laid out the terms of the PKK – for every chemical attack on the countryside, one Turkish town would be destroyed, the people safe but with their lives destroyed, the blame being pointed to the Turkish government, who were responsible for the situation.
Hunter found a bit more, but the team weren't that interested in learning more – clearly both sides had escalated the conflict, and the fight was getting very brutal and spilling out onto the civilian population, with all the hardship that entailed. It was a situation far beyond their ability to affect, and held only horror for them – no doubt they could have found some work to do and made a lot of money for one side or another, but the risks were far higher than they wanted to contemplate, and it would not only distract them from getting back to the ranch, but also involve them in something that they probably wanted nothing to do with.
The tilt-wing grew quiet then, each of them lost in their own thoughts about the situation as they flew on through the quiet skies, crossing into Kurdistan, then into the Trans-Caucus League. When they were about ten minutes flight time away from the ranch, Marius called Kai, asking him to call ahead and tell the family they were on the way.
Just before midnight they crossed over the lake near Shirvan, starting their steady descent down towards the ranch. Ahead, infra-red spotlights lit up the landing pad, and radio beacons gave Marius a lock so strong he could have let the tilt-wing land itself – Nadia had clearly been busy while they were away. With a request to Tads, the spirit was released and the tilt-wing appeared in view, shimmering for a moment like a science-fiction spaceship decloaking as the protective powers of the spirit released them. They lined up gently, then slowly lowered themselves down onto the pad, landing dead-centre, and letting the engines spin down gradually, Marius taking his time to make sure the shut-down procedure was followed to the smallest detail – he wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon.
He saw a small welcoming committee heading their way, Nadia waddling along at the front with Rusudan, Naena and Vardo around her, with Gungul bringing up the rear. Nadia's bulge was obvious even from here, and Hunter spotted it almost immediately.
"Watch out when getting out of the craft, there's a blimp docked at the hou…ow!" Hunter gave a fake cry of pain as Marius punched him in the arm. "I'm kidding, Marius. Chill." His smirk was unrepentant though, and Marius climbed out of his seat and moved into the rear, ignoring the ork. By this point, Aswon had slid open the side door, looking around to see what Hunter was going on about, and his eyes landed on Nadia and her condition.
"This is the reason I wanted to get back home."
"If you'd said something Marius, we could have got back sooner!"
"Kai, I advise you to shush, and never let Nadia hear you say that. Never." Aswon cautioned. "In fact, never mention that again, just in case she's listening."
"What would you say, Aswon, about seven or eight months gone? Well, at least that lines up with when she was with us. So I take it you're responsible, Marius?"
"It appears that way."
"Well, on reflection, I think I agree with Aswon. You first – I don't want to get between Nadia and you. She's got a power-waddle going on there." Marius tried to look offended on her behalf, but he was too eager to climb out and get to see her, so he ignored Kai just as he'd ignored Hunter, striding across the helipad to see his girlfriend. As he thought that, another thought flashed through his mind – just what kind of wedding could they arrange in whatever time they had left?
Nadia wrapped herself around him, clenching him tightly to her, looking for all the world as if she was some kind of deep-sea leviathan intent on just absorbing him into her body. Her arms stretched around him, questing to get a better grip and pull him in tighter to her, while the rest of the team hung back a little, giving them some space. The hug went on for what felt like a long time, but eventually she released him and took a step back. And as she did, her arm raised, and time slowed down.
The biochemical treatment that Marius had received had enhanced his nerve endings, making them fire faster and more surely than the 'natural' versions, giving him a small but measurable boost in his reaction speed. It was nowhere near as extreme as the benefit the dense block of cyber-technology in his hind brain was for his reaction while jacked into a vehicle – but it was better than nothing. To one side of him Hunter's wired reflexes kicked in, performing a similar role but using a series of super-conductive wires that had replaced large parts of his central nervous system. To the other side, Aswon's magical sense tingled and his body control dumped adrenaline into his system speeding up his reactions to super-human levels. They all saw the slap coming, and completely independently, without any hesitation, they all did nothing.
*crack*
Her hand hit his cheek hard, rocking his head to one side, and Marius sucked in air through his lips as his face felt like it was on fire on one side.
"Seventy-two days! SEVENTY-TWO DAYS! You said you wouldn't be long!"
"That's not my fault." Kai muttered, making sure he spoke VERY quietly.
"I know, and I AM sorry. We've…been on a mission that turned out to be much longer than we thought. One we could not turn down – not without being eaten. Dragons. No – seriously, I am being very sincere. I will tell you all about it, but not here.
"Got something to tell me, little sis?" Hunter wandered past with his arms full of bags, deciding that Marius had had his moment and a little intrusion was just fine now. Nadia just dropped her hand to her belly and smiled, lighting up her face by the dim reflected lights from the tilt-wings interior.
"Congratulations, Nadia. I'm glad we could get him home in time, and I'm very happy for both of you." Kai smiled at her warmly as he closed, and she gave him a nod of greeting as well, before he turned and grabbed his bags to head for the house.
"Nadia – are you well?" Aswon asked, and got another of those warm smiles that seemed to convey more than words. He gave her a close-lipped grin, before he too grabbed his bags and his rifle, moving away to give her some space. With the family helping to grab some of the other bags, they managed to get everything they needed in one trip, and headed into the house, dumping all the gear on the large dining room table for the moment. Aswon pulled out his commlink and activated the camera, and got everyone else to squeeze together for a photo, clustered around Nadia with her hands resting lightly on her huge bump, before sending it to Shimazu with the message title, 'Did you know about this?'
Rusudan and Naena bustled about, making some food and drinks for people, and Tads took advantage of them being distracted to go and check the food situation – finding their stocks as low as expected. With a sigh, she grabbed the first jar off the shelf, unsealed the top and a moment later oats started to pour from her fingers into the jar, topping up the first of many containers with some food.
Marius quickly made his excuses and headed upstairs, helping Nadia to manoeuvre up the staircase to their room, and Gungul followed not long afterward to check on her children. Vardo sat with Aswon, Hunter and Kai, and burbled away happily, telling them some of the things that had been going on while they'd been away. It seemed like mostly inconsequential gossip – lots of activity around the ranch, and a number of guests, but no mention of troubles or the Mafia which made them all feel somewhat relieved.
"So – how did Germaine like her holiday?"
"Ms. Germaine? Ahh. A formidable woman." Rusudan answered as he came back to the table with a steaming pot of coffee. "But she seemed to enjoy her holiday a great deal. Certainly more than the local wildlife did!"
"Well, when we spoke to her, that's what she said, too. In fact the only thing she had to say that was less than complimentary was that you could do with some better horses." As the words fell out of his mouth, Aswon mentally kicked himself, seeing the dark look that swept over the ranch owners. His mind flashed back to their first encounter, where the Mafia goons had been about to execute them all after torturing them, and the story the family had told of how their first 'warning' had been to set fire to the stables with their best horses trapped inside. "Of course, Germaine did enjoy her stay, and she doesn't know the history of the ranch. But on that note, we need to talk. I wish to help you with the horse situation. Perhaps we can find a breeder or something with some stock that we can purchase?" Rusudan nodded, and Aswon tried to keep a cheerful expression on his face, while he wondered how expensive horses were, and if having new stock would help them forget the old…
They sat around for about an hour, drinking and having something to eat, slowly unwinding in the place that was closest to home for all of them. With a start, Naena suddenly looked around, remarking that they were one missing – and was told that Shimazu was off having some medical treatment, but would be back soon enough.
Eventually though, yawns broke out around the table, and they headed off to bed in dribs and drabs, hearing the quiet murmur of conversation from Nadia's room as she filled Marius in on the previous two and a bit months of development and pregnancy news. Marius listened attentively, but his attention kept wandering as he occasionally felt a kick or movement from her belly, and a strange feeling swept over him that was outside his life experience so far.
Aswon, Hunter and Tads were first up in the morning, grabbing themselves some food for breakfast and a hot drink, as they spotted the family out the back of the ranch attending to the horses and carrying out other work, leaving them with a quiet house for the moment.
"I'm guessing we're going to have at least a good few weeks before we do anything – I can't imagine Marius wanting to leave before the baby is due, and probably not for a good few weeks afterwards, too."
"Yup – I don't think even Kai is daft enough to suggest another job at the moment. Nadia would kill him." Hunter suddenly grinned at Aswon. "Though if we tell her that Kai is demanding that we do a job, and just make sure there's a gun nearby, well…. it's not our fault if she blows his head off, is it? All hormones and stuff. We'd be totally innocent."
"Hunter!"
"Well, it's not like he'd negotiate prices any worse as a corpse…"
"Still no. Though I agree with you that he could do better with his negotiation on goods and services." Aswon sipped at his drink, and wandered over to look out of the front windows. He froze as he examined the new items laid out all over the front field, to the side of the driveway. "Hey, come look at this!" Hunter and Tads joined him, looking out at the mass of concrete barriers and ruined buildings that had sprung up while they were away. "What has she been up to?"
They headed out of the front door and crossed the gravelled area at the front of the house, moving towards the field to get a closer look. A wide variety of obstacles and buildings cluttered the field now, a mix of concrete barriers about two metres long and one high, and buildings made out of extruded plastic sheeting, butted together in variations of L and T shapes. As they wandered around, Aswon's tactical brain noticed a recurring pattern.
"Something weird about this, Hunter. Look, over here…" He wandered over to a 'building', and got into cover, handing over his coffee to Hunter to hold for a moment, then miming holding an assault rifle. "Look – great cover here, to use to supress the buildings there, over there, and to this side." Wide sweeping motions identified the strong positions that could be supressed or held from this spot. "But from that one there, and those two barriers, you're wide open and the enemy can supress you, or take you out with direct fire." He moved on to the next building forward, demonstrating the same thing. And the next. Then he turned and checked the route back, finding exactly the same. The buildings seemed a little wobbly, and were not well held together at the junctions, and Aswon made a mental note to get some kneepads sorted – all the buildings and the barriers had concrete bases, so throwing yourself into cover was likely to be a bit of a rough landing. "This is a really weird setup – but we're going to have a lot of fun playing hide and seek in here, I tell you! The only thing that bothers me is that-"
"Someone can approach from the road and get to within spitting distance of the house without being seen and in great cover. Yeah, I'd noticed." Hunter finished off Aswon's coffee and handed him back the empty mug with a grin. "There's always someone who'll take advantage of a situation…"
"You are…. You know exactly what you are. I'm not going to lower myself to your level."
"Nope, you'd have to crawl, what with those big gangly stork legs of yours." Hunter was completely unrepentant, and headed back to the house, Aswon in tow. When they got inside and Aswon went for a refill, they found Kai had stirred, joining Tads at the table and was watching her as she continued to fill up food supplies.
"Morning, Kai. Nadia's been busy out front – made some kind of shooting house maze thing. Very cool-looking, but might have security implications. But good for training."
"I'll take a look after breakfast. So – we've got a bit of time, it seems. At least two months I'd say."
"Yeah. Do we need to start getting hold of those metals for the device do you think? In case Aden – assuming it was him – comes calling?"
"Probably a good call. I get the impression they're not rare or illegal, but not something most places carry in stock. So we'd probably best do some research to make sure they don't draw too much attention."
"Agree. And I guess Tads will want to go see Aslick at some point, talk about spells and magical resources and things." Aswon looked over and saw her nodding. She didn't say anything, her mouth working to make the sounds of her spell, aiding her concentration as she formed apples out of thin air to neatly line up in a box lined with desiccant packs.
"The tracking thing – do you think that was Aden?"
"I think so – but he's realised we can be a bit hard to keep hold of, and that's why he stooped to using the phone. Or getting his minions to use it anyway. Or maybe it's just the best way he could get the schematic to us – I wouldn't have wanted to be the spirit trying to draw that out exactly as a message. But we should still take precautions – make sure we're going in and out of warded areas to disrupt any rituals and so on."
"I wanted to go camping for a while, out in the hills…"
"If you do Hunter, maybe we can come out with you, and make a ward somewhere. Build a shelter or an archway or something like that – and you can just make sure you wander through it once or twice a day. It'll help…" Hunter nodded to Aswon in agreement, then glanced over as Tads paused in her efforts.
"Don't forget that I have already done some quests on the metaplanes to further hide the signatures of Hunter, Marius and myself – so we're all harder to track anyway. And the tilt-wing, for that matter. It may not be enough, but it should make the job more difficult and take far longer than it might otherwise have been expected. But that means it's you, Kai and Shimazu who are the most vulnerable – and at least you can all potentially sense it coming."
The noise level rose as Rusudan and the family returned from the stables, and Kai changed the subject, asking them about the local town and conditions in the area. They were all relieved to hear that the Mafia situation appeared to still be firmly 'dealt with', and the local police had returned the town to being relatively safe and controlled. Without the drain on the local community, some of the shops had made a bit of a comeback, and apparently there were plenty of people that had been employed as labourers and craftsmen by Nadia during their absence. Kai wondered how much this was going to cost him, and made a mental note to talk to her later.
Shortly afterwards Nadia made her way slowly and carefully down the stairs, joining them at the table. She manoeuvred her way into her seat like a large ship coming into the harbour, moving slowly and carefully until she docked.
"Breakfast, Nadia?" Naena enquired
"Fish, please!" Naena wrinkled her nose but headed into the kitchen to prepare something for her, returning two minutes later with some tuna on toast, drizzled with ketchup. Nadia dived into the food with gusto, while several people watched her with either amusement or mild discomfort. Once she'd eaten her breakfast, along with a large mug of tea, Aswon felt it was reasonable to ask about the front yard.
"Oh that – I hope you like it. I found a business that had collapsed, using laser rifles and sensors on body armour for war games. I thought it would be good fun for the holiday members, a nice safe activity. And also good for training, yes?"
"Yes, it looks very good for training. But I have noticed something that might be… well, a problem. You see it makes the house really easy to sneak up on."
"Hmmm, yes. I did want to put some sensors and detectors down the road, but I didn't have the money for those. By the way Kai, I need some more money for repairs and upgrades." Kai shuddered slightly, but tried to put on a smile for her. "But I think if we can get some sensors, we can make it very hard to sneak up on the house. Hard enough that you couldn't do it. Or Hunter."
"Oh really?" Both Hunter and Aswon seemed slightly shocked by the idea, and a little offended.
"Yes, really. Go, go out to the road, and try to sneak up on the house. I bet you we can see you."
"Up for a sneak, Aswon?" Hunter slid his chair back and headed out. Aswon followed, trying not to let his competitive side show. The two of them headed down the drive, then turned left and crouched down behind some cover, completely hidden from the house. A quick look at each other, and they started moving, each picking a different path to work their way forwards, sometimes crawling, sometimes running in a stoop, diving through some of the empty window frames or crawling through gaps in the buildings at ground level.
"Are you ready?" Nadia's voice called out from the house, and both of them froze, crouching or laying down in the cover they'd found, convinced that there was no way that she could be looking at them.
A series of clunks and mechanical noises echoed around the field, and all around them the obstacles and barriers moved. The concrete barriers dropped, falling into pits or holes underneath them, lowering down until they were at ground level. Buildings seemed to 'collapse', as the fastenings holding the two sides of the L shape gave way, allowing the panels to fall outwards until they lay flat on the ground. In less than a few seconds, the field went from being a complicated maze of dense, hard, GREAT cover to being a flat field with nowhere to hide, exposing the two team members who were still gawping. Nadia motioned with her hand, making a gun shape and 'shooting' each of them, while looking insufferably smug. After a moment, they both got up and headed back to the ranch to meet up with the rest.
"It takes a while to reset – the barriers need to be lifted and the jacks reset, and the buildings stood up and latched back together. But I hope we don't have to do that very often. But if anyone is attacking us and think they are hidden, finding out they are not is a shock. And while they are shocked, you can shoot them, in the face, until they are dead."
"That's very impressive, Nadia. Very impressive! I guess that's what the labourers were for, digging all those holes and pits and things, and burying the cables?"
"Yes, those and the other things. Come, let me show you."
First off was a new covered area to the rear of the stable block, a large gravel area with a series of curved roofs a good five metres up. Nadia explained that it was a place for guests to park their cars if needed, or even big trailers or camper vans – or if needed, they were large enough for articulated lorries to use as an unloading area, safe from overhead view. There were no sides on them – yet – but that was always an option for later work.
Next she led them past the helipad, into a low-lying area of the grounds. The terrain dropped about four metres, forming a large bowl like depression at the foot of the hills, and this had been further emphasised with some earthworks.
"This is the area for the witch to work in." She grinned at Tads. "Here you can see the stakes. I have plans to dig a big hole, but like the fuel tank, perhaps your magic can do this faster than men with spades. But that gives a large body of water. Over there you can see the fire pit." She gestured at a large circular area with terraced steps, dropping down into a central area big enough for a small bonfire to be laid out. With the depression of the area, and then the sunken steps, even a roaring fire three metres high would be hidden from the surrounding area. "So this will let you call your fire demons here. Next is air, this way…"
She led them over to the edge of the area, where a spindly-looking tower rose up, holding a platform nearly ten metres up. "In there is a machine for throwing disks into the air for shooting at. Germaine explained to me, that people like to use shotguns to shoot at them. But also, the tower is surrounded by wind, and big enough to do your magic in. So that is your air demons. And last is earth, that is over here." She led them to an area marked out with some fresh earth laying nearby in mounds. "I wish you to do your earth-moving again here. I have plans for a piece of art. Look." She pulled out her pad and thumbed through some files until she found the clip she wanted, then set it to play. A handful of earth mounds rose up, densely packed and compacted until they formed columns of earth about three metres high. Pipes or holes had been poked through the earth – or maybe built in during construction, it was hard to say – and as the wind blew through the area it made a haunting melodic sound. "I think this will make people happy to see, a nice piece of art. But also mud for your earth monsters.
"Um – Nadia. Where did you get the ideas for all of this from?" Aswon asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.
"I found a guide on the matrix. All kinds of information about summoning monsters and demons by witchcraft. Look." She scanned through her pad again then held it out for them to see. Aswon and Tads looked over it, and shared a glance, then Aswon looked up at Nadia, who once again looked very pleased with herself. "See, is perfect for you to do your magic in."
"I have some good news, and some bad news, Nadia." Aswon gestured around at the four elemental areas. "All of this is EXCELLENT work. Very good. And it adds real value to the ranch. There will be people who would want to come and holiday here for just this reason. It really is very good. But – it's… Tads, do you want to take this one?
"Do you remember when we talked about magic, Nadia? It was a while ago, but we mentioned that there were different types of magic that people could do?" Tads glanced at Aswon, not thanking him one bit for passing her the hot potato.
"Here, let me see that pad." Hunter grabbed it and checked it out, then started to stab at the buttons with his stumpy and powerful fingers. "Ahh, right… I see what's happened. It's the translation software. It's not taken into account the accents, vowel modifiers and verb usage of the original, and just had a stab at the literal meanings of some of the words. He battered away for a moment, then handed the pad back to Nadia. "There – does that make more sense?"
"It's a really good effort, though, Nadia – don't think you've done anything wrong. And it can still be used to summon spirits, just as easily!" Aswon watched as Nadia's face fell as she read the corrected text, realising that what she'd actually made was a fantastic little summoning area for elementals, used by hermetic mages, but of no real benefit to shamanic mages who summoned spirits of the land and sky. With no warning at all, she burst into tears and turned, waddling off at high speed back towards the ranch. Aswon made a move to follow her, but Hunter laid a hand on his arm, almost gently.
"Just leave her for a bit. Let her cry, get the hormones out, and think about it. She'll be fine. Besides, if you follow her, and Marius sees her crying because of something you said, he'll just run you down with the truck. Don't care how fast you can run…"
"It's a shame. It was a really good idea – and it does look like a great resource for hermetics. Don't you think, Tads?"
"Oh, I guess so. I mean, yes – if I dig a hole for a pool, and with the rest… you could summon some big elementals here. But – why would you want to?"
"Not everyone is blessed by Elk and the natural totems." Aswon sighed, and took a look around. "Come on. Let's head back and make sure she's ok."
The three of them headed back to the ranch, examining the improvements and changes made to the ranch since they'd left, and wondering how best to get over to Nadia that what she'd done was still really useful – if not in the way that she had originally intended.
