Wednesday 16/2/2061, Location: 24.78663, 49.38564, Time 13:00

Shimazu reeled backwards and staggered slightly, then sat down with a thump, his eyes glazing over and his face starting to sweat profusely. Tads moved in to check him over, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him and snatching it away suddenly.

"He's hot – really hot, feels like he's burning up!" She moved around behind him to support him, while Kai pulled out the medkit and deployed the probe.

"Temperature is 40.1 Celsius – that can't be right!" He rested the probe on his own skin and watched as the reading dropped back down to 37, then rose sharply again as he returned it to Shimazu. "No, you're right – he's really hot." Kai started to examine him, working from head downwards, and realised that there was a thin trail of blood dripping out of his trousers, too. "And he's bleeding too. Come on, help me get him up!"

Aswon and Hunter moved to help, lifting the big man up between them while Kai and Tads worked to strip Shimazu's trousers down. After more than a year of being crammed together like peas in a pod, body modesty was a thing that had long been sacrificed for expediency, especially when someone was injured. As they worked together to strip the armoured clothing off his massive legs, they revealed the two long splits that ran from his left hip down the back of his thigh to his knees before transferring over to the right calf and running down to the ankle. A closer examination revealed that the skin appeared to have split, rather than been cut, as if someone had pulled the skin apart until it had torn open, leaving a wide channel down the back of his leg. Blood oozed to the surface, pooling into spots until their own weight made them run down the fillet-like texture of his flesh, meandering their way down to the ground.

"Ok, anti-septic spray first, then I'm going to need a bit of pressure on here to ease the flesh back together, and we'll get some dermal-filler on this. I've got no idea why he's so hot, though…" Kai started to pull out equipment from the med-kit, and the others moved around, supporting Shimazu with one hand and applying pressure with the other. A moment later, the air cooled noticeably, dropping by twenty degrees in a matter of seconds as Tads concentrated and pulled mana out of the air, wrapping the cool air around Shimazu's body to try and cool him down.

Shimazu gave a little shudder as the astringent spray was applied to the long wound, but gave no other sign of the pain – but he did start to speak, his eyes closed and his voice having a strange timbre to it, slower and more resonant than his normal voice.

"I saw sand – lots of sand. But the time was wrong, it was some time ago. People – many people. A young woman, feelings of love. Feelings of… intimacy. Then great joy… babies. Several babies, each one loved and special. But then sorrow – deaths, at an early age. One from disease, one from a sting, a sand scorpion, slow and painful. Tears and sorrow, prayers and regret. Asking Allah why he had to take my son from me."

"Time passed, seasons in the blink of an eye. The young woman aged, growing older and weathered, worn by the sun and hard work. But so did my face. I mean, his face, glanced in the cracked mirror on the wall. I felt laughter and silence, love and contentment. Children growing up, learning and developing. A family home, without much, but together, and happy."

"The metal farm came, squatting on the sand like a predator. It took the best land, down by the oasis, swallowing it up. The animals couldn't get as much water, and the herd suffered. We complained, but they told us there was nothing we could do. Some tried to fight the men – but they had guns, and we didn't. At least we got to keep their herds after they died, and there was less competition for access to the well."

"The children have gone, away to seek a life in the city. Now the house feels empty without their laugh and bustle. When they come back, they've seen a new life, bright lights and indoor toilets, carpets and fancy food. Harsh words and things that can't be unsaid. They're gone, and I know they're not coming back. Now its just the two of us, and the house feels sad."

"I was wrong. The house didn't feel sad, it just felt quiet. Now though, now it feels sad. She's gone – the love of my life, taken from me one night by the raiders. To sell? To work for them? For some other reason? I don't know, but now I truly am alone. Decades of life together, and now it's all gone, all for nothing. All if have left is memories, and a space next to me in the bed. I eat alone, I tend the herd alone, I milk the goats alone, I go to market alone. All the things we had done together, now I do alone. Sadness weighs upon me like a heavy blanket. I don't live anymore, I just carry on, each day blending into the next. Too afraid to stop, not having anything to go on for. Alone, empty and stretched, carrying out the motions, day after day."

"A noise, and the bleating of the goats, a scorpion maybe, or some wild dogs on the prowl. I take my crook, ready to fend off the predator, grabbing my head-torch. The batteries are failing, but I can't see in the dark, and the scorpions are dangerous – I remember little Massoud, just one sting was enough to take him from us. I grip the crook tightly and go outside."

"The brown van is still there, in the lee of the stones. They said they were heading to the frakking plant, but they look to have stopped for the night. Strange men and ugly creatures, those cursed by Allah. One tall and one small, abominations to be cursed in the name of the Prophet. But the vehicle is dark and quiet, and the noise is on the other side of the house."

"The demon rises before me, a cold blue glow wreathing the air around them, glowing and pulsing violently! The mouth is distorted, fangs glistening in the light. The blue light fades, replaced by red flames, rising from the feet and wreathing the body in pulsing red light, chasing the blue away. The fangs roar, and I hear the demonic tongue, though it makes no sense to me. Hell-tainted words in a demonic tongue. I see the claws come up, reflecting the flames. Each is a metre long, slicing through the air and whirling around me. One strikes and slices through my crook, sending the top tumbling to the ground. The other nicks my head, sending the torch spinning off into the darkness."

"I turn and run, my resolve broken. Then pain lances through me as the beast slashes at me from behind. I stumble as it cuts my flesh, opening up a gash down my legs. Blood courses through my veins, spilling out into the darkness, and I fall, crying out in pain. I feel my strength leaving me, and I fall into darkness. When I awaken, I'm in my bed – I'm not sure how. It's hot and confusing, and my world is pain. My legs throb, and I can taste rotten fruit in my mouth, and it smells of off-meat."

"When I next awaken the smell is worse, cloying and sweet. I can't move, and I'm lying in my own sweat, feeling my flesh burn and tingle. My tongue is swollen and I am desperate for water, but I can't get out of bed. Now fear takes me, and I wonder if I will wake again. Then it goes dark for a while. When next I stir, all I can smell is rancid meat, and I can barely swallow. And yet – something has changed."

"I am not afraid. Ahead of me I see her. Waiting for me, at the doors of paradise. And I am not alone anymore."

Silence filled the room for a moment as the team listened to his recounting of the vision he'd had. Suddenly the wounds on his leg made a lot more sense – and served as a graphic warning of the dangers that psychometry could pose.

"If the shepherd got infected and that's what killed him – the temperature we were seeing made sense as well – and hopefully that should fade off pretty quickly as well." Aswon suggested.

"Good. It doesn't feel very nice." The others looked at Shimazu, as he made the understated comment, wondering what gulf there was between what he said he was feeling and what he was actually experiencing – Shimazu was not noted for being emotionally forthcoming, even after all this time.

"Shimazu – can you drop your masking? I just want to check out your aura…" Aswon waited for Shimazu to nod and open up his astral aura, then peered carefully at him. "Fascinating. It's like there's a second aura wrapped around yours – or inside. But co-habiting the same space. I'm guessing it's the old man's, his memories and astral presence, formed around the focus and taking a familiar shape. At least I hope so – the alternative is that it's some kind of weird new variant of FAB that's splitting your aura as it infects you…"

"FAB?" Tads asked

"Fluorescing Astral Bacteria. It's a weird lab created growth, designed for astral security. Some mega-corp came up with it, as a way of detecting astral intruders – they impregnate some kind of growth medium with these bacteria, which are dual-natured. When an astral form travels through them, they disturb the bacteria and some get carried along, drawing energy from the host and feeding on it – and starting to glow as well. But because they're not just astral entities, they glow in both planes – so your renta-cop security force can suddenly see a glowing ethereal body moving around, they know to call in for backup."

"Oh – that's what it's called? I think I've seen it once before. Horrible looking stuff."

"Well, that's FAB strain I. Of course they tinkered with it, and once it was out in the world, it started to interact with everything else, and there are some other variants. There's a new version out called Strain III, and that stuff floats around and actively pursues people, latching on and then draining them dry – as in actually consuming all of the magic until they leave just an empty husk. Now that I think about it, I wonder if it's a different strain of FAB we saw down in that Ares facility in Detroit. It certainly looked like that."

"That sounds horrible! What do you do to stop it?"

"Well, for us, we just stop using our powers, or casting spells – turn off your astral activity effectively, and then you're not a target. But for something like your weapon focus, you're out of luck – the FAB will just latch on and feed from it until it's destroyed. And any attempt to fight it off, just feeds it more magic. And if you're something like a free spirit or a shape-shifter, a dragon, a wendigo or some other creature – even something like a ghoul – well, it's a virtual death sentence."

"Why would people make and release something like that?"

A low rumble of laughter rolled around from Hunter and Marius, who looked at each other. Marius nodded to Hunter, letting him explain.

"Greed. Fear. Doubt. Uncertainty. A desire to control. Because they hate the unknown. Lots of reasons. Not good ones, mind you – but that's the corps for you. If they see it, they want it. And if they have it, they don't want anyone else to have it either. And if they can't have it, they're just as likely to want to destroy it to stop anyone else from having it as to try and buy it or steal it."

"True enough. None of which clarifies what we have here." Marius gestured at Shimazu. "Is it a possession, or FAB, or some other weird astral attack? And what do we need to do about it?"

"I don't know" Aswon admitted. Marius didn't look impressed, and silently drew his sidearm, laying it on his lap with his hand curled around the handle, finger resting gently on the trigger. "Hey – I don't know – but it's Shimazu."

"Well, you think it is Shimazu. But you just admitted you do not know for certain. So we should be cautious."

Tads examined his aura, opening herself up to the astral realm and examining him carefully – calling on her totem to help her understand what she was seeing and hoping that it wasn't one of these strains of FAB that Aswon had described. As she studied the astral form, she could see it slowly starting to fade, unravelling back into raw mana and wafting away on an ethereal breeze.

"It's safe enough, I think. I can see it fading already, unravelling as the memories drift away. We should try to lay his spirit to rest though, do something respectful."

"Tads – if you summoned a spirit now, do you think you would get the memories of the man? Could you call him into being and set him free, to become a free spirit?"

"I think so. I'm not sure I should, though – but I think it would be possible."

"No." Shimazu had his eyes closed, but his head shook emphatically. "Leave his spirit be. I don't know if he's with his wife and children in what he thinks is paradise, but I think his time here was done. Let him go."

"Fair enough. Well, I've only got one main question left, I think – do we know what was said when he was attacked?"

Shimazu paused, then took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind and replay the memory.

"I think so – but it's just a guess. I don't think this guy spoke anything other than Arabic, and what was said to him he didn't understand. But from his memory, it sounded like English. And… look, this is just my best guess ok – but it sounded like 'I'll cut you, motherfrakker'. It was distorted and twisted, but it fits."

"Hmm. That does sound like more of a psychopathic attacker rather than a djinn or spirit or something like that."

"But what about the glowing colours, Aswon?" Tads asked.

"Could have been a spell or an illusion. Or for a guy as simple as this, it could have been wearable tech. Look around…" Aswon gestured around the primitive hut, his arm pointing to the simple stone firepit and cooking surface, the deep hole dug into the cooler earth used to store food, the bed made of desiccated reeds and plants covered with goat hide, laid out over a raised pile of earth. "Do you think if you had a t-shirt on with an animated logo, or a jumpsuit that had a flashing logo that this guy would see it as anything other than witchcraft or sorcery?"

"I guest not. So – we're pretty certain it was our people that we're chasing that did this – or at least it sounds that way. Do we go back now, to some of the previous sites, to see if there are more clues we might have missed? More information that might help us?"

"I don't think so, Tads. We got some information here, but even this is more in the way of confirmation rather than anything really new. I'm not sure if we went back that we're going to find out anything particularly useful – and we'll end up even further behind them if we turn around now."

"Is it worth investigating the industrial plant over there? Maybe they have CCTV or sensor footage we can steal and get some information from?" Kai asked.

"Nein. It is a Saeder-Krupp Facility. We should stay well away."

"I agree," Aswon added quickly. "If we really needed to, then sure – but just for some grainy long range footage? Not worth the risk to try and penetrate security on a AAA facility just for that. Regardless of how Marius would feel about it, I don't think the risk to reward is anywhere near worthwhile."

"Ok, so what's the next step?"

"I'm on it already – just crunching the numbers." Hunter looked around the cramped confines of the hut, then back to Kai. "Are we done here? We'll be a lot more comfortable back in the bird, and there'll be a lot less sand lice…" A flash of power erupted out from Tad's extended finger as she cast a very low power stunball, leaving the team unaffected but blasted any vermin, critters and insects into unconsciousness. "Thanks – that'll help. But we've still got more room there, than we have here?"

"Ok, you're right – back to the aircraft then. If you have a good target for us, Marius can be doing his pre-flight while we look through things." The team headed out and back to the tilt-wing, climbing aboard and settling around the screens while Marius started to prepare for take-off.

"I've modelled each of the previous journeys, taking into account a number of factors – terrain, population size, distance, settlement type, proximity to the road, things like that. Every stop I've updated the model and tried to refine it, and work on predicting the next stop on the journey, based on those factors – without knowing what their destination is, it's the best I can come up with. And what we have is this arc of twelve possible villages here, all between one seventy-fixe and two-fifty klicks north of here." He tapped a command, and a small circle appeared around twelve spots on the map – most of them so small that there was no detail besides a single black blob indicating a settlement and the name. "However, the prediction is that they'll be in one of these four here, based on previous evidence." A second ring appeared around four of the villages, towards the eastern end of the arc.

"That one." Kai pointed to a village roughly in the middle.

"Why not start at the end? That'd mean less backtracking?" Tads pointed out.

"Dunno. Call it a gut feeling – but we should start with that one." He leaned in a little and squinted, struggling with the tiny name plate. "Let's go to Al Hinah – I just got a weird feeling about that place…"

Moments later the sand kicked up into a pair of howling vortices, swirling around the engines as Marius lifted off and swung the nose north, accelerating smoothly through the air as he aimed at their next target, a touch under two hundred and fifty kilometres away. They kept low, no more than a hundred metres above the rolling desert, crossing patches of sand and rock, small outcroppings of deep red sandstone, gravel beds and the occasional faint roadway or camel track, flying on a direct route to the next village. Twenty-five minutes later they slowed, and Marius bought them into a hover for a moment as he surveyed the half dozen rough buildings arranged around a flattened square, three faint and rough roads leading out into the wasteland beyond. Slowly they settled, and the team got ready to disembark. Already a few locals had appeared, looking at them with a mix of curiosity and apprehension.

"I'm staying in here for this one." Hunter announced, looking at the handful of people gathering already. "I don't think we need that kind of trouble."

The rest of the team disembarked, falling into escort positions around Kai and heading over to the first person they could reach, who gripped his stick nervously as they closed on his position.

"We are here about the murder that happened." Marius announced after he had got the basic introductions and greeting out of the way.

"Murder? No, he's not dead. At least not yet? The head-man hasn't said anything? Is he going to die?"

"Perhaps I mis-spoke. We are here about the attempted murder. Please take us to the mayor or head-man." Marius recovered smoothly, changing the emphasis of his word slightly. The man nodded, and gestured to one of the houses that was perhaps slightly larger and grander than the others. They marched over that way, and Marius rapped on the door sharply. When the door opened, the man wasn't in traditional robes or desert gear, but instead wore a shirt and trousers – slightly worn and well-aged, but marked him out from the rest of the village.

"We are investigators, come to look at the attack a few days ago. We have been pursuing the criminals for some distance, all the way from Muskat, and they have killed or attacked a number of other people along the way. What can you tell us about the attack?"

"I wasn't notified of your coming?" The man reached into his pocket, pulling out a very simple and ancient looking mobile phone, holding it up and rotating his hand slightly as he tried to get a signal. "I reported this to the regional police station, and they said they would send someone when they were available… but they would call me to let me know."

"Ahh, we do not work with the local police. We are international investigators – these people are wanted in multiple countries for their crimes. That is probably why you have not been notified." Marius translated back and forth to Kai, but ignored a lot of what Kai said, just using him as a source of body language and warm but official smiles but instead negotiating directly with him – and trying hard to stay as close to the truth as he could, without revealing anything they didn't want to. What he was saying wasn't technically untrue, but he did gloss over the international nature of their activities somewhat – and he never actually claimed to be an official of any kind.

"Ah, well. It's a strange thing to be certain. Well, you'd better come in, he's resting in the back room. He's very ill though, and we have no medicine. We've done what we can for him…" He led them inside, through a small living room to an even smaller bedroom. Despite the appearances from the outside, the inside was actually well-decorated, with the walls painted and rugs and soft furnishings laying around. In the back room was a rickety looking bed, upon which lay a man who had turned to look at them, having clearly heard the discussion outside. The room smelled of sweat and rotting meat, though, and there was an aura in here that set them on edge.

"Who…who are you?" The man managed to croak, struggling to try and sit up a little before the effort overcame him and he slumped back down onto the thin mattress.

"We are international investigators, following a criminal gang. They started in Muskat and have been working their way across the desert. There have been a number of attacks, and several brutal killings – we are actually pleasantly surprised to find you alive, and hope you can give us some information to help us find and capture these people. Now, who are you?" Marius squatted down next to the man, making it easier to hear his response.

"My name is Mahad, Doctor Fariq Mahad. I'm an engineer. I was here to dig the new well for the village, and make sure it was correct. The old well was drying up, you see, the water brackish and polluted, and the people need it to live on. So we were driving a new well down to the aquifer. It's a big job, and we have to make sure the well shaft is dug properly, or it will collapse and the people will die from lack of water."

"Sounds like a very important task." Marius noted.

"Yes, it is. But it's very rewarding, knowing that these people will live good lives because of my work. I studied hard at university, but I have a talent for these kinds of jobs, so I travel all over. It can be tough sometimes – the people think they know about digging, but you have to have a fine touch, you see."

"Indeed. But what can you tell me about the attack?" Marius prompted, trying to cut to the important details.

"Well, the labourers had finished for the night, but I was checking the well progress, making sure we were still dropping vertically. I wanted to make sure we were good for the morning – we try to do most of the digging at dawn and dusk, otherwise it's just too hot, you see. So I was dropping a line and taking readings, and I heard someone coming up behind me. I thought it was one of the workers at first, coming back to check on something, or pick up tools. They're bad for leaving things just lying around anywhere, and you have to constantly remind them to tidy things up and secure their gear. But anyway, I thought it was one of them at first, so I wasn't alarmed. I mean, who else comes out here?"

"And then what happened?"

"I got hit. Well, kicked I think. Kicked really hard in the back. It pushed me forwards, and I nearly fell over the well equipment. So I had to stagger to the side, and try to not fall over." He pulled back the sheet and then mimed his arms flailing around, and the team saw that his left arm ended in a stump just below the elbow. It was wrapped in rough burlap cloth, and the cloth was soaked through with blood which had dried and formed a crust. As soon as the arm was outside the sheet, a fly started to circle the stump, attracted by the cloying smell of decay. Tads twitched as she saw the wound, and had to restrain herself from moving to take care of it – knowing that an overt display of magical power was likely to cause them problems.

"And then you were struck?" Marius prompted.

"Yes, I saw a flash of red and yellow and orange light, and then something swung through the air, and my arm…well, you can see. It fell to the ground and I screamed. And I'm sure I heard laughing, before whoever hit me ran off."

"Where is your arm now? Perhaps there is a way to reattach it, or repair the damage?" Tads asked, Marius translating a moment later. They listened as the man responded, though from the expression on his face, it clearly wasn't good news.

"He says it is gone. He thinks he heard a dog fighting over it. He cannot be sure though, but nobody has found it."

"Can you ask him about the light he saw – the colours and what he thought it was?" Aswon asked. Marius once more translated, going back and forth several times.

"He says he thinks it was smart-clothing. Some kind of electro-luminescent design, maybe an advertising slogan of some kind, or perhaps something that can be programmed. At least he went to university in the city, so he is aware of such things and does not just think it was witchcraft."

Tads moved around to the head of the bed, spotting a cloth and a bowl of warm water. She soaked the cloth and then folded it neatly, before gently wiping the engineer's brow, easing back his matted hair. Glancing around the room she could still see the mayor though – and she wasn't sure if the others would be able to obscure her for long enough to cast any spells without him noticing.

"Perhaps we should take him back to the aircraft to look at this wound. If we're out of sight, we can be more…flexible with our methods." She looked at Kai while drumming her fingers on her magical staff, hoping he'd understand what she was really asking.

"Good suggestion." He smiled at the engineer, then laid a hand on his leg, and pointed outside the building. "Tell him we're here to help him please, Marius, but we need to take him back to our special medical facility. I'm sure we can actually help him better on the plane, and we can take care of other matters too there, away from prying eyes." His tone was light, and he had a broad smile on his face, and held up his med-kit part way through the speech – seeing the recognition in the engineer's eyes.

Once he had agreed, Marius, Shimazu and Aswon moved around the bed, lifting it up entirely and carefully moving it out of the room and walking back towards the tilt-wing with it. Opening the side door, they manoeuvred him inside and then sealed the door behind them. The engineer looked around him with some curiosity and Kai swiftly inserted a canula into the back of his hand and gave him a hefty dose of sedative, sending him into a soporific state.

"He shouldn't remember much, at least not clearly – not with that much inside him. Ok, let's get to work on this wound first of all…" They carefully peeled off the rough sackcloth, breaking off the clotted blood and revealing the wound, oozing blood at an increasing rate now the bandage was gone. Shimazu moved the arm a little and then pinched his hand in under the armpit, strong fingers finding the artery and clamping down hard, until the blood flow almost stopped.

"Ok, thanks. We need to work quickly though, otherwise it's not going to help the necrosis or limb viability. Let's see what we have here…" The others listened as Kai examined the wound and detailed the injury, describing the nature of the cut and the pathology of the attack – recognising the features of the strong, overhead swing all too quickly. Unfortunately the first aid attempt had been poor, and there was clear sign of both infection and flesh that already had parasites growing in it, that would be life threatening very shortly. "I think we need to take off a bit more of the arm, to give us a clean start."

"Hunter? Come take over, please – just put your hand in here when I slide out of the way, and you should feel a dent in the flesh from where I was pressing. Just press down hard, right with the point of your fingers…" They swapped over as quickly as they could, cutting down on the amount of blood that spurted from the wound when pressure was removed to a bare minimum, and Shimazu drew his sword and carefully measured up his swing. Just before he was about to swing, Kai wiped the blade down with an antiseptic solution then moved quickly out of the way. The blade swung once, with a grunt of effort from Shimazu as he made sure to cut all the way through the arm in a single blow before his sinews strained to stop the blade abruptly before he hit anything else.

Kai dived in quickly, working to isolate the blood vessels and cauterise them with a small probe, and then applied a bio-mnemonic gel over the nerve endings, sealing and preserving them for later use. A healthy dose of anti-biotic solution was injected directly into the flesh of the new cut, especially around the bone, before Kai grabbed a compression fitting and worked swiftly to cover the raw wound, padding it out with sterile dressings laced with coagulants and more anti-biotic pads that would administer the medicine on a slow-release.

"Ok, he should be good now. Hunter, take the pressure off." Kai asked quietly, observing the limb as blood started to flow back in, checking over the engineer's vitals and running a full check on the built-in medical probe. "That looks like it's holding, and there's good flow into the limb. Hopefully the nerve caps will take, and that'll make it possible to fit a cyber-replacement later with full functionality. Assuming he can afford it, or his company will pay for it, anyway."

"Maybe we can take a copy of his ID and send him some money?" Tads enquired, ever the altruist. Nobody on the team said anything – either because they didn't personally care either way, or they knew how much that would empty their account by the time the surgical costs had been added onto the actual cost of the cyber-replacement.

"Maybe, Tads. For the moment though, can you see if you can get some extra information for us?" Kai watched as Tads moved around to gently lay her hands on his forehead, settling down cross-legged to draw in the mana and prepare to cast her mind-probe. She sat still for a minute, concentrating hard while the rest of the team moved around her and tidied up from the surgery – taking care not to jostle or disturb her.

"I'm not getting a lot – he was attacked from behind, and he only caught a glimpse right out of the corner of his eye. It was pretty dark in the village – no street lights or anything like that, just a little light spill from the houses. The colours were on a shifting pattern, like a flame effect, and there was a ring around the face – maybe a hood drawn up, or a very high collar perhaps. I've got a little detail on the face – definitely tusks and a mottled face, not sure if a small troll or a large ork though. But definitely one of those two metavariants, or someone under a good quality illusion spell. And female – the shape of the face was tapered quite strongly, not anywhere near as square jawed or well defined as Hunter. And the laugh was higher pitched as well, without being falsetto. And I can confirm his thoughts about the dogs – he's got subconscious memories of hearing dogs fighting, and a distorted view of one of them running off with his arm, pursued by several more. So I guess that's gone… but I did get his home address, just in case we need it!" She stared at Kai for a moment, then relented and broke her gaze – hoping he'd do what she felt was the 'right thing' but not wanting to fight about it.

She released contact with the engineer's head and smoothed down his hair. Technically she didn't have to touch his head at all – her spell would have worked if she was holding onto his finger, but it somehow felt 'better' to be making contact near the head when she was trying to probe someone's mind – it seemed to feel slightly easier for some reason.

"Ok, let's get him back to the mayor's hours to recover. We'll leave some medicine, but the dressings should be ok for a few days – or at least until they can get him out of here." Kai paused for a moment as the brilliant gold-yellow light filled the tilt-wing, centred on the engineer's arm stump. He closed his eyes for a moment to avoid being blinded and continued. "And with the infection knocked back, he shouldn't be in any immediate danger." Thirty seconds later the glow subsided, and they could blink a few times, restoring their vision. They reversed the operation, sliding the bed out of the tilt-wing and carrying it back to the house, sliding it back where it came from. The mayor checked over the engineer's comatose form, noting the new bandage and dressing, but also the much restored colour and tone of his skin.

"Now, we have attended to his wounds – he should make a good recovery, but he would be best served by his superiors being informed of his injury so they can make the correct plans. But we have also gathered some information about the wound, and we can confirm that it is the same assailant as we are pursuing, so we need to continue our investigation." Marius paused for a moment and waited for the mayor to nod in understanding. "In every stop previously, we have detected a vehicle that they are travelling in, and there have been sightings that have confirmed their presence. Did you see anything unusual?"

"Well, there was an unusual truck – a yellow Water-Aid truck. I thought it was a different group of people about the well, but he said not." The mayor gestured to the engineer. "That was very odd – we don't get much traffic here."

"And did you see which way they went?"

"Yes, they left on the north road, heading up into the boulders there – the road runs for a good way beside an escarpment, and then to the dunelands. That way!" Marius made a note of the direction, and fed it back to Hunter over his private side-channel.

"Looks like a bearing of three five zero, heading for deep desert and a number of settlements. Setting up the program now…" Marius heard in his ear. "Well – that didn't take long – but there's not a lot of choice out there. Looks like they're probably heading for Al Wafrah. Bigger town – actually the biggest place they've been to – but like I said, there's not really any alternatives. Slim pickings out there…"

They bade goodbye to the mayor, leaving the sleeping engineer behind with a small vial of medicine to stave off infection – though with Tad's magical healing on top of the surgery they'd carried out, they had no doubt he'd make a full recovery – and climbed back aboard the tilt-wing and were soon heading north across the desert. At first glance it looked barren, but on closer examination they could see the odd patch of desert grass, scrubby bushes or withered trees growing out of cracks and crevices in the harsh terrain. Far in the distance they saw a handful of gazelles walking across the top of a dune, slowly munching on the tough grasses as they sought out the sustenance they needed to stay alive in the harsh environment.

Al-Wafrah was an oddity – as they approached they could see the ruler straight edge of town, running perpendicular to their course. The town sprawled in the other three directions, buildings and roads laid out chaotically, but on the side facing them there was a perfectly straight line of buildings, with no roads heading their way. Hunter checked the map more carefully, then dived into the matrix looking for some older maps before he found the reason why.

"Before everything was unified as the Arabian Caliphate, this used to be the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There's some references in texts to an autonomous zone, so I'm guessing that the area was subject to some special rules on development and they weren't allowed to cross the border line – but it also wasn't fenced off or secured."

"There's fields on the far side though – I can see greenery! Lots of life and growth!" Tads called out from the rear, her eyes peering through the optics. "Looks like several kilometres of farms, all with lots of crops. I wonder where the water is coming from?"

"Not sure." Kai responded. "Marius – can you put us down on this side of the old border then. Just outside the town – we should be able to avoid any buildings easily but still walk in – and I bet the locals have some weird habits about not crossing the border, even on foot. Stuff like that becomes a tradition in societies, and that's hard to shake – might keep people away from the aircraft."

"And if that doesn't, I'll shout at them." Hunter added with a grin. "Last thing they'll want to do is upset a devil…"

"Well, I guess that answers that questions – everyone else coming with us into town, then?" Kai looked around and got a series of nods and agreements. Tads had panned down to the town and had already started to reach for her concealing head-dress and flowing robes with a barely constrained sigh. "Ok, concealed weapons as normal then, I'll open up with the same spiel as before, and Marius if you can handle the translation as before. It seems to be working so far, so let's not change the recipe."

They landed smoothly, throwing up sand into a high plume as they neared the ground that obscured the town from view, but Marius had gathered significant experience with desert landings now and quickly chopped the power, cinching down the air intakes as quickly as possible to prevent the ingress of sand into his precious engines.

When the bird was secured, the team headed into the edge of town, leaving Hunter behind in the aircraft, listening in on comms as they progressed through the town and monitoring their position on his map – it wasn't very detailed, but it was better than nothing. It wasn't long before they ran into one of the locals, and Kai and Marius swung into action – and were quickly led towards the local mosque. It was a fairly large building, with walls painted a brilliant white, a large minaret adorning the tower atop the building. Marius pulled up at the door, his hand out to one side preventing the others from passing him.

"We are not of your faith, so out of respect, we will not enter. Could you ask the Imam to come out and speak to us?"

"Alas that I cannot. It is the Imam that was attacked and killed!"

"Oh!" Marius blinked, then translated for the others. The man had seemed very intent on leading them to the mosque as soon as he'd explained they were here about the attack, and now his urgency was explained.

"Is there another Imam?"

"We have sent word, but nobody has come yet. There is some problem, but I don't understand what. They had to send word to the main mosque at Riyadh."

"I bet it's some weird historical legacy of this autonomous zone thing. Some weird bureaucratic rule or something. Ok, Marius, can you tell him that we're investigating the murders, and wish to look at the body, and that we'll be as respectful as possible, but time is of the essence, and only he can help us now, to bring the perpetrators to justice." He punctuated his words with sharp hand strikes and gestures, and stood tall, trying to project a sense of determination. Marius translated quickly, gesturing at Kai several times and the mosque, then waited for a response. They could see the man agonise – thrust into a position that was beyond his responsibility and experience, but like so many people, struggling against his internal desire to be helpful, and the anger he felt about the attack against his faith. He wavered, then nodded, firing off a rapid string of Arabic at Marius, before holding the door open.

"He agrees to show us, if we are hunting down the person or people responsible. But we must take off our shoes, and wash as we enter, and not touch any of the books or decorations."

"I'll wait out here. It'll be simpler." Tads said.

"I'll wait with you then – I'm not leaving you out here alone." Aswon added, quickly continuing as she opened her mouth "I know you can look after yourself – but the locals won't, and it will be just as difficult to deal with if they decide you need a chaperone or taking to somewhere safe to look after your sanctity." Tads closed her mouth and unhappily nodded, and the pair moved to the side of the doorway and leant against the mosque. Kai, Shimazu and Marius slipped off their boots and headed inside, moving to the stone fountain and washing their hands up to the wrists and wiping their faces, following the example set by the local man. He led them past the main prayer hall, a square area supported by many columns, currently empty, and down a small corridor that ran alongside the prayer hall to a suite of rooms to the rear of the building. In one, a body lay concealed in a cloth, laid out atop a table. The familiar sweet smell filled the room, and the noses wrinkled as they encountered the smell of death and decay once more.

"We will treat the body with the utmost respect, and try not to touch it at all if we can, but we must examine the wound to determine if this is the same attacker. Perhaps you could pray for the Imam, while we conduct our investigation." The local nodded to Marius, and hustled back to the main prayer room, falling into a safe and comforting routine as he carried out his familiar prayers.

Marius waited by the open door, keeping an eye on the corridor in case he returned, while Kai and Shimazu moved over to the body and carefully peeled back the sheet. A lone fly flew up into the air, having been trapped under the cloth, buzzing around the room slowly after having fed until it was gorged. The body was a ruined mess, and the face distorted into a mien of both fear and pain. The man was still dressed, his clothes clearly rent by two large slices that stretched from shoulders to hips.

"Fits the pattern. Two large, powerful swings, from overhead, long blades, probably close to a metre, with a very sharp edge. The right struck first, travelling down and opening up the flesh over the stomach and striking at the intestines and several organs, the left followed very quickly afterwards, cutting at an acute angle that caused further damage. The flesh here," Shimazu gestured to the area just above the navel, "would have been unsupported and started to peel away, and there would have been a huge amount of bleeding and a tendency for the internal organs to start to slump and fall away from the body."

"I'll take your word for it on the cutting, but I agree on the wounds – no way this man was going to survive without immediate access to a trauma centre – not with that much damage. But we're definitely catching up with them – this is fresher still, though the temperature isn't helping at all." Kai gestured to the sheet, and they carefully covered up the body. Shimazu bowed his head for a moment, calling upon the man's ancestors to watch over his spirit.

"When we catch up with these people – I am in favour of just obliterating them." Marius announced. "I do not share his beliefs," he nodded with his head at the covered corpse, "or particularly care about any of the other people – but there is no reason for these attacks. They kill for no reason, and they are worse than animals."

"Come on, let's see if we can catch up with them then." Kai gestured to the corridor and the three of them headed back out, waiting near the front entrance until the local noticed them and came to see them.

"Let him know we're done and that we're chasing the murderers and intend to bring them to justice please – and ask about a vehicle?" Kai asked, then waited as Marius translated. The back and forth went on for some time – longer than expected, but Shimazu and Kai just waited patiently.

"I have promised him that we will pursue the killers with all of our might, and that they will be punished – severely – when they are caught. But we are in luck – there was a strange vehicle in the area on the night of the murder. A rusty white van, marked up as…

"Al Halal Chicken transport?" Kai and Shimazu responded in unison. Marius nodded to them.

"Maybe their photo-voltaics are old and their controller has a limited capacity," Hunter called out over the link, "or maybe they think they're safe rotating through them because of how far they're travelling. But if they're following the same pattern, then we've got a red and white Abu Dhabi import export truck to look for next…"

They thanked the local and left the mosque, filling in Tads and Aswon on the doorstep as they relaced their boots and got ready to leave.

"Do you know – I've had a thought about this…I wonder if it's a physical adept with some kind of blood-letting compulsion? I agree with you Marius, it doesn't make sense – none of these seems to have really helped them out in any way, and it's just left a trail to follow. I've heard of toxic shamans – I wonder if a physical adept can follow the twisted path, and be forced into something like this. What do you think, Tads?"

"It sounds horrible – but plausible. I have heard of shamans twisted into following dark entities that distort their grasp of reality to the point that they pollute and despoil instead of nurture – I see no reason that it couldn't happen to a physical adept, too. Can you ask your spear? It seems a bit bloodthirsty sometimes…"

"Hey – you leave my spear out of this!"

"I'm being serious. What if they have an ancient weapon too – but one with a darker and more bloodthirsty edge, something that drives them to kill and cause pain. I can't see a reason why not…"

"I hadn't thought of it that way… but I also don't think my spear has an awareness like that. It's not sentient – or if it is, it's hiding it from me so far. It just has…feelings sometimes. Either that or I'm getting something like Shimazu's psychometry sometimes spilling over onto me. Regardless, I don't think I can ask it questions like that and actually get an answer."

"We are coming up on an area where they could change direction quite a lot though. If they wanted to start turning east, they can very quickly from here."

"Surely if they were going east though, it would have made a lot more sense to cross the water from one of the ports though, Tads." Aswon replied. Tads nodded and shrugged.

"She might be onto something, though – who would believe they would drive all this way around, instead of taking a boat over? I think most people would discount the idea as stupid – but if they DO turn east, they can head through southern Iraq, towards the 'stans, or down towards India. It could be something to throw people off their trail."

"That's twisted – but possible I suppose. If they turn west here, they're heading towards Syria, Israel and Palestine – but still going over some very rough terrain. Or they could continue northwards, towards Iran, western Iraq and Europe beyond – or like you say turn east and start heading for Asia. Lots of options. Hopefully Hunter is going to work his magic…"

"Working on it Aswon. Working on it."

"At least we have one good advantage." Kai grinned, though it lacked any humour. "These frakkers don't seem to be aware we're on their tail. No change in the way they're operating at all, which means they're probably going to carry on just the same. And at the rate we're gaining on them, if we do keep finding their stopping points, another day, maybe two we'll catch up with them. And I'm inclined to agree with Marius. Perhaps just a couple of passes and some fire from the door-guns, and we look for the painting in the burning wreckage. Germaine did say she wanted an example made of them, after all…"

They headed back to the aircraft in a sombre mood, striding purposefully through the streets and ignoring the curious looks from the houses as they went. A little after four in the afternoon they lifted off and headed north, quickly disappearing from view as a powerful desert spirit wrapped it's concealing energies around them.

"Ok, our next four targets are Ar Rumaylah, small village to the west – has a fuel stop and is not that far off a main road – or what passes for one over here anyway. A little way east of that is Ar Rafaa'iya – same kind of size, also has a fuel station, but that's located in-between two of the main roads to the north. Go east again and we have Khor Al Zubair, another place with a fuel stop, a little further from the main roads though, and after that there's a big bunch of nothing until we get way to the east and Chavibdeh – if they are bending a course round to the 'stans or India, then that's about the only place they could stop that way – next to a corporate research reserve and not far off the coast, but a pretty small place." Hunter fired all the information over to the screens in the back, zooming in on each location as he described them and then pulling back out to show all four, along with possible routes and distance travelled.

"Hmm, if they are heading east, then that's going to take them on a pretty sharp course change to the right of their current course – and we can cut the corner and overfly the water to take a much more direct route. Though that does mean messing with coastal radar and any navy assets. If we head for one of the others, we're dealing with the Caliphate border with Iraq, which is likely to be a little softer – though still not nothing."

"I think we should be able to avoid any naval assets on a route over the marchland and river delta." Marius announced as he studied the map. "Though I still find it hard to believe they are going that way. Throwing off pursuit is one thing, but they could have saved over a week of off-road travel if they had boarded any kind of boat to cross the gulf near Muscat."

"Maybe if they were planning on killing all along, it would have raised the alarm too quickly on a boat. Nowhere to run after all."

"Perhaps, Kai. They never make any effort to hide the bodies after all. Perhaps that is part of whatever ritual form these attacks take?" His voice rose at the end, asking the question to all in the back.

"I have no idea – we're making the assumption that they are either deranged, psychotic or twisted – but we don't have a lot of information to go on. We have found people alive, though – so maybe it's not about the killing at all – and just the attack. If they don't care either way, and they have someone skilled like Shimazu with blades, fighting against housewives, children and unsuspecting engineers, it's not surprising that people are ending up dead, though." Tads looked uncomfortably around, as she tried to put herself in their shoes – clearly not enjoying it.

"One thing I think, though – it's been too consistent to be a secret. That means the rest of the team we're following are at least aware of this, and probably endorsing it. And that says something about their mental states or moral position, too."

"Or they just don't care either way, Aswon…" Hunter leant around in his seat to stare back at the team in the back through the open cockpit door. His face was illuminated by the instrument lights, bathed in a glow of red and orange light that cast strange shadows on his ugly face, giving him a somewhat demonic visage. Shimazu suddenly rose to his feet, hand dropping to his sword and the blade made a hissing sound as it was half-drawn from the scabbard before the big bodyguard blinked and suddenly relaxed, gently lowering the blade back into the resting position.

"Sorry – flashback. The way your face was lit there – that's exactly the kind of thing that shepherd saw before he died – I'm certain of it."

The team was silent for a moment, Hunter staring at Shimazu and watching as the big man returned to his seat and stared straight ahead of him, slowing his breathing and starting to meditate. Hunter didn't scare easily, but he was acutely aware that if Shimazu had not managed to over-ride his impulse to attack, he probably wouldn't have managed to get in a position to defend himself – not while strapped into his flight harness. He reached back and swung the cockpit door shut with a grimace, before turning back to check on his map.

"Maybe the killing is the last thing they're doing before they leave – it could be that the person doing the killing is the person on guard or patrol, and just goes and attacks before getting back into their vehicle? That might conceal it from the rest of them…"

"I dunno, Tads. That wasn't the case for the woman in the apartment as Muscat – she was in the apartment, and probably killed before they left. It would be pretty unlikely that she turned up to clean just as the rest of them were left and one person was still inside…"

"I guess so, Hunter. But I can't work out why they're doing it otherwise."

"We are coming up on the border – keep a lookout." Marius warned, and Tads adjusted the optical viewport on her head, scanning around and looking for astral monitors or other phenomenon. There were none, and Marius was true to his word, sending them skimming over the swampy land near the end of the gulf, neatly avoiding the naval assets out on patrol further out, and slicing in under the radar coverage of the border patrols further inland. Once he'd left the swamp he followed the land to the east, soon arriving at Chavibdeh. Other than being Iraqi rather than a Caliphate settlement, it fitted the profile exactly, and they followed the previous plan – setting down on the edge of the village in a spot as unobtrusive as they could, then wandering out with the whole team except Hunter to look for a local.

This time though they were out of luck – despite asking around and speaking with three of the villages, they found no sign of the other teams passing, no sightings of mysterious vehicles and no attacks. After twenty minutes of checking for signs of their passing without any positive results, they headed back to the aircraft and prepared for takeoff, planning to head west and towards the next settlement – Khor Al Zubair.

The sun was just setting as they approached Khor Al Zubair, and looking down at the settlement they realised that this was unlikely to be the location they were looking for either – it was either a very large town or a small city, with a significant industrial presence, including several corporate facilities. Even as they approached they could see two separate sets of police lights in different parts of the city, attending to reports of crime or civil disturbance. Several high-rise buildings rose in the centre of town, and street lights shone like tiny baubles, identifying the grid pattern of the city in the night air.

"I don't see this as likely – perhaps we should push on to the next one. What's our ETA, Hunter?"

"About ten minutes, I think."

"Ok, let's push on – this doesn't feel right at all, and I think we'll be as obvious as they would have been."

Marius banked over, adjusting course to avoid the city and fly in a gentle arc around it, keeping a constant distance between himself and the corporate landing pads with their attendant sensors and surveillance systems, then headed further west to the smaller settlements that lay off the main roads leading to the north.

Like a ghost, they slipped across the scrubland, concealed by their protective spirit, engines hardly making a noise and their radar absorbent hull giving not even the faintest hint of their passing to the radar sets at Basra airport to the north. Ahead of them lay the smaller cluster of lights of the tiny village, and Marius angled down towards it, ready to investigate another possible site…