The morning of the 10th started in the now familiar pattern – the team assembled for breakfast, laying out a spread of food on the table and grazing as they discussed what they had planned for the day. Marius, having ticked off most of the things on his list, put forward the idea of poking the grapevine in the city, to see if there was any work.
"No!" It was hard to say whether Kai or Aswon was first, but they were both pretty emphatic. The rest of the team looked between them wondering which was going to explain why first, settling with Kai. Aswon's decision was pretty much a given – he much preferred to work on a single task at a time, complete it and move on to the next, which the rest of the team understood. Kai however seemed far more "freewheeling" and irreverent, and his choice seemed to surprise most of them.
"Look, the longer we stay here, the more I realise that we're in a totally different environment. We don't know the people, the city or the threats, and I get the feeling that there's far more going on here than meets the eye. And if this golem is as hot as it sounds, we really don't want to borrow any trouble – you'll only shout at me if we do anyway."
"And don't forget, we're potentially going to have a very hot sniper rifle as well, if this deal goes down!" Aswon reminded everyone about the weapons deal they were currently working on. Marius shrugged, and grabbed himself another glass of juice.
"No problem – I just wanted to check. I'm sure I can fill my time with some reading or research on something, or keeping up to date with hardware developments."
"You can always help Hunter with the route planning on the way back, Marius," suggested Tads. "I'd really like to avoid that warlord's territory for one – he seemed quite certain about his feelings, and I think he's not someone we want to mess with."
"Oh no. He's on the list! He shot my truck!" The rest of the team shared smiles at the proprietary air used whenever the German spoke about the vehicle. Despite frequently expressing his desire for a helicopter as a 'proper' means of transport for them, he guarded the truck like a lioness guarding her cubs. Hunter raised his eyebrow at Marius, inviting further explanation. "He's going to be dealt with, sooner or later – he shot at us, and damaged the truck. I'm not forgetting that." Tads rolled her eyes, while the others nodded or smiled at Marius with various levels of amusement. Marius however didn't seem to think there was anything funny about the situation and sat back grumbling to himself.
Further conversation was interrupted by an urgent rapping on the front door of the apartment. For a moment, they froze in place, processing what was going on. Shimazu was reaching for the juice, and Aswon was midway through putting some spread on a soy-roll, whilst the others paused mid-chew – their eyes flitted to each other, but nobody had any explanation for the interruption. The rap repeated, even louder, breaking the spell. Tads took on a dreamy expression as her consciousness expanded to include astral space and she looked around for intruders or observers. Hunter reached behind him and a gun appeared in his hand, whilst the others quietly rose from their seats and headed to their rooms for weapons of their own. Shimazu looked around, shrugged and headed to the front door. There wasn't a peep-hole, just a video screen that was linked to the camera down covering the entrance. That of course made the knock on the door even more suspicious.
Shimazu took a deep breath, feeling magic tingling through his body as he took a deeper level of control of his motor functions. He pulled the door open a few inches, and looked through the gap, his senses tingling and his muscles quivering, ready to react to an ambush or attack. Beyond the door in the hallway was a swarthy-looking man, of medium height and build. Dark eyes looked out of sunken eye sockets guarded by large bushy eyebrows, and despite it being early in the morning, there was a pronounced five o'clock shadow over his jaw. Shimazu looked at him, watching him shift from foot to foot.
"Please? Paper. I need paper, please. Is urgent." The voice quivered slightly, and Shimazu nodded at him, then pushed the door closed. As he turned, he saw Aswon just slapping a round home in his rifle, at one end of the corridor, and saw Hunter in the main room, now taking refuge behind the furniture and steadying his assault rifle at the door. Tads was out of sight, but he assumed she was hidden away somewhere, ready to unleash magical energies if this all kicked off. He gave a little wave though, and strode down the corridor into the bathroom, grabbing a roll of paper and returning to the door, ignoring the stares of confusion from the others. Opening the door again, the man was still there, still hopping from side to side in visible distress. As he handed over the roll of paper, he extended his senses, following the training that Tads had shared with him. He felt the life-force of the man before him, the implants gathered in his head and running down his spine corrupting and diminishing his essence – the invisible cost of the enhanced performance they offered. The emotions radiating off him seemed genuine – desire, haste, discomfort – certainly nothing indicating an ambush.
He thrust the paper through the gap in the door, and the other man seized it swiftly, and said some words in a language Shimazu didn't understand. It sounded like a thank you though, and the man hobbled down the stairs, apparently with only one thing on his mind now. Shimazu watched him go, disappearing down the first turn in the stairs and out of sight, and he didn't appear to be slowing or acting in any way suspiciously. He eased the door closed, and wandered back into the main room.
"Who was that?" asked Kai, from behind the door.
"Neighbour I think – needed some toilet roll." Around the flat, there were various clicks and mechanical noises as guns were safed or magazines ejected. It was entirely likely that their visitor had absolutely no idea how close his simple request had bought him to death in a variety of calibres. Even now Hunter was still looking suspicious.
Breakfast seemed pretty much finished, and people drifted away to various tasks. Hunter, though, seemed very suspicious still, and spent a while moving between the front and sides of the house, observing the grounds and the street below carefully. The others left him to it, not being bothered by the situation themselves – but happy enough to let him be paranoid for a while, just in case.
Marius was in his room, talking with Nadia and planning out the day, when one of his burner phones rang, with a call from an unknown number. He grabbed the phone and strode across the room to the door, glancing up the corridor and calling to Hunter, before answering the phone. Hunter took up position, in case it was a diversion. As Marius hit the accept button, he changed his pattern of speech and lowered his tone and changed the word patterns in use, approximating the guttural speech he'd head a few of the locals use.
"Are you trying to be funny, Marius?" They relaxed when they heard Ohmar's voice, and Marius dropped the accent straight away.
"No, just being careful – didn't recognise the number, and we had a visitor at the house not long ago. What can we do for you?"
"I just wanted to check with you about your team – do you have any dwarves or trolls, or anyone that needs undersized or outsized grips for their weapons. Or anything like that?" Ohmar's voice gave a slight inflexion on the word 'troll' but it was minimal.
"No, regular sized stuff is fine across the board for us. Exactly as it comes out of the factory," replied Marius. Ohmar seemed satisfied with this, and after a few pleasantries hung up.
Things quietened down after that, and people started to relax. Aswon and Kai returned to their training, Nadia was engaged with the computer researching things on the matrix, and making notes on her pocket secretary. Marius got together with Hunter, and started to teach him the basics of electronic circuit repair and diagnostics, laying out his kit and some of their various kit to use as practical teaching aides.
When everyone was engaged, Shimazu headed to the far end of the floor and called Turul back in Baku. Turul looked a little rough, like he hadn't slept well for a few days, and his eyes were sunken slightly into his gaunt face. After greeting him Shimazu launched straight into things, asking him if Saito had been in touch or had any news. Turul said that he'd had a few messages delivered via anonymous services, informing him that he was "ok", but no more detail than that – and he had no idea where he was. Shimazu relaxed a little, at least his friend was still alive even if his situation was unknown.
In the pause though, Turul leant in close to the pickup for his com-link, and asked the question Shimazu had been dreading – had he seen Nadia? Fortunately dreading didn't mean unprepared. Without a moment's hesitation, Shimazu told him that he hadn't seen her, but they were still keeping an eye out. More so, they were only here for a few more days, then heading back to Baku, and they would be actively looking on the way. Turul nodded, and thanked him, and Shimazu broke the connection before he had to engage him in any small talk – after all, the slightest slip of the tongue might give him away somehow.
Later that night, the team gathered together around the dinner table – at least most of them. Marius was just about to go and get Nadia, when Kai waved him back to his seat, and went to their room instead. He found Nadia still sitting cross-legged on the bed, engrossed in her research. A gentle tap at the door made her jump slightly.
"Nadia? It's getting late – and dinner is on the table. Are you coming?"
"Really! It's not that late…oh, yes, yes it is. Sure, let me just save this file."
"What are you working on?" Kai raised an eyebrow and leant on the doorframe. "You looked pretty engrossed in it, whatever it was."
"Cryptography. I never knew there was so much history to it. It's fascinating stuff. Did you know that people have been encrypting information for over four thousand years? And it's not just since computers were invented – there were all sorts of mechanical machines made to encrypt text and information."
Kai smiled and nodded, and moved out into the corridor as Nadia burbled away happily to him about her knowledge of the day, following her back into the main room, and listening as she described something called an Enigma machine to him and how it had been used. They ate, chatted and planned the next day's activities, and one by one drifted off to finish up for the day and headed off to bed.
On the morning of the 11th, Tads headed north into the city on her motorbike as she'd done the previous few days, to go and work in the trailer on designing and learning her new spells. The rest of the team were scattered around the house, studying and practicing in small teams or on their own. Shimazu, having finished the second copy of his thesis, stood at the front of the house and looked out into the streets and the people wandering by on foot, in vehicles and on the water. He wasn't doing anything particular, just 'observing' and watching the world go by.
He gave a start as a small and very battered-looking lime green van rumbled past the house. At first he couldn't quite put his finger on what bothered him so much – then he realised, it had gone past the house the same way twice in a row. Not going somewhere and coming back – but going around the block, as if conducting surveillance. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, and he moved down the stairs and out into the garden. The wind gave the air a bit of a nip, but the moderating effect of the ocean and waterway kept the temperature reasonable, and he started to work out.
It took about an hour, and he was almost at the point of stopping – but just as he was finishing a set of training moves and stretches, he saw the same van go past again. He stared at it, catching sight of the pattern of rust on the wheel arches and the discoloured patches halfway down the side where some damage had been inexpertly repaired – yes – definitely the same truck. He entered the house and ran up the flights of stairs to the top of the building, calling out to the team to come into the main room. Once they were assembled, he outlined what he had seen to them, describing the van in detail and the movements observed so far.
His report seemed to jog the team into gear – almost as if the few days of quiet and undisturbed peace had put them more on edge as time passed. Marius set up near the front window with his rigger deck, keeping an eye on the street and watching the take from his surveillance drone which had been quickly inflated and launched out of the back window and was now floating a few hundred metres up, with the sensors focussed down onto the streets surrounding the house. Aswon peered out of the corner window, getting a better view to the east. Nadia and Shimazu started packing boxes up and preparing the gear to move if it was required, and Hunter prepared a selection of weapons and clips of ammo – just in case.
About forty minutes later, the van puttered its way into sensor view, and the algorithms in the deck positively identified it and flashed up an alert. The team watched as it drove past the house at a middling pace, keeping in lane and doing nothing to attract attention. Aswon opened his senses though, peering at the van's aura and astral signature. He recoiled slightly at what he saw – a lingering sense of fear and hatred, pain and despair. Something had happened in or around the van which had polluted astral space. It wasn't terrible – but it was definitely something unwelcome.
Marius, meanwhile, ran a full spectrum of tests against the vehicle, modelling performance against known specification of the vehicle type. In particular, he watched how it handled as it turned the corner just along the street, watching the suspension through the high-resolution cameras which were now zoomed in to maximum detail on the vehicle. He was wondering if it was a cleverly disguised high-performance vehicle, or sported concealed or hidden armour – but the way the suspension behaved and the heat bloom from the vehicle seemed to indicate that it really was a battered old panel van, well past its best.
Having now seen the van go past more than four times in the same day, the team kicked up into fully paranoid mode. Aswon got his gear together, and with his rifle wrapped in a roll of material, ran to the back corner of the garden. A quick look around him and with nobody he could spot watching him, he jumped and then swarmed up the tree. The gecko tattoos flared with magical power, and his hands and feet stuck to the rough surface of the bark as if he had climbing claws. Rapidly he rose, spiralling around the large trunk and finding a comfortable nook to settle into. Once in place, he lay along the trunk, unwrapped the rifle and then flicked the dark coloured material over his body. The lack of leaves cut down on the cover, but from anything above about twenty metres, his form just appeared to be a very large and lumpy section of branch.
Inside the house, ammo and grenades were lined up ready for a quick swap, and furniture was arranged facing the door, with sturdy boxes and material piled behind them to make firing positions. Shimazu waited with his sword near the entrance way, concealed around a corner but ready to leap into action, and the others sat in positions ready to support the more combat oriented members of the team as best they could. They settled down and waited…
The van drove past again, pursued by the surveillance drone as it puttered down the waterfront street. It drove on for half a kilometre, then pulled over at the end of the road. Marius watched as the van switched off, and a man climbed out of the passenger side and went up to a vending machine, slotting his SIN, swiping his thumb over the sensor to authorise payment and reaching down into the armoured slot, getting a drink and a news-fax. He looked local, from his skin tone and dress, and after a moment or two, climbed back into the van. The van sat for a few minutes, with Marius watching, feeding a commentary to those waiting in the house. After perhaps ten minutes of waiting, the van started up again, and turned, heading back towards the house.
It drove past, slowing slightly as it passed according to the sensors mounted on the drone, but then accelerating away again. The drone followed it subtly, floating along on the low signature lifting balloon from several hundred metres up and trailing the van to some kind of stall. Both the driver and passenger got out, opened the side door and started to talk with the owner of the stall – apparently trading wares. Marius watched for a few minutes, but it seemed they had settled there for a while.
"Hey everyone! Just a thought…" exclaimed Hunter. "What if this is a diversion, or to keep us pinned down – and they're making a move on Tads? Or they're after all of us, but she's the only one on her own?" He looked from face to face, and saw concern as they considered his idea and how isolated – and potentially surprised – Tads would be if someone attacked her. "Aswon, you and Marius can keep things nailed down here, can't you? I'm going to head up to the garage and keep an eye on her."
Kai and the rest nodded, and watched as Hunter packed a few spare clips and his pistol under his motorbike leathers, and then headed down the stairs. Moments later they heard the revving of the engine, and then saw him head out onto the road and accelerate hard away and take the turning up to the north, towards the garage. Marius kept an eye on the drone footage, monitoring the signal strength and fuel reserves carefully, and watching to see what the targets were up to.
Thirty minutes later, they got a call from Hunter, confirming that he was onsite with Tads, and all looked clear. They responded with their own all-clear, having kept a good eye out – they'd not seen the panel van come past again, and had further fortified their positions using the materials on hand, then settled down to wait. Marius had his drones ready to deploy and was monitoring his systems, and the rest of them had made themselves as comfortable as they could in their defensive positions.
Time marched on – the rest of the day passed uneventfully. After a while the team started to relax, as the anticipated assault failed to materialise. One by one they left their prepared positions and made themselves comfortable, or carried on with their research or training. The pale sun moved through the winter sky, and before long the shadows were lengthening and twilight fell. Back at the garage, Tads finished up for the day and emerged from the back of the trailer, locking it carefully behind her and then giving a start as she spotted Hunter sitting on a couple of tyres watching the world go by. He stretched, rose and ambled over to her, and filled her in on the details of the day's activities.
"So, have you seen anything since you've been here?"
"Nope. Not a thing. But better safe than sorry."
Tads considered for a moment, then nodded her head. He'd been concerned enough about her safety that he'd spent several hours sitting in the cold, watching her back without complaint, keeping her safe so she could concentrate on her work.
"Thanks, Hunter." They made use of the facilities and said goodnight to the garage staff, got on the bikes and started up the engines, then pulled on their helmets and goggles, dropped into gear and serenely pulled away from the garage into the evening traffic and started to wind and weave their way through the jostling barrage of commuters that clogged up the main road.
They were about a third of the way home, and crossing a major intersection when it happened. Tads was caught completely by surprise when a non-descript car jumped the red light to her left, and rocketed across the junction. The driver of the car slammed on the brakes, but his reactions were too slow, and the speed too high to stop in time, and the car slammed into Tads and the bike, smashing them both and knocking them sideways. Hunter not only had an extra second to react, but also much faster reactions. He revved the bike and threw the handlebars sideways, and lifted a leg as Tads' bike was shunted into him. As the bike was swept out from under him, he tucked and rolled, the reinforced plates in the motorbike leathers absorbing much of the impact, then sprang up in a smooth and fluid motion, sidestepping around a car that very nearly ran him down and watched as both bikes and Tads fell over onto the tarmac. One glance was enough to see the unusual form of her leg that indicated a break, and the cry of pain cut over the engine noise confirmed that she'd suffered serious injury.
Traffic slid to a halt around them as people stopped to look at the accident, and a couple of metallic thuds sounded as some people were gently rear-ended in associated crashes. Hunter looked at the car, realising it was another very old model, so old in fact that it had clear glass windows rather than the more normal one-way tinted stuff. The driver looked shocked, still holding his comm-link in one hand over the top of the wheel, quite obviously having been mid-message when the incident happened. The look of shock on his face was quickly changed to one of guilt, and Hunter saw him lick his lips nervously.
"You! Out of the car now!" Hunter yelled at him in Turkish, pointing emphatically at the side of the vehicle. The driver nodded, but then moved his hands and Hunter heard the gearbox grind a little as he put it in reverse and started to back away. He looked at the man's face, and saw something there – this guy had no intention of stopping, and was going to bolt any second. Acting automatically, his hand dived behind his back, pulling out the heavy ten millimetre pistol from where it had been concealed.
BLAM! BLAM!
Two copper-jacketed rounds flew from the barrel, smashing into the radiator and sending a thin stream of hot water arcing into the street. The handful of drivers who had stopped and gotten out of their vehicles to check on the crash victims flinched and ducked, and ran back to their cars. Scattered around the scene, people who were craning out of windows for a better view could be seen scrambling for phones to alert the authorities. In the car which had hit them, the driver froze in horror, staring at Hunter as he raised the pistol and pointed it straight at his face. Moments later the engine died and the car shuddered as something burnt out and jammed.
Hunter glanced around at the scene, and then realised he was standing with the pistol still extended at arms-length towards the driver, a tiny wisp of gun smoke still curling up and out of the barrel of the Predator pistol. Glancing around, he spied the traffic cameras mounted on poles at each corner of the junction, and saw one of them clearly moving down to track and focus on him. He swore under his breath, raised his pistol and safed it, and tucked it back into his waistband. Once it was seated, he hit the speed-dial for the team conference on his phone and keyed it onto an open line, to relay through the earpiece inserted under his helmet.
"Guys. Got a problem. Some shithead has just jumped the lights, knocked me and Tads off the bikes. One of the bikes is definitely trashed, the other might be saveable. Tads is hurt, needs medical attention. And I may have er… fired off a few rounds into the guy's car when he tried to get away."
There was silence from the other end of the line while the team considered this. He could hear the sound of breathing though, and was just about to speak up when he heard Marius starting to swear in German. After a few seconds, and a noise that sounded like a forehead and palm meeting, there was a deep breath.
"Ok, we're on our way to come and get you. What's your exact location? And what happened?"
As Hunter relayed what had occurred, Marius and Aswon grabbed some gear and barrelled down the stairs at speed, piling into the rental SUV they'd been provided with. Just as they started to pull out of the driveway Marius exploded into another stream of profanities, and they both watched as the rusty green panel van drove past them, braking sharply and continuing down the road at a slow speed as they turned out of the driveway and headed north.
"Kai and everyone upstairs, that green van is back, just spotted us pulling out and they've slowed right down. Get ready, just in case!"
Upstairs, people scurried around to get into position in case they were about to be assaulted. Nadia who had been preparing the evening meal came out of the kitchen with a spray bottle full of oil and the stove lighter and set up ready to dowse invaders in burning droplets. Kai looked like he was about to remonstrate with her, but changed his mind and just checked where Shimazu was and moved to support him.
Back at the junction, Tads lay on the floor, wincing in pain and trying not to move her leg if she could help it. She saw Hunter standing over her, eyes flitting around the scene, and heard him speaking to the team. It seemed that things were getting "interesting" again. She relaxed her head and draped an arm over it, as if she was trying to block out the light. She wasn't – but it did cover her face – and meant that as she summoned the power of Elk to her and her Shamanic mask distorted her features, it was mostly hidden from view. It was hard to control and manipulate the power with her leg throbbing and sending jolts of pain through her nervous system with every throb of her heart, but she gritted her teeth and managed to direct the power as she needed it. The invisible tendrils of magic emanated out of her in a perfectly spherical pattern, sterilising the area. The blood and sweat dropped so far became inert fluids, the markers and genetic ties that could be used by a forensics team to identify people wiped away by an invisible hand. When the spell was cast, she took a deep breath, then gathered her strength again, focussing on dissipating the magical energies that had gathered around her as she cast her spell. A minute later it was done – now there was no trace evidence. Of course, her leg was still broken, and they were lying in the middle of the road.
Moments later, her frown deepened as she heard the sound of an approaching siren. Hunter turned, and then quietly spoke to her.
"Motorbike cop, first responder. Sure he won't be the last. Ok."
The motorcyclist threaded his way through traffic and stopped at the edge of the junction, and stared at the scene for a moment. He could see the pale and slightly sweaty face of Tads, wincing in pain and the unnatural angle of her leg, the position of the two bikes and the location of the car – it was clear who was at fault. But he'd also had reports of "shots fired". His hand was on his pistol and he carefully and slowly approached the scene – but he couldn't see anyone holding a gun. Calling out, he demanded to know what was going on.
"This man jumped the lights, because he was typing on his phone, and hit me and my friend. Look, he's broken her leg. I need medical assistance for her!" Hunter called out in fluent Turkish. The cop did a bit of a double take, clearly not expecting to hear such a clear explanation from him, and approached closer."
"He shot my car! He had a gun, and he shot my car!" The man started to blather, casting aspersions on Hunter, Tads, and their parentage amongst other things, until he was cut off.
"Only because you were trying to flee from the scene. I saw you, thinking you could get away with a hit and run." Hunter responded. The cop froze, staring at Hunter as he brazenly admitted using a firearm.
"Keep your hands where I can see them, and move slowly. I need some ID from you, and your pistol permit then." The cop's voice was slightly muffled from his full face helmet, and his right hand eased open the flap on his holster whilst his left reached towards Hunter carefully. Moving equally carefully, Hunter delicately reached into his pocket with two finger, pulling out the SIN between them and extending them to the cop, who grabbed it and retreated back to his bike to run the SIN through his scanner. The worldwide database that comprised the System Identification Number was too vast to keep on a portable device, so the cop had to get his scanner to connect back via his station house to the main data stores. They simple-minded device ran through the basic checks, and didn't find anything amiss with the fake ID that Hunter gave him and duly disgorged the entirely fictitious details stored on the database. Noticeable however, was the absence of a permit to carry or use a pistol.
Hunter watched him carefully, seeing him relax as the SIN came back as valid and tense again with the lack of permit. He could also see a squad car pushing its way through the traffic to get to them, bringing yet more officers.
"Guys, I've got one cop checking my ID, and at least two more about thirty seconds out in a patrol car. Any ideas? Hang on, wait one." Hunter turned up his cyber ears to maximum, and filtered out the ambient noise. The signal processers went to work, and he heard the cop almost as if he was standing next to him, relaying the speech over his phone link. "Ok, he's calling in for an ambulance for Tads, and a firearms investigation unit. Says he has a valid SIN, but no licence to carry or use, so he's going to arrest both me and the car driver, and sort it out at the station – but not until the patrol car arrives. Nothing about arresting Tads though. He's nodding. Reading back – confirming, there's a sergeant in the patrol car, he's going to take over the scene. Going quiet, he's coming back". Hunter put a look of concern on his face, and asked about medical assistance for Tads, and then looked relieved when he was told it was being arranged.
"Tell me the badge number or shoulder number of the policeman with you, or the car number – some kind of ID," Marius called out over the phone connection to Hunter. Hunter responded quietly, passing over details to Marius and wondering what he was doing. As he did so, the patrol car pulled up and two figures emerged, both wearing light body armour. The driver appeared to be the patrolman, and the passenger the sergeant, who went to speak with the motorcycle officer first. It didn't take long, and he turned and walked towards Hunter, pulling out an evidence bag from his belt pack.
"You, I need to take your weapon. Draw it slowly and place it in the bag. Nice and easy."
"Hunter, stall him, I will be back to you soon. Oh, and I want you to start looking up at the buildings near where you are, make it obvious, as if you're looking for an observer or sniper." There was a click, as Marius transferred off the conference line. Hunter frowned. Stall him? Sniper? What did he mean? He looked at the officer and pointed at Tads, repeating his earlier request for medical attention, then turned and stared up at the nearest building for a few seconds.
Back in the car, Marius used half his attention to navigate through the traffic at speed, whilst the other half looked up some numbers on the matrix. A few seconds later, the computer spat out a response to his query. He took a deep breath, then used his internal comm-link to make a call to the Police station. He waited until the call was connected with a bored-sounding despatcher, who asked him what the nature of the call was.
"Listen carefully. This is officer Shariz from the Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı. My access code is 993-J45-T. I have a situation with two officers down, with three members of your division in attendance. Do you have officer with ID 5993 at the scene of a traffic collision at the Barbaros Boulevard junction with Yildiz Posta?" The words were relayed directly from his mind via the implanted router to the comm-link, and sent over the cellular network. In the car Aswon sat in silence, keeping an eye out for tails or trouble, and trusting Marius to navigate them safely.
At the other end of the line, the boredom vanished from the despatcher's voice, and he stammered a demand for more information. Marius added a bit of snap to his tone.
"Pay attention! This is a matter of National Security. I have two agents investigating a terrorist ring. Kurdish fighters are supporting some Muslim radicals and are planning an operation on the eastern bank, and I have two officers caught in the middle. One officer was forced to use his firearm to disable the terrorist's vehicle, and is now standing with your officers. It's imperative that you capture the terrorist, but also get the officers away from the scene. It's likely they are being observed right now. Every moment they spend in full view on the highway, adds danger!" Marius listened, and could hear frantic typing from the other end of the connection as the despatcher plugged away at their old-fashioned manual terminal. A moment passed, then he was rewarded with the muffled sound of the despatcher calling over the radio, asking the officer to corroborate the story.
Back at the junction, Hunter saw the sergeant cock his head a little, then step back and raise his hand to the radio secured on his lapel. He listened, and then responded a few times, and Hunter saw his eyes go wider, then flit around the scene. Still having no idea what Marius was up to, he followed earlier instructions – gazing up at the rooftops for a few seconds on either side of the junction, then ducking down to crouch next to Tads. He heard the officer reporting back on the radio in the affirmative – though he still didn't really have an idea what to.
The despatcher's voice came back on the line to Marius, clearly excited by the situation.
"Protocol requires that the agent identifies themselves. Please supply a recognition code phrase and answer?"
"Ask the male agent 'who is the worst football team', the response should be 'Basictas, of course' – not just the team name, it must include all three words." Marius flipped back to the conference line, and spoke rapidly. "Hunter, the response is 'Bascitas, of course', all three words, don't say anything else. Without waiting for acknowledgement, he flipped back, and listened in as the despatcher relayed the phrase to the sergeant.
Sure enough, a moment later the Sergeant received a call, and Hunter watched as his eyes flicked between Tads and himself, and the man in the other vehicle. The other man was still protesting in Turkish about the damage to his car, and wanting to know why they hadn't arrested him for waving a gun in public. The Sergeant spoke to his trooper quietly and then approached Hunter, and equally quietly asked him the question. Hunter looked around and in a hoarse whisper, gave the three word reply.
The Sergeant nodded at him, then winked. Rising, he pulled a small inhaler from a sturdy loop on his belt – as did the trooper next to him. Both of them raised the inhalers to their mouths and hit the activation button, breathing in whatever mixture was in the dispenser. A split second later they burst into action, pulling their guns in the blink of an eye and raising them in a two-handed combat stance and pointing them at the driver of the car.
"GET ON THE FLOOR, ON THE FLOOR, ON THE FLOOR NOW YOU COCKSUCKING MOTHERFUCKER!" They advanced on the hapless driver, guns brandished at his body and spittle flew off their lips as they continued to shout at him to obey them. Fuelled by the amphetamine cocktail contained in the inhalers, their reactions – as well as their aggression – was massively increased, and they rapidly approached the driver. Caught completely unawares by the sudden change in situation, he made the fatal mistake of trying to duck down behind his car in terror. What the policemen saw was a dangerous terrorist obviously going for a gun.
The loud reports of multiple rounds fired from the pair of heavy pistols echoed across the junction, sending spectators and rubber-neckers fleeing in panic. The officers advanced, continuing to fire on the body with multiple round penetrating and perforating his torso, hitting the ground and ricocheting back upwards, making the body dance in a macabre fashion. While all three officers were solely concentrating on the "terrorist", Hunter bent down and scooped up Tads, ignoring her little cry of pain as her leg shifted and the break twisted. Looking around, he selected the nearest corner and broke out into a jog, moving as fast as he dared. Tads whimpered in pain as the loping stride jarred her leg up and down, and tried to steady the movement as best she could, fighting back the urge to cry or yell in pain.
Back in the car, Marius shut off the phone abruptly, then disabled the cellular link entirely, turning off his GPS and all external links. He felt strange without the electronic ports providing a trickle of data directly into his brain – but it also made him untraceable via electronic means. Instead he concentrated on driving, and soon had the SUV accelerating at breakneck speeds through the crowded streets. About fifteen minutes of frantic swerving later and with considerably less wear on the tyres than when they started, they caught sight of Hunter, still carrying Tads in his arms, striding purposefully down a side street. Marius pulled up in a screech of tyres and Aswon threw the side door open and motioned for them to get in. Seconds later they pulled away sedately, Marius suddenly transformed into a Sunday driver out for a gentle amble, as he turned and headed south and back towards the safehouse.
In the back of the van, Aswon used his knife to saw away the biker leathers and reveal Tads' leg, and gently examined it. The flow of blood from the wound had slowed now it was not being jarred, and he decided to leave it be – he'd rather get it looked at properly in the light and relative safety of the house than try to patch it up in the back of the van, even now it was moving comparatively safely. As they approached the house, Aswon called Kai, checking to make sure that there was no mischief from the green van. All seemed well though, and minutes later they were backing into the garden and gently lifting Tads out of the back and into the lift, carrying her up to the top floor.
Once they were wall back in the house, they carried her through to the dining room. The rest of the team had cleared the dining room table and had laid out a plastic sheet, and the air stunk with the scent of disinfectant. She was lifted into position, with a pillow placed under her head. Kai and Shimazu moved into position on each side of her, while the others backed away a little to give them room to work. They moved together, barely speaking but hands moving in unison as they worked their way up the leg, checking for the extent of the damage. After a few minutes they had the break isolated, and the limb position, and with a sharp wrench the bones were realigned. It took a few more minutes to dress the wound and inject a healthy dose of antibiotics, then check her vitals.
"That's about as much as we can do. The bones are aligned, the bleeding has stopped, and the wound is cleaned. It's just a matter of time now," Kai said, "It'll be some time before it can be weight bearing, without causing more damage."
Tads snorted, and shook her head, then struggled to sit up. Hands moved in the complex pattern, and then were placed on either side of her thigh, and a golden glow started to build up. The light span and twisted in her hands, making the leg glow like the last rays of an autumn afternoon hitting the water. It pulsated and rotated as she moved her hands around the limb, for perhaps a minute. Slowly the light faded, and Tads flopped back onto the table, looking weary, but happy.
"Shows what you know," she murmured, eyes closed and breathing shallow. She gathered her strength for a few more moments, then sat up again, peeling back the bandages that had just been placed against her. Below them, the flesh was whole, though still badly warped by scar tissue and damage. No sign of the puncture wound was to be seen, and a moment later she gingerly swung her legs over the side of the table and then slid to the floor. The leg supported her weight, and she carefully bent at the knees until she was squatting, hand ready to grab the table if it was required. It wasn't though, and she smoothly stood up, her leg functioning entirely normally again.
"Thanks boys, good work. Would have been almost impossible for me to fix it if you hadn't lined it back up right and done what you had to control the wound." Kai and Shaimazu nodded, and tidied their gear away, and slowly they all relaxed. It appeared that the green van had not done anything at all, other than slow right down, and it had motored off smoothly a few minutes after Marius and Aswon had left. They'd not seen it since, and the house had been relatively quiet – just the occasional sound of people moving around on the floor below.
They organised a guard that night, just to be safe – but the night passed without incident and dawn came with no surprises. They breakfasted together as usual, and it was decided that Marius would run both Tads and Hunter up to the garage, and leave them there for the day, then return to meet up with the rest of the team, and collect them both at the end of the day. Just in case…
They also worked out their rough plan for the next few days – they figured the truck would be ready on the 15th, but decided not to give notice that they were ready to collect the Golem parts until it was actually handed over to them – the last thing they wanted was a last-minute delay to ruin things. Marius proposed that once they had the truck, they would make the call and get the ball rolling, then load up the truck and trailer ready for departure. They'd go to visit Ohmar, get the guns and ammo, then go get the Golem and leave town straight away. Aswon suggested that they check, as Ohmar might not want to sit on the hardware, particularly if it was that hot.
"Well, there's one way to find out isn't there?" asked Marius. He dialled through to Ohmar and checked, and a few minutes later sighed and nodded, informing the rest of the team that they needed to pick up the guns as soon as they were available. Aswon fiddled with his computer a bit, then managed to find a news channel he could tune into, and pipped the output to the larger rollout screen. It seemed there was fresh trouble brewing on the eastern bank, where a Mosque had been firebombed and a respected Imam and several attendants had been burnt alive, in an attack by Christian Fundamentalists. As the footage of the intense blaze played in the background and the news anchor described the fire, Tads moved back and stood, knocking her chair over in her haste, and ran from the room. A moment later, Nadia followed her, ready to comfort her. The rest of the team watched grimly, thinking more about the potential disruption might cause in their trip to go collect the weapons, and escape with the Golem.
Over the course of the day, they mostly mooched around the house. Nearly all of their tasks were complete – apart from Tads and her fever-pitched research in her lodge, the rest of the team had finished what they had intended, it seemed, and were just doing make-work now. Nadia spent some time looking for a heavily armoured Attaché case for Shimazu to use for his second thesis, while Aswon gave Sofi a call and arranged for a social meetup and a chat the following day.
It was about 21:00, just when they had finished their evening meal when they heard a noise. Hunter wandered over to the front window, and looked down to see what was going on, hands pressed up against the glass to cut down on the internal reflections and so he could see clearly into the darkness outside.
He drew his pistol quickly and racked the slide, ensuring a round was in the chamber and ready to go.
"Look lively, folks. That green van is back, and they've just pulled out at the front, and about half a dozen goons are piling out."
Multiple chairs were knocked over as they scrambled for their gear and got ready – it looked like the assault they'd been waiting for was finally here.
