Date 18/02/2060, Location 40.02419, 48.95808

Hunter came back down the stairs, cammo gear rolled up under one arm, assault rifle under the other. He carefully let himself out of the ranch and headed for his spot in the field, then nestled down in the camouflage gear and laid his gun out before him. Above him the stars slowly rotated in the sky and the frost on the ground grew thicker in the cold night air. The occasional car driving down the highway had no idea that they were being targeted by an assault rifle – as much to stop him falling asleep as because they were perceived as a potential threat.

By 07:00, Hunter was yawning every couple of minutes, and finding it increasingly hard to stay awake and focussed. Even with the cold weather gear and multiple layers, he was cold and his body gave the occasional shiver. The rising light levels of the false dawn played strange tricks with the terrain, casting odd shadows and leaving him staring at patches of ground for minutes at a time.

Eventually his commlink gave a quiet beep, signally it was eight AM, and he stretched and got up from his hide, and trudged back to the ranch. Once inside he found Aswon and gently tapped him on the foot to wake him. The dark skinned tribesman sat up quickly, relaxing as sleep gave way to wakefulness and he recognised his teammate. Hunter was disgusted with Aswon for looking so chipper after only four hours sleep – it was something that was an enviable trait, and Aswon seemed to do fine with between three and five hours of sleep a night at worst. Aswon got up and grabbed the camo gear and his rifle, and passed Hunter with a smile and a nod. Hunter took off his top layers and climbed into the bed, pulling the covers up and taking advantage of the warm patch left behind, drifting off to sleep within a few moments.

Aswon grabbed a couple of supplies and then headed outside, activating his Gecko powers and then slowly and carefully climbing up the outside of the house. As he reached the chimney at the end of the house, he pulled out the bits from the climbing kit that he had bought up with him. First, he rigged up a sling around the chimney, then an extra line going down the roof a little. With a couple of little tweaks, he had something he could tie gear to without any risk of it sliding off, no matter how windy it got. It also gave him something to tie onto in case he nodded off, or would make it easier for one of the others to climb up and keep watch now. Satisfied, he pulled the Purdey into position and started to scope around the area in the faint dawn light.

From the elevated position, he could see as far as the cloverleaf junction just north of Shirvan, which was the only major road in that direction. If the Mafia came, he figured they would come in a convoy and that should be easy to spot. He couldn't see much of the terrain to the west of the junction, as the banked and ramped roads easily rose to the same height as the house. Scanning north though, he could see a good chunk of the town they'd been operating in last night. Most of the buildings were single story and had flat rooves, or very shallow pitches if any, so he could see a good way into town before the terrain and clutter of buildings cut off his vision. To the north, the main road stretched away, eventually turning east and heading towards Baku. Overall, it was pretty good – he should spot anything major coming from either town or from Shirvan, and have enough time to warn the others and take some shots.

As dawn broke, he heard the door open and saw a bleary-eyed Tads come out and wander around the yard looking like she was still asleep. She stopped after a circuit though, facing the sun and raised her arms to shoulder level, greeting the new day and paying her respects to nature. After thirty seconds of silent prayers, she turned and headed back into the house.

As she closed the door behind her, she squinted around her, then gave a massive yawn. She reached out for some mana, and slowly drew it into herself, calling on the hearth spirit of the house to appear before her. Fatigue still clouded her mind, and it was hard to concentrate – but she felt the spirit appear and politely asked it to guard the house and the occupants, if it didn't mind too much, thank you. She felt it agree, and without a word she headed back upstairs, hoping that her nest hadn't gotten too cold whilst she'd been up. It hadn't – and she too dropped off to sleep again quickly.

Rusudan and the family got up shortly afterward and had a quiet breakfast. Aswon saw the kids heading to the stables and gave a low whistle and a wave to them as they crossed the gravel to the horses. They looked startled, but vaguely reassured when they saw him in position, watching over their home, before they turned on got on with feeding and watering the horses, and mucking out the stables.

The ranch remained quiet until about 11am, with the family going about their normal business as quietly as they could, mindful of their guests late night. Kai was first to rouse, followed by Nadia and Marius, then Tads shortly after. There was no sign of Shimazu or Hunter yet, but they decided to let them sleep in as long as they needed. Whilst the family got a meal prepared, the four of them gathered around the table for a quiet chat.

"Right – after what happened last night, I think we've got a good twenty four hours clear where they won't have any idea what is going on. That's assuming they stick to the normal pattern from what we've seen in the phones and stuff. And even then, it's maybe going to take a while to realise that the city has just gone all dark for their guys. So, that gives us a period of time where we can do stuff and not have to worry about it too much, and I think we ought to take advantage of that." Kai rubbed at his temples as he spoke, his red-rimmed eyes still looking tired. "I think we ought to make the most of that time."

"Well, I know I need to go to Shirvan and investigate the boy, so that's a high priority to me." Tads stared at Kai, unblinking – reminding him that she had what she considered to be a very serious problem.

"I know Tads, but you can't go wandering around Shirvan, standing out like a sore thumb with no idea of what's going on, we've got to plan," Kai started to explain, but Tads spoke over him, repeating her intention, even more forcibly. They went back and forth a few times, their voices raising slightly as they each talked over one another, until they sat back and glared at each other – as much out of embarrassment as hostility, as they realised how they were acting.

Kai turned to Nadia, and asked her for a breakdown of the phone calls from Ulvi to Malik.

"Well, sometimes it's once a week or less, just an arrangement to meet up. There's a hint that it's for business first, not for the sake of family, but there's meetings at "the usual place" or "let's eat fancy", so they presumably have a number of places they go that are common to them. I talked with Hunter about this, and its his opinion that there's probably a handover of a percentage of profits once a week or so, and it's likely these meetings are for that. The longest I've seen without contact was ten days, and it seems that was from Malik's side, as it references being out of town on business." She opened her pocket secretary and quickly checked some details, then continued.

"There is not much sense of family there, no real concern over relatives or welfare. The language used is not warm or caring, on either side. Ulvi has called a couple of other places in Shirvan other than Malik, but from a quick check they're business places that seem likely for genuine shopping – taxi firms, a tailors, hairdressers, that kind of thing. But other than those odd things, calls to Malik and the messages to his captains, there really wasn't much personal stuff at all. He seemed very driven and focussed – just not on a good path." Kai nodded his thanks to her and smiled.

"So, how long are we planning on staying in the area, Kai?" Kai was glad that Tads wasn't immediately banging the same drum again about the young boy, and made an effort to speak carefully.

"Well, I want to stay a while, a good while actually. Short of actually taking a job of course. But that was the whole point of clearing the town out and making things better – we want this place to be nice, and under control. We'll watch for Malik's response, and we'll have to see what's going on of course. But the main reason we had the trailer hooked up for chunks of last night was so that if we ran into something we couldn't handle, then we could just skip town quickly, and not drag any trouble back here. It was in case we fucked up, basically. But we didn't – at least it doesn't look like we did. So we need to watch out for the response, but I think we're going to be here for a while.

"Right, so I can go to the talismonger's and get some supplies, the spell formula I asked him about, and things like that, and we can go shopping for other team supplies?"

"Well, I don't want anyone going into Shirvan – not until we've decided how we're going to handle that anyway. We can't do anything that risks alerting them in their home ground until we have some information on them. They're going to be stronger, and better organised, more entrenched and harder to deal with." He raised a hand towards Tads. "Now, I'm not saying we're not going at all – clearly there's work to be done. But we need to plan it carefully, and move with some forethought…. Like, ok – Marius. You know that tan SUV up in the hills, just how bad was the damage?"

"Well, the car was a wreck, with major structural defects on examination, clearly a product of poor quality engineering."

"Yeah, but how bad was the damage – could you make it drivable again. I mean, you're an ok mechanic, right?" Kai raised an eyebrow at Marius, and watched as the German glowered at him, clearly aware that he was being manipulated, yet struggling not to rise to the bait."

"Ja. I can fix it. Maybe half a day, maybe longer – depending on the parts. I could make it driveable for sure, but I don't know for how long."

"So, let's say we took the truck, and went to pick up the SUV. Bought it back here on tow, and spent a day getting it fixed. Whatever time we don't use on that, we spend on the four by four. Then we take them both to Baku, and sell them for the best price we can get, or even better, we trade them in for a new off road vehicle that's newer or better for the ranch here. But one we use to start with – so we can drive to Shirvan in a normal vehicle, that DOESN'T belong to one of his Mafia goons, that isn't as noticeable as the truck and lets us drive around and find this boy's family, and scope the place out…"

The others considered his idea, nodding their head as they saw the advantages to having a clean vehicle with no history or baggage – something that they had suffered through already with the truck and had no desire to repeat.

"And also, while we're in Baku, somewhere we're already known a little, we can shop for more supplies. And with it being the biggest city around, we're more likely to get what we want without being fleeced. So we could get a couple of replacement bikes, lets say, to give you guys some mobility when scouting out Shirvan." Tads nodded her head, succumbing to the avalanche of reason. Kai turned to Nadia though, and focussed his attention on her.

"Nadia, I've got a special task for you. What I'd like you to do is get this kid's name, what was it?"

"Vusal Aliyeva" responded Nadia, pulling up the correct details on her organisational chart.

"Yeah, him. What I want you to do is a detailed search on the computer, on this guy. While we're off sorting out trucks and going to the forest and stuff, can you do the best research you can on this fella for Tads, find out everything you can about him and make up a dossier?" Nadia glanced over to Marius and let out a subtle sigh. It appeared that she didn't want to be separated from him that much, but she looked back to Kai after a few seconds and nodded.

"Ok, because it's important – and not make-work. Sure – I have no idea how good the information will be, but I'll do the best I can." Kai smiled at her and sat back, then looked around the table.

"Hunter?"

"Still in bed, buried under blankets."

"Shimazu?"

"Bed I think, not heard anything from his room."

"Aswon?"

"Up on the roof, on watch."

"Oh. Right." He reached for his comm unit and turned it on, then called Aswon down from the roof for a few minutes. It didn't take long for them to see him crawling down the wall with ease, though it looked freaky as all hell. When he entered the kitchen, Kai filled him in on their discussion, bringing him up to date rapidly.

"Well, there's one question we haven't asked yet, that I think it pretty important" Aswon said as he leant back in his chair. "What to do with the local police? Are they thoroughly in league with the Mafia, and will report back to their masters in Shirvan? Or they just on the take, and if so – if we pay them off and they change allegiance to us, that means they might just as easily change allegiance again in the future. Until we know more, I think we have to treat them very carefully and try and do some surveillance on them. In fact, Marius – you heard some of their conversation last night. Can you program your deck to listen in on their frequency and alert you to what is going on?"

Kai nodded in agreement, as Marius pulled up his deck and started to make adjustments, setting it to monitor the frequency they'd found the police radios using and to record any transmissions made whilst at the same time alerting Marius that there was activity.

They paused for a while as the family came in with food, and ate a light brunch. Halfway through, Aswon excused himself and went to go and rouse Hunter and Shimazu. A somewhat bleary eyed Hunter came down for dinner – though that mostly comprised of coffee – but Shimazu was nowhere to be seen. The bed had obviously been slept in, but there was no sign of him in the house.

"I'm not sure where Shimazu has gone – I was going to get him to come with me so we had a second driver for flexibility. He did mention that he was going up into the hills to find a place to set up a prayer shrine at some point. I wonder if that's where he's gone?"

They chatted some more over food, and decided in the end that Aswon and Tads would head to the talismonger who lived in the old windmill in the woods about six kilometres to the west of them, while Kai and Marius went to get the tan SUV from the hill, and tow if back to the ranch for minimal repairs – which Marius estimated would be done in a day or less. Hunter was going back to bed for more sleep it seemed, and Nadia was doing research. Once everyone returned from their tasks, they might go for a quick scout to Shirvan, or they might go and sell the vehicles – but they'd play it by ear.

Hunter sent a quick message to his contact Julius in Copenhagen – providing some more details on the Mammadova subjects to help him narrow how his search. Leaving his phone ringer set to the highest volume, he stretched out on the bed, and dozed, catching up on sleep.

Aswon and Tads headed to the west, following the main road for a while until they saw the woodland, turning off onto the unnamed side road that quickly deteriorated into a track leading up through the trees on the shallow rise. When they arrived, Aswon stayed in the car, motioning for Tads to go on ahead without him.

"I think it's better if I stay here. Last time my presence seemed to upset him greatly, so I think it would make your transaction harder." Tads shrugged and headed into the small garden, knocking on the heavy wooden door at the base of the windmill. Aslik answered and welcomed her inside, and she disappeared into the dark and musty interior, leaving Aswon to watch and study the woodland from the cab of the four by four.

The talismonger's place was still the same as their first visit – dark, cramped, full of weird things and strange spells, and designed to clearly indicate that there were things here that only those with talent could truly appreciate. Aslik greeted her with a firm handclasp and waved her to an old and badly stuffed chair whilst he settled into his seat facing her. They chatted for a few minutes, with Aslik asking how she was and where she'd been while Tads answered with broad and non-specific comments that glossed over details. Eventually though they got down to business, and Tads was able to purchase the spell formula she sought.

Aslik pulled out a piece of linen, tattered and uneven with fraying edges. Hand painted onto it was a picture of a person fighting, multiple wild beasts surrounding them. It looked crude, with an art style like that of a medieval tapestry – everything looked to be view like a flat representation with no allowance for depth or perspective. But, subtly picked out around the person were faint markings in the lightest of greys that echoed with power, and the whole thing glowed slightly in astral space. Along with the formula, she also purchased some more materials for making a lodge. Beyond that, there was nothing more that she both needed and could afford, so after a bit longer chatting, she made her excuses and bade him a polite farewell.

Marius and Kai meanwhile got into the truck and headed up the main road in the opposite direction, cutting through the very top part of town and heading out to the north and the upland areas. As they drove along the road they saw the terrain for the first time in daylight, and realised the area to the left of the road was a large farm or ranch, with rows of plants growing in straight lines behind a high fence, and some livestock wandering in other areas. The ground was drier and much more like scrubland than Rusudan's ranch, but the place looked well maintained and busy. They drove on and up the road, turning up the defile and following the trail up to the abandoned tan SUV. It didn't take long for the two of them to get the vehicle unjammed from the rock and behind their truck, with the tow point lowered to allow them to hook on to the chassis. With a press of a button, the powerful hydraulics raised the towing point, slowly lifting the tan SUV at the front, until the wheels slowly left the surface and hung on the fully extended shock absorbers.

It was slower going down the defile than up it – the dead weight of the SUV making driving more difficult and fraught – but Marius managed it with style, and soon they were on their way back, driving through the north part of town again and heading for the main road. As they were most of the way through the scattered housing, Marius slowed the truck a little, then a little more.

"What's up Marius? Why are we slowing?"

"I think we have a tail. They're not overtaking or turning off, and it looks like they are definitely following us." Kai craned his head and saw a vehicle following them, perhaps twenty metres behind them. As he was looking, a loud beeping noise emerged from the speakerss, followed by an intercepted transmission from the police band.

"You are NOT going to believe what I can see at the moment…"

Quiet cursing in German burst from the speaker, and the sensors scanned around the area, evaluating the possible escape routes and checking for other vehicles and any possible ambushes.

"Aswon, Tads – can you hear me?"

"Kai? It's Tads, we can just about hear you. We're on our way back now to the r…"

"We have a problem – we think one of the cops from last night is following us," he interjected over the top of whatever she was about to say." There was a noise from her end, like a muted thump, and Kai also stopped speaking and listened.

"Tads? Tads, are you there?"

In the four by four, Aswon looked over as Tads' body slumped in the seatbelt, her head lolling from side to side. He slowed, recognising the signs that she had jumped out of her body and was now speeding somewhere as a disembodied spirit – partly to make it easier for her to jump back into her body when she returned, but also to stop her body being thrown around from side to side without any muscle control to absorb the impact.

Overhead, Tads orientated herself and then burst into her top speed, for a heartbeat, then a second, then she abruptly stopped. She smiled – almost perfect. In the roughly three seconds of motion she'd travelled around eight kilometres, and looking down she could see the town laid out. For a moment she manifested, and her ghostly form appeared two hundred metres above the ground, looking down – but able to see the physical world and not just the astral reflection. She spied the truck, moving slowly down the road with the SUV on tow behind it, and behind them a battered, plain, nondescript car crawling along the road behind them. Once more the world blurred around her as she swept down towards it, and she dived into the car and landed neatly in the passenger seat. Once more she manifested and turned towards the driver.

"Hello? Can we help you at all?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Nəhəng dünyadan Demon!"

The scream ripped out of the driver, and he turned sheet white as the blood drained from his face. He also took both hands from the wheel and made some bizarre kind of warding gesture towards her, as he quivered in fear. Without the steadying influence of his hands on the wheel, it drifted to one side and the car lurched as his legs tightened in spasms.

"There's no need to be afraid, I'm not here to hurt you! Please, stop screaming and look at where you're driving!"

Kai and Marius watched as the car suddenly veered off the road, accelerating wildly and then ploughing into the side of a house, the front of the car driving through the wall and then coming to a halt in a horrible jarring noise as the building settled down onto the bonnet, trapping it in place. Marius slammed the brakes on, fighting for control as the SUV tried to push them along and twist on its towing point.

They'd barely come to a halt when Kai leapt from the truck, first aid kit in hand and sprinted to the car. From the house he could hear the sounds of a baby screaming and the sound of someone crying, and he figured he didn't have much time before more people arrived. Pulling open the driver's side door, he tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Hello? Are you ok? Come on, get out of the car! There might be a fire!" The man turned and looked at him, still in shock, his mouth working in fear, surprise and confusion. Kai modulated his voice a little, and in a much lower voice that resonated with subharmonics, he spoke again. "GET OUT NOW!" This time the man fumbled with the seat belt, and then swung out of the car, Kai grabbing him and pulling him clear of the vehicle, guiding him towards the truck. "Don't worry my friend, I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you. Trust me." For now, his command of the Azerbaijani language remained on point, and seemed to be making sense. "COME THIS WAY, that's right, come on, towards the truck."

"Doctor? You're a doctor?"

"Yes, that's right, doctor. You've had a nasty crash there my friend, let's get you checked out." With that, he pulled out a small light, shining it into one eye then the other, then working his gloved hands over the back of the skull, down the neck, across the shoulder. Whilst he poked and prodded at him, he talked to him, dropping in medical phrases and conditions, adding to the aura of confidence. "Good pupil response, no sign of bleeding, pulse is elevated but steady. REMOVE YOUR GUNBELT, no sign of broken ribs, breathing is steady and clear, that's right, just let me check your stomach and legs here, ok good."

The policeman removed his gunbelt and laid it to the side of him, in a daze as Kai gave him a quick checkover, and then drew in a sharp breath of surprise as Kai pulled out the heavy duty taser from behind his back and pointed it at his chest. "Sorry my friend, but you need to get in the back of the truck, right now." The policeman scrambled to climb up into the rear of the truck, as Kai scooped up the gunbelt, and then climbed up after him. With the barrel of the taser, he motioned towards the seat at the map table, and the policeman sat, in a daze, looking at him fearfully.

"Ok, now I need you to contact your friend, the one you spoke to a minute ago. And you need to tell him that you made a mistake, and it's not the truck you thought it was, ok? And then we'll talk." The policeman grabbed his radio and pushed the button, sending the message as instructed. Kai listened, and it sounded ok to him, but to be sure, he keyed up his microphone and spoke quietly.

"Marius, did that sound legit?"

"Ja – well, it sounded like bad acting – but he's just had a crash and he's sitting at gunpoint, so I'm not surprised. But I didn't hear anything that sounded like code words or anything like that. But I'm going hot with the jamming, just in case and we'll be pulling out in a moment as well."

True to his word, a moment later the police radio gave a squawk as Marius powered up the jammer on the vehicle, feeding in power from the amplifiers and broadcasting a stream of static on the frequency bands they'd seen them use, then there was a lurch as the vehicle got underway again, gradually picking up speed and leaving the scene. Dwindling into the distance behind them the police car remained sticking out of the corner of the house, with a few people starting to emerge from their properties to come and examine it.

In the back of the truck, the policeman looked around him nervously, taking in the Cyrillic lettering, the army green paintwork and the Spartan furnishings, the weird mix of smells – gun oil, human sweat, novocaine and filler, the weird plastic zip lock bags holding a kilo of peanuts, and the collection of large unlabelled boxes stowed away in every possible location.

"Who are you people?"

"I think we'll start off by asking who you are."

"My name is Aliev."

"Ahh – Mr Aliev. So that would make your friend on the other end of the radio your friend Mr Husyenova, yes?" Kai smiled at him as the eyes widened. "Oh yes, we know about you, and your friend. And the….other people in town. Let's just say that we've had dealings with them, and the issue over the management of town has become subject to new considerations."

"Tutoring new thoughts?" said the policeman, looking confused all of a second. Kai thought back about what he'd said, and realised that he'd gone beyond his basic grasp of the local language. Subject, tutor, consideration, thoughts – well, they were sort of the same thing, right? He waved, dismissing what he'd just said. "Wait a moment." Next he called Hunter, and told him to translate for him, then called out to Marius, asking him to push up Hunter's inbound transmission over the trucks speakers. He spoke quietly into his boom mike, and a moment later fluent Azerbaijani came from the speakers, complete with appropriate slang and mannerisms.

With the language barrier smoothed out, the first thing they did was replay the intercepted conversation from the previous night, detailing how they'd stood by as the civilians were lined up and assaulted by the Mafia thugs. Aliev hung his head in shame, and his shoulders slumped. Kai watched carefully and was relieved to see what appeared to be genuine remorse in his face and body language. Working slowly, and using his body language in turn to reinforce his message, he told the policeman that what he had done was bad, and wrong – but understandable. What choice did he have, with so few against so many. What could he have done? Nothing, they all knew that. Some things in the world were wrong, but wishing couldn't change them. He understood.

Kai studied his expression carefully, seeing the fear in his eyes – wondering what these strange people were going to do with the information. Sell him out to the Mafia? To the government? To the public? He knew that he was cornered… and yet, he had a tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes too – realising that the fact that they were talking meant something. Kai smiled at him, working hard to keep his poker face in place.

"Things happened last night my friend. You're going to find out over the next few days, I'm sure. But things are going to change around here. For the better. It's up to you if you want to change for the better with them." Kai watched the policeman consider, then nod in agreement.

Back at the ranch, Hunter called Marius, being careful to mute his comms line, asking where they were. On hearing that Marius was now just driving around the southern part of town, in aimless loops and keeping moving, he grabbed some gear and hustled out of the front door, breaking into a steady and ground-devouring jog. "I'm on my way, don't go too far will you?"

Kai asked the policeman to tell him the tale, and listened to the slightly breathy translation from Hunter, wondering what was going on but deciding not to worry too much about it. In turn, he listened to Aliev tell his tale. It was much as Aswon had predicted – first they'd arrived to secure some cargo at the train station, just a simple little box. They'd offered a very generous bribe to the policemen to just ignore them, and they had. Next week there was a couple of boxes – less money, but still free money. The things they were supposed to ignore grew more frequent, but the money kept getting smaller, and the demands harsher. They'd argued one day, and Ulvi had just played back a clip from a cell phone showing them taking a bribe – and mentioned that his father knew people on the force back in Shirvan that would be interested in this kind of thing.

Defeated, and not knowing who to trust, or what they could do, Aliev and Husyenova had just tried to keep out of things, and the gang had taken over. They hated seeing what they were doing to the town, but what could they do? Their superiors were compromised, there was no one who could help them. Kai listened and watched, picking up on his body cues and seeing the anguish and disgust on his face as he told his tale of brutality, extortion and fear. Unknown to Aliev, Tads manifested behind him and gave Kai a thumbs up – his astral emotions and aura echoed his tale, and she could detect no deceit or subterfuge in him.

Kai sent a message to Nadia, asking her to start checking the cell phones for video footage or clips as well, wondering if the evidence was actually worthwhile, or all part of a scam, and wondering if he could contain or neutralise that as a threat. The next line of questioning was about the Mafia in Shirvan – but there they came up dry. Other than a couple of weeks for training to be a deputy, it appeared that Aliev had not really spent much time in Shirvan at all – in fact neither of the policeman had. Kai went back a couple of times asking about parts of the story, asking for more details and sometimes asking the same questions again – but the story held together and felt true.

Aliev sat now with his head in his hands, looking thoroughly dejected. It seemed the impotence and rage had been building up inside him, along with a healthy dose of shame – much like Rusudan. As he rambled on, one of the translated comments caught Kai's attention, when he mentioned that they'd found the beaten girl that morning, and he lamented that it never used to be like this before they came.

Some pointed questions followed, and it quickly became apparent that this was the girl that Kai had tased at the captain's house – she'd been reported as beaten up overnight by someone, and her parents had asked the police to investigate. It became apparent that Aliev had a good idea who he thought had done it, and that was going to be the end of the matter. However, when Hunter relayed the message left on the data slate with her, word for word, he looked up at Kai with narrow eyes and even more questions on his lips.

"We ran into these guys a little while ago, and things got kinda heated, and they ended up taking a nap. A real long nap. And look – we like the town, ok. It's nice. It should be quiet here, and people should be able to live their lives. So we decided to make sure we finished what we started, so it could be nice again. We're from far away from here, far enough to be unknown to these people. Beyond their understanding, or expectations. We're the force from outside that they can't predict, or prepare for. And because of that, they're going to lose."

"Think of us as…a kind of neighbourhood watch," Hunter added, of his own volition. Aliev sat back and looked at Kai, and for the first time a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Very well – so what is the next step. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, the first thing is to have a chat with your friend. Can you call him in so we can talk to him?"

"That's asking a lot – a lot of trust in you." Aliev stared at Kai. Kai in turn nodded, then reached down and grabbed his gun belt, and passed it back over to him, then flicked the safety back on his taser and holstered it. Whilst Aliev was fitting his gun-belt, Kai turned his back on him and got a cup of coffee on the go – giving him ample opportunity to draw his weapon and threaten him. Of course Aliev didn't know that Tads hovered over him, watching him with intense scrutiny. Kai turned around and passed over the drink to Aliev, and then called Marius, asking him to cease jamming.

"Let's start off with something simple – can you ask your colleague to go to the supermarkets and check to see what's going on?" Aliev nodded and made the call, having to deflect questions and begging his friend to just trust him, and that he'd explain later. Whilst they waited, Aliev filled in Kai on more of the activities that had been going on in town – the two main money makers were 'fire insurance', which seemed to be straight up door to door extortion by travelling packs of goons, and 'sales tax' – which explained what they'd seen at the supermarkets. Unless you paid a fee, you couldn't use the supermarket, which left people with a two hour walk to Shirvan to get to the next nearest shops. On hearing more about the door to door work, Kai suggested that Aliev's partner also keep an eye out for goons on the street.

"I guess you want to deal with the gambling den as well, then?" Aliev looked at Kai expectantly, and then continued to talk as Kai waved for him to go on. "Well, one of the things they did was bring in some girls from Shirvan, and they took over a house, and started a little brothel..." He continued to describe the operation. It was clear from his description that both of the policeman hadn't been to the brothel – in fact they'd been warned off and told to stay clear. From the sounds of it, it was run by a single guy, with a stable of between two and three girls working at any one time, rotated in and out at intervals. Ulvi and his goons went to collect the cash, and also ensured that there wasn't any trouble in the place. It was a fairly standard house, and they plotted it on the map for future investigation.

"Well, that's helpful Aliev, thanks. I've got people back at our base going through the captured mobile phones and looking for information, and we'll look for details of any video clips and sound recordings – and if there are any, we'll get them recovered and determine what's happened to them." Aliev nodded, appearing to be genuinely grateful. Kai was just about to speak when the police radio squawked. They listened to Aliev's partner as he described that there were no goons to be seen on the street, and none at the supermarket – and that the market was busy, busier than normal, with people hurriedly shopping and taking advantage of the situation.

"So, Mr Aliev – are we on the same page now?"

"Honestly? No, we're not. I get the feeling that I'm at least two pages behind, and still trying to work out what I'm reading. But I'll try and catch up."

"Good enough for me."

"As long as you don't decide to 'take care of me', I think we're going to be good." Aliev watched Kai carefully.

"Don't worry Mr Aliev – it seems we ARE on the same side. Oh, and the ghost that made you crash your car? I don't think you ought to worry about that. Let's just say its appearance and ours are not entirely unrelated."

Outside, Hunter turned a corner and caught sight of the truck driving slowly down the road towards him. He changed comms and called to Marius.

"Marius, pull up by me will you, and do me a favour. As I climb in, make the suspension drop on that side, then straighten up?"

"Whatever for?"

"Look, just humour me, will you, it'll help." He waited for the German to signal acceptance, then swapped frequencies back to Kai's broadcast rig in the back of the truck.

"Kai, Mr Aliev, I'm just about to get onboard. Don't worry." Aliev looked at Kai with curiosity to see what his reaction would be, but saw only confusion in his face. They felt the truck slow almost to a stop, then lurch down on one side dramatically. A few plastic cups fell from the sink and bounced across the floor noisily, spilling the dregs of last night's coffee across the cross hatched flooring. With another lurch the truck righted itself, and then slowly gathered speed again. Kai and Aliev both turned towards the connecting door as it opened, and Aliev gave a little noise of indrawn breath as Hunter squeezed himself through the gap. He walked down the narrow passageway between the bunks and the table slowly and carefully, and then stood with his arms folded, biceps bulging and looking down at the policeman.

"Nice to meet you in person." Aliev nodded, his mouth slightly open as he stared up at the intimidating bulk of the heavily muscled ork who loomed over him. Whilst he was off balance, Kai decided to capitalise on the situation.

"So, we're going to look at doing some data searches on the police network in Shirvan, and see what we can find there about the superior officers – work out who we can trust and who we can't."

"Bad idea, in my opinion – it's far easier for the mob to have a decker or a really savvy computer guy handy somewhere in the world, and just flag up searches like that, or watch for tripped flags and alarms in systems. If I was them, that's probably about the first thing I'd do to keep my organisation secure." Hunter spoke quietly, but articulately, and Aliev blinked at him, then averted his gaze as Hunter turned his attention from Kai to his upturned face with a broad smile. Hunter continued to describe the automated systems he'd put in place to alert him if outsiders were searching on his system for key data, making it very clear to Aliev that he definitely didn't fit the 'dumb ork' stereotype.

The radio keyed up again, and Husyenova reported that the second supermarket was also clear of goons, and if anything was even busier at the moment. He'd also still not seen any of the goons wandering around town, and his demands to know what was going on were even more pointed now. Kai and Hunter got their heads together, and picked a spot in the southern part of the town, and got Aliev to call his friend in there, promising to explain it all, then got Marius heading to the same spot.

As they drove towards the rendezvous, Aliev looked around the truck a little more, then took a deep breath.

"So… are you guys…. Are you spetsnaz?" His eyes flicked from Hunter to Kai and back again, watching for reactions.

"Nyet," Hunter smiled at him again, exposing teeth and tusks. A second later, Marius called over the speaker system, in fluent Russian.

"Did he just ask if we were Spetsnaz?"

"Da."

"Uncivilised barbarian." Hunter smiled again, as Aliev listened to the rapid fire Russian bouncing back and forth between them.

A few minutes later they pulled up, and Aliev, Hunter and Kai got out of the truck and headed over to the waiting police car, with Aliev climbing in the front and the two team members sliding into the back. Husyenova had his hand on his service pistol and the safety off as they climbed into his car, especially once he'd seen the size of Hunter, but Aliev reached over and pushed the pistol back into his holster with a shake of his head. In the back of the car, the astral form of Tads floated between Kai and Hunter, watching carefully and ready to appear if required.

They spent the next few minutes listening to Aliev as he talked to his friend, relaying what he'd learnt and discussed with Kai over the past half hour. They added a few bits here and there, reinforcing what Aliev said, or clarifying parts that he hadn't gotten quite right. The two policemen exchanged looks when they played back the radio traffic of the previous night, but by the end of it, Husyenova seemed to be as convinced as Aliev had been.

They left the policemen, advising them to check the third supermarket out and keep an eye out for goons – but otherwise, to keep their heads down and stay out of trouble. Aliev nodded, but paused, as Hunter suddenly leant forward in his seat and interrupted him

"Hang on, I'll be back in a moment." They watched as he climbed out of the car, squeezing his massive frame through the back door and jogged back over to the truck. While they were waiting, Kai exchanged phone numbers with both of the policeman, and asked them for their father's names, telling them to use that as a code word if they were in trouble and required assistance.

Hunter was busy rooting around in the back of the truck when his radio chirped in his ear, and he heard Aswon calling for him.

"Hunter? Aswon. Can you let Tads know, if she's still with you that I have bought her body back to the ranch, and I'm in the car keeping an eye on it. And also, can you get your decker buddy to look for details on this kid in Shirvan for Tads?"

"Negative, he has a tasking already." There was a pregnant pause while Aswon waited for any more information, or some kind of negotiation, but when it was clear that there wasn't going to be one, he came back with a clipped acknowledgement and signed off. Hunter meanwhile had continued to build up his package, and after grabbing a few more items, grabbed his bundle and climbed out of the truck and headed back to the car.

Whilst the two policemen in the front watched, he carefully unwrapped the blanket, revealing the two best maintained and least battered shotguns from the haul, along with a full basic load of shells for each of them.

"These are for you guys. Keep them handy in your cars, in case you need them – just a bit of extra firepower to help even the odds." Aliev and Husyenova exchanged looks, with Aliev having a slightly smug "see!" expression on his face. They both thanked them, and watched as the team got out of the car and headed back to the truck.

"Oh Tads, if you can hear me, Aswon took your body back to the ranch, and he's keeping an eye on it." Tads waited until they were safely back inside the vehicle before she manifested and thanked him, then disappeared in a blur of light as she raced back to her body and merged with it. Kai, Hunter and Marius started up the truck and headed back to the ranch, only arriving a few minutes later, dropping off the tan SUV into the workshop area and covering it with a large tarpaulin to disguise it from casual view.

They met up again around the dining room table, having a quick recap on the day. Tads confirmed that she still wanted to research into the life and activities of the young man, Vusal Aliyeva, and that until she had, she wasn't going to be at peace with her totem. Nadia was sitting with a 'trode net on, along with some earphones and was busily navigating the matrix, carrying out her searches – they knew better than to interrupt her and disrupt her from virtual space, and decided to leave her to it at the moment. In the end they decided the best thing they could reasonably do at this point was to actually go for a quick drive around in Shirvan, risking being seen in the truck. As they were getting up to get ready to leave, Kai raised his voice a little, to ensure that the family would hear him too.

"Hey, has anyone seen Shimazu today at all?"