As they closed onto a large pile of containers the team could see that it wasn't another random pile of the standard shipping containers just piled up – they were lined up much more neatly and stacked carefully together, and there was no daylight visible between them. Closer examination revealed that they'd been welded or bolted together at some point, a little way in from the ends, forming a solid mass of containers piled two high and three long, with at least a dozen containers-width laid out on the tarmac. Iceman steered them towards one of the sets of doors on the end of a stained and pitted container, and opened the weather flap covering the very fancy looking and high-tec maglock. An eight character code, fingerprint scan and iris check opened the door with a deep metallic noise as heavy-duty locking bolts recessed back into the frame.
Fancy lock. Looks expensive. Shame Shimazu could probably just cut through the door or the roof to get in. Hunter sent via low-powered signal to Marius.
Agreed. Unless they have lined the containers with something, that looks like an inappropriate lock for the circumstances. Marius responded, and they shared a look. Iceman led the way into the container, with the team trooping in behind him, looking around with interest.
Inside, the space stretched out for metres in both directions, the walls of the containers having been cut through to form larger spaces. They could see the small sections at the ends of the containers by the corners, presumably left for strength and rigidity – but they were all clad in a plastic shroud that concealed and protected them from access and gave the space a feeling more like a cheap motel than industrial cargo bay.
It also smelt – musty and with a strong tang of body odour. As they looked around, they could see what looked like a living and sleeping area off to one side, with tatty and battered sofas and cheap beds laid out, covered in dirty and crumpled clothes. A small kitchenette was further around the wall, with several small and old appliances covered in a thin layer of grease and a large pile of dirty plates and junk food containers overflowing from the end of the drainer over to the bin and down onto the floor around it. Yellowing fluorescent tubes lit the place up, casting an even but slightly depressing light onto all of the internal space. A bead curtain at the end of one container looked like it led to a bathroom of some kind, and with the horror of the sink area as an example, made the team individually decide that they'd hold off on any 'personal' trips until they were back at the tilt-wing. Even the primitive facilities on the bird, though uncomfortable and crude were at least clean…
Over to the other side though was a larger cargo area, with racking and storage closets, wardrobes and filing cabinets and a few chillers or freezers laid out in neat rows – presumably a holding area for goods and materials bought and traded through the post. It appeared to be mostly empty from what they could see, with scant few boxes present on the shelves – though the cabinets and other closable locations could all have been full, they supposed.
As they surveyed the area a man appeared around the corner, dressed in stained and tatty combat trousers over heavy boots and a heavily-soiled hooded top. Broad-shouldered, he carried himself well but had a noticeable paunch forming. Tightly cropped and shaved blond hair lay atop wrinkled skin, and a pair of icy blue cyber-eyes with a subtle pattern examined them back, framing a crooked nose.
"Guys – this is Randy, he runs the place."
"Heya Ice…" He looked over at each of the team in turn, until his eyes flicked over to Hunter. "Whoa there. What happened to you? Or was it every branch on the ugly tree, and a bounce at the bottom?" His tone was direct, but not aggressive, sounding almost conversational.
"Yup." Hunter gave a lop-sided grin that distorted his features further, a little shrug and then waited, refusing the escalate the situation further, or make anything of the comments.
"Fair enough. So – Ice, where you bin? I bin callin' ya for a while?"
"Um – stuck in the back of a van. It's a bit of a long story… but these are some new friends of mine, and I think they need some services."
"Sure, services we got. Watcha need?" Randy smiled at them, revealing a row of pearly white teeth so bright they almost hurt to look at. If the brightness and almost unpleasant glow of the teeth hadn't been enough to confirm they were artificial, the two words implanted into the six teeth top and bottom were. The top row read 'Misery' while the bottom said 'awaits'.
"Well, we need pretty much a full tank of fuel, decent grade aviation gas if you have it? We can pay with Nuyen of course, but we can also supply some fresh food to sweeten the deal?"
"Sure. No problem. How much do you need?" Randy watched as Kai turned to Marius for confirmation, then nodded as he was told they needed about sixteen hundred litres. "No problem, plenty of stock. Probably about six, six and a half grand. And if ya got fresh food, we'll look afta ya right nice."
"We would appreciate any information on the local area in addition. I am Aswon."
"Sure you are, long stuff. Well, we can chat, sure. I've also got a bit of cargo you might be interested in – some drugs and medical supplies, a few weapons and stuff. A lot of my stuff went west a few days ago though on a sub, and I'm waiting on the next deliveries." Several of the team exchanged glances, wondering if the sub he had mentioned was the one they had run into at the sunken ship.
The fuel cost is pretty cheap. It may be some of the local stuff, from the oil fields inland. But we may want to check on the quality when we fill up, just to be sure! Marius listened as Hunter sent the warning, then gave him a subtle nod of agreement.
"So. Mr. Iceman. Now that things have calmed down a little, I'm Kai, and this is my team… Aswon, Tads, Hunter, Marius and Shimazu. Vadim's on the tilt-wing, on guard and studying. I gather from Hunter's reaction that he's heard of you – presumably from the intershadows? Hunter likes to log there, and swap Poke-things and tell stories…." Ice looked at him and as Kai stumbled through his description his features tightened as he tried not to wince.
"Yeah, I'm on the matrix. So Hunter… what's your handle? Have I seen you around?"
"I go by XX_Bourne_XX normally, big shining knight in plate armour for the avatar."
"Ahh, gotcha. Yeah, I seen you around. You've dropped a few bits of interesting info recently… looking at the company you keep and what you're flying, some of that makes a bit more sense now. Lotta travelling, I guess."
"You could say that. We get to see all kinds of scenery, meet interesting people…"
"…and shoot them in the face or do all kinds of dodgy deals, I'm sure. Ok – let's go over here a little, shall we." He waved with one hand and gently ushered Hunter with the other, moving further into the room and away from Kai. "Listen. I'm grateful for your assistance. I think things would have gone pretty badly for me if those Mitsuhama goons had gotten me to their airport and away. I owe you – I owe you big. So… why are you over here?"
"We're just on a job, heading to a couple of places."
"I get that… trying to not give out too much info, not betraying your route to a virtual stranger and all. But throw me a bone. Help me out a little, and I'll see what I can do for you. Clear it with your boss if you need to. He seems like the…. sharing type." Iceman66 rolled his eyes and gave Hunter a look of sympathy. "Randy can be direct, but your boss seems to enjoy talking when he might be better listening. I don't envy you."
"Tell me about it. One minute." Hunter turned and headed back the few paces to Kai. "Ice here is curious to know where we're headed. He might have some info that'll help us – but he has to know a little about where we're going to be able to give us the right stuff. You cool with that? I'll be discreet…" Kai considered for a moment, then nodded, watching as Hunter turned and headed back towards the decker.
"Right, boss is cool. Ok, we're working our way down the coastline mostly, heading towards Seattle at first, but then onwards down to Cal-Free eventually. From there, we may need to consider our options, heading back home – do we come back up this way and work over the ocean, or go cross country and swing up through Europe or Africa back towards the Middle-East."
"Wow… ok, long trip. I guess you need to make a fair few stops – that bird of yours won't have the legs for continental travel. Hmm, lemme see." Ice grabbed a bag from the bottom of his bunk, and pulled out a battered but heavily customised deck from it, then sat down, jacked in and fell silent for a few moments. "Ok, check your mail. Guest access is on the IceBox network, password Icicle49283.
Hunter swung his bag around and pulled his own deck out, then jacked in and joined the local matrix node and checked his mail. Sure enough there was a message waiting for him, the avatar of a giant ice-breaker smashing icebergs out of the way adorning the header. As he opened up the file and ran it through his virus checker – just to be sure – his eyes widened. It wasn't a huge data packet, only fourteen lines of text. But as he scanned the lines he could make out co-ordinates, names, access codes and some brief notes on facilities.
He copied the information out of the file and onto his map, then smiled as glowing datapoints appeared all across the continental area – providing information on smuggler stops from the UCAS, through Sioux lands, down through Denver, into Peublo, onwards to the CAS and even down into Aztlan. A few more mental commands and circles appeared on the map, showing the fuel radius from each of those stops – leaving perhaps only thirty percent of the continent not covered – but with the vast majority of that being in the frozen northern reaches.
"Dude… that's…. thanks. That's gonna make life a lot easier."
"Hey, you saved my hoop. And remember – those are access codes to get you recognised by each of the bases – they won't give you any rep with the owners. That's up to you to sort out. But it's the least I can do." Hunter nodded to his new friend, then wandered back to the group and pushed his way into the middle, then bought up the map on the rollout screen, holding it out for everyone to see.
They only had a few seconds to look at the data before Randy returned from making arrangements around the corner, and announced he was ready for the fuel transfer. Leading the way, he, Hunter and Marius headed back to the bird to supervise the fuelling, with Hunter making sure to get a good sniff and sample of the fuel as it started to flow from the hose run out from another of the ubiquitous cargo containers. At least the base had a high-quality pump, so the transfer was completed inside a few minutes, and they were able to head back to the main building and get in out of the cold wind. A quick swipe of the cred-stick and the team were down six thousand four hundred and eighty eight Nuyen – but with their tanks topped off to maximum.
While the bird was being refuelled, Kai rested against one of the couches and chatted with Iceman, thanking him for the information about the smuggler bases dotted about the continent. The whimsy vanished and he asked a lot of pertinent questions about the bases and routes between them, smiling inwardly as he saw the decker re-evaluate his opinion of Kai as a result. But he did also learn a bunch of valuable information about common routes used – 'Big Sky', running from Seattle across to Minneapolis before turning south and heading for St Louis; 'The Gauntlet' continuing on from St Louis down to New Orleans; "The Igloo', picking up from Minneapolis and working across the top of the great lakes towards Quebec; 'The Ares Screw' running south around the Lakes to the same destination; 'The Bug Zapper', a short but very dangerous run into the walled city of Chicago, still devastated from the infestation of bug spirits and finally 'Big Dance', which worked south from Seattle through the city-state of Denver all the way to Aztlan.
Aswon made sure to mention a few stops they'd encountered – in particular 'The Ski Lift', the small mountain camp in Iran run by Rasheed, Narsin and Javad. It wasn't like it was close, but if they'd made it this far east, it stood to reason that someone else would make it that far west, and any business he could send their way would help them out and keep them running. When he'd shared what he could about smuggler stops, he and Kai asked about the borders they'd be facing heading south.
"Well, Athabaskan control is loose, to say the least. But I suspect you've already worked that out for yourself. Most of the resources up here tend to be heavy and bulky – timber, oil, gas, stone… so it's not like the vehicles moving them can be small and subtle. The borders are easier to police for that kind of stuff, and they don't have the manpower or budget to really lock things down, so it's null sheen to get in and out round here, as long as you're not dumb."
"Moving south though, well that's a different matter. The Tsimshian side is a lot tighter and more aggressively patrolled. Not so much their border with Athabaska as that's not really transited much. But the southern side, where they border with the Salish – that's more of a problem. The Salish ain't got much love for the Mitsuhama sponsored or supplied troops, and the feeling is mutual, let me tell you. That means you've got two bunches of paranoid slitches actively patrolling the border, and that makes it a lot tougher. The main thing you have going for you is the terrain, which is rugged and broken. Not many roads of course, and they have checkpoints and guard posts near the borders – but if you can get off road and up some of the old logging trails, that makes it doable…or just fly down some valleys of course if you're airborne. Just watch for the patrols – because they're constantly on the move. A lot of folk I know head out to sea and cruise down over the ocean, just out of sight of land, and that's normally not too bad – if you don't need to stop there, why even bother getting close!"
"The Salish are pretty tight on their northern border as discussed, but a bit more relaxed to the east with the Algonkian-Manitou and Sioux lands, so if you're reasonably subtle and aware, you should be able to get over no problems. The Sioux have better tech and are more heavily armed, so if there's someone to avoid getting in a fight with, it's them! And of course, smack in the middle of the Salish is Seattle. The border is pretty small, but heavily trafficked. The Salish are reasonably on top of things, but there's a whole industry down there for getting people in and out, and some specialists you can find on Shadowland that'll make things easier."
"From the Salish you're bordering Tir Tangire and Ute to the south. The Tir is a hard crossing, as you'd expect. The elves don't like visitors, especially unannounced ones and their magical security in particular is top notch. More than other places though, interior security is just as tight and of course most folk stick out like a sore thumb. The Ute is a lot more chilled – much like the Salish, and their population is low enough that there's a lot of empty space to move around in. Average tech and military I'd say – so you should be able to spoof them if you're careful."
"From there, Cal Free…. Well. It depends what day of the week you're crossing. Some days the border is nova-hot, and you'll get burned no matter what because Saito is pissed off about something and has troops lined up along the border just waiting to shoot you down. Wait until the next day though and they're all back in Sacramento shooting orks and trolls for existing, or guarding corporate buildings for the Jap-corps. That's one you just have to play by ear mostly – but do not engage the military there, no matter what you do. Kick that anthill, and they will come boiling out of the ground and ruin your day."
"South of Ute and east of Cal-Free you've got the Pueblo Corporate. Much better tech and sensors, lighter on the magic and spread pretty thin. If your ECM isn't up to scratch, they're probably going to tag you unless you're really careful and quiet, but once you're over the border, it's plain sailing – the defences aren't that deep."
"UCAS and CAS borders are much like the Salish, I'd say – a good blend of tech, reach and power, maybe with a bit less magical backup, but with lots of depth to cover before you're clear. The borders are huge though, and there are always holes to move though if you're enterprising. Much like Pueblo though, once you're inside you're generally golden, they'll assume anyone who is there is supposed to be there, and there's so much traffic darting around it's easy to get lost in the clutter."
"Aztlan to the south is another matter, though – hostile nation, hostile terrain, enough troops to splatter you across twenty klicks of jungle and good enough PR to make it clear you were terrorists invading their peaceful lands, raping their women and stealing their kids. If you're not going for a good reason, just steer clear and save yourself the pain."
"Thanks, Iceman – I don't think we're going that far. Cal-Free should be as far as we need to go, and then we're probably heading back from there, quite possibly retracing our steps all the way back up here and over the sea back to Yakut and Russia. The craft doesn't have the range to get across the Pacific, even if we can sort out a mid-air refuelling, so we may not have much choice." Kai smiled, then raised an eyebrow at their host. "If we do end up coming back this way, and I'm not saying it's certain – is there anything we can bring you? Anything that'll trade well, or you need?"
"Well, if you are going to Cal-Free, getting some California Hots are always good. They're a solid seller, and pretty easy to move."
"Ok great." Kai nodded, and then leant in a little, lowering his voice. "And is there anything you need? Anything personal?"
"Nah, I'm good. Though we're happy to look at whatever you bring up with you. I do got a question though – if you're heading south, are you looking at stopping at Buck Palace or El Diablo?"
"They are both on our list as possible stops, depending on our fuel requirements." It was Aswon that answered, not Kai, and he checked on the map to ensure he was talking about the right places before continuing. "Yes, both of those places are possible locations to refuel. Why do you ask?"
"Well, if you're going to Buck Palace, it's a weird place but ok. Best advice I got for you is to go along with the charade, it's easier and it'll get you better service. And if you have a Tux to wear, so much the better. El Diablo however is a different matter – keep your guns hot, your eyes peeled, make sure someone is watching your back and don't leave anything lying around you can't afford to lose." The door opened, and Randy, Marius and Hunter returned from refuelling the bird. "Excuse me, I just need to go chat with Randy…" Iceman headed over and started a conversation with the base operator, leaving the team to get back together.
"Ok Hunter, all good with the fuelling?"
"Yeah, it's decent enough stuff, pretty standard grade really."
"Great. Can you make a note, if we do end up coming back this way, they're after some Cal-Hots and that strikes me as an easy set of goods to move." Hunter nodded at him and tapped in some notes on his pad, adding them to the list of things about the base. Kai saw the look of confusion on Tad's face, and pre-empted the question that was forming.
"They're entertainment chips. Standard simsense recordings, you slot into your deck or player and jack in, and you feel like you're in the movie. You're not just watching it, you're experiencing it, being the hero, doing the things, getting the adrenaline rush, feeling the emotions. But they're all regulated to not be too much. Cal-Hots are chips without the limits on em, really intense. Illegal pretty much everywhere, it's Cal-Free's greatest export probably. But a box of chips takes up little room and can net us a handsome and tidy profit – assuming we can find a buyer and seller of course."
"Are we ready to leave this place?" Marius asked. "If we have no more business, I would like to press on. We have all had a good sleep in a proper bed, and should be rested. I would prefer to try and make the most of that and get as far as we can before we have to stop again."
"Fair enough, Marius, let's have a look at what the route is like. Hunter, map please?" They all leaned in as Hunter keyed the map alive, showing the smuggler bases they had plotted already along with the rash of new information from Iceman66, and the volcano chain that worked down the coast.
"Distances are rough, so bear that in mind… but from here it's five hundred klicks to number ten, then another five hundred and seventy on to number eleven. A hundred and twenty klicks south to Buck Palace, located on an island off the shore of Tsimshin. Then six hundred and forty down to volcano twelve, and another five hundred on to El Diablo. From there two hundred down to thirteen, then a long run of a thousand klicks down to the last one." So about three and a half thousand to go. We could fly that in a day if it was a straight line and no borders… but it ain't."
"Ok – so two fuel stops should do us… at least we can afford that. Unless something crazy happens anyway. And what are the chances of that?" Kai grinned while several of the team winced, wondering why he liked tempting fate so much. "Looks simple enough on the map, but I'm sure it's not. What can you tell us about the next volcano?"
"Well, the maps of the area are pretty crap – been a long time since they were surveyed, and given that it's a whole lot of nothin' up there, nobody has updated them So… it's pretty bad. He zoomed in and the team saw what he meant as the mountains turned into a pixelated mess. It's only twenty klicks in from the shore, but it's over five thousand metres high. As you can see, it's part of this chain of peaks, all rough terrain, about seven hundred clicks long. We're going to have fun getting through here, as we need to find passes low enough to get through, that aren't guarded or being watched. The other bad thing is that the location for the drop is pretty much at the summit of the volcano. The closest place I can find to land that's under our service ceiling is about four and a half thousand metres away, way down here." He gestured at a saddle in the mountains, where a fast flowing stream was slowly carving a gorge back towards the peak. "That means some seriously nasty hiking and climbing up and over these ridges here, to even get anywhere close enough. It's just as bad in the other directions too."
The team studied the map in silence for a moment, taking in the terrain and geography.
"I don't like it. Even landing up there, is going to be horrible on the body. It's going to be like Iran again, but we'll be travelling fast enough that we won't really have time to acclimatise. Mountain sickness time again…" Shimazu frowned. "Unless we can get some supplementary oxygen to use, which would help deal with the issues?"
"And if we don't have oxygen, or time to get used to the altitude, that increases the chances of accidents or mistakes significantly, and will slow down our progress. The terrain there is unfavourable, to say the least." Aswon also looked unhappily at the map. "We have decent cold weather gear, and we'll definitely all want to be carrying food, water and personal survival kits if we step foot off the chopper. We're pretty well equipped, so we should be ok. But this kind of terrain is unforgiving. If someone gets injured, or we get hit with a storm, or something goes wrong, then our situation will change blindingly fast, and it can all go to hell. We don't want to be taking any chances we don't have to."
"Is levitating someone with the stone possible? I know my spell isn't very powerful, which means its not terribly fast – but it stops all the climbing and risk of falling?"
"It is, Tads, but I think the issue will be the line of sight. You can only control what you can see, right?" Tads nodded at Aswon. "Well look here… once they're past the first ridge, you'll lose sight of them, and that's a problem. Unless you levitate yourself up there as well, and that just makes it so much harder doesn't it?" She nodded at him again. "And line of sight is going to be variable – depending on the weather…. What is the forecast?"
Hunter keyed in a few commands and the map zoomed out and displayed the feed from a weather service, along with a whole host of adverts blinking and flashing to attract their attention from the sides. Anchorage and the surrounding area was clear, but they could see another massive weather front heading up from the south, hundreds of kilometres of clouds forming a near constant grey blanket that was being driven up towards the pole by warmer currents from the equator. That meant that it was likely from the next volcano until they were to Seattle they were likely to be flying through a variety of crap that was going to make life vary from difficult through unpleasant to downright horrific. The idea of being stuck in a hail or sleet storm while climbing up a peak at four and a half thousand metres didn't appeal to anyone.
"That IS going to slow us down. We may need to spend time on the mountain to adjust to the altitude, or get some oxygen. I'm not sure we can afford the time. Or the gear. But we can try to barter for one of them, I suppose…"
"Yo, Iceman? Got a question…" Hunter called out to the decker, deciding to take advantage of the rapport he'd built up with him. Kai might have all the fancy techniques for persuading people to help him, but Hunter was counting on their shared experiences in the matrix being more valuable. "Is there anywhere around here we can get some SCUBA tanks or something like that?"
"We don't have any here. But we can get some bought in. Does it have to be SCUBA?" Hunter shook his head. "Ahh, right. Ok – well, there might be somewhere we can get an alternative from. If you fancy a little shopping trip into Elmendorf, I'm sure we can raid some of the old hangers or supply areas, and they're bound to have some high-altitude gear laying around still. They used to have strategic bombers there, and ran some special operations team out of the place too. Did HALO jumps out into the mountains and valleys north of here. Would that do you?"
"Please, for the love of all that is right, tell me you're not considering that?"
"What Aswon? That's right up our street? Abandoned military base. Gear just lying around. Some guards, sure. Bullets, excitement, adventure? What?"
"We really can't afford to be injured. We don't want that any time, granted – but we cannot be climbing mountains with people recovering from being shot by some guard. And we can't afford the week in hospital while someone gets bullets removed from their spleen or waits for a clonal leg to grow. Tads is powerful, and her healing magics are wonderful – but they're not guaranteed. And what if she's the one that gets injured? Remember Samara? She ended up in the infirmary! We just don't have enough time to be taking on risks like that. Or to wait while we get enough money to post bail or buy a judge if we get captured during an attempt instead of shot."
"Such a spoilsport. But… "Kai sighed theatrically, "I guess you're right. Ok, no shopping trip." Hunter called over to Ice, politely declining the opportunity, then re-joined the team conversation as Aswon was saying they probably needed to allocate some time to acclimatise on the mountain after all…
"So, once we're up there, we do some gentle exercises. Interspace with rest. Plenty of food and fluids. Take some drugs – then once we feel ready we make a go of getting up, dropping the token and getting back down as quick as possible. That's the only sensible way I think we have of doing this. Oh – oh crap. Something else to think about – we might want to dig into the history of the mountain and access any tribal records we might find, make sure it's not some kind of holy site or something. Last thing we need is to get there and find it's just like that one in Japan, but guarded by a bunch of Braves instead of Samurai. Not sure your clan symbol would work over here, Shimazu."
"Give me a few minutes. Why don't you sort out the food, use the loo and any other stuff like that, and hopefully I'll have some searches running in that time." Hunter swung his bag around, sliding away the tablet and rollout screen he'd been using and pulling his own deck out. The tablet was fine for displaying maps and basic data, but no good for what he needed to do now. He swiftly connected up, logged in and projected his mind through into the matrix, then fired up his search utilities, doing a quick run down on the peak they were aiming for, checking the co-ordinates and looking for alternative names in a variety of local languages, along with the scientific tags assigned to the volcano. Once he had those, he fed that data through into the search bots, sending them out recursively to look for data on or about those tags, trying to gather as much basic information as he could. He kept the search subtle and light, not targeting any corporate hosts directly or manually directing the search – though he'd likely get more and better information by doing that, keeping it to the bots made it look like a regular data crawl and was much less likely to show up on any security grids or show as a pattern.
By the time the rest of the team had finished up, and had made Randy and Iceman very happy with a box of fresh steaks along with a variety of tropical fruits and other delicacies, Hunter had jacked out and was transferring data over to his storage. He caught the back end of a conversation between Kai and Randy, over in the corner as he went to tell him he was ready.
"So, can I interest you in a purchase? I've got some good stuff on here…"
"What have you got Randy – I'm always interested in novel things."
"Great. How about this – cracking set. Ultimate Cage Fight 9. Ten really great cage fights, between top names of the time."
"Cage fights? Sounds more like Hunter's cup of tea. What do you reckon?" Hunter shrugged at him in a non-committal fashion. "Well, he didn't say no. How much?"
"I can do this for you for thirty Nuyen. You won't be disappointed! Really great fights, sure to get the heart racing!"
"Ok, sure, I'll take it."
"In that case – do you want a deal? I could do you…" he rummaged in the pile of chips, stirring through them with his fingers as he picked at cases and read the titles. "Great – look here. I've got 10, 11 and 12 as well. I'll do you all four for one hundred Nuyen!"
"Go on then."
"And if you like them, I've got some other great titles. I mean, cage fights are great – but look at this. Grudge match showdown volume three!"
"Well, I'm not sure. I think with these four I've got plenty to keep me going for a while. Let me watch these first, then come back to you for some more."
"Kai, we're all ready for departure." Hunter interrupted before Randy could respond.
"Ahh, seems like it's time for us to go. Such a shame. So, when we're back, let's carry on this conversation Randy, and we'll discuss what to watch next, ok?" Kai excused himself and turned away quickly, ushering Hunter to come along with him before Randy could try to peddle any more chips on them.
They crossed over the windswept concrete and headed back to the tilt-wing, climbing aboard and settling themselves in swiftly. As Marius started the pre-flight checks, Hunter told them what his search had revealed.
"The mountain has a name in Tlingit, 'Yasʼéitʼaa Shaa', meaning 'mountain behind Icy Bay', and is occasionally called Shaa Tlein 'Big Mountain' by the Yakutat Tlingit. It is one of the most important crests of the Kwaashkʼiḵwáan clan since they used it as a guide during their journey down the Copper River. Mount Fairweather is known as Tsalx̱aan, and according to lore and local legends it is said this mountain and Yasʼéitʼaa Shaa were originally next to each other but had an argument and separated. Their children, the mountains in between the two peaks, are called Tsalx̱aan Yátxʼi or 'Children of Tsalxaan'. So by the sounds of things it is important to the locals in some way, but not going to be a revered site, as far as I can see. No mention of burial grounds or weird rituals or anything like that."
"We should still be careful, but that sounds somewhat reassuring," Aswon responded, checking to make sure his rifle and spear were both secured and in reach, then tightening his seat belt over the top of the thick jacket he'd climbed into. Everyone else was also having to adjust their harnesses, loosening them to account for the extra layers they'd added in preparation for their climb to higher altitudes.
A few minutes later, Marius carefully lifted them into the air and headed back out over the water to the north, before slowly bending a course inland, skirting around the city at a reasonable range and starting to head inland. As they flew east the ground started to rise up, fingers of the mountains ahead spread wide at first but starting to thicken up and leading to narrow valleys as they rose up from sea-level. The area was empty and looked desolate, huge sweeping expanses of rocky scree interspersed with hardy grasses and patches of moss, boulder fields and granite outcroppings, fast flowing rivers and deep gorges. It was beautiful, in a remote kind of way, a vestige of unspoilt wilderness and the natural world, carefully managed and protected from the mega-corps. Occasionally they flew over an area being used for forestry, oil drilling or ore extraction, and even these were relatively clean, with almost no warping or distortion of the mana field. The native council firmly enforcing their draconian policies on land management in exchange for the rights to work the land. Roads were few and far between, and signs of meta-human presence was very limited – while the area teemed with natural life, giving the ground a comforting and pleasant glow, even with the relatively empty and windswept landscape.
As they flew onwards the ground rose, becoming more and more rugged and less hospitable with every passing kilometre. Snow and ice appeared in patches, scattered at first, then joining up into larger sheets and masses, until the situation reversed and it was smaller and smaller patches of rock or heather visible scattered in the snow. Each of the team started to develop that faint nagging headache they'd first encountered back in Iran, and started to throw painkillers down their throat, chased down with bottles of water, while they tried to breathe deeply and normally, doing the best they could to help their bodies acclimate to the thinner air. The craft betrayed its special operations heritage now more so than they'd encountered so far – it was clearly not pressurised at all, and the lack of insulation really made its presence known. The heating systems they'd purchased previously seemed to be keeping up with the cold and kept the avionics running – at least for now.
As they closed in on their destination they could all hear the engines struggling, trying to lift and propel them through the thinner air and finding it just as hard as the more organic systems it carried. It wallowed in the turn as Marius orbited the landing site, and the rigger was careful to allow for the sluggish response as he flared and came in for landing. Loose snow was blown off the surface of the plateau and engulfed them in a miniature blizzard, but Marius had seen it coming and was glued to the instruments, slowly lowering them down until they crunched through the thin layers of ice and sank almost to the belly of the aircraft in the snow.
The engines shut down, the rotors slowing quickly and the howl of the engines was replaced with the keening of the wind as it ripped across the peak. Marius and Hunter had worked the course up the northern side of the ridge leading to their volcano, putting them on the leeward side to try and cut down on their exposure, but it was none the less a harsh and bitter wind that kept the apparent temperature well below zero. As the snow settled back into place, Hunter flicked through the library of disguises and found an all-white colour scheme, setting the photo-voltaic paint surface to adopt the new livery. He couldn't hide the shape of the vehicle, or conceal things like the rotor blades – but he could make it harder to spot from a distance or to detect as a specific type of aircraft.
Tads scanned around the aircraft, looking for spirits or magical critters that might pose a threat – but she gave a little start as a lone meta-human swam into view through the settling snow, bundled in thick furs and with a hood tightly clenched around his head.
"Kai – visitor for you, coming towards the starboard side door…" As she studied the figure further she could make out the magical aura around them, and the power being exerted by the guardian spirit that was protecting them from the weather. "And be polite, they're magically protected."
"Oh great. More mythic stuff…" came a chunter from the cockpit as Hunter overheard.
"Kai – try starting with 'Wáa sá iyatee?' I'm pretty sure that's a variation of 'hello, how are you' in the local language. Kai repeated it a few times, trying to get the pronunciation right, and then slid open the side door, wincing as wind and loose snow invaded the fuselage through the opening – and this was on the 'sheltered' side of the bird!
The figure stopped, and eased the hood back a little, revealing a male human face, mature and lined with the effects of outdoor living. Fortunately, the greeting seemed to work, and the man broke into a broad smile. Even more fortunately, he answered in English.
"Finally! You're here! I've got a shelter set up, if you want to come and talk? I've been waiting for quite some time!" Kai listened and then turned to look at the others, sharing the look of confusion around.
"Err, sure. Hunter, Marius – can you refuel from the barrels? Rest of you, with me to go talk to our…friend here?"
"Actually, I'll stay here, and keep an eye on things." Vadim answered, grabbing his rifle and settling himself by the entrance where he could watch the fuelling point easily. Kai shrugged, then nodded, and followed the stranger as he headed towards the face of the cliff about twenty metres away, with Aswon, Shimazu and Tads following along behind him. He led them towards the rocks, and as they got closer they could see him angling towards a crack in the rocks, half a metre wide and perhaps four or five metres high.
"It's in here. It opens up a little after the first few paces, don't worry." He turned sideways and crab-walked through the gap, disappearing into the darkness. Shimazu pushed past Kai to enter first, the buttons on his coat scraping down the wall as his hulking physique squeezed through the gap. Aswon waved for Tads to follow Kai, and bought up the rear, following along. Sure enough after a metre or two, the crack did become wider, allowing them to face the direction they were travelling and walk a few more paces into the darkness before they turned and entered a larger chamber or cave. It was pretty dark past the turn, and they saw the Shaman only as a dim shape as he carefully moved forwards, slowly advancing across the floor until his foot hit something wooden.
"Mind your eyes." The stranger paused for a moment, and then a bright flare surged from the end of his fingertip, an intense flame that danced and wobbled over the top of his extended index finger. He crouched down and touched it to the small pile of kindling which caught quickly, spreading to the stack of firewood stacked up in a pyramid. The flame vanished from the finger, and instead the arms waved back and forth, weaving a complex pattern in the air. Tads saw the spell forming, a powerful manipulation spell of some kind, but it didn't seem to be aimed at them, and included the man casting in the area of its effect. She was wary, but held her position, mental defences ready in case he suddenly carried out a hostile act. Instead though, as she waited, she became aware of a sudden but sharp rise in temperature. In the space of a few heartbeats the inside of the cave warmed until it was warm enough that they started to gently steam as sweat evaporated off of them.
One by one they unzipped their coats, opening them wide and then following suit with their base layers, while their host moved over to a large framed pack resting against the side of the cave. By the side were a big pile of furs, which he grabbed and then started to lay out around the camp fire.
"Hopefully you'll be comfortable – the fire won't do much for the temperature, but it's a comforting thing while it lasts. Unfortunately there's not much wood around here…" With the last of the furs laid out to provide a padded sitting position, he returned to the other side of the fire and drew himself up to his full height, then clapped his hands together loudly and firmly.
"Spirits guard and protect you travellers, I welcome you to my camp. Be safe and one with Nature." With a flick of his head the spirit which had been following him closely flew over to the entrance to the cave and took up a guard position there, using its powers to slow the wind until it was barely a detectable breeze, pulling in cool fresh air at the ground and pushing out the slightly smoky air at the top.
Aswon listened careful as the shaman spoke, recognising a ritualistic and stylised tribal greeting. He guessed that as long as they didn't attack or betray their host in some way, they were now protected and under his guardianship. Why he didn't know, but it was a lot better than being attacked or chased, and he nodded respectfully to the man and waited to find out what was going on.
"Hello there. I'm Kai, and this is Shimazu, Aswon and Tads. So you…. Were expecting us? In a chopper? Coming today?"
"Expecting you, yes. In a chopper – no. And today. Or yesterday, or perhaps tomorrow. The spirits were unclear. I've been here a week, and was starting to get worried that I had not interpreted the signs correctly. But now, here you are, and all will be well. Praise be."
"The spirits told you we were coming?" Kai sounded suspicious, and yet at the same time slightly proud for some bizarre reason – as if foreboding dreams and visions granted to complete strangers meant that he was now 'somebody'!
"Not as such. The spirits sent me a vision, and told me I was to come and seek answers. Before I get to that, do you wish for your friends to come inside too? I would not wish them to become cold or be in danger."
"Marius? We've got a cave in here with a fire, nice and warm and we're talking with our new friend here. Do you and the guys want to come in?"
"Negative. We will remain on guard with the aircraft. But leave a comm-line open if you wish us to participate." They could hear the click-clack of the hand pump in the background, almost overshadowed by the wind as they manually pumped fuel from the barrels into the main tank, replacing the five hundred litres used so far.
"Our companions will wait in the craft. They should be fine – it will shelter them from the wind, and we have some heaters in there, and lots of warm clothing. And the toilet, come to think of it…" Kai frowned for a moment then shrugged. He didn't need to go, yet. Sounded like a problem for future Kai…
"My name is Kutara, the shaman for the peoples of Black Forks. It is a small community about… well, it doesn't really matter where it is, or what it is near, as you will not know it. But our people have lived here for generations, living by the old ways. And now the old ways have returned, and the spirits answer our calls again. Some weeks back, my totem sent me a vision, a prophetic dream that warned me of a danger. A storm. A most dangerous storm indeed is coming, coming to our mountain. And we need to make a choice. There are two paths to walk, but only one will bring peace and prosperity to our people, the other war and destruction."
He pulled out a hand carved wooden pipe and tamped some tobacco into it, lit it and drew heavily, blowing a smoke ring towards the fire and watched as the heat made the ring rise and flutter as it merged with the smoke from the burning wood.
"Strangers will come. Have come. The messengers of the spirits, those who ring the bell of change. Of the two forces, yet not. The totem told me that the answers we seek, the knowledge we need, can be gained from you. So, I come. I wait. And now here you are. I ask to receive the knowledge of the path we must walk, the steps we must take to turn to the path of peace, and away from destruction."
"Ahh. Right." Kai took a deep breath and looked around at the others. Shimazu was non-committal as usual, but both Aswon and Tads seemed to favour discussion. "Well, I think I know at least some of what your totem is warning you about. You see, we have been hired to deliver fourteen magical tokens to various mountains and places, in a huge area. Our two employers are powerful beings, and will have a race, trying to recover them. But that bit doesn't involve us. All we have to do is to place them and hide them, so they others can find them. We're not to get involved at all. But, based on the evidence we have so far – we believe that the people who employed us are both powerful Dragons."
"I see. We knew you would come, and that we might learn who to trust and who not to trust. Or who to aid and who to hinder. But this makes things clearer, somewhat. There is still much that is not clear though…"
"Perhaps." Tads croaked, cleared her throat, then tried again. "Perhaps, if you are willing, I could cast a spell and share my thoughts with you, and you could see the two men – listen…" She paused as Aswon held up a hand.
"I do not feel that is a wise idea. I mean no disrespect, Kutara, but much of the information from that meeting was confidential, given to us and us alone. We must respect the requests of those that hired us, and be careful what we share. Not only because they are very powerful beings that we do not want to upset or offend, but also to make sure we live by the code of integrity we have set for ourselves. I'm sorry, and again, I mean no offence."
"None taken. I am sure there are things I would not share of my tribe with you, or discussions with our chieftain, for much the same reason. But is there something you can tell me that will not betray your promises?"
"Well…" Aswon considered for a moment. "Ok. The two men both had names, which I will not reveal. We do not KNOW their identities. But we suspect that they are Lung and Ryumyo. Suspect very strongly – but as we do not KNOW, we cannot reveal that as a fact." He stressed the word 'know' very carefully, making it abundantly clear that it was just their theory. "They are both Great Eastern Dragons, beings of immense power, with vast numbers of minions to serve them. Lung is based in China, and has a reputation for being patient, philosophical and working in harmony with nature. Ryumyo is more energetic, direct and passionate, and exerts more direct control over things. We suspect that they are engaged in some power-play, a game of epic scope and that we are but pawns in their ongoing conflict."
"I see. I do not know either of these names, though we have heard tales of Dragons of course. But I can see that if these were the forces that my totem has warned me about, how their power could affect us so much."
"Could you not just stay out of it? Not help or hinder either side?"
"No." The word was spoken with complete authority and finality. "I did wonder the same, but my vision quest was clear. The storm is coming, the wind blows – and blows strongly. You do not choose to have the wind stop – all you can do is lean into the wind or run before it." Aswon listened to the analogy and nodded. Once he'd heard that the vision quest had already dealt with that possibility, it didn't occur to him to question it. "So, a choice must be made, a decision taken. But the choice weighs heavy upon me – for I sense it will affect my people and our way of life strongly. We must choose wisely."
"As far as we understand it, the two employers will be sending teams of people out to find the stones. Perhaps your totem would guide you to a place where you could meet them?" Tads suggested, "When they arrive, you can talk to them – tell them you may be able to aid them on their quest. Talk to each of them, and decide who to help based upon their answers?"
"That is a possibility. Though it does put me between the two forces, and I wonder if that is a good position to be. I do not wish to stand between the brown bear and the black bear!"
"Well, I can't say which of the two philosophies they seem to embody would be better or worse for you." Kai scrubbed at the side of his nose while he pondered for a moment. "Anyone else have any good thoughts?"
"Put me on an open line, Kai." Marius called out. As soon as Kai confirmed that he was on loudspeaker, he spoke again. "If our suspicion is correct, and the identities of the two are the Dragons in question, then my recommendation would to be aid Lung. On balance, this is more likely to result in peace for you, than war – in my opinion."
"It is worth noting that both of them are dragons, and both of them see human life as beneath them. Fragile, short-lived, petty and puny, so many of their kind see us as nothing more than ticks, something like an infestation." His voice thickened slightly, becoming somewhat emotional. "So whichever you choose, if you have to choose, you are still becoming a slave to someone. Just one slave-master is more beneficent than belligerent. Most of the time at least."
"Thank you. I hear your counsel and will consider it. But how will I tell who is who?"
"I think I can help there," said Aswon. "Ryumyo will almost certainly send a team of Japanese agents to look for the prize, and they will almost certainly be human. Lung is more likely to send someone Chinese – or maybe even a multi-national team, and there is a much higher chance of them being multi-racial. He is willing to tolerate people other than his 'chosen tribe', if they are good at what they do."
"I see. So I just need to be able to tell the difference between a Japanese and a Chinese person?" The team fell silent for a moment, then realised they were dealing with someone who had probably never been more than fifty kilometres from where he was born, and had no understanding of the outside world. There followed a quick lesson in ethnicity, with much pointing at Shimazu and then at Kai who had subtly shifted his features to look more Chinese, pointing out the differences between them.
"Of course, once they are here, assuming they come and I find them – I need to bargain with them, and work out how to aid our chosen party. Whichever one that is."
"Well yes." Aswon looked at Kai and then took a deep breath. "On a completely separate note, unrelated to anything else… we may need a guide to get up this mountain. I wonder if you, as a local, would assist us. We're here on a private matter, but if you could guide us safely to a location it would be of great help. All we would ask is for your word that if YOU saw us doing anything on the mountain, that YOU would not take any direct action to anything we did…"
Kutara looked at him eye to eye, unblinking. As they stared at each other, Tads let herself slip into the astral and carefully assensed the shaman, trying to determine his totem. The spell cast to alter the temperature had sort of spread out and pervaded the area by now, and wasn't as conclusive as she'd like, but she got some strong hints. The most likely fit she found was Eagle, which bought up all kinds of interesting issues. She wasn't sure of all of the ideals of Eagle, but she was pretty certain that honour and integrity were important factors. About as important to them, as it was to Aswon.
Kai opened his mouth but paused as Tads touched him on the elbow, shaking her head at him. He turned back and to his surprise saw both men were still staring at each other, mouths slowly working as if they were rehearsing a speech.
"Kai, I think we should let them talk. They're choosing their words, very, very carefully. I think it's critical that they say things very specifically. Perhaps we can give them a minute."
"So, if I were to guide you up the mountain, I might see you drop something off. In fact, it would probably be best if I did. Because only if I know where something might be, could I make sure that I didn't move it, purely by accident, leaving it exactly where you left it."
"Yes, yes, I suppose so. In fact, that makes a lot of sense."
"And of course, if I had given you my solemn word not to move it, or to interfere with it in any way, then you would have carried out the task assigned to you. And if I decided to tell someone else – but had not told you which team I would favour, then you in turn would not know at all, and would still be completely impartial?"
"Absolutely. Although we have told you what we would do in your place, I don't believe that you have given us your opinion, or told us who you favour. We have no idea of which way you would lean."
They both stared at each other, and slowly a smile formed on their mouths. It was perhaps a contrivance, and everyone in the cave knew what was going on – but that didn't change the fact that everything they had said to each other had been truthful and honest, said with the best of intentions and openly.
"So, I think we're all good here right? And if anyone gets asked any questions, we can answer them clearly and honestly, without getting anyone into trouble?" Kai queried.
"Indeed. I am Aswon."
"And I am Kutara. I will guide you up the mountain – but we should rest. It is too late in the day to make the climb to the peak now. We must wait here overnight, and start at dawn. It will be a hard climb, and dangerous in places."
"Really?" Aswon and Kai asked, almost simultaneously. Kutara nodded and gestured in the direction of the peak, describing the series of valleys and ridges, the paths and cliff that lay in their way and how little daylight was left… they might just make it to the top, but they'd be there at last light, and trying to get back down in the dark would be suicide – at least that was his opinion.
Resigning to a night here, Kai called for Hunter, Marius and Vadim, telling them they might as well join them in the cave where it was at least significantly warmer than outside. Kutara's spell and the lack of wind made a huge difference, keeping the cave at a toasty seventeen Celsius, while outside the temperature was a few degrees below zero in the shelter, and more than fifteen below with the wind chill. The team headed out to the bird and carried in supplies of food, water and sleeping equipment, and made themselves comfortable in the cave.
With several hours to go until dusk, Aswon settled down to talk to Kutara, finding out a little more about his tribe and life up here, sharing stories of his homeland in Africa, which fascinated the shaman, along with swapping information about magical herbs and potions. That jogged a memory for Tads, and she braved the journey out to the tilt-wing, coming back in with the small supply of herbs they'd picked up in Iran for altitude sickness which she soon had bubbling away in a pot, brewing some medicinal tea for the tea to help them get used to the thinner air.
Once it was clear that she was a shaman too, that gave her and Kutara plenty to talk about, and she picked his brain about the temperature spell, examining the small bat claw that had been enchanted to sustain the spell for him so he could rest or sleep without it failing. In turn she showed him her spells for creating food, working up a small feast for them to pick at and share. Kutara had been chewing jerky for the last day and drinking snow-melt, so having some succulent fruits, fresh milk and other foods suddenly available put him in a very good mood.
They chatted away for hours, babbling away about magical theories and the lands around them, swapping information back and forth. Hunter and Marius had their noses glued to their tablets, reading up on more mundane matters and trying to ignore the mystical mumbo jumbo going on around them.
A passing comment stopped Kutara in his tracks though, when Shimazu was discussing some of the things he'd learned in Egypt, and mentioned that he could sometimes receive visions of things that had happened while holding on to personal items. Kutara seemed intrigued, asking for more details, and Shimazu shared some of the details of the technique that he knew as psychometry, explaining how it manifested itself to him and how it could be used.
"Will you show me? Please?" Kutara reached inside his top and worked loose a leather thong, on which were threaded a few large fangs. It like the rest of his equipment was hand-made, and being worn on the body that way made it a fairly strong link to his psyche. Shimazu hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement and reached over, carefully taking the necklace from him, settling himself down cross legged and laying the sword across his lap.
He rested both of his hands over the sword, back of his hands resting on the flat of the blade forming a good bond, and then used his fingers to carefully tease out the necklace until it lay flat on his outstretched palms. He slowed his breathing, using the techniques Aswon had been teaching him, and then reached out mentally towards the necklace, opening himself up to the flow of emotional energy stored within.
The others saw him relax for a moment, his breathing slowing and becoming shallow as he concentrated on the feelings – then gave a start as Shimazu stiffened suddenly, jerking upright as emotions coursed through him.
"Are you ok, Shimazu?" Aswon checked. But Shimazu didn't appear to hear him, and just sat staring blankly forward, quivering gently as the dying light of the fire cast dancing shadows across his face, revealing the glowing redness spreading across his cheeks…
