"Hang on a minute. Shouldn't we call him first? Make sure we can get in to see him. And also make sure we don't get shot down!"
"That is a very good point, Aswon." Marius paused the start-up sequence, and looked over at Kai expectantly.
"Ahh – good point. And thinking about it – we should probably get a deal sorted to take to him. Like… I guess we should work out how much magic rock we can get. And what we can do with it."
"What we can do with it, I can answer." Tads swept a stray hair out of her face and pinned it behind her ear. "Ok. We want to make a magic wand, right? So we get a stick – something natural, unsullied. That's the base material." She hefted her staff out as an example, then continued speaking. "Next we need some materials, to do the inlay or scribing, that's what we normally go talismongering for – and what Parako and the others have saved up in the hut. Then we need to do the enchanting ritual, and that's the hard bit. It takes a month – normally. At least it should."
"What do you mean should?" Kai asked.
"Well, until yesterday, we all knew that orichalcum couldn't exist naturally. And we also knew that enchanting an item always takes one lunar month – no less. But now it's today, and one of those things isn't true anymore. Maybe the other thing isn't either. But for now, let's assume it's still the case – so your skilled enchanter works for a month, and then they make the item. But they have to pour part of their soul into it, part of their essence. It drains you a little, leaves you feeling… I don't know quite how to describe it."
"Spent?" Aswon offered helpfully.
"Yes, I suppose so. And the more powerful the thing is, the more of your soul you have to put into it. Now, you do the same thing again, but this time using orichalcum, and it helps in two ways. One is that the extra magical material just makes the enchanting easier – the mana just seems to flow into the thing you're making faster and more smoothly, and you do a better job. Not faster… just better. But secondly, it seems to amplify your ability to pull power from the surrounding area to augment your own, and you have to put less of yourself into the thing. You don't feel as drained or spent…"
"So it's doubly useful. Easier to make the thing so it's more likely to be good quality, and less taxing on your chakra." Kai saw Tads nod at him. "Ok, so magic rock good. Next question is how MUCH magic rock is good."
"Hard to say, and it depends on what you're making. There's no gauge here, or way to measure it precisely, right?" She waited for the others to nod in understanding. "Ok, so the length of my staff is how much of your soul or chakra you have to invest to seal the magical ritual. Let's call it ten thingies, ok. Nice round number. If you use one portion of orichalcum, a small mound in a hands worth – then that provides one tenth of the power to make the magic stay. You get two hands worth, and it provides two tenths…" She moved her hands up the staff, making chopping motions in about the right area to illustrate her point. "You always have to put a little of yourself in – you can't avoid that. Again – unless the world has changed THAT much. But you can make it so much easier on yourself. The main reason we don't, is cost – because making orichalcum is hard, and normally takes a lunar month just by itself…"
"And you might need a small mound in the hand to make it ten percent easier," Aswon added, "but when just a pinch of the stuff costs you between seventy-five and a hundred thousand Nuyen, that can get very pricy, very fast. And you have to weigh up the cost to yourself against the cost to your credstick, and work out where the balance is…"
"Got it – more is better, but up to now was just stupidly expensive to make or buy. So this stuff doesn't directly let you make better things by itself – but because it costs less of you to invest into the thing, you can make more of them, or you can make bigger things?" Kai saw Tads flinch a little at his sweeping generalisations, but then pause and nod at him. Close enough was good enough, at least from his point of view right now. "Ok – so we need to go see how much of this stuff we've got, so we can work out how much value that has. Then we can work out what negotiating power that has." He gestured back over to the edge of the water, then set off that direction to go examine the fisherman's haul.
"I should probably do some kind of checks and analysis on this stuff as well – make sure it really is what we think it is. I mean, I'm pretty sure it is – but what if it's got some weird kind of twist to it that changes things a little. I just don't know… but I'll check." Tads did a U-turn and headed towards the tilt-wing, asking Marius to unseal the doors so she could get some of her enchanting kit out and perform some tests.
The rest of the group headed over to the rocky beach and found the fishermen carefully gathering the metallic crystals, scraping them free from the fish's scales and depositing them into a small container. They were being exceptionally careful and thorough, and it was clear that Parako had expressed upon them just how important this task was.
"I have to wonder if this is the best way of gathering the materials. I mean – taking the fish out. What about if they caught the fish and bought them ashore in water, then cleaned them and released them. Back into the same area…"
"Make the most of an efficient natural method of harvesting you mean?" Tads glanced over at Aswon.
"Yes – the scales are obviously good at collecting the stuff. I'm not sure we have a better method. But if they catch all the fish, then we lose the collection method."
"I'm not arguing about that – but they catch the fish to eat. If we want to work on a catch and release program, we need to supplement their food stocks. I can do that – but there's a difference between making food for a few of us, and making food for the entire tribe. It can be done, but it's going to be a lot more time consuming."
"Maybe that's something we can address then. If we can take even a few grams of material and sell it, that gets us enough ready cash to feed your tribe for months – even if we have to pay for it to be airdropped out here, or bought in by fast boat."
"Maybe that's something we can add to the list of things to negotiate with the Russians. If we can supply them with material or foci – eventually – maybe they can supply food. If they have the logistics set up to provide food for ten thousand men on the approach here, they should be able to feed my people."
"More like twenty thousand – remember there's another division to the east, on the side of the Yakut border." Hunter added. "And yes, that actually makes your point stronger – but that's the kind of thing we want to mention to the Brigadier."
"Will the Brigadier understand the value of the orichalcum?" Kai asked. "I mean, I'm sure he trusts us a certain amount – but is he willing to bet his career on us telling him we have a pile of magic rocks? Perhaps some magic beans too, to grow a beanstalk with…"
"Probably not. Maybe we need that soldier… ohhh…" Tads scrunched up her face as she tried to recall the name that was rattling around in her mind. "Andre. Aranovich? Something Galler. He was the aide to the major or something, over at Irktusk."
"Alexander Galler, I think, is the name you are looking for." Marius added, looking just a tiny bit smug as he memory quickly provided the name. "Though I actually suspect that getting hold of Vitoly Frederick would be better. He was the man in command of the magical platoon at Irkustk. It was he that we defended from the spirit attacks and provided assistance to, and as I recall while he was not anywhere near your level of power, he had a good understanding of magical theory and application."
"Right – yes, thank you, Marius. He would be better – he'd be able to provide a much better appraisal of what we have for the Brigadier, and being in the military himself he's got to be better at vouching for us to other soldiers or his superiors."
"Right – I'm going to call the Brigadier to see if we can get something set up then. I presume there's no issue with a flight down there assuming we get clearance and safe passage, Marius?" He saw the pilot shake his head and pulled out his commlink, getting ready to pull up the Brigadier's contact details.
"We should probably get in touch with Shimazu as well at some point. If we're going from here to England to do that delivery, we could maybe arrange to pick him up somewhere along the way. I'd certainly feel more comfortable with him around if we're meeting new people in a strange country and having to do deliveries and negotiations. I mean, we're no slouches close up – but we're not as good as he is." Aswon shrugged. He had no issue admitting that – Shimazu was the personification of lethal inside the range of his sword – just as he was a crack shot with his rifle and could take out targets at ranges that made them barely visible.
"Oh, no need. He should be here tonight. I called him at breakfast when I thought things were going this way, told him to get to Baku and hop on a flight to Moscow, then sort out getting up here somehow."
"And you were going to tell us this when?"
"When it was important for you to know. Which is now. Excuse me – it's connecting." Kai gave him a smile and a wink, then wandered off a few metres, and they heard him talking to the Captain, exchanging pleasantries and starting to arrange a meeting.
"I'm off to go speak with the Shaman then, to find out what they're willing to do in terms of deals with the Russians. It's no good visiting the Brigadier with only the vaguest of ideas of what they might be open to discussing…"
She headed back to the main chum, disappearing inside, leaving the rest of the group waiting for Kai. Aswon and Shimazu headed over to help the fishermen, with Hunter and Marius trailing along behind them, and they ended up helping out with the gathering of the orichalcum, slowly increasing the size of the pile of material as they worked through the catch.
A while later, the team were back together – Kai informed them that they had a breakfast appointment with the Brigadier, who had provided a transponder code for them to ensure they had safe passage as they approached the Russian lines – still paused in place after Tads had initially spoken to them. Tads meanwhile had made her case to the Shaman, explaining her plan and discussing with them about their possible options. While they might not be happy about the whole process, they did recognise that they had to bow to the realities of the world around them – and that working with the Russians was a far better option than being evicted by their land and replaced by Mitsuhama. They had already started to spread the word of the potential deal over their sat-phones, the message spreading from tribe to tribe, across the land. But, so far, there was agreement that they would work to turn the new bounty of magical material into foci and objects that could be used by the Russians in their war with Yakut, in exchange for leaving the Nenet people and their land alone. It had also been a convenient way to carefully spread the news to the other tribes about the unexpected find, and to determine if this had happened anywhere else in the vast region.
"The other thing I want to do is work with Hunter on this, to do a report for Pattersons. That's what my ID is supposed to be after all – a researcher. And they can't ignore a story like this… so it's got to help shore up the quality of the ID if I actually have an article published by them!"
"But we can't let people know about this stuff I thought? Or we'll be swarming with corps!"
"Yes, Hunter – we're not going to release it yet. But we can save it for later, maybe once things have settled down, or if we do manage to strike a deal with the Russians."
"Right, fair enough then. We should be well away from the area by then, so we're not going to get tagged in it. But sure, I can help you write something up."
"Great. I've had a look at the material by the way, and it's… different. It's definitely orichalcum though, don't worry about that. But it's like it's a different… flavour somehow? No, that's not right. Um…" Tads tried to find a way of describing what she'd found, struggling to be able to relate it to the others. "Ok… it's like the difference between the little salt sachet we get with some food, and that rock salt stuff in the grinder we had in that restaurant a few weeks back. Both salt. Both change the flavour of the food. Both essentially the same stuff. But one was crunchier, bigger, more jagged than the other. It's like that… if you make something with this stuff, you can probably tell which type of orichalcum was used to create it. But it won't make any difference in how it works."
"So it won't make any difference to the offer we make to the Brigadier then?"
"No, Kai – none at all. It's still just as valuable."
"Good. I passed over the message about wanting Vitoly there, explaining how he would be able to make expert opinions and analysis on what we had to say, and how much the Brigadier would need something like that – he said he was going to have to pull some strings and call in some favours to get him here, but he was willing to trust us that far – so we should be able to get someone we've worked with before to vouch for us and corroborate what we're saying."
"Kai. I don't know how to say this without coming across badly – and I don't mean it like that. But these are my people, and they mean everything to me. I have to protect them. Look after them – all of them. Not just my tribe, but my culture. Like Aswon had to look after his. So I need to do whatever it takes to keep them safe, ok? So… when you're making a deal with the Brigadier, or his boss, or this politburo thing… just bear that in mind, ok?" Kai smiled at her, then let his smile fade away, and for a moment, he also dropped his masking, letting his real aura shine through instead of the projected image. His face changed, becoming neutral as he dropped all of his affectations and whimsical mannerisms, and he nodded at her sincerely.
"I'll do the best I can for them. I understand how important they are to you – and like with Aswon's tribe, and all his people – we'll do what we can to keep them safe. All of them." He paused, and Tads nodded back to him gratefully, deflating slightly as she released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. When Kai saw that, he reverted back to type, hiding behind his happy-go-lucky persona again. "Of course, a nice statue of me won't go amiss either. I was thinking of a pose like this…" He reached out an arm skyward, looking like some heroic montage from the latest trideo hit, his chin lifted slightly into the air while he gazed off into the distance. He held the pose until he heard the world-weary sigh from the others, then gave them another of his infectious grins. "What?"
For the next several hours they continued to harvest the orichalcum, gathering as much as they could from the fish, and continued to refine their plans, working out just what kinds of things they could discuss with the Brigadier and propose to the Russian leaders. Hunter pulled out his tablet and started to work on a presentation, trying to get the magical theory out of Tads and Aswon, and convert it into terms that others could understand.
Around 19:00, they piled into the tilt-wing and took off, heading about two hundred kilometres to the east to find the Naryan-Mar airport. It was closed, and had been for years by the looks of things, with the perimeter fence sagging and broken and the runway cracked and being encroached upon by vegetation. As they approached, a small private jet was thundering into the sky, clawing for altitude before it reached a crater that covered most of the width of the runway about two thirds of the way along its length. The jet thundered past them, turning to head back towards Moscow, and accelerating quickly. Marius noted it squawking its civilian transponder code with far more power than was strictly necessary, and wondered if the pilot had been picked up and targeted by the air-defence forces on the way north – and just how much he needed new underwear now.
Buzzing in low over the airfield, they saw the distinctive form of Shimazu, waiting at one end of the rough tarmac, and they swooped down to collect him. On the journey back to Tad's village, he told them that the pilot had in fact sworn never to come here ever again, having nearly died of fright when he was locked up by several missile batteries and had only just recovered when he nearly planted his plane into the crater on the runway on his first landing attempt, causing him to go-around and try again. Certainly he'd made it clear to Shimazu that he was never accepting a charter from him or his company, ever again! Other than having to check in his sword into the hold for the commercial leg of the flight though, his ID had held up fine, as had the company credentials, so it had been a fairly smooth transition for him.
The rest of the team in turn bought him up to speed on what was going on – the location and disposition of the Russian forces, the destruction of the other smuggler team's craft and their rescue, what the locals had found and what they were trying to achieve. They returned to the village, checked in with the tribe and spent the rest of the night planning, refining their presentation and planning for their meeting with the Brigadier the next morning – and working on the contingency for what happened if the diplomatic route failed them. They certainly didn't want to engage with the Russians – the prospect of taking on a combat formation with ten thousand armed troops was madness on the face of it. But, given their experience and gear, they could certainly fight hard in an asymmetric conflict, and the Russians wouldn't enjoy the experience…
They were all up at dawn, checking over their equipment and getting ready for take-off. Marius had entered the transponder codes into his system, ready to broadcast the signal as they approached the Russian lines to ensure they weren't seen as a hostile target, and he and Hunter had checked over the electronic warfare systems in the aircraft, just in case it turned out not to be such a pleasant meeting. As usual, Tads had a veritable swarm of spirits to protect and defend the team, with one larger than the rest assigned to protect the tilt-wing – but rather than summoning them with the dawn, she'd instead reinforced the ones she'd had yesterday. While the others were finding the constant daylight a little unsettling, she was not only used to it, but found the fact that dusk was still two months away rather refreshing!
By a little after seven local time, they were ready to go, and piled aboard the aircraft for the short flight down to the front lines. Marius headed south-west for the first one hundred and fifty kilometres, extending their flight time by a few minutes but allowing them to turn ninety degrees for their final approach towards the Russian lines, disguising their origin point.
"Are we all going in for the meeting? Or do you want to drop me off a way back to provide cover with the rifle?"
"If you're dropping Aswon off, do you want me to join him with the Panther? In case they've got armour?"
"I don't think so. Hunter – I'm guessing Marius would prefer to have some help with the EW controls if things do get hot, and Aswon – I think we have to trust the Brigadier. Or at least show that we trust him. So, unless we leave someone to keep an eye on the aircraft once we get there, I think we should all go in."
"You've got the orichalcum, right, Kai?"
"Yep – split it into two little pouches, so we don't have to show the whole lot at once. Let us play things by ear."
"Cool. Ok – we're picking up sensor scans. I presume you're getting them as well, Marius."
"Affirmative," Marius sounded calm and confident over the comms, and the tilt-wing maintained course and speed, skimming at low level over the forest towards the Brigadier's headquarters section.
"Transponder is active. We're being tracked – but not locked up. Hah… they've lost us. Trying to reacquire. You're not trying to evade them, are you?"
"Nein. The coating on the aircraft is doing the work."
"You've not got a spirit hiding us, have you, Tads?"
"No, I asked it to stop when we turned. It's just protecting us against accidents or mishaps now, as best it can."
"Ok, they've got us again – but it's very tentative. I guess they're trying to run a tracking exercise on us. Still no fire control though, no x-band searches. All cool." Hunter continued to monitor the sensors and electronic warfare panel, watching as the tracking radars firmed up their profile on the tilt-wing as they maintained a constant speed and heading, making it about as easy for them as it was going to get – but he was gratified to see their sensor signal wobble from time to time as the inherently stealthy design of the aircraft worked to deflect their tracking.
A few minutes later, they overflew the front lines, watching heads turns from the strung out soldiers that were finishing their breakfast routine and getting ready for the day, and approached the HQ tent, laid out exactly as Tads had described from her visit the day before. Somebody had cleared a large landing area, and had positioned a wind-sock in one corner, and there was a squad of troops waiting by the side of the clearing. They were in their combat gear, with rifles to hand, but as the tilt-wing came in on final approach they lined up and bought their rifles to port-arms – indicating they were more there as a welcoming honour guard.
"Looks like the Brigadier is trying to give us the right impression too." Kai looked at the feed from the sensors that Marius was shunting back to him. "Ok, let's go with slung and holstered weapons. Play nice, we're all friends – until we see something that indicates otherwise." A series of grunts and nods indicated that everyone understood, and Marius bought them in for a gentle landing exactly in the middle of the clearing. Once they were safely down, he killed the engines and unbuckled, moving into the rear compartment – though he paused at the cockpit door.
"Hunter, I would like you to remain with the aircraft please – for security. Just in case."
"No problems. Bring me back some breakfast, yeah?"
Marius snorted and moved into the back, following the rest of the team out of the side door and then sliding it closed behind him. By the time he'd turned around, the squad of guards had approached, and the corporal had thrown Kai a sharp salute, holding it for a few seconds before bringing his hand back down perfectly in line with where his trouser seam would be in a dress uniform.
"The Brigadier extends his compliments, and is ready to receive you at your convenience."
"Thank you. We'll head over now; we know where to go. Oh – and one of our team is still onboard, just doing some work – just so you're aware."
"Very good, sir."
"I could get used to that," Kai whispered as he led off towards the tent, the rest of the team trailing along behind him. He grinned as he felt the weight of their stares on his back, marching quickly towards the tent. Waiting outside was a pair of soldiers, one of which was Iosif Lebedev. Both saluted as the team approached, and Iosif held open the tent flap and called ahead loudly, announcing their arrival.
The tent interior had changed a little from Tads' first visit – additional tables and chairs had been set up, giving more than enough room for the whole team to fit. The folding tables had been covered in a spotless white tablecloth, and several pitchers of water and juice were laid out, along with some plates holding what looked like freshly baked bread. Behind the table stood Brigadier Cherkenov and Captain Zarkorov along with Captain Vitoly Frederick, all of whom moved around the table to greet the team, exchanging handshakes and smiles. The Brigadier was just as charismatic as they remembered, standing tall and proud with his uniform immaculate, and Zarkorov greeted them warmly, his handshake warm and welcoming. Captain Frederick however looked… travel worn. His uniform was clean, but had lost all of its starch, and he had clearly been in transit for most of the night. His welcome was more neutral, though some of that might have been reflected in a night without sleep.
"Welcome, friends. Please, be seated. Breakfast will be served momentarily, I'm sure." No doubt his staff had been waiting outside for his announcement, and moments later the back of the tent was opened up and staff entered with a trolley – though they had to carry it rather than push it, in light of the rough ground. None the less, they unloaded dishes of hot food, laying them out along the table before quickly leaving once they had ensured that everyone was seated and settled. The team joined the Brigadier and his men in attacking the eggs and sausages, adding slices of the warm black bread to their plates. Tads waited until the serving staff had left, then quickly conjured up some food herself, adding a few Nenet-style fish and cakes to the breakfast selection, loading some of each of them onto her plate and tucking in, to prove that they were safe.
The conversation was kept light – the weather, some major news events in Europe or the UCAS, a brief discussion on the Moscow ice-hockey team's recent success in their league games – all non-confrontational topics that let them relax and actually eat for a few minutes in relative comfort. They consumed their breakfast with gusto, until they all had clean plates before them, and were sat back with glasses of water or orange juice in hand, feeling somewhat sated.
"Now my friends, hopefully you are ready to share with us whatever important news you have."
"Indeed, Brigadier. Thank you again, for agreeing to see us. I have a short presentation to share with you, about some opportunities that have arisen, relating to your approach into the Nenet lands. And of course, I say that – while we recognise that from the point of view of Russia, that this is the 'Nenets Autonomous Okrug' I believe it's called. While the Nenets people have no issue with Russia, it's clear to us that they see themselves as a number of tribes first, and as part of the greater Russian Federation second. I say that to make sure that you understand that we recognise there may be differences of opinion in terms of what people want, and who they think they are." The Brigadier nodded at him, and gestured for him to proceed.
"The Nenets people mostly want to be left alone. To herd reindeer, catch fish, trap in the forest and to live their lives as they have for generations. They don't want for much, and if you left them alone they would carry on as they have done, being quiet but happy Russian citizens, for the foreseeable future. Of course, Mitsuhama have discovered valuable materials along the edge of their land and in the coastal shelf, and want to mine that material – and have struck a deal with the government to do that, and no doubt pay a healthy licence fee and a certain amount of tax, which will no doubt greatly help the Russian Government and Federation. Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that – but that's roughly the gist of it, I believe."
"I would say that is a good summary. We bear no ill-will to the people here – but the resources under the sea are very important to us, and if we are to continue as a power, we need those resources. So, we must gain access, so I am told." He turned to Tads and gave a little shrug, indicating that he didn't necessarily feel it was the right thing to do – but that he felt he had to follow the orders given to him.
"So I am led to believe. Part of our issue here is that the people are being relocated from their traditional lands, forced to move elsewhere – and no doubt this will destroy their way of life and culture. But another part of this is Mitsuhama. They struck a similar deal with the land of Tsimshian over in the North American continent some years ago. While the public relations images show careful forestry management and considerate mining, the uncensored views are somewhat different…" He tapped a key on his tablet, and it showed images of vast rents in the earth, ugly open mines with polluted rivers, devastated barren soil and forests poisoned and bereft of life. "For more than a decade they have plundered the land – once they were in, and had wormed their way into the government, they recanted on various parts of their deals and essentially strip-mined the country, stealing much of its' worth and leaving them with little to nothing. I think Russia is considerably bigger and more powerful than Tsimshian of course, but it's not like Mitsuhama is a small organisation itself."
"We know you, Brigadier. We know you don't want to hurt these people – but that you will, if it's in the best interests of the country. I…we… don't blame you for that. We can be honest – we don't like it. But we can understand and respect it. Even if we hadn't discovered something else, though – we'd question if this really is the best thing for Russia – based on what actually happened to Tsimshian, rather than what is reported in the press. But there is something new, and something that really does change the balance of what's going on here."
Kai pulled out the small pouch of reindeer hide, and loosened the thongs carefully, settling the pouch down on the breakfast table, but not opening it yet.
"The land up here is still pretty pristine. Clean, and pure. Loved by the people… and that means its full of natural telesma. Magical items that can be used to make foci, powerful weapons and equipment that can help people like Captain Frederick here, in their fight against the enemy in Yakut. Of course, getting at it isn't easy and takes time. Lots of time." He gestured to Tads with a hand, "I've been told that it takes at least a month of constant dedicated work to make any kind of magical trinket, and that's after you've gathered and processed the materials. It's not something you can automate or mass produce – it all has to be done by hand. And that's why you don't have all your forces equipped with foci that helps them fight… it's too time and labour-intensive, and while they would be doing this, they're not fighting, or keeping your troops safe, right?"
"That is correct. I wish I could spare some of my men for three or four months to build some magical equipment – but we have neither the resources, nor the time to do so." Vitoly was now paying considerably more attention to Kai, his eyes flicking between the tablet and the Kai's face, listening intently while he sipped at his glass of orange juice.
"Well, the Nenet people have a lot of shamans – mostly concerned with keeping their people safe, secure and well looked after. But they also have access to a lot of land, and raw telesma." He flicked to the next picture, showing a range of the magical telesma gathered, showing mosses, leaves, bits of reindeer fur and various antlers. "You can't see from the picture, of course, but all of these materials can be gathered up in the lands, and have been – they understand the value of this, and recognise how much it will help them. But, there's something new. They've made a discovery, you see. Something that's never been found before – but that I think you'll understand changes everything. A large quantity of something incredibly valuable – a source potentially capable of generating huge quantities of material." Kai opened the pouch, pulling the sides down and displaying the large mound of orichalcum flakes, glistening in the overhead lights.
Vitoly unfortunately had just taken a large mouthful of orange juice, and when he saw the pile of orichalcum, two things happened in very quick succession. The first was that his eyes widened to the point that his entire iris could be seen, his gaze focussed on the pile of material with laser-like focus as his senses took in the magical potential. The second thing was the sudden exhalation of shock and surprise – that unfortunately showered Kai with orange juice.
Kai blinked, and then theatrically wiped the dripping juice from his brow, before reaching out for a napkin to pat himself dry. The Brigadier and his aide glanced over at Vitoly, then back to Kai, and their expressions were a mix of restrained humour and shock at the treatment of their guest. But as Shimazu watched them glance back at Vitoly, he saw the change in the Brigadier's expression. Vitoly hadn't noticed his social faux-pas, it seemed, and was still staring with disbelief at the pile of orichalcum. Captain Zarakov seemed about to say something to chastise Vitoly, but the Brigadier just held up a single finger, not saying a word. Instead he stared at the magic user, looking at his reaction to this glittering material.
"Is that what I think it is?" Vitoly went glassy-eyed for a moment as he dropped into astral space to confirm his suspicions, then blinked rapidly as he returned to the 'real' world. It is… there's… a lot there."
"Yes, about ten grams I believe. The best part of eight million roubles worth, if our maths is correct." That caused both the Brigadier and his Captain to snap their heads around to look at him, and then drop down to the small pile of material. "This is magical material, you see, Brigadier. Normally very hard to make – as we mentioned before, a solid month of effort to make even a single gram. And as a result, very valuable. But if you have some, you can make all kinds of magical things far easier than you would otherwise, with less effort and less drain on your soul or inner being. It's hard to describe – but that's why we wanted Captain Frederick here to vouch for what we're saying."
Tads lifted up her staff and laid it on the table carefully, letting the Russians see the fine orichalcum windings and inlay.
"This is something Tads made for herself – with some material we um… found along our travels. It was a fairly minor weapon in the grand scheme of things, but much easier to make because we had some of this orichalcum. Of course, it did nothing for the amount of time it took – and allowing Tads the time to make the orichalcum, and then the weapon itself kept us at our base for some time – and that's a problem, as Captain Frederick explained."
"How… how much of this do you have?" Vitoly bent over the table to examine the pile more closely, then using a knife slowly spread the mound out – proving to himself that it was the same material all the way through.
"Well, that's the result of what they gathered yesterday. And we're expecting more today – more than this. And the same tomorrow, and the day after…" Vitoly stared at him, his mouth agape and lost for words as the import sank in. The Brigadier was not quite so stunned though.
"You are telling me that these people can gather more of this metal – this orichalcum. Eight million Rubble's worth, each day? Every day?"
"We believe so. But – if Mitsuhama start drilling and mining in this area, then the output drops to zero. Immediately. The magical purity of the land will be destroyed, and not only do you lose the orichalcum, but also the natural telesma, and a potential source of foci and fetishes that could be used to equip your magical troops."
The team heard a suggestion over their earpieces from Hunter, back in the tilt-wing, and it was Marius that leant forward to point at the pile of material.
"Brigadier – perhaps think of this as finding out that these people have managed to find a natural source of weapons grade enriched uranium, that they can and will make available to your armed forces. Or you can earn two percent of the value in taxes as a corporation exports it from under your nose to use elsewhere. It is not only the value of the product, it is also the rarity. Sometimes, no matter how much money you have, if there is no stock, you simply cannot purchase it. This is part of the value of what you see here. This is a source, operating at a volume that WE have never seen anywhere else in the world."
"And that kind of production value would allow you to move from the current situation – where you are woefully outgunned in magical terms by your enemies in Yakut, to being able to develop stronger mages with better equipment, able to carry the fight to the enemy." Aswon added. Vitoly was now looking around the team, glancing from face to face as he struggled to accept the enormity of what he had heard.
"That…that is amazing. But – while I would dearly love to have this for my men, to make wands and rings, and weapons to help them – we don't have the time. Or the resources. There are few enough of us skilled or capable of enchanting, and those we do have tend to have other skills too that see them in great demand."
"We can help with that." Tads said quietly. All three Russians turned to look at her, and the tent fell silent for a moment. "My people want to be safe. To remain on their land. And if you can guarantee their safety, they will help you. Nearly every tribe has a shaman, but not all have the talent. But many do. And of those that do, most have the knowledge and ability to work with telesma. If you can keep my people safe, we can build you your foci."
"How many are we talking about?" Vitoly could scarcely believe what he was hearing, and his voice was wavering as he tried to work out the impact this could have.
"I think we could provide at least twenty shaman to help you. Each of those can be supplied with a stock of orichalcum. If we know what you need, we can build weapons like these," she gestured to her staff, then Shimazu's sword – causing Vitoly's eyebrows to raise even further as he saw the power radiating from that, "or other items. A ring of protection to help keep your soldiers safe. A wand to help your mages cast firebolts. A brooch to detect invisible or concealed enemies. We can work out what you need and make it for you. There will be a lead time, of course – but we can make twenty things for you. And then next month, we can start twenty more."
"And how much would this aid our mages?" The Brigadier asked. Tads, Aswon and Kai exchanged glances, trying to work out how to explain the potential power involved, but it was Vitoly that spoke first.
"Sir. If each of my mages were equipped with a staff like that-" he gestured at Tads' weapon, "then we are looking at a twenty percent improvement in combat effectiveness. If we had a weapon like the sword, then we are looking at a sixty percent boost." He shook his head and stared blankly into space for a moment. "With the resources they say they have, in a month I could equip my mages and make the entire unit fifty percent stronger and more durable, at a minimum. In some ways it would be easy to potentially double their effectiveness, in a very narrow field. We're talking about the same kind of increase in effectiveness as if you upgraded your troops from carrying single shot pistols to rifles. Better range, accuracy, killing power…" his voice trailed off and once more the tent fell silent, as they all considered his words.
"I also have a theory that you might want to check out." Marius spoke into the silence, and they turned to face him. "From what I understand, this magical material is almost unique. Very rare. Very unnatural. And that might be key. We have suspicions that Mitsuhama may know about this material, and that is why they are pushing to exploit the area. But what if their contract, their licence and agreement with your government covered the extraction and refinement of all kinds of natural materials?" He paused for a moment, and the Russians stared at him, a little confused. They weren't the only ones, with the rest of the team also wondering where he was going with this.
"This is an unnatural material. What if they started on their extraction and then reported that they had 'just found' this material? They have been granted exclusive rights to mine for materials. And the agreement stipulates that they will pay tax on all natural materials mined and extracted." He placed emphasis on the word 'natural' and a soft sigh of understanding rippled through the tent. "I have no idea if this is the case. But it strikes me as worth investigating – it would be a shame if your country was swindled out of a million nuyen a day in taxes by some carefully worded contract loophole…"
"Do you have any reason to believe that is the case?"
"No, Brigadier. It is pure, speculative concern. But one that, no doubt, your legal teams could put to rest quite quickly if they were looking for it specifically. However it may then open up additional lines of concern, based on the nature – or rather unnaturalness of this material."
"The source of this orichalcum. Your tribe – they can gather it consistently?"
"I see no reason why they can't, Captain Frederick. I would imagine they would be able to harvest the same amount every single day, without fail. I don't know how long for – but it's showing no signs of tailing off at the moment, and certainly I intend for them to gather as much as they can. It would take us a long time to use it all – less time if we're using it to make things for you…"
"Oh. Silly me." Kai smirked, then pulled out a second pouch, settling it down next to the first, then splaying open the reindeer hide to display another pile of orichalcum flakes as large as the first." I knew I was forgetting something. Here's the other half – just in case that affects your concepts of how valuable this source might be."
"Sir." Vitoly stared at the pile for a moment, then stood and turned to face the Brigadier, coming to attention. "It is my firmly held belief that this represents a significant opportunity for the country, and would advise that you immediately take all actions required to gain access to these resources, and agree to whatever deal is required to gain an alliance with the Nenet shaman. I would endorse this in writing, in the strongest possible terms."
"Very well, your recommendation is noted." He turned to face the team. "If we are to do anything about this situation, I think we will need a sample of this material. Is that possible?" Kai nodded to him and carefully sealed both of the pouches back up, then handed them over to the Brigadier.
"Consider this an act of good faith, and hopefully proof to whoever you have to deal with that we're not only serious, but we have no issue with giving you extremely valuable resources."
"Thank you, Kai." He turned and passed the pouches to Vitoly. "Captain, you are to keep these samples secure, and ensure that whatever magical effects or powers on them are preserved and maintained." He turned to his own Captain next. "I think we need to arrange transport to Moscow, immediately." Next he turned to face the tent doorway and raised his voice slightly. "Lebedev? Come inside, please." He paused until the private appeared, beckoning him over and nodding as the private braced to attention and saluted. "At ease. I believe that you have spent some time with Miss. Woltchok here," he nodded at Tads. "With her permission and agreement, you will be detached from duty and assigned to travel with her to her village, and become our liaison communications specialist. Head over to the planning section and obtain a long range radio and spare batteries." Looking back at Captain Zarkorov again, he added another instruction. "Authorise the radio issue as well, please, and make sure we have new crypto codes. In fact, make sure it's an entirely new code, with only one authorised user from the comms pool. Let's keep this quiet, for now." He nodded to himself, then made a small shooing gesture with his hand, and the other Russians sprang into action, carrying out his orders.
"We'll probably want some information on your mages as well at some point, sir." Tads added.
"What for?"
"We need to understand what they can do, and what their specialism is in – so we can make the most appropriate weapon for them."
"If I may sir… if the armourer knows we have a sniper in the section, they'll issue a scoped weapon. If they know we have an ork or troll, issuing a tripod mounted support weapon makes sense. This is exactly the same, but from a magical perspective. Some of my mages are better at flinging firebolts or lightning bolts – making them a ring to supplant that particular skill only is cheaper in resources than a more general purpose wand. Or we can expend the same resources but making something far more powerful and vastly improve their lethality. Certainly we can identify the types of items useful – perhaps even without attributing them to certain mages, if operational security is a concern."
"I understand. Very well, perhaps you can start making such a list on the way to Moscow."
"Excuse me, sir – there was one other thing. I asked about the Nenet people that had already been taken in already?"
"So you did. Forgive me…" He turned to look at Zarkorov. "Do you have that information?"
"I do, sir." Zarakov pulled up the details on his datapad and showed it to the Brigadier, then made a slight wince as the Brigadier's lips were pressed together tightly. He glanced over towards Tads, then turned back to Zarakov.
"That is unacceptable. Please arrange for that to be remedied at once." He turned back to Tads now, and then took a surreptitious breath, then forced a smile back onto his face. "Your people will be returned to you as swiftly as I can make arrangements."
"Thank you."
"Now, please excuse us. I think I will need to make the trip to Moscow, too. Nothing personal Captain Frederick, but we're going to need more firepower than a Captain can manage, even one from the thaumaturgy corp. We'll get down there and arrange some meetings – but it may take some time. For the moment though issue a general hold order to all troops to remain in place, and send a radio message to the 19th Rifles, and advise them to do the same."
"I'm sorry, Brigadier – there's just one more thing. We actually have something we need to do, in a week's time. So we may need to disappear away for a few days – but we'll come back. We just needed to let you know, though." The Brigadier nodded to Kai, then turned and headed to the rear of the tent, pushing through the tent flap into whatever secondary tent was behind. They heard him starting to give orders to pack overnight bags and his dress uniform, presumably to some kind of steward, and took that as their sign to leave.
They headed back towards the tilt-wing, finding Hunter standing outside near the fueling point, working a hose into it from a large fuel bowser which had been backed up as near as possible.
"Told 'em the brigadier said we'd need some fuel." Hunter grinned, displaying lopsided tusks and a leering smile. "I mean, he probably won't mind, right?"
"Probably not – I think he's got other things on his mind right now."
A few minutes later a large chopper approached, setting down in the clearing next to the tilt-wing, and they saw the Brigadier leaving his tent accompanied by both Captains, a steward and a pair of troops carrying additional bags, all heading for the troop carrier and swiftly loading up. Tads called a spirit to her and detailed it to guard and protect the helicopter until it approached a built-up area, and they watched as the pilot lifted off and headed north-west.
"Probably heading to Murmansk – big naval port. But it's also got a large airport, and they can hop a fast jet from there direct down to Moscow." Hunter said after he checked the heading they were on and gave the map a quick look. Seven hundred klicks to Murmansk, so about two and a half, three hours in the chopper, then another fifteen hundred to Moscow, so same kind of time again by jet. Should be there by the afternoon, if he's pushing it."
"I concur. Given his rank, I suspect he may be able to commandeer whatever jet he requires from the airport and not have to wait for a commercial flight or something to be scheduled in." Marius added. He paused as Lebedev rounded the corner of the tent, carrying a rucksack in one hand and his rifle in the other, while a large radio on a carry frame was strapped to his back where his rucksack should have been. He headed over their way, and Aswon went to relieve him of the rucksack and helped him stow it aboard the aircraft, while he and Hunter finished the refuelling – replacing the avgas they'd used to get down here from the village, but also the couple of hundred litres used the day before to collect Shimazu.
They lifted off a few minutes later, reversing the approach course they'd taken to arrive, and swiftly flew back to the village. Along the way, Tads checked with Lebedev and then refashioned his uniform, using her magic to change the shape and design of it to something less obviously Russian military, but still just as warm and protective – at least he wouldn't intimidate people so much now!
The journey was uneventful, and Marius bought them in for a smooth landing, setting down in the same spot as before. Tads took Lebedev to the main chum, introducing him to her tribe and the shaman and getting him settled in, then explained the outcome of their meeting to her people, while the rest of the team headed back over to the rocky shoreline to check in with the fishermen – who had already collected another small pile of orichalcum ready to use.
"Do you think bigger fish would get more collected?" Hunter mused.
"What are you thinking?"
"Well, Aswon. I'm pretty big. So's Shimazu. What if Tads changed us both to fish and we went for a swim to collect the stuff?"
"You'll certainly scare off the other fish, something your size!"
"So what? If we get all the stuff, that's what matters, right?"
"I suppose so. The fisherman can go back to hunting for food then, if we're using you to collect the material. At least for a few days, until we need to leave."
"I've been thinking about that – if we're going near somewhere a bit more high tech, I'm sure I can rig some kind of collector. I'm thinking a nanomesh weave, something from a water filter maybe, joined up into a frame, that we can drag through the water. Use something purpose designed to collect the material from the vent, rather than relying on fish. It'll take a while to get the materials, but it'll be a lot more reliable to use!"
They waited for Tads to come back, and tried the theory out… the fishermen were more alarmed at the sight of Hunter and Shimazu getting naked than they were by the enormous fish that appeared in the water after they dived in, and after a few hours of experimentation and collecting they discovered that Hunter was correct – having the team members swimming back and forth while shapechanged did make the collecting considerably more efficient. By mid-afternoon, they'd already collected as much as they'd given to the Brigadier to take for his demonstration, and the vent was still being productive.
Now they just had to wait for news from Moscow…
