Sunday 11/09/61, Location: 27.29376, 112.68486, Time 12:00

They started to walk down the mountain, and there were a few minutes of silence as they descended the first section. The sun was high overhead now, and the day was crystal clear, giving them an enviable view over the valley. The town and the grand temple lay over a thousand metres below them and nearly seven kilometres away, the metal flashing on the towers and gateways catching the sunlight and making it glitter in the distance. Everyone they met was still heading up at this point, faster or slower, and they were able to head to one side of the path and keep up a decent pace as they descended down each flight of steps and sloped path.

"So… we'd best start working out where we need to go to get all these ritual items, then?" Aswon said, testing the waters. The shopping list wasn't that extensive in terms of size, but was quite specific, and he really didn't know how much appetite the rest of the team had to saving Li.

"I have an idea for some of them. The others we need to work on. I mean… the last one, I was thinking we just go to Chun's next time we pass Hong Kong and tell him we need his help. I think he'd help, especially if it means he could run his students ragged."

"We could – I was thinking we could all just go for a run ourselves?"

"That would work, Aswon, but it'd be slower. Maybe easy to get sweat from Marius, Kai and myself – but when you three go for a run, you don't really sweat that much – not unless you're going crazy. You're too fit…" She glanced between Shimazu, Hunter and Aswon, giving them a shrug as she spoke. "I just think it would be easier to go get a container and harvest it from twenty or thirty people, all at once. And she did say that more people was better, I think."

"She did." Marius confirmed.

"In fact… I was thinking about what she said." Aswon stared off into the distance for a moment, recalling his impression of the conversation. "It sounded very much like she was saying things that had specific importance to the ingredients. She didn't strike me as someone who said things idly, or didn't make a point of other things for no reason. Marius… can you recount what she said, please?"

"I can, Aswon." Marius thought for a moment, then spoke again, "She started with 'A paragon ruby, mined from the earth by hand, suitable for channelling mana through'. Then she asked for 'A billet of hand-forged steel, worked by a master from raw materials in the traditional manner, folded and refolded, a sword without form, waiting to be forged into a weapon - to attack, or to defend, as fate decrees.' Next was 'Thirdly, the healing dust of the earth, compressed and crushed into solid form, the bones of the earth and able to absorb the acid of our foes, extruded from the very roots and formed under great pressure.' Fourth she asked for 'Then we must have that which grows and brings life, revitalising and nourishing. It must grow quickly, so quickly it can be seen by mortal eyes, yet strong and resilient. The fires must fly when combat is threatened, able to give life giving sparks even when struck with an axe.' Finally she ended with 'And lastly, to oppose the sloth and greed of Druistadt, we must have self-determination, the results of effort, intensity. Sweat and tears, from prolonged exercise, those dedicated to improving themselves, focussed and guided to a sharpened point. A jug of liquid will be required, though it can be from many individuals - in fact it would be better that way.' She may have used slightly different inflexion, but that is what she said."

"Spot on." Hunter confirmed, nodding as he played back the recording he'd made at the same time.

"Well, we have the last one sorted. On the first – I'm not sure what a paragon ruby is, but otherwise they're a pinkish red to blood-red coloured gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, which is aluminium oxide, I'm pretty sure. Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewellery gems and is very durable, and the colour of a ruby is due to the element chromium being laced into the crystalline structure – it absorbs green and blue light, so you see it as red. Just about every ruby has some imperfections in them, including colour impurities and inclusions of tiny little needles known as 'silk'. That's one of the ways you can tell a natural ruby from an artificial one."

"I'm guessing if we're using it for a ritual, we shouldn't even be considering an artificial or lab-grown one?" Kai guessed, getting a firm nod from Aswon and Tads.

"Absolutely – got to be natural, and we've got to get one not mined by explosives or machines – that kind of thing will absolutely kill any mana or magical potential in them. Hand extraction is the way to go. But Tads was right about them being durable – they're an incredibly hard stone, nearly as hard as diamonds are. So we wouldn't have to worry too much about scratching them while digging them up."

"I am sure I have heard some rumour about dragons and gemstones. Most people put it down to avarice and desire, but I read a convoluted claim about dragons using them for some other purpose – something that means the gems were not just valued for being gems, but because of the other reason. The post went into a rambling diatribe and did not have a conclusion before a whole bunch of conspiracy theorists de-railed it. But I wonder if this gemstone is required for this other purpose? Whatever that is?" It seemed to annoy Marius no end that he'd gotten half a conversation about something like this – it was clear that his memory of the event was as perfect as ever, but the original information had been severely lacking…

"Well, I'm pretty sure that in the context of this requirement, a 'paragon' is the same as saying frakking huge." Hunter was frowning, dredging the back of his mind for information as well. "Gems are normally measured in carats, and a carat is two hundred milligrams now. Used to be more, but they standardised it from the stupid system it was on. Anyway… a paragon gem is one that is a hundred carats or more, so that makes it a twenty gram stone – and that's really big, and bloody expensive! So if we're not going to bankrupt ourselves, then we need to hit Thailand, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil… somewhere they mine them. Because buying a stone that big on the open market, we're talking millions of Nuyen. And we also probably want to get one at source so it's not been heat-treated. Most commercial stones have been heated as part of the processing – I don't know if that destroys any magic in 'em?" He glanced at Tads and Aswon who both shrugged. "Probably best to play it safe then and get one raw."

"What about your friend Mary-Pat then, Tads? She was in Afghanistan, wasn't she? In that remote village…" Aswon glanced over at Tads.

"Yeah, and we're pretty sure she was shipping stones out, based on the smell of the acid, and the same smell from that gem dealer at the black market," Hunter pointed out.

"Yes, she might be able to help us look, maybe even narrow down an area to search in. But she probably used explosives to get her stones out – so we'd need to dig by hand. What about that volcano near the old oil rig? The one on the ring of fire? We stopped there and went underground, into the volcano, and Kai got that gold… they might have precious gems in there as well?"

"Ahh yes, what was it called… Oh – Twin Peaks! Yes, there were two volcanic peaks right next to it. I remember. That's another possible, they were certainly up for making deals. That was north of Japan, if I remember right?" Aswon glanced over at Marius and got a nod of confirmation. "We might want to fly around rather than over, but it's worth keeping in mind. Ok, so we have a bit of information on the gem and some possible locations for it… what was next? Steel?"

"From the description, with it being 'hand-forged' probably means worked in a small scale furnace in limited quantities, repeatedly heated and folded - and not anything mass produced on an industrial scale. So we shouldn't be looking at anything that's come out of a factory anywhere, or any commercial steel. Shimazu, this is your kind of deal?"

"I'm thinking I know what's required here… and I may know someone who can help us. It might require some background, though."

"Background on what?" Tads asked.

"Well…. Swordsmithing is an ancient art, and Japan has long been associated with masterwork weapons and superb smithing. But there are different ages and methods used. Swords forged after 1596 in the Keichō period of the larger Azuchi–Momoyama period are classified as shintō or 'new swords'. Japanese swords from shintō are different from kotō, or 'old swords' in forging method and steel, or as it's known in Japan, tamahagane. 'Traditional methods' that Yat Gwan mentioned may refer then to a kotō sword, requiring specific steel and additives, and a forge of a certain construction to ensure the proper balance of materials."

"Tamahagane is made of an iron sand called satetsu found in the Shimane region of Japan. There are two main types of iron sands: akame satetsu and masa satetsu. Akame is lower quality, masa is better quality. The murage decides the amount of the mixing parts. Depending on the desired result, the murage mixes one or more types of sands. The iron sand is put in a tatara, a clay tub furnace. The clay tub measures about one point two metres tall, three point seven metres long and one point two metres wide. The tub is dried and heated to about a thousand degrees Celcius using a mix of different grades of coal or possibly wood. Then, it is mixed with charcoal to add carbon to the steel so it can be hardened. The process of making tamahagane continues for thirty-six to seventy-two hours depending on the fuel, ore, additives and a number of other factors depending on how many people work and how much metal is to be obtained."

"Within an hour of smelting, the iron sand sinks to the bottom, called the bed of fire, in which it will be assessed by colour to determine which parts of the smelt will be combined into tamahagane. The iron sand is added every ten minutes, and the mixture is frequently turned over. After the tamahagane is finished, the clay tub is broken and the steel is removed. The best steel is on the edges of the resulting metal block; in this area, the oxidation process is stronger. The quality of tamahagane is determined by its colour - bright silver pieces are very good for making blades. So, I think we need to find someone with not only the right ore, but also the right sands and fuels, and even clay, working in a very traditional manner, using recipes that are hundreds and hundreds of years old."

There was silence for a few moments after the explosion of words from Shimazu, with the rest of the team waiting in slightly stunned awe at the impromptu history lesson.

"I guess that's a topic you have strong interest in, then?" Aswon said dryly. Shimazu gave him a sharp look, wondering if he was being made fun of, but then gave a little shrug and a nod.

"It's an important and worthy part of my culture. And I have an interest in knowing how to forge, and maintain good steel." That much made perfect sense to them all, given the bond he had with his own sword.

"Well, I don't think anyone is going to argue with you about your interpretation of what we need… but you said that you had someone in mind?"

"Yes, two people actually. One is Isarokko Rakkashima, the swordsmith that we met up on the side of the volcano in central Japan. His friend, the priestess was, doing a ritual to balance the mana in the area, and we agreed to wait before dropping the token off, and we went to his forge – and it turns out he has the little brother to my blade?" The team nodded, remembering their brief stop-off in Japan. "Well, he has the skills required, I am certain. And almost certainly the knowledge and access to the materials. But I also have sword-master that I know that lives in the Fukuoka prefecture, in the south-west of the homelands. Fujiwara Kunanga is a skilled craftsman that I have known for many years, and he also works on kotō blades and techniques."

"Well, that sounds like we have a good idea on two of them then – the ruby and the billet." Kai straightened two fingers, then tapped his third finger. "Now – what about this rock dust?"

"I picked up on the thing about absorbing the acid of our foes – and I'm reading from that, that what's needed is an alkaline rock, maybe something based on something like calcium carbonate. And also the bones of the earth thing – I'm thinking something deep. At first I was thinking in the base of a volcano, but that's just going to be magma and stuff… so then I thought that maybe we're talking from the sea floor, or a deep trench or something like that."

"Oh – that makes sense… aren't lots of coral reefs alkaline, or based on carbonates?" Aswon queried.

"Yes, particularly if it's an area that was formed as part of a deluge." Several of the team looked her way with visible confusion. "A deluge is an area of low-lying land that was dry during the ice age, but was flooded after the glacial retreat. There's a good few areas in the world that were once huge areas of low lying bogs or fens, that flooded. We don't want any ancient bogs – they were acidic, but fens were alkaline, and might do. But there's one place that springs to mind straight away – the South China Sea. After we met Allora on that island, I did some reading, and it turns out that the whole chain of islands are called the 'dangerous ground' by some because it's so shallow in some places - because the whole thing is a deluge area. I'm pretty sure there's going to be lots of biogenic carbonates around there, which might give us what we're looking for."

"Alkaline… so limestone rocks?" Kai asked.

"Perhaps, though not exclusively. The main accumulations of biogenic carbonates lie on horsts, the higher crests of major submarines ridges that are uplifted fault blocks. Where the earth's surface has moved and ground against different plates, you get these horsts that run parallel to the fault lines, sort of where the ground has crumpled up. From what I've seen, there's a nice big fault line running all down the eastern side of the sea, which is why it forms part of the ring of fire, and there were the volcanoes we had to visit."

"Ahh – and while the ridges are forming, that will also then leave trenches on either side… places of 'great pressure' I'm sure, that will also match the bones of the earth or roots thing. Hmm… so – we might need to go visit the Spratly Islands again."

"Yes. But at least we're on good terms with her, Kai, and hopefully she's happy with us after our recent visit and providing her with some new foods and a chance to change her lifestyle. Asking her to go for a dive might not be too much of an ask from her."

"Right… I'd hope so anyway. Ok, so that's three things identified. Four really, because we know about the sweat. So the last one was the plant thingy?"

"Well, the fastest-growing plant in the world is bamboo, which can grow up to eighty-nine centimetres per day - which probably counts as 'seen by mortal eyes' wouldn't you say?" Hunter snorted. "They've used that as a torture method, you know. But, in some cases they've even seen growth up to a hundred and twenty centimetres in a twenty-four hour period, they got a world record for that I remember, something to do with some beer company who certified an instance of Japanese giant timber bamboo." Hunter shrugged, wondering just what a beer company had to do with record, but that's what he remembered from the strange article he read. "And it's not like we're not short of choice - bamboo is a group of woody perennial plants in the true grass family Poaceae. There are ninety-one genera and over a thousand species of different plants."

"But it needed to be really strong as well?"

"Bamboo IS strong, Kai. Look - bamboo is pretty versatile and has notable economic and cultural significance in south Asia, south-east Asia, and east Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a raw product. It's a natural composite material with a high strength-to-weight ratio useful for structures - so that would definitely meet the "strong and resilient" requirement. In some cases, there are bamboo scaffolds with a higher strength to weight ratio than one made out of steel."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope – look." Hunter flicked a button on his commlink, sending a small picture he'd found out to the rest of the team. "That's a modern construction site, in China – see the apartment block? That's three hundred metres tall, and it's got bamboo scaffolding around it. So yeah – definitely strong stuff, when you put it together right."

"What about the other thing though. Life sparks or something."

"Ahh, well this is where it gets weird. There's a specific type of bamboo found in China that grows in certain soils and climates, called 'Bambusa tabacaria'. It absorbs silica from the soil and rocks it grows on, infusing the stems with the small particles. Enough, that if you chop the stuff down, you have to be really careful, as the axe head will make sparks when it hits the stem, and can start a fire if you're not careful."

"I've never heard of an awakened species that does that?" Tads looked amazed at the description, and it appeared that Aswon had not heard of such a thing either.

"Oh, it ain't magic. Completely natural – known about for hundreds and hundreds of years. Just one of those weird things. It's not widespread or that common, but it is kinda weird. But it strikes me that fits the description we have."

"And you know where to find this stuff?" Kai asked.

"Nope. No clue other than 'China', and that doesn't narrow it down much. But, once we're back at the Broadsword, I can sit down with my deck and do a search, and we can find it. Knowing it exists and what it's called will make that pretty easy.

"So… that's everything we need then?" Kai quickly went through his mental checklist. "Not easy to get hold of everything perhaps, but we have some ideas on what we need, at least? And we can get them quickly enough that we don't have to leave Spook and Li in the dragon's clutches?"

"We should not concern ourselves there." Marius commented. "We witnessed something very unusual. Perhaps you do not realise how unusual. It is, of course, rare for Dragons to interact publicly with people, and they often use interpreters or 'voices' to convey their wishes. But we were told directly, and also promised that she would take care of them."

"So?"

"So it is unusual in the extreme to do so. And everything I know about their kind says that while they often regard us as little more than insects or vermin, they do have an ironbound sense of honour and respect. It would be…unwise, to challenge the word of a Dragon. To impugn their honour. It would be as disrespectful as…" Marius paused for a moment, then grinned slightly and glanced over at Shimazu. "It would be as disrespectful as asking if Shimazu was really willing to risk his life to intercept someone trying to hurt you, Kai. Or asking to use his sword to unblock a toilet. Think about how much that would offend him."

"Oh….right. Ok – so because she's promised, even to us – it's gonna happen. And we shouldn't worry about it."

"Indeed. They are probably safer there than they would be anywhere else. Not that we should leave them there any longer than necessary. There is a difference between keeping safe and not brainwashing…" Marius pulled a face, as if he'd just bitten down on a lemon. He might know a bit about the various dragons of the world, but that didn't mean that he liked any of them, or trusted them any further than he could throw them.

Kai was on his commlink, placing a call to someone – but evidently they weren't available as they heard him leave a brief but somewhat cryptic message before disconnecting.

"So am I right in thinking that both your contacts are in Japan, Shimazu? Won't that be somewhat difficult to get to, based on what we've found previously. Not to cast aspersions on your flying or anything, Marius."

"It would be – but we could always look at flying them out to us instead? They're likely to be a legitimate citizen with a SIN and able to just jump on a commercial flight?"

"They might be, Aswon – but not with their force. However, we do not need to fly them out. All we need to do is get them to make the billet of steel to the required specifications, at their forge. Then they can just ship the product to us. It does not require special storage or packaging, it will just be a simple box weighing a few kilos. We can pay them for the time and materials, and to cover the shipping, and just wait for it to arrive, surely?" Marius looked over at Shimazu, who nodded in agreement. "That would be the simple and cheapest solution."

"Oh, right. Yes, that makes sense, I suppose. Ok, that's much simpler. Right – for the plant, I wonder if Ludmilla is a good person to call? She seems interested in plants as part of her research?"

"Can do, Tads… though we may not want to reveal too much to her. Perhaps disguise it as just a shamanic ritual of some kind. I think if she knew about the other things, she would get far too interested in what's going on, especially if she knew it was about dragons and stuff…" Kai stopped at Shimazu cleared his throat. "Yes?"

"I've just tried calling Fujiwara Kunanga – but he is not currently available. I have left a message asking him to call me."

"Ahh, very good. Excellent stuff. Maybe we should try calling Allora about this dust stuff?"

"I think not." Marius sighed. "I recall the poor condition her cred-reader was in, and how much sand I had to empty out of it. I do not recall seeing her with a satellite based commlink – if she does have one, then I doubt it will be in better condition. And there is no standard service out there. Chances are we will have to just turn up to talk to her. She always seemed to appear when someone landed though, so I presume they have someone on watch."

"Ahh, fair point. Right… so, when we get back, I'm thinking get in the air and on the way to Macau to start doing this investigation, and do some research on the way down there, whilst we're in flight. That work for everyone?"

There were a chorus of nods and affirmative statements, and the team continued to descend the steps, still swapping the odd idea or interpretation of the weird requirements for the ritual, and discussing what they thought they could do to obtain them.

The journey down the stairs was a little quicker than the ascent – but not that much, as they still had to contend with the people climbing up and not falling down the stairs, though it was certainly less of an effort on the descent. They made it back to the Broadsword just after fourteen-thirty, and spotted that the space was still surrounded by cones, and that one of the priestesses was apparently 'on-guard' in a fold out chair. She rose to meet them as they approached, greeting them with a smile.

"Your vehicle is as you left it, as was promised."

"Thank you – we appreciate your diligence." Kai said.

"May I offer you some small refreshment to say thank you?" Tads offered, getting a polite nod and a smile in return. A few moments of concentration later she had made a small offering of fruits to present to the lady, who nodded and took them graciously, secreting them in a bag or pouch inside her robe. She started to move around the perimeter of the unseen aircraft, collecting the cones and moving them to the edge of the car park, and the team headed inside, closing the hatch behind them and settling in. Three minutes later, the engines rumbled into life, and two minutes after that, they lifted into the air and turned to the south, heading towards the Hong Kong-Macau area.

Macau was only about seventy kilometres to the west of Hong Kong, on almost the same latitude, so their flight time was roughly the same heading south as it had been heading to the mountain. As soon as they were in the air and moving, Hunter had jacked into his deck and was connecting to the matrix over the satellite link, investigating their options to see where they needed to head for.

In the back, Aswon checked his commlink, mentally working out the time difference to Constantinople, then made a call – hoping it wasn't Sophie's day off.

"Morning, pal. You headed into the city?"

"No, we're a long way off. And good morning to you."

"Good, so I don't have to worry about explosions or anything. Or at least not from you. What's up?"

"Hey. We were good when we were there!"

"Sure you were. Sure. So, I'm still on my first cup of soy-kaf, so what's the deal?"

"We're on our way to Macau. Looking for some mercs, or rather some merc operators. Thought you might have some more up to date info than I do?"

"Macau?" Sophie laughed, and Aswon thought he could hear the sound of a dropped spoon landing on a table. "Well, you're headed for the right place, that's for sure. It's the merc capital for that side of the world, all the big players are there. Do you know anything about it at all?"

"No, not really. Other than it's pretty close to Hong Kong."

"More ways than one, my friend. Ok, well, Macau is kind of similar to Hong Kong – it was leased out by the Chinese empire way back for hundreds of years – but to the Portuguese rather than the English. Got handed back just before the awakening, and it's now a special administrative region, just like Hong Kong is… so the normal rules don't apply there. In the case of Macau, that's good – as it's also the gambling hot-spot for everyone within about five thousand kilometres. It's got one of the highest population densities you're likely to see, and also has more casinos and luxury resorts than just about anywhere else you're going to find."

"Sounds like a busy place. Lots of biz going down there, then…"

"Yep, a whole drek-load. Now, I don't think Lionheart has a huge presence there, but I know for a fact that Ten Thousand Daggers, BrightEdge, the Free Marine Corp all have big offices, and of course Combat Incorporated are based there. And there's ummm…." There was the sound of slurping coffee that filled the void in the speech, before it resumed, "Tsunamic, 58th Battalion, Bravo Company… I seem to remember a magic group called Team Magus. No – wait, it was Team Zero. TASK FORCE Magus, not Team Magus. And there's a shit pot more as well, more local outfits or stuff that only operate in limited capacity. Yeah, if you need a merc contract filling, Macau's the place to go shopping. You looking to get back into work? I can probably make a few calls, sort you out a reference?"

"Thanks – but we're looking for some operatives, but not to hire. Appreciate it, though. I guess we're going to have to do some legwork on the ground to find out who we need to be talking to, then."

"If you turn around and say out loud that you've got cash to burn and bullets to send, you'll have merc outfitters all over you like a rash."

"Huh… worth bearing in mind. Alright, thanks – useful information. Thanks, Sophie – have a good day."

"Breaking heads and keeping the peace. What more could you ask for in life?"

Aswon grinned at his friend and hung up, his last image that of Sophie cramming an entire slice of toast into his mouth at once. He shook his head, remember what it was like working for a big company – not the most latitude in the world in filling out your orders, but on the other hand the barracks didn't fly around and the food and drink was a lot more reliable! Though, he reminded himself as he cast a quick glance at Tads sitting in the next chair, staring into the fibre-optic headset, they were luckier than most in that regard.

A moment later, his commlink buzzed, receiving a file from Sophie. He waited for it to download, impatiently tapping his fingers as the file squeezed down the limited bandwidth available to him with Hunter monopolising most of the feed.

"Heads up, folks – got some info about Macau." He cast the file to the Broadsword's internal network, and it flashed up onto the screens in the cabin, and into the virtual displays for Hunter and Marius up front. "Macau is split into three regions, it seems. North side is the 'Old Town', seat of the old Portuguese governor and military presence. There's a big bay, couple of bridges over it for road and rail, and on the southern island there's three more areas marked. The northern one is the 'international' district, has the airport, some ferry terminals and some dockyards, as well as some larger parklands or… ahh, I see – the sides of hills are still covered in vegetation and stuff. Must be quite steep, as the rest of the landmass is packed out."

"South of that, in the middle of the island is something marked as 'Cotai Strip'… according to the notes here that is the main gambling area, and it's packed with luxury casinos and resorts. And south of that is the Coloane district, a mix of residential and corporate buildings. Oh, hang on – there's a sub-layer for the information." He adjusted the file a little, and a rash of smaller areas were marked up on the map. "These are all the headquarters, training grounds, proving grounds or mustering areas for the mercenary companies that operate out of Macau… frak, that's a lot. There's fifty or more at least. Let me filter it a little…" About two thirds of the icons disappeared from the map. "There, that's anyone with an international presence, or with more than a three platoon capacity. We might want to look at the others on the list as well later, but we can start with the bigger corps, they're the ones most likely to be taking on a contract like this. Or at least to have the technical ability to carry it out."

"Take off the merc locations again for a moment, please?" Kai waited for Aswon to strip off the sub-layer. "Yeah… I think I've seen that before." He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, willing the memory to surface. "Ahh – I know where. I saw a sketch of the city that someone had done. There's three major underworld syndicates that vie for control of the place. The mafia control the gambling strip, lots of white collar crime there, protection rackets, stuff like that. The vory control the old city with street level stuff – violent robberies, burglaries, drugs, prostitution, and the Triads control the southern section with stuff that's similar, but slightly more… I don't know – upmarket seems wrong to discuss things like that. But less guttural and overt."

"That makes sense, given the characteristics of each area. I'm guessing the international district isn't dominated by any one – and probably has the highest presence of military and police forces, given the nature of the place."

"Probably right, Aswon. I'd expect to see some of all of them there though, they're like cockroaches. Just better at hiding and probably no one of them is dominant there."

"Kai – I have us a landing spot." Hunter called out over the speakers. His voice was slightly distorted, being rebroadcast from his 'internal monologue' inside the deck, and then broadcast as speech. "There's a place called SkyTech, who have a specialist landing pad and transport service." The map on their screen was replaced with a satellite image of the Macau region, that zoomed in onto an area just west of the International Airport – which looked like it had been built from reclaimed land, sticking out into the sea as it did.

"I don't know exactly what the deal is – but this place has the weirdest booking system I've seen. Don't need to log insurance details or flight plans – the first question they ask is for payment verification and a query on the credit rating. I'm getting the distinct impression that if you've got enough cash, they ask no questions…"

"Sounds like an ideal place for us, then!" Kai responded cheerfully.

"Yeah. They've even got a space on the form to fill in who you're pretending to be, or what name you're travelling under…want me to book us in under 'New Fish' then?"

"Yep – sounds good. Ok, Aswon, let's go back to your map and the merc locations, please?" He waited for the screen to change again, and then looked at the display. "Lot of difference in the size of some of those areas? Aswon?"

"Just looking at the info…. Right. Ok, the big one near the airport is the BrightEdge training ground – they're an A rated corp, got a division of mercs for hire. Big organisation, multinational. The equally big one to the west of the island is Combat Inc. – they're based here, so this is their biggest facility. Looks like a training and testing ground, next door to their HQ. The one on the side of the hill is Bravo Company… and the other really big one belongs to MET2000, so they're one of the big players, too. The others are all the 2nd tier companies, but still internationally known or at least capable of operating worldwide. The stuff I have filtered out…" Aswon toggled the display again, and got a plethora of smaller pins to appear, then disappear, "they are all local outfits, more like security companies than true merc organisations."

"That one to the south – the only one in the southern area. What's that?"

"Task Force Magus, Tads. That explains why it's in the middle of the wooded area, I guess, they're going to be much more susceptible to background count and the taint of the city than any of the others."

"Ahh, thank you. And what's the funny one to the north-west?"

"That is…" Aswon checked the key once more, "a corporate enclave. Spinrad Enterprises. Marked down here as a no-go zone, extreme security and a very unfriendly attitude. Ok, good to know! They must be really anti-social if Sophie thought it was worth mentioning them specifically."

"So these bigger merc outfits are the one you think we need to investigate?"

"Yes Kai. The smaller ones – they MIGHT be capable of doing intel gathering, or a small strike team perhaps. But cracking the defences on a nuclear power station is likely to be non-trivial, and you're almost certainly going to need a decent size team that are multi-skilled. And I just don't see a lot of the smaller groups having the resources to get themselves there, do the job and get out without being detected. So we're looking at the big players and maybe the mid-tier as most likely candidates. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's likely."

"So what's the next step?"

"I think now that Hunter has a better deck, it might be time to get him close by, or possibly onsite and able to access their network from a quiet location, to do a bit of intel gathering against them, see if we can find their bookings database, or contract information or something. Or at least see how much we can find out about them, and if they're likely to have the skills or operatives to carry out this kind of work."

"One of the mercenary locations is near the power station. Is that likely to be a factor?" Tads was peering at the map, her nose almost pressed up against the screen as she studied the map and tiny text labels.

"I don't think so. Probably just geography. The only place they can likely afford, or get open land is to use stuff that was industrial or is maybe toxic in some way." Aswon wrinkled his nose, wondering about doing survival training in a former toxic dumping zone…

"Do we have any intel on how the job was done?" Hunter's voice came over the speakers once more.

"No – we only know the basics. She's convinced it was a merc job, and asked us to come and investigate. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine." Aswon responded.

"If there was footage or additional information, I am sure Yat Gwan would have shared it." Shimazu said quietly. "It is in her best interests, and the better we can resolve this distraction for her, the better her corporate interests thrive. I see no advantage to her for withholding information on this matter."

"That does make sense to me as well. I've found out a bit about her corporate interests – she's listed on the board of directors for Nucor, and they're a primary energy producer for several of the Chinese states. They control perhaps half of the nuke reactors scattered across China, and reading between the lines here, it seems that some of those facilities are converted military facilities. That means they could potentially be used for enriching materials to produce weapons grade munitions. I've found a couple of references in some scream sheets about Terra First trying to stage rallies or invasions, and the uproar that caused. Hardly surprising – what kind of idiot thinks that blowing a hole in the side of a nuclear reactor isn't going to cause issue?"

"Radicals aren't noted for being the most critical of thinkers." Hunter quipped. "Speaking of which – Tads, are you in a better frame of mind now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were getting a bit… bitchy… on the mountain."

"Not that I was aware of?" She looked around and saw the expressions of her team-mates in the passenger compartment. "Was I?" They all looked away, declining to answer, and Tad's expression of concern deepened as she started to think about what she'd been doing.

"So anyway… how long until we need to do the job for the old man with the water?" Shimazu changed topics smoothly.

"A few weeks, so hopefully more than enough time to get this wrapped up." Aswon picked up the new conversational ball and decided to go for a swift jog, hoping to distract Tads. "We don't have any more details yet, but I'm sure he'll find a way to locate us and let us know when he wants us… he normally does!"

"Did we ever work out if he really was Merlin, or just pretending to be Merlin?"

"Yes." Aswon grinned. "I think the answer is probably just as likely to be both, as neither. Some things are just best not to wonder about."

Kai held up his hand as his commlink buzzed, waiting for the others to be quiet, then answered the call.

"Ganesh? Oh, thanks for calling me back."

"Oh, hello Kai. I should have known it was you calling me at this ungodly hour. I'm just sitting down with breakfast…" Kai frowned, then realised that he'd once again failed to take into account the time zone difference when he'd called earlier on.

"Ahh, sorry about that. We've been hopping borders for the last few days and I've got all messed up about where and when we are. Really sorry…"

"Never mind. What can I do for you? Or what have you got to offer me?"

"Well, I'm after something. Not sure if it's your type of product, but if not you might know someone, or have some advice on my requirements?"

"Oh, sounds intriguing. What you after?"

"It's something called a 'Paragon Ruby'"

"Oh ho ho! I hope she's worth it!"

"Easy, it's not like that. But yes, that's sort of confirmed what I thought. It's going to be an expensive thing, isn't it, and not easy to get. And we do have some extra requirements on it, too… we need one mined or extracted by hand, not blown out of a mine with explosives."

"Well, that's bad news. You need it to do some mojo, then, I take it. If you want it not done with modern extraction methods?" Kai grunted in agreement. "Yeah… well, that's really bad news, for you. A basic ruby will probably go for about twelve grand a carat. But one that has been extracted by hand, you can perhaps triple that price, because they're so hard to find."

"So are we going to find any on the market? Do they exist out there?"

"Oh sure. Precious gems and stuff are commonly enough wanted for magic doohickeys that there's a specialised market for them, and some miners go after them with pickaxes and sweat. It's backbreaking and slow work – but if you do find some, you get paid top Nuyen for them."

"So we can likely find one, then?" Kai's voice rose with hope.

"Maybe. Small stuff, just a couple of carats – no problem. But they get rarer and rarer as they grow larger. But if you're after a paragon? Well… that's the kind of thing you see in sceptres and crowns, and bits of jewellery that belong to like…well, kings and queens and stuff like that. We're talking a bit of stone nearly as big as your thumb, and they're not common in either form – magic or not. And they go for a LOT of money. Of course, if you're willing to bend some rules, you can find something like that with one less than careful owner – but taking it means you're going to piss someone powerful off, and stealing a rock worth a couple of million leads to a lot of chasing…"

"How expensive?" Kai blinked, then saw the screens flash as Hunter threw up the potential costs – a Paragon Ruby of a hundred carats, at thirty-five thousand Nuyen per carat, would give a ballpark cost of three point five million Nuyen – a figure that hadn't sunk in before now. He coughed, in surprise, blinking a few times. Suddenly Yat Gawn's requests seemed a lot more difficult! "Oh, right. Several million. Right. Well, we might need to look into the one careless owner option, then…"

"I can look into this for you if you want? But I'll need to be very careful. Very discreet. A request for a stone this big will be unusual, and quite rare. That's likely to stir up interest and discussion."

"Thanks, Ganesh. As quiet as you can, please. And we can cover some expenses for out-of-pocket costs. But this appears to be a much more expensive ah…endeavour than we thought it was going to be. So… is there anything you want at all? We're over China way at the moment, anything we can help you source that might offset some of these costs?"

"Giant panda parts – have someone that will pay well for those, for their medicinal value."

"Ok, we can look at that." Kai nodded, not sure if the rest of the team would be up for hunting endangered species or not – best to cross that bridge when he needed to. Then a thought struck him. "Wait – giant pandas, or GIANT giant pandas? Are those a thing?"

"If they are, I can get you top value for them! But no, as far as I need, just the regular dopey black and white ones that most people know about."

"Ok, we'll look into it. Get back to you soon, Ganesh, thanks." He closed the call down, and then sat back with his eyes closed, as if hard in thought, hoping there wasn't going to be an argument. Fortunately for him, Shimazu had a question that redirected the conversation.

"Tads. If we were in an area with the chance of rubies – somewhere that Hunter mentioned when we were chatting before. Could you summon a spirit, a really big one – like the one in Nigeria, and ask it to search for them? I'm guessing you would need a spirit of the mountain or something of that type to be effective?"

"Huh… yes, I suppose. Normally I'd say that it wouldn't work, as the space underground would be just too big to search, it would take too long. Pressing through the living earth is hard, not like the air. But if we were in the right spot… hmmm." She stopped for a moment and drummed her fingers on her leg. "If we got in touch with someone like Mary-Pat and used her as a guide. Maybe got underground, as deep as we could, to get a 'head start' on the search. But confined ourselves to only the right kind of rock formations or fault lines or whatever, to maximise the chance of their being rubies at all – then yes. And as long as I can convince a spirit to help at all, then I don't need to bargain for a lot of help, it would just be one task. One thing to do. Even if it gives me a massive headache…well, I don't need to do anything for a while, as it searches. I can sit and rest, or meditate."

"And if it does find one, I presume you can use your earth-shaping spell to help us tunnel down to it easily without using explosives and ruining it?" Aswon added, warming to the idea. "That would also make it much quicker and safer."

"Yes, I don't see why not. Let me contact Mary-Pat to find out if she'll help us." She pulled off the optical headset and passed it over to Aswon, so she could start composing her message.

Shimazu, meanwhile, had pulled out his own commlink and had placed another call to Fujiwara – which this time got picked up. He dropped into Japanese and launched into a detailed monologue of his requirements, spitting out all of the technical requirements they had. He sat and listened for a minute to the response, then responded "Hai." More conversation from the other said, followed by another affirmative from Shimazu. Yet another question, then a more forceful and determined "Hai!". There was another response, then nothing. Shimazu appeared to be looking straight ahead, but his eyes were unfocussed, staring at something only he could see.

"Sore wa seishi ni kakawaru mondaideari, kodomo no shideari,-zai no nai kodomo no shidearu." Now it was time for the person on the other end to be quiet, and there was no sound for few seconds. Just as they were convinced the line had dropped, they heard quietly but clearly from the other side 'Hai.' Shimazu launched into another flurry of Japanese, then hung up.

"What was that last bit about?"

"I told him it was important. A matter of life and death. And that it would involve the death of a child, an innocent child, if we could not obtain these items."

"And what did he say?"

"That it was a noble cause, and he will help us. After that I was just talking about shipping and payment. It'll take him between one to two weeks, a few days to get the supplies in, and the rest of the time building the clay pot and doing the actual smelting. Then we can get it shipped over. He'll work on a cost for us and let us know."

"Ok, sounds good. That's another tick in the box, then."

"We are closing in on Macau – entering controlled airspace in two minutes," Marius warned them.

"How's it going?"

"We are being directed in on a precise vector – but that is not surprising given the proximity of the international airport. However they have only identified us by the booking reference, and have not asked for any other identification. This is most improper!" That bought a few smiles to the rest of the team. Marius was quite fine with sneaking through an advanced sensor network and evading border patrols, but seemed to be upset by the concept of people just not caring, or having some strange kind of 'blind spot' for anyone rich enough to avoid the paperwork.

However, the controllers at SkyTech were clearly professional with their navigation at least, and they closed in on the island, following precise turns and altitude changes, before coming in to land at the private heliport. They could see the end of the runway for the International Airport only a few hundred metres to the south-east, bringing home to them just how crowded the island must be – normally there was no way a heliport would be able to operate this close to the glide slope for a sub-orbital or other large passenger plane – but clearly that wasn't the case here. They heard a snort over the team frequency from Hunter, who shunted his sensor feed to their screens.

"Look. Landing pads all laid out, nice fresh concrete, good signage, plenty of room to move. But look at the pad IDs… 1,2,3, then 5 and up. No four."

"Oh… ok, superstitious. Or they think their customers will be." Aswon smiled under the optical headset, revealing his implanted teeth. "Four in Chinese sounds similar to 'death', so you'll often not find a fourth floor, or apartment four or things like that. Guess they just decided to skip it here… none of their VIPs would probably want to land at the 'death pad'…

"Where are we coming in to, Marius?"

"Pad seven, Kai."

"Fine, fine then. Ok, let's get down there, shall we?"

Marius bought them in slowly and carefully, rotating to land on the pad so the front of the aircraft was facing in towards the centre, matching the other vehicles already present. As he came down he spotted a number of other tilt-wings, all the executive or premium models of their respective manufacturers, along with a couple of very high-end helicopters. Each of the vehicles here probably cost as much as the Broadsword would have – assuming you could have bought one – on the commercial market, and a number of things started to click in his mind.

"I suspect that this facility is used by a lot of Chinese warlords, CEOs, ministers or other people with considerable power, to speed access to the casinos and luxury resorts. People for whom the higher charges are not an issue, but their privacy is."

"Maybe – looks like we have a welcoming committee," Hunter noted, slewing the sensor feed round to highlight two ground vehicles that were waiting nearby. One was a large SUV, modern and luxurious, painted a glossy black and sparkling in the late afternoon sun. The other was a weird and clearly custom-designed vehicle that had a number of struts and some fabric on the back, all on some weird kind of mechanism.

The Broadsword landed, and Marius powered down the engines. Two people climbed out of the rear doors on the specialist vehicle and started to look around, squinting at the pad carefully. They were dressed in very smart uniforms, a light tan in colour with bright red frogging, and their heads were covered with small circular hats with a bobble on the top. Each wore pristine white gloves, and they were peering at the pad with growing confusion and alarm.

"I think we need to dismiss the spirit. Hunter, turn down the polymers to the lowest level. They need to see something, not nothing."

"We're going to look really weird, a sort of ghostly image that's all janky and blocky if I turn the imagers down to the lowest level?"

"That will be fine. I am sure they have had people turn up before with vehicles designed not to be seen. It will no doubt convince them we truly are important!"

Tads released the spirit from its' service, and as Hunter deliberately downgraded the sensor feed and control program for the ruthenium polymers, the Broadsword appeared as a strange mirage, an outline of the scene on the far side of the aircraft, but lower in resolution and jumping from time to time as the picture adjusted. The two men waiting however seemed to nod, and ran towards the aircraft, waving for the vehicle to follow them. The specialist vehicle neatly turned, and then backed up towards them, following the directions of the waving men.

"What are they doing?" Kai wondered, watching along with the rest of the team on the sensor feed at their strange antics. It all became suddenly clear when the vehicle braked, and four mechanical arms unfolded, covers lifted and a structure started to unfold. The two men trotted swiftly to the back of the vehicle, and then simultaneously pulled on some loops sewn into the exposed cargo area, neatly unrolling a long red carpet that was run towards the aircraft. They dropped the carpet neatly to the ground, then trotted back, and grabbed the lightweight gazebo that had been pulled into shape by the arms, and then guided that back, stopping at the end of the carpet and then pressing buttons on the corners of the tent to drop the legs down to ground level, making a covered arrival area that would shelter anyone leaving the aircraft from any rain or snow. With that done they snapped to attention, one on either side of the carpet and waited, their eyes fixed forward.

"Come on, let's not keep them waiting." Kai approached the passenger door, watching it unfold and drop down onto the end of the carpet, just underneath the gazebo. The driver of the vehicle had either a lot of experience or a really good eye, as it appeared to be in exactly the right place to perfectly match the length of the carpet. The large SUV had pulled around now and was waiting at the far end of the red runway, the driver having moved around to open the twin rear doors to the passenger compartment.

As Kai stepped up to the threshold, both of the waiting men threw crisp salutes that would have done any military officer proud, and then spoke in slightly accented but clear English.

"Welcome to Macau."

"Thank you. What a very well-executed greeting." He said in English, giving each of them a slight bow of the head, acting as if he was visiting royalty showing appreciation for a job well done. He swapped to sub-vocal, and sent the next to his team mates. "I think I'm going to like it here…"