"Ok, let me clarify, then. We need to drop this painting back to Kulkachev, without any funny business. We do nothing to jeopardise the job. Once we're done, and we got paid… then maybe, MAYBE – we let Germaine know that we are aware of where the painting is, and who has it. But I'm loathe to do that even. If she asked us then to go get it… that's really not good. I mean, if a hint of this gets out, our reputation goes in the toilet."
"Can we put a magic marker on it, make it trackable?" Hunter asked.
"No. Well, kind of, but essentially no. We could study it. Maybe put one of our hairs on the back. Could we put something to allow us to track it – yes, absolutely. Could I track it then? No. Remember when we were trying to track down that kid for Chun? We had Vadim then… we need at least two for a ritual, one to power it, one to be the spotter and follow the astral trail. My spirits can't do it. We MUST have a second mage, to do magical tracking. And we would have to trust them absolutely."
"Oh. Bugger." Hunter frowned, his face taking on a most demonic appearance as the flesh folded and scrunched up, his eyes deep gimlets staring out from under his heavy brows. Thankfully the team were used to him by now, and there weren't any innocent children around to be traumatised.
"Um… I'm not arguing with anything you're saying, Aswon – ok? But hear me out. When we were in Batumi, and went to his party… we were in his reception room, right?" Kai looked over at Marius, making eye contact. "You remember, right… his little throne at one end, with paintings hung on the walls down both sides, lit by downlighters. A couple of statues, with spotlights in the ceiling?"
"Indeed. There were…" Marius closed his eyes for a moment, casting his mind back to the room, conjuring the memory into his mind. "…Twelve paintings, eight on the left side, but only four on the right. And two large statues – about the same size as the one we have just seen."
"Right. But while I can't remember exactly what the paintings were of, not without someone to remind me… what I can tell you is that about half of them were just convincing fakes. The other half were legit, sure. But half of the man's collection was done by art students in the right style – and I don't think he knew. And one of the statues looked distinctly ropey too…"
"So?" Aswon looked at him directly, fixing him with a basilisk-like stare."
"I'm just saying that if ever there was a man that wouldn't know if he was being sold the real thing – we're doing a job for him! That's all… But I do think that we need to tell Germaine we've seen it. After the job that we did chasing those frakkers all across the desert… we can at least let her know it's still about. I'm sure we can find a way to mention it to her and let her infer things, without telling her directly."
"I suppose we could mention that we've just done some art delivery to Batumi, just in passing. And then completely change the point and ask her if she had any idea where that painting might have gone… Two separate, unrelated points…" Aswon pulled a face. They all knew that he hated lying. He seemed incapable of it most of the time, and refused to give a false name, which made border crossings and using his fake IDs somewhat difficult. But technically he wasn't speaking a falsehood here. Just discussing two items, one after another. It wasn't his fault if someone joined them together, now was it… "That means we cannot sell the information to Germaine. It must be just disclosed. And I still don't like it."
"Better to tell her and let her have the choice about what to do, rather than have it drop out of sight again. We don't know if Kulkachev is planning on keeping it and displaying it at his house, do we?" Hunter looked around at them all, and saw a few hesitant nods. "Yeah. He could be buying it to sell on to someone else. Or just shipping it onwards as he's already sold it. We got no idea! So we have to move fast, if we're gonna move at all."
"You're right." Aswon agreed reluctantly. "In that case we should just tell Germaine. Not try anything fancy. No complicated plans or schemes. Just keep it very, very simple."
"We can still take a splinter of the frame perhaps, as it's being boxed up. Just because we can't do a tracking ritual, doesn't mean someone else can't. If Germaine has some mages on retainer, and we passed over the sample – there's nothing stopping them doing a tracking ritual to find it. And maybe that information or help would be useful to Germaine. She might decide to reward us with a favour, not money. Or some goods. We don't even know if we're being underpaid for this job or not, given the value of the artwork. Or at least one bit of it."
"I think we should maybe try to get the sample. But after that we do the job, as quickly as possible, and as simply as possible. And let's just see how things develop, before we decide what else we might want to do about this. Hunter – what are the travel plans like on the way back?"
"We can make it all the way to Batumi from here, though we'll be low on fuel and have to fill up either from the barrels, or arrange to stop at the airport there. But if we head back to the ranch – which is pretty much directly on the way – we can refuel there no problem. From the ranch we can do Batumi and back, and have fuel left over for combat moves or evasion, no problem. That's the better option, by far." He glanced over to Marius and got an emphatic nod from the pilot. "Hell, if we wanted to, we can get back to the ranch and then jump into the truck and do the last few hundred kilometres by road. Never let him know we have air transport at all…"
"I am in favour of not revealing all of our capabilities," Marius added quickly, "especially to people like that. He was useful – but only as long as we were willing to do his bidding and do some work for him. Understandable, but I do not want to be beholden to the likes of him."
"Alright, that seems fair enough. So we've certainly got options – but for the moment let's work on the basis that we'll head back to the ranch from here, and do the final delivery by truck. We can always change our minds if things develop." Kai looked around the team to check everyone was in agreement. "But until then, we might as well check out the market, right? See what we've got, and what's available."
"Very well. I am not sure what we will find – I would suggest therefore that we head right down to the far end of the market, and work our way back here. That way we end up closer to where we want to be eventually, and will have less distance to carry anything we have purchased."
"Alright Marius, seems fair enough. Let's head off down that way, then…"
They headed on further down the spur of land, leaving the gaudy 'mansion' with its mismatched architecture behind them. The area they were heading into now appeared to be a series of ornamental gardens – long rows of trees or bushes that had been carefully planted and trained to form barriers or avenues flanking stone walkways, benches and fountains set out with geometric precision and small stone follies or statues dotted around the place.
Marius set off at a brisk pace, clearly intending to lead the team onward to carry out his planned route – striding resolutely down the path in the centre of the grounds towards the far end. To his right was a large white marquee, already lit up with spotlights and with a gleaming floor laid inside. His stride faltered as he took in vehicles on display inside – gleaming sports cars laid out at an angle, spotlights glimmering off their curves. As he took in the interior, he spotted more and more exotic cars – an Aston Martin, a Ferrari, a Bugatti… each one reminded him of a primitive beast, crouched low and waiting, ready to pounce.
"We stopping, then?" Hunter needled him. "Going to have a gawp?"
"Nein." He tore his gaze away and kept walking, trying to ignore the lure of the ultra-rare performance cars. "We stick to the plan."
"I want to stop there on the way back though, even if Marius doesn't."
"You, Tads? Why? I mean… ok. But I didn't have you down as a petrol head!"
"I'm not sure what that is. Oh – no, I get it I think. And no, I'm not. But if we ever need a distraction, it seems to me that a trid-phantasm of one of those roaring through the streets is going to make a lot of people turn their heads to watch, and certainly not pay any attention to what we're doing…"
"Frak… yeah. Absolutely." Hunter grinned at her. "Make sure you get them to turn the engines on as well then. The sounds… well, you gotta hear it. Feel it. They're pretty unusual, too."
They pressed on, all the way to the bottom of the spit of land, looking out at the last twenty metres of gardens and mosaic pathways, taking in the view for a moment. Kabul was visible on the horizon – just – a large brown smudge with a few twinkling lights. Around them, though, were hundreds of hectares of farmland, watered by the lazily winding river and irrigation canals that had bought at least some prosperity to this region.
They turned and looked at the two large green tents that were pitched facing each other over the wide pathway. Each was made out of a heavy duty cotton, held up by wooden poles and pulled taut with hemp ropes leading down to large metal stakes. The tents seemed to be very old, and were probably surplus from some military somewhere, made up of end sections and a number of add-in middle panels that could be used to extend the size of the tents as required. Kai gestured to the one on the right of the path at random, and they headed over that way. These two tents both seemed to be mid-sized, having a number of the extra sections added in, giving double the footprint of most they'd wandered past on the way down.
Shimazu led the way inside, hand on the hilt of his sword as he checked it out before moving to the side and making room for Kai and the rest to enter. Inside there were lanterns strung from a cable that stretched from one end of the tent up to a ridge pole, then along the centre of the tent and down to the other side, lighting the inside with a warm yellow glow. Someone had set up some benches along the length of the tent, and various components and tools were laid out on the benches, while a number of people were sat on stools, working away at various tasks.
It took a moment for the team to take in the scene and notice the chains around the right ankle of each of the 'workers', stretching from one to another, locking them all in place.
"Good evening my friends. Welcome, welcome. I see you've come to examine our workforce? Excellent. I'm sure we have what you need – our workers are highly skilled, flexible and very economical. But – well trained. Able to use a variety of electronic systems and advanced tools, they can be used for custom electronic work or a variety of skilled tasks…"
"Um – I don't think we need anything from here." Aswon tried to keep his voice flat and calm, though his stomach crawled as he examined the slaves. One of them looked up from their work and stared at him for a moment, their eyes flat, listless and without hope. He turned away, heading for the door, bending almost double to make sure he could get out without touching anything.
"Well, if you change your mind, feel free to come back. Xi Pen's the name, cheap labour's the game!" The Chinese man gave a forced laugh and a smile that was entirely superficial and stopped short of his own eyes – which were cold and without mercy. Kai gave a brief smile and a nod, but turned too and headed back outside, not seeing any advantage in talking to the man.
"That's odd. I would have thought machine labour would be cheaper."
"Not always, Kai. Not for one-off jobs, or custom work. Gotta have an expert programmer to make something for you, and that cost means you need to make thousands of whatever it is to really make money. But people… they're versatile. And if they're well trained, they can turn their hands to solving problems more creatively. Industrial sweatshops… ugh." Aswon shuddered, and gave the doorway a dirty look.
They crossed over the pathway and entered the second large tent, exiting a few moments later – it didn't take long for them to see the rows of silent naked figures awaiting their inspection, sat in revealing positions with tacky pictures behind them in 'erotic' poses to understand exactly what kind of flesh was being sold here. None of them wanted to be involved in that market, and they left before the salesman even got to introduce himself. The man shrugged, returning to his matrix browsing, completely ignoring the thirty naked people secured in rows around him…
"I hope there's not much more of this."
"Right with you, Aswon. I mean, it happens, and we know it takes place. But we don't want to see it. Or be involved." Kai's normal irreverent tone was absent, as he thought about the people he'd seen, and how much they only represented the tip of the iceberg.
They went past a cross-path and came across another tent – this one made up of just the two end-sections, laced together to create a tent about six metres square. Somewhat hesitantly, Aswon bent down a little and glanced through the doorway, breathing a subtle sigh of relief as he saw just a few people with no signs of forced servitude. He made a 'come on' gesture with his trailing hand as he moved through the doorway, before moving to the side to make space behind himself.
As the rest of the team came in, they could see the three locals standing behind an old and battered trestle table, piled up with bricks of dark material wrapped in clear plastic. One of the locals was next to the table, looking at them with a smile that revealed yellowing and decaying teeth, while the other two hung back, hands conspicuously near the handles of their pistols as they lay tucked into their trousers.
"Hello, hello there. Oh, many of you. Here to buy?"
"Possibly my friend, depending on what you have to sell, of course." Kai gave him a smile, trying to put the other man at his ease somewhat.
"I am Gulpari. I have here some of the finest opium for sale in all of the land. All of it grown and harvested in the Khost province. Very good quality. Very pure."
"Ahh – then yes, we're interested. Depending on the price and the quality, of course."
"Of course. You have a sampler?" Gulpari reached under the table and pulled up a brick of opium, peeling back the plastic wrapping from it and then pulling out a small knife to shave off a tiny sliver, which he proffered to the team. Hunter reached over and took it carefully, then offered it up to his nose, activating the sensor package with a certain amount of trepidation. Just to be sure he closed his wind-pipe off and switched to his internal air-tank – he wasn't sure if that would prevent him getting high, but it was worth a try. The gas-spectrometer went to work, spitting out a chemical analysis of the substance.
"Seems pretty good. I'd say it's at least 85% pure, with the impurities being naturally occurring biological materials – probably from the harvesting process. It's not been cut with anything industrial, at any rate."
"Impressive! You have the machine built into your nose, huh? Neat. Most people have a device in their backpack. But – it is a marvellous world, is it not? So – you like the product. How much would you like to buy?"
"Well, we're just getting into the market, you see. Testing the waters. So, we're only after a kilo to start off with. Starting small."
"Oh." Gulpari sounded a little disappointed, but then gave tiny sigh and a shrug. "Well, we all start somewhere I guess. I can sell you a kilo – right now if you want. Seven thousand."
"Ok, interesting." Kai waited a moment, letting the silence spin out, but Gulpari seemed to be an at least competent negotiator and didn't feel the need to fill the void. Instead he leant back in his chair, folding his flick knife back away and dropping it back into his pocket, then wrapping his sample bar back up and dropping it under the table and back into his bag. "Let us call our contact, the man handling distribution. That seems like a fair price… perhaps we can persuade him to buy a few kilos instead of one. Take a risk. Thank you – we'll probably be back."
Gulpari nodded and gave a smile, but didn't seem enthused by Kai's offer, instead watching as the team filed out of the tent and back into the cooler breeze of the gardens. Aswon pulled up his commlink and sent over details of the price to their contact in Tashkent – adding on a few thousand to cover the fuel costs. Moments later he got a response, indicating somewhat pleasant surprise at the cost and asking for him to purchase and make the arrangements.
Kai read the message then nodded, and was just about to head back inside, when he heard a loud coughing – the kind designed to attract attention. On the other side of the path was another of the army tents – but this one had the entire front section opened up – the walling rolled back to leave the side facing the path entirely open. Inside were a few men, looking much like the ones they'd just seen, and with the exact same brand of folding tables – also piled high with blocks of opium.
"My friend! My friend, over here! Come, come quickly. Yes, yes… goooood. I am Abdul Ahad – and I have just saved you. Saved you I tell you. That man – he is very bad, Veeeery bad. Substandard products. Poor service. I, however, am a fine upstanding and honest merchant. Step this way, yes, yes… come… there you go." He had waddled over to Kai and oblivious to the filthy look Shimazu gave him was gently guiding Kai into the tent, steering him with a light touch to the elbow. Kai looked back over his shoulder and winked at them, but then turned back to his host.
"A thief, you say? Oh my. Well, I'm glad you were here. So, Abdul, was it? You have better quality product, you say?"
"Indeed I do. But I am also far more civilised." He clapped his hands together briskly, the pudgy flesh making a slightly wet-sounding noise – but one of the men in the rear of the tent scurried over quickly with a silver coffee pot and some cups, and set to pouring small cups of very strong coffee for the two men. Kai was about to refuse, but then remembered the information they'd dug up – it was a prelude or an invitation to haggling, and all part of the process. Instead, he raised the cup to his lips and let the sticky hot fluid moisten his lips slightly, before lowing the cup and giving a faint smack of the lips and apparent sigh of enjoyment. Abdul beamed at him – and at least his oral hygiene was slightly better. That, or he could afford to have had a second set of teeth implanted to replace the first…
"I am a dealer, grower, business man – from the Paktika region. Well known for our superior product. Would you like to test some?" Kai nodded, and watched as the same actions were repeated – a small sliver cut off from a test packet. Hunter worked to analyse this, wrinkling his nose a little. He glanced at Abdul, then bent down at the table to examine the other packets, facing slightly away from their host and Kai, before he subvocalized the results.
"Slightly less pure, lower quality. Not by much perhaps – but noticeable. Still natural materials, not cut with anything, but not as good."
"Ahh, thank you. My man here has done his test, and says the product is very fine. So, now of course we have to discuss the price…"
"Abdul will give you a fine price. A fair price. I must make money, of course – I have wives to feed and children to look after. A-ha-ha. It depends on the quantity of course, as well…" He peered at Kai and took another deep slurp of his coffee.
"We are just getting into the business, so we're a little new at this." Kai made sure to look at Hunter as he said this, trying to watch for the expected expression change on Abdul's face with his peripheral vision. "So I don't think we could get more than six kilograms of product to start with."
"Six? That is not very many. But Abdul understands you are new, and I will make you my friend. I can do six for… he pulled out a small pad from under his robes and made a big show of tapping in numbers and working out calculations. "I can do six kilos for forty-six thousand."
"This coffee is very nice. Is it imported?"
"Yes, it is. Very expensive, of course. But I give my customers only the best."
"Of course. Unfortunately while I would love to stay and negotiate, I think we should wander elsewhere, and see the other sights of the market. Perhaps think on the price. Forty six thousand is SUCH a lot of money, after all."
"My friend…" He laid a hand on Kai's knee as he leant forward to smile at him, missing the slight rise in tension in Shimazu as the man laid hands on his boss. Aswon and Tads didn't though, and they subtly shifted to the side, moving out of the way slightly so they wouldn't be in the splatter range. "… my friend, perhaps a top up. I'm sure for a man of such quality we can come to some arrangement. If my children have to go hungry for a night – well, it will make them stronger, will it not. A-ha-ha."
They bartered back and forth, with Abdul's wife and children becoming more and more impoverished with every price reduction, until finally they reached a potential offer of ten kilos of product for forty-five thousand.
"Now, thank you, Abdul. I have enjoyed our negotiation, but now we really must have a small walk – I need to call my contacts and make sure they can actually handle that much product. It's more than we initially wanted, so I must check."
"But my friend. If another customer comes, they might buy the stock? I would hate to disappoint you!" The voice took on a slight wheedling tone, pleading with Kai to complete the purchase before some other customer came and 'stole' his deal. Abdul would, of course, hate that, but those pesky wives and children – well they had to eat… Kai held firm though, shaking his hand and suddenly standing, thanking him for the coffee and putting the cup down firmly on the table. Abdul tried one more time, trying to persuade Kai to stay – but his platitudes washed over Kai with no effect.
The team crossed the path once more, now looking to enter the tent adjacent to Gulpari's. This one had the front closed, too, and Shimazu headed in before Kai to check the place out. Entering, they found a similar layout to both of the previous drug dealers – though the people found inside were cut from a different cloth. There were several guards inside, carrying old and battered assault rifles and faded combat fatigues, while a large man sat in a chair behind the desk, smoking a fat cigar with obvious enjoyment. As the team entered he reached down and grabbed a sealed water bottle, throwing it at Kai.
"There. You might want that to wash out the taste of prattle from talking with that asshole." Kai had just managed to catch the bottle, and he flipped the top open and took a swig of the tasteless water, washing out the acrid aftertaste of the thick coffee.
"You can hear him from over here then?" He kept the tone light, but gave the man a smile and a bit of an eye roll.
"There are people in Kabul that can hear that piece of drek…"
"Careful here, Kai. These guys are pros." Aswon had been examining the guards carefully, and now gave Kai a subtle warning as he turned away to examine the front panelling of the tent, subvocalizing carefully to avoid being seen or heard. "Gear is old but well cared for. Combat scars. Customised gear. They look very competent." He turned back and continued to examine the guards, picking up on more and more tiny little details in the way their kit was laid out, the way they stood or how they were watching the team.
"So, I'm Kai, and this is my team. And I think we can work out what you're selling easy enough…" He gestured at the pile of now familiar bricks of opium piled up on the table.
"I am Daruka." He gestured with a hand lazily at the pile of drugs, the cigar tracing a waft of smoke through the air with the movement. "And yes, this is my product. A good crop this year, from Helmand province." He reached behind the stack of drugs to pull an open packet into view, slicing off a tiny sliver and offering it over to them on the edge of his knife, watching with interest as Hunter moved it to his nose and sampled it.
"Best quality so far," Hunter announced out loud. "Clearly better than the last place."
"My people know better than to try and dilute the material or make up the weight." Daruka said quietly, but there was a faint tinge of menace to his voice.
"Well, that's good to know. Based on the fact that you have the best product, let's not waste your time with any nonsense. We're just getting into this business, so we're not after a lot. Would you sell us a kilo? How much would that be if you're ok with the small amount?"
"Five thousand. I don't like small quantities, but…" He shrugged, though it wasn't quite clear what he was getting at. "I will pass you my contact details. When you want more, you can call." He pulled out a cred reader, while Kai fished out a credstick and his commlink and they finalised the transaction – Kai gesturing for Hunter to select one of the brick of drugs at random and swapping contact numbers and details with the dealer.
Daruka turned to look at Shimazu, then gestured at his sword with a little stabbing motion of his hand, once more leaving a small trail of smoke behind in the still air inside the tent.
"May I see that?" Shimazu paused for a moment, considering his options, before nodding a little. He turned sideways to Daruka, then sidestepped to bring him slightly closer to the table, before gently and slowly sliding the blade out of the scabbard until it was mostly revealed. He kept the tip in the scabbard, but tilted the blade back and forth a little to make sure the pattern on the steel caught the overhead light. There was a babble of discussion back and forth between one of the guards and Daruka, presumably in Pashtu or some variation or dialect. Aswon and Hunter listened carefully, trying to make sense of the words, but mostly they picked up on the meaning from body language, tone and the situation. The guard certainly seemed to be impressed with the blade, and Daruka nodded. It wasn't an exact translation, but they both agreed that it was something along the lines of 'that could cut a mother-frakker', or some variation of the same…
Shimazu stepped away from the table, moving clear and making sure he was out of reach of Daruka. Not that it would matter of course – he was confident that he could spring and kill most of the people in the tent before they got a chance to react – but they weren't to know that. But once he was out of 'obvious' threat range, he finished the draw, bringing the sword around in front of him and then worked through a series of flashy-looking training manoeuvres, showing off a little of his skill with the blade, before sheathing the blade and moving to stand back with Kai once more.
"Interesting. He is your bodyguard?" Kai nodded. "Very good." He glanced over at the guard that had seemed most interested, and an eyebrow raised slightly, while the guard responded with a tiny shake of the head. "Call me when you need more product then." Kai felt that there was definitely some context he was missing there, but it didn't seem that Daruka was going to say anything else – so he gestured to the team and they left the tent, back into the evening air.
"You sons of whores!" Kai looked up and over to the open-fronted tent to see Abdul waving at them with a look of rage on his face. "Betrayers! I spit on you and your offspring! Camelfuckers! May you all wander in the mountains alone and die!"
"My, my, he seems upset doesn't he?" Kai gave him a cheery little wave, then made a point of conspicuously and obviously opening his satchel and stashing the block of opium inside, maintaining eye contact with the irate salesman at all times.
"Filthy infidel – may your cock grow maggots and infest your woman!"
"I think perhaps your customer service skills may be lacking," Aswon called out. "Perhaps you could take lessons from one of your fellow dealers." This seemed to enrage Abdul further, and the team turned and wandered down the path, letting the string of increasingly obscene and disturbed insults wash over them.
There was a small gap between tents, but when they reached the next one, Marius pointed at the vendor inside.
"We know him. That is Rand. Bioware parts. We met him at the market in Tehran." Kai looked over and though the man's face was vaguely familiar, he couldn't have put a name to it – but he was more than willing to trust Marius when it came to things like this. As the team approached the large open-fronted tent, it was clear that Mr. Rand didn't remember them either, greeting them very generically. When Kai mentioned it was good to see him 'again', they could see the momentary flash of concern on his face as he racked his memory for them – but Kai took pity and said it had been a while since the market in Tehran, and there was an equally brief flash of relief at the realisation they were just generic customers.
He showed them his catalogue of course, reminding them that he had some quality grown bioware, and was particularly keen to push his 'super-thyroid' glands, which were apparently their pinnacle product and some of the best in Asia.
They browsed briefly, but there was nothing of particular interest to them at this time, and they moved on to the tent next door, discovering "Mr. Cee", another vendor they'd met at the previous market. He too was peddling bioware, though seemed to specialise more in combat reflex boosters. His tent had a small refrigerated display containing several 'organs' nestled in a bed of ice, as if they were cuts of meat on display at the supermarket – with the actual product apparently being stored in the temperature controlled trailer away from the market. Packed in dry-ice, and adequately insulated they would give a twenty-four-hour window for transport before they started to degrade – more than enough time for most people to get them to a local implant surgeon for processing.
The final tent in this small cluster belonged to 'Haramisha', another bioware seller. Though he too offered a reasonable spread of products, the headline item in this store were the cultured and tailored muscle strands and nerve clusters that could be implanted in arms and legs to greatly boost the speed, agility and strength of the user. Ranging from some fairly mild implants that could turn an average man on the street into someone equivalent to a low tier professional athlete, all the way to some huge implants that would give someone the appearance of an international body-builder and more than double their natural strength, along with some adrenal pumps and heart-boosting cultures that could feed these 'super-muscles' with the oxygenated blood they would require.
By now the team had worked out that this market seemed to have been organised into little clusters, with the slavers, drug dealers and bioware peddlers all being organised into little sections of like-minded people. They weren't sure if this was done for the benefit of the customers, the sellers or the organisers – but it let them know what to expect, and explained the slightly odd layout of the market somewhat.
They headed south, towards another large tent – double the size of any of the last few, and towards the same size as the initial encounters with the slavers. That put them slightly on edge as they entered – which proved to prepare them somewhat for what they found inside.
"Good evening, hello. Welcome, welcome. I am Pashtar!"
"I am Aswon. What do you sell here?"
"What do we sell? Second chances, my friend. Upgrades. Improvements. A chance to get rid of regrets. Let me show you how it works…" The man gestured towards a table, on which was a laminated image of the human body, half of it rendered as an outside view, while the other half was an illustration that showed internal organs and anatomy, the kind of thing that medical professionals used for training. Somewhat ominously, there were arrows pointing to most of the major organs leading to small neatly printed labels identifying the body part, along with a price tag.
"Say you have someone with a condition, some kind of genetic disorder. Someone that rejects bioware and cyberware, or that suffers from some kind of auto-immune disease. Or perhaps someone just not comfortable with inserting made things into their bodies. But there's a problem – they had a failing kidney, or perhaps they have lost an eye. Very bad news for them – no hope of living a normal life, right? Well – now they can! Pashtar can help…" He flipped over the illustration, showing an image created from the worst kind of stock artwork. Four photos of generic hospitals, spread out in the corners of the page, and in the middle a 'hacker', a shadowy figure hunched over a keyboard while lines of code were filling the screen. Hunter snorted, managing to turn it into a cough as Pashtar looked at him quizzically, waving for the man to continue his sales pitch.
"We have a team of experts, connected to a vast number of medical systems spread out all across Asia – India, Pakistan, Turkestan, the Chinese states, all over really. Once we have your medical details, we can start a search, looking for a donor with the required organs that are needed and matching blood types and physiology. Once we have a match, we let you know and arrange a price – and then we move on to the procurement phase! Very soon we can send word to you to discuss a meeting point and final payment in exchange for the required parts, allowing you to lead a normal, healthy and happy life!"
"That is good to know." Aswon spoke in a clipped voice, and took the proffered card holding the contact details, then turned and spread his arms wide, ushering the team back out into the courtyard.
"Is that what I think it was?" Tads asked, a look of horror on her face.
"If you think bodysnatchers and organ-leggers then yes. Not people we need to do business with, ever."
"But the people with the organs… are they selling them?"
"Sometimes perhaps. But most of the time, they're probably just grabbed off the street and abducted, and the organs removed for transport."
"And the people?" Tads realised she already knew what the answer was, and held up her hand, not wanting to hear it.
"Yeah. Do we want to check out the last one in this cluster?" They looked at the small tent that was left in this section and wavered, but then wandered over, curiosity getting the better of them. Fortunately, it turned out that this was another vendor that had been at the Tehran market, this one being a seller of cyberware. They had a few choice pieces on display, an arm and some dermal sheathing designed to protect the wearer from assault. Hunter gave them a check over and seemed to be impressed with the quality – despite not apparently being manufactured by any of the big names in the cyber-industry, they were elegant and well-constructed, lightweight and compact without sacrificing usability. At least as far as he could tell. They grabbed the vendor's details, noting down the contact address gave a Bulgarian matrix code, then moved on to the next area.
There was quite a separation to the next tent, which appeared to be isolated and had nobody around it. Inside was another vendor they recognised from the Tehran market, Imran and Falooq. The tent was a veritable Aladdin's cave of electronic parts, gizmos and devices – which Marius started to check through. While he was rummaging through the various boxes and starting to assemble a pile of equipment, Kai located and tested a cred-reader, realising that their previous unit had gone up in flames back in England, and sooner or later they were going to need one. Imran attended to his needs and got the reader set up, attaching the device to their 'Doctors Without Borders' company and setting the account up with the banking systems to legitimise it. By the time they'd done this Marius had a large pile of equipment laid out on the table, with multiple sets of some components as well as generic gear such as cabling, flux, solder and components like resistors and capacitors.
"What's all this for?"
"Repairing the drones. Field repairs to devices. Bypassing security. All kinds of things. It should keep us going for several months."
"Ok." Kai shrugged, casting an eye over the pile of gear and wondering how much it was going to cost. "So – where do you guys cover?" He looked over at Imran – but it was Falooq that answered, moving over to stand next to the pile with a large cardboard box, ready to help Marius pack up the gear.
"We're fairly mobile – but we go as far west as Tehran, then loop back through here, into Pakistan and then India. Depending on when and where the markets are running, and we have to do supply runs of course. But it's steady normally. Always someone needing new kit…"
Marius appeared to have finished collating his gear, and they totalled up the price of all the materials, creeping just above twenty thousand by the time they'd added the cred-reader on top as well. Hunter grabbed the box of supplies, cradling it carefully in his massive arms.
"I'm gonna run this back to the Broadsword. No point lumping it around with us."
"I'll come with you then – I don't think we should be wandering around solo at all." Aswon looked over at him and shrugged. "Nothing personal. But you've got your arms full, and if nothing else, I can make sure someone doesn't pick-pocket you while you're distracted."
"Come on, then… where are you lot going?"
"We'll head over to the food tents over there." Kai gestured to the south of the electronics tent, at the two food vans that were set up, a small queue waiting at each to be served. By the time Aswon and Hunter returned, the rest of the team had purchased what appeared to be soy-kebabs and some kind of sauce to dip them into, along with some soy-cola knock off, and had secured a table for them to sit and eat at.
They could see more people turning up now – crews somewhat similar to themselves wandering around, sole traders, smaller groups of people probably affiliated with different warlords or crime-syndicates – all out shopping and looking for bargains to help fuel their own desires and goals. There wasn't anyone that they particularly recognised – at least not in the food area, but the market was starting to fill up.
Finishing their food and drinks, they headed to the south side of the spur, spotting another single tent positioned on its own. As they closed in on it, they could smell incense and a variety of other heady perfumes, growing in strength as they approached the opening. Someone had hung a blanket over the doorway, requiring them to push it to one side to gain entry, and allowing a small cloud of smoke and vapours to escape as they entered. Inside the tent was much darker than the others, lit by only a few candles that cast flickering shadows around the confines of the tent, dimly lighting the array of magical charms, fetishes and telesma on display.
A figure loomed out of the darkness, tall and thin, wearing a top hat and with his face made up in the traditional style of Baron Samedi. A tooth necklace hung off his shoulders, glittering gold links between the various fangs and teeth from a variety of species, and the velvet jacket seemed to drink in the faint candlelight. A strange knocking echoed around the tent as a gust of wind rustled the wind-chime hung to one side, sending spinal column chunks knocking against one another.
"Think this is for you, Tads…" Kai whispered, taking a step to one side and waving for her to approach.
"Um… ok. Hello there." The Hougan nodded at her, spreading his mouth into a wide grin. One hand grabbed the top hat and swept it down into a wide arc as he bowed gently, welcoming them into his store. "Do you mind if we look around?" A slow but deliberate nod and a gesture with the other hand towards his stock was all he responded with. She smiled at him somewhat nervously and moved to examine the various items on display, flicking in and out of astral space to get an idea of what was magically active and what was just window dressing. She saw Aswon looking at a book, turning it over in his hands and then suddenly stiffen – quickly putting the book down and wiping his hands on his trousers.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't think the cover of that book was leather. Or not normal leather, anyway…" He shared a look with Tads and she nodded at him in understanding, before continuing her examinations. Aswon put his hands behind his back, grasping them together tightly to stop himself from poking at things, before moving down the display. "Do you have anything here to learn more about types of magic. Not how to do the magic itself, but about the ways you do magic?" He glanced over at the shop keeper, who had settled into a wicker chair and was watching them from under the brim of his hat.
"You want to learn about the Loa?" His voice was deep and sonorous, seeming to come from someone far larger-chested then he was. "The ways of the Loa are mysterious. But you can learn. You can become an apprentice in the Ways."
"I'm not sure about that… I don't have that kind of talent. Not to cast magic, anyway."
"You can still learn the ways. Honour the Loa. Speak da language. It's not all about flinging da mojo…"
"I'm done here, I think." Tads announced, stepping back from the display. "Thank you." She spared the Hougan only a quick glance as she thanked him, then turned on her heel and pushed out through the blanket to the outside. The rest of the team quickly followed her out.
"Everything ok, Tads?" Hunter asked. "Something wrong with the magic woo woo?"
"Not wrong… not really. But not what I want. Nearly everything in there has a taint or a tang. Blood magic. Voodoo rituals. Curses. Lots of things there seemed to echo with pain and suffering, despair and manipulation. It's… well, it's not my way. Not for me." She backed off a few steps, then turned and walked away – wanting to get some space between herself and the magical aura of the tent now that she knew what it was. The rest of the team shrugged and followed her, pretty sure that if she didn't want anything to do with it, then neither did they.
They headed back westward a little, crossing over the bottom of the food area and heading towards the row of three tents waiting for them there, all the smallest size.
The first was another man they recognised – and who remembered at least Marius from their meeting in Tehran. Viktor Pavel had a variety of electronic devices on display, along with a selection of chips and optical disks, all holding software code for various encryption and decryption suites, as well as firmware hacks for a variety of devices.
Marius had a good look at the kit on offer, then stopped in his tracks, staring at one item in particular, rocking back and forth on his heels. His head turned to look at Kai, and he stared at him for a good ten seconds without speaking, before his gaze turned back towards the device on the display.
"What is it, Marius?"
"A Protocol Emulation Modulator. But it is expensive."
"That's the thing you need to get into other vehicles right, or building systems."
"Yes. Or at least partly. It provides a means to emulate the different networks and systems you wish to connect to. That one there, though…" he stabbed a finger at another device, slightly further down the table. "That one is the decryption module. Specialised hardware circuits and complex software to decrypt signals in real-time and allow you to infiltrate other networks."
"Ok, so we've needed that stuff before and not had it, right? Yeah, and we had to work around it. So… how expensive?"
"The decryption module there – that and the PEM block. How much for the pair? And can I see them?"
"Good choice – these are both good quality modules. Both came from an attack chopper that had a malfunction, came down in less friendly territory and was lost. Good gear though, current generation military. So pricy, I'm afraid." Viktor grabbed the two modules and slid them over to let Marius examine them. "The decryption block is top end, used by front-line troops still and has all the latest algorithms fitted. Price on that is a hundred and twenty-six thousand. And the other module is just as good hardware wise, though it's got less processing power, of course. I could do that one for about fifty-six thousand. Hmm. You after both?"
"I am. But… these are not live modules are they? These are sales models…"
"Yeah. But they're what the real things look like. I don't like having stock out where some light-fingered asshole can make off with them. But I have the items in the pipeline. They're available to ship over, just need a couple of weeks' notice to arrange cover and shipping."
"So how much for the pair? And how long – specifically. And could you deliver to Azerbaijan?"
I could do you both for one hundred and eighty thousand, delivered – and yeah, I can get stuff to the TCL. I could guarantee…. Three weeks. Yeah, easily. Twenty one days, or sooner."
"That is a good price, Kai. But I know it is a lot of money still."
"Do it. We've needed it before, and we'll need it again. Let's not mess around – you need tools to do your job, just like Tads does. Right?" Kai looked over at him and Marius nodded. "Right. Ok – let's get something set up. Half now and half on delivery?"
"That can work." Pavel made the arrangements, taking a chunk of Nuyen from the certified credstick and getting the address details for the delivery, arranging an authorisation code to authenticate the courier for the second half of the payment.
They pressed on to the next stall, looking to see what else was at the market – and to their surprise found it was a vendor for white goods. Large trid units, music systems, fridges, freezers, home cleaning robots… all the modern conveniences that a luxury house would need. They poked around a little, and Hunter did a quick search on his link, checking into the brands.
"All of these are top end. Like, the very best brands in terms of reputation and features. Most of the prices here are about half of the retail prices I can see. I'm guessing that someone lost a couple of containers during shipping…"
"Do we want anything for the house? Genuinely?" Aswon asked. "Not being silly – in terms of helping them sell the place as a good resort – would a new trideo unit provide a benefit to them. Or the latest washing or cleaning robot? If it helps them look after the place, then it might be worth it…"
"Screw the house – what about the aircraft? How about we get a massive sound system for doing psychological warfare during attack runs." Hunter joked. "Do you think we could get one that could be heard over the jet engines?" Marius shook his head at him, looking to be torn between the ideas of making a novel attack method and having to deface his aircraft by cutting holes into the fuselage to mount the speakers in…
They checked out the goods for a few more minutes before deciding to pass on them, but making a note of the seller's details and the types of goods they had for sale, just in case.
Shimazu led the way into the third tent, stopping as he entered the brightly lit space and looked at the large gun turret that was positioned to one side. He held up a hand behind him, stopping the rest from entering as he took in the scene, blocking the doorway with his prodigious frame. Like the other tents, this one was made up of two end sections laced together, but the inside of this tent had an additional layer of fabric hung from the outer skin, a white silk that was pulled taut like a second skin. Additional lights were positioned near the ridge of the tent facing the inner tent, which diffused the light around the space, lighting it far more evenly than anything else they'd seen.
The near-ubiquitous tables were laid out across the tent, behind the poles this time giving more space to the customer side of the tent than the vendor side. Additional lights were strung from the poles and shone down, turning this area into a brilliant white zone of light, highlighting the trays of rubies, emeralds, topaz and various other gems, sparkling in the harsh light. On either pole were positioned several cameras, their fibre optic lines neatly bundled together and feeding down the poles and snaking off to the gun turret which sat ominously to one side. It hadn't moved or given any threatening sign, so Shimazu cautiously lowered his hand and moved inside, letting the others enter.
The others entered, giving the turret the same double-take he had, but then spotting the gems, and the man who had risen from his chair to greet them. Wearing utility trousers and a lightweight tan shirt, he looked like he could have stepped from the set of a nature documentary – he seemed to have a certain outdoor ruggedness about him, and though his beard was neatly trimmed, he just looked like he'd be far more at home building a primitive shelter or reporting on the antics of a troupe of monkeys than selling gems in a black-market.
"That's some heavy firepower…" Aswon noted, pointing at the gun turret.
"I hope so – given what I paid for it. But it's hopefully just a deterrent. Certainly never needed it so far… of course, who knows – maybe one day someone will decide to try and palm a gem, thinking they can beat the sensors and the pattern matching software, figuring it's worth the risk."
Aswon smiled at him, nodding and admiring the way that the vendor had given him a subtle warning about how he was prepared to deal with potential thieves – without having to say it blatantly.
"I'm Paul, by the way. Paul Fowler. And as you've probably realised, I sell gems of various types, mined all over the region." He let his gaze wander from one member of the team to another, giving each a moment of his time and some recognition – lingering a few seconds on Hunter as the orc stepped close to the table and gave a long, slow sniff. "I've got a variety of gems, of various carets, clarities and cuts – depending on what you're after. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, lapis lazuli, garnet, tourmaline, spodumene, kunzite…" he pointed at each of the sections in turn.
As the team moved in closer to look, they were mindful to keep their hands clear of the trays. Each subdivided container had some kind of foam base, and the gems were neatly laid out in rows – presumably in some kind of order.
Hunter glanced over and then started to tap out a message on his link, looking up at Fowler as he did.
"Just curious – I'm a bit of a computer buff myself. I'm guessing you've got the gems laid out neatly like that to help the software keep track – mapping reflectivity and optical characteristics so you can detect movement and changes, spot anyone trying to pull a fast one on you? Neat… nice little program. And pretty easy to run on a portable rig, I guess…"
[I can smell piranha juice again. Same as back in the village. These gems have been washed in it. At least some have.]
The others checked their commlinks as the message came through, realising why Hunter had been sniffing so carefully.
"They're very pretty. And I guess, quite valuable – can certainly understand why you have such security. May I pick one up?" Kai asked.
"Sure – just keep it where the cameras can see it, please."
"Of course." Kai carefully reached down and selected a sparkling red gem, carefully pinching it between thumb and forefinger and holding it up in the air, letting the light play across the facets. "Beautiful. Hmm." He carefully placed it back in the same position it had come from, then lifted his hand away, holding it out flat, and turned it over to show it was empty. "That one was almost translucent. I'm guessing the clearer they are, the more they're worth?"
"Generally, yes. Gems that are completely clear have the highest value, while cloudy specimens generally have the least commercial price… but not always. Sometimes you find an occlusion in a particular shape or style that adds some unique kind of value. I heard once of a gem that had an impurity near the centre, that when viewed from a certain angle had the rough shape of the Kanji sign for 'wealth' – that went for a lot of money." Kai nodded in understanding, and let his eyes scan over the gems in their neat little lines. Some were noticeably clearer than others, even from a reasonable distance, and some were far larger than others. There seemed to be a number of different cuts or styles, with a variety of different techniques used to finish the gems.
"And there must be all kinds of different things used to prepare them… different ways to wash and prepare them, or get rid of impurities? Do you use piranha juice?" He looked up at Fowler and saw the man blink in surprise, and then narrow his eyes as he examined Kai.
"Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. A lot of the gems are mined using quite primitive techniques, and sometimes they come to me contaminated with various substances. The gems are normally pretty hard and robust, so a strong acid solution can be very useful for cleaning the surfaces and letting the gem's qualities be assessed. You know something about the process, I take it?"
"Oh, I've heard a little about it, here and there. Nothing in detail though. I'm very curious, though?" He glanced around, and confirmed that nobody but the team was in the tent. "If you have time, of course. I mean, if another customer comes in, then you'll need to deal with them, of course."
Paul launched into an explanation of the process, detailing how the gems came to him from the primitive mines scattered all over the country, blasted loosed from the rocks by dynamite or salvaged explosives reworked from old munitions and shells that still littered the landscape from the various wars that had been fought over the region for hundreds of years. Kai nodded along, listening and just trying to pay attention and look like he understood what was going on – but mostly keeping his attention off of Hunter and Aswon, who he hoped were listening with a much more critical ear on the explanation of the chemical processes.
"Fascinating, that's very interesting. Thank you." He said a few minutes later.
"Aswon – these look quite pretty." Tads pointed out. She'd been assessing the gems for the last few minutes, scanning them row by row and trying to find any that hadn't been tainted by explosives or worked by a machine. They seemed to be mostly useless though from a magical point of view, no doubt thanks to the crude methods used to extract them. "Not the sort of thing *I'd* wear," she stressed, hoping he'd pick up on the emphasis. "But would one make a nice gift for Germaine?"
"No doubt… if I knew what she liked. But she strikes me as having a very refined taste, and getting something worthwhile might be very expensive. Or rather not getting something expensive might be seen as a bit of an insult. I'm not sure that I know her well enough to buy something appropriate…"
"Ahh, the fickle nature of women!" Paul smiled at Tads, "Beautiful, but sometimes complex, and difficult to read. But so worth the effort." He gave her a tiny wink, as if he was flirting with her, and she shifted uncomfortably at his attention.
"Perhaps we can give her a call though, find out if she's after anything in particular?" Kai suggested. "Thank you, Mr. Fowler – we'll give our friend a call, and see if we can determine if something might be suitable, and be back in a bit."
"Of course. I'm happy to give advice if you can narrow down your requirements at all."
Kai led them outside, and away from the tent, getting to what he thought was a reasonable distance away before speaking.
"Same stuff as Mary Pat was using?"
"Not just the same stuff, but the same concentration and volumetric mix as well. I'd say it wasn't just the same type of acid, but the same batch. Some of that stuff came from here. I'd bet money on it."
"Well, nobody ever said she couldn't make money, I guess." Aswon looked over at Tads, who just shrugged.
"She's never said she mines or has anything to do with the gem trade. Never said she didn't either."
"Well, there's nothing wrong there I suppose. But if she's dying her hair with rubies, then that's something worth considering if we're donating supplies again!" Kai retorted. "But… let's wander over that way, and see what else we can find."
The team turned away, from the gem traders tent, and headed towards the next tent along the path, another single small tent…