The two old men sat on leather lounge chairs in a quiet corner of Lamora Airport. It was getting late. The sun had sunk far under the horizon hours ago and the only other occupants were a lone female traveler with headphones not too far from them and a hapless family of five.

One of the men was a short, formally dressed man of Asian descent with white hair and a graying stubble. The other man, seated adjacently, was a tall, pale, brute of a man. Although he was of considerable age, his well defined muscles were still visible through his clothing.

The short Asian studied a lined document as his companion watched intently.

The Asian man put down the document and frowned. "It seems our little secret is out."

"How?" the taller man asked with an accent. "One of your assistants? A spy? How did they find the compound?"

"I trust my assistants with my life," the Asian man replied. "I have an idea on just exactly who our culprit is. It seems Doctor Augustus has been making inquiries into the matter of my absences from the Academy."

"So what next?"

"We wait. The Academy can't handle a project this big on their own. I'm sure they'll outsource, find archaeologists and scientists from the outside. I hear they've already contacted O'keefe and Klienmen."

The taller man frowned. "So you're just going to watch this opportunity get taken from you? We've spent decades on this project, you can't just walk away."

The Asian man leaned forward, his hand resting on his lip. "Oh, I don't plan to walk away. Augustus isn't going to let me anywhere near this project. So I'll just send someone in my stead."

The taller man nodded. "Right, a proxy. This could work. Who do you have in mind?"

"My daughter."

"What?" the other man exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"Settle down, you're making a scene," the professor said, tugging on the taller man's sleeves.

He sat back down on his lounge chair, crossing his arms. "You can't be seriously considering Cecilia. Impossible. She's too green."

"She's our best bet. We don't have much other choice."

The taller man leaned back into his chair, letting loose a string of unflattering curses in Russian. "Fine. But I cannot trust her to do this without adult supervision. My operatives will accompany her on this excursion."

The Asian man lifted his chin and barked out a sardonic laugh. "Rich talk coming from a man with a shut in son."

"He has a different path in life," the taller man replied with a frown. "We should get back to the subject."

The Asian man nodded. "Right. When's the earliest you can get your men to Dragon Station?"

"I can have them arranged to meet your daughter at the station in a matter of days."

"No… not at the station, that would draw too much suspicion. We'll have them pose as part of her research team. I'll direct her to Tokyo, I expect your men there by the end of next week."

They both stood up and shook hands. The professor bade him farewell and left the terminal. The taller man watched his departing back with a cold gaze and slunk down into his chair.

Not too far from them, the lone female with the headphones grinned like a child discovering a new toy. She then stood up and followed the Asian man out of the terminal.