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- So, ladies, what can you tell me?
- We can tell you that the cop obviously went to a lot of trouble...
- Hmm?
- The warehouses are ten years old. And they're long forgotten. There's only ice, no security, and minimal mention of them. And the ice hasn't been renewed in a long time. Naturally, the equipment there is far from the newest, but in general, we did not count on new equipment....
Kiwi opened her eyes and looked at me.
- In general, there are about a hundred Chevyon Emperor 620 Ragnar in the warehouses, of course in a ruined condition, but there are also parts for them. A dozen and a half old Behemoths. Six Basilisks. And two Manticores. Naturally, all with parts, but judging by the data it will take a lot of work to repair them.
I sigh.
- That's very good... I honestly expected more modest results.....
- Am I calling Saul?
I looked at Panam and shook my head.
- No, such news should be told personally, so we'll wait until our dear ranerchis clean up all the data about these warehouses, and then we'll talk to Saul. Especially if all the equipment is damaged, it will be more convenient to carry out repairs at the warehouses, instead of doing it in the sands of the wasteland.
- Then we wait...
Panam sighed and dropped her head on the steering wheel.
About twenty minutes passed in somewhat tense silence.
- Fuck...
- What?
I looked at Lucy, who banged her fist furiously on her knee and opened her eyes.
- Just a second...
Her eyes lit up, signalling that she was answering the phone, and after only a dozen seconds, she focused on me.
- DeShawn had a nerve, I dropped his call five times and he kept calling and calling. Till I told him to get off the phone, he didn't know what was bothering him. Yes, and after trying to yak something, so I added his number to the blacklist... You girls, I advise you to do the same....
- Give me his contact.
Panam said these words, then all the other girls got DeShawn's contact and apparently added him to the blacklist.
- I can give everyone Faraday's contact....
- Come on...
The girls got some kind of fun vibe and added him to the blacklist too. Except for Kiwi, who still owed him a debt, so it wasn't safe for her to add him to the blacklist.
We stayed there for another twenty minutes, after which the Ranershis finally gave the go-ahead, showing that they had done their job, and Tortik drove us towards Aldecaldo's car park with a quiet roar of his engine.
- Chum, what happened to you?!
Scorpion met us outside the Hippo. He must have been phoned by Panam, cos he was obviously expecting us.
- The order went a bit off the plan... however, forget it, it could have ended much worse....
I shook my head and decided to change the subject.
- ...Panam called you, didn't she?
- Yeah... she said it was urgent and could not be delayed.....
I gave my mulatto a disgruntled look.
- But I'm right, Scorpio, he did get the Basilisks! He's also got Behemoths and the Chevillion Emperor 620 Ragnar! We can get the whole clan on the same standard!
Scorpius blinked in surprise.
- Okay, I think my chrome is malfunctioning... I heard some nonsense about a single standard for the clan, Hippos, Basilisks....
- She didn't even mention the Manticores.
Becca couldn't keep her mouth shut. I understood, though, because Scorpius had a funny look on his face as it was.
- Okay, hold on, I'll get in touch with Mitch...
- Where is he, anyway? I told him to be here.
- He's fixing the solar panels... we talked and decided I'd be enough, you didn't tell me it was about THAT kind of stuff...
- Was I supposed to tell you during the call?
- Well... at least hint that it was of extreme importance to the clan, you could have.
- Well... I wanted to surprise you....
Scorpius' eyes lit up, and after a few dozen seconds, he nodded to us.
- Mitch will be here in ten minutes....
- Well, then we wait...
I shrugged.
Ten minutes went by pretty quickly and when Mitch came in he was a little unhappy about being pulled away from his work.
- What do you want? What's wrong?
- It's not us, it's the clan...
Panam decided to set the record straight.
- ...Shevion Emperor 620 Ragnar, Behemoths... Basilisks....
Mitch grunted at the last word and quickly walked to the nearest chair and collapsed on it.
- ...and a couple of Manticores for an appetiser.
- Fuck.
- Well, everything is in secure warehouses that only we have information about, so it'll be easy to repair the equipment. There's a lot of parts. The Clan could get very lucky.
- Could be?
Mitch looked at Panam carefully.
- Yes, it could. Let's be honest, if OWLs stays the head of the Clan, he's going to blow this whole thing in an attempt to curry favour with Biotech. It's like he's been brainwashed, he can't see any other way forward for the clan. I thought at first that at least a new clan chrome might make things better, but it didn't do much for his point of view....
- Well... can't say I don't understand you, but what do you want?
- I want to include them all in the clan...
Panam nodded her head in our direction.
- ...and I want to nominate David to be the head of the clan.
- That's quite a swing...
Scorpius shook his head.
- Well, she has a point here...
- А?
Scorpius looked at Mitch dumbfounded.
- 'Think about it, how much has David done for the clan so far? Chrome? Please... or do you really think he couldn't sell it through a fixer to someone else who would pay more than us? Now here's the tech...
Mitch sighed.
- ...And I doubt he'll stop there... Compared to Saul, who's really been overly fixated on Biotech lately....
- By the way, stay on top of the news.
- А?
- This...
I nodded at the arm and leg, or rather the chrome that was in their places.
- ...the result of a clash with the interests of this corporation. I'm not sure exactly what they were doing, but under the guise of Peter Pan, they were kidnapping young men... I suspect some kind of chemistry experiments were going on.
- Hmm.
- He is not lying...
Panam shook her head.
- You got involved in a fight with a corporation?
Mitch's voice was extremely displeased.
- 'No... I mean yes, but no...'
- What does that mean?
- It means we didn't know what we were getting into.
Judy decided to clarify her friend's confusing explanation.
- Initially, it was a phixer's request to help a friend of hers whose nephew had been kidnapped by Peter Pan. Of course there were some calls... but it wasn't until we were confronted with hard evidence of Biotech's involvement that we finally realised what we'd gotten ourselves into....
- And you didn't delta.
- Well...
Panam looked away.
- I requested a reward from the fixer, as fulfilling a request to investigate a psychopath is one thing, but going against the corp is another. I also asked for the coordinates of two old cops' equipment warehouses with access points through which the information about these warehouses can be deleted. I was counting on the fact that she would refuse... Well, I was hoping for that at least, but I still started to prepare myself just in case....
- Let me guess. She said yes.
- Exactly, Mitch.
I nodded a couple of times.
- ...and this is the result, I've lost the possibility of fighting for the near future, but there's a chance for a significant profit for the clan. Personally, I was willing to sell him to the clan without the conditions Panam had set. But I won't go against my girl...
- Yeah, and if David is not made the head of the clan, then I'll just leave it...''
I blinked in surprise.
Now that was definitely not in my plans....
- Panam...
- David...shut up. This is now a matter of the clan you don't belong to yet. I'm not saying that we won't sell the equipment to the clan, but believe me, there is a difference between how we will sell the equipment to the clan if the conditions I stated earlier are fulfilled... and how it will be done if even I am no longer a part of the clan.
- Panam.
- Mitch, Scorpio, you guys are cool, and OWLs was cool, in fact, he's the guy who stole a petrol tanker, opened its crane and drew a figure eight in the sand and set it on fire, just for the kids to enjoy. But now... apparently old age is taking its toll.....
She shook her head.
- Well, these matters are out of our hands anyway. We need to get the council together... bring the matter before them....
- I'd prefer not to...
I shook my head.
- David!
- Panam!
I gave her a stern look, but she wouldn't give up.
- Anyway, Mitch, Scorpio, I don't want to go against Panam's wishes, but I don't want to split the clan. You've probably realised by now that I had my own plans for Aldecaldo, and now I'm going to have to make some adjustments because of Panam. But since, as I said, I don't want a split, I'd like to ask you to talk to Sol.
- Hmm?
- No Councils, just talk to him. You're the old timers of the clan, he'll at least listen to you. I'd like, since Panam's got it in her head, to settle this amicably...
- I'm afraid OWLs won't appreciate it.
- Well, that's a different conversation...
I shrugged.
- ...he won't appreciate it, you can ignore everything and offer to buy the equipment from us, or you can act according to Panam's plan. It's up to you.
- Us?
- Mitch, I'm not a scumbag or a narcissistic idiot who thinks life revolves around me. Just because I found a way to get this tech doesn't mean you're gonna find it useful and accept my help. It also doesn't mean that you'll decide to oust Saul, even though Panam, who, although she doesn't notice it, has a lot of influence in the clan.
- Я?
- You, you...
I nodded in response to a bewildered exclamation from my mulatto.
- ...So the choice of how to proceed lies with you. You can call the other 'old timers' and discuss the matter with them before making a decision and going to Saul. There is time and it is actually not limited, because the address of these warehouses now have only us, the fixer and she will not resell them, and the customer. But he owes us a lot and is an acquaintance of the fixer, so it will not interfere with us.
- We understand...
Scorpius nodded and put a hand on Mitch's shoulder.
- 'Let's go... let's go talk to the other "old guys"...'
He grinned.
- ...and decide what we're gonna do.
- Yeah... make a decision... Like there are options as to what exactly we decide and what ultimatum we go to Saul with....
Mitch grumbled, but still walked along with Scorpio towards his tent....
- And you still have doubts?
Panam grinned.
- Come on, we all know what decision the 'old guys' will make, but they have to make that decision.
Judy squeezed Panam's shoulder reassuringly. That was the end of it for the moment and I started cooking....