11:20:58 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - heading into the Rhino

This time the leather coat is a bit more worn: a bit less Wachowski, a bit more work-a-day; and the watch from yesterday clashes not only with the earring hoops but with something dark and red that looks like it's struggling to break free from her frizzed white hair (is it moving?).

Even astrally, it had taken Blaze a moment to be sure -- and he still isn't, not really: she fits into the streets as well as any of those around her and far better than some. It's that small spark of -- uncertainty? imbalance? -- that finally decides him: and when he finally goes physical to initiate the meet, he recognises Sal at once when she enters just before he does, a few seconds before she sees him, an instant or so before she spots Tin Star waiting laconically (and without glancing once at a watch) at a table he'd staked out for them. At least the smartgun lenses haven't changed. Is that the bit of cyber I'd picked up off her?

She's already gulped down the first mug of soykaf she'd ordered at the counter and is bringing the refill to the table when she finally spots Blaze and waves him over to the table; and she looks like she wouldn't be adverse to adding a pint of whatever passes for beer around here either. She's barely breathing hard: yet Blaze has the sudden impression that the last few hours have been very full for her indeed, and ... is that bruising, on the skin briefly showing where the coat sleeve had slid up from her gloves? It's hard to tell, against the black skin -- and maybe that's the point. But she doesn't carry herself as though she were hurting. Come to think of it, she doesn't carry herself as though she feels much of anything at all.

"I'm sorry," she says instantly, seeing him, to both of them. "I'm late, and I didn't leave a message until late."

11:20:58 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Blaze pauses for a moment. "What message?" Reaching into his pocket Blaze grabs the main body of his phone. Flipping to the voicemail section he can see one message blinking as unread. "Oh, sorry. I've been Out" his inflection lets Alleycat know he means of his body rather than anything else.

Smiling slightly, "Either way don't worry about it." Blaze passes on ordering anything, any more Soykaf and he'd start to get jittery. "I didn't see any sign of our former contacts, but they may not have arrived yet."

11:21:30 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"That meeting isn't for another thirty-eight minutes," says Sal, her long fingers tapping absently on the empty coffee mug. "More important right now is how your meet went, this morning. I did get a couple of leads on her but nothing solid yet, there's hours ahead of me to follow up what I've got. Heard a couple of things I didn't want to hear in the process, but I don't know how that's involved yet either. Did yours pan out any better?"

11:22:12 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Blaze sighs softly, "I don't know if it's really panned out or not. Last night I got a lead that she was in redmond, having nothing else to do while my contacts try to drum up info on our other friends, I headed out there, astrally. While over Redmond I met, well I can't call him anything other than a PI, he had the dress and actions of one."

Blaze shruggs slightly, "I took a gamble and followed him, then asked him to help. The meet this morning was with him. He said he was already on the, case, on the condition that he was helping the girl, not the corp. So he agreed to help me help him. This evening we're going to make a foot trip in to check up on a lead of his, I got the impression we weren't heading out imediately, and if need be I can cancel that."

A slight realization hits him. She's been looking too. "You said you'd done some hunting... anything interesting?"

11:24:41 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Her turn to shrug: "I'm no PI. Thought I'd go revisiting that building, ask around, see if anyone in the area had spotted anything. Got word only that there might be a new party involved in that game: and that's not something I'm going to talk about further here.

"I've got the wheels in motion, but I haven't yet started going through the Matrixed-microfiche library stacks, public and university, government, corporate, city documents (Department of Licencing, Metroplex Government Auditor, District's Planning and Zoning Commission), birth certificates etc etc for anything relating to her: let alone through the screamsheets to track down mentions of our new third party and try to guess what their interest might be in this. I've got a few ideas for some more direct asking if it comes down to it" -- and one of them might even come later tonight -- "but I'd like to know if those are necessary, first. Haven't even had a chance yet to ask yet through the grapevine to see who might know anything about who'd been hired for that job, or who might know anything about it, or even who knew her from her old workplace."

She takes a breath. " 'Sides which, when I heard you had the meet tonight, figured I might get you to ask first, so I'm not revisiting already-walked territory. You need me tonight, you've got me here now and my number for later; though I might need a couple of hours notice, this time."

11:25:21 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Blaze pauses, slightly suprised. "If you're willing to come one more is always nice there at night. I'll need to talk to the PI, but I would think he'd be ok with it... My payment was that I'd cover his back, so one more shouldn't be frowned upon."

He takes a breath and then continues, "Either way, I can't thank you enough for what you have done, and for what you're offering to do. If you ever need anything, I'll be there to help."

11:26:08 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Sal smiles slightly: "Just give me a time and location. I'll be on time ... this time."

Straightening slightly, to both of them this time: "How did the computer personnel search go? When are we interviewing?"

11:27:01 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Blaze shakes his head sadly, "Unforchunately we're still down one techie... My contact is busy, sorry. I don't know if you know anyone, but I do have the word out to some friends that I'm looking."

11:28:30 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

No decker? It's a given then that there isn't any new information available about Alexander or his sister yet, so she won't ask ... not that she'd mention him by name, here. She'll bring up the truck and supplies after this meet, maybe have the two of them walk over with her to see what else was needed.

"Did you have any luck?" she asks Tin Star. "Also, radios? Either of you?"

Once we get that finalised and today's deposit made, Tin Star at least will be clear to go. Whatever else, he'll be employed -- and so long as we don't turn up there, he'll even be legit.

11:28:30 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"I've got radios, I don't know how good, but I was promised at least some level of security. I do have my Decker friend looking for info right now, but no word back yet."

Well, you never have everything you want, but we've got most of it right now.

11:30:01 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Settling back into his chair comfortably and speaking in a laid back Texan drawl, Tin Star says, “I got me a lead on a good old boy who might not cost us too much as far as the heavy lifting, ya hear what I’m sayin’ dontcha? And I even found us a fella with a boat, says he might be willing to take a trip down yonder, mebbe even cast anchor off the coast for a while to put his feet up.”

While Alleycat and Blaze are deciphering his new, and with a flash of understanding: contrived, accent, the cowboy continues to exaggerate his accent, “But ain’t no gen-u-ine fancy shmancy newfangled tech-no-nology boy out thar able to pitch in and carry the load with us. Dern shame too, I aheared that they’re all a mite busy now ‘round these here parts.”

Difficulty understanding him aside, the other two can’t help but think that if nothing else, Tin Star is trying to play along with the whole ‘let’s not let anyone know who we are’ thing, even if he’s making himself more distinctive (in some ways) to anyone in the process.

Well at least anyone relying solely on audio to spy on us will never associate this guy with the real Tin Star, Alleycat consoles herself.

11:32:15 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Considering the way things had been going thus far, that went much better than I'd expected ... not that I'm objecting. This is just the setting up part. Carrying it out will be something else again ... and that's assuming all the rest is on the level.

"Sounds like things are on track, leaving only the question of fancy-shmancy backup," Sal grins. "I've been in touch with our dwarf. I'd like the two of you to come check it out with me after finalising this."

11:50:13 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

A nod from Blaze, less than that from Tin Star, might have been commitment to the post-meet and might not. Although nothing that anyone outside the tight group might recognise as specifics is said, consensus is reached to send the word out for the extra help, Tuesday availability notwithstanding. After that's been set in motion, the CASan will be on the road on the way to establishing his credentials in San Francisco: he'll be clear and even with a paycheque, regardless of whether the other two manage to pull together the rest of a team or not. Two more days to find a decker. Can't hurt what with all the research that still needs doing; but it would go faster if someone with the equipment as well as the know-how were doing it. Wonder if it would help if we quietly put out the word it was against Saito? Again the thought of asking Grail crosses her mind, and again she sets it aside -- for now, but maybe once she has that message cleared from her list of obligations she'll approach him after all. She hasn't forgotten that one sidewise comment she'd read on Shadowland. And as far as trust goes, he's had more than enough opportunities to betray her already -- and hasn't. (Yet, insists that stubborn corner of her mind.)

All right, and the self-confirmation sends her teeth on edge, I'll ask for his help. Happy? We're all actively looking for deckers anyway, so it'll be legit by Blaze and Tin Star if I can get him. He doesn't even have to show if he doesn't want to: he's shown a remarkable aptitude for infiltrating Matrixed systems from a distance. I'll offer it to him as a member of the team after I clear this message, and maybe I can even talk him into seeing the opportunity as part clearing of my debt.

At which point the sardonic part of her mind pulls her back into reality: when have you ever talked Grail into anything he didn't already want to do?

That unconscious awareness of time elapsed pulls her to her feet just as she drains that sugary and sweet liquid concoction she had broken down and ordered (she could almost feel the energy being sucked thirstily into every cell of her body; and her teeth rotting away at its very touch): and with a bit of effort she manages to cue her two companions into something a bit more staggered, a bit less military drill team. Blaze is abstracted ... astral, yes. Checking the place out, no doubt. She'd not yet noticed anything that didn't fit the patterns of yesterday, but then again she'd not actively been looking. If he saw something uneasy, he'd let the two of them know.

Sal walked over to the same bartender, the recognition in him obvious even before she gave him the code. Good: she'd set herself up to be recognised. His attention snapped on the other two, hesitated a little when he didn't spot the expected fourth. She waited briefly for his clearance, and Blaze's: and then she led the three of them into the back room to finalise the deal they'd struck yesterday.

11:56:27 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Despite thoroughly checking the astral, Blaze saw nothing that aroused his suspicions nor anything out of the ordinary in the now bustling lunch crowd. Nodding to Sal, he let her know that everything was fine, as far as he could tell. Taking that cue, she nodded at the bartender, who had already motioned her towards the back.

Waiting for the team was again the ork, human, and elf. Already seated, the ork smiled politely at her and motioned to a chair across the table. “Are we ready to put the finishing touches on this deal?” he asks.

11:57:12 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Three and three. They hadn't changed, we had, and now we're balanced. Good starting point, Sal thinks to herself, only half ironically.

"We're here," she says straightforwardly. "Start with any changes your superiors wish to propose, follow that with the retainer we discussed, and finally we'll discuss the tentative calendar to which we'll all be working."

11:59:41 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

The ork nods. “All right then, let’s get to business. I discussed our agreement with my superiors, and they were fine with it for the most part, with a few changes. First, they want to be able to be in on the planning when it comes time to make the actual bust. Second, they want one of our own as co-commander with your man there,” he points to Blaze, “and third, they want an agreement that regardless of how the actual job goes down, we get paid the balance of the 15K for the physical assault/diversion when it’s over.”

Folding his hands, he concludes, “The retainer is fine at 5K, that covers point 2, the information sharing and smuggling, as well as a down payment for the physical assault, correct?”

The ork pauses and waits for Sal’s reply.

12:00:58 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"Third," and Sal shifts slightly toward Tin Star, enough to cue him to lay the certified credstick he'd brought on the table, midway between the two parties, "yes." After all, if they screw us over, they won't get paid. I don't think they will, but stranger things have happened.

"Second ..." and she shifts slightly the other way, toward Blaze, waiting for his response.

12:00:58 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"I can accept working with one of your people, they probibally know the area better than me anyway. The only condition is that if I say stay we stay, and more importantly if I say we need to leave we leave. Other than that, I'm willing to work with him or her."

12:01:37 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

The ork nods at Blaze. “That is acceptable, again with the previously stated caveat that our people will not do anything flagrantly suicidal, such as being used as cannon fodder or engaging in a direct, head-on military confrontation.” He looks back at Sal, “If there is no further need for discussion with your man in regards to point two, are you prepared to address point one?”

12:02:15 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"Second, yes then, as you've agreed to here. First ..."

Sal folds her hands on the table, not glancing at the credstick between her and the ork. "I think my major reservation is that being in on the planning can mean much or little. I can understand concerns about one's personal role, expressed before the time for action, but this seems to go considerably beyond that. What precisely do your superiors intend by it?"

12:03:03 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

The ork smiles mirthlessly at her. “You’ve got an agenda here, and it may or may not be the same as ours. I know it, and you know it. Don’t get me wrong, we know we’re benefiting from your help and expertise, but the bottom line for you is different than the bottom line for us. We want to be sure that your methods don’t interfere with our bottom line.”

He pauses, and waves out a hand, palm up, talking with his hands now as well. “For example, you may consider it expedient to sacrifice some of the internees so that the others can be freed. We might not. We won’t get in the way, after all, we know you guys are the experts, that’s why you’re here, right? But we want to make sure that your methods don’t negatively impact our bottom line, which is helping as many of the people as possible and kicking Saito where it counts. Think of us more as an oversight committee rather than having any significant involvement in the planning process. You scan me on what we mean now?”

12:06:42 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Another slight shift to left and right: she wants it clear that she is speaking for all of them, here. "We have an agenda, yes. I think we've been upfront about it." At least, judging by what was said in the last meet, I'm fairly certain Ice Cube had brought it up earlier. "Nowhere in that agenda, for example, is any proviso that every person rescued from that camp must be brought to Seattle. I'm sure some of them must have families elsewhere that they'd like to return to. We can't help them directly with that --" that's your job "-- but we certainly won't hinder them either, not after we get them clear of the camp. I'm sure you're also aware that not bringing as many people as possible to Seattle does cut into our bottom line."

Let you do the math on that one yourself: that our bottom line and our agenda aren't one and the same. You'll believe it more if you work it out for yourself.

"We're interested in taking down the camp, completely and utterly and as 'naturally' as we can manage it; not least because future retaliations are relevant to us. That's part of 'helping as many of the people as possible'." His words, his intonation, his context, completely without conscious awareness. "A distraction feint by a known dissident group, where it just happens to coincide with a series of other unfortunate events, isn't as likely to increase retaliation as it becoming known that this was an outside job."

At that she frowns a moment: "Anyone here a Japanese-style astrologer? I'm thinking it can't hurt if we try to coincide our actions with a time when the heavens themselves are seen to cross Saito -- and it may help you, down the road."

Setting that aside for the moment, she continues: "We'll guide and identify what needs to be neutralised quickly inside the camp, but a lot of this plan depends on the willingness of at least some of the people there to help themselves. That's why I consider the single major role for your people, even above the distraction, to establish the supply lines you can set up with those inside. In fact I've just confirmed today the medical supplies you'll be smuggling in first, even before the light armaments." And that's another thing that cuts into our bottom line. Do the math!

"But once we're in, I have to know that you're going to work within the plan we have. I'm willing to negotiate specifics of plan with you, right up until we go in, and you'll have noticed" -- a slight incline of her head toward Blaze --"that I've set things up so lines of communication --" and now co-lieutenantcy "-- are constantly open. Oversight all you like, up to that point. Once we're go, however, I can't have anyone second-guessing what I'm absolutely relying upon if I'm to get me and everyone else in there with me out with absolutely minimum casualties."

With that, her tone softens. "I'm willing to concede so far: if you run into any specific cases where any single person considers that kind of sacrifice expedient, you have my clearance to deal with that situation -- only -- as you see fit ... and we'll all hope we don't run into too many active Saito sympathisers on the inside."

12:08:13 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

The ork nods. “Don’t get me wrong, we know who the pros here are, and we know we’re the ones getting paid, so you’re calling the shots, and we’ll play the tune. Like I said, as long as it’s a reasonable undertaking, that’s the way it is, right? Take the money and take your chances. The way you explained it just now, we’ll consider it more than fair and consider that part settled.”

12:08:58 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"Done, then."

With that, her tone shifts subtly, losing a bit of its crispness. "Where will you need us to drop off the medical supplies? We'll start with you feeding those in. Then, in about three days, we'll shift to establishing communications ... unless you already have reliable and shielded telecom, radio, and Matrix taps into the camp?"

12:09:41 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

The ork snorts. “We wish we had communication into that place. If you want that, we’ll need to work on establishing whatever communications you want within the camp first. As far as medical supplies, we can try to start smuggling them down to CFS and then into the camp as soon as you can get them to us. How much are we talking about here? It’ll make a difference where we’ll move them from depending on volume.”

12:10:19 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"I think we'll need to start with communications fairly close to immediately in any case," says Sal, leaning back a little in the chair so as to invite commentary by either of the other two. "We can pull up some equipment if you can get it in; and then, once inside, we can get it set up. But first, the medical supplies -- and I'm thinking that would work best if we stagger it. Say, a small van's worth to begin with? but not currently in a small van?"

12:11:33 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

“That amount shouldn’t be a problem. If you want to tell us where to pick it up, we can send two of our local guys over to pick it up and handle it from there.” He smiles and grins a bit sardonically. “Unless you’d rather deliver it to us yourself?”

12:13:33 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"Thing is, I haven't confirmed location yet, only existence." Absolutely true, as far as it goes. "So whatever time and place you give me, but not before tonight ...?"

12:14:07 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

The ork scribbles an LTG number and an address to a warehouse on a piece of paper. “Call this number two hours before you plan on arriving. You can drop the stuff off here and we’ll have people waiting to pick it up and ship it out.”

12:14:48 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Sal nods shortly, hands the piece of paper to Blaze without looking at it as she shifts slightly in his direction again. "Since you'll remain on the outside, your LTG, I think? And you might also want to arrange to meet here in Seattle with the person you'll be working with, get a sense for how much distraction-damage can be done with the available resources at minimum risk to yourselves and those in the camp."

She pauses slightly in case Blaze has anything to add, her hands on the table preparatory to getting up.

12:15:11Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Blaze takes the paper, and scribbles his LTG on a seperate sheet. "I think that would be good. Knowing who you're working with always makes things work better." He hands the paper to the ork, "Have whoever I'm to coordinate with call me here and we can arange a meet ahead of time. If that's ok..."

He moves to stand up with Alleycat.

12:15:26 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

The ork shakes his head. “You’ll meet with that person down in CFS. I just handle the biz and administration up here in Seattle.” He writes down another number on a piece of paper. “Call this number when you get down there and set up a meet. Unless you have any administrative or strictly financial aspects of the biz to handle from here on out, that’s the person you want to talk to. Is there anything else we need to take care of on this end then?”

12:16:48 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"Establishing lines of communication into the camp; established and continuing lines of supply from here for at least two more days, after that from CalFree, specifics of the shift to be determined via phone call and with 12 hours notice; a more exact schedule to be supplied as we know exactly what can be established, and by when." She's recounting what's already been said and adding a bit of detail, rather than adding anything particularly new at this point: her voice takes on a vaguely apologetic tinge for the necessity.

"We've already finalised the mutual exchange of information: whom should we be talking to here about this? And we've already discussed your willingness to outfit the people there" -- again that haunting echo -- "as well as that you don't really have enough to outfit everyone in there, and that we'll be trying to keep the C12 to an absolute minimum" -- and her voice takes on the exact same tinge of dry irony it had carried before. "We've agreed on numbers, although not on specifics of final payment: give me a suggestion, we'll see if we can't make it workable. Once we finalise these points, that should cover all the administrative and strictly financial aspects?"

12:17:23 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

“The number I gave you is for our operations man near your area. You can call him to determine how you want to work the sharing of information. He’s down there now, so he’d be better to talk to than anyone up here. As far as payment, you’ve got the retainer, right? We don’t know how many vehicles we’ll have for you yet, that’s the variable part, and the retainer covers the smuggling and the diversion, which we’ve set a price on. So as far as payment goes, that’s set. The way I see it, unless you have anything else, once you hand over that retainer, we’re pretty much set.”

12:18:00 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

A nod. The slightest shift of her shoulders indicates the credstick lying between the two of them, in such a way as to suggest it's now lying on "his" half of the table. "Anything you wish to add or amend?" she asks Blaze and Tin Star directly.

12:18:00 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Blaze stands up only a hearbeat behind Alleycat. "Only good luck with the supplies."

He takes a step back to head for the door unless Tin Star or Alleycat voice an opposition to it.

12:18:15 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Tin Star shakes his head in the negative, so the ork simply nods, stands up and pockets the credstick, and says, "Very well, it was good doing business with you. From here on out, the guy you'll deal with is the number I gave you, and that includes paying him the balance due when the job's done. Good luck on your job."

With no further words wasted, he nods to his bodyguards and the three of them walk out, leaving the team alone in the room.

12:18:50 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

"Guys," she says quickly, "come with me? I've got some supplies I'd like you to check out. We can talk on the way, and there." To Tin Star: "Bring your truck, follow us on the bike?"

12:18:50 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

Blaze turns on the spot and heads for the door, a fraction of an instant Alleycat turns and follows. Tin Star stands and begins to walk out as well. When they reach the door to the street Tin Star stops for a second.

His southern accent slipping in, "I need to grab my truck, where you parked?"

Blaze stops as well, "It'll be easier if I just meet you in the parking lot here, it won't take me more than a few minutes to get back."

Tin Star merely nods, and then walks through the door. Blaze catches the door, holding it open for Alleycat, and then once she's through leads the way to the lot where his bike is.

Stopping at the entrance he feeds the money into the teller to pay for the spot, then hops onto the bike, pausing to let Alleycat get on behind him. He pulls out and heads back for the Parking Lot of the Big Rhino.

12:19:45 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - At the Rhino

She slides in easily behind Blaze, tucking in the loose leather tails. Before he gets his helmet on and the bike really revs up, she says in his ear: "After he joins us, we'll make a quick stop at the McHugh's six or so down. We'll pick up soykafs on the way." And it happens to be cross-direction from where we're heading in Snohomish, just in case anyone gets curious.

12:19:45 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - at the parking deck

Blaze nods as he revs up the engine and heads out.

12:23:30 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - McHugh's drive-in

Tin Star follows them, a bit more quietly. Old truck, maybe: but a well-maintained engine under that hood. An icy wind whips her face, anticipating the storm all the newscasts have eagerly been predicting for almost two days now. In other places, the store shelves would already have been stripped bare. Here, no one's paying attention. The clouds are heavy, teasing with the possibility of more cold, winter rain. She can feel the hidden sun piercing through her back.

When they all pull in at the McHugh's drive-in, she takes the tray of hot soykafs over to the truck: "You've got the space," she adds with a smile. Checks all around quickly confirm their tail is clear: the attention Blaze is getting has nothing to do with either their point of departure or their destination. Have to keep that in mind for next time. You'd think the guy was a follower of the Path of Cuchalain. But we take precautions regardless, each and every time; because it's an absolute certainty that the one time we get careless is the one time it'll matter.

"We'll catch the I-405 through the loop south, then hook back north near Yarrow Point." The question doesn't show on Tin Star's face and then he nods before she can explain it: in case anyone is asked, they'll remember Blaze heading south. "Everett?" he hazards, and she smiles: "Close enough. Snohomish. Long-term truck lot. Blaze has the ticket. We'll go through what's there, and then (since you've got your papers) we'll set things in motion. Talk about that there, though."

He nods, and Sal walks back to Blaze's chopper: only it's not exactly Sal anymore, the red lenses replaced by a familiar visor, ebon-black skin just a little more faded toward the Alleycat Blaze remembers. She repeats most of what she just told Tin Star and then hands him the ticket Durin had given her: "Lot 13, storage area 412. We'll check through the supplies, see what he might want to take with him when he leaves today." She anticipates another unspoken question: "Storm building." More than one kind. "Don't want to get stranded."

12:38:17 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - a truck lot up in Snohomish, lot 13, storage area 412

While definitely longer than it could have been (and starting to become colder than it should have been for this time of year, much too cold for Seattle): the end of the drive comes suddenly, more quickly than Blaze expected. Turning in at the rough, surprisingly wide road, met suddenly by extended lengths of barb-tipped reinforced chainlink fence and a locked gate on rollers as Tin Star pulls in his truck behind them --

"We're here," Alleycat confirms. And to the shaman, "I gave you the ticket?"

The ticket consists of a small electronic chit that rolls aside the gate to allow the three of them access to the main compound, and then again within their lot. Their destination, they discover quickly, is a larger garage-style slip among a row of undifferentiated garage doors. After confirming the number, Blaze quickly swipes the chit into the reader by the right-hand side of the door. After a couple of seconds, the garage door begins to move creakily upward. Stepping into the gloom quickly and to the right, Tin Star soon finds a thin chain dangling alongside the wall and yanks it, the sudden light making Blaze's eyes water and revealing a middling-heavy pickup truck and a neatly backed-in semi with small trailer.

"Long-term truck lot," she explains. "We have this slip for a week. Didn't expect it to be enclosed though ..."

"Doubt a lot of traffic happens here during the daytime," Tin Star says laconically, practiced eyes examining the vehicles and then moving to note the various new and old sets of tire tread marks.

Yes ... during their initial meet he had mentioned standing border patrol, hadn't he? "So Durin tells me," Alleycat answers in a matching tone and a bit of a smile, supporting the guess that the CASan had already pretty much confirmed.

Sensing the unspoken understanding between the two of them, Blaze looks from one to the other, slightly irritated (and not altogether playfully this time), before letting it go as irrelevant: "Are all the supplies here?"

"That's what we're about to determine. Stuff should be in the back of the pickup." She pulls aside the tarp covering it. "He mentioned medkits for the original team, MREs, some other stuff. Anything you want to take with you, heading south?"

Tin Star shrugs. "Medkit, maybe. Day or so rations. Radio you talked about, before, 'less you're planning on smuggling in to me later." In her mind, Alleycat silently supplies the rest of the phrase a heartbeat before he says it aloud: "Mostly got what I need."

And he's still packed, still ready to leave right from here. That part doesn't even need saying; and this time, she'll take him up on it. Need to leave, now, before the smell of coming snow in the air becomes the reality. She nods, acknowledging. "Then let's get started."

13:10:50 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - a truck lot up in Snohomish, lot 13, storage area 412

As Durin had mentioned earlier, the rest of the supplies do fit neatly in the back of the pickup truck. It turns out to be both more and less than she'd hoped for: rations, medical supplies -- but not all that much more than a team of six could (generously) use in a week. There's a dozen small arms there, pistols, SMGs, as well with reasonable amounts of ammunition to go with it, and a couple of small boxes of grenades: a sniff tells Alleycat they're mostly a fairly standard mix of offensive and defensive fragmentation types, with a few smoke/IR smoke grenades as well. "Colour-coded," notes Tin Star, as he begins sorting them by box type per Alleycat's suggestion.

She's asked both men to state aloud each item as they encounter it, along with its quantity, and then to sort it according to its type. She writes nothing down. Once or twice she double-checks what one or the other had just said, ensuring that what she's catalogued in her mind matches, that something hadn't accidentally been handled and thus counted twice. For now, the total is divided into two clear piles: foodstuffs, medical, and other support supplies going into the back of Tin Star's truck to drop off at their contact warehouse for smuggling south before he leaves town; weaponry back into the original pickup for now.

"We'll send this first shipment of food and medicine south in parallel with you; a second, larger shipment in parallel with when we leave (and we'll also toss in clothing and maybe a couple of luxuries for that one, we'll have to go shopping for that one); and a third for when we're there. We won't add in these items" -- indicating the weaponry -- "until we get there and get lines of communication set up and maybe another person in. I don't know about you," she says drily as they repack away the last batch of grenades, "but I'd just as soon be cautious about whose hands these end up in. Medicines and such are one thing, but I'd rather not have these things moving into the place until we've established the direction they're to be thrown in and who's best at doing the throwing."

Blaze glances over the two piles. "Not my area of specialty," he says matter-of-factly. "Destructive I can do, but if it's anything larger than a pistol it's going to be mostly between you guys."

Alleycat nods shortly. "Communications, check. Frequency confirmation?" It's confirmed that the radios provided by Blaze are linked and reasonably encrypted, and common frequencies and three backup frequencies are established. "We'll work off local time. You're going to try for an afternoon or night shift on guard duty? Check the radio everyday starting Wednesday at 0930; and then five minutes later at 0935. Thursday same pattern, but 0920 and 0925; and each day move it backward another ten minutes. You won't be open long enough to gather any kind of attention, and that's the time of day all the morning chatter is most likely to drown out a short, tight signal. When we're on-site and ready to coordinate, we'll send you through the contact info then. Even if we don't send anything yet, we'll have someone monitoring those frequencies straight through from Wednesday onwards. Subsequent communication will be either by radio or by astral manifestation, whichever works best around their security, at the same time unless we coordinate something different. Until then, we'll keep you out of that loop for your own safety."

Tin Star nods. He's done border security duty before, he knows about regular radio check-ins. It's a straightforward enough system she's set up. The small twist with the times moving backwards instead of staying the same or moving forwards ought to be enough to temporarily throw anyone who might have started to catch onto them; and temporarily's all they'd need.

"One final thing," she says. "Always a chance all our planning goes south, and we've got to bug out quickly. If any of us needs to warn the others that they're onto us, the code word is patsy, followed by the names of anyone who's already been identified. If you're needing to lay low for a while, code word is stability. If it's a pure bug-out situation and you're able to get out on your own, code word is bug-out if it's just you, all-call bug-out if it's for everyone. And if you're needing us to get you out," her lips quirk, "it's help, with as much detail as you're able to risk.

"Tin Star," she asks then, "what name will you be using, while working for them?"

The slight smile touches his eyes and his aura as he tells them. And then he drives off.

Alleycat yawns, but it's more reflex born of another virtual all-nighter and tightly condensed workload than actual exhaustion: something that surprises her a bit when she realises it. "Blaze," she says, "Got a fragginghellofalotofwork yet in those Melissa searches, especially now that we've maybe got a third player involved. Drop me off at the university library, and tell me what time you'll need me tonight?"

13:30:50 Sunday, 07 January, 2063 - a truck lot up in Snohomish, lot 13, storage area 412

"Meet tonight at 5 outside the Paradigm Shift, I would advise a different outfit from the last time we were there. Will you need a ride there, or can you manage on your own? After I drop you at the University that is."

Blaze pauses only breifly, and then on top of that he says, "I can't thank you enough, few people really know how much finding her means to me... let's just leave it at a lot."

Alleycat nods slightly, "I can manage on my own to get back there. Tonight at 5, ok."

Blaze revs up the engine and heads for the university with Alleycat on his bike.