Chapter 60

"Sol..."

I nodded to my brother-in-law, who basically ran the Clan, but the fact that I was formally running the Clan gave him a lot of credibility, so Regina started giving Aldecaldo extra assignments. Not that she was much involved in smuggling, but even so she had very significant needs, as any foxer would. So the smuggling orders were steady, and when you consider Dakota Smith, who had previously provided all the orders for the clan...

Anyway, the clan started to climb out of the cesspool...

"David..."

He nodded at me and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"...I see you're already in an assembled state?"

"Uh-huh. All right, my girls are working with the slitters now, Regina's got the training programs from the corporations, programs for a very high level of training, and I'm hoping they can hack and copy them. So think about who in the clan should be the first to get trained.

"Uh..."

"Naturally not for free, because the chips cost just fucking expensive, but I will not fight three hides, just part of their income after the upgrade will go not only to the treasury of the clan, but also me and the girls. I'll give you a contract as soon as the girls crack on."

"Got it..."

"Further, I feel that soon life in Knight City will be VERY fun, so get ready to move away from the city even further, I think with a week more time to bear, during this time we need to put at the service of the clan reactors to provide us with electricity, as well as to collect drilling rigs for drilling water wells. These are the main areas of work now. From the funds of the clan, buy fittings and tents, which we will put in the desert as large tents in which we will continue to work with the equipment. Well and naturally organize the transportation of equipment to the new parking lot."

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. one of the scumbags is making a move."

"М?"

"DeShawn. and with the way Arasaka is being publicized right now, I have a sneaking suspicion that the case will be directed against them. Of course he's been at it for a long time, but right now I have a feeling it's going to be a big asshole. A global asshole."

"Well, he's not crazy."

"He's worse... he's a fixer who believes he's a genius. So let's retreat to the borders so we don't get implicated. Because I know how corporations work, first they order a cleanup from Max-Tak, then they scratch their reputations and shrug their shoulders and say: "Well, we made a mistake, but who doesn't?". So the clan should now be based as far away from the city as possible.

"Hmm... well, uh."

"What's going on with the orders?"

"There are now three bands on orders, two orders from Dakota, two from Regina."

I nodded.

"Good, then proceed with the plan..."

"Uh-huh...

I left Sol's tent, and then headed for the girls and me. I left Sol's tent and headed for the girls' and my dwelling, where they had set up comfortable raner chairs and were lying there with the cooling system plugged into their neck sockets.

"How are they?"

Becca was sitting next to them, looking thoughtfully at some data on a tablet.

"Work... before diving into work, they asked me to make something sweet..."

I scratched my cheek thoughtfully.

"Cake?"

"That'll do..."

A look of anticipation was thrown at me.

I nodded and went out to the small street kitchen, where I started preparing the food for the cake, because the girls definitely deserve to be rewarded for their hard work... and even if Panam and Becca are so busy... and even if Panam and Becca aren't that busy, it would be nice to make them happy.

I was so immersed in the process of making not even one, but several cakes that I didn't notice Panam and Becca sitting on small folding chairs near the kitchen.

"Did you get our Davy a cake after all?"

"Well. I was just saying that our ranchers would love to be greeted with something delicious at the end of the job..."

I looked up at the unashamed girls who were not embarrassed that I could hear everything.

"I could become a despot... and, say, put two sneaky chatterboxes on a diet."

Panam opened her mouth and shut it immediately, while Becca just stared at me dumbfounded, her eyes wide with disbelief that I could do such a cruel thing to her.

"And don't look at me like that, it won't work."

"Well, I'm sorry."

I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"...I didn't mean to play on your responsible attitude towards our team, just really wanted some cake..."

As I continued cooking, I looked at Becca and sighed. How could I possibly resent her? She's so cute.

"Okay, whatever."

"You're not offended?"

"No. you're impossible to resent. you're all impossible to resent. Sometimes I wish I'd made a team of girls..."

"This is new..."

I cast a glance at Panam, who had propped herself up on her chaise longue.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mind you and the other girls, but think about it, if I had guys on my team, would I be showing them off by cooking them food? Delicious treats? Take them out for barbecues?"

"Well, I guess not..."

"Exactly... and I also wouldn't keep them as far away from the battle as possible..."

I sighed.

"So we're on standby all the time because we're girls?"

Becca pulled herself up and looked at me indignantly.

"Including."

"D-e-v-e-i-id...

"Well, David? Well, that's how I was brought up, girls, even if they are strong and independent, like you, should be protected, cherished and cherished ... So I do it to the best of my ability."

"It's a little too much. I'd rather be in combat operations."

Becca looked at me carefully.

"Well..."

"Uh-huh?

"There is one option..."

"Which one?"

"You'll be trained from the chip on infiltration and sabotage work in general. Then I'll take them with me, but Panam will have to undergo not only sniper training, but also just work with weapons, so that she can cover our rangers well."

"Well, I don't mind, it's more fun than just being a driver..."

Panam shrugged her shoulders.

"But that's boring!"

"Becca, this is why I don't want to give you a chance... She's bored... but she likes getting paid, doesn't she?"

"Well..."

"And it is unrealistic to get such money without "boredom". At least stable and without unnecessary risk."

"I get it! All right, I'll take the class!"

I gave her a stern look.

"Becca, you do realize that if you decide in the middle of a mission that you're bored..."

"Am I completely stupid?!"

She looked at me angrily, and even jumped up from the chaise lounge. I shook my head.

"You're just addictive..."

"Well, uh. there's a little bit."

She immediately calmed down and shrugged and sat back down on the chaise lounge. But this time she didn't lie down on it, but sat down and pulled her legs up to her chest.

"...but I, uh... I'm not completely stupid, I know when it's okay to fool around and get carried away and when it's not okay."

"If you didn't, you wouldn't be with us after the first mission."

"I mean."

"You'll graduate, we'll do a couple more technical missions in the meantime, if everything works out, we'll sell the already hacked chips through Regina, buy you a Sandy..."

"А?"

"Very handy stuff, just need to switch from firearms to knives. Though I've been thinking about two tonfa's lately, preferably with energy blades."

"Hmmm... give up firearms?"

"At those speeds, it's only harmful. No, at minimum speeds you will only have to make a small delay before continuing, but at really high speeds, firearms are more likely to be harmful."

"Ahem..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know you're a firearms maniac. But with the nature of our team's work, it's the melee weapons that we have to rely on."

"Hmmm..."

Becca frowned.

"Okay, I'm gonna try to, uh."

"You know, I'm confused about something."

"Hmm?"

Becca looked at Panam.

"Didn't you notice? I personally, was very confused by the fact that he said we'll get the profits first and then buy you a sandi... You ran out of money?"

I shrugged.

"It's not that we're out..."

"David, don't humor me..."

Panam looked at me with an extremely intense gaze.

"I still have food, but I can't buy chrome."

"So you spent everything you had on us?"

Becca joined the conversation with a shocked look from Panam, to me.

"Well, uh. not quite all of them, but you'll work it off. so there's no problem."

"You're crazy!"

And there was not only admiration in that exclamation, but also condemnation.

We fell into silence for a while, as I didn't want to pursue the topic and the girls were waiting for something. I had no idea, but I was thankful that they let me just make cakes in silence...

"Why is everyone so tense?"

The first one out of the Hippo was Judy. She appeared while I was decorating the cakes, so she froze on the way out of the car, with someone clearly bumping into her back.

"What are you doing up?"

"Uh... yeah. you'll see for yourself."

Judy came out letting Lucy and Kiwi come out and they reacted very violently to the cakes I was finishing.

"Uh, uh. so, uh, what was I saying?"

Judy shifted her gaze from the cakes to me, then to the cakes, then back to me and then looked at Panam and Becca.

"О... I just remembered. Why is the atmosphere so. ambiguous? I thought we had some goodies waiting for us."

"No big deal."

I glared menacingly at Becky and Panam. Panam wanted to open her pretty mouth and say something, but I quickly threw her a message that boiled down to possible sanctions. To put it simply, I threatened to deprive her of her sweets.

"Panam?"

"Ahem. Well, here's the thing."

"Panam?"

Becca looked at her friend in surprise, but then the same message came to her. Except it got a slightly different reaction. She just turned her gaze back to me and squinted unkindly.

"See, here's the thing. this guy spent all his money on us..."

"А?"

The exclamation was synchronized, and after it, the eyes of all the girls converged on me.

"What, the cake won't be ready for another ten minutes... and the other one is still about twenty minutes away."

"David..."

"What?!"

I shifted my gaze from one girl to another with some annoyance and so in a circle so that my annoyed look got to each one.

"What do you want from me?"

"Well, uh. it's just, uh."

"This is somewhat shocking..."

Kiwi glared at me, her eyes fixed on me. The girls just nodded their heads at her words.

"I'll still get mine back. Not quickly, but I'll get it back, so I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Well, you may not see it...but as I understand it we all have..."

Kiwi looked around at the girls.

"...somewhat different experience with men in general and those who command us in particular... So this is a bit new to us. The fact that you gave us loans and free food was unusual, but the fact that you spent all your savings on us..."

Kiwi looked around at the girls.

"Okay, Lucy, Judy, I say we don't take a cut for selling the chips after they've been hacked. Let all the profits go to D--

"Denied."

I interrupted Kiwi without letting her finish her sentence.

"What's more, these chips will sell quite briskly, I think a lot of people will want to upgrade their skills, so it's not a one-off sale, and I don't intend to pocket all the profit. So just calm down...

"Well, that's kind of unfair..."

"Unfair..."

I shifted my gaze to Lucy.

"...that would be if you dumped me now and went to work for another team. Otherwise, it's just a contribution to the future. And, yes, I'm sorry, Lucy, but the moon mission's been postponed for about six months."

"Uh..."

She looked at me with shock and nodded.