Chapter 57

"So, ladies, what can you tell me?"

"We can say that the cop clearly went to a lot of trouble..."

"Hmm?"

"The warehouses are ten years old. And they're long forgotten. Now there is only ice there, no security, and there is minimal mention of them. And the ice hasn't been renewed for a long time. Naturally, the equipment there is far from being 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 killed condition, but also parts for them are present. One and a half dozen old Behemoths. Six Vasisks. And two Manticores. Naturally, all with parts, but judging by the data, it will take a lot of work to repair."

I sighed.

"That's very good... I was honestly expecting more modest results..."

"I'm calling Saul?"

I looked at Panam and shook my head.

"No, such news should be told in person, so we wait until our dear ranerchis clean up all the data about these warehouses, and then we'll talk to Sol. Moreover, if all the equipment is damaged, it will be more convenient to repair it 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 yeah..."

"What?"

I looked at Lucy, who banged her fist furiously on her knee and opened her eyes.

"Just a second..."

Her eyes lit up, signaling that she was answering the call, and After only a dozen seconds, she focused on me.

"DeShawn got a lot of nerve. I disconnected his call five times, and he kept calling and calling. Till I told him to get the hell out of my face, he didn't know what was bothering him. And after that he tried to yak something, so I added his number to the blacklist... I advise you girls to do the same..."

"Give me his contact..."

These words were said by Panam, after and all the other girls got DeShawn's contact and apparently added him to their blacklist.

"I can give everyone Faraday's contact info..."

"Why don't we..."

The girls had gotten a little excited and added him to the blacklist as well. All except Kiwi, who still owed him a debt, so it wasn't safe for her to add him to the blacklist.

We stayed there for about twenty more minutes, after which the Raners finally gave the signal, showing that they had accomplished their task, and Tortik quietly roared the engine and drove us towards the Aldecaldo parking lot.

"Chum, what happened to you?!"

Scorpio met us at the Behemoth. He probably got a call from Panam, as he was obviously waiting for us.

"The order went a little off the rails. but never mind, it could have gone a lot worse..."

I shook my head and decided to change the subject.

"...Didn't Panam call you?"

"Uh-huh. She said it was urgent and she couldn't wait...

I cast a disgruntled look at my mulatto.

"But I'm right Scorpius, he was able to get Basilisks! He's also got Behemoths and 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'm gonna get in touch with Mitch..."

"Where is he, anyway? I told him to be here."

"He fixes solar panels. we talked and decided I'd be enough, you didn't tell me it was about that..."

"Was I supposed to tell you everything during the call?"

"Well. you could have at least hinted that it was of extreme importance to the clan."

"Well, uh. I wanted to surprise you."

Scorpius' eyes lit up and after a couple dozen seconds he nodded to us.

"Mitch will be here in ten minutes..."

"Well, then, we wait..."

I shrugged.

The ten minutes flew by pretty quickly and when Mitch arrived he was somewhat disgruntled at being pulled away from his work.

"What do you want? What's wrong?"

"It's not us that needs it, it's the clan that needs it..."

Panam decided to set the record straight.

"...Chevillion Emperor 620 Ragnar, Behemoths ... Basilisks..."

At the last word, Mitch grunted and quickly walked over to the nearest chair and collapsed onto it.

"...and for an appetizer, a couple of Manticores."

"Fuck..."

"Here you go, and everything is located in reliable warehouses, information about which, now only we have, so it will be quite easy to repair the equipment. There's a lot of parts. The Klan could be very lucky."

"Maybe?"

Mitch looked at Panam carefully.

"Yes, he can. Let's be honest, if Saul remains head of the clan, he's just going to blow this whole thing off in an attempt to curry favor 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 chrome for the clan could improve the situation, but it didn't really affect his point of view..."

"Well, uh. I can't say I don't understand you, but what do you want?"

"Want to include them all in the clan..."

Panam nodded her head in our direction.

"...as well as nominate David to be the head of the clan."

"That's quite a swing."

Scorpius shook his head.

"Well, she's got a point there..."

"А?"

Scorpius looked dumbfounded at Mitch.

"I mean, 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 has really been overly focused on Biotech lately..."

"By the way, stay tuned."

"А?"

"This is..."

I nodded at the arm and leg, or rather the chrome that was in their places.

"...the result of a collision with the interests of this corporation. I'm not sure what they were doing, but under the guise of Peter Pan, they were kidnapping young men... I suspect some kind of chemistry experiment."

"Hrm..."

"He's not lying..."

Panam shook her head.

"You got into a fight with a corporation?"

Mitch's voice was extremely displeased.

"No... I mean, yes, but no."

"How's that?"

"It means we didn't know what we were getting into."

Judy decided to clarify her friend's confused explanation.

"It was originally a fixer's request to help an acquaintance of hers who had his nephew kidnapped by Peter Pan. Of course, there were some bells and whistles. but it wasn't until we were confronted with hard evidence of Biotech's involvement that we finally realized what we'd gotten ourselves into..."

"And you didn't delta..."

"Well..."

Panam looked away.

"I asked the fixer for a reward, as fulfilling a request to investigate the activities of a psychopath is one thing, but going against the corp is another. I also asked for the coordinates of two old cop equipment depots with access points through which information about those depots could be deleted. I figured she'd say no. Well, I was at least hoping for that, but I'm still getting ready just in case..."

"Let me guess. She said yes."

"It was Mitch..."

I nodded a couple times.

"...and this is the result, I lost the possibility of fighting for the near future, but at the same time there is a chance to get a significant profit for the clan. Personally, I was willing to sell him to the clan without the conditions that Panam put forward. But I will not go against my girl ..."

"Uh-huh, and if David doesn't get made head of the clan, then I'll just quit...

I blinked in surprise.

That was definitely not in my plans...

"Panam..."

"David. shut up. This is now a clan thing, which you don't belong to yet. I'm not saying we won't sell to the clan, but believe me, there's a difference between how we'll sell to the clan if the conditions I laid out earlier are met... and how it will be if I'm not even part of the clan anymore."

"Panam..."

"Mitch, Scorpio, you're great guys, and Saul used to be cool, in fact, he'll remain to me for the rest of my life the man who stole a gasoline truck, opened its crane, and drew a figure eight in the sand and set it on fire, all just so the kids could enjoy themselves. But now. I guess old age is taking its toll."

She shook her head.

"Okay, these matters are out of our hands anyway. We need to get the board together. bring the matter before the board."

"I'd prefer not to..."

I shook my head.

"David!"

"Panam!"

I looked at her with a stern look, but she didn't give up.

"Anyway, Mitch, Scorpion, I don't want to go against Panam's wishes, but I don't want to split the clan. You've probably realized by now that I had my own plans for Aldecaldo, and now, because of Panam, I'm going to have to make some adjustments. But since, as I said, I don't want a split, I'd like to ask you to talk to Sol."

"Hmm?"

"No advice, just talk to him. You're old clan members, he'll at least listen to you. I'd like to settle this amicably, since Panam's got it in her head..."

"I'm afraid Saul won't appreciate it..."

"Well, that's another conversation..."

I shrugged.

"...will not appreciate it, you can ignore everything and offer to simply buy the equipment from us, or you can act according to Panam's plan. It's your choice."

"Us, exactly?"

"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 you'll decide to oust Saul, even though Panam, who, though she doesn't see it, has a lot of influence in the clan."

"I?"

"You, you..."

I nodded at the questions full of bewildered exclamation from my mulatto.

"...So it is up to you to decide how to proceed. You can before making a decision and go to Saul to talk to call other "old timers" and discuss this issue with them. 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 he will not interfere with us."

"We get it..."

Scorpius nodded and put a hand on Mitch's shoulder.

"Come on... talk to the other "old timers.""

He grinned.

"...and decide what we're going to do."

"Uh-huh. we'll take it. As if there are options as to what exactly we decide and what ultimatum we go to Saul with...

Mitch grumbled, but still walked with Scorpion toward his tent...

"And you still have doubts?"

Panam grinned.

"Come on, we all understand what decision the "old guys" will make, the other thing is that 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...