Integrate. Place his finger on the pulse of Stormwind. Ban looked out over the city he'd spent the last week in, and shrugged. It was not home. It was not Gilneas. It was full of things he wasn't sure set well with him, but overall, it had promise. Not as a place to live, permanently, but that was not the plan. Only Gilneas would be the place to live permanently, and to do that meant liberating it from the damnable Forsaken. And, from the rumors on the streets, this Alliance sounded like they might be convinced to aid in that endeavor. Ban saw issues, of course, but there were always issues. Their past behavior would be one of them. The worgen curse, another. They couldn't hide that. Eventually, it would come out. Eventually, it would all come out. He frowned, watching the ocean churn in the same timeless manner as it did against Gilneas's shores. They would be freaks. Cowards. Not something he was looking forward to, but he didn't see a way around it that got Gilneas returned to them.
He sighed, turning to move back along the docks towards Carther's offices. The door hung open, and he heard a voice, Carther's, wary. He pulled back from it, listening. His hearing had always been better than average, and now, was bordering on the supernatural… it was all too easy to eavesdrop.
"What does SI:7 want with a merchant like me?"
Oh, definitely. Every government had one, and it hadn't taken Ban long to place a name to Stormwind's covert operations group. For a covert organization, they were pretty open as to the fact of their existence.
"You have new hires. Odd." It wasn't a sneaky voice, like Ban's overactive imagination always tried to give agents in his daydreams, just a straightforward male voice. But then, these people were much more blatant than he was accustomed to.
"The Crown hired my last clerks out from underneath me." Carther didn't try to bleed the distaste from his voice. "How am I supposed to run a business like this?"
"Your concerns are noted. With multiple fronts active, we need the logistics, and we regret the inconvenience that it has caused to civilian interests. However, your new hires… how familiar are you with them? To trust them with this sort of work…?"
"Stop beating around the bush. Ask me what you want, and then go away. You'll scare my customers off."
The man sighed gustily. "That was what I wanted. So many refugees flooding Stormwind, you must understand they pose a certain security risk. Your two new hires are from a group I don't have much on… they share a certain accent and caution. I was hoping you had more information, since you've entrusted your business with them…. Who are they, Carther?"
"Young man is Banastre Russell. Young woman is Evelyn Whittaker." Ban could imagine Carter's tightened features, the trade between Gilneas and Kul'tiras had been quiet.
"Not very informative." Ban could catch a glimmer of a scent in the air, now he could pick this particular agent out of a crowd, and more importantly, out of a shadow. "Known them long, or deciding to take a leap of faith?"
"Known them for years. Their import house has been one of my business partners for over a decade. They're….Gilneans."
The agent's breathing paused. "Gilneas?" He pondered in wonder. "You've been doing business with…Gilneas? And now, there are Gilneans in Stormwind?"
"Rumors have been dark coming out of there for a year. Something catastrophic happened then…before all of this. People vanished. Businesses closed. The place grew…more somber. And for Gilneas, that's saying something. And now…with all that's going on….I think they can't hold on anymore. They're refugees the same as all the others."
"What happened?"
Carther burst out laughing. "Damned if I know, Joshua. Been business partners with this house for fifteen years, thought I knew them as well as any could, return to Gilneas only to get the turned back when I asked where they were. Their offices boarded up. Their cargo with us unclaimed. Their house empty. No answers, and the Gilneans are masters at avoiding questions they don't like. But this…this was beyond that. And then, those two turn up. The last I saw, the boy was a dandy, all precious and fine, as pretty as a girl. The girl was prim and proper, shy as a doe. A year later, and he's lean and hungry. She's hair triggered and steely eyed. I know put through hell when I see it. And I'm going to do what one does with Gilneans."
