Pathfinder

Part Two

 They've brought more men than Sidrovich told us they would.

That's the first red flag.

The second one comes from the men themselves. From the way my shitbag of a client was talking I was expecting professionals: Tai Huen Chai, maybe, or private contractors—wiry experts in smart weather gear, perhaps, or old post-war environment suits. These clowns, though? A ragtag half dozen in cold weather suits that barely look functional, weapons proudly displayed like they're at a fucking gun show as they watch us enter the crumbling, half-collapsed warehouse. Mostly Asian, a few Slavic faces interspersed, all of them hidden behind crude weather masks or else open to the elements with nothing but rebreathers to protect them.

The man standing at their head doesn't inspire confidence either. Hunched-over, stocky little shit, his face riddled with pockmarks. Only his environment suit lends him any credibility, and even that is mostly hidden beneath a ratty, worn overcoat. Chinese, if I had to guess. Most of his head hidden by the hood of his suit; what can be seen lies behind a crude layer of smart-glass, a low-tech variation of the helmets my people wear. He smiles, almost apologetically, as we draw closer. The clowns behind him are watching us like hungry animals, gaunt faces barely blinking as they do.

"This feel off to you, Koss?" Levi intones into his mic, the motions of his vocal chords hidden by his neck seal.

"Very," I respond. "Eyes sharp, khorosho?" I can feel our two companions tensing up, no doubt taking in the sight before us and not liking their odds if this goes badly. Bad form for a trade-off, one side spooking the other. I don't know what the hell these guys are playing at, and I sure as shit don't like it.

Coming to a stop in front of him, the Chinese man at the centre of what I'm worryingly starting to think of as the competition gives Levi a nod and a grin.

"Huānyíng. You guys here for Sidrovich?"

"Deal was to come with three others," Levi grumbles back, not bothering to return the hello, "not six." Our contact turns his palms up apologetically, bowing his head again.

"Very true, very true. Wǒ dàoqiàn, there was a... miscommunication, between ourselves and your boss." He smiles again, something simultaneously obsequious yet alarming about the display. "You understand, yeah?"

Levi's voice remains flat, expressionless."No. Not especially."

"Extra backup is your first strike," I interject. "Fact that they're waving their guns around is the second, and you're not getting a third. Lose the weapons."

The spokesman blinks, his gaze snapping over to me with irritation before looking back to Levi. My companion simply shrugs, still expressionless. Eyes narrowing, the spokesman finally deems fit to reply.

"Not all of us got Mr. Sid's budget, nǐ míngbái? Got to make do with who we can find. Dangerous times, yeah?"

"Can't be doing too bad," I retort, "since you brought two extra bodies. Guns away, or this deal's off." His jaw tightens, sickly smile looking more like a grimace for a few seconds. Then his head bows again, and he twists about to motion downwards with one arm at his men as he barks,

"Shōu qǐ tāmen! Xiànzài!" There's a short pause as the enforcers look between themselves and their apparent leader. Then slowly, sullenly, the firearms are holstered or else tucked over shoulders. The spokesman turns back, pointedly ignoring me as he looks again to Levi. "There, no more guns. We can do business now, yeah?"

Levi and I exchange another glance, our shared concerns not needing to be spoken aloud. You survive long enough in a world such as this and you learn to get a read off people, and the spokesman here is already making my skin crawl. Still, he's told his guys to back down and holster their weapons upon request and I suspect that Sidrovich isn't going to accept 'rubbed me the wrong way' as a valid reason for scuppering the deal. Going by the resigned shrug that Levi makes, he's come to a similar conclusion. I return the shrug; no going back now. My partner turns back to the spokesman and gives a brief nod.