[Jayde Moon]

"Right," Chance says.  "Let's get back and see how those guys are doing.  I suspect the one fellow is dead, but his dwarf partner probably has some information to share."

[Mercy Merchant]

As Tanya races through the darkness for the rendezvous, Earlybird is guiding his helicopter above the van marked with Kumiho's tracer.  At this altitude it would be a miracle if he were spotted, and he can easily keep an eye on the van.  The vehicle has stopped racing once it outpaced the pursuit and was now moving well within the legal speed limit.  The pilot of the small helicopter keeps the rest of the team informed of the target vehicle's movements.  He grumbles several times about how he allowed Tanya to coopt him for her hair-brained and risky adventure, the end result of which had been that he had missed the entire firefight.

[Jayde Moon]

Back in the office, Calico and John Chance enter Hodges room where Benson is knelt over the dead ork.  he looks back as the two enter.  "Saw that coming, eh?" he spits.  "Another hour and we would have been out, gone."  The secretary walks in with a towel and tries to fuss at the bullet wound in his shoulder.

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya has placed the rolling news feed at the bottom right corner of her display and her attention is caught by what is currently scrolling there.  >>Team.  Tanya.  Looks like there has been a report of shots fired at your location.  I would think that you do not have too much time before the KE is on-site.  Do we want to set a location for a rendezvous?<<

[Jayde Moon]

Chance replies, >>Pick a place, Tanya.  We'll secure the dwarf here and bring him.  Probably safer with us, anyway.<<

With that, he turns to the dwarf.  "So, I'm sure you heard that.  Safehouse sound good to you?"

The dwarf nods.  "The girl comes too, she ain't any safer than me." 

Calico nods as well.  "Fine, but we'll need to move, I think."

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya quickly scans some of the no-tell motels she has used in the past and settles on one near her current location.  She speeds to it and takes two connecting rooms before contacting the team again.  Team.  Tanya.  Sending coordinates of the motel for a meet.  Kuniho should sweep for bugs and cameras when he gets here.  I took two connecting rooms.<<

Earlybird is still flying high above the van with the enemy operatives, tracking it by the tag that Kumiho had placed on it.  They had stopped making hard turns and speeding through red lights some bit ago, apparently sure that they had lost any tail on them.

Blackthorn and Calico escort the Dwarf and the secretary to the van and all climb in while Chance wipes the offices down to remove any prints the team might have left behind.  He gives the signal after he gets in the van and they depart the area, followed by Kumiho on his bike.  The departure is none too soon, as the first KE cruiser shows up a bare five minutes after.  The team makes the rendezvous at the dive motel and decker spends extra time making certain that there are no bugs in either room.  Once he gives the all clear, the rest of the team crowds into the rooms and opens the connecting door between them.  Tanya turns the trideo on to a volume that should discourage any listening from outside the room and turns to the PI and his secretary.  "So, tell us about the break-in at the temple and why these guys are so intent to make you disappear."

[Jayde Moon]

The dwarf nods, accepting a glass of water offered by Calico.

"Well, it wasn't supposed to be about the temple.  We were there for a whole other reason.  Just standard scandal stuff, dig?  That's when drek hit the fan in a big way.  Someone hit that Temple fast and hard.  Professionals, too.  Came from a few angles.  Slots didn't know what hit'm.  Anyway, job that professional, we just wanted to be out of there.  Fast.  Then out of here, before someone thought we were a liability.  Not fast enough, frag it."

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya moves to the Dwarf with a first aid kit in her hand and starts taking care of the wound in his shoulder.  Chance nods and says, "So what was this standard scandal stuff you were working on?  And it seems pretty obvious that you were either set up or just unlucky enough to be seen by the assassins.  Are you sure that you did not take any pics or see something that could identify them?"

[Jayde Moon]

"Not a set-up, we checked into it, everything about the job was legitimate, from the guy who hired us to his cheating wife.  Wrong place wrong time, wrong picture being snapped.  Uh..." he pulls out his commlink.  Kumiho stands straighter and in just a few moments, a few pictures are distributed to the teams devices.

A man in a suit is standing by a car, a block down from the temple, just out of sight of the front.  In the second picture, a familiar van rolls up.  the man speaks to the driver and he can be seen to be Asian.  The last picture is of a man with a slim, long case stepping out of the passenger side.

"Yeah," the dwarf remarks.  "That's when we realized it was time to get going."

At that moment, a message comes in from Earlybird.

<<Got'em!  They've stopped in Puyallup, just east of the 512, on 23d street.  Looks like a safehouse to me.>>

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya takes a look at the pictures, trying to remember if she has seen the men before.  "Kumiho, can you make these pictures any larger and or clearer?  I would like to show them to our employer to see if she recognizes either man.  If she does, our part of this might be over.  At least the initial part.  We still have to locate the items and get them back."

[Jayde Moon]

Kumiho looks over the photograph and does what he can.  The image comes out alright, but the man's face is in quarter profile and he has sunglasses.  Even the Korean has to admit he could be any Asian man.  Still it was better than nothing.  The photograph appeared in Tanya's inbox.

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya smiles at Kumiho and thanks him for the picture and sends it on to Ni Ni.  >>Ni Ni.  Tanya here.  We have a picture of a man that is almost certainly involved in what happened.  It is not a good picture, but can you identify him from it?<<

She turns to the rest of the group.  "I have sent the picture to our employer in the hopes that something about it may help identify the man.  Now, what do we do about the men in the van?  I have the location pegged, based on Earlybird's surveillance and Kumiho's tag.  My personal recommendation is to wait them out and continue watching them, hoping that they contact, or are contacted by, their employer."

[Jayde Moon]

The team agrees and it isn't long before Tanya gets her first return message.

<<Not one of ours, dear, but no... don't recognize the fellow.  Pleased to see you have a lead though.>>

"Well," Chance says, as the message is passed on.  "So, how do we want to do this?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya looks around the room the turns to the Dwarf.  "Perhaps we can enlist the services of our new friends.  What sort of advice would you give if we wanted to do surveillance on the location of the men who killed your partner and almost killed you?"

She then looks at the rest of the room.  "We certainly cannot leave Earlybird on station too long, but we can get drone eyes on the place.  Calico and I are pretty good at disguises and can set ourselves up as people who can blend in with the area and do some personal surveillance.  Kumiho, is there any way to trace the van's ownership by the registration or maybe even get a small drone into their hideout to listen?  I am sure that any good PI team would have access to some of the smaller drones and we might be able to get a couple."

[Jayde Moon]

"Advice?" the dwarf scowls.  "Don't.  But I'm guessing you're being paid.  Keep a low profile and be careful, these guys are pros.  Maybe you are too, but these guys definitely are.  and they are playing for keeps."

<<So... uh, what do you want me to do next?>> Earlybird's communication comes in at just that moment.