[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant shook his head, in a good natured manner and spoke with a wry grin on his face, "No I wasn't asking the career crime boss if he wanted out for interfering with an ongoing investigation, I just wanted to be sure my people, B., Rowe, were aware of where this was headed."

He listened as B., ran through the shell corporation breakdown, bio-weapons, Yakuza, and Renraku mid-level execs.  "So where does the corp who this team hit fall in this hierarchy?  Was he connected to Sampson's financial backers?  So this shell company, Sampson is protecting it's interests in the Congo, does Liston Pharma have a facility there?  Research, production or otherwise?"

He felt bad about badgering B., with questions, but this was alot to process, and he needed to try to wrap his head around how the different players were connected.

[Mercy Merchant]

Barbara smiles.  "Got part of it in one, boss.  The suit that hired us was a Sampson board member until just about four weeks ago.  No idea yet if he left or was ousted as the financial statement just indicates that he left.  He was one of the AAA suits and was replaced pretty quickly by another.  I could find no labs or any other sort of listed facility in the Congo for Sampson or Liston Pharma.  Still digging, though.  But that leads to the next part.  So far the two of us are in agreement that this is the line we need to look at, but I think there is a link to what happened in Bogata today."  She looks around at the blank faces.  "Bogata?  Colombia?  OK, there was a major explosion set off in their capital district earlier today.   The Finance Minister seems to have been the primary target, but a lot of people died when the bomb went off.  FARC is claiming credit for the assassination, calling for the removal of any politician that is trying to keep the oppressed people of Colombia from sharing the vast wealth of the nation.  All drek.  In the first place, FARC is all old guys now and has not done anything like this in twenty years.  In the second place, Colombia does not have much in the way of natural resources anymore except for some drugs that no one really uses.  Sure, they could have injected some new blood into the old fart society, but this was never their style.  Kidnappings and local assassinations, yes, but big bombs no."  She holds up her hand then smiles.  "And bingo.  This just in from my agent.  The Finance Minister had been publicly opposed to allowing Liston Pharma to open a facility in that country.  The company had done a full-court press for their side, citing improved economy, jobs, and the like, but the minister was not buying it and since he has............had............the ear of the president, it was assumed that the deal was over.  This could breathe fresh life into that proposal."

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant's mind was reeling, the resources that their assailants could draw on, the personnel available to them, their foe was turning out to be monolithic.  He tried to control his breathing, bring it down to a smaller scale, a personal level. 

"Ok, so let me see if I have this straight, our employer, a former member of this shell corporation who is backing Liston Pharma, approached Raleigh.  We were contracted to transport a drop, from party unknown, back to our employer.  This unknown party, contracted an independent courier to bring the drop to Washington Rec, where they were to transfer said drop to myself."  He paused, and wished to hell he had a whiskey in his hand.  "A third party, presumably Sampson, contracted a retrieval team, possibly through the St Petersburg Merc Network, to obtain the drop that, our employer,  the former Sampson board member had wanted possession of.  On a time table the Sampson mercs hit our employer, the courier office, Washington Rec, and when they got wind that Rowe had survived with only verbal confirmation of the drop, they hit Mercy as well."

He pondered, "So whatever is in that drop, is vital to Sampson, perhaps something that the retired board member was going to use to blackmail the board, to secure his own safety, or bring to his corp to make it from mid-manage to a boardroom seat in Renraku.  Knowing who and what we're up against is sound tactics, but if we want to be able to get out from under this we need to find out what the hell the drop was."

He raised an eyebrow, looked up, scanning the assembled faces, "Am I missing anything?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Both of the hackers shake their heads.  Vlad looks concerned.  "Bryant, my friend.  It appears that you have brought a real shit storm to my door.  Renraku and the Yaks?  We are up against some serious horses here."  He shakes his head.  "I may have doomed the neighborhood.  Still, we are painted in a corner with you, now.  What do we do now to try to survive this?  You have access to anything I have."

[Zen Gypsy]

He raised his eyebrows at Vlad, "We?  You continue to surprise me Vlad, this is a big ask and I am not sure that I'll be able to repay it."  He shrugged, looked to Rowe, smiled, almost sadly, "But if it keeps Rowe safe, I'll do what it takes to see this through."

He leaned back closed his eyes, and tried to consider the growing number of variables, and how to approach the situation and it's multitude of implications.  "Ok, so we have to assume that Raleigh was originally contracted to retrieve the drop because it was valuable enough to leverage Sampson and it's mercs to back off their former board member, right?  So the drop has to be our priority."  He pointed at Rowe, "We have the key, verbal confirmation, a passcode, we just need to determine what it unlocks.  Secondly, the Columbia connection.  If Liston had to use their Sampson mercs to remove the Columbian Finance Minister so they could open a facility in Columbia, then there is a faction of the government who opposed to the idea, right?  Are any rep's from the Minister's cabinet in Seattle at this time?  If we reach out to them, we can try to leverage what we know, they can discredit Liston, and then the deal goes away.  That buys us some allies, and possibly resources to shut this Sampson power play down."

[Mercy Merchant]

Rowena puts her hand on yours and gently squeezes it.  Barbara looks at the two of you and smiles, giving you a quick wink and nod before saying.  "I can get on that, Boss.  Let me get a nap and a meal under my belt and I'll be good for another few hours on the trix.  We will see what we can find."

Vlad nods.  "You can have anything you need, Miss Barbara.  And, Bryant, my friend, I have some influence with a couple of the other Bratvas in Seattle.  Would you like me to contact them and get some additional muscle?"

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant squeezed her slender hand, reassuringly, then stood up and crossed the room to Vlad.  He extended a hand,"Thank you, to you and your men, you risk no small thing by aiding me.  As always, should you wish me to leave your domain, I will respect your wishes, as host," and he held his friends eyes, "and friend."

He considered the offer, "For now, anonymity is our weapon, if we can keep my location under wraps, our opponent would not know where to locate me.  I can stay off the grid, though perhaps, we could leave false trails, that lead Errant to organizations, or operations of your rivals who do not wish their scrutiny?"

He paused, "In time we will need allies, others of your family.  But we need to know where to strike, before we gather our soldiers, don't you think?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Vlad shrugs and laughs.  "Hey, you know us gangster types......we just love to crack heads.  Right now, I am more than ready to do something, but I see the wisdom in your words.  I will keep you a secret for as long as possible.  And maybe a KE visit to some of my contemporaries would not be a bad thing.  But no, KE is riddled with spies and sloths, all willing to take money and many of them would sell their mistresses for a large wad of nuyen.  I would hate it if it got out that I had been responsible for that sort of harassment.  So, it is back to the waiting while my nephew and Barbara go back to this VR to get more information?"

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant contemplated Vlad's words, "Sadly, the best option I believe Vlad.  Though like you, I prefer to take action, rather than remain idle, but if there is nothing I can do that would start to repay the debt to you," he paused, leaving his offer largely unsaid, "though any action I take could risk exposure."

He shrugged, defeated.  He hated being hunted, he hated waiting, and there was nothing to do but gather information, and while he wasn't skilled pursuing data trails in the Virtual world, he was skilled at the run down, interview and interrogation techniques that could provide results in the real world.  But to do that, he would be needlessly exposed, and therefore risk revealing himself and those he cared about to retribution from their pursuers, the Sampson mercenaries.

[Mercy Merchant]

Barbara nods and shrugs as she settles back down in the chair.  In a few seconds she is giving a good impression of someone who has fallen asleep at the table, along with the young man in the chair next to hers.  Vlad walks around and puts a hand on the shoulder of each and looks over at you.  "I got this for now, Bryant.  I might call you in later, though."  Rowena gives Barbara a look then backs away from the table and turns to the door.

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant nodded, "Just because I am an impatient man, does not mean that they had to continue without sufficient rest."  He shrugged his shoulders as he moved to open the door for Rowena, "Though if they feel they are capable of continuing, who am I to argue eh?"  He nodded as he left the small room, "Should you need anything my friend, don't hesitate to ask, and should you have any task that needs doing, please, you know where I am."

He proceeded down the hall, to catch up with Rowe, "You are getting faster, do you wish to continue to practice, or is there perhaps something else on your mind?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Rowena turns to look at you and nods.  "I am not sure, Bryant.  I know that I am very ready to please you as much as I physically can, but I am not sure that you want that yet.  Would you like to chat over some caf?  Maybe find out what makes Mr. Champagne's woman tick, and maybe dishing a bit on what I should know about you?"

[Zen Gypsy]

He sighed with longing, remembering the heat of her body against his, and how her very presence was able to make him react on a physical, almost primal level.  "It's not that I don't want," he bent over and whispered in her ear, "it's just that in situations like this, I," he paused, "we, need to be ready to move at a moments notice, like tightly wound springs.  Your touch, your body, your kiss, it all makes me unwind, lose the tension that's keeping me ready for action, ready to move forward, to see this through.  When all this is over, we can spend, hours, days, unwinding with one another, not minutes, or seconds."

"Coffee though, does sound nice, and I am an open book, if you have questions, ask, and if I have the answers," he shrugged, "they're yours."

[Mercy Merchant]

The cafpot is downstairs and you can go get a couple of cups before returning to Rowena's room.  When you go in, you find her sitting at the table in the wheelchair.  She smiles at you and motions to the other chair, sniffing at the aroma of the caf in your hands.  "So, where do you want to start?"

[Zen Gypsy]

He reached forward, and squeezed her hand.  "With a promise."  Bryant looked into her eyes, his amber and gold irised Ikon-Ziess eyes betraying none of the depth of emotion he felt, "Despite not knowing what the future brings," he scoffed, "hell, I don't even know my past, but I know that I care for you, and that I want to get through this, whatever this is, to be able to figure out who I am, and who you are.  To see who we are, together."

He shrugged, sat back, smiled.  "Ask me anything you want Rowe, if I remember, I'll answer true."