been three.
The opportunity was without equal in her experience. Five poten tial souls to set free. It would be a blessing above all others. But she hesitated. She had never before taken so many at one time. The won derful isolation of the spot was more than she could have wished for. But still, five-and one of them looking to be a very chancy under taking indeed. She could take the big man first, of course, but if she ran into difficulty there, even an unarmed foursome could give her trouble, if only with fists and feet and stones. They remained unaware of her presence, which gave her time to decide.
Should she risk it? She had trained herself to move fast, very fast, but she had already decided that success was incumbent on taking down the biggest of the five first, and swiftly. At least they seemed in no hurry to leave, with two of the men conversing softly while the others looked on.
If they all left together, that would tell her something. But if they split into two groups again, it would make her decision easier.
She decided to wait.
Keshu stared at the image the high-hovering, night-piercing drone was relaying to his readout. Who the devil were the two men who had just appeared on the screen, and what were they doing meeting the first three in the middle of the jungle, in the middle of the night? Sensitive though it was, because it was compelled to keep out of easy range of those it was tracking the drone could not pick up their conversation. So he had no idea what was being talked about. Poaching? Proposed illegal real estate incursions, that were always a problem on the borders of parks and preserves near and within the city? Trading in illegal drugs?
What mattered was that-it didn't matter. Legal, illegal, or purely recreational, any discussion taking place in the forest was not germane to his reason for being there. He and his officers were present for one reason and one only: to obtain convincing evidence on a possible serial killer and then reel her in. The suspect was still present, thank good ness, but her heat signature had stopped moving when the other pair had put in their unexpected appearance. Cursing silently to himself, he knew that it was entirely possible the arrival of the newcomers would intimidate her to a degree where she would simply withdraw, at which point he would have to make the difficult decision as to whether to order her arrest or not. The two recent arrivals, whoever they were and whatever their purpose, threatened to spoil everything.
He held his spinner up next to Johar's. The images were identical, which meant that the two apparent newcomers were just that and not electronic artifacts.
'Any idea who these new people might be, Lieutenant?'
'No, Chief Inspector. What can the five of them be doing here?' Johar stared off into the night, as though the answer might magically arise from the trees in the form of glowing, hovering words. 'What do you want to do?'
It was, for once, a simple decision.
He decided to wait.
Their brief conversation concluded, Karlovy turned and walked back to the water tank, which was fashioned of cast resin to resemble natural stone. Moments passed. Taneer waited nonchalantly, though he was anything but indifferent. Depahli tried not to fidget. As for Sanjay and the one nicknamed Punjab, they exchanged steady, unwavering stares. It was the most difficult thing the shopkeeper had ever done in his life, including the time he had taken delivery of a packet of drugs from an unthinking courier while a traffic policeman was searching through his shop hoping to find a present for his wife.
When he rejoined them, the European was carrying what at first glance appeared to be an ordinary briefcase. Closer inspection under the light of Taneer's beam revealed it to be made of a material Sanjay did not recognize. Two strips of metal ran around it lengthwise, and it was thicker than most such he had seen. Karlovy proceeded to whisper to it, softly and at length. Then he manipulated something on the top of the case that Sanjay could not make out clearly in the wavering light. The case responded with an audible hum, as if releasing a cloud of electronic bees into the night, and the top softly clicked open. A single tiny LED illuminated the interior. The European held the open case out toward Taneer, as if presenting an offering. His voice was a monotone, neither enticing nor reproving.
'Ten million. As stipulated; one third in dollars, one third in euros, the rest in rupees. The down payment you requested in cash. As per our agreement the balance will be transferred later, by means and to the foreign account you specify. The bills have been tested for marks and stainchips. They are all clean. If you wish, I will wait while you perform a random testing.'
Struggling to appear nonchalant, Taneer shrugged and took the case. Considerably less indifferent, Sanjay and Depahli eyed the con tents in open disbelief. Even Punjab edged forward for a closer look. One did not see even that much fake currency in movies.
After a cursory inspection of the neatly bound bills, Taneer snapped the case shut. 'Security transfer?' he queried the European.
Karlovy was clearly struggling to contain his impatience. 'After I have received the commodity, please.'
Taneer hesitated only briefly before reaching into a safety pocket. Squeezing the interior seal with thumb and forefinger allowed the sewn-in unit to read both prints, whereupon the armored lining parted, allowing him access to its contents. Taking out two glassine packets each no bigger than a playing card, he handed them to the European. Karlovy's continental savoir faire deserted him as he accepted the offering with fingers that trembled ever so slightly. One packet contained a single mollysphere. The other held concrete, irrefutable evidence that had sprung from the information contained on the storage device.
Unable to restrain himself, knowing he would never have the opportunity to see anything like this again, Sanjay leaned forward for a better look as the European played his hand beam over the two packets, examining their contents intently. On the one hand was the case containing more actual money than he would have believed existed in the world. On the other, the two small transparent packets.
Though he raised no objection and offered no comment, it did not seem to him in spite of everything he had been told to constitute a fair trade.
The European, however, was visibly thrilled. Without looking up from his inspection he instructed Taneer. 'Security reset is on the top of the case. I have already primed it for you. Slide your thumb over it three times. The unit will beep three times to signify acceptance. Next to the pickup is a small integrated mike into which you may whisper whatever passwords you wish. Both must be utilized to reopen the case.' He finally looked up from his examination. 'A powdered explosive is integrated into the body of the case itself. Any unauthorized attempt to force the seal will result in an explosion that will destroy the contents as well as anyone in its immediate vicinity.'
Taneer nodded knowingly, as if he dealt with this sort of thing every day. He indicated the packet containing the molly. 'Anyone can access three-quarters of the information via a standard reader. Any attempt to access the remaining fourth will result in a permanent sphere wipe. You get the rest of the code when I receive the rest of the payment.'
The European nodded understandingly. 'All as we agreed. It will be a standard simultaneous quantum exchange. If either side holds back any element of the agreement, the transfer will not eventuate. My consortium receives the rest of the code; you get the information that allows you to access a certain safe deposit box in Zurich.' Now he did smile, albeit austerely. 'Where I presume you will be when the final transfer is made. All quite neat and clean, as such transactions are meant to be.' Apparently feeling it was time to let his guard down a little bit, if only for reasons of diplomacy, he added, 'You will like Zurich, I think. Everyone who goes there does.' He drew the back of his left hand across his forehead. 'A much more civilized climate.'
Taneer nodded and smiled back. 'We'll stop by there just long enough to conclude our business, I think, and then we'll be on our way elsewhere.'
Jena had still not decided what to do: whether to remain where she was, retreat and ascribe the situation to bad karma, or wait and see if the group of five once again split into its original parts. She was still debating with herself, praying for guidance, when the big man who had accompanied the European suddenly twitched, started to turn where he stood, and fell over. He lay there on the ground; unmoving, a large hill-like silhouette in the darkness. His companion gaped down at him. She crouched lower in her hiding place as hand beams swung wildly, searching the night. One swept past just over her head. None of them happened to focus on the right spot-but she did. Something else was coming out of the darkness.
Keshu stared at the readout on his spinner. The overhead view from the uncomplaining drone was still as responsive as it could be, but it was not nearly informative enough.
A sixth shape had suddenly appeared, to join the other five. It had not entered from one side of the screen or
