“I'm too experienced for this,” the man shook his head and turned to Tykan. “I would rather hire Xander, he heard here.”
“Mar, Xander is no longer doing this,” he answered.
“He will make an exception for me,” Marsden prepared to stand. - I'll call him.
“Not worth it,” Alexey looked hard into the man's eyes, “Xander can hardly answer you now.” And he will not be able to help in the near future.
- What does it mean? - the man arched inquiringly.
“He did not have a very successful duel today,” Wolf answered for the girl.
- You want to say that he lost? - squinted Marsden.
“No,” Alex shook her head.
“But he did not win,” the Destroyer entered into conversation.
“A draw,” Wolf answered the dumb question of the man.
“Then I'll hire his opponent,” Marsden stood up resolutely and looked inquiringly at his friend. - Who fought with him?
“Me,” the girl answered sweetly smiling.
- Baby, don't joke like that! The man barked.
No one is joking, - the girl's eyes turned into a pair of daggers, and the dress changed to strict black, but her voice sounded still calm.
- Daden, take me! - Marsden gasped in amazement and collapsed back into the chair. - After all, you are a transformer of Kiryak!
“You are absolutely right,” Alexey enjoyed her confusion.
“So you say that you drew a duel with Xander?” - I'll catch a glimpse of interest in the man's eyes.
“Yes,” she caught and held his gaze.
“I hope you are not opposed to a small check,” he leaned back in his chair, carefully watching her reaction. “Will you play a virtual game with me?”
- Another duel? - the girl was surprised.
“Not a duel, just a little test,” he challenged her. “So, do you agree?”
“Yes,” she flashed her eyes. “But will it be fair to you?”
“This is my problem,” a slight smile slid across his lips, and he stood up. - The virtual room is still working, follow me.
Marsden chose the same terminal as Xander, and he set about installing the program himself. Selecting a training mode and turning on the broadcast on the big screen, he gestured for Alexei to enter the virtual reality booth.
This time the girl was in a perfectly round clearing surrounded by tall trees, and after a second Marsden joined her. He moved easily, and there was no trace of lameness.
“And you have not completely changed here,” he smiled, examining her overalls. “Interesting.”
“What can't you say about you, Katori Marsden,” she retorted.
“Virtual reality helps to make some adjustments,” the man grinned, taking his swords out of thin air. “Now let's see what you are capable of ...”
Marsden turned out to be left-handed, but Alexei was not embarrassed, among her acquaintances were left-handed people, so it was not difficult for her to fence with him. He turned out to be a difficult opponent: strong, flexible, fast, fast-moving and sophisticated. But in it he met no less dangerous fencer and just enjoyed the duel. He tested her reaction, endurance and strength. Suddenly the swords disappeared, and she had to defend herself without weapons. He did not spare her at all, but she did not concede: she compensated for his superiority in strength with dexterity, speed and the perfected accuracy of strikes, although it was necessary to admit that her strokes were very strong and not only for the girl .
“I haven't met such a strong opponent for a long time,” the man cut the distance and stopped breathing heavily. “You are exactly the one I need ...”
Chapter 16
Having finished the virtual duel, they went up to the apartment's office, which was filming Alexei with friends, where, having comfortably settled themselves, they continued the conversation. Marsden told everything about his brother Ennio, about his friends, hobbies and how he got into the club of underground battles. It turned out that Marsden once participated in such battles himself, even before he became a mercenary, and eventually act. The owner of the club wanted to return him, but he refused, and then they began to court his brother, also fond of fencing, but he did not agree. Then his brother was simply stolen, and Marsden was given an “accident”, but he managed to survive.He himself is now unable to pull out his brother, and time is very expensive: Ennio could die at any moment. Alexei assured that they would return his brother to him as soon as possible, and Marsden promised them a million-dollar fee if successful.
On the morning of the next day, they began to fulfill the first contract: they drove into the bank, where they loaded a large heavy suitcase-safe into their car, and went to Tarkona along the shortest path. Friends flew to their destination in less than two hours without any incident and transferred the goods from hand to hand.
The second contract was not so simple. Having hardly found the house in the gloomy quarter where they were supposed to pick up the parcel, they barely squeezed their vehicles in the yard, and after some bickering and fairly transparent hints of the Destroyer, Alex managed to get not only the parcel, but also a document confirming its authenticity.
“Finally, we are returning,” the girl sighed in relief when they flew out of the city limits, but for some reason she did not feel any easier.
- And do not say, - the Player supported her. “I still have goosebumps from that quarter.”
“This is not a quarter to blame,” Nick carefully scanned the horizon behind, “we have a tail.”
- Heck! - cursed the Wolf. “And I think why it makes me so uncomfortable.”
“And not just you,” the Destroyer supported.
- Player, get ready, three objects are approaching us, - Alexey watched the radar. “Nick, your lower tail gun.” Destroyer, Wolf - your side. My top one, in the meantime, her fingers ran around the sliding keyboard, entering commands to transform their Hybrid into a combat model right on the fly.
- Wow! Nick whistled, taking his place when the transformation was over. - Great machine.
“Fasten your seat belt,” warned the Player of Friends, “we have something big and clearly aggressive on our tail,” he easily dodged the first shot.
“There are not three, but five: three yachts and two“ hybrids, ”Alex said, preparing to open fire,“ and everyone is armed. ”
“It remains only to knock them down,” Nick grinned and put his finger on the trigger.
“Hold on, guys,” the Player's eyes burned with excitement, “now we'll dance,” he smiled predatoryly and launched the Hybrid into a dance ...
* * *
The battered "Hybrid" sank heavily near KT Ara and out of it came the Destroyer and Alex, who was holding a small box in her hands. A guard was waiting for them in the lobby, having led them into Ara's office. Alex and the Destroyer entered a darkened room, where their brightly dressed client sat at a large table.
“Good afternoon, Katori Ara,” the girl said dryly.
“Good, kind,” he gasped. “Have you brought the package?”
“Yes,” she put the box on the table and laid on top the confirmation of its authenticity. “But you did not say that we would have to withstand a big air battle.”
“They were hunting for you,” the fat man literally turned green. “Did they track you down?”
“Don’t worry,” the Destroyer shook a speck of dust off his sleeve, “we knocked everyone down.”
“It's good,” Ara beamed, “it's very good.”
“But not for our Hybrid,” the girl remarked, staring at him point blank.
- A hundred thousand to repair enough? The merchant felt uncomfortable under her gaze.
“I hope so,” the Destroyer shrugged.
“Fine, then I transfer another hundred thousand to your account, a total of three hundred,” Ara grabbed his card and, thrusting it into the terminal, quickly transferred the money.
“Alex, the money has arrived,” the player confirmed the connection.
“Contact me again, katori Ara,” Alex officially smiled.
“All the best,” the Destroyer added, and they headed for the exit.
* * *
Returning to the hotel, the player put the Hybrid in for repair, and Alexey sat down to analyze information about the various clubs and their owners, hoping to figure out the one where clandestine fencing fights are held. After a couple of hours, the Player replaced her, and she went to rest. Toward evening, when they were looking for information already together, they managed to figure out one club, the name of the owner of which was mentioned by Marsden in his story. Now it remained to go and scout everything.Having argued for a good half hour, the friends came to the conclusion that the Destroyer and Nick would go to the club tonight, but as if separately from each other: it would be easier for them to collect information, and, in addition, they would be able to cover each other if something went wrong So. Unfortunately, this plan failed: the club's security guards quickly figured them out and convincingly asked to leave the territory. Another attempt failed. Now the Destroyer and Nick already knew in person and simply did not let go. Desperate, the Player hacked into the club's base and downloaded everything.Having scooped up the obtained information, Alexey found out that Ennio was really kept in this club, but the most important thing is that the qualifying battle tournament begins this evening, which means that you have to get there by all means. The idea of participating in the tournament itself was quickly rejected as too dangerous.
“We must somehow get there as a spectator,” Wolf suggested.
“Good idea,” the Destroyer agreed.
“I've already considered it,” Alexey said, breaking away from the computer monitor. “That might work.”
“You cannot go to the Destroyer and Nick, they already know them,” the Wolf cooled his ardor. - To the player too, he will provide communication and cover, if something goes wrong.
“We stay with you, Wolf,” the girl drummed her fingers on the countertop. - A bored lady with an attendant. I think this is it.
“Alex, this is very dangerous,” Nick frowned.
“So we are not on a walk,” she retorted.
“Do you already have a plan?” - asked the Wolf.
- Today we go to the club and receive an invitation to the tournament. How? - Alexey thought for a second. - There can be several versions: just get, win, steal as a last resort - we will figure it out along the way. Now the main problem is where to get cash?
“Why do you need this?” - the Wolf was surprised.
“Are you going to pay with your own card, where all the data about you is recorded?” She innocently asked. “Indeed, this is how the Destroyer and Nick were calculated, we have no right to make another such mistake.”
“Cash at this club accepts even more willingly than cards,” the Destroyer said thoughtfully.
“You can't track cash,” the Player said.
“But where can I get them so as not to answer unnecessary questions?” - scratched the back of his head Nick.
Guys, ”Alex's eyes flashed,“ we can turn to Marklan, he owns a bank, I think he won't refuse us. ”
“Well thought out, Alex,” smiled the Wolf.
“Then, Wolf and the Player, you now go to the bank of Marklana and withdraw cash a decent bag in large bills,” the girl stood up and stretched like a cat. “Meanwhile, I am creating a new image for myself ...”
Chapter 17
In a separate office of an expensive restaurant, comfortably sitting in soft chairs and sipping wine, the two men talked quietly. One of them, dark-haired and dark-eyed, of rather dense constitution with a fresh scar on his cheek, was visibly nervous. The second, almost indistinguishable in the dimness of the office, the state of the interlocutor was clearly amused:
“So you want to offer me a contract from one of your teams, Isai?”
“Yes,” the dark-haired nodded vigorously, “any of the three.”
- You have two teams left, and one of them does not have half the members, the second one is also not very. No, I am not interested in your proposal, - the man got up and headed for the exit.
“Wait, Kayden,” Isai jumped up impulsively, hoping to stop the departing one. - I have one more team. Brand new ... 3 year contract ...
- Where did you get the new team? - the one who was called Kayden turned to the speaker, but did not take a single step towards him.
“I won her an hour ago with Simeon,” a hope lit up in the eyes of the dark-haired woman.
- Simeon Salamata? - said Kayden.
“Yes,” Isai confirmed.
“Consider that you are interested in me,” the man stepped toward the other person and finally fell into the circle of light that allowed him to see clearly. Broad-shouldered and thin, dressed in all black, he attracted attention not only with a special manner of holding, but also with a bright, memorable appearance. His very light, carefully combed back hair strongly contrasted with dark eyebrows and eyelashes, emphasizing the bright blue eyes, the overall picture was complemented by a solid chin, sharply defined cheekbones and beautiful lips slightly quivering in a smile.
“I don't have much to tell about this team,” the dark-haired man, grimacing in pain, cautiously lowered himself into a chair and took a sip of wine. “I can say that Simeon was very reluctant to give me the command.”
“He doesn't like to part with his teams at all,” Kayden again took up a chair hidden in the dark, “So what can you tell me about this team, except that it is new and has a contract for three years? ”
- This is a team from Earth, where Simeon has been gaining his teams for a long time. He said that this one is stronger than the previous ones - everyone has special abilities. The set was made for him by Alexander, - Isai took a bottle of pills from his pocket, shook the last three red ones in his palm and, with a sigh, swallowed them.
“You wouldn't be carried away,” Kayden shook his head, “in such doses they are dangerous even for us.”
“Otherwise, I'm not going to move, I won't be able to speak,” the dark-haired man tried to grin.
“As you know,” the man shrugged. “Can you add anything else?”
- Very little. There are five in the team. Two of them already know how to teleport. They also have a cool pilot - performing the task they left the best teams of Tadeya. A couple of days like here, and on their account they won a bet, two completed contracts, one is now in operation. But this is not the most interesting, ”Isai flashed a smile, which turned out to be a little crooked because of the scar. - Their commander drew a duel with Xander.
- Are you kidding! - Kayden reached for his glass and took a sip. - Xander is very experienced and strong, he can argue even with us. And you say that the newcomer could draw?
“The draw was fixed by mutual agreement of the duelists,” the dark-haired smiled slyly. “But really, it's not quite like that.” After the duel, Xander was completely covered in blood and could not even stay on his feet, unlike his unscathed opponent.
- Even so? Kayden shifted slightly in his chair and arched an eyebrow. “I would like to meet this commander.” By the way, what's his name?
“Alex,” something flashed in Isaiah's eyes, but his interlocutor was too busy with his thoughts to draw attention to this. - Well, how? Will you take this contract?
“How much do you want for him?” - Kayden took the folded napkin handed to him, turned it around, looked at the amount, thought for a second and, grinning, answered. - Even for the most promising team, this is too much. Nobody will give you so much, and you know it perfectly. But you also know that money never bothered me. I like everything that can entertain me. And it seems to me that this team will be able to entertain me. Because I will pay how much you ask.
- Right now?
“Yes, we will arrange everything right now,” he got up, moved the chair to the table, and sank into it again.
Quickly doing away with the formalities, the men drank another glass of wine, and Isaiah headed for th
e door.
“Isaiah,” Kayden called out to the dark-haired man who had already grasped the door handle, and when he turned around he threw him a brightly red bottle of pills, “you have run out, and you obviously need them.”
“Thank you,” Isai thanked, catching the bottle easily.
“Take care,” said Kayden seriously.
“You too,” Isaiah's dark eyes met piercingly blue, and he came out with a slight smile.
“Well, the team already exists, Simeon ... Now we will play,” and Kayden smiled as the devil could smile - predatory, dangerous and beautiful ...
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