Our target-predicting algorithm was better at narrowing down the choices, and showed me its nonchoices separately in case I wanted to feed them back in. I appreciated that. An M.O. could suddenly change. Hell, mine definitely would.
We took a room at a Hilton, out of downtown Karlsgrad but within easy driving distance. A rental vehicle, just a basic commuter, lasted two days before I found someone selling a used but reliable six-seater sport sedan. The load looked good, it was adequate in person, and I handed over cash and false ID. Silver had it registered and with a new, legal transponder the next day. She also had two other transponders, illegal but passable, that wouldn’t show on any database if examined.
We still weren’t positive Randall was here. It was all betting and guesswork. He could have slipped back to Mtali and gone some other way. However, I knew he’d been here before, and the explosive he’d used had probably come from here, via a shipping company with ties to the crime families.
I was confident. Bits of data, patterns, events, all inexorably drew together. At some point, the puzzle would be complete enough, I could intercept early.
Still, we were going to have to recon, and he probably had a five-day lead.
I told Silver, “We need to plan on being here awhile. If we have to abandon stuff we can, but this seems to be at least a landfall if not an operating base.”
“I’ll work on the vehicle,” she agreed.
“With defenses.”
“I like hearing you say that,” she said with a smile.
“I want our car rigged as a chase vehicle. We may be here awhile, I’m actively seeking him now.”
“That’s pretty straightforward. I’ll do that first.”
“Thanks. I’ll be looking for targets and leads.”
We settled in with supplies, including a variety of real food with fresh vegetables and fruit, extra clothes of several types, miscellaneous hardware and tools for fabrication. I wanted to find a rental house with attached garage we could use. With that, we’d be set for quite a few things.
As we organized, I mulled things over. If he was getting a mil a hit, his overhead was about fifty percent. Otherwise, the contractee was paying expenses and he was making less. There was no way anyone would pay more than that even for such high-placed victims. So, he was racking up about two million UN marks per year. Then, he had to stash that money somewhere safe. Our system would be best, but he wouldn’t want it there for obvious reasons. Any other discreet system was either unreliable politically or had some means and desire to stop him. However, our system was not only best, but he’d never taken a contract there. So my working hypothesis was that it went to our system. It would do so in physical form, either bullion or a paid draft. Large amounts flitting around were traceable.
Although, he could do it as lots of little drafts through different “purchases,” accepting more loss in processing in exchange for safety.
We needed to look for such a business in our system. The odds weren’t good. There were lots of them, mostly legit, some simply evading tax somewhere else.
I ran through that theory with Silver.
“It’s doable,” she said. “Not really my specialty, but I can learn and get more info. Basically, we look for patterns of transfers right after his hits. Those are also going to be transactions for services rather than goods. Cheap goods don’t ship out of system.”
I said, “Good point. That actually means it might be traceable. Assuming it’s in our system and we’re correct.”
“Absolutely. You realize you keep loading tasks on me and expecting me to keep up with your physical ops as well.”
“I do,” I agreed. Yes, I’d noticed somewhat, though obviously not enough if she needed to mention it. “I’ll help wherever I can, whenever I can.”
Then I said, “Next, if he might be based here, we need to locate that base. He might use several, or be arranging them now. In which case, his oldest will have some kind of intel. The new ones are still useful, though.”
“Can you do that? I’ve got the vehicle to handle.”
“Yes.” There was too much work for two people. But a team’s movements were too likely to be exposed. It was a good thing I was multiply trained in several relevant support skills.
I said, “I’ll go out for additional tools.”
It was almost like being home. The vehicle was an identical design to the same model on Grainne with minor mods, license-built here. It seated six comfortably, eight if necessary, and had several stowage compartments for supplies, as well as cargo space with the seats collapsed. Many of the stores were of the same conglomerates, with local industrial support. The biggest thing that traveled in commerce was information—patents, designs, processes. Material goods didn’t ship much, except for custom art, unique natural products and minerals, or to places with inadequate infrastructure, at extreme prices. That was changing, though. Phase drive continued to get cheaper and more manageable, and within a couple of decades I expected transshipment to increase, thereby destroying most of the unique flavor of these systems. Don’t laugh. It’s happened before throughout history.