As soon as I was done with the call, I headed out and found Lena and the two foxes.

"Shall we head off then?" Lena asked with a friendly tone.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm still curious as to why I haven't been able-"

A commotion soon found its way onto the street where we stood. At least four guards people from the local city policing building were racing down the road toward a side street. They said nothing, just ran incredibly quickly, rivalling that of most city cars from the old world.

"What's this?" Ralf asked. "Maybe we should go take a look? It's not often there are enforcers running at such paces through the streets."

"Meh," Suzie sighed, clearly disinterested.

I wasn't. For all I knew, they might be investigating the disappearance of Frederich, so I needed to double-check to make sure. "My next contact is meant to be near here. I've a bad feeling about this," I commented.

"I'm with you," Ralf immediately said, followed almost straight after that by Lena, then Suzie even nodded, their faces grim.

We set off at a rapid pace after the officers.

Minutes of running later, and we saw what was one of the worst sights I'd been subjected to since awakening from my cryogenic sleep.

Frederich Dietsze.

Dead.

He had been mauled to death, by the looks of things. He had claw marks across his entire body, various limbs had been chewed to fuck, and half of his face was missing. It was a horrific sight, and I would have puked my fucking guts up if my nanocloud didn't immediately clamp down on the reaction and deaden my gag reflex. As it was, I found myself breathing heavily, as my emotional regulation systems struggled to keep me from having a panic attack.

I found myself collapsing to my knees at the sight.

So much blood, so much carnage. It looked like an animal had done it.

Oddly, Suzie said nothing. I looked over to her, and she appeared to be almost disinterested, which set me on edge a little bit. I then looked to Ralf for comparison.

He looked disturbed. His face could barely suppress the angry rejection of what he was seeing. His canine nostrils flared, and his lips curled back in an angry snarl, his eyes almost blazing. "Whatever did this..."

"I know," I said, in a vain attempt to offer some form of comfort that I didn't feel. With Frederich dead, one of my key Synergy contacts who might help me uncover what was going on had now been taken away from me. How this would work out for my mission in the long run, I could only guess, but this was a major setback for me.

I was momentarily confused by a hand squeezing my shoulder, an icy cold one. Lena was standing next to me, her look was one of compassion, but for some reason, it didn't seem to touch her eyes in quite the way I'd expected.

Still, I appreciated the comfort, and didn't really think on it for too long.

Wait.

On one of the rooftops in the distance, and too far away for my nanocloud to accurately observe what was happening, I noticed that there was a dark clad assassin-type of some kind. I couldn't get a good look from down here at ground level, but it seemed that this might have been the same assassin-type that had saved my life before, back in Rheda-Wiedenbrück.

Fuck, this was getting dangerous, quick, but seeing that assassin figure, I was spurred by a sudden compulsion to leave Hanover immediately and set off on my journey to Berlin.

"Come on," I told the others. "I need to get to Berlin as quickly as possible if I'm to reach my next contact before she ends up murdered as well."

What the fuck?! What possessed me to identify her gender out loud? I needed to be more careful than that.

"Let's get going, then," Lena agreed, her smile accompanied by a squeeze of my shoulder.

----------------------------------------

We set a brisk pace leaving Hanover, leaving almost as soon as we witnessed Frederich's corpse being covered and guarded by the city's police, what Ralf referred to as Enforcers. It was a major setback for me, and I realised that somehow, my pursueres had access to my list of volunteers. Worse, they had someone who had claws, and had no issues getting their hands dirty with some gruesome killing.

I desperately wanted to get to Berlin to prevent another incident like this.

For the next three days, I'd forgone any of the training time I'd usually set aside with Lena, rarely engaged in conversation, and in spite of Lena's efforts to get me to jump into a sleeping roll with her, I'd slept alone. Each day, I set a constant minimum 10 kilometre-an-hour pace, not letting up even for a second. The other two kept up with me with little physical strain, though both Suzie and Ralf grumbled somewhat about my insistence we keep moving.

"Come on, Rick," Ralf complained to me as we set off for the final day's travel. "We're already making good time."

"It's not quick enough," I grunted impatiently. "Someone clearly knows what I'm trying to do, and is getting ahead of me. I can't stop and rest while I know this."

"But how will getting there today be any-"

"Because tomorrow it will likely be too late," I barked. "Even arriving in seven hours might be pushing it. I intend to make a push once I'm within twenty kilometres. I want to get there while it's still daylight."

"What?" Ralf retorted. "You think we'll get there, and you'll find whoever you're looking for will have been mauled to death like the last guy was?"

Ralf at least had the grace to look somewhat sickened by his own words, and yes, that was exactly what I'd feared. I said nothing, continuing to push ahead. Ralf, for his part, didn't push the issue with me again after that.

----------------------------------------

We reached the city while the sun was still high in the sky, and I immediately started looking frantically from one marketplace to another, based on the information Bart had given me weeks ago. Like the others, I had trouble finding her.

Sofia Wagner was very difficult to find, even knowing what she looked like. My nanocloud was uncanny in its' ability to extrapolate a youthful appearance from documented photographs of Synergy's test subjects. Sofia's profile images showed a sixty-something woman, relatively fit from the look of provided family photos, but badly injured in Synergy's own photographs. She had been badly injured when she had been involved in a bad vehicle accident involving her city car and a large articulated hauler. She had already undergone emergency surgery to prevent her imminent death (at the time), and her family had requested Synergy step in and help her with her injuries; she had been a candidate for the testing prior to this, and would have been a control subject, but at the last moment, her nanocloud had been coded to engage in emergency trauma treatment, fusing bone material, sealing internal bleeding, repairing torn muscle tissue and anything else that had been needed. The urgency of the treatment had meant she needed a specialised nanocloud setup containing a modified nanomachine type that had four manipulator arms instead of the usual two. What exactly this meant for anyone in the new world was anyone's guess.

I certainly had no clue.

My nanocloud had extrapolated her last-known appearance to that of a light-brown-haired mousey-looking woman with dark brown eyes and thin lips. She was tall and willowy, looking more like a lanky boy than any woman I'd ever met, or at least she did from the nanocloud's perspective of how she would look at twenty-five years of age. The limited information Synergy had of her reported that she had demonstrated many orders of magnitude rate of tissue regeneration over that of any living organism ever known to exist on the planet, and while a footnote existed in her file reporting that this aspect of her nanocloud healing ability would come in useful for military applications, the collapse of world societies could well have spelled an end to that particular idea.

Or maybe not. I'd yet to meet anyone who had such a rate of healing, and even my own ability to weather injuries certainly didn't seem to be that powerful.

Suzie had disappeared shortly after we arrived, though both Ralf and Lena remained, as I continued to ask around not only in marketplaces, but in the various coffee outlets, restaurants and hotels in the area.

Once again, I caught sight of the assassin in black that I'd seen from before, the one who had been in both Hanover and Rheda-Wiedenbrück. Whoever she was, I grew concerned. The last time I'd seen her, she was watching from a rooftop as I'd come across Frederich's corpse, so her presence here did not bode well for my chances of finding Sofia alive.

Whoever she was, she had spotted me in that moment, and though she quickly leapt away, she appeared to watch us all for a few moments before doing so.

Shit.

I took off in her direction, the feeling of dread deepening within me as I powered my run as much as possible to get wherever she had disappeared. I wound my way through streets with a smattering of people all minding their own business, accidentally bumping into a few, as I desperately made my way through, until I found myself in a courtyard.

It had led to the GPS coordinates of an address that immediately flagged in the Synergy profile by my ever-watchful nanocloud. My run slowed to a brisk walk, as my nanocloud highlighted the building's entrance onto my visual overlay, and I made my way quickly to the front entrance.

I really didn't think I could see another Frederich. No-one deserved that kind of gruesome end.

I stepped quickly to the apartment door, ready to knock, only to find the door was already open. Heart hammering rapidly in my chest, mouth dry, I froze for a moment.

Warning: Extreme panic response detected. Deploying countermeasures.

The stabilising effect this had on my psyche was more than welcome, and I was intensely grateful for the restoration of control it gave me, as I pushed my way into the apartment to look around. Another notification appeared in my awareness, but I ignored it for now. I had to make sure Sofia was still alive.

As I slammed open the door, Lena stepped ahead of me, surprising me and making me immediately suspicious of her motives. She drew two blades and gripped them tightly as she started opening doors to rooms in the apartment. Ralf followed, looking in other rooms. Suzie followed Lena, her expression oddly angered. She exchanged a look with Lena, then sprinted past me and out of the apartment faster than I'd ever seen her run before. That immediately made me wary, especially as she was soon out of sight.

Only one room was left that wasn't visible, so I quickly strode forward to check it out. Slamming open the door, I looked around for any signs, hoping I wouldn't find a corpse.

The room was empty.

There was furniture and some discarded bedding, but the entire place was completely devoid of personal items. I quickly examined the other rooms, a living room that had only furniture and a table, and a kitchen with utensils and some discarded foodstuffs. Whoever was here had left in a hurry. Maybe Sofia had been tipped off that she was in danger?

I stepped back into the hallway, to find Lena standing there, a look of simmering anger on her face, and realised in that moment, my suspicions about her had been confirmed.

Eveline had been absolutely right, I realised with a sinking feeling in my chest. How fucking stupid had I been to trust this person, to let her anywhere near me, to have any sort of discussions, to...

Oh, shit.

I realised that she had messed with my nanocloud during those intimate moments, and sent a signal to my nanocloud to alert it to the possibility that it had been compromised. I got back an immediate acknowledgment, and the nanocloud immediately went into combat mode, increasing my awareness, as well as preparing my body for a protracted struggle. As all of this was happening, Ralf stepped out of an adjoining room, his face mirroring shock, as he realised he had just stumbled into a stand-off.

He, at least I felt, was an innocent in all of this, but it also made me realise that Suzie was definitely Lena's accomplice. Those claw marks on Frederich's corpse as well as the mauling he'd received, could only have come from something with claws and teeth.

It had all become so terrifyingly clear.

Lena had raised both daggers, pointing one of them directly at my chest. "How'd you do it?" She demanded of me. "How'd you tip her off?"

The veil had fallen from my eyes already by that point, and I replied with all the contempt I could muster. "I don't answer to you," I sneered. "Were you sent to snare me back in Dusseldorf? Seems a bit convenient you showing up as a skilled knife fighter right before Eveline and I were finally able to find a way to work together."

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Part of me was furious, with Lena, who had clearly inserted herself as an enticing alternative, as someone who would appeal to me, purely so she could get information on the test subjects so that Suzie could then go out and murder them, preventing me from getting the critical information I needed. This woman had also pitted me against Eveline, and it was so obvious to me now. Another part of me despaired at this knowledge, that Eveline, for all of her hostility, had been right, and where Lena had seemed to try to covertly extract information about my mission from me, Eveline had only ever asked me directly what my intentions were, and had set some clear boundaries not only with respect to herself, but with respect to my own mission.

Not once had she ever asked me for details about my mission, only ever asking for what she needed to know to do her job. She never tried to make herself likeable, she never tried to ingratiate herself with me. She simply did what she had to do, and while it had aggravated me greatly at the time, now I sorely missed her presence, far more than I ever thought I would.

Lena sneered at me, as all of this ran through my mind. "That hybrid bitch was bred as a sex toy. She's no fighter and she never will be," she scoffed, apparently lacking in self-awareness of her own sex appeal and voluptuousness, offending not only myself, but Ralf, who let out a low growl in her direction. "Even Ralf over there would make a better fighter than that little cunt."

"I've heard enough," Ralf objected, striding forward to attack, only for Lena to throw a dagger so quickly at him that he had the knife impaled in his sternum before I even realised she had moved. Quickly, she drew another from her belt, brandishing it in her palm as she sneered at Ralf without taking her eyes off of me.

"You were a fun distraction for Suzie," Lena drawled in a sensual tone before her voice hardened again. "But she never really saw you as anything more than a means to an end. You had to have guessed by now, why she never did more than fuck you and leave, or were you blinded by sentimentality?"

Ralf was in no position to respond, his breathing laboured, the blood seeping from his chest as he slumped to the ground.

"Let's try this again," Lena demanded in a flat tone. "Where's Sofia?"

I need escape options, I ordered my nanocloud.

Determining possible strategies. None currently available. Updates pending.

This had all happened quickly enough, that there had been no obvious delay in my reply to this bitch. "How would I know?" I gave a careless shrug. "You apparently have been one step ahead of me the whole time."

Lena stepped up to me, thrusting one of her blades at my throat. "Don't test my patience," she barked, flicking the tip so it broke skin, causing me to flinch. "Where's the fucking volunteer?"

Eveline, I thought despairingly, realising that there was a good chance I'd die right here, even as my nanocloud began to prompt me with options for evasion and counter-attack. I'm so fucking sorry.

As if in answer to my thoughts, an alert popped up in my awareness at the same time Lena glanced to her left, startled and letting out a gasp, raising both daggers ready to attack. This was an opportunity I could use, so I did. I punched her as hard as I could in the ribs, hopefully cracking one, and distracting her just enough to throw her aim off, causing a grunt of pain and fury to let loose from her. The move had been enough to save the black assassin woman I'd seen so many times before. Lena turned back to me, about to swipe down at me with a killing blow, clearly enraged at my distraction.

It made no difference, because the assassin was now upon her, colliding together with a surprisingly feline shriek that seemed somewhat familiar.

I couldn't be sure.

I could barely keep up with the action as both women faced off against each other, Lena with a furious and ugly grimace to her features as she side-stepped, parried, feinted and leapt about, the assassin-type with head-to-toe coverings all in black, leaping from one wall to the other, that curious sash hanging down between her back, around her side, and then wrapped around her torso like silk. Whoever this assassin was, she was a force of fury that would make quick work of anyone, her skill clearly unmatched by all except Lena, and I'd realised at this point that for all of the training that Lena had put me through, it was a piss-poor methodology that showed me nothing of her true skill with these blades; it had all clearly been a sub-par attempt to make me feel I was learning something, all while putting me at a decided disadvantage when it came to real combat.

She fought ferociously, far faster and deadlier than any human I'd ever seen fight in either era of my life. The assassin had been forced, several times now, to step back, leap aside or high, to avoid deadly thrusts that would have killed me if I were in this fight for my life, all while trying to put the assassin off balance enough to land that fatal blow. Yet, for all of her skill, all her deceit and subterfuge, and in spite of a nanocloud that had clearly enhanced her speed, strength and reflexes, she was slowly being ground down by the assassin who was now screeching in fury at Lena, making it clear that this was going to be a fight to the death, that Lena would not make it out of here alive.

In a final desperate move, Lena launched both blades straight at the unknown warrior, who was spinning through the air and apparently vulnerable without the ability to change course...

Except she actually wasn't that vulnerable.

The sash that she wore suddenly ripped away from her, apparently of its own accord, as the tail that I'd never even known existed, tore free of its restraint, whipped around faster than I could see, and to my intense astonishment, whipped one of the deadly daggers aside while the assassin gripped the other, tossing it around mid-air to catch it in a solid grip as she landed right in front of Lena, and before I could even register what was happening, she thrust the blade up through Lena's chest, piercing lungs and heart, twisting the blade viciously as she did so.

Lena let out an astonished gasp, and I noticed then that the gloved hands of the assassin suddenly ripped apart at the fingertips as lethal-looking claws emerged from them, gripping Lena by the throat, the assassin leaning in toward her face, and in a rough voice that was barely a whisper, yet distorted with rage, she spoke.

"I told you you'd better hope we never met again, you fucking harlot," was all she said before she viciously ripped her claws through Lena's windpipe, condemning her to a painful death, dropping her to the floor.

I was stunned, mesmerised by this force of nature, reminding me of-

And then I sat, frozen with shock, as this assassin finally tore off her mask, revealing golden curls and tiger-stripes, her breathing heavy and quick, as she examined her handiwork. It was at that moment, I'd realised that I didn't even pay attention to her orange tail, whipping about in angered frenzy the whole time she was there.

Eveline!

I don't think I'd ever been as relieved, as happy, as elated and joyful as I was in that moment, to realise that she never listened to me. This infuriating, endlessly aggravating young feline had followed me, and had no doubt saved my life many times over.

I watched in amazement as she quickly pulled herself back from her fury, her tail slowing, her breathing rapidly calming in the space of seconds, as she tore the gloves off of her hands and shook the excess blood from her claws before they sheathed in her fingertips.

Quickly, as if she hadn't noticed I was even there, she stepped immediately to Ralf, feeling for a pulse in the fox's neck, her head dropping as she shook her own head. I pushed myself up off of the floor and immediately stepped over to his side, crouching down so I was level with Ralf's head, the man's eyes bleary, his snout wide-open, his breathing shallowing by the second. He was dying right in front of us, and there didn't seem to be a fucking thing I could do to stop it.

"Does your nanocloud have trauma functions?" I asked Eveline, who frowned in my direction.

"What?" She asked, her tone irritated. I decided not to take it personally, given she'd saved my life already on too many occasions for me to care to keep track. "What are you talking about?"

"Can you heal quickly from heavy wounds like this one?" I asked in a terse tone, concerned we were wasting time.

Understanding dawned in Eveline's eyes, and the look of irritation fell away, to reveal sorrow and vulnerability beneath, before a mask of indifference reappeared. "No, I've never had that," she said flatly.

My heart sank. I turned back to Ralf, putting a hand on his shoulder, feeling the skin was already growing cold. "I'm so very sorry," I told the fox, feeling utterly helpless. "I can't stop this."

"It's..." The fox struggled, having difficulty swallowing, his lips already turning blue. "Not your fault."

I certainly didn't feel blameless. "Is there anything you want us to do?" I asked, feeling the need to at least make him comfortable somehow, or maybe make amends in some other fashion.

Eveline frowned for a moment, no doubt feeling the need to object that I'd speak for her, but to her credit, she kept her tongue and remained in vigil by Ralf's side.

Ralf hacked an extremely weak cough, laboured to take another breath. He had seconds left before he slipped into his final coma. "She..." He looked to Eveline, and then directly into my eyes as he spoke. "Saved your life... We... Misjudged her... You... Owe her... A chance... Give... H..."

And with that last unfinished statement, Ralf slipped away, his eyes drooping, and his body went completely limp.

"I owe much more than that, my friend," I muttered under my breath. "And I'm sorry."

Conflicting emotions coursed through me like a tornado, the death of an innocent right in front of me here, something that despite all the violence and bloodshed I'd already been witness to in this world, I'd never seen before. It warred with my confused feelings for Eveline, gratitude for her saving my life, warring with my frustrated anger at what we had said to each other before. Anger at her for being so frustrating and aggravating, anger at myself for being no better.

It was all overwhelming, and my eyes burned with frustrated, unshed tears.

I had to get out of here. My throat tightened as I pushed myself up, and before I could stop it, a ragged, choked sound escaped my throat.

Fuck.

This was not the time or the place for an emotional outburst.

Eveline startled me when she then spoke softly. "We should go," she spoke in a quiet tone, stepping past me, striding into the nearby bathroom and turning on one of the taps.

I took a breath, trying to steady myself, thankful I didn't need to ask my nanocloud to do it for me. I'd discovered recently that it left me feeling like a machine if I did it too often, and so I preferred it if I could manage my own emotional state.

I would also like to get cleaned up, and while a shower would have been a nice idea, that would have to wait.

After a few moments, Eveline stepped out, shaking her hands dry, then rubbing them some more, the soft fur slightly matted from the damp as she worked them over. She gave me a casual, indifferent look as she stepped outside, and I took the opportunity to step into the bathroom, washing my hands and face clean with the quickest rinse of my life. I then stepped outside to join her.

"Sorry to make you wait," I told her as I stepped by her side. "I really needed to wash."

Saying nothing, she nodded instead, and then started into a stride off toward the same direction I had earlier seen Suzie take off in, walking briskly but not so fast that I would struggle to catch up. Clearly she had wanted me to follow, and I didn't feel like questioning her reasons right then.

After a few moments of walking through the streets, I couldn't help but ask. "Don't you think we'd better watch out for Suzie? She could be-"

"She's dead," Eveline said flatly. "Caught her running out of Sofia's apartment and trying to find her scent. Didn't count on me being there. It's not a mistake she's ever going to be able to repeat."

I had no qualms with this. Suzie was no doubt responsible for the gruesome mauling of Frederich, so Eveline choosing not to spare her life was a good thing in my opinion. "Sofia is safe?" I couldn't help asking.

"Yes," Eveline replied. "She does not wish to see anyone, this experience has shaken her, but she gave me these things to give to you," she handed over a sealed envelope and a vial of what looked like nanodrone-infused blood as she spoke. "The vial contains a sample of her nano..."

"Nanocloud", I told her when she paused, clearly prompting me to fill in the unfamiliar term.

"Nanocloud," Eveline continued. "Said you would know what to do with it."

She was right. I did, opening the vial Eveline had handed to me, dipping my finger inside and letting my nanocloud handle the rest. I could feel the influx of nanomachines as a slight tingle for some seconds, watching as the silvery-sheen the bottle contained then faded to a dark red. It took mere seconds, at which point, my nanocloud prompted me with two more update notifications. I would deal with those later.

Actually...

I opened the notifications and selected the first.

Trauma Assist Module Dedicated trauma assist module for dealing with severe injuries in the field. Diagnose and assess damage in host and any contactable organisms nearby. Level 1 Ten-fold increase in healing rate. Directs nanocloud units to injury sites to effect emergency repairs in the field. Nanocloud reverts to directive-driven programming once danger of loss of life has been mitigated out-of-combat. Does not work when concussed or when an electromagnetic pulse is detonated nearby. Does not support regrowth of lost appendages or organs.

Fuck.

I could have used this a few minutes ago. Ralf might have survived if I had access to this.

Incorrect. A ten-fold increased healing rate in combat would not have been sufficient to repair the damage caused by the combat weapon host witnessed. Time limit for suturing operations available to the Trauma Assist Module had already been exceeded before an opportunity became available.

That didn't exactly make me feel better about the situation, but since there was nothing I could have done about it, I decided I would try my best to set it aside.

I instructed my nanocloud to implement the module changes. They took effect almost immediately, and though I had no injuries at the moment that needed healing, I could feel the change course throughout my body as my nanites all responded to the change in their programming.

"She gifted us with a trauma repair module that she incorporated into her nanocloud," I told Eveline. "I can arrange for you to get it-"

"We'll talk about that some other time," she said flatly. "For now, we need to head someplace quiet so you can read the letter she wrote you."

This frostiness was tiresome to me, but I was determined this time to weather it. She deserved some slack after everything we'd been through lately. "Alright," I told her gently, surprising her as she glanced at me with a slightly-astonished expression that immediately reverted to a frown. "Where should we go?"

Eveline had found us a tavern not far from where Sofia's apartment had been. It was fairly quiet at this time of day, the evening still some time off. She had hired a room for herself, which she now took me to sit in while I took the time to read what Sofia had given her.

"I'm going to get another room for you to stay in," she told me, stepping back to the door of the room. "Read that letter, then we'll talk."

She was just as terse and as blunt as I remembered. I hid a smile as she frowned, before leaving the room and closing the door. Taking out the letter she'd given me, I opened the envelope, reading the tersely-written script that was practically all-capital lettering, obviously written in a hurry.

Rick,

I apologise for not meeting you in person, but this experience lately has made me highly reluctant to take any risks with my life. Your feline companion has explained to me what I might need to expect. Please do not try to locate me. I am going to disappear for a while, until I feel it is safe to re-emerge.

Also, don't worry about my well-being if that is your concern. I have not survived in this new world for the last forty-three years without learning a few survival skills.

However, I do agree with your mission, and understand your need to discover what has happened, so I have provided a sample of my nanomachine cluster in a vial of blood, along with this letter. I am certain you will know how to use this, given your techniocal background. I know this comes as a surprise-

This was a surprise to me, given we had never met. I continued reading.

I know this must come as a surprise to you to learn I am already aware of your existence. You have Eveline to thank for that. She explained you were from our world, that you were a technician, and I would guess she meant you worked in IT.

With this in mind, you will most likely find the greatest success if you make your way to the IBM Thomas J Watson Research Facility in New York State. This means you will need to make a long journey to the USA. I apologise for this, but ever since the outbreak, there has been no Internet, which leaves physical access as your only option.

I wish you luck.

Sofia Wagner.

Underneath where she had signed off on the letter were a set of GPS Coordinates. My nanocloud immediately processed these, and gave me an approximate location, advising me that I would need to enable global positioning capability in my nanocloud to ensure I know where I am in relation to markers like this one.

Now that I'd read the letter, I was frustrated. My journey was obviously far from over, and I realised that, but to have to travel to the States? That was over two and a half thousand miles away by direct flight, which I suspected was highly unlikely to be an option for me.

Shit.

A few minutes later, Eveline returned, carrying a flask, two coffee cups, and her backpack. She dropped the backpack and put both the flask and the two cups on the desk, turning to me, pulling a set of keys out of her pockets before tossing them to me. "Next to this one," she told me tersely. "You go drop your stuff in, I'll pour us something to drink. You've read the letter?" I nodded. "Then I'll see you back here."