“What do you make of it?”

Gerrin squinted through his well-worn optical binoculars from their position crouched behind a rust-red boulder on a hill overlooking a plain containing the compound. “Adobe buildings and Quonset huts, one small tower, maybe six boats on the field. Couple of big tanks by the tower, probably for fuel. Homemade razor wire all around”.

They had landed the Troll on Paquin outside of a small town to minimize attention. They questioned several locals, whose only responses were either “I don’ know nothin’”, or “Giddouttahere!” in English or Chinese. Obviously they were afraid of Reznor. Eventually Gerrin had had to grease the right palm.

“Yeah, if your guy’s been grabbed, most likely it’s Reznor”, the scruffy young man had told them.

“And where do we find ‘Reznor’?” Gerrin had asked.

The man pointed. “Follow that road, ‘bout forty clicks out of town, just past the mountains, you’ll see it”.

“Good enough”. Gerrin handed the man a twenty credit note.

“Hey!” the man exclaimed. “Where’s the rest?”

Gerrin looked around. “Be in front of that building in two hours. If you data’s good, you get the rest”. Gerrin turned and boarded the truck.

“Who’s Reznor?” Wilkins had asked as they boarded the truck to head for the compound.

”Reilly’s first boss”, Gerrin answered. “Trained him up, then wanted him to take from the local peasants. Reilly disagreed, so he robbed the people, then robbed Reznor and gave it back. Reznor wasn’t happy, so he set Reilly up for prison. That’s where we met”.

“Boy, you guys just know all the right people”, Park had commented.

“Occupational hazard”, Gerrin responded as they drove away.

-

An hour later they crouched behind the rocks across a plain from Reznor’s compound, scanning the buildings and the field in front of them. Gerin swung his well-worn field binoculars slowly from