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from Ananhr, stating that six more mines, with a total of forty-three thousand men, would soon be placed under his management:
"To the prefect of the Diza sector
Due to the success in management, 6 more mines with a total of 43,000 people will be transferred to your control in the near future. External security of the perimeter will be provided by Hivi units, which will be in direct contact with you today. Provide them with all necessary support.
You are required to increase production by one and a half times within 2 months, and then keep it at the same level.
Head of the JCC of the Donetsk-Makeyevka group.
This news, as well as the identification of the Maquis informant, has raised morale quite a bit. But now the Maquis will only get in the way. They would not believe that giving him other mines could be to their advantage rather than their detriment. They will think that Gora has simply become a pawn in the game of the plagues, and just obediently serves them. Pretty soon they will want to remove him themselves, just as they removed Manhra before. And even if they do not want to, all their activities will still be directed against the production at the mines, and because of this you can only lose their influence and trust of the Chums. And the trust of chums will not be earned for the second time….
A report from Coyote to the chief of the local CDC came to mind. Very well remembered.
And it came to mind precisely because he had just received a report that a group of armed men were descending into the mine. Not a new group of plagues, not the SCS, but armed men that the plagues had missed.
The fact itself was so surprising that at first they didn't even want to believe it. Someone said that the Maquis had broken through and were about to take everyone with them. Someone remembered the rebellion of the Bulgarians. Some thought he was going crazy. But when these stout fellows, armed from head to toe, marched toward the prefect's office, it became clear to everyone that these were neither Maquis nor Bulgarians, but something quite different, something they had never seen before.
Once inside, their enthusiasm somewhat waned when they saw Horus. His eyes, as before, reflected determination, iron will, and strategic intelligence. Such qualities would make one respect anyone.
— You've got a nice place here," said the head of the men. All of them wore a chevron with a white, grinning skull over crossed bones, and he had two lightning bolts on his collar.
— To whom do I have the honor? — The Mountain had an F-1 grenade in his desk for emergencies.
— Cobra. My name is Cobra. — His gaze wasn't harsh, it was something else, something rammed and incapable of understanding other points of view. It was as if the word "truth" was a singular, pre-calculated number for him.
— I suppose if you wanted to kill us all, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. — said the prefect calmly and firmly. — Then tell us why you're here.
— And I assume you're not embarrassed by the presence of guns on the people who are here. Isn't it?
— That's right. If the plagues allowed us to have it. So someone else can have it… It would be selfish to consider us the exception… But I'm more interested in how long you've had the privilege.
— Privilege? From birth! — laughed the Cobra. — Mr. Prefect, you're the ones who are just starting to make a life for yourselves. We've been at it for a long time… In that respect, we bow our heads to the Maquis, who keep our secret so strictly confidential. And hide from all prisoners, how many people are actually not that free, but happy to be side by side with the plagues… If you want, oppressing, other people…
Who counts who is there and who is here.
— All right. Let's say we weren't born with it. But now we have that privilege too. And now we're even better at working for the plague empire.
— Give it up, Prefect. Don't talk of empire.
Gora continued to stare at him calmly. It was clear that he would now finally get down to business.
Cobra looked around as if looking around, mewling his face a bit — The Chums aren't here anymore, except for the administration. And there's almost no SCF, except for Ananhr and her personal security company. The surface is guarded by us. And in the next month you will be given control over the rest of the mines in Donbass, which will also be guarded only by us… I don't know what kind of games the SCK is up to with all this autonomous management, but know one thing — if you screw up, we'll get in trouble for it too.
And if it's your fault that we're going to get screwed, then we won't have any more conversations like this….
— There's no such word. "Screw up." There's the word "order." My orders. And it must be obeyed.
Whether it's in one mine or several. The only reason you're allowed in here now is because I authorized it. If I told the man who runs the elevator to blow himself up along with the elevator and you, he'd do it without a second thought… And I want you to know that I like your words very much.
— You know, I kind of like your appetite. If you really swallow everything they give you to take the plague, it's a goddamn jackpot.
— If you weren't sure, you wouldn't be here now. You know it yourself… One more thing… If you're really so committed to our common cause, we need help from the Maquis. We can't make maneuvers on the surface, and the Maquis are interfering with coal transportation on the outer routes. So we've had to divert everything to the underground routes.
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