Raniere or not? It made absolutely no sense at all to execute an innocent man, even though it was that type. He had more than once added fuel to the fire of the conflicts around him, which in reality amused Zubkov greatly. As Khmelnitsky, gnashing his teeth, could not do anything with him. But now at the top is no longer Khmelnitsky. And new antics of this inadequate will not lead to anything useful. We have to get rid of him somehow anyway. But it should not interfere in the search for a real informant.

Zubkov noticed that after only half an hour he no longer doubted Ranierov's innocence, and considered what was happening only from the point of view of political reality. He really liked this feeling… For so long it was necessary to adjust to someone, to tolerate frankly stupid decisions and eat someone else's orders, regularly trumping the military salute. Now it was different. Now he could decide whether to execute this man or not, based solely on his own personal decision, and no one else's…

But it's still worth thinking about and weighing the pros and cons for now. It was quite possible that this soup might come in handy in the future. Zubkov looked at his surroundings: a large oak table and the same strong high-backed chair, a minibar filled with various alcoholic infusions, a lacquered sideboard with a collection of guns inside and, of course, the flag with the image of an attacking falcon on the whole wall. Actually, to be fair, it should be noted that it was Khmelnitsky's merit… Not those stupid proudly standing eagles and warlike archangels, but an attacking falcon. That's the way to do it. Attack and take the prey at a strictly controlled moment, and not sit in place, clutching swords, scepters and other paraphernalia of monarchs in their paws. Grab the prey on the fly – that's what you should do! And any fool can rest on his laurels, looking at his possessions… Maybe that's why they lost everything to the plagues in the beginning, because there were too few miners and only sitters around. Were they all hatching eggs? Golden eggs, if they were so confident… But they were useless when it came to the apocalypse.

And yet, what we have now in the dry remains. Zheleznov gaining strength in the DonetskMakeyevka group. Apparently covering him are the Kiwis, who have just covered two companies at once near the outer transportation routes of the Diza sector. How connected were the two phenomena to each other? Zubkov wouldn't think of Zheleznov realistically considering defecting to the Chum side, based on the current situation, but he would do so himself. Why wouldn't he, in fact? The Heavies are good cover, much better than the Maquis. The plagues are no longer a hindrance, but rather a help. Life's pretty much back to normal. Why continue a war and help the Maquis? No reason at all. It will be even more convenient to weaken them so that they do not interfere....

Zheleznov himself could have set up the Maquis to fail in the Deese sector. Theoretically he could, but the timing doesn't add up. You'd have to plan it in advance to make it go off now. A couple months to prepare, no less. And back then, a couple of months ago, Zheleznov had only one mine and no Heavies… He needed the Maquis then. Could he be thinking about going somewhere else? He could have. There's nothing to stop him. But he couldn't do it. It's too dangerous. Sure, he's a high-stakes gambler and he's not afraid to bet high, but still. It doesn't seem right. He can't risk it.

It's not him. It would have to be too complicated and complex for it to add up. He clearly didn't expect this kind of success with the chiwis himself. Which begs another question: how did they get so lucky? In the past, they haven't allowed themselves such independent operations without the authorization of the Chums, and especially not without the authorization of the Imperial Army. And this looks exactly like that. Why did they suddenly get so brave and start operating on their own? This Jackal keeps pointing to the CCC and the Church, that they're in the middle of a fight.

Maybe that's why the Kiwis are getting active. Higher the stakes, higher the payoff.

Yeah, the Jackal told me a lot of things. Maybe I should have hit him harder. Would he have told more then? What else could he not have said? I'll never know. We'll never know now. And we'd better wait for some kind of expertise from Schwarzenberg, he's taking a long time to sort out his autopsy....

Zubrilov's head was already full of thoughts that becoming a chiwi himself would not be as bad as it seemed before. But only thoughts. He understood perfectly well that he would not be able to run and jump in front of the plague administration. He couldn't share his hard-earned power, blood and sweat, with anyone. He didn't have to work so hard to take the throne and swear oaths to someone else… Even though the Kiwis looked very attractive now.....

Zubrilov looked around the room again, then stretched out on the back of a chair and pulled out a map. The main forces of Detachment 14 were now located in the area of Severodonetsk. It was supposed to move the main fighting to the Donetsk-Makeyevka area, but after the obvious complications with the Kiwis in the Deese sector, there were doubts about the correctness of such a move. We should stay away from them… Although the guys won't really understand how we can easily retreat after such a loss. They might think we're weak. No. We should do a couple more surgeries. Something small and subtle, but very painful. And make sure it's in places where honor has recently been sullied… And then go deep. So that everyone will think it was meant to be.

The chief took the telephone receiver and called the chief of the special forces to him. It's a convenient thing to have, after all – unwind the wires all over the area, and sit there and talk without interference. But the old man was so stubborn – he didn't want to install it. He kept sending everyone to run away. He said we should talk to people in person. Well, then he would run and call everyone… Actually, now he's running. He's had enough with his traditions and complexes. Let him eat shit according to tradition…

The new head of Special Forces walks into the office. His hands are bloody to the knuckles.

Shouldn't have trusted the Jackal in the first place. Maybe more would have been learned.

–Lieutenant Colonel Seversky has arrived on your orders.

–Have a seat, Lieutenant Colonel… There's a case for you… In the Disa sector.....

The Korsa sector looked quite typical for the new realities of the Donetsk-Makeyevka group: there were no more plagues at the mine itself, armed men were on duty in the tunnel, and the administration of the plagues sat on the surface. Samoh didn't think this was something incomprehensible – the SChK had done everything to keep the power of the Inquisition from spreading in this area. At the same time, they could not leave it entirely to chance, and a chief from the SChK was still present.

There was an elevator leading to the surface as usual. However, it was slightly different from what Samokh had seen before. This one had a cabin one and a half times higher and moved more smoothly, and most importantly – faster. That even surprised him – could it be that humans had perfected such a thing? Of course, all this was not from a good life, but the result was obvious – people worked more efficiently when they were not so tight as before in the framework of unconditional obedience. I even had a fleeting thought that the SCK's foray into autonomy was not a move against the Church at all, but a gesture of pragmatism… No, nonsense, of course. They care so much about the speed and volume of coal mining…

Also, the man who operated the elevator was interesting. Especially his eyes. Everyone in the mine now had eyes more alive than before in Samoh's opinion. But this one's were sparking a little. As if he knew something that no one else was supposed to know. The eyes of a man a little detached from his daily problems, and ready at any moment for some desperate action. It was even a little frightening. And it was especially frightening that probably no one else noticed it. People are becoming dangerous. Let go of the leash just a little, and they snap. The careerists from SCK don't understand such things, they think they're invincible....