Zan Zar Zameen: Finale

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

They finally find the man behind it all, and it isn't what it seems.



The car was mostly silent as it sped into Mazer-e-Sharif. Romanova drove with frightning skill through the twisted streets. Jono sat up front, while Garrison flipped through the records Romanova had 'liberated' from the madrasah. Immediately following the fight at the hospital, Kane had rounded up the more combat able of his team, and dragged them to meet her. An inspection of the papers finally yielded a name, and thanks to her, his location in a downtown Mazer-e-Sharif hotel. It was time to ask the questions that mattered.

"Getting into the hotel and to the guy's room might be an issue. Anyone got any bright ideas?"

"The bastard's been helping sell children." Jono's mental voice didn't exactly hiss the words, but the feeling of anger was more than evident. "My vote's for kicking the damn door in and dragging him out by the short hairs."

"And do what, exactly? I can't arrest him, and while letting John immolate him sounds like a good idea, we can't do that either. Let's worry about getting into his room without the local authorities coming after us first." Garrison pointed out.

Tabitha raised her hands. "Let me try. I've done it a time or two before." No need to mention that last time she'd been caught. They probably already knew anyhow.

"Go for it." Kane said, as Natasha pulled the car around to the back of the hotel.

Once at the door, Tabs took a wary look around. "Just keep curious onlookers off my back, deal?"

She pulled what looked like a ball-point pen from her pocket. A quick twist of the top, and she shook out several picks. She affixed one to the bottom of the pen and went to work. It took long enough that her face was red with embarrassment, but the torsion wrench finally turned with a satisfying click.

"...took you long enough," John muttered. He flicked his lighter open and extracted a flame out. "Somehow I don't think intimidation's going to work with this fucker," he said, keeping his voice low. He let out a smirk as he eyed Tabitha. "Lady's first?"

"Nope, you're not going first, John." Garrison said, as they slipped into the hotel. Natasha took the rear, as the five of them went up the stairs and on to the floor with the room. Kane looked to Jono as they got to the room door, and received a negative response from the other man about people who might drop in.

Kane waved Tabitha beside him, and with a single twist, snapped off the doorhandle and shouldered his way into the room. Inside, a small man in a suit jumped at the sight of people coming through the door, frozen at the intrusion.

{What is this!} He said, as they reached him.

~Bugger all this, I'm through with questions~ Jono growled mentally, crossing the room in long strides. With one hand, he yanked down the wrappings covering his face, letting the yellow-orange glow of psionic energy blaze out towards the man they'd come to retrieve. {Natasha didn't say he needed all his limbs, did she?}

"Hey!" John yelled after Jono. "You're not exactly trained in the art of interrogation, Brit boy. Why don't you let Kane handle it?" He didn't think the asshole was going to try to fight his way out of this. Four against one. That'd be interesting.

"Oh, I don't know, I think a missing leg would be an improvement." Tabitha took up a watch by the door.

"Alright, if everyone could put their dicks away for a second." Kane said, moving to one side as Natasha went over to his things, rummaging through them. He motioned at Jono, where the Englishman was hovering menecingly over the Afghani man to provide the translation.

{I'm the Canadian involved in investigating the murder that took place outside of the field hospital near here. We've discovered that there's been a network set up between a slaver boss named Markov and a local fundamentialist Islamic scholer named Taraki in order to kidnap and sell mutants on the open market as weapons.} Kane noted that the telepathy even seem tinged with anger, an unconscious addition by Jono. {According to records found at the madrasah, the person who set up the financial conduit between the two of them, allowing them to transfer money is you. Who are you?}

"Inspector." Natasha said before the man could answer, and handed over the man's Afghanistan passport. It was a diplomatic one, issued to Qari Din Malik. Kane turned it over in his hands. This man wasn't some financier as he thought, but a member of the Taliban government.

Faced with the mutants, especially Jono's strangely flickering countance, Malik began to babble. {Do not hurt me! It is not what you think. I am not a slaver!}

{No, you're a member of the Taliban government, involved in this. Is it money?}

{You don't understand! You are from the West! We have the same goal.} His voice dropped to a hush. {We both want to supplant the Taliban.}

{I'm getting tired of this. How is slavery supposed to help?}

{It is not. Look,} he waved for a set of files to be brought over. Despite the fact that they were in the cursive Arabic writing, Qari's 'voice' carried that his words were accurate, especially with Romanova looking over his shoulder, as if she could read. {Balkh is a microcasm for the entire north. The Taliban are still not recognized by the world governments. The economy is stalled, the civil war cost us a million Afghanis a year, and the tribal conflicts have just added a third dimension to the challenge. Even the strict application of sharia law isn't good enough for some factions.}

{You're the one financing the Tajik tribes!} Natasha said behind him, in perfect Pashto.

{Yes. The earthquake changed the dynamic in the north. It forced them closer into contact with Taliban controled areas. When they began stricter measures on them, it brought the incident closer to open conflict. All it needed was a push.} Qari sighed and rubbed his eyes. {The Taliban exists on a knife edge. Taraki and his madness are exactly what will push them over. With the mutants under his control, the Taliban has to react by either moving even stricter into Islamic law interrupted at the more extremely puniative degree, or by crushing Taraki. A stricter application will send the tribes into open warfare, and they have the strength to push the Taliban back into southern regions. If they crush Taraki, not only will the cost in manpower weaken them, but they'll lose legitimacy nationally.}

{Meanwhile, Markov and his slavers keep the tribes in an open state of agitation, so they're funneling the money you're giving them into weapons, for a war they don't know you're leading them to.}

{Correct. There are moderate forces in Afghanistan. Ones which hate the Taliban and weep to see our country destroyed by their stupidity and shortsighted interpretation of the Faith. As if the Prophet did not intend us to grow and prosper in peace with the world, as opposed to condemning ourselves to--}

{I don't really care.} Kane cut him off. {How did you make this happen? It wasn't just you, and I know this scenario you've outlined is also intended to put you in power. Where did you get the money, or meet Markov?}

{I-- I didn't. I was approached by a man. He, well... he asked me what I wanted most. I said to lead my country away from this madness; from the abuses and destruction the Taliban would cause. He said it would be done, and a month later, all of the contacts, as well as access to funds to coordinate with them were made available.}

{Who was this man?}

{I don't know. But he said he worked for the Kingmaker. I have not seen him since.}

{What about the two Canadians killed? Or the mutants lead to the madrasah? What was to happen to them?}

{The Canadians had been asking questions about connecting the slavers to the madrasah. I believe Taraki arranged for their deaths with some of Markov's men. As for the mutants, they are necessary to set off the war against the Taliban. Surely you see that!}

{Yes, and I don't care.} Kane finally straightened up. "Natasha, do you have the files with this Kingmaker's contribution? And the ones you need to connect Markov?"

"Da."

"Good. We leave the rest. I'm sure when the authorities find Qari, they'll want to know what he's been involved in." Kane said, knowing full well he was leaving the man to die. After what he had engineered, Kane couldn't care less. He was sick at the idea that someone could coldly accept the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands in order to seize power. "Taraki was handed over to local authorities, as well as his papers. I'm sure their version of the police are on their way to pick him up now. Qari might even get his wish, since by connecting the deaths of those two volunteers to a Taliban official will earn all measure of diplomatic reprisals from the west." He sighed, and scrubbed his face. "Fuck this. Let's get back to the camp. I'm ready to go home now."