They were crowded in the lobby of the Royal Military Police Department. Deng took off his uniform jacket and mentally wished himself luck.

The adjutant managed to rise from his seat, welcoming the senior officer.

‘Come in, sir.’

Five people were sitting at a long table in the office of the Deputy Head of the Department. Narong knew two of them. There was the chief Interpol representative and next to him the Head of the Antidrug trafficking. The rest included smart guys with tanned weather-beaten faces, two Europeans and a giant black man. These boys would fit into any field gear much more than ironed parade uniforms.

‘The colonel, Narong Deng, came on your order.’

‘Come on, Colonel, sit down. I would like to introduce you to our American friends.’

Deng nodded, greeting the audience, and took a seat next to the chief of Interpol.

‘Sir, all are here, and I can start.’ The first deputy spoke in English.

‘The central headquarters of Interpol received a report of a major deal that Taihang was going to make, who was detained by you, Narong. Buyers have offered a batch of opium valued at about ten million dollars. Taihang is going to hold an auction, inviting customers from several regions. Naturally he would have to cooperate with those who will offer the most favorable conditions. The meeting place will be a village in the Tapie valley. Interpol controlled stakeholder representatives arriving in Bangkok, and we need to ensure the monitoring of Taihang’s people. This represents a good opportunity to put an end to the gang "Tonga Dragons", as they call themselves. Unfortunately, in connection with the arrest of Taihang we have to cancel the operation, especially the buyers who are most likely to inform about his problems. We need to develop a new plan for the liquidation of the drug cartel. Our American friends have offered us their help. These gentlemen have experience of similar actions,’ the chief pointed to the Americans, who were sitting at a table.

‘The Group has successfully completed the mission in South America, and with the kind consent of the Government of the United States, in which several experts were sent to us. Now let’s move onto Taihang. The Bangkok Police Department has launched a criminal case. Witnesses are under the protection programme. Colonel Narong will acquaint you now with the basic materials.’

Deng outlined the essence of the matter very briefly. The Americans wrote down something in their notebooks.

‘Sir, can you trust people working on Taihang?’

‘His real name is YueFei. Taihang is rather a nickname or middle name. His parents emigrated from Beijing to Hong Kong. He arrived in Bangkok as part of a Chinese Tonga, called "Dragon". Within a few years he was able to become the head of the clan including some close family members of his. The overwhelming number of employees on the Taihang is Chinese, the other, a local mob, perform menial jobs. The informants reported that Taihang at the time bought large quantities of weapons, but we could not go to his warehouses. People, who were detained earlier, were silent. In their midst operates a strict order of rituals, something like the Italian Mafia.’

‘Narong, are you talking about criminals or national heroes?!’

‘Excuse me, sir, I didn’t say that. I mean, it is unlikely that they will testify. It's easy to keep track of Taihang’s people, they are not hiding.’

‘We must make maximum efforts for the elimination of Taihang’s groups. After the meeting you will receive instructions and a plan of action. Narong’s management in the active phase of the operation will not take part, but will assist with the development of the investigation. Today the Colonel will transfer Taihang’s gentlemen from the special division. We can get valuable information from a detainee by the Interpol head of the Kashgar groups, who cooperated with Tongan "Dragon". Taihang is involved personally in the creation of the organization. Income derived from the sale of drugs in China is much higher than dividends we expected. Taihang tried to get rid of mediators from Kashgar’s clan, and decided to control drug trafficking on his own. An anonymous informant told the time and place of the next transaction, attended by Kashgarians. Naturally, all participants were arrested. After the detention of Fan Kuai, who led the group, who, surprisingly, has agreed to assist the police in investigating the case of Taihang. He was suspected of betrayal. But the head of Kashgar's clan put forward the only requirement before he testifies; he wants to meet with Taihang individually. We have accepted the terms of Fan Kuai. Taihang will go to China in the morning. The experts are developing an operational plan, and are confident that new details will emerge of the activity of Tonga "Dragon” after a meeting with Fan Kuai.’

G2Vismain sequence star, called "yellow dwarf" is navigator’s slang. The center of the system, which consists of thirteen planets, is located on the boundary of the sphere. The outskirts, which were forgotten by God, are only referenced in the navigation handbooks and in the reports of prospecting astrologers. The only inhabited planet, which was removed in one and a half astronomical units from the sun. It wasn't valuable to the military and the industry trade companies. If a week ago, the packet-boat commander orderly, Major compartment III of the Immediate Office of His Majesty the Emperor Charlemagne, Olaf Mueller, a month ago, was heard that he would be locked in a hole, he would take such similar messages as a joke.

Then the transfer order of the second lieutenant, Jurgen Mayer, under the operational control of the General Staff Kosmoflot, would have taken far less mockery. Olaf Muller traveled with Jurgento to the distant garrisons, in which he had been carrying urgent orders and services for nearly three years. His co-pilot went to the increase now. He will progress to be commander or a guard-hunter, and if he were very lucky, he will rise to the bridge of the destroyer within fifteen years. Personally to Olaf he was not a shining prospect. Until the end of the service, there was nothing but post boats and raid boats. The only thing to blame was the medical record of the pilot.

The Packet had been hanging at the rendezvous point for two days, waiting for the return of the raider from combat patrolling. The cruiser must come out of hyperspace somewhere in this sector for a scheduled course. The guys who were returning from a separate journey after that meeting with the orderly did not promise anything good. Most likely, the command was necessary to urgently send a ship into the next hole of the industrial sector, in order to intimidate the "gentlemen of fortune" who terrorized the freight. It was the kind of business to guide the third compartment. The Pirates, who were harassing traders, were a very profitable item in the budget of the Empire. The order of combat unit costs a lot of money to restore order in the industrial sector. Incidentally, it was not the Reich marks, and only guaranteed by gold, galactic dinars. [11] Some of whom settled in the pockets of the bosses of the "threesome" as gratitude for the "operational decision" problem. Olaf thought that in a container marked "secret" was the order to start such an operation and a single crystal with the coordinates and a course of assignments.