— Yeah… Everybody understands… But you know what… I don't like it… I don't like it… He's been running it for too long. It's dangerous. Having the same person running the place for so long.

And growing.

— Is he bothering you? As long as he serves well. And satisfies the secret police…

— This is my faction! — pounded on the table Bluh. — My column! And they're doing what they want… No, Doni… I don't want to put up with this….

— It's so late already, buddy… Under the roof of the CCC he…..

— Well, that's how you say it, Doni, how you say it… How you say it….

Prefect

Gora sat and reread the innermost letter that had come to him two weeks ago. The letter, in which some Church minister had warned him against the future appearance of Samoh, first in his neighboring sector and then in his personal stronghold. To his credit, the letter had come in good time. And although some preparations had already been made, the most important thing — to form a defensive line on the staircases of the Korsa sector leading from the surface to the mine itself — was done only after the letter, and just a day before the Inquisitor's appearance.

As expected, first they tried the freight elevator, which was blown up by the Mountain Man along with himself. And then they tried to pass through the staircase, but the cut-off lights and tear gas did their job — the plagues didn't go any further, and in the end the only way to leave the sector was also by surface. If they had not made these preparations, it is quite possible that this inquisitor would already be in the Diza sector and would have done what he wanted here. It would have been a surprise to the CCC to see him emerge from the mine, and would have probably put an end to any further plans for Ananhr herself.

It's worth noting that even now, Anandhr's chances are not good at all. It's not even clear why she hasn't personally left the place yet. She's backed up by a personal storm of SCK guards and some chiwi units on the outer perimeter of the sector. It's enough to counter the Maquis, but the Inquisition operates legally, so it's not appropriate to use it against her, as the case in the Korsa sector showed.

Too little information. Gora once again thought that for a long time his weakest point was the lack of necessary information for analysis. And often he had to make bets almost blindly and only on the assumption that other options looked even worse…And yet some conclusions were obvious to him.

One. Expanding his influence will certainly not please those who have ceded theirs. That is, the former plague administration. The main trump card here was the SCK, which created this system and, obviously, needed it for some time.

Second. Maki. If even they haven't learned about the increase in coal production and transportation yet, things will change when they do. No matter what they think of the miners, the fact that the recent changes are making the plague empire richer is clearly not going to make them happy. And those slogans about the welfare of the people, which they have been proclaiming for the last hundred years, will be forgotten and remade in a flash. And at the head of their new idea they will put the war against collabrationism, as they will certainly call it. That is why it was so important to get them away from the Deese sector as soon as possible.

Three. Inquisition. If they are not interfered with, at first they will not have any claims to self-government. But in the event of the defeat of the BCC, soon enough, everything will really go back to the old version of governance, which was so warned about by the very minister of the church in the letter.

Fourth. Heavey. There are a lot of questions here, especially since there was even less information about them. It's absolutely certain that they're somehow connected to the SCK, since they were here so quickly. But it's obviously not the same kind of connection as he has with the CCC. They clearly have a lot more leeway. And even more personal vendetta against the Maquis. It's even surprising that the Maquis have never mentioned them, and it seems as if they're covering up the fact of their existence… It's hard to say what the prospects are, but at this point they're powerful allies, and it's not worth it to interfere with their use of underground communication routes, especially since it would really help them in eliminating the Maquis in this area… Let the Maquis operate somewhere else. After all, they should have enough targets. At least the column's headquarters in Rostov-on-Don… The sector's karak was once removed, and they could also try to remove the column's broz….

There was a knock at the door. It was Tikhomirov. Lately he had been looking very tense and with a very concentrated look. It was evident that he was very much enjoying what he was doing, and that his appetite was apparently growing no less than that of the prefect himself.

— Mr. Prefect. It's urgent.

— Come on in. Report. — Gora was very pleased with his work, and sometimes even thought about how he had once successfully chosen such a man for his personal service.

— The first piece of news doesn't smell good. Our informant from Unit 14… — Having first recruited the plague, Tikhomirov had taken to the business of recruitment with real professionalism, and was now doing his best to infiltrate his men everywhere. Even before the transfer of the six mines to the prefect's jurisdiction, Tikhomirov's trusted men were already there, and in addition, there were such men in several Maquis units, including his most important, Unit 14. — The informant