the same as the informant of the chums. And whether it's the one they found thanks to Zheleznov. It's Ranierov or not.

It's hard to say. Zubrilov had already become confused by all these informants in the last six months. Especially since he personally leaked some information to the plagues. Like in the case of Kremenchug. This party was too favorable for him. And it paid off! To sacrifice a little to seize the initiative…

But as for the rest, it was no longer him. A lot of information, including the fact that he had become Commander-in-Chief, was not spread with his knowledge, and some real informant of the Chum or the Kiwi still existed in his Squad 14. A real one, or several.

Ranierov had been pointed out by the prefect. The data he had provided left no doubt that Ranierov had every reason to snitch to the plague, and given his character, it should have been a matter of course. But now the situation had changed dramatically — Zubkov, now in charge, did not benefit from anyone leaking anything without his knowledge. Whether it was one person or several, any leak was now only to his detriment. And given the speed at which all kinds of information was spreading, it was becoming dangerous.

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