Robert sent a man to Shura's vehicle, while we made plans on how to handle things. Alpha Stan would stay here, and we would use radios or cellphones if we were outside of link range. As the helicopter came in for a landing, we ran off with what we found in his wallet, a photo of him and Polina on their mating day. John helped me up and I slid over, then he jumped in and closed the back door. We both buckled ourselves in and put on the headsets and microphones, both noise-cancelling, we could use to communicate among the four of us.

As we took off, Robert sent...