Page 83 of Polestar
Joey hesitated, then blew out her breath.“Yes.”
“Which is?”
How much do I tell them?
“Magnus’ family has been the chosen guardians for an incredibly valuable artifact in the high north; only a handful of people in the world have somehintof its existence.”She drew in a breath.“But our job is to focus on the human trafficking ring and rescue survivors in order to return them to their families.So, we’ll focus on that.”
Carson nodded, gaze locked on Joey’s face.“You’ll tell us about this artifact later?”
Joey resumed her pacing, ignoring the question.“Jack, what else do we know that can help us?”
“Matochkin is known to have worked closely with a company that provides renewable energy and satellite connectivity to remote areas like his.I sent you some files on that.”
“Why is this of interest to us?”Joey reached for the device on her desk to switch on the monitor affixed to the wall, then the keyboard to retrieve the files Jack mentioned.On opening the file, several images cast to the screen, including the logo of an octopus with its arms enveloping a globe.
“Embraceable Energy.Embracing responsible technology to reach every part of the planet,” Aaron said, reading the motto.
Jack continued, “I’ve had my tech team investigating to see if we could tap into this network.Most of the satellites in the north are government owned.Some allow us access, some don’t.Barentia isn’t covered because it’s on a blackout list of protected areas.”
“As per U.N.agreements with sovereign shifter nations.And?”
“And—.”
“Look at the logo,” Raya breathed.
Jack continued, “And the logo is suspiciously similar to the sigil tattoo.”
Joey tapped a few keys to split the screen and bring up the images of the sigil.“Eight arms on the octopus.Eight bars on the sigil.”
“Eight major shipping regions that we’ve seized human cargo from,” Raya said.
“What do we know about the company’s owner?”Carson asked, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
“Adolf Wulker.Shifter.Octopus,” Jack said.
“Of course,” Lirikai said, rolling her eyes.
Aaron resumed his pacing.“Why have we never heard of this guy before?”
“We’re aware of him.We just didn’t have cause to look into him before now,” Joey said.“He’s good at camouflaging himself and his activities.”
“Slippery sucker,” Lirikai said, crossing her arms.
Jack went on, “I’ve listened to all of Ana’s interview recordings, including her trip into the astral realm with Aksel.She said the ocean was full of a black substance she wasn’t sure was oil or ink.I think it was ink.Squid—Octopus ink.”
“Meaning?”Carson glanced back to the enlarged image of the sigil.
“Meaning, I think Wulker is more than just a shifter.The sigils aren’t just ownership brands.”
“I’ll have the medics analyze samples of Aksel’s skin to see if they made the tattoo of squid ink and any other components,” Joey said, following Jack’s line of thought.“And if we can remove it.”
“In the meantime, I’m going to have my tech department quietly poke around Wulker’s infrastructure to see if they can find a way into his databases.”
“Good,” Joey said.“The rest of us are going to load the jet with gear and make our way to Norway.Whether Wulker has anything to do with the trafficking ring or not, we need to find out why Magnus and Analiese haven’t contacted us via sat-phone.There could be a good reason they haven’t reached out and I don’t want to blow the mission if there is.”
“And if not, we’re ready to go in after them,” Carson said, pulling Joey’s attention.
He held her gaze.
