"All right Friedrich, the spent fuel ships are underway, and the Aristotle is in position. Let's get this show on the road," said Aaron, looking at the monitors in front of him.

"Starting the Bach's reactors now," replied Friedrich, tapping on his console.

The massive cargo ship shuddered as its reactors came online, and its turbines spun up.

"All systems are go, first shipment of hardware using the Bach is underway," said Friedrich.

The Bach slowly moved forward, its huge hull slicing through the water as it joined the Aristotle for the voyage to Boston.

On board the Charles de Gaulle, General Malkovich watched the two ships with gritted teeth.

"Crafty little bastards," he muttered.

"We can stop them," said Captain Saunier.

"Nah, let them do their thing, for now. We'll deal with them if they get any dumb ideas," replied Malkovich.

"Very well, but I must admit, they're pretty impressive," said Saunier.

"Yeah, they are. But keep your mouth shut about it. The powers that be are already pissed off, and its just us saying we don't want another Middle Eastern quagmire that's staying their hand," said Malkovich.

"Of course," chuckled Saunier.

Meanwhile, the Bach and Aristotle were steaming through the Mediterranean at 25 knots.

"Keep them tracked Saunier. They should know we're tolerating their presence," said Malkovich.

"Of course, General Malkovich, I've got the entire strike group tracking them, and we can pounce with Rafales and F-35s if needed," replied Saunier.

"That shouldn't be necessary, since Saladin is crazy but not stupid. Still, keep your fighters on alert," said Malkovich.

"Yes, sir," replied Saunier. He noticed something on the Charles de Gaulle's radar.

"Hold on, what's this?" he asked, squinting at the screen.

"What's what?" asked Malkovich.

"Hmm, interesting, there is a flotilla of conventional cargo ships that are forming around the Bach and Aristotle," said Saunier.

"Really? How many?" asked Malkovich.

"Four by the looks of it," replied Saunier.

"Get some eyes on them. I want to know who they are," said Malkovich.

A few seconds later, the Charles de Gaulle's F35s were airborne, and they quickly approached the flotilla.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" chuckled Captain Saunier as the reconnaissance footage came in.

"Sir, it appears to be a small convoy of cargo ships, they have been hooked up via towing and power cables to the Bach and Aristotle," reported one of the F-35 pilots.

"Any identification?" asked Saunier.

"They are all flagged from Yamamoto Corp, sir," replied the pilot.

"Very well, return to the carrier," ordered Saunier.

"Yes, sir," replied the pilot.

"So that's how they plan to get around needing port clearance for the Bach and Aristotle," mused Malkovich.

"Most creative," replied Saunier.

----

"Master Zakhrov, this is Captain Siddig, tow lines and power cables are secure, flotilla is now powered by Bach and Aristotle," came the voice over the radio.

"Thank you, Captain. All right, the ships are underway. Saladin, you have my thanks," said Aaron, looking at the monitors in front of him.

"Happy to help, and it's a good way to have the Aristotle and Bach shake down their systems," replied Saladin.

"Very true. I'll call you once I'm back in Boston," said Aaron.

"Sounds good. Safe travels," replied Saladin, shaking Aaron's hand.

"Thanks, you too," said Aaron.

With that, Aaron and Natasha left Saladin's palace and headed for the airport.

"What should we do about that Thakur guy, sir?" asked Natasha.

"I think we can give him to Kavita and Vikram. They can deal with him," replied Aaron.

"All right sir," said Natasha, as she and Aaron boarded the plane.

----

Li Wei shuddered as his taxi approached the Sirius Software compound.

He had heard rumors about the place, but seeing its massive walls topped with electric fences and with the massive reinforced gates made him nervous.

"Name and purpose of visit?" asked the guard at the gate.

"Li Wei, business appointment," replied Li Wei nervously, handing the guard his ID.

The guard relayed the information to someone inside the compound, and after a few tense moments, the guard nodded and opened the gate.

"Go straight to the main building," said the guard.

"Damn, sir this place is like area-51," muttered his taxi driver as they drove through the compound.

"Yeah, I know. Just drop me off at the main building," said Li Wei.

"Sure thing, sir," replied the driver.

Li Wei got out of the taxi, and walked towards the giant black obelisk, trying to keep his nerves in check.

He buzzed the intercom, "I'm Li Wei, Silicon Alliance representative," he announced himself.

"Go straight to floor 128," replied a voice from the intercom, as the titanium alloy door hissed open.

Li Wei walked into the lobby, and took the elevator to floor 128, using the time to calm his nerves.

----

"Well Mr. Wei, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" asked Aaron, as Le Wei nervously shuffled into his office.

"I'm here to discuss terms to end the silicon embargo against Sirius Software," replied Li Wei.

Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"And those are?" he asked.

"W-we're willing to lift the embargo if Sirius Software agrees to cancel all business dealings ad contracts with the Libyan government, Albrecht Nuclear Systems, and Yamamoto Corp," said Li Wei.

"Refused, see yourself out," said Aaron.

Li Wei's jaw dropped.

"Wait, you can't be serious," he stammered.

"My patience is wearing thin, Mr. Wei. Get off my property," said Aaron, turning back to his computer.

"What do you want? A seat on the alliance? A WEF membership?" I can make it happen. All you need to do is sever ties with those entities," said Li Wei desperately.

"Natasha, remove this pest," said Aaron, not looking up from his computer.

"Yes, sir," replied Natasha, as she stood up and walked towards Li Wei.

"Please, I can make this worth your while," pleaded Li Wei.

Natasha grabbed Li Wei by the arm, and steered him towards the door.

"You're making a big mistake! Sirius Software will go down! There are forces much bigger than you or me at play here!" shouted Li Wei.

"Shut it windbag," said Natasha, as she escorted him out.

"Unhand me woman!" growled Li Wei, struggling against Natasha's grip, as she marched him to the elevator.

"You're lucky you're still breathing after trying to pull that shit," said Natasha, pushing him into the elevator.

"Oh really? Maybe your 'boss' hasn't told you, but all of his so-called computer components have been blacklisted by retailers and mainstream tech press. He's not going to be able to sell a single one, even with that fancy nuclear cargo ship of his!" snarled Li Wei, as he left the main HQ building.

----

"All right Vikram, what's this emergency about?" asked Aaron, as Vikram entered his office.

"Our new products aren't hitting shelves boss. Nearly every retailer is either posting them as out of stock or straight up refusing to list them," said Vikram.

"What about from our own website?" asked Aaron.

"Demand is strong from there, but we don't have the logistics teeth to get them from port to customer," said Vikram.

"Then let's build that out," said Aaron.

"Not so simple boss. Amazon's got those logistics unions locked down tight. Heck, we've got reports from our ships that port authorities and customs are basically dumping our containers back into the sea," said Vikram.

"All right then. Let's build this out ourselves. First, we use Libya and Boston here as staging grounds. We'll use Sirius Software aligned logistics firms to handle US distribution here, Saladin can handle the Middle East and Africa, while Friedrich can expand his business in Europe, and we can use Yamamoto Corp's logistics arm to handle Asia and Oceania," said Aaron.

"That's going to bite deep into our margins and war chest boss," said Vikram.

"Not as deep as losing customer confidence and mind-share. Get it done," said Aaron.

"Yes, sir," replied Vikram.

----

The atmosphere in the Cabal's war room was tense.

"Why doesn't he just curl up and die?" growled Monica Goldberg.

"It appears that Zakhrov and his upstarts are proving to be much more resilient than we anticipated," replied Daniel.

"Li Wei's little stunt backfired as well. Sirius Software has now built up a parallel shipping and logistics network in addition to their own fabs. And before you ask, no, we can't touch those ships without declaring war on Libya," said Elijah.

"Then declare war and bomb the shit out of them dammit! Playing nice isn't working!" screamed Monica.

Daniel gave her a vicious backhand, that sent her reeling and whimpering.

"At this point, my dearest Emily, we can't guarantee victory. Our people have already suffered enough over the years," said Daniel softly.

"How about we pull the nuclear plug? Aditya Thakur has been inside for nearly a year now, and he hasn't caused any suspicion," suggested Elijah.

"That might just work," said Monica perking back up.

"All right, I'll contact him tonight to get the protocol set in motion," said Elijah.

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