morgan

Hannah, you daft cat, we both know you and me could go to Sudean right now, dig up whoever hurt Mr. Lane, beat him senseless, even put him in the ground.

But a fight won't solve our problems.

Don't worry, I've been thinking about it.

I hope you're right.

Two weeks later...

Why are you pacing in circles? Is the new sofa too hard for you?

You called us all here for a job. What is it? Are we gonna get back at them for what they did to Mr. Lane?

Slow down.

The Lane Brothers are through, Vina.

What?!

The man himself is still lying in a hospital bed, and they're just gonna give up? Throw away their hideout?

Weren't they all up in arms, ready to set fire to the other side's factories?

They got a bunch of people together a couple of times, but they were stopped before they could leave Norport. Things just fell apart after that.

The Sudean Labor Office recruited a new lot of workers from Norport this week. A few Lane Brothers heavies were on the list.

The Lane Brothers couldn't stay together without anyone running the show.

Those traitors!

We can't blame them.

The Lane Brothers used to watch over the biggest warehouses around here, collecting enough protection money to feed a few hundred mouths.

It's hard to keep up in the sorry state of Norport's markets today.

Everyone's here, Vina. They're waiting outside.

Alright, let's go.

Where to?

The Lane Brothers' hideout.

The Glasgow Gang will take in anyone from the Lane Brothers who has nowhere to go.

What're you on about?

Don't you get it, Hannah? We're taking over Lane Brothers territory.

That's like robbin' a man while his house is on fire!

I suppose you could put it like that.

Why are we doing this?

It's a long story; I'll explain on the way. Grab your stuff and we'll head out. There's a lot to do today.

Not just the Lane Brothers' warehouses; cinemas, billiard clubs, cafes, hotels... we're visiting half the establishments in Norport.

You'll have plenty of things to punch today.

Norport's gangs may not be all that big, but everyone sticks to their territory, and sticks together when there's trouble from outside.

That's why the other boroughs never tried to mess with us.

Vina's only been in Norport a few years. You and Morgan and me grew up here. How could we sign on to this?

Hey, where <i>is</i> Morgan? Does she know what we're doin'?

It's Morgan's plan, Hannah.

She's not with us today because she has her own job to do.

I'm here. I'm alone. Show yourself.

Who are you? Sneaking around like that, throwing letters tied to rocks... you broke my window, dammit.

And your writing's real ugly.

Hah!

My writing's ugly?

Hey, what's with the machete?!

No funny stuff, I'm warning you. Lots of boys around here. All I need to do is shout.

Go on, shout. You read my letter.

Why you...

You should be glad it's me here and not my friends. I came to talk. This is only for when talking goes wrong.

Bernie from Romi Textiles in Sudean Borough, am I right? Just double-checking.

The stuff in the envelope. How did you find out?

The unstamped lists of goods and invoices with your name on it?

It wasn't hard. Took me just two weeks to put together all you did this past year.

Pirated videos, unprocessed spices, Arts generators, Originium equipment... all controlled goods in Sudean that you sneaked through the checkpoints.

What would Mr. Romi do if he found out his foreman has been runnin' a smuggling hustle through his factory?

Would he break your legs, or hand you over to the coppers so they can do it?

What do you want?

Remember Mr. Lane? You got into a fight with him here two weeks ago. Sent him to the hospital.

He's still there. I think you owe him an apology, and his medical bills too. Not a pence short.

Oh, so it's the Lane Brothers. Took you two weeks to do something, did it?

Wait a minute, I thought you were wound up.

The Lane Brothers' Gang is no more.

I'm Morgan. Morgan of the Glasgow Gang.

Remember the name. This won't be the last time we do business.

Pah, what business could we possibly have with Norport?

Look at that train behind you, girl. A dozen carriages, carrying more in a day than your old docks see in a week.

Look at all those elevators and carts working around the clock, and rows of factories stretching as far as the eye can see. You got those in Norport?

Tell you what. I'll find you a job on the line, and you give me the originals of what was in that envelope. How's that for a deal?

What are you doing?

The 'brain' of the Glasgow Gang walks up to the man, smiling, and buries her fist in his belly.

The man falls to his knees, grabbing his stomach, his face twisted in pain.

He looks up to see the young Feline glaring down at him. Her face is pretty; her expression, less so.

Gah...

Got distracted by the machete...

For all that Sudean has, you smuggled all this stuff through Norport, taking the long way round.

Sudean's checkpoints are pretty strict, aren't they? Isn't it interesting how certain things only get into Londinium through the old depots?

The gangs of Norport have been struggling to stay afloat for a couple of years. Starting today, though, the Glasgow Gang runs the show in Norport. All of it.

You want to keep your hustle, you keep your tail firmly between your legs.

You can go now. You can guess what happens if you don't show up at the hospital before the sun sets.

A word of advice. People like you and I, trying to get on top of one another? There's no point to any of it.

Yes, Sudean is booming right now. Lots of smokestacks, lots of workers. You're drawing a lot of envy.

But have you ever set foot in Auchterigg?

Have you seen the nobles' mansions? Alleys wider than a central avenue in Sudean?

Their clothes are always sparkling clean. They don't punch their timecards for the morning shift, and they don't watch pirated video tapes when they get off in the evening. They drink tea in gardens bigger than any of the factories behind you.

Sudean, Norport? It's all the same to them.

Who knows if Sudean won't become the next Norport? Maybe a new industry rises in another borough in a few years to take your place.

We're all the same to Londinium, Bernie. They can throw us out at any time.

We can't keep up with the changing times.

I'm back.

Is everything fine, Morgan?

Of course I'm fine. Bernie, not so much. He should be in Mr. Lane's ward as we speak.

Too bad none of you were there to watch the showdown between Kate Morrigan and Sudean's throng of smugglers.

Well, I'll be sure to write it down in my memoirs for you to enjoy.

Oh, please, gimme a break.

Hahahaha...

What have you been up to?

Took in a dozen lads from the Lane Brothers who accepted Vina as their new boss. You'll be able to write while watching the warehouses from now on.

We visited seven gangs today. Talked three into joining. Hannah and I beat the other four into submission.

But the markets of Norport are barren, and the gangs living off it a bunch of loose rabble. It's a disorganized mess, not something that you can just bring together in the blink of an eye.

No hurry. The Glasgow Gang is in this for the long haul.

Thanks for agreeing to it, Vina.