Walker returned with paperwork. ‘Kazakhstan owes Russia five billion for arms sales alone. Then there’s about three billion in cash-for-oil financing: pre-pay deals.’

‘China will have more,’ I said.

‘China’s loaned this place fifteen billion in the last two years. Mostly through joint ventures.’

‘Jesus,’ Piper said.

‘That’s how they colonise,’ I said. I’d been expecting a lot, but not that much. You look in the accounts book and the whole thing’s floating on thin air. It’s a shell game, and then something threatens to bring it down, some little thing, and the tanks appear.

‘It makes it pretty obvious,’ I said. ‘There’s no way Beijing would let Russia invade.’

Walker handed me the report. The China Investment Corporation had issued 60 billion dollars in bonds to underwrite construction in Kazakhstan. They needed to make a profit of 20 million yuan every day just to pay the interest and operation costs.

‘You know, the Chinese refer to the Russians as the warring nation,’ I said.

‘I hear you,’ Piper said, writing this down.

‘Do they try to hack us?’ I asked.

‘The Chinese? Only about ten times a day.’

‘Put the annexation map on the system, take the security off.’

‘I’m not in a position to do that,’ she said, more like a disclaimer than a fact. ‘But I’ll pass the suggestion on.’ Her phone rang. She checked the screen and got to her feet. ‘You can still make the party?’ she asked me, heading for the door.

‘The party?’

‘Galina’s birthday. Tonight.’

‘Sure.’

‘Will you get a chance to shave?’ She was serious. I nodded. She slipped me what I thought was a flash drive but turned out to be a tube of concealer – ‘for your injuries.’ I nodded. Then she was gone.

Walker said, ‘People are asking about the local support on the ground you mentioned, as a temporary measure for keeping the field secure. How much of a politically acceptable option is Akan Satayev?’

‘He’s the only option.’

‘How many men does he control?’

‘I think he’s got two or three hundred in the area now. And it’s a clan system, with alliances: each of those men can bring in thirty or forty more. There are gangs in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan that ultimately answer to Satayev. They can be protecting Conqueror in days.’

‘What would he need to work with us?’

‘A few hundred thousand, I reckon. Get his trucks moving, crossing borders, his men equipped, confident that they’ve got backing. In the longer term, with the field, it may come down to giving him a cut of final profits.’

‘There’s no way he’s getting final profits,’ Walker said. ‘But keep that channel open.’

‘He’ll need reassurances. Concrete ones.’

‘You know more about that side of things than I do. There are options. Keep him onside if you can.’

‘Sure.’