The story opened with an anecdote about the widow of a slain Mexican investigative journalist whose phones had been tapped by the Mexican government. The source for the surveillance technology was not Mexican, however. It was Perseus Group. Raynor’s story described a battle for supremacy for global strategic services taking place between Perseus Group and a Russian company called Amur Tactical Resources. The article suggested a personal rivalry between the companies’ CEOs. Klay had heard Dmitri Yurchenko’s name but knew him only as an oligarch tied to Putin. Yurchenko, Raynor wrote, was a traditional mercenary, interested in winning government and rebel group military contracts. Perseus Group was more sophisticated. “It’s not just about selling instruments of war for him [Krieger] anymore. It’s about risk attendant to conflict and the return he can get from manipulating both,” a former Perseus Group executive was quoted saying in the story. There was only brief mention of The Sovereign, listed as one of several recent high-profile media acquisitions, “. . . moves industry analysts consider part of an effort by Perseus to control its image by acquiring targeted media and entertainment properties.”

Klay logged in to Signal and sent Raynor a quick message. “Sorry to hear about your accident. These boys play rough. Overseas at moment. Let’s chat on return. Meantime, get well. You’re needed. Tom K.”

He drank a beer and finished his chicken. His fries had gone cold. When he first started traveling for The Sovereign, he’d eaten fearlessly, the more exotic the better. Late stage balut—duck embryo—the beak and feathers filling his mouth. Pig’s blood soup. Decomposed sardines recovered from a buried pot, served by a grinning ex-headhunter on Sarawak. Sometimes, he ate foods he abhorred in order to get into his targets: Tiger blood with a Siberian trader. Raw whale meat with a trafficker in Shizuoka. The hands of a Cameroonian gorilla he’d known by name. He vomited that last meal afterwards. It felt worse than cannibalism.