Notes Taken by Samantha and Alastair Beadle.
Napalm wakes up on the rooftop of the building next to the block containing Molinya's flat. Black smoke streaks mark the broken windows of the flat as the firemen rake over the remains (and those of the adjoining apartments, too). Napalm's clothes are scorched.
Molinya decides to go to police HQ and see what she can do to sort things out there. She contacts Mirov to 'take over the custody' of Napalm. It is decided that everyone else should meet up; everyone is contacted except Molinya and Baba Yaga and it is decided to meet at Gorky Park, by one of the lakes.
The party arrive, some of them passing the retired Soviet space shuttle at the entrance. At the meeting it is decided that for security over the radios (taken from the bad guys, after all), the meeting point in Gorky park will be given a code number, different each time, to confuse anyone listening in.
Mother Bear complains about Molinya and Napalm attacking the mafioski haunts because of the innocent bystanders that were injured by the mafia firing on the duo. In turn Napalm asks about the girl Mother Bear kidnapped, but Mother Bear refuses to answer questions about her.
It is decided that we must stay together to be effective against the supervillains. Napalm contacts Molinya to ask if there are any other places that records are kept in Moscow and that may be a target for the villains, and also if there is anything that can counter powers of the chemical woman. Akula thinks that the group needs some transport, and Mirov says he can change into an object to carry those that cannot fly. Mother Bear agrees to go and get some ear defenders from the factory where she works, and the others will go and buy some gas masks from the grey market.
Mother Bear goes to the factory and gets the ear defenders, bypassing a few questions from her co-workers.
The rest of the team go to the flea market which is set up in the Lenin Central Stadium, just over the Moscow River from Gorky Park. Napalm flits around overhead while the others go in in civilian form. Some army surplus stalls are found, but all of them seem to be charging vastly inflated prices for them - there seems to have been a big demand recently. Mirov steals a gas mask using his powers, and General Winter buys another four (using part of his huge wad of cash) plus some clothes for Napalm, to replace her current singed ones. Mirov uses super-flatulence to test the gas masks. They seem to work. General Winter buys some fudge and Mirov comes up with the idea of producing some sort of mechanical device to fire glue over the bug-woman to trap her, so General Winter buys a jet wash, tool kit and industrial glue. Napalm, who was a mechanic, will attempt to modify the jet wash to spray glue.
Normal gas masks will not fit Mother Bear. Akula suggests using the gas mask from a riot police horse, so a call is made to the harried Molinya, and a horse gas mask for Mother Bear is obtained.
Afterwards the party all meet up at a little restaurant in the Losniy Ostrov, in the North-east of the city, where Baba Yaga first appeared. The party take a table on a little patio outside, as the weather is quite nice. Napalm changes her clothes behind a screen of flames and General Winter buys food for the group. Napalm hovers, flaming; Mirov hovers on a jet of air he is sucking in through the top of his head. When Akula investigates this and is sucked in and splashed over the patio, the customers sitting outside soon decide to leave or go and hide inside the cafe.
After eating, Mirov changes into a hot air airship using Napalm as the heat source, and the group goes to the Otradnoe suburb, in the north of Moscow, to visit Valentina Staroi, the girlfriend of the late Matvey Barsan (pulled out of the river, dead from poisoning, a few days ago). On reaching the tower block (recognisable by the somewhat dilapidated mural of peasants toiling happily in the fields on one side) all the group except Napalm go to visit Valentina.
The apartment block is very run down, with lots of graffiti and rubbish, and with most apartment doors having been armoured. Valentina answers the door of her apartment (keeping it on the chain) in a dressing gown and furry slippers, smoking a cigarette. She is a fairly young and pretty but careworn-looking blonde woman. She is also sporting a noticeable black eye, from Barsan she says when she is asked. She lets the group in, and agrees to talk if the group will provide her some means of escape from the city/country. The party agree to this.
Valentina tells us that Barsan worked for Stanislav Philipovich Rostinar - possibly one of the men of Mr Starukha, the man from the hotel. Barsan was a fairly lowly member of the group. Before his death he was involved in something, but wouldn't tell her what it was. However, he seems to have thought that if it came off then he would become a big boss in the mafia - money, power, the works. She adds that recently she and Barsan were in the "Peter the Great" bar (one which Mother Bear has heard the name of before) and there was definitely something going on and a couple of new faces - people she saw off in the distance going in and out of the back of the bar. From the descriptions she gives they sound like WarWolf and the bespectacled Arabic man. She adds that there was something scary about the Arabic man - just something about him, the way he looked at you like he would have no more compunctions about killing you than squashing a bug. She gives the party the names of some of Barsan's associates who she knows in the mafia.
Valentina then goes and packs her stuff and she is taken to the Sheremetevo-2 international airport to the north-west of the city. Mirov produces a passport and after some wandering about disguised as a customs officer checking peoples visas, produces for her a visa into the USA - there is a flight for Seattle leaving shortly, and she is more than happy to go to the USA. General Winter gives her some cash to tide her over, and she then tells us that Barsan had also mentioned that the new guys lived in a tower block in Otradnoe district, though she doesn't know where. She thanks Mirov and General Winter and leaves looking very happy.
It is decided that Mirov and Napalm will go to the "Peter the Great" bar in disguise to try and find out some useful information. The disguise will be as a tart and her pimp. Napalm goes back to Valentina's flat and takes some of her discarded clothes so she will look the part. Valentina was a couple of sizes smaller than Napalm but she manages to squeeze into them, just about - a short red dress, fishnets and high heels. Napalm is not comfortable with these clothes, never having worn their like before. Mirov transforms into a large well dressed thug-like man.
The pair then go to the bar, which is in a basement with one a discreet neon sign advertising its presence. The others, in civilian identity, go to an Afghan restaurant over the street and wait. Napalm is restrained from doing something bad to the restaurant with reasoned argument - they are probably Afghans who were loyal to the Soviets and so are refugees here.
In the "Peter the Great" bar the pair go to the bar, which is dimly lit and full of smoke, and Mirov orders some drinks. The atmosphere is more than a little tense. The other tarts and pimps in the bar give them hostile looks. Everyone watches them and the barman doesn't move. A thug comes over and talks to Mirov. It is agreed that Mirov will talk to the bossman - a large muscular shaven-headed thug sitting on a stool at the end of the bar dressed in trousers and a vest - about setting up "in business" with "his girl". Once this is done things relax somewhat. Drinks are served and Napalm accepts the vodka and downs it quickly. Mirov funnels his vodka into her glass too, using his powers.
Looking around discreetly, the two see that there is definitely a back way out of here, with a couple of thugs discreetly guarding the door.
After a while the boss beckons Mirov over and looks Napalm, in her skimpy dress, up and down. After some discussion he agrees to Mirov setting up in the area, in return for some "favours" involving Napalm at some future date. Mirov tells him about some people he is looking for in the area - business partners - and gives the names of the people Valentina had given him as being those who worked with Barsan. The boss says he will see if he can find anything out about the people. The boss leers at Napalm who gracefully dodges his attempts to grab her.
Mirov and Napalm go back to their original place on the bar and play it cool while observing what goes on. The boss then goes into the back of the club. Mirov extrudes a transparent film over the floor (putting up with cigarette ends being dropped on him, and women in stiletto heels trading on him) and under the door and enters the back of the club. There is a short corridor with two door on each side and one at the end. The one at the end goes to a fire exit. The others contain, respectively, a couple having sex, some people playing cards, a drug dealing/using den and something like an office, which is where the boss has gone. Inside he is talking to a big man of about forty dressed in a smart suit (this is obviously the other man's boss) who the boss refers to as Mr Kurevka. He is sat behind a table with a pair of young, attractive and scantily clad women. Two thugs stand behind him, one on either side, and a couple of flunky-types are standing in the background. Against one wall is leaning a tall, muscular black clad woman with harsh features, dark eyes short-cropped black hair and swarthy skin whom Mr Kurevka refers to as Vilma; she is wearing a long (ankle-length) skirt and a black jacket with a high-collared black blouse under it (there is a little speculation about her origin - whether she is an Afghan - but with her colouration and the like she could be from anywhere in a very large area). It appears from the conversation that the boss's name is actually Kiril.
Vilma is sent out to look us over. She doesn't appear to speak Russian as the Mr Kurevka's order is translated by one of the flunky types. Vilma comes out of the back room and stands in the bar watching Mirov and Napalm for a while. Strangely, despite being an unaccompanied woman in this sort of place, no-one hassles her. Mirov tries to talk to her but she says nothing, just staring him in the eye. After a while she goes back into the back room and shakes her head. Kurevka tells the man to tell us nothing about the names Mirov gave but to allow us to "work" the area. For now.
After a bit Mirov and Napalm leave the bar and go to tell the others what happened. They have been eating good Afghan food in the restaurant. Napalm won't go in, and spits on the step, so Mirov goes in on his own, and information is shared around. It is speculated that Vilma is another superhuman. It is decided that Mirov and Napalm will go back into the bar in superhero guise while the others go in the back and see if we can get any information out of the people there as superheroes rather than civilians...