Another couple of days went by as Jasmine and the other members of Avery's team continued to investigate the corruption Regina wanted them to uncover.

Things had been going slowly at first, but the old grant records that Jasmine had come across turned out to be a helpful clue that she hoped would lead them in the correct direction.

"Here's the files that you wanted. It wasn't easy to get them, but I've got my ways." Olivia said smugly as she handed a data drive to Jasmine.

"Captain, aren't those 'ways' of yours that you mentioned just having me do all of the work." Langdon complained.

"You're my subordinate, so your work is my work as well. Anyway, last time I had to do a lot more than you have so far. And it's not like I did nothing."

Jasmine giggled quietly as she watched Olivia and Langdon arguing.

Obviously the two of them were not really upset with each other. This little routine was just a way to blow off steam.

Taking the data drive that had been offered to her, Jasmine plugged it into the computer aboard Olivia's corvette and began reading the information stored on it.

The fraud case from over twenty-five years ago had been perpetrated by a fake educational organization that had been set up for the sole purpose of drawing in money.

Naturally, to get this through required help from the inside, and several individuals from the Department of Education had ended up indicted for all manner of crimes.

A good deal of them went to prison, but the man believed to be the ringleader of the entire operation, one Huijari Roisto, had escaped with only being fired. Apparently, they had not found enough evidence for a conviction.

Of course, seeing as how the man in question had not been with the Department for more than a quarter of a century, it was safe to assume that he was not the main perpetrator involved in the current investigation.

However, at the time, Huijari did have a close subordinate that Jasmine had found out used to be Huijari's protégé. And that man just so happened to be the current Under Secretary of the Department of Education.

Jasmine did not currently have any evidence linking him to stealing the grant money that should have been going to projects on Azade, but this was the best target she had to look into.

From what she had learned asking around, the current Under Secretary was a difficult man to get along with. Almost nobody that had met the man said that they liked him. Though, if there was one thing that they praised, it was his willingness to work hard. He was demanding, but he apparently put in just as much effort as he asked of everyone else.

"I see that you managed to find where Huijari is."

"Yeah, he's owns a chemical processing plant in the underlayers of Dramid. Definitely not in any of the higher-class areas. From what we dug up about it, the place is also used as an illegal gambling den. We talked to a guy that said he used to bet on fights between exotic animals there. Sounds like they've got a lot more going on than just that, but we couldn't nail down anything more concrete." Olivia said, recalling what she and Langdon had found.

"Okay, I think I'll head on down to see Huijari and find out how he defrauded the central government the first time, and if he's helping out his old protégé this time. At the very least, hopefully I'll get some insight into how he did it."

Pulling out her terminal, Jasmine contacted Ezra and Kaiden.

Right now, the two of them were skulking about the planet's underbelly and trying to dig up any clues from that end.

So far, they had not gotten very far. They had only found a few rumors and discovered unrelated crimes.

Fortunately, they would be perfect for this.

The two were pretty intimidating, and the disguises that they currently had on certainly made them look like the types of back-alley thugs that would be up to no good.

'I'll need to look the part myself if I don't want to blow our cover right away.' Jasmine thought, heading to the room that had been provided to her.

Figuring that it might come in handy, Jasmine had borrowed the disguise kit that Kasandra had bought and used on Jasmine when they first landed on Azade.

It had turned out to be a pointless endeavor back then since her mother had ultimately found out about her return, but it was finally going to be useful now.

First, she put on a mask that chaged the appearance of her face and then dyed her hair to be blonde.

After putting on some colored contacts and a gaudy amount of makeup, her face and demeanor was completely changed.

'Now, I'll need some new clothes for this.'

With her terminal, Jasmine ordered some expensive mercenary clothing that looked more casual and tightfitting than what she currently had.

This would help give her the appearance of someone that cared more for money and thrills than anything else. There were plenty of mercenaries out there that dipped their hands into less legal ventures in search of entertainment. And that was the type she wanted to come off as.

Once her new outfit arrived, Jasmine swiftly put it on and headed out to meet Ezra and Kaiden.

Using the public transit systems of the planet took some time.

Getting down to the layer where her target was meant getting on several different lifts that moved between underlayers.

The areas further from the world's surface one went, the less safe it became.

It was just merely a matter of resources. There were only so many officers that could be posted, and they were focused on more important areas.

Jasmine received some stares when she reached layer one thousand six hundred eighty-seven.

This was pretty deep into the world and the lively vibrance of the surface was nowhere to be seen.

Right next to where the elevator that moved between this level and the forty above it was a police station, making this part of the layer relatively safe.

Still, Jasmine could practically smell the lawlessness down here.

The farther one got from any important infrastructure that had to be protected, the more dangerous it would be.

Already having memorized the map ahead of time, Jasmine walked with confidence as she headed towards her destination. Anyone constantly glancing at their terminal and nervously looking around was bound to be pegged as someone that was down here for the first time and did not really belong.

Jasmine wanted to avoid attracting the attention of any unscrupulous types that might want to shake down or scam someone that they considered an easy mark.

Eventually, she reached the rendezvous point where Ezra and Kaiden were waiting.

"Hope you two haven't been here too long."

"Nah, we arrived just a couple minutes ago. We were basically on the other side of the world yesterday, so it took a while to get here." Ezra responded, looking unperturbed.

Kaiden on the other hand was wearing an obviously sour expression. He was not having a good time drudging around the depths of Dramid. Especially since he was being forced to keep his tail and ears hidden in a less than comfortable manner.

Unfortunately, they could not risk the people from his and Kasandra's home coming after him while they were in the middle of their investigation. So, he needed to keep his distinguishing features hidden and wear a strong cologne that masked his scent. Seeing as how that was how he and Kasandra were tracked down the first time.

With Ezra and Kaiden on either side of her, Jasmine received more attention than before, but no one looked like they wanted anything to do with the three of them.

Ezra cut an imposing figure, and Kaiden glared murderously at just about anyone that so much as glanced at them.

The people down here knew a dangerous group when they saw one, and Jasmine, Ezra, and Kaiden certainly looked the part.

It was not long before they had moved far from the main streets into deeper reaches of the layer.

At this point there were less shops and more industrial buildings. With a few shady types lurking around in the alleyways.

"Okay, this is the place."

To anyone passing by, the building the three of them had stopped at would seem unremarkable and similar to the rest in the surroundings.

Yet, if anyone watched it long enough, they would notice that there were several entrances and exits all around its perimeter that people that were clearly not employees would come and go throughout the day.

"And we're in." Jasmine said proudly.

There was a code was needed to unlock the door, but Grtio had supplied a device that was easily able to slip past the place's security system and retrieve the code.

Walking inside, Jasmine spotted a couple of security drones locked in their compartments in the ceiling. No doubt that if anyone tried to break in or continued to enter wrong codes that they would have been deployed.

"It's a good thing that they don't employ any people as security. Otherwise, we might have been in trouble." Ezra said, a slight grin on his lips since he was amused by how easy this place was to infiltrate.

"We just would have needed to bribe the guard in that case. I doubt that a place like this inspires any loyalty from their staff." Kaiden responded bluntly.

Now that they were in, Jasmine, Ezra, and Kaiden headed deeper into the building. Soon finding themselves inside the illegal gambling den that their target had set up.