Guns for Hire - Script Thirty Six
Apartment, West Beach, Night City 12.26am - 23/07/2016
Back at the apartment a quick run through the hostages details didn't particularly spread any light on the situation other than at least they'd have a better idea of who not to shoot, or if there was no way to spring them form the hands of the Burcad Badeed, who to shoot.
As
Vrasten grabbed the remains of last nights cold pizza from the aging fridge
one of the disposable phones in jacket began to vibrate, stuffing pizza in his
mouth he answered the call, realising it was Werner Lorenz from MSA Vrasten
asked him to hold of a second & put the phone onto speaker phone'
"OK now, yeah, right, as I was saying this ain't gonna' come cheap, I'll mail over the route we're looking at but we're talking over 12,000 miles, pick up from that derelict strip at Burfield again, over to Richmond on the west coast, then across the water to Lisbon Portela & from there to Sanliurfa Airport in Turkey, after that, well, depends on what ya wanna do, mainland Yemen, Salahal Airport's the nearest to Damqwat, or touch down at Suqatra itself, if your target's still on the water then maybe the island's a your best bet, either way the price is the same, flight time around 30hrs give or take plus time on the ground"
For the next ten minutes Lorenz continued the sales pitch & despite Alex's attempts managed to avoid giving them the bottom line, eventually however Lorenz laid it on the line,
"$135k, to be honest I can't afford to leave the Spartan sat on the ground so once you're on the ground you're on your own, happy to come back for you but unless we're still in the neighbourhood it's another flight back, same price"
Satisfied if not exactly happy with the numbers Vrasten, Alex & T-Bird told Lorenz it was a deal & to sort the flight as soon as, in the meantime Lorenz also agreed to look at what he could in terms of a chopper, buy, hire or borrow or failing that a small/fast motor boat.
Lorenz promised to call back asap with flight times.
Apartment, West Beach, Night City 1.49pm - 23/07/2016
Twenty
three minutes later Lorenz got back to them.
"OK, we've got a Green light for day after next, Burfield as promised, we'll sort the cover story as before, should be simpler this time around, clean route, zero no fly zones. We need you to drop all kit at the pier head tomorrow first thing so as we can prepare the cargo, we're putting down on commercial blacktop, full customs so we need to be clean"
With the clock ticking Vrasten, Alex & T-Bird decided to do a bit of last minute shopping, Vrasten had come up with the idea of picking up several sets of closed circuit rebreathers, Alex wanted to see if she could find memory chips for small boat handling/basic navigation & fishing & in view of where they were going appropriate clothing, a large baggy burqa, one that would conceal her Ingram.
T-Bird on the other wanted to know who could swim.
Route 16, San Morro, South Night City 2.54pm - 23/07/2016
Having completed their last minute shopping, including a head to toe burqa for Alex, they had decided to head back to Vrasten's apartment at West Beach to pick up Skinpin & then grab a bite to eat before calling in at the Hope, despite being in Vrasten's rusting but functional Lexington Alex had insisted on driving, just wanting an easy life Vrasten had not objected. As Alex pulled of Route 16 to head for the apartment she half heard a squeal of brakes over the sound of the radio, looking in the mirror she realised that a car had cut between her & the the following car but had slew across the sidewalk & slammed into the junction traffic light steelwork. Immediately Alex's combat training kicked however traffic ahead, rubber necking, & crossing from left to right on the contra flow junction slowed her progress allowing a second speeding vehicle, possibly pursuing the first, to slam into the tail of Vrasten's motor, unable to move forward due to crossing traffic Alex was forced to stop. As a third vehicle skidded to a stop behind Vrasten, Alex & T-Bird could all here the breakout of gun fire,
"Gang
fight" muttered Vrasten
From behind a barrage of small arm fire was exchanged between the occupants of the car embedded in the traffic signals & the half dozen or so crips from the following cars, clearly out gunned several of the brothers from the first car had already been hit however this didn't halt the hail of slugs from the chasing pack, in fact realising they had the upper hand they began to move in for the kill firing indiscriminately.
Alex looked at the gap between the stationary cars in front & then at Vrasten, intending to push through she new it would trash the cars remaining bodywork, easing forward however Alex instantly realised it wasn't going to happen, the impact at the rear of the car had taken out not only the passenger side tyre but the rear differential as well, before she could think further a ricochet pinged through the back light & hit her in the back, whilst there was no real damage, her skin weave having done its job, a red mist descended, hurling open the drivers door Alex dragged the Ingram form her purse, flicked off the safety catch & fired.
Vrasten & T-Bird glanced at each other & reacted, Vrasten, leapt from the front passenger seat drawing his 12mm Smart linked Colt, realising he was far more exposed on this side of the vehicle than he'd anticipated it was to late to do anything else but fire. T-Bird on the other hand made to follow Alex however he'd already noticed the the driver of the vehicle blocking their path slumped across the steering wheel, out of the confines of the car he could now hear the cries of a baby from the back seat, ignoring the cross fire & the slumped body on the floor T-Bird headed for the injured driver.
As Alex moved around to join Vrasten on the passenger side of the car she clicked the Ingram onto full auto, as Vrasten raised his Colt to fire Alex leveled the Ingram & fire from the hip liberally spraying the advancing line of punks. Vrasten's single shot hit hit home, dropping but not killing one of the advancing line, Alex's MAC-14 on the other hand made the remaining six antagonists dance like marionette's whose strings had become tangled but not before being peppered herself, fortunately the skin weave again did its job.
T-Bird ripped over the MPV drivers door & quickly checked out the slumped woman behind the wheel, under her arm he could feel a ragged & bloody hole, on her lips fresh rosy red blood bubbled accompanied her rasping & laboured breath, as he did what he could he began to hear the approach of sirens.
Route
16, San Morro, South Night City 2.57pm - 23/07/2016
Within
moments all approaches to the intersection were festooned with flashing lights
as the MilKor NCPD SWAT unit sealed off the junction, over a police tanoy came
an order for all weapons to be dropped & for everyone to drop face down
on the tarmac, without question Vrasten, Alex & T-Bird complied, Vrasten
used to being on the other side of the fence & knowing the procedure did
his best to calm the situation encouraging the officers in attendance to check
out his as well as the others bounty licenses, in addition T-Bird did his best
to draw the attention of the paramedics to the injured woman & her baby.
As they lay face down on the road waiting for the police to recognise their innocence Alex watched as one of the officers put a bullet through the back of the head of one of the downed gang members, rough justice she thought, but fare.
Eventually, credentials established, statements taken they were permitted to leave not before however Alex inquired as to any bounty that may be on record for the body bagged gang members, in return the officer in charge reminded Vrasten that should he not be in a position to remove the Lexington it would be recovered by the city to the NCPD compound & costs recovered in accordance with city ordinances.
Vrasten stood looking at the Lexington, it hadn't been a bad car, the paint work was iffy but it worked, now it was fucked, sighing he looked around, the second pursuers sleak lowrider looked pretty much untouched, Alex checked the ignition & smiled at Vrasten as she held up the keys,
"Would
sir like a lift"
Driving away Alex checked the glove box, inside were several small bags of a yellow tinged white powder.
"Err guys, perhaps we better check what's in the trunk"
Fortunately the trunk didn't contain anything as near exciting as they'd hoped however on the ride back to the apartment the discovery of the additional hydraulic suspension made it an interesting drive.
Moran Shipping Agencies, Inc, Pier Head Seven, East Marina, Night City 11.24am - 24/07/2016
The following morning as arranged Skinpin, Alex, Vrasten & T-Bird returned to the offices of MSA to deliver their not insignificant armoury for packing, Lorenz briefly mentioned that they'd be traveling as mining engineers on route to the middle east to carry out service & repair works for a number of the mining companies operating in Yemen, to that end the aircraft's manifesto would list various parts associated with such works & indeed the crates would contain quantities of items listed as part of the cover story.
Lorenz also advised he had obtained costs for the legitimate hire of civilian helicopters available however if the party required a more offensive machine it would, at this short notice, have to be "borrowed" from one of a number of sources known to MSA, rather than acquiring this asset now Lorenz would wait until T-Bird & Co new exactly what they were intending.
On the upside he had on their behalf purchased a small second hand but seaworthy boat with new twin outboard motors, this would be waiting on the mainland, with all arrangements in hand & payment exchanged they headed back to the apartment to finish packing.
On route back to the apartment Vrasten received an e-mail from Uriel's private account confirming that the Magellan Star was still north following the coast & was currently some sixty miles north of Kismayo.
Back at the apartment Skinpin administered a number of shots to Vrasten's shiny white butt.
Burfiled Airstrip 10.54am - 25/07/2016
Driving
onto the airstrip the C-27 Spartan sat adjacent to the derelict control tower,
its props slowly turning as the crew went through their pre flight checks, across
the apron Vrasten & Skinpin stared at the wreckage of the V-22 Osprey &
Muskrat gun ship that Mariusz had wacked, shaking his head Vrasten tried to
concentrate on the upcoming flight & the pain in his butt from Skinpin's
attentions the previous evening.
Pulling alongside the Spartan one of its crew trotted down the loading ramp & waved,
"Been expecting you, shouldn't be to long before we're off, Dozzer wants a quick word before we fly, he'll be out in a minute, meantime chuck your kit aboard"
Vrasten through his kit bag in the back of the aircraft's hold then left the others whilst he ditched their newly acquired pimp truck in one of the abandoned hangers, as he walked back across the apron he wondered what had happened to the old caretaker & his dog. Rejoining the others the pilot that had been referred to as Dozzer was just introducing himself & waiting for Vrasten before delivering a quick flight briefing,
"Morning, just a quick run through before we dust off, you know the flight times & route I assume plus Lorenz has passed me these ID cards showing your credentials for the trip. Any side arms stay on the bird when we're on the ground, there's a secure rack that I have the only key for. Keep your noses clean when we're down, play your parts & be prepared for customs to poke their noses around, we'll deal with all that shit, you just be nice. There's coffee in the pot & hammock's rigged in the hold, it's gonna' be a long uncomfortable flight, I hope it's worth it.
With that Dozzer beckoned them on board & prepped for take off.
Lisbon Portela Airport, Portugal 9.03am - 26/07/2016
Some twenty-three hours out from Burfield the C-27 dropped onto the runway at Lisbon Portela having flown the longest of the legs from Richmond on the east coast, with a reminder from Dozzer to keep a low profile all four travelers decided to stretch their legs & grab a coffee. Forty five minutes later Vrasten got a call from Mulligan announcing they were ready to fly
Sanliurfa
Airport, Turkey 8.27pm - 26/07/2016
Eleven or so hours later the Spartan touched down at Sanliurfa & was directed towards a holding position away from the passenger terminals, Mulligan, the copilot, came through to the hold & advised that the tower had advised that customs wanted to inspect the aircraft before departure was allowed, added that whilst they weren't expecting trouble Dozzer wanted them to make them selves scarce before the inspection & pointing towards a two storey warehouse suggested they head over to the airports cargo crew quarters & freshen up, the flight so far had, well, to be honest as far as Alex was concerned tedious, uncomfortable as promised & boring, a shower, fresh coffee & a soft seat would go a long way to helping her mood improve.
With that in mind T-Bird, who'd recovered from the effects of the medication Skinpin had given him earlier in the flight to help him sleep, along with Vrasten & Alex followed Mulligan's directions to the aircrew facilities.
Ignored
by most & roughly halfway across the strip a jeep swerved from it's course
& pulled up along the three, inside were two uniformed & armed airport
security goons, leering at Alex & with guns held at the ready they barked
out a question,
"Ggüzel bayan, bize belgeler göstermek" "simdi kagitlari orospu ya da ben sisman bir ates"
Unfortunately nor Vrasten, T-Bird or Alex spoke Turkish
As the pair continued to gesticulate & point their MPK-9's around Alex chanced using the French learnt from the recently acquired memory chip, although poor, one of the guards obviously understood & answered in equally poor French demanding to see their papers.
After
a cursory inspection of Vrasten & T-Birds papers they were thrust back as
begrudgingly acceptable however in haltering French they made clear that Alex's
papers were not in order & she would have to accompany them for further
investigations, seeing which way the wind was blowing Alex considered her options,
even unarmed she felt she was more than a match for the pair on her own, in
addition she was aware that Vrasten carried a small plastic pistol in a sub-dermal
pouch & T-Bird's replacement cybotic hand contained a neat little laser
however whilst taking them down would be most satisfactory it wouldn't do much
for their incognito travels.
Leaning forward Alex snatched her travel documents out of the French speaking goons hand, turned the papers the right way up & handed them back,
"If you're gonna' scam me at least fuckin' pretend you can read my fuckin' papers"
Agitated & pissed at Alex's actions both the goons openly now leveled their SMG's at Alex & in broken English rather than French simply reminded the three where they were & with incorrect papers Alex could not leave however the problem could be fixed for the appropriate fee, with matters going rapidly down hill T-Bird intervened, trying to lighten the mood he cracked a joke or two & asked the two how much it would cost to "fix" the papers, to emphasize his cooperation he pulled a wad of notes from his pocket'
"One thousand US dollars"
Still smiling T-Bird counted off a $1,000 & handed it over, immediately Frenchie returned the smile & pointed at Alex's ID card'
"My mistake, look, it is in date, so sorry to detain you, please, you go now, all is OK"
Grinning the two climbed back into the jeep & with a cheery wave drove away.
Seething,
Alex, stuffed her ID back into her purse & the three continued on towards
the crew stop, inside Alex was secretly hoping to come across those two bastards
again, somewhere more private perhaps, somewhere with sharp knives.
Sanliurfa Airport, Aircrew Facilities, Turkey 9.17pm - 26/07/2016
Sat in the aircrews lounge Vrasten, T-Bird & Alex watched as a refueling tanker pulled up under the starboard wing of the Spartan, a few minutes later a second vehicle, an unmarked car pulled up at the bottom of the aircraft's rear ramp, behind it a jeep, with four armed grunts, pulled up alongside the tanker. Watching from the canteen there seemed to be a hive of activity as whoever had been in the saloon walked up the ramp, ten minutes later however the suit walked down the ramp accompanied by two of the grunts each carrying a case, both were secreted in the trunk of the saloon before it drove away followed by the jeep, within seconds Vrasten's phone shrilled, it was Spartan's mechanic, Jesus Perez.
"Time to be leaving Mr Nordskov before our friends in customs decide they don't like Knob Whisky"