Guns for Hire - Script Thirty Seven

Sanliurfa Airport, Aircrew Facilities, Turkey 9.38pm - 26/07/2016

As the C-27J taxied out onto the runway Vamik Volkan, Dozzers' co-pilot, came back from the flight deck,

"Everything good back here, yeah, OK, Dozzer just wants your OK that we're still headin' direct to Suqatra & not Salahal"

Vrasten, about to confirm, quickly glanced around the hold, T-Bird was snoring quietly with a smile on his face, Skinpin, eyes like black holes, shrugged & carried on rolling another spliff, Alex smiled & nodded,

"I guess so" affirmed Vrasten "how long ?"

Vamik glanced down at the paper in his hand,

"Well, Dozzer says there's no fuckin' way he's flying over Israeli airspace so he's gonna skirt the coast as far as Port Fuad & then run down the Suez, at least that gives the Egyptian authorities time to see we're not Israeli so we should be OK, from there we'll follow the river down to Ismailia that the canal to the Gulf of Suez, once were there it'll be a home run to the Suqatra, eleven, maybe twelve hours assuming no fucker try's to stop us that is"

Grinning Vamik returned to the flight deck.

Syrian Airspace, Tripoli 11.51pm - 26/07/2016

As the Spartan passed over Tripoli it banked south & began its run along the coast towards the Lebanese/Israeli border, out of the starboard window T-Bird watched as the Cypriot islands came into view, eighty-five minutes later, Jesus Perus stuck his head through the flight deck door'

"Dozzer says to cross your fingers, we're just entering Israeli waters, they've just made contact suggesting we fuck off"

Three minutes Twenty Two seconds later Alex watched as a Israeli Air Force F-35 Lightning slid along & held position on the Spartans port side, as she watched it pace the Spartans slower air speed Vrasten shouted over that there was a second Lighting on the starboard side but added there was no fucking pilot, fuck me thought Alex, there's no friggin' jockey in this one either. As their escorts stuck close Dozzer dropped the Spartan low, hugging the coast, as they approached the Egyptian border a third F-35, the drones controller, that had been sat above the Spartans tail, accelerated away & swung around to run head on towards the Spartan's cockpit, as it hurtled over the cockpit, Alex & Vrasten, watching over Dozzer & Vamik's shoulders saw the F-35 gracefully wag its wings before it disappeared back towards home, moments later the two drones peeled away,

"Smart arse bastard's" muttered Dozzer

Al Hudaydah, Red Sea 9.43am - 27/07/2016

As the Spartan over flew Al Hudaydah & headed down the Gulf of Aden Vrasten's palm top chirped confirmation of a message, it was from Uriel confirming that the Magellan Star was continuing to track up the Somali coast & was due north of Bargaal, he also confirmed that he had as discussed arranged for the use of a small boat but as they were now heading for Suqatra it would be a day or two before he could arrange for it to be delivered to the island but that he'd let them no the arrangements once it was on route.

Suqatra, Socotra Airport 12.04am - 27/07/2016

With the Spartans tail ramp down Jesus quickly organised the milling ground crew into off loading the various crates containing alleged mining equipment, T-Bird mused that his now looked a tad out of place given that they hadn't put down at Salahal, hell, we're here so what the fuck, the cover storey hadn't been put to the test.

With all the kit cleared out of the hold Vamik barked out instructions to the watching locals & it was quickly loaded onto an old flat bed truck that had appeared from amongst the ram shackle buildings adjacent to the squat control tower. With their kit clear of the Spartan Vamik grinned, wished them all the best & raised the C-27's tailgate, above the noise of the Spartans engines he gestured that Vrasten should let Werner know when/if they needed collection, only fourteen minutes after touching down the Spartan was refueled & back in the air.

With language chips inserted Alex, for once conservatively dressed, turned to the waiting porters & in her very best Arabian asked for their kind assistance in transferring everything on the wagon to a hotel, with much grinning, suggesting her use of their native tongue wasn't quite on the ball.

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh, Suqatra 2.19pm - 27/07/2016

After what seemed like hours of haggling with the hotel proprietor they eventually agreed an amicable weekly rate for a couple of suites as well as delivery of several cases of beer for consumption in the privacy of their rooms as Suqatra, like the Yemen, is a dry state. The hotel proprietor come receptionist also gave a friendly warning about the lack of electric's overnight. T-Bird & Skinpin set about unpacking the crates & swopping the plugs of the rooms bedside lights onto their laptop chargers, with the unpacking in hand Alex & Vrasten went back down to reception to barter with Sameer al-Khaiwani, the hotel owner, for a local fishing guide. An hour later a gnarled old man turned up with a young kid in tow to interpret, grabbing a taxi Alex & Vrasten headed took the lead from the guide & drove east a couple of miles out of town before spending several hours fishing. The kid tried hard not to snigger as he out fished both their efforts with using a simple hand line to their rods, whilst this wasn't really a problem, as it was simply to create a persona of visiting tourists, both were secretly pleased to catch several decent Snappers.

Returning to the Al-Moheet arrangements were made to hire a 4 x 4 so as they could continue the pretense of a fishing holiday, it was agreed, for a fistful of coins, that the old man & kid would come back the following day.

Mr. al-Khaiwan also seemed very happy with his free bucket of fresh fish.

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh, Suqatra 7.38pm - 27/07/2016

Back in the hotel & post evening meal, which had turned out to be pretty good, Vrasten received another update from Uriel,

"Looking good guys, the Star's still steaming in our direction, Uriels' contact at CTF reckons it's heading our way & if it continues as they're plotting its route it'll be here some time in the afternoon the day after tomorrow, oh, & the boat we've bought will be at the port tomorrow afternoon"

West of Hadiboh, Suqatra 9.47am - 28/07/2016

At last heading in the direction of the port, Vrasten & Alex drove west out of Hadiboh but despite their best efforts couldn't persuade the old chap that fishing near the port would be a good idea so to avoid raising any suspicion they reluctantly went along with the kids interpretation of the toothless old gits indecipherable muttering, a couple of hours later, & admittedly with buckets of fish, Vrasten received a call from Uriel confirming that the boat was now waiting at the main port pier & that the Magellan Star had tweaked her course such that it must be heading towards Suqatra or at least was going to round the island.

Armed with a name & a vague description of the contact they headed for the port.

Port Suqatra 11.32am - 28/07/2016

Pulling of the coastal road, itself little more than a dirt track they were stopped in their tracks by a shabbily uniformed guard stood in front of a lowered barrier, Alex addressed the guard in native Arabic but from the look of puzzlement on the guards face the her words had clearly lost something in the translation, confusing herself she then spoke unintentionally in French but was suprised when the guard grinned & answered. For the next few minutes she, Vrasten & the security guard passed the time of day as well as establishing the he was in charge of security but new nothing about any boat delivery, evetually he lifted the barrier & waved them through towards the customs shed but not before warning them to do nothing he would have to arrest them for.

In the customs office they're reception was friendly but little better, eventually they were ushered out & told to go have a look in the water but be careful not to get in the way, looking down the pier there was little activity other than at the single ship moored at the far end of the pier a quarter of a mile away.

Leaving the pick up at the customs yard Alex & Vrasten, trailed by the kid & the old man, walked onto the pier, around half way along, a small, 18 foot or so, fiber glass hulled boat with a small cuddy bobbed in an an oily slick against the the side of the pier, in the boat a young lad, maybe fifteen, wearing just a pair of old shorts smiled & waved for them to come down. Shinning down the rusted foot irons Alex dropped lightly into the boat, as she turned to speak to the boy she was interrupted as Vrasten plummeted into the scummy water between the pier & the boat, from above the guide & the kid howled in laughter.

Hadiboh, Suqatra 2.37pm - 28/07/2016

Having been shown the rudimentary controls for the boat, its basic VHF radio & the workings of the twin outboards & having dropped of Captain Shorts on the beach at Hadiboh, Vrasten, now only slightly damp, & Alex along with their guide settled a mile or so off shore & continued to fish while the young kid jabbered at them & gutted their catch.

Several long hours later they picked up the harbour pilot talking to an incoming vessel, with the help of the kid they finally managed to confirm it was the Magellan Star being refused a birth on the pier however they were relieved to here it being granted authority to moor around three miles north of the pier head, around 3.45pm the Magellan Star sailed into view & dropped anchor.

Deciding enough was enough Vrasten steered the boat back to the pier allowing Alex to collect the 4 x 4, he then turned the boat around & headed back to the Hadiboh beach front.

Thanking the old man & kid for their valuable assistance Vrasten paid them what was due tipping handsomely in the process, the old chap bowed graciously & departed however the kid only reluctantly departed looking over his shoulder repeatedly as he went.

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh, Suqatra 4.14pm - 28/07/2016

Having removed the VHF radio & its battery from the boat all four sat in one of thier hotel suites monitoring the airwaves, with food delivered to their room it wasn't until early evening they picked up further conversation between port & ship, it wasn't easy but eventually they managed to put together the storey, in brief, Yusuf Mohammed Siad self appointed leader of the Inda'ade Inda'ade's Burcad Badeed was on the Magellan Star to negotiate with the Yemen port authority for fuel, fresh food & money, lots of money, in exchange for Mutahir Rashad al-Masri, the Yemen Minister for the Interior.

"Bloody, bloody hell" muttered Vrasten

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh, Suqatra 8.17pm - 28/07/2016

In exchange for a "charitable donation" & several buckets of freshly gutted fish, Sameer al-Khaiwani, had granted them access to the roof & put aside his suspicions about what Alex & Co were really up to.

From the vantage of the roof they had a pretty good view over Hadiboh, or would do in daylight, sundown being around 6.00pm local time, on the horizon could just be seen the glow of the Magellan Star's running lights although it did look like they'd disabled most of them.

Around 9.35pm the radio spluttered into life, with difficulty they managed to eventually put together the gist of what the local government official & harbour master were discussing with who ever was in charge at the islands barracks, Vrasten translated for Skinpin,

"Simply put the Local Administrators' got his knickers in a twist, White Eye has told him that times running out for the Minister of the Interior & he's asking the local barracks to assist, they're out of their league & have deferred to the military on the mainland, sensible chaps if you ask me, so nothing new really"

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh, Suqatra 11.34am - 29/07/2016

The following morning Alex, Vrasten, T-Bird & Skinpin were still not further in deciding how to tackle the situation, whether to take the chance of a gun blazing heroic attack, throw in with the local law purporting to be some sort of official rescue mission or done sub aqua gear & try to get a board when nobody was looking, frustrated they spent the rest of the day "fishing" so they could at least monitor the situation.

Hadiboh Bay, Suqatra 2.11pm - 29/07/2016

Somewhat frazzled & sick of the sight of fish the VHF eventually gave them something to go on, for whatever undisclosed reason the chopper that was secured on top of the containers lining the main deck was to depart for destination unknown before sunset & was scheduled to return before dawn the next day. Various hypotheses were suggested for the intended activity however without more to go it was all guess work.

Over the remaining afternoon the pretense of tourists on a fishing trip continued, watching the ship for any signs of activity it was estimated that there was at least a dozen Somali's on the ship, maybe as many as twenty, although it was in all their thoughts that for all they knew there could be a bloody army below decks & they'd never know until it was to late.

Around 3.45pm they got lucky when Yemen Minister, Mutahir Rashad al-Masri, was seen being man handled up the external rear stirs towards the bridge, he was blind folded but at least it proved he was actually alive, no sign of any of the other hostages however was forthcoming.

Hadiboh Bay, Suqatra 4.42pm - 29/07/2016

As they watched, a couple of Burcad Badeed began unhitching the choppers rotors, a ZHi-8 according to T-Bird, it still bore faded Chinese roundels,

"I reckon I could fly that bastard all the way to the mainland"

A decision was made, Vrasten emailed Uriel;

'Holiday going well, fishing excellent, going on a boat trip tonight, maybe catch up with a few friend's, hopefully see you soon'

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh, Suqatra 7.51pm - 29/07/2016

Back in the hotel they ran through the plan again, there wasn't much to it really but confident in their own abilities it was the best they could come up with.

Hadiboh Bay, Suqatra 11.43pm - 29/07/2016

T-Bird pulled on his wet suit & rechecked his re-breather while Vrasten steered the boat uptide of the Magellan Star maintaining a wide birth, as they moved slowly between it & the pier head a ship, maybe half the size of the Magellan Star eased away from the quayside making the best of the tidal flow, as it drew between the pier head & their prey Vrasten it masked not only noise the little outboard was making but conveniently blocked them from view of anybody watching from the Magellan Star.

Hadiboh Bay, Suqatra 12.07am - 30/07/2016

Vrasten cut the outboard & concentrated on guiding the boat as the tide pulled it along at a slowly increasing rate of knots, with no lights showing & keeping a silent watch Alex & T-Bird prepared themselves to sling a line around the rapidly approaching port side anchor chain. The ships bow was directly ahead barely visible against the deathly dark horizon, making use of low light glasses Vrasten eased the tiller over to give the others the best chance of snaring the anchor cable.

As they drifted under the towering bow all three watched the silhouette of a guard leaning on the hand rail above them as he flicked a burning cigarette stub up into the air, as it hit the water Alex & T-Bird expertly wrapped a rope around the anchor cable allowing Vrasten to let the boat drift around so as to face into the tide mimicking the Magellan Star above.

For what felt like hours they waited listening to see if their approach had been observed, after maybe ten minutes, satisfied that at least their initial intentions had gone unnoticed T-Bird began to shin up the anchor cable running a rope behind him to assist Vrasten & Alex when their time came, slipping through the port anchor cable hawse hole, half through the hawse hole T-Bird waved for the others to follow & squeezed through the hull.

Hadiboh Bay, Suqatra 12.23am - 30/07/2016

With a nod to Vrasten Alex prepared to climb the cable, it was as greasy as hell but she figured if fuck face could then she could do it in her sleep, before she could mount the rope however both she & Vrasten froze as the they heard a slight cough from within the boats cuddy, with small arms drawn Vrasten used the boats gaff hook to pull their kit aside, beneath the boats folded rain cover the smiling face of their erstwhile interpreter grinned up at them,

"We fish now ?"

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 1.24am - 30/07/2016

Slipping quietly through the hawser T-Bird, thankful that he hadn't yet needed to enter the water, took stock, the forecastle store, well he assumed it was a store room, was faintly illuminated by moonlight via a grill in the ceiling, letting his eyes grow accustomed to the barely visible shapes around him T-Bird assumed the plant behind which he hid was the rollers on which the anchor cable was wound, scraping as much of the shit from his hands as he could he tried both the IR & LI settings on his night vision goggles, happy he was alone he stuck his head out of the hawser to see where the bitch & her mutt had got to.

Hadiboh Bay, Suqatra 1.25pm - 30/07/2016

Cursing under her breath Alex glance at Vrasten & drew her Militech LAP, as she flicked the pistols power setting to on Vrasten put a hand on her arm,

"He's just a kid Alex"

Fuckity fuckity fuck thought Alex

Kneeling, she waved the pistol in front of the kids face,

"Kid, you know what this is don't you"

Wide eyed the kid nodded

"Well you keep real quiet & stay here & maybe I'll teach you how to use one, move, make any noise or even think to loud & . . . ."

Quietly the kid slipped back beneath the tarpaulin.

Shaking her head Alex grabbed the rope T-Bird had left hanging & began to climb.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 1.33am - 30/07/2016

Squatting in the darkness Alex & Vrasten caught their breath whilst T-Bird pointed out the two quick release hatch covers to the two internal bulkheads, the third wall being the curving exterior hull through which they'd entered the ship, neither of the hatches had a vision panel however T-Bird was pretty sure all was quiet beyond the oil stained steel bulkheads.

Before they could reply they were silenced as footsteps echoed above them, peering through the deck grill, a pair of mismatched boots came into view, then a pair of sandals, feint voices then quiet laughter could be heard although the actual words were lost, after several minutes the boots went away followed momentarily by the sandals.

After several minutes of silence Alex & Vrasten began to undo the rear hatch wing nuts.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 1.47am - 30/07/2016

Slowly they lowered the hatch to the floor, peering through they could see a cluttered workshop whose deck was at a lower level, from the hatch a steel ladder was fixed to the wall below the hatch, on the opposite side of the workshop was door complete with vision panel through which moonlight partly illuminated the room. Slipping down the ladders Vrasten crossed the maintenance workshop to the door whilst Alex & T-Bird secured the hatch behind them. Alex tapped the dusty red light fitting on the wall next to the hatch, from it conduit ran away & through the internal starboard wall, from the light unit wires ran to a magnetic door sensor on the door jamb, pretty sure it was non operational she smiled at T-Bird,

"All good"

Looking through the vision panel Vrasten could see around twenty feet of open deck then a wall of containers across the deck, to both port & starboard open deck running down the side of the containers was visible, with nobody in sight Alex tried the handle, it was unlocked, quickly they slipped through & pulled it shut behind them.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 2.11am - 30/07/2016

Hugging the external face of workshop bulkhead they took stock of their position, to their left & right the main bulkhead continued to both the port & starboard upstand & handrails that ran around the perimeter of the main weather deck, the workshop door behind them was the port side hatch of three door size hatches beneath the raised bow deck, adjacent to the far/starboard hatch a ships ladder ran up to the bow deck. In front were stacked ISO containers, five containers wide two or three high, on the breeze could be heard the drifting pentatonic beat of a batar drum accompanied by a kaban.

Edging along the bulkhead Alex trailed by T-Bird headed for the ships ladder, Vrasten, keeping a watch on the bow deck rail above backed towards the containers settling into the shadows to cover Alex as she mounted the bow deck ladder.

As Alex neared the top of the ladder, some twenty feet above the weather deck, she belatedly unslung the Tomcat X-bow from her back & awkwardly continued to climb trying to load it with her arm through the ladder. As she peered over the edge of the forecastle deck a booted figure, appeared from behind the bow house casually carrying a rifle over one shoulder, as Alex hurriedly swung the crossbow over the top rung of the ladder the watchman, somewhat startled to Alex, cranked the bolt on his rifle & swung it towards Alex's head, before he could fire Alex buried six inches of barbed & tempered steel into his guts.

As the Somali fell to the steel deck his gun clattered beside him, fortunately it didn't go off, Alex, wasting no time threw herself onto the bow deck & took shelter behind the bow house wall as she heard the slap of running sandals, T-Bird unaware of what exactly had happened above whipped up the ladder as soon as Alex's pert ass disappeared from view, he couldn't have timed it more badly. Sticking his head above the bow deck a second running member of White Eye's crew appeared,fortunately, again, he didn't get chance to fire as he was silently cut down by laser fire.

Vrasten, assuming all was OK he re-crossed the deck & climbed the ships ladder.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 2.27am - 30/07/2016

Quickly the cooling corpses were dragged inside the bow house & covered with the sleeping mats & blankets on the floor, a quick search of the bodies revealed a half dozen 9.00mm clips for the Kalishnikov A-80's carried by the former Burcad Badeed as well as a battered VHF, Vrasten pocketed the comm's unit however the A-80's were left in the bow house.

From the bow house stairs ran back down into the ships guts, quietly stepping down it quickly became obvious that they lead to the hatch central to the main bow bulkhead, hung adjacent to the door were several sets of wet weather gear as well as emergency BAT breathing gear & fire fighting equipment.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 2.41am - 30/07/2016

For the minute the third bow hatch was ignored, other than feint music & the low hum from the ships innards all was quiet, for the moment they seemed to have gone unannounced, it was at that moment that the recovered walkie talkie squawked.

Knowing it couldn't be ignored Vrasten mumbled a response, seemingly incredibly loud the voice at the other end Vrasten listened carefully, doing his best to translate what was said he answered in his best Somali impersonation, the language chips they'd bought back in NC were good but with the best will in the world Vrasten couldn't believe his stuttering reply would fool anybody into believing he was a native Arabic speaker,

"I think we've just been told to prep the lights so the chopper can land"

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