Guns for Hire - Script Forty

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.01am - 30/07/2016

In deafening silence T-Bird dropped on his arse while he caught his breath & considered which bit hurt the most, over his shoulder Vrasten bellowed in fluent Arabic at the second guard to raise his hands, for a fraction of a second the remaining lone Burcad Badeed stared at the still breathing T-Bird before bolting.

Vrasten, in no mood to give quarter, pumped a slug into the left ankle of the fleeing Somali, writhing in agony & disarmed he was ignored, with Alex keeping watch on the stairs T-Bird & Vrasten gave the Control Room the once over.

All told there were eleven watertight doors off the main control room, three to both he port & starboard, two to the stern & three, one either side of the stair well door, on the bow wall. Starting with the starboard doors Vrasten & T-Bird worked there way around to those on the port side, most contained what the door name plate said they would, bow thrusters, main aft engines etc. however the aft heads smelled like some thing unpleasant had died in there & the kitchenette day room held the remaining five malnourished & battered hand cuffed crew, unfortunately the five were linked with a padlocked chain running between each set of cuffs. T-Bird checked both the cooling corpse & the moaning guard for a key, neither had it.

Vrasten suggested T-Bird shoot the padlock with his LAP, having failed to break open the lock with the inbuilt tool kit from his prosthetic right cyber-hand As the tight beam laser from T-Bird's pistol shattered the padlock apart shots rang out from the stairwell, running back into the main control room Alex clattered down the stairs & slammed the stairwell watertight hatch closed behind her then dropped a fresh clip into the Ingram. Unable to actually lock the door, the six quick release levers being operable from both faces, T-Bird, having seen a long wrecking bar in the port engine room, retrieved the five foot steel bar & managed to jam it across two of the levers.

With the hatch at least temporarily secure Vrasten carefully pulled open the the door which stood ajar on the starboard side of the staircase, presumably the door that the second guard had bolted for, beyond a dimly corridor ran for around twenty meters before ending in a second watertight hatch, with no where else to go other than back up the stairs Vrasten & T-Bird assisted by the recovering Crippen urged the freed hostages through the door, Crippen confirmed that parallel corridors ran on both the port & starboard side of the ship below the external main deck giving access to to the fuel & ballast control rooms, & storerooms as well as emergency access via the raised forecastle & bow deck.

Before leaving the engine control room T-Bird, hearing muffled voices on the stairs & guessing the door would remain secure for to much longer, suggested that maybe Alex could employ her talents to leave a little gift, smiling, Alex quickly rigged several fragmentation grenades to one of the secured levers, satisfied that when the lever eventually opened the grenades would drop to the floor allowing the door to fully open before releasing there load Alex & T-Bird eased the wrecking bar so as it wouldn't take much door rattling to release.

Vrasten, almost reluctantly, turned finally to the injured Somali, almost reluctantly he put a bullet between the mans pleading eyes.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.08am - 30/07/2016

Leading the way T-Bird neared the closed hatch, reaching the door he began to slowly ease open the levers listening for any sign of movement on the other side, as he reached his hand for the last lever an explosion & brief scream followed by a shrilling alarm erupted behind them suggested that Alex's little house warming present would teach the following Burcad Badeed to that they did so at their peril. Within seconds the corridor lights flickered & went out to be replaced by pale red tinged emergency lighting.

Grinning at the probable success of Alex's booby trap T-Bird spun the last lever & cracked the hatch open. At the last second however T-Bird's combat training kicked in & he threw himself backwards shouting a warning to the to the those behind, as he crashed into Vrasten & Crippen the hatch was violently blown open to crash against the bulkhead wall only narrowly missing trapping T-Bird's head between the two.

Fortunately the explosion from the booby trapped door left all with ringing ears but at least no further injuries.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.10am - 30/07/2016

Beyond the door a corridor ran at ninety degrees across from port to starboard before turning at both ends towards the bow, towards the port was the second/return corridor to the engine control room with a second door midway along the corridor, Crippen confirmed this was the fuel & ballast pumping control room, with infinite care T-Bird eased the door open, inside was nothing more than flickering consoles & blank monitor screens.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.11am - 30/07/2016

At the port side corner Alex could see maybe seventy meters of corridor with a number of hatches on the inner face & maybe a second cross ship corridor half way along its length, equally spaced along the length of the corridor ceiling were three roof hatches, according to James Moon, the Magellan's boatswain, who was peering over Alex's shoulder, from the corner it looked like the rear most ceiling hatch nearest to Alex was open, Moon added that they, the emergency ceiling hatches could only be opened from the underside via the wall fixed ships ladder.

At the opposite, starboard, corner, Vrasten quickly poked his head around to glance along the starboard corridor, nothing stirred.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.13am - 30/07/2016

Ignoring the open ceiling hatch, through which light drizzle fell, & inner doors, the group, still lead by T-Bird headed for the stern, at the far end the corridor turned to the starboard where it rejoined the parallel rear running corridor, central to the rear joining corridor a single passage ran, according to Crippen, the last corridor leg with a vertical shaft leading up to the forecastle escape hatch in front of the bow house.

With no sign of any recent foot traffic T-Bird passed the Wu-Bejing 381 so recently used against him to Vrasten & achingly climbed the ships ladder & released the catches to emergency hatch above, as it slowly opened under the pressure of small hydraulic rams T-Bird picked out a familiar sound, that of the ZHi-8's triple 1,512hp WZ-6 turboshaft engines warming up.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.16am - 30/07/2016

Crouched on the forecastle deck Vrasten, T-Bird & Alex quickly conferred, Crippen & his remaining crew, except Able Seaman Skalton, who remained, hopefully, alive, on the bridge, sheltered within the bow house.

Peering cautiously over the handrail all three saw five figures atop the containers clustered around the prepped helicopter, four of the figures were recognisable to Vrasten, T-Bird & Alex: Mutahir Rashad al-Masri, Yemen Minister for the Interior & hostage, Hizb ut-Tahrir leader Yusuf Mohammed Siad Inda'ade, the jump suited pilot & copilot who'd landed the ZHi-8 just over an hour earlier & a limping solitary armed Burcad Badeed.

On the bridge overlooking the ZHi-8 the odd silhouette could be seen.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.17am - 30/07/2016

T-Bird, ever rash, had near persuaded Alex to field test her MGL grenade launcher however Vrasten quieted them both by pointing out that if they got nothing else out of this escapade then they could at least recover Mutahir Rashad al-Masri & fly him out of here in the ZHi-8, realising the sense of this Alex set up the captured Wu-Bejing 381 to give covering fire if required before joining Vrasten & T-Bird in drawing a bead on the group about to board the readied helicopter.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.19am - 30/07/2016

On a nod from Vrasten Alex & T-Bird squeezed respective triggers, instantly repeated flashes of intense pale blue light reached out towards the group below, instantly the copilot & red shirt wearing guard were dispatched, the latter disappearing over the side of the container formed platform, further the pilot himself was struck down although not fatally, "White Eye" almost threw the Minister into the helicopter before dragging the wounded pilot in behind him. Not waiting to see what developed Vrasten & T-Bird hurled themselves down the ladder to the weather deck & sprinted for & up onto the top of the stacked containers whilst Alex lay down a withering barrage of covering fire into the bridge superstructure beyond, out of the corner of his eye Vrasten saw at least one blooded figure tumble from the Bridge gantry.

Atop the containers Vrasten & T-Bird separated & hastily moved towards the open side of ZHi-8 to be confronted by Inda'ade waiting for them with a pistol to the Ministers left temple, slumped on the floor of the helicopter behind the pilot slowly continued to bleed to death.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.24am - 30/07/2016

Standing some twenty feet or so from the open door of the helicopter under the slowly turning main rotor blades Vrasten & T-Bird faced Inda'ade off. Vrasten gathered his thoughts,

"Inda'ade, it's over, you're alone, your fighters are dead, you no longer control the ship, you will die"

Whilst Vrasten continued to use all his many years experience of interrogating & intimidating suspects & witnesses T-Bird weighed up the chances of putting Inda'ade down without killing the Minister.

Inda'ade listened impassively to Vrasten's words then answered in broken but clear English however his gaze never left T-Bird,

"If Allah wills I should perish today then so be it, I will give my life willingly to defend my people, I do not fight for for money as you educated westerners do but for the freedom of my people & their right to live in peace in their own homes free from oppression"

As Inda'ade continued to converse with Vrasten T-Bird actually began to think he had a point, then he fired.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.32am - 30/07/2016

T-Bird could hardly miss at this range, he didn't, the laser burst hit Inda'ade in his left shoulder burning through clothing & blackening the flesh below, almost simultaneous to T-Bird's shot however Inda'ade turned his pistol away from Mutahir Rashad al-Masri's head & fired back at T-Bird, all to late T-Bird realised he'd underestimated the Somali warlord,

"Fuckers only gone & got Skinweave hasn't he, bastard"

T-Bird tried to twist his body aside, he wasn't quite quick enough, the shell from Inda'ade's Russian KBP P-98T pistol, the 9mm slug struck T-Bird's right hand, whilst it would undoubtedly would hurt T-Bird's skinweave should have absorbed a sizable portion of the inevitable damage, unfortunately the slug was a armour piercing cherry pie, a propelled incendiary round, not only did it penetrate T-Bird's skinweave, it burnt away most of his hand from the inside out.

Vrasten, caught out by T-Bird & Inda'ade's exchange reacted to late, as he fired wide of the mark, Inda'ade drilled him in the head above his left ear, fortunately for Vrasten the Kevlar skull cap absorbed much of the damage, even so the cherry scored along the the bone before exiting his flesh, dazed Vrasten did his best to look Inda'ade in the eye.

Inda'ade returned Vrasten's gaze & spoke,

"Maybe you & I can make an agreement, my life in exchange for that of those you came for perhaps"

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 5.48am - 30/07/2016

With the MV Magellan Star more or less in safe hands & Yusuf Mohammed Siad Inda'ade secured in the meeting room from which Captain Henry Crippen had so recently been rescued, the ships Captain set his reduced & tired shipmates to running a full diagnostic of the ships controls as well as a visual inspection of all areas. With his crew occupied, apart from the recovering Able Seaman Alistar Skalton who had inadvertently been wounded whilst still hand cuffed on the bridge when Alex had raked the Bridge tower as she provided "covering fire" to Vrasten & T-Bird, Crippen stood before Vrasten & T-Bird, & with recovering authority "suggested" that he make contact with the relevant authorities, not to mention the ships families, to report that the ship was now back under his command.

Vrasten & T-Bird looked at each other,

"Funny you should mention that old chap, we actually have a bit of a suggestion if you don't mind"

After twenty minutes or so, whilst Henry crippen wasn't entirely convinced by their arguments he had agreed at least to postpone making contact with any third party until he'd had more time to think about the suggested ramifications to the the MilKor hostages safety & until his assessment of the ships current capabilities were known.

Whilst this difficult conversation took place Alex, feeling some slight momentary remorse, supervised the moving of the injured Skalton to the ships sickbay &, knowing they also may need the services of the badly injured KHi-8 pilot, his relocation to the same, both thereupon were heavily sedated, the latter being hand cuffed to the bed just in case, she then decided, having been reminded by Vrasten, it was about time the stowaway was rescued from the wallowing boat they'd left tied to the ships anchor chain.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 11.27am - 30/07/2016

Vrasten rejoined T-Bird & Alex on the Bridge,

"Did he spill his guts then" asked T-Bird "You know I actually think I like the fucker, OK I know he's a bastard & all that but I'm pretty sure he actually means everything he says, you gotta admire his balls, just a pity he shot my fucking hand off"

Vrasten shuck his head, he new that whilst T-Bird could be a bit of an arse he was probably right when he said that Inda'ade believed what he preached,

"OK, we've had a little chat" said Vrasten "It took time but lets say we've reached an agreement, he's confirmed where the MilKor hostages are being held in a one goat village around a mile from the Burcad Badeed training camp on the Ras Kamboni peninsula. He says, & he's probably right, that his life is of more worth to his people than any financial benefit that the hostages would bring. He's agreed to take us to within striking distance of the holding camp & arrange an exchange, him for them, if we're gonna do it we just need to persuade Henry to go along with it."

"Just one problem" replied T-Bird, "It's gonna be a fucker flying the chopper with only one hand"

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