Guns for Hire - Script Forty One

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 11.28am - 30/07/2016

For the next couple of hours Ships Master Henry Crippen's crew continued to make temporary repairs where they could & clean up the human detritus that had amassed during their three week enforced captivity. He, Crippen, reluctantly confirmed that, for the sake of the remaining hostages he would concede to their would be rescuers proposal to not to contact the outside world whilst an attempt was made to liberate them from the Burcad Badeed holding's camp. He did however make it abundantly clear that whilst he would cooperate in the short term if there was any danger of the MV Magellan Star being again overrun by Inda'ade's followers he would not hesitate in turning the ship about & shouting from the tallest mountain to all whom he could.

Alex, aware that her intended response to this demand would distinctly upset Henry Crippen went off for a quiet chat with Inda'ade.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 12.49am - 30/07/2016

Just before 1.00pm Rhydian Angwyn, the Magellan Star's Navigator/2nd officer & now de facto comm's engineer reported that the ship was being hailed by Socotra's Harbour Master on behalf of the garrison commander.

For the next few minutes Alex & Vrasten did their damnedest to convince both the islands Secretariat & the garrison commander that all remained as was & that their demands for water, fuel & food in exchange for the Hizb ut-Tahrir was genuine.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 1.34pm - 30/07/2016

Alex, frustrated by the general inaction, muttered to Vrasten & T-Bird that their friendly neighbourhood warlord remained, well, friendly & cooperative if not talkative although he had expanded slightly on the set up of the hostage holding point,

"Pretty much, if he can be believed, we can expect around a dozen reasonably armed Burcad Badeed plus villagers although the latter will do their best to clear out given half a chance. It seems the village is remote & as he'd said earlier around a mile or so from the training camp. Comm's between the two is by mobile & from Inda'ade to the training camp via mobile or the ships VHF, although I guess the latter is open to anyone who happens to be on that frequency at that time, other than that . . . "

In the meantime Vrasten & T-Bird had been talking, well talking in between T-Bird moaning about his missing fingers, they proposed to Alex that somebody probably needed to go back to the hotel as most of their kit was stashed there. Eventually Alex agreed with them but wasn't keen to leave the ship unattended or at least in the sole control of Crippen, with Vrasten & T-Bird still bouncing ideas about Alex decided to go have a chat with Hizb ut-Tahrir, before she could so however Crippen returned to the Bridge,

"Gentlemen, Miss Price, it would appear we have a second call from a Colonel Mansour Chhetri, the Yemen Commander of the Socotra garrison, if you press the Blue button on the intercom you can talk on open broadcast."

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 2.57pm - 30/07/2016

"Well", mused Alex, "he might not no who we are or what the fucks going on out here but he definitely suspects we're not Somali freedom fighters, I think my rejection of our offer to deal might have pissed him off a little bit, oops"

"Not much they can realistically do added Vrasten" at the look of concern on Henry Crippen's face, "All he commands is a few crappy troops, a tug boat & a couple of light aircraft, it's not like he's got a squadron of armed Mig's or anything on the island has he"

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 3.18pm - 30/07/2016

Alex tried to remain calm in the face of Hizb ut-Tahrir arrogant contempt & attempted

"Do you know who I am"

Unsurprisingly his attempts thereafter to verbally bludgeon Alex in allowing him to make contact with the Yemeni military attaché fell on deaf ears,similarly her reasoned argument for cooperation in trying to free the remaining MilKor hostages was disregarded as fanciful. Eventually Alex could stand no more &, with some pleasure, advised the miserable fucker that, no he wouldn't be leaving or speaking to anybody anytime soon & she hoped he enjoyed his continued stay on the ship.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 3.42pm - 30/07/2016

Gathered on the Bridge, Vrasten, T-Bird & Alex listened to the dull throb as the MV Magellan Star's engines came to life, at their request Crippen had ordered the anchor to be raised & the ship to hold it's own in the tidal current, not before however the fiberglass hulled boat on from which they'd entered the ship had been detached from the ships moorings & temporarily hitched alongside the port side weather deck.

Crippen did advise that as soon as the Magellan moved the small boat would be swamped under the swell raised by the ship.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 3.46pm - 30/07/2016

From the way the conversation was going it was clear that Alex remained adamant that she didn't really trust Henry Crippen not to go back on his word & therefore she would not be accompanying Vrasten back to the hotel, it was briefly discussed seconding one of the ships crew however if it was to make ready to sail it was already under manned. Eventually Vrasten agreed to go alone but that he'd hold off until darkness fell, with the added need to sail as soon as however Vrasten, as the only one of the three with any boat handling skills, suggested he cast off now & circle the ship until darkness allowed him to approach the beach unannounced, with nobody having anything further to add, Vrasten made ready to ship out, first however he thought he better tell the their stowaway that he wasn't going home just yet.

Hadiboh Bay 4.49pm - 30/07/2016

Vrasten, for the umpteenth time turned the small boat around the stern of the Magellan Star, although reasonably sure of what he was doing the monotonous circling & constant swell was beginning to create an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, for the twentieth time he wondered if this had been such a good idea.

As he swung towards the bow Vrasten picked out a new sound over the blip-blip of the boats 15hp two stroke twin cylinder outboard, fearing the worst he quickly picked up the rapidly approaching dot of a helicopter coming in from the direction of Socrata, unsure what to expect he slipped the safety catch of the Ingram.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 4.50pm - 30/07/2016

On board T-Bird & Alex watched the approaching helicopter along side Captain Crippen, not for the first time did Alex wonder just how good the MGL really was.

The helicopter suddenly veered off from its direct approach & several times circled the ship before hovering beyond the bobbing Vrasten before heading back out & around the ship & then turning back for the island.

"Didn't look armed to me" suggested T-Bird,"looked like an Augusta 204, or maybe a 205 on a sight seeing trip"

Putting down her field glasses Alex confirmed that the choppers crew were uniformed as was the rear seated observer, all were carrying small arms.

Hadiboh Bay 6.26pm - 30/07/2016

With the last vestiges of the sun disappearing over the horizon, Vrasten, slightly Green, headed for the beach strip outside of Hadiboh, he guessed that by by the time he was only halfway there it'd be near pitch black, the gibbous moon being obscured by clouds.

Beaching the boat as quickly as he could Vrasten took stock, he was only some ten minutes from the hotel Al-Moheet.

On the beach nothing unordinary or unexpected was about, with the Ingram, by now unjammed, stuffed under his coat Vrasten set off up the shingle, as it was still early evening power to the towns few street lights hadn't yet been cut.

In front of the hotel nothing looked amiss, quickly Vrasten slid across the rutted road & through the hotels open doors.

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh 7.21pm - 30/07/2016

In the foyer a few people Vrasten half recognised were knocking about, Sameer al-Khaiwani, the hotels owner/receptionist & chief pot washer stood behind the hotel desk, when Vrasten asked for the room keys he new something was amiss. Previously, although only recently arrived Sameer had been more than friendly towards his American visitors assisting Vrasten & Co with whatever they'd needed; In return he'd been paid well for the services provided.

Now however he was, at the very least remote, almost professional.,

"Will you be requiring a meal this evening sir"

Vrasten confirmed he would & that he'd take it in his room.

As he passed Vrasten the keys for the connected rooms Vrasten wasn't unduly surprised to feel a slip of paper palmed into his hand along with the keys.

Feigning ignorance Vrasten headed for the stairs discretely checking out the faces of those milling in the hotel lobby, as when first entered none looked out of place or appeared to be paying him any particular attention.

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh 7.34pm - 30/07/2016

Ensconced within their room Vrasten unfolded the slip of paper, it simply warned "You are being watched"

Hastily Vrasten secured the doors & checked over the room, all seemed as it should be including their considerable luggage.

With the lights remaining switched off Vrasten peered through a slit in one of the windows tattered blinds overlooking the rear of the hotel, below the window sat the 4 x 4 hired earlier in the week.

Under the shadows of a cluster of Dragon's Blood trees opposite the hotels rear two casually dressed smoking geezers were being just a bit to casual, as Vrasten watched they spoke as if in deep conversation but couldn't hide the furtive glances up to the hotel windows, before Vrasten could act there was a knock at the door.

Peering through the fish eye lens in the door Vrasten could see Sameer al-Khaiwani alone with a tray of snacks, pretty sure he was alone Vrasten opened the door wordlessly accepted the tray & gave Sameer a generous tip, with the door closed Vrasten poked investigated the tray of goodies, beneath the plate was a second scrawled message "They will come soon for you, you must leave"

Looking at the pile of kit on the bedroom floor Vrasten new that he & Skinpin couldn't hope to ferry it all to the boat unnoticed & was sure that if they did try to leave the hotel they wouldn't get far without attracting the stooges attention, then it dawned on Vrasten, where the fuck was Skinpin. For a moment Vrasten considered that the garrison commander may actually have Skinpin or that, shit, he was dead, either way he definitely wasn't here.

Auto-dialling Skinpin's number Vrasten was at a loss when it went straight to answer phone, almost whispering, he left an ambiguous message suggesting Skinpin call back soon.

Glancing once more out of the window Vrasten sighed then dialed T-Bird's mobile, when there was no answer he tried Alex,

"Hi Alex, we got a problem, no Skinpin & scuffers on the look out, ask T-Bird if there's any chance of a lift"

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 7.42pm - 30/07/2016

T-Bird, arm strapped to his chest, sat in the ZHi-8 & shook his head, this was bigger than anything he'd flown before, it was dark & he'd only got the use of one arm, over the phone he told Vrasten he'd be with him in ten minutes, under his breath he muttered,

"Houston, we have a problem"

Tentatively, he pulled back on cyclic stick & eased his left foot onto the anti torque control & held his breath, turning to his new right arm, the Magellan Star's Boatswain, James Moon, & indicated he should ease out the collective pitch control, yawing slightly the helicopter slid of the containers, dropped over the side rail & weaving slightly headed at low level across the dark water towards Hadiboh, on the short trip T-Bird wondered just how the fuck he was going to land on the hotel roof.

Al-Moheet Hotel, Hadiboh 7.51pm - 30/07/2016

As fast as he could Vrasten ferried the kit bags up to the roof, as he made the last rip he could see the rapidly approaching T-Bird, shit thought Vrasten, he looks fucking low.

As the chopper skimmed in Vrasten hurled a couple of hallucinogenic grenades over the roof parapet & squeezed off a magazine from the Ingram, as those below realised the destination of the ZHi-8 return shots rang out.

T-Bird grimaced, this was not good, he was to low & to fast, no matter how he tried to explain to Moon what to do it was all reactive & to late, with a sickening crunch the helicopter settled onto the roof, there were some nasty scraping sounds & the chopper seemed to be lower on its right hand side.

Before T-Bird had put the helicopter down Vrasten began to throw the kit bags through the open side door assisted by a grinning Moon, throwing himself in with the last one & screaming for T-Bird to get the fuck out of here, T-Bird did his best to oblige, unfortunately part of the hotel roof came with them.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 8.03pm - 30/07/2016

Back above the Magellan Star T-Bird, sweating nervously eased the ZHi-8 onto the roof of the containers, as was the hotel roof landing it wasn't pretty & there was a distinct squeal of twisting steel, T-Bird however didn't give a flying fuck, he was just incredibly relieved to still be in one piece, more or less, there was however a smell of avtar in the cockpit & he was sure there hadn't been any bullet holes in the wind shield when he'd flown away from the Magellan Star earlier.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 8.17pm - 30/07/2016

With the chopper down Crippen slowly shook his head but gave the order to bring the Magellan Star about, with infinite slowness the ship began to turn towards the coast of East Africa but not before there was a report of a helicopter approaching, Alex didn't wait for any radio contact & fired of a burst from the Wu-Bejing 381 heavy machine gun, surprisingly it wasn't directly at it but as a warning shot across its nose, it was closer than intended & several shots peppered the fuselage, trailing smoke it departed in rather a hurray.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 8.22pm - 30/07/2016

Again Vrasten tried to call Skinpin but like previous the line was dead.

Magellan Star, Hadiboh Bay 8.57pm - 30/07/2016

Vrasten's phone rang, expecting it to be Skinpin he was surprised when the screen identified the caller as Uriel, their contact at MilKor,

"Uriel, how you doing"

Somewhat preoccupied Uriel answered,

"Yeah, OK, I think, OK. Look Vrasten, please tell me you haven't declared war on the Yemen, what the fucks going on, this was meant to be a nice quiet extraction, if what were being accused of is only half true then we've got some serious shit to explain."

Over the next ten minutes Vrasten explain it wasn't anywhere near so bad as Uriel had heard, Uriel audibly relaxed,

"Thank fuck. We got a call from some collar at the White House, says they've had a report from CFT-150 that that unauthorised military action on Yemen turf has been carried out & it had been suggested MilKor may no something about it, apparently this included shooting up the local militia, crapping from a great height on the Colonel in charge & wasting several civilian ragheads, looks like you at the very least upset some people."

"Anyway good to here the fishing's good & your enjoying your holiday but try not to stir things up to much OK"

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