Guns for Hire - Script Fifty Five
Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 2.28pm 9/09/17
. . . . . & Hercalio ushered the Sanctuary's rusting tractor out into the open as the girls hurtled from the Kitchen door to envelope T-Bird in a sprawl of uncombed hair & giggling fits.
Some minutes later T-Bird, having handed out presents followed Vrasten, Alex & Skinpin into the Kitchen only to be assaulted by the smell of Elodia's homemade empanadas & quesadilla as well as fresh brewed coffee, it was difficult to decide whether to stuff ones face or take a bath, Skinpin solved the problem by taking a handful of goodies to the bathroom.
Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 5.26pm 9/09/17
Several hours later feeling somewhat refresh & having reassured Hercalio that all was well with the world T-Bird &Vrasten earwigged as Alex put a call in to their potential patron, Saleh Asef Kazmi, after several rings Saleh answered the call & listened as Alex confirmed they'd enjoyed their recent vacation & outlined the intention to revisit the Philippine resort again in the near future, Saleh was delighted to hear this news & suggested they meet at Night City's Marriot Hotel for dinner on the the following Tuesday at say 8.00pm. Before ringing off Alex tentatively broached the subject of incurred expenditure as well as suggesting that they need to start planning their return trip if they were to catch the last of the summer sun.
Unhesitatingly Saleh asked Alex to provide banking details promising to transfer $5,000,000 USD within the next forty-eight hours, ending the call Alex was almost annoyed,
"Generous bastard, I was only donna ask him for $3,000,000"
Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 9.18am 10/09/17
The
following morning over coffee they started to flesh out the bare bones of the
planned return to Palawan as well as draw up a shopping list of equipment, after
a couple of hours the list was getting considerably longer but the plan was
at least starting to look like it had a vague hope of success or at least survival.
Mid morning Elodia, having delivered the girls to school & stocked up on fresh food, came back into the kitchen & presented T-Bird with an official looking envelope date stamped late August, apologising for not giving it to him the previous afternoon she waited while he opened it. Inside was a short note on FBI headed paper informing Mr Graham T Ryder that Jaylon Brandon, the surviving kidnapper, had plea bargained & struck deal with the district attorney's office offering considerable information concerning Patricia Roseboro, her various associates & the AAAL, consequently Brandon's trial was a formality but rather than the death penalty he faced a minimum of twenty-five years hard labour. Elodia, who having received a similar letter from Elisa Stringer, was aware of its contents, patted T-Bird on the shoulder & smiled.
For the rest of the day Hercaclio left them to their talking & got on with the business of running the Sanctuary & the ever growing stabling service it was offering, as Elodia & the returned girls began laying the table for the evening meal however he asked Alex & Vrasten for a few minutes of their time to discuss the ranches requirements. Presenting them both with a carefully drawn up & costed list of equipment including a new pick up the wind was simply taken out of his sails when both Alex & Vrasten immediately agreed & told him to draw the $150K or so from the Sanctuary account in Mariposa, with business concluded Elodia urged them all to eat her infamous tamale.
Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 11.14am 11/09/17
Satisfied that Hercaclio had got the running of the ranch & sanctuary well in hand Alex, Vrasten, T-Bird & Skinpin piled in to the the RV & headed for Night City.
Forlorn
Hope, Night City 4.17pm 11/09/17
Several hours later they dropped the RV of at Vrasten's apartment in West Beach before heading into one off the city's many malls to pick shirts, socks, a new dress & a hair cut or two in preparation for dinner The following night with Saleh, eventually even Alex had had enough of shopping & they jumped a RedCab & headed for the Hope.
It was still early doors when they'd got to the Hope & there weren't to many people about, a few familiar faces & a few they'd not seen before but nevertheless it felt good to be back in familiar surroundings, walking through the door T-Bird realised they'd not actually set foot in the Hope for nearly six months, the last time being just before they'd headed east to Springfield, Virginia to pick up Patricia Roseboro, instantly they felt at home & ordered up a pitcher of beer.
After an hour so & with the regulars starting to ghost in Vrasten spotted John Freeman talking with Ras Angabo, one of the Hope's for hire net runners & vocalist with the FH's resident band, DoW, catching Freeman's eye Vrasten gestured for him to come over when he had a moment to spare.
Forlorn Hope, Night City 5.52pm 11/09/17
Eventually the Professor had pulled up a chair at their table & greeted everybody amiably except perhaps T-Bird, the senseless slaughter of the street runners outside of the Hope in March still fresh in his mind, embarrassed T-Bird immediately mumbled yet more apologies, Freeman stared hard at at him then reminded him that he still owed the Hope big time for not throwing him, deservedly, to the dogs.
Chastisements aside Freeman commented that he'd not seen them in a good while but had been wondering when they'd show up again, leaning forward he casually asked if the call back in July been profitable, smiling Alex suggested it was funny he'd mentioned that as they were wondering if the Hope's services could perhaps be prevailed upon,
"For you guys, at the right price of course, of course it can, what can we do you for ?"
For the next hour T-Bird, Alex, Skinpin & Vrasten, Skinpin having disappeared behind the scenes, listed out a multitude of requirements, silencers, ammunition, laser rifles, additional SMG's & assault rifles, a fully serviced & armoured Hummer, C6 explosives, detonators, remote triggers, stingers, smoke & frag grenades, a couple of chainsaws, cammo netting, hardtack, security software & remote cameras & personal armour as well as additional & heavy weaponry including a Militech Ripper autocannon & a Scorpion 16 Missile Launcher along with a couple of cases HEAP rounds, at the mention of DU shells even Freeman raised an eye, grinning Alex suggested they were only kidding.
Eventually they all stopped talking figuring they just about included anything & everything to the list that they might need & looked expectantly at Freeman like a bunch of kids in a sweetshop, for a few moments he ran his eye down the list,
"Well fellas, I'll need to check back with you on this little lot but you're talking maybe $320K, you good for that ?"
With
apparent ease of mind at this figure Freeman quizzed them on delivery dates
& address, he reckoned he could have it all put together in two, maybe three
weeks at most, it was agreed that delivery details would be confirmed once the
flight arrangements were in place.
Freeman whistled,
"You fellas starting a war somewhere nice ?"
Before Freeman could rise to leave Alex suggested they weren't yet done, smiling Freeman sat back down & listened.
"OK, let me make sure I've got this right, it's an overseas contract for say a month give or take, you're not expecting battle conditions but whoever you take with you they need to be the best we can get in the time scales we've got, departure in around a month, capable of handling whatever comes your way, standard terms, payment in full whether the mission is successful, aborted or not, standard FH finders fees apply, four, maybe three in number worst case"
With nodded agreement from around the table Freeman promised to put Kronos & Dolahyde on the case the following day & have a short list drawn up within a week or so & the best candidates at the FH for an interview shortly thereafter, happy with this arrangement they finally let Freeman go.
Satisfied with their shopping trip they had a couple more beers before heading back to Vrasten's West Beach apartment but not before Alex had Vrasten check the Sanctuary's bank account on line, sure enough the balance now included the $5,000,000 promised by Saleh as well as confirming Hercaclio had spent around $165K on kit for the ranch.
As they left T-Bird made one final circuit of the Hope's all access areas on the off chance that the skirt he'd hooked up with, & got well & truly screwed by the last time he was here, was about, fortunately for T-Bird she wasn't.
The Apartment, West Beach, Night City 9.11am 12/09/17
The
next morning they headed back into the commercial district as there were still
a few non military items that they wanted to pick up including ruggedised laptops,
spare batteries, sat-phones etc, with the last of the civilian essentials sorted
they took a JohnyCab down to East Marina.
Moran Shipping Agencies Inc, Pier Head Seven, East Marina, Night City 2.14pm 12/09/17
Having phoned ahead to check Lorenz Werner would be about they asked the shipping clerk on the desk to buzz through to him to let him no they'd arrived, she asked them to take a seat while she notified him of their arrival, a few minutes later a smiling Lorenz appeared & ushered them into his office.
Sat in his cluttered office Lorenz buzzed somebody on the intercom & asked one of the office jockeys to sort some coffee out.
With coffee on the table Vrasten pulled an unopened forty of Kentucky Buck Horn & tipped a generous slug into all the coffee filled mugs & smiled.
Nodding his approval Lorenz cut to the chase,
"Well peeps, I assume you're ready for another vacation, where & when ?"
After staring at the dot on the world map on the wall behind his desk for a few moments Lorenz scratched his head & then scribbled a few notes on his pad,
"So its you plus another four max, all your kit & an an armoured truck, say maybe 4700Kg, food, you guys don't travel light do you, maybe 8, 8.5T all told, help yourself to more coffee, you OK to wait, give me maybe an hour to make some inquiries."
With that Lorenz left them alone having buzzed through for more coffee.
Moran Shipping Agencies Inc, Pier Head Seven, East Marina, Night City 3.21pm 12/09/17
Back in his office Lorenz glanced at his pad & then spoke,
"All right, assuming we use Burbank as the point of departure as previous & stick with the C-27 we're talking maybe a dozen hops with around thirty-seven hours flying time, before you start, not the quickest time I admit & it's getting towards the Spartans max payload as well but on the plus side it's cheaper than bringing in anything bigger but more importantly it can put down on the smaller of the two northern islands, Culio, more importantly its light enough that even fully loaded can get back in the air without the need for a C-130 with booster rockets."
Bowing to Lorenz's expertise in the matter they asked the all important question,
"$175K return flight & $10K a day for them to wait it out on Culio & come get you when you call, normal rules apply, if the skipper says it ain't safe he's got every right to upsticks & get the fuck out of there whether your back in the bird or not"
Moderately happy that their budget for the contract more than swallowed the flight costs they concluded the conversation promising to give Lorenz at least two weeks notice of the required departure date & have a think about a cover story, with business concluded they headed back to West Beach.
The Strip, Mariott Hotel, Pacifica Central 7.47pm 12/09/17
Respectably dressed they arrived at the Mariott a few minutes early & after confirming their table with the hotels maître d' took seats in one of the hotels bars to await Saleh Asef Kazmi, at eight precisely Saleh appeared, as previous immaculately dressed, & lead them to their table. Over the meal, which was unsurprisingly excellent, Saleh made only passing reference to their overseas activities both recent, of which he obviously had some knowledge, & future.
After the meal they retired to the opulence of the hotels private lounge where Saleh joined them for brandy, not having partaken of any alcohol during the meal,
"So gentlemen, Ms Price, I trust your plans for a second vacation or going well ?"
For the next hour or so Alex, Vrasten & T-Bird, Skinpin having not joined them this evening preferring the familiarity of the Forlorn Hope, discussed the situation with Saleh but ensured nothing was actually said that could compromise any third party or jeopardise their intentions if overheard. Saleh again emphasised that it was essential that he had as much notice as possible of the deed in order that Iska Diwata Lakan's supporters could mobilise & take advantage of the ensuing chaos.
Under interrogation Saleh explained as best he could regarding the military presence on the island,
"Whilst their is a reasonably strong Philippine Combined Forces presence at El Nido Bay, principally as a consequence of the Chinese threat, the mainland authorities do not want, however much they political pressure is on them from outside, to interfere with the current political unrest on the island, to that end as long as their is no mass civil disturbance or outright genocide they continue to carry out their protective duties but will not be drawn into supporting the current regime by suppression or in defense of the people against an elected official however corrupt."
At one point Alex did ask Saleh what, should the occasion arise, he would like them to do with Kuratong Balelang if they managed to extract him rather than 'remove' him, Saleh thought for a moment & finally suggested that he would need to consult with others & come back to them.
Finally Saleh turned to the subject of fee's & suggested that aside from expenses which would obviously be covered funds of $25,000,000 would be made available to be divided amongst their party as they saw fit, trying their best not to grin Alex, Vrasten & T-Bird nodded solemnly & suggested that would do nicely.