Guns for Hire - Script Fifty Seven
Forlorn Hope, Night City 3.16pm 24/09/17
With
things seemingly falling into place it was unanimously agreed that it was time
to give Lorenz the go ahead on the flight arrangements, rather than putting
in a call they checked everything was secure & out of the way on the RV & drove
down to the pierhead offices of Moran Shipping, thoughtfully Alex even took
a long another bottle of bourbon.
In reception, despite it being a Sunday, they weren't kept waiting & before a harassed looking Werner Lorenz pushed open a door & beckoned them through, inside his office he quickly finished the call he was on & then removed the external mastoid com unit, shuddering at the thought of the proffered bottle,
"Sorry fella's, up to my fucking neck in crap today, what gives ?"
Disappointedly Alex slipped the quart back inside her purse whist Vrasten confirmed it was a goer for the flight, if possible for the following Saturday, the thirtieth, from Burfield.
Lorenz, swearing under his breath, rummaged through his desk & then stepped out of the office apologising for the delay, outside of the closed door they could here raised voices.
Twenty minutes later a slightly red faced Werner Lorenz reappeared,
"Sorry fella's, as I said, shitty day but all sorted, I've spoken with Varnik & Jesus, you remember them yeah, you've flown with them before, pilot & mechanic, plus a new flight engineer, Gigi Bonnay, regular bit of eye candy I'm told but knows her stuff, anyway 3.00pm lift off next Saturday at Burfield, take advantage of darkness on the west coast. I assume you'll be able to get all your kit in place ready to load as we wouldn't want to be hanging around for to long"
"Oh & before
I forget, cover story, there isn't one really, it's such a crappy route, to
many short hops, to come up with a convincing story that'll see you all the
way there, we've oiled wheels where we can & been vague where we can't so normal
rules apply, whatever Varnik or his crew say you jump the only response is how
high yeah, he has full authority with
regard to flight safety & security OK"
Not expecting it to be any other way they all nodded in agreement.
"OK, once last thing, we know you, you know us but business is business, half up front, half at Burfield, you good for that ?"
Having been expecting this Vrasten looked at the others & then handed over a prepaid card,
"No problem Werner, there's sufficient funds on this to cover it all, take it all now & then it's sorted"
Highway 5, California 5.01pm 24/09/17
With everything
in place the gang of four headed out of NC back towards Mariposa, Alex keen
to be on with her second week of flight training, but not before they'd picked
up a few
last minute acquisitions including additional minicams to link with the CCTV
software they'd previously bought.
Highway 5, California 5.48pm 24/09/17
Once out of the evening flow of traffic heading in & out of NC & with only minimal NCPD altercations Alex relaxed & watched the road ahead roll under the RV's wheels, ignoring the prattle behind her, driving on near automatic she quietly ran through the previous week's flight lesson in preparation for the following day, the first day of her second intensive training week, just as she was trying to remember the definitions of roll, pitch & yaw the RV's tired engine spat its dummy out.
Pulled to one side Alex, Vrasten, Skinpin & T-Bird stared at the engine, emulsified oil slowly bubbled out of where the head gasket used to be, Skinpin, ever helpful, inquired as to the shiny bits of metal embedded in the underside of the hood, calmly Alex told him it was proof conclusive proof that the RV was fucked.
With no hope of being able to get the RV back on the road Alex called Hercaclio to get him out to them with the ranches new pick up to tow them home, Hercaclio wasn't unhelpful just practical & pointed out that by the time he got himself sorted & out to them it'd be at least four or five hours, maybe longer, muttering Alex told him to stay where he was as she wouldn't want him to put himself out on their behalf.
Hearing this Vrasten hit the web looking for a local tow truck company.
Highway 5, California 6.51pm 24/09/17
Just
over an hour later several sets of flashing orange lights announced the arrival
of their night in shining armour, quietly the tow trucks owner peered at the
engine occasionally prodding at one of its inner mysteries, after a good ten
minutes of this he turned to face the impatiently waiting group,
"See that engine, it's completely fucked"
Whilst Captain Tow Truck took the agreed towing fee in advance the tow trucks drivers' mate rolled the tow truck backwards & hitched up the RV, declining the offer to sit in the tow trucks cab Alex joined the others in the comfort of the RV & enjoyed a beer or two on route back to Mariposa.
Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa, 11.27pm 24/09/17
Eventually
back at the ranch Alex left the others to deal with stowing the last of the
kit in the armoury come storm bunker as well as Hercaclio's questions about
the RV & headed for
her pit knowing she had an early start the next day.
Mount Bullion Airfield, Yosemite, 8.03am 25/09/17
Having not
had the best nights sleep Alex sat listening intently to her instructors commands,
nodding her understanding she ran through the flight check as the R44's engine
slowly
ticked over, as directed she engaged the helicopters cyclic trim & pushed the
stick forward the engine stuttered, the chopper dropped & bounced on the grass
several she realised
the hydraulics warning light was flashing red, unceremoniously Durness flicked
everything off & told her to start again, perhaps, thought Alex, I'm not as
ready for this as I thought I was.
Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa, 9.47am 25/09/17
As discussed the night before Hercaclio had a local garage come drag the emptied RV away on a promise to get a repair estimate back to him by close of play the next day, he also arranged the purchase of vehicle trailer capable of carrying the Humvee to be delivered to the ranch no later than Thursday 28th.
With arrangements for the flight in hand Vrasten & T-Bird put a call through to their patron, Saleh Asef Kazmi, to confirm the dates of their next vacation, Saleh agreed he would make tour guide arrangements in case they were required & would contact them in a day or so to confirm.
With the
domestics in hand T-Bird & Vrasten went through all the newly acquired weapons
making sure power packs were charged etc as well as having a more successful
run
through with the surveillance software, while Vrasten finally conceded reading
the manual did help T-Bird put a call through to the hired in team giving location
details for Burfield & instructions to be there around noon the following Saturday.
Skinpin, always ready to help quickly checked over the medical kit for the operation & then spent several hours making up a new playlist for the Hummers nonexistent entertainment system.
Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa, 8.21pm 27/09/17
Alex's week hadn't improved much, the rotor training was going OK, but it felt as if it had been three steps forward & two steps back & her confidence was dipping, Durness, the principle flight school instructor, had her booked in for her Part 1 FAA on the Friday, he was confident, despite her own feelings, that it wouldn't be a problem, the intention tomorrow was to run through the practical under full flight test conditions, she just didn't feel 100% confident.
For
what it was worth the good news was that the RV was repairable & in the workshop,
admittedly it needed a complete engine rebuild & there wouldn't be much change
out of $5K but she liked it & it did the job. Hercaclio had also picked up a
trailer with an electric winch that'd carry the Hummer no problem & Saleh Asef
Kazmi had come back to Vrasten during the afternoon to confirm that three names;
Jorge
Asistio, Vergel Cortes & Felix Sarmientto, who'd
keep an eye out each evening at 7.00pm local time in the Kinabuch Bar in Palawan,
the three named contacts had a description of Vrasten & the others & would make
contact as 'Venerable Brothers' if Vrasten & Co were observed in the bar, otherwise
they would make no approach even if spotted elsewhere.
Vrasten had been into Mariposa the previous day as there were papers to be picked up from local law firm Bryant & Starchman in respect of purchase of shares from Helen & Alex's Will, he'd also wanted to put things in motion in respect of his own, should it happen, demise. He'd also wanted to pick up several more cheap satellite phones for the use of any local contacts provided by Saleh Asef Kazmi.
For the remainder of the evening they went over the details of the intended operation, studied aerial & satellite views as best as they could publicly pull down of the net & planned contingencies for anything they could think of that would inevitably go wrong, around midnight Alex bailed & left them to it as she wanted to run over the following days pretest.
Mount Bullion Airfield, Yosemite, 10.14am 28/09/17
Alex sat
on the grass outside the hanger with her head in her hands, the morning's rehearsal
for tomorrow couldn't have gone much worse, the practical run through had gone
OK, well, OK, until she was bringing the R44 back into land & she'd somehow
managed to come in just to quickly fucking the helicopters undercarriage in
the process as well as watching in horror as Durness's head had slammed against
choppers Plexiglas screen. It wasn't anything serious, a couple of stitches,
a few loose teeth, a black eye & a fractured cheek bone, they'd even been OK
with the damage to the R44, well, once she'd forked out to cover the excess
but she felt like shit despite the promise that she was still booked in for
tomorrow's
Part 1.
The rest of the day was spent going over old theory papers, at least, she hoped, she couldn't fuck that one up.
Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa, 7.34pm 28/09/17
Vrasten & Skinpin listened impassively as Alex related her day of woe, T-Bird, full of apparent sympathy, offered his expertise in assisting Alex with her studies, after all, it might be away into her pants.
Uzzit
Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa, 10.47am 29/09/17
With Alex away early to sit her Part 1 Rotor license Vrasten decided to take the morning easy, T-Bird had gone off into the hills to spend a couple of hours practicing with one of the Giscard FC70LR's.
As he sat drinking coffee Elodia reappeared having dropped the girls off at school, as she dropped her bags on the table she handed Vrasten a couple of letters, one was post marked as for his attention from the NCPD, the second, other than his name & address was unmarked.
Slitting it open it simply confirmed the findings of the review board as well as confirming Vrasten's option not to take reinstatement, it also requested confirmation of Vrasten's bank details in order that all outstanding salary or withheld pension could be brought up to date as well as to make arrangements for future pension funds.
The second envelope contained an artfully forged Singapore passport, driving license & photo ID card in the name of Kwek Leng Beng, the photo was clearly Vrasten but tweaked to give a more oriental look.
Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa, 4.49pm 29/09/17
Alex killed the S-MAX & wearily made her way into the ranches kitchen come family room, as all gathered she couldn't help but smile,
"Piece of cake"
Over
a cold beer & whilst Elodia & the girls laid the table Alex expanded
upon her initial comment, despite her fuck up the previous day she'd aced the
theory paper & not done much worse on the test flight, Richard Durness,
Midpines Chief Flight Instructor, had, despite his injuries at the hands of
Alex's cock yesterday, signed off her flight hours & endorsed her log book
in confirmation that she had achieved sufficient competence to apply for a FAA
noncommercial rotor license, immediately Alex had completed her application
& along with the required fee had dropped it in at the Mariposa Post Office,
Durness had suggested it'd take a couple of weeks to come through.
Uzzit Farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa, 6.08am 30/09/17
Intending to be at Burfield no later than noon all were up early to load all the kit from the armoury into the Hummer & the pick up & to get the Hummer onto the trailer & sheeted over, with everything all ready packed in readiness over the week getting it all loaded took less than an hour.
Before leaving they gave Hercaclio an approximate time scale until they returned, five to six weeks worst case, as well as instructions just in case they didn't come back.
Hercaclio listened intently occasionally before assuring them that all would be as it should be when they returned, quite clearly he didn't want to know anything about their external activities, the less he new, the less he could tell, but he wasn't so stupid to realise that whatever they did it, whilst it might not be illegal, it was certainly wasn't all above board.
With everything loaded they left Hercaclio, Elodia & the girls to enjoy the weekend & headed for Burfield.
Burfield Airstrip, 11.53am 30/09/17
The drive from the farm to Burfield, if a little cramped, had all gone to plan & they arrived at the turning of Highway 99 just before noon, pulling of the highway through the gap in the concrete banking onto the debris strewn side road passed the faded hoarding they drove on until reaching, what should have been, the collapsed perimeter fence.
Pulling
to a stop all four removed themselves from the pickup stretching to ease cramped
legs & backs, across the concrete road & running up both banks of the airfields
approach the former part collapsed perimeter fence had been parched up to at
least give an appearance of security, across the roadway the roller gates had
been pulled shut & new 'Private Keep Out' signs were clearly displayed;
a new chain & padlock reinforced the intended privacy.
Unable to see the airstrip & warehousing from the road they assumed the warning to keep out couldn't possibly include them, without hesitation Alex extracted a set of picks from her kit bag & quickly opened the lock, hanging the lock & chain to one side she turned to face the others,
"Shall we move on Gentlemen ?"
Shrugging T-Bird, Vrasten & Skinpin piled back into the pickups double cab allowing Alex to drive on.
Burfield Airstrip, 12.07am 30/09/17
As the approach road emerged from between the road banking at the east end of the runway Alex stopped the pickup so they could recon just what was going on; off to the west the various semi derelict buildings, hangers & control tower still stood as was however the most eastern hanger, the larger of the two, was partly encased in scaffold, parked in front of the hanger were three, maybe four trucks & a dozen or so men could be seen working off the scaffold making good the hangers cladding.
For several minutes both parties watched each other.
Burfield Airstrip, 12.11am 30/09/17
Eventually one figure emerged from inside the hanger & climbed into one of the trucks before driving towards them, Alex slipped the safety catch off her Militech Viper & tucked it under her jacket before getting out of the pickup
Clearly wary of what he might be facing dude in the truck announced that they, Alex & Co, were on private land, were therefore trespassing & should 'do one' before he called his boss & the police.
Alex indicated to the others that maybe they should let her deal with this one, unfolding from behind the wheel she ensured her best assets were at the forefront, whilst it didn't stop the rhetoric it certainly caused him to stutter.
Patiently Alex tried to explain the situation, they were meeting friends here as they'd done several times before & no, they clearly didn't know that the airfield was now being used by somebody else so if everybody could just take a chill pill they'd be out of here in a couple of hours & everybody could go home happy.
Whilst Alex's words, helped by her cleavage, helped the dude was still obviously uptight about the situation & headed back to the main hanger suggesting he needed to talk to his boss.
With the conversation concluded Alex hauled the trailer towards the eastern end of the runway to await the arrival of the hired hands.
Burfield Airstrip, 12.27am 30/09/17
Just before half past twelve T-Bird pointed towards a battered taxi driving onto the airfield towards them, inside were Puerto Rican Xavier Diaz & Norwegian, Augustus Martin König, as both unloaded personal kit from the taxi the new resident occupants of the airfield watched warily from the roof of the hanger.
Burfield Airstrip, 1.36pm 30/09/17
Accompanied by a couple of his work crew the construction companies foreman cautiously made his way over to join the party.
"Look, fella's, Miss, I've spoken to the boss, well, actually, my older brother & the police, they're both telling me you need to disappear, I don't want any trouble but I really do need you to piss off"
As he looked to his workers for support & erratically driven camper van squealed onto the airstrip & headed over to where Alex, Vrasten, T-Bird & the other stood waiting, from the rear door Irishman, Ainsley Bancroft sprawled out waving in acknowledgment & asking who'd called the builders in.
From the front seat Australian exoskeleton adorned Boyd, all 6'9" & 307 Kilo of him, miraculously unfolded & shouldered a matched pair of BA-L 20mm heavy machine guns,
"Sorry we're a bit late, ran out of gas, is there a problem ?"
Again Alex did her best to sweet talk Doug Wayliss as he'd eventually introduced himself, younger brother of George Wayliss of Wayliss Construction, around to her point of view, she new he just needed somewhere to rest his head & think it through & Alex new just where he could rest it, metaphorically speaking that is. After another ten minutes heart to heart Alex had Doug firmly in tow, he agreed he'd call the police to say it was all a mistake etc & there wasn't any need to attend & tell his brother it was all sorted & he'd even earned him & the crew a tidy bonus.
Alex also added that maybe they could do future business & passed Doug her number.
Burfield Airstrip, 2.09pm 30/09/17
With everything apparently agreed T-Bird organised the hired help & off loaded the Humvee & made ready all the kit for loading into the Spartan as soon as it touched down.
Vrasten counted out a wad of $500 credit slips to Doug to distribute amongst his crew as a 'special bonus', Doug Wayliss was stunned to learn that there was a plane due to land any time soon but again under Alex's gentle tongue he calmed visibly.
Burfield Airstrip, 2.41pm 30/09/17
With 3.00pm approaching Alex put a call through to Werner Lorenz asking him to confirm the plane was running on time & advising the Werner to let the flight crew no there were others on the airstrip but not to worry.
Burfield Airstrip, 2.56pm 30/09/17
As they stood watching the C-27 make its approach run they realised they better let Wayliss Construction know that somebody would be collecting the pick up & trailer as well as Boyd's runabout, Doug agreed he'd keep an eye on them for a day or so & passed Alex a mobile number on which whoever was collecting them could contact him, clearly Alex's attentions, assisted by a fistful of dollars, had impressed him.
A quick call was made to Hercaclio to advise the amended collection details.
As the Spartan touched down T-Bird pointed out the build crew on the hanger roof taking photos, Alex sweetly suggested that Doug suggest they delete these to avoid any unnecessary incidents.
Burfield Airstrip, 2.59pm 30/09/17
As the C-27 slew around at the end of the runway the rear tail loading bay was already opening, stood on its threshold was familiar face, Jesus Perez, Flight Mechanic & Cargo Master, with a wink & a bow he suggested they haul ass.