Guns for Hire - Script Seven

The Embassy of the Central Government of the Afrikan Free States, Pacifica foothills 5.53am 03/03/2015

As the rain gradually increased in ferocity Gonzales pulled the sedan up in front of the embassy steps, through the one way mirrored windows he could see one of the embassy lacky's hurrying down the steps shrugging into his jacket & straightening his tie.

Killing the engine, Gonzales slid his P11 out from beneath his jacket,

"Who's the faggot & what's the crack",

The squealer, identified by Mariusz, as the suit who'd dropped Joshua off outside of the Mariott the previous night, tried in vain to peer into the sedans interior before hesitantly tapping on the glass,

"Joshua, you in there Joshua, c'mon man, don't play games, it's to damm early in the morning & I'm gettin' wet out here"

Having been prompted by Vrasten as to what he should reveal, the nearside rear window silently descended & Joshua smiled as best he could with a pistol nestled against his ribs,

"There's been a change of plan Shwe, next Thursday's meeting has been brought forward & these gentlemen have been instructed to deliver the information to Langton immediately"

Caught on the hop by Joshua's reference to a prearranged meeting Vrasten & Mariusz, one sat to either side of Joshua on the back seat, smiled benignly at Mr Shwe & played along. As Shwe questioned Joshua further, Mariusz slipped out of the far seat & walked around the back of the car before opening the door for Joshua, who guided by Vrasten, stepped out of the vehicle, accompanied by all except Gonzales he walked up the embassy steps & through the revolving doors.

Alone in the car, Gonzales passed the time watching the news reports on the the cars inbuilt CPU, one particular item caught his attention as a cute ass'd reporter stood outside of the Mariott Hotel reporting on the brutal slaying of a young couple & the night shift Bell Hop on the sixteenth floor, she added that the city cops were looking for two gentlemen they wish to talk with urgently, grinning Gonzales saved that one for later.

Back in the embassy lobby Shwe walked side by side with Joshua trying to get to the bottom of why events had escalated, Joshua, aware that his & Shwe's life likely depended on his answers fended off his questions reasonably well. Ignoring the two lifts to the right, Shwe called the left hand lift, which from the control panel inside appeared to only go between the ground & the top floor, & ushered every body inside. As they exited the lift, concerned by Shwe's continual barrage of questions, Vrasten made a point of pushing for coffee & making small talk. Successfully diverted Shwe opened the double doors to the left & ushered the three plus Joshua into the room beyond.

Looking around the room the three kidnappers, Vrasten, Mariusz & Skinpin, could see that it was some sort of conference area for official ambassadorial occasion's, the room contained a vast polished table around which were twenty or so lushly covered chairs, the walls were heavily covered in official photographs & collected paraphernalia presented to the CGAFS ambassadors over the years. Mr Shwe, reminded by Mariusz about the coffee disappeared of through one of the three doors asking Joshua to await his return before progressing matters. As Shwe left, Joshua went to open a second door however before he could Vrasten's harsh summons brought him to task.

Mariusz, not entirely trusting Shwe's actions, followed him through the door but came to a halt when faced by an empty corridor running along the back of the lift shafts, with two doors to choose from, one immediately to his left & one at the far end dead ahead, Mariusz ignored the door to his left & headed for the second door, this lead to a small lobby, ignoring another on his left he went through a fourth door directly ahead only to find himself in a large comfortable lounge area, to the left & right were yet more doors, from the door on the right Mariusz could here Shwe humming as he prepared Joshua & his associates coffee.

Back in the conference room Vrasten demanded Joshua stopped fucking about, unlock the safe & give them what they'd come for so that every body got to be happy. Joshua mumbled that's what he was doing & gestured to the door he was about to open, grunting vague acknowledgement Vrasten followed Joshua through the door into the adjoining room, the ambassadors, Joshua's, private office, again the rooms decoration reflected past colonial times as well as more recent exploitation of African Free States rich mineral deposits. Ignoring the room Joshua turned to a nondiscript door on the right, under Vrasten's watchful gaze Joshua opened the door & entered a smaller, cluttered & functional office beyond. Joshua quickly crossed Shwe's office to a second door in the opposite wall, catching Vrasten on the hop Joshua threw the door open & hurled himself through the doorway onto the floor hollering for assistance.

Vrasten, recovering quickly, sprang forward bringing the MAC up to waist level & emptying a full clip into the confined space beyond . . . . . . . .

Eyeballing the room, Mariusz was taken aback when Shwe stepped from the kitchen, tray in hand,

"Sorry got lost, er, the bathroom, through here maybe ?"

Nodding, Shwe confirmed that the second door was the ambassadors on-suite but he supposed Mariusz could use it as long as he left it clean & tidy.

As Shwe stepped back into the corridor, Mariusz went into the bathroom going through the pretence of using the john, before leaving he flushed the cistern & wiped any prints off the fittings he may have inadvertently left behind, hand on door handle, Mariusz's sixth sense kicked in, muffled thuds, undoubtedly automatic gunfire, slipping his SK19G from beneath his trench coat Mariusz released the safety catch & carefully eased the door open.

Stepping into the room Vrasten looked around him, slumped across an overturned swivel chair was the sprawled blood spattered corpse of a uniformed guard who had died trying to rise from his workstation at Joshua's call, beyond him the far & nearside wall now housed some thirty or so shattered & sparking monitor screens as well as the security console for the embassy itself. Putting his foot on Joshua's neck Vrasten warned him in no uncertain terms what would occur if he tried to fuck with them again.

Dragging Joshua to his feet, Vrasten pushed him towards the door on the right,

"Safe, now Joshua, no more shit, just fuckin' open it"

As Joshua opened the door a voice from beyond, recognisable as Mr Shwe, asked,

"What's going on Joshua, what's wrong, is that blood ?"

Before he could react further he was flung across the corridor as Mariusz wasted him from behind washing the startled Joshua in a geyser of blood, O Negative for the record.

Opening the main corridor door Skinpin lglanced at the carnage & asked,

"So where's the coffee ?"

Pushing Joshua before them, they guided him into the ambassadorial bedroom, opening the closet Joshua reached forward & exposed the safe door obscured behind a multitude of expensive suits, with the safe door open Vrasten grabbed a pillow case from the bed & used it to conceal a compact lap top, several document folders as well as several fat bankrolls,

"OK Joshua, we're nearly done, just walk calmly back down to the car, we drive away & nobody else gets hurt"

Ringing ahead, Vrasten primed Gonzales to their imminent departure, half way across the ground floor lobby, Gonzales buzzed them back,

"We got company, coming low & fast, can we go now please"

Skinpin pushed a protesting Joshua into the back seat before going shotgun with Vrasten & Mariusz one either side of thier stunned hostage. Gunning the engine Gonzales spun the sedan leaving several thousand miles of rubber on the gravel drive & headed for the gate.

Coming in low across the hills was a chopper, a troop carrier according to Mariusz, cumbersome but undoubtedly armed. As Gonzales headed for the gate, the chopper started to drop between them & thier objective, Gonzales, realising he could't beat it spun the car broadside allowing Mariusz to to let loose a grenade through the sedans window from the SK's underslung launcher, unfortunately the fragmentation grenade didn't go where it was intended, into the choppers open side door where several troops were poised ready to leap to the deck, however it did strike the rear fuselage, thankfully it caused the pilot to violently yaw away giving Gonzales a free run at the perimeter gate. Not deviating from his route Gonzales drove directly for the lonesome guard stood between them & the gate, the guard, to give him his due stood his ground & emptied a clip into the sedans front end before throwing himself out of Gonzales path. The Luxus ploughed through the lowered barrier, despite its armoured nature a crack ripped across its front windscreen.

With no sign of further aerial pursuit Gonzales eased of the gas & joined the traffic on the coast road.

Before reaching Pacifica Vrasten had Gonzales pull over out of view of the passing traffic & forced Joshua into the trunk then prostrated himself across the rear seat so as any one casually looking in would see only three occupants not five, Skinpin, not wishing to disappoint him, decided not to spoil his fun by pointing out that nobody could see into the car through the one way windows.

Mariusz flicked open his mobile & called Striker,

"We've got the goods & we're on our way, see you at 2.30 OK, yeah, all right, OK then, call back pronto yeah"

Pacifica Central 6.58am 03/03/2015

Back in Pacifica Central, Gonzales, forgetting about the earlier breaking news, headed as directed for the lock up where Vrasten's car had been hidden a couple of days earlier, pulling onto the industrial estate they parked a block or so away from where the car was secured & considered thier options, as they spoke Skinpin suddenly pointed,

"Smile guys, were gonna' be stars"

Looking across the lot, they could see a INF live broadcast unit half parked around the corner, next to the unit a media jockey trained a camera on the sedan, Skinpin, flicking the TV to INF's news channel, they all can see a shaking image of the sedan, now olive green, on the screen.

"OK, here's what we're gonna' do, Gonzo, spin around the corner, loose the bastard quick & park up, then everybody out OK, grab your stuff & meet at the lock up in five"

Under orders Gonzales did as he was told & they all watch a couple of minutes later as the INF news van cruised past the end of the alley trying to catch them up, dragging Joshua out of the trunk along with the bag containing the safes contents Vrasten ducked back inside the sedan, flicked the auto return switch & shut the door, moments later the sedan purred into life & eased its way out of the alley heading for RentaRobo's collection point,

"Sweet, very sweet" whispered Skinpin.

With Joshua now in the trunk of Vrasten's wheels & disguises discarded Gonzales drove them out into the morning traffic & headed for the highway, as they climbed the slipway onto the interstate, sirens could be heard converging on the industrial unit behind them.

Back to Guns for Hire