Chapter 3: Seal the Deal
April 9th, 2010 2145 Hours
Vltava River Docks, Prague, Czech Republic
After things had calmed down a little bit Koko and I began talking with a little more dialogue than our earlier discussions. Those moments in Afghanistan had permanently scarred me. But at least I only told her about what happened after the climax. That I then fell down hitting every major pile of crap in criminal underworld until it became routine to me. That's when I truly lost a portion of myself. I then told her the one thing I desired more than anything else, a chance to redeem myself for my past sins that sent me on this road into her world in which I swore an oath to fight against. She had to of known on how I not just abandoned but betrayed my fellow Green Berets and my country by acting on what I thought was right. When in reality all I did was just make myself an enemy of the United States. Regardless of the shit the CIA was pulling in Afghanistan, what I did in their eyes meant that I had made a betrayal on a scale so huge it made Robert Hansen look like a fucking tattle tale. The fallout on how I had dragged my family's once proud military heritage into the mud as well didn't help either.
"So instead of going home and facing the music I made a choice to keep on going and keep fighting. Even if that means I have to darken my soul in order to make the world see the bigger picture on how much better it can be without needless conflict and the absence of justice."
As we were walking along the docks to her containers she looked at me intensely as if she found something she could relate to. I hoped to God that was not the case though.
"It sounds like you want to create a whole new world."
"We'll I wouldn't go that far, I'm not as arrogant as that"
Above all things I was a realist. I knew that certain things in human nature would never change but I knew as a whole that we would adapt to new ideas and norms that made sense and that was proven throughout history. Simple things like plumbing, electricity, and transportation to advanced things like the internet, worldwide communication, and digital information.
"It seems though that you are nowhere near your goal. But I think I can help you."
I stared at her in confusion as she opened the hanger door with the containers inside. I didn't know how the hell she would be able to help me with all the shit I've done in my life.
"Stop drifting around as a merc and stick with me from now on cause I can show you how you can move past your sins and not put down you gun."
Once again she was right. For the last two years I've been running around in circles and effectively been in a state of limbo still haunted by Afghanistan trying to just survive. It wasn't just money I needed to survive, I had more than enough of that from all my gigs, more than I had ever spent in my whole life. It was trying to get through each day without just wanting to plant myself somewhere like a hermit and just waste away. I was defiantly not thinking about ending my life, a permanent solution to a temporary problem wasn't gonna solve anything. I had absolutely no idea how she was planning on helping me out but I had to ask her this cause I knew for a fact she was better than this.
"You are far smarter than your letting on. It seems as though you could achieve anything with not just your intelligence but charisma as well. Why the hell are you in the business of gun running?"
She then put her finger to her lips and looked up as if she was pondering.
"I'll tell you what, you tell me the rest of your story and I'll tell you why. The truth and nothing else."
Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?
"Ok. But after we get these containers out of here. Why?"
She walked forward as the lights came on above us and turned around with arms welcoming me into her kingdom, that smile still on her face.
"For world peace of course."
Fuck.
April 10th 2010 0330 Hours
Vikova Inn, Prague, Czech Republic
After getting the containers back, and diving into some rather unpleasant memories, we headed towards the second rendezvous point with the rest of the team. Just like at FOB's at night we set up a roaming guard shift on the floor because after the day we had it was far from over until Koko made her final deal. Normally soft beds were a luxury any soldier wanted after a hard day but for me that needed to spring back into action at a moment's notice I just slept against a wall covered in a blanket, my .45 ready and waiting.
"Wake up man, it's your turn for- WHOA EASY!"
I sprung to my feet faster than he expected. I saw through the moonlight coming through the window that it was R.
"Sorry man, force of habit. Is it my shift?" I put my sidearm back in my holster.
"Yeah you're up with old man Lehm, were you even sleeping?"
After the mess my head has been in the last two years, I don't even remember a decent night's sleep.
"Well whatever, he's outside down the hall. The inn must have turned off the heat or something so grab a coat. I'm gonna go pass out."
I smelled his cigarette burning the moment I went outside the door, old vet's love their tobacco and I doubt he cared about the no smoking signs. Me I was more of a cigar guy but I rarely did it unless I had something to celebrate with. Like when I beat my dad in a sharpshooting contest when I was fifteen. I naturally started hacking up a lung but I got used to it. However there hadn't been a lot of celebratory things I had gone through recently. Whenever I did it, I did it on nights where I felt more alone than usual.
I saw him at the end of the hall. When you've been in the service long enough you tend to develop the persona of not really giving a damn but that's not the case. We just kept hearing the same shit on what to do over and over that it's like second nature. We knew what to do, we just gave off the impression that we wanted you off our asses.
"Morning." Him.
"Morning." Me.
Both of us were used to bad hours so it looked like our day had just begun. I knew I was gonna be working with these guys figure I start off with some humor.
"Saw what that pirate woman did to that van earlier, gotta say that was rather awesome."
That got a chuckle out of him. "Ha! You better not let her hear that or she'll cut off something vital."
"I won't. But after today I need to ask you something."
"What is it?"
0400 Hours
"You're a bit more talkative than when we first met and this is the first question you asked. So let me get this straight you wanna know why major league bad ass that's cut from the same cloth as you take a job as a bodyguard for a smoking hot lady arms dealer."
Man did have a bit of an ego. But then again Delta Operators always earn their bragging rights. They had the idea drilled into their heads that they were better than everyone else. I was no different, but I kept the thought in front of me the whole time that I was still human. So I threw the next playful jab
"I don't recall using the term "bad ass", I think you might be going senile."
Lehm let it roll off his shoulder. "You've only been with us for one day technically so you'll see soon enough. But to answer why did I take this gig? Cause it's fun, that's my reason for being here."
I think I might have been right without knowing, he might be going senile. Those that are part of the black ops world do have a shelf life and they wanna stay in it as long as possible. Looks like he just didn't wanna quit.
"Then again each member of the unit has their own reason too. Give it some time and you'll see what your reason is."
"Already did."
"Really? What is it?"
"I explained it to Koko. Only she needs to know that for right now, but what you need to know is that I'll be a team player and I know how to operate on instinct and fight out of a situation when I don't have backup."
"Well if the little lady knows then that's good enough for me." He put another cigarette in his mouth. "Like I said, give it some time and you'll adapt to how we operate and you'll see that Koko is very…uhh"
It was my thoughts exactly as Koko stepped outside her room with just her shirt, messy hair, and half unconscious eyes.
"She's very…special."
"Define the term special." I asked brining out my sarcasm.
He pointed her back to her room. "Koko, bathrooms back that way."
She then lurched away as if she was a zombie. I rubbed my eyes and then groaned.
I'm seriously gonna need major strong coffee for breakfast this morning.
1000 Hours
Vikova Inn Conference Room
I knew that the mess that happened yesterday wasn't going to end just by running a few car's off the road but Koko was starting to freak out.
"WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!"
She then held up a satellite photo showing several semi-trailers.
"Three hours ago a transport team crossed the border from Poland, if my intel is correct they're carrying over a dozen broken down Mi-24 Attack Helicopters. They stuffed them in the trucks and labeled them as spare parts."
Old Soviet technology everywhere and it's rather cheap. Wonder why this is causing her to freak?
"Someone must have gotten word on our success and is trying to sneak in on a piece of the action. Granted this kind of thing happens all the time it's just that…ugh!"
Her face then sank into being rather depressed. "The info on this convoy came directly from headquarters and if we screw this up its gonna cost us big."
She then threw herself on the table and a total lack of reaction from everyone except me.
"OH BIG! BIG! BIG!"
All I could do is raise my eyebrow and try to wrap my head around what the hell I was looking at, Wiley looked to me.
"See the way she's rolling around like that? That mean's she's serious."
All I knew was that H&C Logistic Incorporated were the ones in charge over Koko so naturally she was worried. I'd feel better if she took it a little less comical though.
"We need to deal with this pronto! First we intercept their convoy but if they decide to play rough we play rougher so take a moment to collet your thoughts and prepare"
"Kaaaay." Everyone said in unison almost uninterested.
"Right. You guys are the best, you know what to do."
Somehow I was hoping that was true or else today was gonna be even worse than yesterday.
She looked up and addressed all of us. "Tojo, Valmet, you two handle negotiations with national defense. Lehm, Ugo, Lutz, Mao gear up your my backup. R, Wiley, handle the comms with the brass. Damien, your with me."
1045 Hours
After splitting off from the rest of the team Valmet and Tojo began making their way to the Czech Defense Department.
"You said his name's Seike Kloshkin?
"Yeah a freelance arms dealer that used to work for Soviet intelligence when Czechoslovakia was still a unified country."
"Did you tell Koko that he was a former spook you know how dangerous those guys can be!"
"I didn't have to, she already knew. Besides she has half the team and the new guy with her and from what she told us you should know how capable he truly is."
She couldn't deny that, Damien did save her from getting blown up.
"Besides if you should worry about anyone it should be me."
"Yeah right, I know you can handle yourself. But Koko is the only one I'd ever risk my life for."
"Seriously? What if the Agent's from the Matrix show up?"
"I'd wish you luck and run your ass off!"
"You are so heartless Valmet!"
1115 Hours
I was riding shotgun again en route to this Kloshkin characters place she handed me a second .45. Like many M1911A1 clones this was a modified Kimber.
"Take this as backup and I got intel on this guy that he's no prince charming."
"Didn't really expect him to be but I prefer not to run into another firefight two days in a row."
"That's why we have them." She signaled to Ugo and they took off.
She mentioned to me earlier that they use specific hand signals that only they know about so they can take opponents off guard. Same method that SEAL's use when then need to communicate silently when sneaking up to enemies. I'd have to learn those later.
"For the purpose of this meeting you're not a soldier."
Even I knew that that act wasn't going to last. "What the hell am I supposed to be? A guy my size can't pass for much else."
"Hmm…you know what let's just say you're my boyfriend and your tagging along with me as my ride. Just trust me and keep up the act until I give the signal."
Oh boy, day's not even started.
1135 Hours
Kloshkin's Office
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Kloshkin, I'm Koko Hekmatyar."
"Yes from HCLI, I've heard of you please excuse the mess, I've just begun to set up shop here."
He immediately turned to me I saw the look in his eye that he knew something was off, his nice guy act wasn't fooling me.
"Who is this rather large gentleman with the long hair?"
"Well it's a bit embarrassing to say but this rather gorgeous hunk is my boyfriend! He's been driving me around because my car is in the shop."
She kept her act going. She grabbed my right arm tight and leaned her head into my chest.
"I don't really have an interest in what Koko's doing for today as long as I can spend the day with her."
I hoped he was buying it, I was trying to be more upbeat than my usual self.
"Not a problem. If you don't care sitting through boring things about numbers and what not. So let's talk business."
1145 Hours
Czech Defense
On the other side of town, Tojo and Valmet were having their meeting with the representative Colonel from Czech defense.
"So you're asking me to cancel delivery of the Hind's. It's not impossible but the recent deal your boss made has made us consider upgrading our arsenal."
Tojo then held up his phone. "Allow me to confirm with Miss Hekmatyar."
Kloshkin's Office
Back at the office Koko replied "Use the anti-aircraft missile deal next." Kloshkin looked on in confusion.
"That's your tactic? Plunge into a bidding war right off the bat? Can't show common courtesy to a fellow arms dealer?"
"I'm afraid not. As far as I'm concerned you haven't earned any courtesy. This is how I see the situation Mr. Kloshkin, I had a pasture full of cows and you tried to slip one into my heard. Now you want to try and take it back and it won't be my fault if you get shot in the process."
Oh fuck. Here it comes.
A deeply enraged look came over Kloshkin's face as he grabbed the coffee pot and smashed it against Koko's head. Naturally instinct took over and I sprung up gun drawn and grabbed him by his collar and place the .45 in his left eye socket.
"DAMIEN STOP!"
I tilted my head in her direction but I didn't take my eyes Kloshkin.
"I told you to trust me."
Fuck.
I flipped the safety on and let Kloshkin take the gun and prayed she knew what she was doing.
"Smart for you to listen to your boss, nothing good will come from shooting me."
I knew he wasn't buying the whole boyfriend farce. I should have known that people do like to pay attention to what others are doing the underworld especially if they used to be spy's. It kept them ahead of everyone else.
"So my intel was correct, you managed to pull in the infamous mercenary the US government had designated appropriately with the code name "Nightmare", you might be a bigger piece of shit then I am."
It hit hard and it hit painfully. I didn't learn about it until much later but it was appropriate. With all my skills on how to kill people as a Green Beret with guns, knives, my bare hands and with what I did in some of my jobs where the areas were a little too grey and how I dispatched some of my enemies was made accessible to the numerous US Intel agencies that they knew what had escaped from them and what was loose in the world. I was something of a real life nightmare. And unfortunately if Kloshkin kept pushing he would have seen it.
"I also know that you do have a team at your beck and call but I warn you not to try anything stupid. If you do my snipers will blow your heads off."
I did notice that the building across the street from where we were at had a perfect vantage point. He could pick us off at any time. But Koko just winked at me and continued to smile.
That's why you told me to stand down. Lehm and the guys are probably clearing them out.
1158 Hours
It was almost noon when Kloshkin picked up his phone, believing that he had won.
"It looks like your time is almost up, the delivery of the Hind's is right on schedule."
He was arrogant to a fault, he didn't frisk me to see if I had another gun. If things did go wrong and Lehm didn't find the snipers I would just have to kill him, grab Koko, and crawl out of the office and hope we didn't get hit.
"I hope we can be more social in the fu-"
"You really are stupid you know?" Koko cut him off.
"Excuse me?" That mad scowl had come back.
"Take a good look in my eyes Kloshkin, stare long enough and you'll see your reflection. But I see nothing in you. We may deal in arms but our real business is the people behind the weapons."
"The fuck are you ranting about?!" He squinted his eyes in anger.
"I'm glad cellphones are waterproof these days." She ignored him.
"I'm warning you-"
"Your snipers? Give them a call." She cut him off again.
Across the street, Lehm, Lutz, Mao and Ugo had found them.
"Hey boss I think we got them all." Lutz was on his radio.
"Good job guy's head back to the rendezvous point."
An immense fear came over Kloshkin, he was shaking all over, he had no one to keep him safe from the two monsters sitting in front of him. I pulled out my second sidearm and kept it on my lap in case he tried to do anything stupid.
"One more call." Koko continued. "Right now your life is worth a single sheet of paper."
It was the call to confirm the deal with Tojo and the Colonel. He confirmed.
"Right, the Hind's are now contraband and the form has just left the Colonel's hands."
Creeps like this were all the same when I first started walking this path. They claimed to be so ruthless that they think they're untouchable but once they get hit with overwhelming odds they show their true colors. Kloshkin was no different, he looked like he was about to piss himself. I stood up, looked at him right in the eye, raised my .45 and pulled the trigger. Koko made a gesture with her hands and said "Bang." at the same time.
"Koko." I turned to her and leaned down to look at her head. The blood still fresh but the cut wasn't deep. "Head wound's just bleed badly it's not serious."
She then stood up. "We're all done here, let's go."
I stopped her before we left the room.
"But still, that was rather reckless. I know you got Lehm and the guys to clear the other building but they couldn't clear 12 floors in a matter of minutes. Kloshkin could have gotten even more pissed and could have just killed us right off the bat before Lehm got to the snipers."
She continued to look at me with that smile. I didn't know whether or not she wasn't listening or didn't care. I turned for the door and she grabbed behind me tightly giggling like a girl.
But still, I'm glad this didn't get as bad as I thought it would.
In the last two years drifting across three continents I haven't come across a crew like this before. There were things I couldn't deny, they were charismatic, they were intelligent, they were fierce, and yet at their core they were very much human. I'll think I'll stick with them for now and Lehm was right, Koko is kinda special in her own way. Her mind works incredibly fast, I just hope she slows down a bit so I can catch up.
1700 Hours
Vikova Inn, Koko's Suite
It seems as though celebrating a good arms deal today was by making me the cook for making everyone dinner tonight. It didn't bother me though I've been cooking for myself for years so I knew how to prepare for guests, Koko at least gave me enough cash and time to stop by a super market and grab the ingredients I needed. It would have to be fast cause we were gonna leave first thing tomorrow morning to catch up with Tojo and Valmet and we couldn't leave leftovers. So I though chicken scampi with white wine and angel hair would be good enough. Anybody could have the wine, but I wanted some Pilsner Urquell.
"Smells great kid, didn't picture you for a chef. Anyway how was it working with the boss?"
I didn't sugar coat it. "She pissed off the other dealer and I let her get her head cut open."
"Well it was part of the plan. And she did tell you to trust her right?"
"Right."
"So don't sweat it. But do sweat about the food getting done, we starving."
"You can't rush Italian old man, flavor won't come out properly if you do."
My presentation could have been fancier but everyone looked like they were starving so I didn't waste time.
Koko stood and addressed me. "This is an important moment for you Damien. This marks you as being welcomed into the crew. You're part of a family now and a team you can rely on."
I didn't react. But in my head, the bad memories came rushing back. On how I betrayed my men that trusted me with their lives. How I stained the honor of the United States Special Forces group by going on a rampage. How I tarnished my real family's name and dragged it into shame. And how I made the CIA put a price on my head by hunting me for the last two years.
I just smiled back at Koko and said. "Whatever, just make sure you enjoy this slop. I've been busting my ass for the last two hours making this all for you guys."
"Kaaay." They reacted with their monotone uninterested response.
Better get used to that. That's seems like something they do frequently.
Surprisingly, some of them wanted seconds.