Chapter 5: Bait and Switch

May 7th 2010 0800 Hours

Svaneti, Russian-Georgian Border Town, Pollak's Camp

We were gonna be on a bit of a leash today. Pollak was sending two of his men along with us as insurance so that we could get across the pass without getting blown to hell by his patrols.

"I know you want to contact your headquarters at HCLI and I'll let you do that. Soon as you're on the other side of the pass you'll have reception again. I know you'd much rather use that fancy Iridium phone of yours but unfortunately this is one of the only spots in Europe where it doesn't have any reception."

Man chose the perfect spot to wage a private war if sat-phones couldn't work here.

"I'll have two of my men accompany you so you can get through the pass safely." He waved to his men and they walked to our car. "Take care, and if you try anything I will kill you."

I still didn't know how we were just going to run for it. In a fight I could out maneuver and out think an enemy contact and get away alive. Getting out of a bad business deal while you were on a leash was a bit out of my league. I'd have to let Koko plan this one out again. But I'd figure I'd lighten the mood a bit and turned to Lehm.

"Hey I can't really tell yet. Are we officially boned?"

He let out a puff of his cigarette non chalant as ever.

"Nah, only if we have to give that asshole his radar dish."

We then rolled out. However I wasn't running shotgun with Koko this time. It was one of Pollak's thugs. He immediately got under my skin with his first words. I don't think he realized it but both of us knew a little bit of Russian.

"Tsk. You and your crew think your real bad asses don't ya? People like you make me sick, how many deaths are you responsible for?"

Man really doesn't have a fucking clue. She may supply the guns but in the end it's always the asshole behind the trigger than ends another man's life.

"I guess whatever fancy college you went to didn't offer a class on ethics."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just a merchant. I never went to any form of school let alone college."

I kept learning more and more crazier shit about her every day and it's only been a month. No certified formal education in her life? It made me wonder how the hell she grew up. More so who even taught her anything and what. It seemed like she was bred specifically for this line of business.

"Despite my lack of formal education I know more about weapons than a shithead like you could ever learn in a lifetime."

Burn.

"It's also unfortunate. Cause I find it rather pathetic that I have to hand over my quality merchandise to soldiers not even worthy of welding BB Guns."

I didn't even need to do anything. Now she was getting under HIS skin.

"And now you've pissed me off. So I suggest you stop talking."

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

I racked my .45 and placed it at his left temple before he could finish.

"Listen cock shine. I suggest you put that gun back in its holster and do what she says. Cause unlike her, I don't get angry I just kill." He got the point and turned his head forward.

1350 Hours

Orin Pass, Kalak Valley

"Stop here. This is Orin Pass your phone should work now." The thug mentioned and we got out of the car, fog was rolling in rather late in the day.

Koko took out her phone. "Well let's try it. Here Damien."

I punched in Tojo's number and listened.

"She's ringing. We got reception back."

"Awesome!"

Or maybe not so awesome as we were immediately drowned in the distinct sound of rotor blades. I looked up and saw a familiar shape, the Mi-24 Hind D Gunship, two of them.

I screamed out to the group. "EVERYONE! OFF THE ROAD NOW!"

Koko pointed out. "Those are not the Georgians, those are Russians!"

The gunships then opened fire but we weren't the target, they were hunting something else. Then I saw a rocket fly off the ground but missed the lead chopper. If those were Currie's stingers he must have gave Pollak a bad batch. I then looked over at Koko an she was smiling again I didn't know what she was looking at but she didn't take her eyes of the gunships. I then noticed movement in the brush, must have been more of Pollak's men.

"Friendlies!" I shouted in Russian and then slung my carbine across my back to let him know I wasn't hostile. He then gave the signal for us to crawl to him. Koko spoke next.

"Are you part of Pollak's squad with the stingers?"

The guy wasn't stupid, he answered bluntly. "I'm not telling you that!"

Koko then spoke to him with urgency. "Your men will be as good as dead if they stay here. Get them away from the Hind's. If you don't believe me take a look at their noses."

I looked as well. Wasn't the same model, but it was the same device. A FLIR system, if it was warm then it could see you, making camouflage useless. The Hind's came around for one more strafe and then flew off. Looked like they didn't want to take another risk if one of Currie's stingers DID work. The soldier then stared in confusion after the gunships left. Koko didn't stop smiling.

You're not alone in that man. I still haven't figured that out either.

"Well you were lucky, now get outta here!"

"We were just going to do that."

After we marched back up to the convoy, thankfully still intact, I decided to be up front with her. As well as speak English since our "guests" were still with us.

"Why don't we just give this asshole what he wants and we can go home? If he says he'll pay us fine and if he doesn't we just waste him later."

She pondered for a second that that might seem like a good idea and then leaned on the car.

"My gut. This battle will be short, two days at the most. In the end no one will really win and Russia is full of skirmishes like this. Pollak has more ambition than he could afford. They'll be more fight's like this over the next few years, none that will be decisive of course."

She did do her homework, referring to the skirmish in 2008 when Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as states but only partially as far as the rest of the international community was concerned.

"In the end, no one would get control of that pipeline and plenty of dealers would be drooling over the chance to sell more arms to whoever is wanting to fight for that pipeline. But that's not how I conduct my business and we have no more of it here."

"Basing all this all on your gut is a big gamble you know."

"Being part of this team means trusting my intuition. Can you handle that?"

It's time I finally hit her with some of my own intuition.

"Gut feelings and facts are two totally different things. When the evidence is overwhelming you just accept it and move on. For example it's true the Chechen's may have stopped fighting against the Russians last year, but they're not done yet. They're just licking their wounds and waiting for the time to hit back again and that fight was three times as long as the first one back in 92. Who's to say that they won't try again? Because unlike around here they're not fighting for resources cause eventually they run dry, they're fighting for an idea. Freedom."

The crew looked at me in disbelief as I was challenging Koko in a battle of wits. But I let them.

"Granted everyone's idea of freedom is different, but it's an idea none the less. And unlike armor, an idea is not that easy to break." I paused and slung my carbine back around to my front. "However, I trust you Koko, if I didn't then you'd be dead back in Prague and all of you would be lining up for a chance to skin my ass alive. Valmet especially, am I right?"

That did get a laugh out of everyone then R spoke up. "She would take the most time out of all of us."

I looked down to her. "Shall we move out?"

The smile still hadn't faded. "I'll make the call."

1410 Hours

Once the fog cleared we continued along a dirt path. Lehm and I on point and the two wannabe Spetznaz flanking Koko.

"Who are you talking to?" He said as I turned around being as subtle as I could pretending I was scanning our sectors.

"I'm confirming with HQ where to pick up the goods, have a little patience." I saw her poke out her tongue very slightly.

That's the signal, here we go.

Suddenly Valmet flew out of the tree's and landed on the right thug and Tojo tackled the other one like a linebacker, the rest of the squad jumping in to hold them down.

"Tie them up good and gag him, he pisses me off too much and Damien might kill him."

"Miss us?" Valmet asked.

"So glad to see you again!" She was hugging her a little more that she should as I saw Valmet blush.

Guess that answers the question of why she likes me the least out of the whole group. I'm the total opposite of everything she likes.

"Ok everyone let's move out to our next checkpoint."

1912 Hours

Near the Georgian Border

Move out? More like a run a fucking marathon it was past nightfall by the time we got to where we were supposed to go. An old logging mill, I figured we settle in there for the night. Even though I had my NVG's, Lehm got first dibs on seeing if it was clear or not. Probably Koko punishing me for trying to out-do everyone. I saw that he was met by another figure but I saw the uniform through my lens that made the world green.

"Well, well look who it is. Let's chill Lou." He turned around and called for us. "It's ok, it's just our friends from CCAT."

"No it's not ok!" Lou was not too pleased.

When we got inside I saw why. Currie was gritting his teeth so hard I was expecting one of them to chip. His own Russian escort was nowhere to be found. Looks like one of his bodyguards got too trigger and/or stab happy. Koko looked at Currie with a grin all too eager. I could tell what she was thinking.

Now who's got the short end of the stick.

"Well Mr. Currie fancy running into you here. What a coincidence!" She said sarcastically. "Thought you'd be on your way back to jolly ole England by now."

She was definitely throwing the hard punches and Currie couldn't hit back cause he had nothing. He had to have realized that the Stingers he sold Pollak were junk and he now had a target on his back. It didn't seem to bother Mildo though as she approached Valmet.

"Been a while yeah?"

"I guess."

Mildo looked like a hunter stalking its prey.

Oh shit we're so close to getting out of here please don't let this blow up too.

"Do you have any idea how fascinating I find you?" That took me off guard. "I mean a one eyed woman soldier, and just the thought of you fighting with that knife gives me chills."

I didn't know whether or not she was praising her or hitting on her.

"Wanna have a go?"

Valmet was just as exhausted as the rest of us, she didn't have time for this shit either. "Pass."

"Mr. Currie!"

"Shut up! You've done enough fuck ups today alone just sit still and be quiet!"

"I don't know how!"

I felt like I was in the middle of some very weird sitcom. Mildo was acting the perfect high school princess wanting to challenge the cheerleader on who was more popular. Only this involved knives and bloodshed.

"Anyway did you kill the two guards that were sent with you?" He asked Koko.

"No. Tying them up was good enough."

"Well that stupid woman killed ours."

Called it.

Koko actually reacted in shock which seemed a little off.

"I know Pollak's more than likely to send his men after us to find out what happened."

"More than likely."

"Why don't we send out a couple of scouts just to be safe?"

She looked down with her hand on her head, then looked to Valmet and pleaded. "I'm so sorry Valmet, would you mind."

"No prob."

I recognized the hand signal. She was gonna stall Mildo. This day had already been stressful enough and the last thing I needed was for them to kill each other. Or even worse, Pollak's men were right on our ass. I decided to back her up.

"Hey R." I whispered.

"What?"

"I'm not taking any chances if Pollak's lackeys actually show up, I'm gonna follow them. If Koko asks where I went make something up. Tell her I had to shit real bad, anything."

"Your funeral man." He looked at me as if I was walking to my death.

1921 Hours

After following them for a few minutes they stopped and I kept quiet behind a tree. I was only gonna jump in if one of them was actually going to kill the other.

"Well it looks like you get your wish. I can't say no to Koko."

"She's changed hasn't she? I mean the last time I saw her in Russia she was amazing. And now she's even more amazing."

"Koko was best then and she still is."

Mildo made a sadistic smile and went in first. "Let's play!"

The lady was a pro. I could tell way she held her two blades at once. Sword and shield and the same time. I then drifted into thought about what regular grunts back home would think about a fight like this. Odds are two to one most of them would be drooling and have half an erection. They wouldn't even recognize the fact that two women like this could have killed them before they knew what hit them. I could at least take pride in the fact that some guys saw a woman with a gun just as dangerous as anyone else.

Despite the constant stream back and forth about women in combat roles in the US Military there was never really a solid answer. Most of it was just, men were stronger but women were smarter just so they could satisfy everyone. I didn't like the facts that came out either. I mean if you can turn a man's grey matter into house paint at 500 yards then hey welcome to the team. True there were serious lady athletes in the army, I remember of a fellow red headed cadet at West Point that constantly out ran me in our fitness tests. And there were a lot of women that were deadly in their shots and were superb martial artists. But they were VERY far and few in between, and the one thing that always dragged them down was the endurance that you needed to have in the field. Everyone liked to bring up the issue of fraternization too but the answer to that was simple, just reinforce the damn rule.

So frontline was still in the works, the world of spy's however was a different story. It's no secret that men's brains tend to shut down whenever they see a pretty woman but charms also weren't their only weapons. It was their intelligence and conviction to win. Virginia Hall being a prime example as she was designated the most dangerous of all the allied spies by the Gestapo during World War II. Her missing a leg due to a hunting accident have the Nazi's dub her "The Limping Lady" but she was anything but weak. She helped coordinate multiple networks with the French Underground to get information out of France to the British and then joined the US Office of Strategic Services to help set up drop zones for supplies for other spies throughout France. After the war she joined the CIA after it had been formed with her husband in the Special Activities Division. Granted it wasn't that what I knew it was today at that time during the Cold War, but the Green Beret's hadn't been formed yet until 1952. The SAD were the true ultimate elite of the black ops world and deadly in every right.

After coming out of my philosophical train of thought I focused on the fight again. Mildo being the more aggressive striker but Valmet looked like she was holding back despite her blocking all of Mildo's attacks.

"Looks like you haven't lost your touch. Not that I never thought you would."

It was then that I realized that she was going in from her blind spot because of her missing right eye.

"That loss of your eye should put you at a disadvantage in a knife fight but it's not bothering you in the least."

Valmet wasn't letting her get under her skin. She was totally in control of the fight.

"I also got great night vision but I'm still LOSING! DAMN IT!"

She tossed one of her blades at her and it missed and hit the tree behind her. Seizing the moment Mildo took a chance and lunged at her. Valmet simply moved out of the way and planted he knee in Mildo's gut.

This fight was over. Looks like she can handle herself pretty well. It does peg the question on how good she really is if she got serious.

"Hard to say this even though I love a good knife fight, your movements have gotten stiff."

Looks like they must do this for fun. Then again I'm traveling with a group of international criminals, so their definition of fun could mean anything.

"I don't get why you carry so many knives, it weighs you down and it makes you clumsy." Really applying salt to the wound now. "Even Damien our new guy said you looked like a walking cutlery set." She then pulled the thrown blade out of the tree

Probably shouldn't have said that to everyone. She might come after me next when I'm not looking.

"You deliberately threw this knife over here trying to move the fight back over here. You'd then grab it while my back was turned wouldn't you?"

She then tossed it up into one of the branches and it stuck with ease.

"Hey!"

"What the hell are you whining about? Once the knife leaves your hand it's gone for good. Only and damn fool would hope to get it back."

I hope she gets done with her lecture soon. Pollak's guys are still looking for us.

"You may wanna adjust your line of thinking Mildo." She then got up off the ground, the look on her face said she wasn't gonna do anything else so I at least breathed a little easier. "I warn you I am not someone you want to get attached to."

"Oh come on! Your story's as cold as it gets! An elite Finish Rapid Deployment Force soldier for the UN gets betrayed by her own country and stripped of everything? But you then got back on your feet, trained your ass off and came back better than before!"

That hit me out of nowhere. It might have been only the shell version but I got a nasty feeling that Valmet and I share a rather similar past I hoped to God she wasn't just as bad as I am.

"You know I really don't give a shit about you but I will offer some advice. Great expectations lead to great disappointment."

Once again, another strike from out of nowhere. I thought she knew where I was and if she was reading my mind. I thought if I could get into the best of the best I could then make a true difference in the world. Instead I wandered into something twisted and wrong.

"Expectations? I gave up on those a while ago." She paused "People like us learn very quickly not to expect much from this ugly and empty world because we're empty too. Maybe it starts the first time we hold a weapon or kill someone, we then tell ourselves it's to protect our family or our country but it doesn't take long to realize that's bullshit."

At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite. The world may be ugly but it's beautiful at the same time. A little thing called free will. It's only bullshit if you decided to make yourself empty and you have only yourself to blame for that. The world, people you've never met, they didn't do that to you. And when you go into battle you don't do it just to protect your country. But you do it to protect the guy next to you, because that person is part of your family. You keep each other safe from harm.

"So no, I don't have great expectations. I just think beating you would make life a little less empty."

"Idiot." I agreed, completely.

"Alright your off the hook for now. But next time your ass is mine!"

She then ran off back to the mill. It was time I showed myself.

"I bet $1000 and a bottle of Red Breast that you'll beat her in half the time this one took."

She turned around quickly with a scowl on her face. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Making sure you two didn't decide to murder each other and actually see if Pollak is following us. But it looks like you handled yourself exceptionally, so I didn't interfere unless one of you was really gonna kill the other."

She grunted in frustration. "I don't need a fucking babysitter!"

"No but you didn't need to go on lecturing knife fighting and arguing philosophy when the real enemy is out there looking for us."

"Are you trying to start a real fight with me!?"

I crossed my arms and calmed my voice.

"I'm trying my best to do my job by making sure my teammates stay safe and also I know this is the first time both of us have actually had any type of real conversation. So I only wanted to say that it's good that you can handle yourself. I'm not trying to move in and be the dominant alpha of the crew. Cause I already know for a fact alpha's collide, they don't connect. And I don't want to do any collision."

She at least relaxed a bit. "How long were you watching us?"

"Long enough to know not to get into a philosophical debate with a rank amateur knife fighter like that English girl."

She continued to stare at me more annoyed that anything else this time.

"And besides we here to make sure Koko gets away safe too. Right?"

"Right." At least she stared at me with acknowledging a fact.

But then both of us picked up the distinct sound of a lot of soft moving footsteps.

"Hear that?"

"Yep."

"Double time it. You call Koko. She still thinks I'm there."

"She will kick your ass when she finds out you went after us."

"She'll get over it."

1930 Hours

Back at the mill she let everyone know. I managed to sneak in with her not knowing I was gone.

"Ok here's the plan we'll see what were up against and then establish an escape route. Depending on what we're up against we may be able to stop them. I'll let you owe me one this time Currie."

"Brave and generous as always, thank you Koko."

Once we got outside we formed a squad line. I don't know what the hell she was planning but if it was a fight I was ready for it. But then come to think of it, I hadn't really done something in the last two days despite all I've seen.

"There aren't that many but were surrounded." Lehm said.

"Ok everyone listen up…LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!"

The fuck!?

"Remove your clips and sling them!"

I turned to Lutz. "You have any idea what the hell she's doing?"

"Just listen bro." He said grinning wide.

"Pollak's men! You don't want us! The ones who killed your pals are in that mill!"

Totally played Currie for a sucker.

I could only imagine what he was thinking as Pollack's men came to the mill. They then let us get safely away from the mill when the fire fight broke out. Their platoon leader came to Koko. It was the same guy we met when the Hind's flew over us.

"We'll be here for a while. I also wouldn't be to surprised if someone were to sneak by us and head south towards the Georgian border. This kind of thing only happens once, lucky girl."

We then made a beeline back to our convoy. Koko actually in the lead.

"Step lively everyone I want out of this killing field!"

It then finally hit me. We were done, we were out of the field, and out of danger. I had no other excuse but to burst out laughing as if I was delirious, and I was loving it!

"Something amusing Damien?" Lehm asked.

"This is the first time I've been through a battlefield without even shooting my gun! That's never happened to me before! I don't know how else to react!"

Koko looked back "Sorry Damien! Would it make you feel better if I let you shoot a whole bunch next time?"

"Let's just see if anyone shoots at us first! Deal!?"

"Deal!" That got a laugh out of everyone else

R jogged up behind me "Careful Damien, you'll find out real quick that she's only half joking! She can't help it! She's an arms dealer!"

May 8th 2010 0930 Hours

Tblisi International Airport, Tblisi, Georgia

As we were waiting for our plane I caught the news while sipping my morning coffee. Turns out the skirmish near the pipe line had stopped. Pollak must have been feeling like hammered shit right now since he couldn't use his brand new anti-aircraft missiles. He must be flat broke too and will have to sell them to try and get some of his money back. But at least he'll be preoccupied with that long enough that we can get out of Georgia. I still couldn't shake the fact I left a warzone without getting shot at and returning fire. I couldn't make that shit up if I tried. I did my best not to laugh and make a mess of myself before we got on the plane. Valmet looked over to me.

"What's so funny?"

"Just still thinking about last night is all. And the fact I'll get a nap of the plane back home."

I then glanced over to several collapsing bodies near the ticket exchange. Currie and his crew managed to get away.

"And finding it funny on how exhausted those three look."