Chapter 11: Hostile Work Environment
June 19th 2010 1100 Hours
Somali Territorial Waters
Somalia, the name says it all. As the true "Horn of Africa" if you did not tread or sail likely odds are your gonna be impaled in a bad way. It be easier to list nations in Africa that didn't have a civil war, ethnic feuds, severe economic problems, starvation, rampant disease, or just plain stagnant in infrastructure development. Somalia's real problems started in 91 when Mohamed Farah Aidid took an opportunity to seize control of the capital of Mogadishu. The uninfluential and practically non-existent Somali government had totally lost control of their country and ever since then had technically been in a state of sheer anarchy ever since. Effectively declaring Somalia a failed state, the UN made the choice of deploying peacekeepers to provide humanitarian relief but the new guys in charge didn't want them in the country. The real holders of power in the country were the warlords and they proved to be capable of holding their own. That was proved to be a rather valid point during the infamous Raid on Mogadishu in October of 93. My father had a friend in the 75th Rangers that was one of the wounded, he said that no matter what anyone says it was a total fuck up. I made a research paper during my freshman year at West Point about the Raid. I found out that Randy Shughart's father actually called out President Clinton during his son's ceremony for the Medal of Honor. Needless to say the anarchy just continued after the Peacekeepers left. With their fight against the Ethiopian's ending last year and constant skirmishes along the Kenyan border people naturally found the life of violence more of a way to sustain themselves rather than anything else. Since their official primary source of income was fishing and a lot of ships came their way from the Suez canal so not to travel around the African continent piracy kinda made sense. But whoever these guys were, they were about to get a nasty surprise. Trying to board Koko's ship was literally a death sentence.
"Move! Move! Move! Enemy sighted! Battle stations!"
"Yeah I hear ya. I'm moving." Lehm said in his usual bored self.
"That's just the scout boat. They'll be more coming so keep a sharp eye."
Koko was acting as if she was the spotter in the crow's nest on a man o' war while the rest of us were prepping to attack. I was on the starboard side with a 240B. We were quite a distance from the continent but even with the low overcast today I could make out the mainland in the big blue haze in the distance. I pressed my finger on my ear piece as Tojo came on the net.
"Heads up guys. Radar's picked up another boat about three kilometers behind hostile one. ETA is 60 seconds."
Piracy nowadays was not like their golden age in the 17th century. While most cargo ships were run by computers they still needed a crew to function but that didn't mean they were always armed and they moved rather slow. Unless they knew what was on board the ship, pirates normally raided the crew's personal belongings and often took the ships pay roll and port fees and then left. But as highly unlikely as it seemed, if these guys succeeded they would be the first pirates in centuries that could retire with the wealth we had on board. And then Koko would use every resource HCLI had to find these guys, strap them to something heavy and throw them into the ocean.
"Damn pirates! You just made the worst decision of your lives!"
As I heard her shout, I heard a rather crude form of English come from a bullhorn.
"You have one chance! Drop anchor and you live!"
Bad idea.
"KEEP DREAMING ASSHAT!"
Her shout made the radio screech but I continued to look from my side, nothing yet. But what I heard though was something I didn't want to. I got on the radio to Tojo.
"Hey Tojo is the radar picking up anything else? Call me crazy but I think these guys got air support."
"I just pinged it. It's coming from the bow and we also got a third boat coming in from the stern."
"Copy. Koko did you catch that were up to four hostiles now."
"I hear you Damien. Ugo, get to the stern port and hit them with an RPG. Mao, Lehm stay on the bridge. Damien once they fire your free to engage."
As I loaded up the first belt the LMG the rotor sound from the chopper was getting closer. It wasn't one I recognized. Whoever these guys were they probably had more money than most pirates. Too bad their investments were about to go up in smoke. Koko came on the net again.
"I got visual on the chopper it's an Oryx! Armed with 80mm rocket pods! Do not give them a chance to fire!"
As the chopper made for the bridge it got a nasty surprise, the business end of the M134 Minigun. With the capability of spitting out up to 6,000 rounds a minute it'll rip and tear through any unarmored target. You also didn't necessarily need to aim in order to kill or destroy whatever you were shooting at. These pirates obviously never had anyone shoot back at them before so naturally their reaction was a little slow. I then heard a blast on the other side of the ship. Then a second from the stern, I saw the third boat on fire.
"We still got one more hostile and I don't see them. Curious, who blew up the first boat?"
"That was me." Wiley answered. "Looks like my pitching arm hasn't lost its mojo."
I suddenly heard a thud on the side of the ship. I turned around and saw a grappling hook, someone stupid enough was trying to get onboard the ship but I saw the boat speeding away. Looks like they saw how much of a bad idea raiding the Fruition was and decided to run. Lutz, Wiley, and R however didn't give them a chance to run as I saw them open fire on them with their rifles. I pulled out my pistol to see who was on the other end of the rope. As I looked over I immediately went from hot to cold. It was a kid, probably not any older than ten with an AK-47 on his back it made him small by comparison.
Goddamnit.
"Tafqid bunduqiatan walhusul ealaa ma yasil huna."
(Lose the gun and get up here.)
Arabic was one of the two major languages in Somalia but it looked like he didn't speak it. So I pointed and my pistol and made a gesture for him to get rid of it. The boy was terrified beyond words but he did what I motioned. I grabbed him by his wrist and lifted him up. But then he punched me in the eye and as I let him go he kicked me in the shin. But I grabbed him before he could run. Getting a zip tie out of my fanny pack I heard Koko on the net again. Looked like we we're done.
"Lehm. Finish that bird off!"
The distinct sound of buzzsaw gunfire came to life again and then followed by a heavy splash. The boy was squirming like crazy. Not surprising that a huge man had an iron grip on him he must have thought I was gonna kill him. But there ain't no way I was gonna do that.
"Hey Koko it's me. Get to my position we got a visitor."
The whole group came to where I was at. Naturally everyone was looking at my face, I didn't look but I could feel it. I had a black eye. I did let my guard down and he hit me harder than I thought.
"The little shit punched me. I saved his skinny ass and he punched me. So yeah get it out of your systems."
It took a few seconds but everyone erupted in laughter. All except Koko, she then got on the radio.
"Captain make for the coast. We got some unnecessary cargo."
1600 Hours
As we gathered on the main deck, Koko motioned to me to cut the boy loose. She then grabbed one of the life preservers and began to speak Swahili.
"Unaweza kuogelea huwezi?"
(You can swim can't you?)
She tossed him the life preserver.
"Sisi siyo kwamb mbali na nchi kavu. Hivyo kwenda!"
(We're not that far from land. So go!)
The boy then jumped overboard. As the group split off in different directions, Valmet spoke up.
"You always were merciless when it came to pirates."
"What are you talking about I gave him a life preserver. Anyway hopefully once we get back out to open water it'll be a lengthy trip to South Africa. Final destination is Port Elizabeth!"
"Kaaaay." Our version of the Army's "Hooah".
As we split off I turned around to see Valmet still looking at the coast line. She then raised her hand and placed it over her missing eye. I remembered from overhearing the conversation between her and Mildo about her getting screwed over after an assignment and she left the Finnish army. While that's about all I knew, I think the next piece of the puzzle was here. What I also knew was that I was finally able to interact with on a personal level, everyone in the group but her. It was only natural that I look at her and be amazed by what she could do, anyone would. But since Koko was being a little more clingy around me than when I first started out, I could only assume jealousy. She must have been her favorite, and I hoped she had more of a personality other than a lapdog. I made my way over to her good eye and looked at the landscape with her.
"Enjoying the view? The sunset's at sea do look pretty."
"Yeah so what? You got something to say?"
I sighed. "Look…I already told you but it looks like I'll have to say it again with more conviction. I'm not trying to prove myself as Koko's favorite alpha. I don't care, I just wanna do my job and to do that I need to connect with everyone on this team. And I wanna finish that with you. I heard that you went through a nasty fall out when you were discharged from the Finnish RDP but you pulled yourself up from off the ground and pieced yourself back together. That's true strength, when you recover from failures. And it becomes stronger when you have a team that has your back, that's what I'm gonna do. That's what Koko and the crew will do."
She then placed her hand back on her eyepatch. At least she was absorbing what I was saying this time.
"But I also have to apologize."
"Apologize for what?"
"Putting that pressure on you to keep Koko safe before I did that stupid charge at those Orchestra freaks. I've been working with so many unpleasant people over the last two years I never connected with anyone because I knew they would lead me to darker places. All of you are different, I actually like being around you guys and I want you guys to just keep being yourselves around me and not keep thinking I'm a demon that kills everything I look at."
She then looked at me coldly at first but then she started to relax.
"It was stupid of you to do that. But you did it cause you wanted to save Koko and me. You didn't care what happened to yourself. But a small piece of history for you, we had another one of us that did exactly what you did long before you joined us and I don't wanna see that ever happen again."
"Sounds good, and I won't prod any further than that, I don't wanna bring up any bad memories. But my statement still stands, I like you guys I truly do and I trust you." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Do you trust me?"
She took my hand off her shoulder and smiled. "You saved Koko's life twice and you've had our backs in every fight since you came onboard with us. I do."
I smiled back. "You feeling ok?"
"I am. My scar was just aching that's all. Although I wouldn't mind if Koko offered me a comforting embrace! Koko! I need you to make me feel better!"
As she darted off with the eagerness of a swooning teen I began to chuckle.
Deadly man hating killer to giddy school girl who wants to cuddle with her puppy. Well if she's willing to act like that in front of me then I've clicked with the whole team. It is cute when she acts like that I won't lie.
June 26th 2010 0930 Hours
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
The week at sea went by rather uneventful. It was normal life, or about as normal as a mercenary gets when he works for an arms dealer. Not every day was full of heart racing action and people wanting you dead. We were all human beings and we had things we had to do when we weren't working. Clean weapons, shooting practice, exercise, laundry, sale stats on what we sold, the news, all routine. Only thing I really saw was interesting was that Ugo had gotten pretty amped about his new car Koko had to give him to replace his thrashed one. A white Mercedes-Benz S550 worth about $55,000. I always tried not to think about it but it was both amazing and frightening at the same time. The amount of money that we had available to spend, tax free even, made me feel like I was part of the group in the show "Entourage" except I was working with a good and funny group of people and not a bunch of soulless douchebags. But the one good thing I was making progress on was forming good relationships with the team. We all either shared knowledge with each other or just bullshitted for hours on end talking about whatever came to mind. Everyone though was a little surprised on how much better a relationship I formed with Valmet. Some were relieved but others were disappointed that Koko's two favorites weren't gonna fight each other for her affection.
After we got our car's off the ship and our bags packed we started to load up and then go to our hotel. But something was eating me, Koko normally briefed us on what we'd do before we arrive at our destination. But all she said that there was a big contractor and military R&D convention going on and that was it I turned to Tojo as I loaded my bag.
"Hey has Koko told you anything else yet about what we're doing here? I mean she's been acting rather focused as of late. Nothing wrong with that it just has me confused."
"Hmm. Beats me. But Koko's worked with so many people both in and out of the HCLI it's hard to keep track of them. Let's just focus on our usual routine for now."
"Right." I reached behind my waist and checked my .45.
1000 Hours
Alexandria Comforts, Koko's Suite
The traffic towards the hotel was longer than we wanted to but at least what was going on was out of our control. Turns out we arrived during the middle of the games for the FIFA World Cup and Port Elizabeth was hosting one of the games, Uruguay vs South Korea. It also made sense that an arms convention was in town as well during this time. The South African authorities would be more focused on making sure that the games were safe and hopefully not notice that a few shady arms dealers other than Koko would be in Port Elizabeth. A little humbling feeling came over me as I heard that tonight the US was gonna play against Ghana. But I never really found any interest in soccer and we didn't have time to see a soccer game, we were looking for a doctor with a background in computers and robotics. Valmet must have known before the rest of us.
"Dr. Miami huh? You still think she spends all her time chasing butterflies?"
"Probably so, she always did have an obsession with them."
I rolled my eyes and accidentally descended into a personality that matched what I looked like.
"Nerds and their bug collections. She wear coke bottle frames and speak Klingon too?"
Koko looked at me and smiled mischievously, I didn't realize it yet but I set myself up for being caught in my own sarcasm. I did graduate from the US Military Academy when I was 20.
"What do you have against an educated woman? I thought being a prodigy out of West Point means you're a super nerd only infinitely larger and more violent?"
"Honestly I only took the classes and passed them. Doesn't mean I learned anything. And hey am I using any of those credentials now?"
She leaned back in her seat. "Anyway that's who we're meeting tomorrow, Professor Minami Amada, her nickname is Dr. Miami. She specializes in robotics and she's currently down here working in a German toy factory. But almost all of her stuff gets put into military R&D."
I could see where this was going but I didn't understand it. Defense contractors normally have a lot of engineers that are experts in their own fields build weapons for them but Koko was more along the lines of getting those weapons and selling them not making her own. Unless there was something else I missed that HCLI does.
"It seems that you and Professor Amada have done business before, does she work for HCLI on the side?"
"We've met before yes. But for the rest I'm sorry Damien. A girls gotta have some secrets."
She winked at me and I gave up. It was no secret that she had a lot of people on her payroll. I'd figure it out later.
"Ok. Well if we're gonna wait till tomorrow, mind if I get some more pictures for the scrapbook?"
"Sure. But it's your turn to buy us all lunch. Be back by one."
June 27th 2010 0700 Hours
Market Square, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
It was a rather pleasant morning so I had gotten up early to do a distance run. Going around in circles on a ship was starting to get rather boring and I had enjoyed the scenery. I kept a sleeveless shirt on this morning so as not to weird out the locals. As I was running past people getting ready for the day it felt like had landed back in the real world for a moment. Considering over 25 years ago this entire nation was under control of apartheid the country of South Africa got back on track to being part of the civilized world and the human race rather well. Growing up in a military family that stretched back to the First World War taught me that we are all truly the same, we are all human beings. It's who each of us are individually that makes us different and no matter who I've talked to in my life I always judge them on their character.
After my run I decided to finish by running up the steps to the roof. It was getting a little stuffy in the stairs and stepped outside when I got to the top. I then heard heavy breathing along with counting then hearing Africa over and over again. I glanced over behind a vent system and I saw Valmet doing push-ups with one arm.
Jesus. Even I have problems trying to maintain my balance like that but she's straight as a plank.
As any man would I then stared in awe as she stood on both her hands. Looks like today we shared a preference for black and sleeveless. While she was sweating profusely she remained just as rigid. I then noticed wings centered on her left shoulder but the rest was covered up. I hoped unlike me she got that and not really regret it later.
"Damn I lost count."
I spoke up. "A little lesson from Muhammad Ali, don't count your reps. Only start counting when it starts to hurt."
She got out of her pose and then landed back on her feet.
"Morning Damien, you out for a run?"
"Just got back. Wanted to finish running up and down the stairs when I heard you."
I then placed my hand on my left shoulder. Indicating her own ink.
"That one on your back have any significance? Family Crest?"
"No I got it when I was the commander of a Mechanized Jager Company back when I was still a Major in the FRDP. My older brother was in command of a different Jager Battalion."
"Hmm. I gotta ask, military family?"
She looked at the ground and shut her eye. Probably thinking of days long past.
"Yes. My father is currently the Chief of Defence, I don't know if he made Commander in Chief yet or not."
Her dad is the head guy for the entire Finnish army? Granted not as big as the US but as comparing levels of military power the only two people above the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is SECDEF and the President.
"I think I sympathize with the heavy family burden. You know this one on my right arm?"
"Yeah, it's a representation of your fathers old unit in the United States Special Forces."
I let my head sink between my shoulders as if I was about to admit something embarrassing.
"Well probably except for Koko already knowing, what I didn't tell everyone else was that he's also the senior tactical operations officer for the entire US SOCOM. He has clearance for damn near everything and he only answers directly to either SOCOM's commander in chief or the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff."
Her reaction was what I expected, it was of both shock and understanding. No matter how you spin it we were both the children of great nobles that wanted to follow them into their life cause we thought it sounded like a great adventure only we both failed miserably and were cast out.
I then decided to get both of us out of these depressing memories.
"But you know what it's too early in the morning to be thinking of old shit. Since we're both here, you got any more exercise you wanna do?"
"I think I have an idea, here." She tossed me a rubber practice knife. "Wanna practice with me?"
Oh boy, this could go very wrong or very long, neither of which are good.
"I know you're an excellent knife fighter but when it comes to this I don't play fair."
"Who said I asked you to do that? Come on." She then got in a defensive stance.
I might as well get this over with and pray to God she doesn't pull out a real blade.
"Alright, you make the first move then."
Like hand to hand combat, knife fighting was considered to be a last resort. You primary goal was to get back to your weapon and kill your enemy. There was no time for any fancy epic duel and the only unfair fight was the one you lost. As a green beret we were taught to move silently and dispatch our enemies without being seen. But normally we would use our hands if we wanted to take our target alive and we always had a team to do that. Both skills however were perishable, and I had an excellent partner to train with. Most amateur knife fighters held a blade like they did a sword. Sure you could slash and stab but the energy in your attacks wasn't as effective and a skilled fighter could block your attacks easily. Pro's and those that understood knife fighting held their blade like an ice pick and used it like if you were to punch. That's what she did when she came at me with a straight. But with my knife hand I blocked it out of my way, moved slightly to her right and made a light jab with the rubber blade just at the neck. Valmet then came at me with a hook but after she swung I took my left hand and grabbed her elbow and then pushed forward with another strike to the throat. But I knew she was testing the water. She wanted to get a read on how I fought, I decided to answer for her.
"To answer what those moves were is that they are part of Keris Lok Nine. It's a specific variety of martial art from Malaysia called Silat. Sure my operator training is part of it but I like to broaden my horizons on how I fight."
"Very interesting. I think this might be the first time I get a real workout."
"Happy to oblige. You wanna keep going first?"
"No. Your turn."
The fight was now about to get serious. Valmet had a much different look on her face then from when she fought Mildo. She held her knife against her face and reached back as if she were preparing to throw a straight, her blocking arm out front, feet shoulder with apart, chin down, and her good eye keeping me in sight. I placed my left foot behind me, chin down, knife hand forward, blocking hand behind.
It's strange but I think both of us are gonna have fun learning about each other.