by Finian Blake
CONVOLUTED
JOURNEY
SECOND EDITION
FNIAN BLAKE
Copyright © Finian Blake 2015
All rights reserved.
ISBN:-10:1508510911
ISBN-13:978-1508510918
DISCLAIMER
This is a fictional work. As a fictional work certain situations mentioned in this book may bear a resemblance to real life situations. The author claims no participation in or direct knowledge of any illegal events described in this book. To the best of the author’s knowledge the countries, companies, organizations, agencies, and persons described in this book have not participated in and have no knowledge of any of the events described in this book.
Finian Blake
CONVOLUTED JOURNEY BACKGROUND
The year is 1979. The Russian Army is half way through modernizing its forces. The AK 47 was being replaced by the AK 74 and the RPG 7 was being replaced by the RPG 12. Millions of small arms were replaced throughout the Army. Some of the small arms had not even been put into use. The arms market hit the bargain basement and most of these arms ended up in the Middle East. The Russians did not want to justify armed intervention by the United States in Central America, so the Russian leadership refused to make any large scale arms shipments to anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.
Hermes is a special courier known as Noah Body, with a questionable past. He is the ‘go to’ operative for illegal shipments to which the government cannot authorize. Noah is assigned to deliver a shipment of restricted technology of drilling equipment to Iran, which is going to be traded for Russian arms across the northern border. After receiving the arms, he is to deliver them to rebel forces in Nicaragua. Other than minimal help, Noah must create his own plan and execute it. His contact is called Mercury an elusive figure that covertly relayed Noah’s instructions from the government. Using a Lockheed Hercules, he must make three runs to complete the shipment. Mercury arranges a fuel stop in Manchester England for the Ark. Noah meets Susan a former MI-5 agent who is now working for Everywhere Air Services. When Noah’s and Susan’s interests become intermixed things get complicated.
CONTENTS
1
THE STARTING LINE
1
2
D.C.
31
3
TRAVELS
71
4
DETOURS
126
5
NICARAGUA
194
6
BACK IN THE USA
229
7
ROUND TWO
300
8
ADJUSTMENTS
337
9
LAST RUN
416
10
SURPRISES
456
1
THE STARTING LINE
The alarm clock broke the stillness with its irritating beeping. A large hand fumbled across the top of the illuminated plastic case with no success. Tom finally had to take his head off the pillow and look at the miserable device. He had to get in motion but his body did not want to co-operate, since four AM was not his time of day. Getting up before the sun was not his specialty. Suddenly there was a cold foot at the base of his spine providing a slow but firm push. Tom landed on the carpeted floor with a soft thud and a muffled groan. Looking up he saw the offending limb poking out from under the covers. How could living flesh be that cold? Getting up on his knees, he could just make it out from under the covers. A soft voice muttered, “You’re the one that had to get started so damn early. Drag your butt to the shower and I’ll make you a quick breakfast.”
All of a sudden the covers flew into the air, and a female figure emerged in a night gowned blur. Pat was not a morning person either. As her feet landed on the floor her five foot seven frame stumbled to the bedroom door switching on the light as she passed through the door. Tom watched as her curves faded into the back light. He was not wild about a six-day trip, but it had been pushed on him and Mercury would not accept his usual excuses. Oh well, off to the shower.
As Tom plodded down the hall to the bathroom, he peeled down his shorts, jumped in, pulled the curtain and activated the shower. “Yeeeiii shit,” the brief reactionary howl escaped his mouth as usual. This was the wakeup call that his body always rejected. He just stood there gasping while his mind caught up to his body. As Tom was lathering up he started mentally calculating how many stops he would make on his six-day trip and what equipment he would need. He started packing before he put anything on. His six-foot frame was not athletically built, but his muscles were still solid from working on the farm. His medium length reddish brown hair was still wet from the shower and looked almost black. As he opened his B-2 bag Pat’s head poked around the doorjamb.
A quiet voice drifted over his shoulder, “You wake that baby, and I will cut your nuts off.” Tom looked over and saw a tight smile on her face framed by her thick raven black hair which seemed to absorb any light that came its way. She was classically beautiful, and he always had a hard time taking his eyes off her. She had a square face that usually had a soft smile on it however when that smile disappeared it was time to duck.
Still looking at her Tom slyly smiled back at Pat. “If you do that the scream will definitely wake her.”
All she offered in return was a gesture with her middle finger and a sarcastic smile. As Pat walked down the hallway he watched her body through her thin nightgown as it was backlit by the hall light finding that he could not take his eyes off her. She definitely had a pleasing set of curves.
Tom grabbed the clothes from the dresser and the closet quickly folding them into the B-2 bag grabbing the last pair of coveralls off the shelf. He wrestled into the flight suit, which was more of a coverall with several pockets in it. He began to stuff the multiple pockets of the flight suit with wallet, keys and passport. With his boots in hand he headed down the hall to the kitchen.
Pat was just putting the toast, eggs and sausage on the plate as he sat down. The table was Formica with a chrome-finished frame and except for the worn tan Vinyl seats the chairs matched the table. Tom slipped on his socks as she poured the coffee. She seemed to float across the floor with the plate and cup setting them on the table. As Pat turned back to the stove he circled her waist with his arms quickly dropping his head biting her on the neck.
“I prefer eggs with ham.”
“Well I’d rather have sausage mixed with my eggs,” she fired back.
“I can do that,” Tom quickly spun her around as he lifted her up sitting Pat on the stained Formica counter while sliding the thin fabric of her nightgown up to her hips. She was gently pounding on his chest, “You will be late for your trip.” Pat knew he liked to take his time if he was going to be amorous and she wanted to enjoy it too. Pat was right he couldn’t be late for this trip the offer was vague but offered a huge payday so Tom accepted without receiving much detail. She went back to the stove and started to clean up. Tom sat back down to his breakfast wolfing it down quickly. He kicked on his work boots lacing them tightly and rechecking the contents of his pockets in preparation to leave. As Tom walked up behind Pat, he reached around grabbing both of her breasts. He bent his six-foot frame a little and bit her on the neck adding a fair amount of suction. She wiggled violently, but he held on tight.
“You know I’m having lunch with momma this afternoon!” She hit him on the chest open handed and pushed him away. Tom went back to the bedroom wondering if a little romance would make him seriously late. Mercury had been such a pain in the ass about him starting this run t
hat Tom decided against satisfying his urge. He picked up his half full B-2 bag strolled back to the kitchen sliding the bag over to the back door. Tom’s arm circled her waist pulling her to him and giving her a big kiss.
“I will see you in six days.” He grabbed his bag and went out through the screen door. He tossed his bag in the driver side window of the 1966 4 by 4 Chevrolet pickup watching it land on the seat hearing the driver’s door opened with a squeak. Tom shook his head making a mental note to grease the hinges when he came home. The pickup was seven years old, the dark blue paint was faded and the box was pretty well scratched and dented from use on the farm. Tom carefully checked the cab before climbing inside. He acquired that habit in Chicago before moving out to California. The extra thick rubber mats had some large size clumps of mud on the floor which was from planting almost forty trees in the irrigated areas of the farm. As Tom looked over at the screen door he saw Pat standing with her hands on her hips watching him leave.
“I love your babe.”
Pat said, “Take it easy heading out. Try not to wake momma when you drive past her house.” Tom turned the key and the well-tuned 327 cubic inch Chevy engine came to life almost instantly. He let the truck idle slowly down the long drive to the paved road. At four in the morning there was no traffic on the road, so he idled a few hundred yards before accelerating.
When he reached the cargo area of the airport, Tom drove down a long building with a full-length loading dock. At the very end of the building was a sign over the sun bleached roll up doors announcing Everywhere Air Services. Across from the loading dock was a small fenced in parking area with a key card entry gate that had a broken wooden arm. He wheeled the pickup into an open parking spot turning off the engine. Tom pulled the B-2 bag onto the passenger seat from the floor, opened one of the zippered pouches on the side, and grabbed the itinerary out of the pouch on the side of the bag. After a quick walk to the loading dock he ascended the gray metal steps and went in the dirty glass personnel door just to the right of the metal roll up doors. There was a large window between the doors with a small waiting area for customers with a counter facing the waiting area. The wall behind the counter separated the business and dispatch office from the public area. At this time of day, there was only one person in the office and two in the warehouse. Bob was working as manager, dispatcher, receiving clerk, part time forklift driver and referee.
Bob looked up from his desk and said, “Hi Noah, are you here for flight EWA 22?” Tom almost looked behind himself to see who Noah was.
“Yeah Bob I am ready to go.” It was time to switch gears.
“The paper work is in the rack. Grab it when you are ready. It looks like about 25,000 pounds of cargo and MAX fuel. They are building the four pallets as we speak. We will have the final figures for you in about forty minutes.”
“Thanks, is the balance manual in here or in the aircraft?
Bob was fifty years old stood five foot nine inches tall, and weighed about 170 pounds. He was average build and quite unremarkable his thinning hair was half grey and half brown. Bob never seemed to raise his voice when he talked always seeming to speak in even tones no matter how exciting things got. If you tried to pick him out in a crowd, it would be difficult because his manner was quiet, unobtrusive and he vaguely resembled a large portion of the male population of his age. The main thing that made Bob stand out was his memory. He never had to look up a phone number and was able to recall every conversation in minute detail. Tom walked out of dispatch making a mental note that he would be called Noah for the next six days. He strolled out the side door of the waiting area into the warehouse where Hank and Bill were building pallets. Noah walked over to inspect their work. They knew their job and did not need a coach, but he could not resist giving them grief. It was expected of him.
“Hey Hank bump those pallets up tight. I don’t want to have that heavy shit shifting when we hit turbulence.”
“Blow it out your ass Noah. When it leaves here it’s your problem.” Noah knew that Hank’s work was always right and tight, but the banter helped him wake up.
“Well make sure you strap it down good.”
“Noah, you are a pure pain in the ass and I’m not going to take your grief at least until I’ve had another cup of coffee.” Hank threw down the hand full of locks that he was installing on the pallet on the floor starting to walk toward the lunchroom.
“Are these going to be the new speed bump?” Bill looked at the cargo locks on the floor. “You know that I’m going to hit this crap with my fork lift. Get it up off the floor.”
Bob walked out of the office when he heard the verbal exchange. He came out the door in time to see all three men heading for the lunchroom arguing as they went. Bob looked at Noah with a smile. “It’s a small pot and will only take so much of your stirring.”
“Are you talking about the coffee?” Noah smiled at Bob.
“I was referring to Bill and Hank not the coffee pot.”
Noah laughed, “There is a lot in that pot.”
The four men walked into the small lunchroom. Everything in the room was well worn but achieved a reasonable level of sanitation. Noah looked at the coffee pot and saw about a half inch of old tar like coffee in the bottom of the pot. He looked at the other three men.
“It looks like we need a new pot. You guys wash up and I will make a fresh one. Bob are all the fixings in the cabinet?”
“Yes, except for the cream, that’s in the fridge.”
As Bob followed Bill and Hank out the door, Noah turned to the coffee pot, adding a filter and three heaping scoops of coffee pouring a carafe of water in the tank. As the liquid drained out of the brewer it was a very dark color and was not allowing much light through. Bill came trotting in first with a big smile on his face.
“The boys will be back in a little while. I dropped some nasty mud, and they couldn’t breathe. Some of the people around here are way too delicate.”
Hank walked in looking really pissed off. “Delicate your ass you pealed the paint off the walls. We had to use the ladies room to wash up!”
Hank’s face broke out into a large smirk, “Well you ladies are finally using the right crapper.” Bob came in the lunch room carrying a box of doughnuts.
“I stopped at the 24-hour doughnut shop by the house. Bill you need to stop eating whatever pig slop that you’ve been feeding on.” He looked at the dark liquid in the pot saying, “Noah are you making coffee or tar?”
“It’s not that weak piss you make.” Noah smiled, “If I’m going to be the maker of the coffee I am going to make some real coffee. Everybody poured a cup and added their fixings with the cream getting heavy use. There were a few grimaces at the first sips of the strong brew.
“It does have some muscle,” Noah smiled. “So Bob is this a run straight to Iran and return or have I picked up another stop?”
Noah knew that nothing was as simple as it seemed at least for the runs that he was assigned to. His last detour took four days extra and really pissed Pat off. He only worked two or three times a month but each time was for five to ten days. The thing that kept her from going crazy was the huge pay check. He had paid off his forty-acre farm in six months helping her brothers Cyrus and Philip with the down payment with their farms which were just down the road from Pat and his place. This maintained peace on the home front.
“Right now it’s Iran and back again, subject to change. There is a back haul in the wind but nothing definite. Mercury has not been a fountain of information. Right now we go from Ontario, California to Tehran, Iran with the usual fuel stops and there will be a stop in Washington Dulles to pick up your final paper work before leaving for Tehran. You have a sealed envelope with your briefing in my office. Come up front when you have finished your coffee. I’ve got some paper work to finish. Oh we are building four pallets and the fifth will be delivered in about thirty minutes. The weight will be somewhere between four and five thousand pounds each.” Bob got up and walked out the l
unchroom door. Noah shook his head and looked at Bill.
“I know your work, but I do hate those mystery pallets especially when I don’t know what is on them or how they were packed.” Bill just nodded silently and started out of the lunchroom wanting to give Noah the news in one dose. Noah quickly added, “Another thing Hank you never want to tell Bill to blow it out his ass.” Noah received a huge ‘AMEN’ from Hank and a hearty laugh from Bill. Noah left the two men to finish their coffee and headed for Bob’s office.
Bob had just started shuffling the papers on his desk as Noah walked in the office. The office was finished in the same style as the lunchroom which was worn out industrial. As Noah walked into the office Bob pulled an envelope out of his desk handing it to him. Noah read the six pages two of which were marked destroy after reading. After reading all six pages he arose from the desk, Noah walked over to the shredder and fed two of the six sheets into it. After the shredder stopped grinding, he just muttered one word, “Shit,” there were four pallets of oil drilling equipment and one pre-packed pallet of agricultural products. The agricultural product was 3500 pounds of AA California produce, five hundred pounds of Columbian coffee, 100 pounds of AA marijuana and 100 pounds of AA cocaine. The pre-pack would be covered with black plastic and netting. The drilling equipment was restricted technology. This restriction did not apply in Iran but did apply to Communist Bloc countries. After arriving in Tehran they were to fly to a dirt airstrip in Ardabil Province, on the Iranian side of the Russian border. The Russians would cross the border into Iran and take delivery of the drilling equipment.
Noah was a loadmaster for Everywhere Air as the official part of his job. For the second part he was an air courier and was responsible for the shipment. It was his job to ‘shepherd’ the shipment through from pickup to delivery. The dual role was not ideal, but the fewer people that worked this deal the more secure it would be and that was why he made the tall bucks which is why the L 100-30 was selected by him for this run. The plane was a medium range aircraft. It was not well suited for long range global trips, but the redeeming factor was that it could land just about anywhere and it could be readily loaded by mobile equipment mounted on flatbed trucks. Standard aircraft pallets called ‘cookie sheets’ which were just large reinforced sheets of aluminum that were smooth on the bottom could be used to expedite loading and unloading. Even on a rough airstrip the five pallets could be unloaded and another five loaded in less than an hour so the cargo could be kept on board without exposing it to prying eyes from inspectors.
