by Finian Blake
The big drawback was the number of refueling stops that would be required. The in-bond status of the cargo would keep the number of required inspections to a minimum and those would hopefully be prearranged. The L 100 30 was the civilian version of the C 130 E one of the most dependable aircraft in the world. The civilian paint job on the aircraft kept it from being associated with the government. Everywhere Air was a small charter cargo carrier that had minimal hard assets, few employees and a mystery budget. All aircraft were meticulously maintained and clean. Considering the nature of the cargo and the tradeoffs the L 100 was the best of a bad situation.
Noah shook his head. This had all the signs of being a blue-plate cluster fuck. Oh well the payday would be huge and the side contract on this run would be huge. Noah’s job was to make sure that everything went as planned. He started to go through mental lists of equipment and paperwork that he would need for this contract.
Noah strolled out of Bob’s office walking down to the equipment room. He stepped in the room closing and locking the door behind him. The room was lined with gray metal cabinets most of which were unlocked. Two of the cabinets were a heavier gauge metal and were securely locked. Close inspection would reveal that they were more safes than cabinets. Noah went to the first cabinet in line. He reached up over the door and felt around until he found a small magnetic key box. After retrieving the box, he moved down the line of cabinets to the reinforced one removing the key from the box opening the cabinet. Noah picked up a small hook from the top shelf, inserted the hook into a small hole, and gently pulled downward. A small metal box started to fall out of the top of the locker. Noah used his other hand to guide the box from the locker placing the box on a lower shelf. He removed another key from his pocket and opened the box.
Noah looked over the familiar contents: a well-worn passport in the name of Noah Body, a wallet with the California driver’s license, credit cards, and other items of the Noah Body identity. There were also four envelopes containing four different currencies. In the box were also Velcro patches with the N. Body name embroidered on the patch and an Everywhere Air Services company ID badge with his picture. Tom was particularly good at creating identities. He had created the Noah Body ID with the help of a forger called Wanda who was a true artist. He had learned some serious tricks back in Chicago. It took a lot of legwork and a serious amount of cash, but they were flawless well-documented works of art. All of the background details were totally complete. For the contracts that he worked nobody ever questioned his expenses or asked for receipts.
Noah would receive no official help from the government to do their bidding. There was only an unofficial request here and some implied pressure there while everything was accomplished back door fashion with no fanfare. This was one reason why his services were so attractive to various covert agencies. There was no official connection between Noah Body and any government agency. There was no evidence that would say that the government was doing what it had expressly forbidden, or anything else illegal. All of the work that Noah performed was on an individual contract basis for each job. He did receive limited help along the way, but nothing that could be considered to be on an official level. If anything went wrong Noah was on his own the government did not know him and Everywhere Air would fire him. For this service Noah was very well paid. His code name was Hermes and he very seldom used that name, but when he did it was leverage time.
Noah carefully removed all evidence of the Tom Baker identity placing them in the box. He completely emptied his pockets and rechecked to make sure that he had completely removed everything from them. Noah then locked the Tom Baker box placing it back into the top of the locker rechecking his pockets to be double sure that there was no evidence of Tom Baker. Only then did he place all items of the Noah Body ID into his flight suit. He then took two of the envelopes removing 3000 in U.S Dollars, and 1500 in British Pounds. These would provide him with enough walking around money so that he could pay cash for normal items on his planned six-day trip. The high limit credit card was accepted in just about every country in the world. The cash was not a huge amount but much more would attract unwanted attention. His primary rule was to blend in as much as possible.
Noah broke the rules only when absolutely necessary. Normally he would stay silent observing in uncertain situations. He had the ability to pick out small details quickly that might be the key to success or failure. Noah could watch processes nailing down the strengths and weaknesses quickly which kept him one step ahead of disaster. He closed and secured the locker replacing the key in the hide box removing a second key. Noah side stepped to the front of the second locker which was the request locker. It held any special supplies that would be required for the trip. On the bottom shelf were four pilot map cases. He withdrew the case marked Noah and removed a black hard case that looked like a cigar holder. He opened the case and found four test tubes that contained a yellow liquid. Noah closed the case and put it in his travel bag. He opened a drawer and removed a .38 Colt revolver with a two-inch barrel and two speed loaders with six rounds of .38 caliber ammunition each. It would be enough since he was not planning a shootout. Noah was not in favor of guns on board an aircraft, but when they were on the ground there were times that it was necessary. This was not a passenger flight so these items were allowed. He slipped these items in the map case, closed and secured the locker putting the key back on top of the first locker. He grabbed the map case and took a walk to Bob’s office.
Bob was seated at his desk double-checking the official customs paper work. The five pallets generated a stack of papers about four inches thick. Each restricted piece had to be described, listed and all numbers had to be correctly recorded. Copies of all applicable licenses and customs regulations needed to be attached. After this was accomplished all of the documents in the package would be itemized. All of this had to be done in triplicate with an extra copy for the office. Bob’s talent was details, and Noah knew that everything would be correct. The paper work would pass the closest inspection even if the cargo did not. Bob looked up from the desk with a frustrated look on his face.
“This is so much fun I can’t stand it. By the time this is done we will have wiped out a whole tree, but I will give you my personal guarantee that everything which is required will be in the documents. All I need is the export license for the produce, and that ought to arrive with the pre-pack when it gets here. I hate to tell you this, but it is overdue now.” As if on cue a truck horn sounded just outside the dock door. Bob just smiled. “If I knew complaining worked I would have started an hour ago.” He walked into the warehouse, pushed the green open button, and walked back to the scales to find Bill and Hank.
The door started up with the normal rattle. As it went up the truck moved within a foot of the door, and by the time the truck touched the dock, an anxious looking man in a black suit arrived at the counter with the paperwork. Noah just shook his head when he saw a man in a suit delivering produce. Well at least they did not have an armed guard. Just then, he caught a flash of headlights from a Chevy suburban. These were regular government stiffs. At least the stiff was not wearing the uniform black glasses. Noah rolled his head back with the smile on his face to look for Bob.
“Bob will be right with you. He does the receiving.”
The suit switched to a semi pissed off look on his face. “Well we need to get unloaded pronto. Why don’t you hustle on back there and shag him up here?”
“Because as we speak he is coming this way,” Noah managed to expand the smile on his face. Bob was just rounding the counter with Hank in tow and Bill driving the forklift.
“I hope that you have the right paper work. I’ve got to finish these DOCS.” The suit handed Bob the paperwork and a quick inspection of the papers alarmed Bob.
“There is no copy of the export license. This shipment is a no go.”
“What do you mean no export license?” The suit said loudly in an official voice.
“The export licen
se is not here,” Bob did not raise or change the tone of his voice. “Without the proper paperwork it does not hit the dock, and it is sure in the hell is not going out of town. Now get in your suburban, go back to where you came from and get me a copy of the export license. You may of course call, and have somebody else run a copy down here.”
“This is a government charter.” The suit now looked panicked and his voice went a little louder. “Just get the pallet off the truck.”
“This shipment does not have anything to do with the government. It is not a government charter, and that gentleman standing in that doorway will be real upset if I send him rolling down the road with screwed up paperwork.” Bob just shook his head and talked without raising his voice. “Call your boss now.” The suit started to say something, but Bob just shook his head quietly saying, “Call now.” Noah decided to back out of the confrontation. He did not want to put Bob in a position that he could not back down from.
“Bob I’ve got to check out the aircraft. Could you call Alright Maintenance? I want a mechanic to check tires, engine oil and hydraulics.” The suit glared at him. Noah was on the verge of full-blown laughter, and made no attempt to hide it. He turned and walked away from the rollup door. “Make that call yet?” Noah looked over his shoulder. The stiff had not completely lost control, but he was close. Noah walked out the large rollup door at the rear of the warehouse past four tarpped and netted pallets. Noah gave these pallets a critical look as he walked out to the aircraft. Everything appeared to be tight and right. Bill and Hank were pros and always got the job done right. They had never disappointed Noah in the past and would not disappoint him now.
Noah turned his attention to the aircraft parked on the ramp. It was a Lockheed L 100-30 the stretched civilian version of the C 130 E. The L-100 was painted white with a dark blue stripe, and the company name down the side of the plane. The rear cargo ramp was in the up position and the crew door was closed. First he walked around the plane checking for damage and looking for oil leaks. With this cargo he did not want any problems. The L 100-30 was 20 feet longer than the standard L 100 with eight of the extra twenty feet dedicated to a crew rest compartment just behind the cockpit, and the other twelve feet were dedicated to the cargo bay this allowed for the installation of two extra fuel cells which gave the plane an extra 900 miles in range. On the main level, opposite the cabin door were two aircraft type reclining seats, a small aircraft type lavatory, a small galley and there was also storage for crew bags. On the flight deck were two crew bunks behind the cockpit over the crew area. The cockpit held the two front seats, a navigator’s station on the left, an engineer’s station on the right, and two observer’s seats bringing the total to six seats. This was a new aircraft, and its electronics were up to date, so the navigator’s station was not heavily used.
The aircraft was a mobile tunnel with the bay empty and clean. Looking around the bay Noah noted that there were power rollers on the floor. Walking back through the cargo hold he observed that all the floor locks were well marked and in place. All seven cargo areas were clean, serviceable and marked clearly. He would be able to load all five pallets longitudinally. This would make life easier for him to unload at the delivery point. Next, he went to the control box at the rear of the cargo bay. Noah powered up the control panel and activated the rear door. The ramp started to move down, and as he released the switch, the ramp stopped. Noah verified that he could stop the ramp in any position. Life was sweet! Noah moved the ramp full down walking back into the cargo bay. He went to the trouble box where all of the working equipment was stored grabbing a flash light.
As Noah walked down the ramp a lift truck pulled up and stopped by the loading ramp. The driver wore grey coveralls with the Alright Services logo on them.
“Hi, my name is Mike. Did you call for service?”
“Yes I did, my name is Noah. Would you check all the fluid levels both the hydraulic, engine oil, check the tires for wear doing a manual check to make sure the pressure gauges on the valve stems match your gauge? Go ahead and check anything else you can think of. We have to make a few dirt landings and there will not be any maintenance available. Mike nodded, “You want to know about anything I find that is suspect right?”
“You got it.”
Noah went back up to the flight deck, left a note about the repair work, and made a note for the aircraft power unit (APU) start. He made out two danger tags for the right stabilizer work and hung one on each one of the control yolks. He then settled down at the navigator’s station reviewing the loading manual. As he was reading the manual a flight bag slid across the flight deck floor. The engineer was the first one to the plane. He was five foot five and balding. He did a comb over with his hair to give the illusion that there was more up there than was the case and his one hundred and ninety pounds made him short for his weight. After climbing up the ladder to the flight deck he offered Noah his hand.
“My name is Frank. I will be the engineer on this run. Are you the load master?”
He sat down at the engineer’s station before Noah could answer. “Yes, my name is Noah Body. I am the loadmaster, the cruise director, supply officer and bodyguard. A mechanic is doing a preflight check of the tires and the oil.
“Thanks I take it that you have done this once or twice before. Have you finished the numbers yet?”
“No I haven’t. We were going to make a fuel stop in Wichita Kansas so we will not need a max fuel load until we go over water. I am going to have some food delivered and we have all the other supplies in the supply room. I am heading back to the office. Are there any special requests you want me to relay?” Noah did not like playing steward, but it helped maintain his low profile image.
Noah walked through the roll up door checking out the activity at the scale he looked over at Bill and Hank weighing the pre-pack. The suit was just on the edge of being in the way. Noah yelled over to Hank. “Make sure that pallet is stacked right. I don’t want it shifting in flight.” Hank did not answer but gave him thumbs up. Noah looked over at the stiff, and was very happy that looks could not kill. He walked over to the office seeing Bob frowning at him.
“Hey cut the guy some slack,” Bob pleaded. “I may have to deal with him down the line. The right paper work will be here in about ten minutes. We had a little heart to heart talk, and hit on a working arrangement.” Just then the phone rang and Bob answered and after some scribbling, he looked up at Noah. “Here are the numbers. I will run the DOCs out to you as soon as I finish. The fuel truck will be out there in about twenty minutes.”
As Noah walked back through the building, the suit walked up to him.
“The name is Ron. I think we hit it off wrong this morning. What do you say we start over?” Noah smiled and extended his hand.
“That sounds like a good idea. The name is Noah Body. I guess I was a little wound up this morning. I have some numbers to run. The lunchroom is over there. Have a cup of coffee on me. If your still here when I am finished, we will have a cup together.” He shook Ron’s hand. Noah stuck his head in Bob’s office. “Bob, I’m going to grab a quick cup. Give me a shout when the loader gets here.” He hurried down to the lunchroom turning the corner seeing Ron sitting at the lunchroom table drinking a cup of coffee.
“Hey Ron grab a doughnut out of the box if there are any left. I’ll just pour a cup, and will be right with you.” The only coffee left was two thirds of a cup at the bottom of the pot, which Noah poured into a Styrofoam cup. He started to make a fresh pot of coffee resuming the conversation as he did so. “Ron, I want to apologize for this morning. I was way off base.”
Ron cracked a smile “It’s early in the morning and we were all pushing. I think we were all a little wound up. However, I will say that this coffee will tear your eyes open. It does have some muscle.”
Noah waved his hand in the air.
“Guilty, I will back off on this pot. We have a good crew here and we push hard to get things right. Quite often, we step on a lo
t of toes and the only excuse I can offer is that not getting it right is a full-blown disaster. If there were no degree of difficulty, they would send it on Pan Am, and transfer it in London at a tenth of the cost. If there is one mistake in the paperwork, they will confiscate the whole shipment keeping it until they are in the mood to release it, and there is also a good possibility that I will be confiscated along with the shipment. That would really ruin my year.”
Ron smiled into his coffee, “Turkish prisons suck. If anything happens, I will send you a fruitcake. If you back off on that coffee, I may even put a file in it.”
“You are really a warm and sensitive human being.” Noah poked the brew switch and picked up his coffee turning back to the table.
“The only thing that I can say is I’m glad that I spit in the coffee.” Both men laughed and shook hands again. Bob walked past the lunchroom motioning toward the ramp.
“The loader is here.”
“Well I guess there is no time to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Catch you later?” Ron waved at Noah’s back as he passed through the door.
