Convoluted Journey (The Mercury Black Authority Book 1)

by Finian Blake

  As Noah turned around he saw Hank walking up just behind him. He pulled the list of pallets out of his pocket and handed it to Hank. “Give me the pre-pack first, and then go down the list. We are going to load all pallets longitudinally.” Hank turned around grabbing Bill as they walked out to the plane. He then turned to find the loader driver which was not difficult. The loader was sitting just next to the pallets.

  “I’m Noah. Pull up to the rear cargo ramp and I will handle the inside. We will be ready to load in about ten minutes.”

  “By the way Noah I am Todd.”

  “We will load up in ten minutes.” Noah repeated.

  “You’ve got it.”

  Noah went up the loading ramp setting cargo locks as he went. He worked his way from the rear to the front. The only thing he had to do was to pop up some locks up and recess some others. As Noah walked back through the cargo bay he doubled checked his work. Once in action he did not want to stop. This was practice for the other end of the trip when the real work would be completed in the field. Bill or Hank could do as well or better than he could. Noah just had to know what he had before he left. He raised the ramp to the proper loading level. Walking to the end of the ramp he hollered, “Todd it is time to load.” He noticed that the pre-pack was already on the back of the loader, life is good. Noah lowered the loading ramp. All five pallets were on board and locked in place within twenty minutes. He walked up to the loader and handed Todd a few bills. “Grab lunch on me thanks.”

  “Thanks for lunch.” Todd pocketed the bills driving off on his loader.

  Noah looked at Bill and Hank. They had not even broken a sweat.

  “You’re the best. I need a favor, please go down to the sub shop and get me ten breakfast subs and five lunch subs. If Vons is open, grab five cartons of Marlboros and ten cartons of any kind of non-filters that they have. Oh yeah grab twenty or so disposable lighters. Remember they are not going to pay you overtime, so don’t take all day.” He pulled 250 dollars out of his pocket handing it to Bill. The sub shop was part of the truck stop two exits down I-10, so they would oblige even at this hour, and they might even have the cigarettes.

  By the time Noah got to the lunchroom Bill was already heading out to the parking lot. With a little bit of luck, he would be able to finish a cup of coffee before it got cold. Bob was sitting at the table talking to Ron. Hank was just walking back to the table with the last cup of coffee. Noah looked at the empty pot on the still hot burner.

  “It would be nice to get one cup out of a pot.”

  “You don’t have to be good, but you do have to be quick,” Hank rubbed his eye as if he were crying. “The three drivers just checked in. They’re in Bob’s office.”

  Noah made the third pot of the day this time with four scoops of grounds pushing the brew button, joining the others at the table. “Well if I’m making it I might as well make it my way.” He looked over at the pot as the first stream came out of the brewer. Light would not penetrate the stream. It was as black as paint and had that strong coffee smell. This was coffee with muscle. “It is time for some real brew. This is something that will really open your eyes.”

  Ron rolled his eyes back with a pained expression. “You will not find a file in that fruit cake.” When the pot was half-full Noah grabbed a quick cup, and put the pot back. He looked at Bob.

  “When this cup is empty I will move. I don’t care if the building burns down. By the way Bob did those special supplies arrive?”

  Bob nodded, “Yes! A case each of scotch, bourbon, gin and two of vodka just as you requested.” Ron tapped the table and looked at Noah.

  “That sounds like a real drinking problem. How much ice are you packing?” Noah let a quiet laugh out, answering with a big smile.

  “Oh, about an ice berg worth and I have some king size glasses coming too. Sometimes I get a little thirsty. No, the real story is I’m going to stop in some Muslim countries, and they tend to confiscate booze. It is kind of like going to Utah. Publicly nobody drinks, but privately there are several lushes out there. They say that alcohol is illegal in their country and I apologize and say ‘I guess you will have to confiscate it’. They take the bottle, and later on, they sample it to make sure that it is in fact alcohol, but you do have to be discrete. You just cannot toss them a couple of bottles and say: ‘Here’s your bribe get the hell out of my face’. They tend to get very formal at that time.”

  Bob nodded his head in agreement. “You don’t want to get them too interested in everything you’re carrying.”

  The flight crew started to come in, and hit the coffee pot. There were more ugly comments about the coffee. Finally, Bob got up, topped off Noah’s cup and poured the rest of the coffee out in the sink making another pot of coffee at a normal strength. As he was making the coffee the flight crew pulled the extra chairs up to the table. Bill walked in with the subs and smokes. He put the subs on the table and the smokes in the corner.

  Frank, the engineer, walked in the door just behind Bill.

  “The walk around is complete. I raised the loading ramp, and fuel is on board.” The pilot extended his hand.

  “My name is Frank, your second officer’s name is Frank, and your relief’s name is also Frank. The pilot and copilot were not twins, but they were physically similar. They were both five foot ten with curly black hair and weighed about one hundred and seventy pounds. The relief looked different being six one and two hundred pounds with sandy blond hair. The engineer started to laugh and said, “Well my name is Frank too.” Noah shook his head.

  “Are you guys yanking my crank?” All of the members of the flight crew pointed to their ID badges. It would only occur to Noah to set this up as a joke.

  “Well if I say hey, Frank. I will expect an answer.”

  Noah went to the door control, armed the panel and performed a full cycle on the door when he was satisfied that everything was correct moved up to the flight deck.

  “Hey Frank, pop the breakers for the cargo door. We are secure in back.” Noah left the flight deck moving to the crew door. Bob was waiting outside the door, “We’re ready out here.”

  “Thanks Bob we are ready in here.” Noah smiled and went back up to the flight deck. “We are locked up and ready for departure. Hank will be on the headset.” Just then the intercom beeped. Frank listened to the voice on the other end. He looked over to the co-pilot.

  “Frank we will fire them up one, two, three and then four.” After all four engines were running smoothly Hank waved the L 100-30 out of its parking position and saluted the crew. Frank called the tower on the radio receiving taxi clearance. Almost as soon as they reached the end of the runway they received takeoff clearance. Frank brought the four turbo prop engines to ninety percent and released the brakes.

  Everything on the L-100 was as up to date as any civilian aircraft. This was the extended range version. It had extra fuel tanks that would allow it to fly just over three thousand miles, but a full fuel load would lose some cargo lift capacity. The plane had a small crew rest compartment that took up the first eight feet behind the flight deck. There was a wall and an access door that led into the main cargo bay unlike its military cousin, so the crew compartment was heated.

  In the cargo bay insulating blankets were attached directly to the braces and spars of the aircraft. The insulating blankets not only kept the heat in they also helped deaden the noise of four turboprop engines, and the noise level was way up there. Even with heat in the cargo bay the temperature at altitude was uncomfortably cool. In the cargo bay there were four pallets of high tech drilling equipment and one pallet of produce. Working with fully loaded pallets one man could handle large amounts of cargo by himself. Noah was an expert at using the rear ramp and he could work miracles. Even on a dirt strip the plane could be worked in about an hour or less with flatbed trucks if they were just transferring pallets. Of course as the degree of difficulty went up so did the time. When the plane hit cruising altitude Noah got out of the observer’s
seat.

  “Hey Frank I’m going down to check the cargo bay.”

  “Be careful back there,” Four voices said in unison.

  “I have got a feeling that you guys prefer to fly together.” Noah shook his head.

  “Yes we do. Don’t forget to put on a pot of coffee.” The answer was a chorus from the quartet. This is not going to be a dull trip Noah thought to himself as he went down to the galley.

  “I’ll put the pot on. I will be in the cargo bay for about an hour. You will have to pour the coffee yourselves. Remember straight and level. I don’t want to be free styling in back with those heavy ass oil drill bits.”

  “No service, no tip.” The Frank quartet started to chant as Noah went down to the galley starting a pot of coffee. This trip was definitely not going to be boring. He had heard about the four Franks. They were at the top of the talent list. All that these guys did were long international trips. They were exceptional at ‘non-routine’ landings with the relief being the most experienced with landings on dirt strips and they were as dependable as they come. Something told Noah that on this trip they would need every advantage that they could get. This whole trip seemed to be getting very complicated really fast, and the news of a possible back haul did not excite him. Ninety percent of the time anything out of that area required a secure flight home which was decidedly illegal and that meant twice the exposure. Once they got to DC he would get more answers or break off the trip there.

  Noah went back to a place by the loading control panel lifting a section of insulation blanket and there were the four cases of booze sitting in between two spars. He wanted to be sure that they were confiscated, at the correct time and place only. He only wanted the correct amount confiscated at any one time. He did not want to run out of bribes. A well placed bottle or two at the right time could help to find a blind eye. He reached down and withdrew a bottle from the case of 10-year-old Dewar’s Scotch. It was good Scotch. It did not have the wonderful snob appeal of other brands, but it was very drinkable. It was perfect for bribes and it was also his personal choice, very good but not the fifty dollars plus per bottle stuff. Noah replaced the insulation and headed down the line checking little hiding spots throughout the bay. He grouped the cigarette cartons three at a time. Two cartons were the general limit for bribes. Non-filtered were preferred to filtered cigarettes in the Middle East. He kept the groupings small, so that a greedy person would not take them all. You needed to pay duty for anything over two cartons in most countries. Four groups of three were hidden in the bay. The fifth group was in the galley. The .38 Colt and ammunition were still in the map case. He needed to find an accessible spot to hide it.

  Finally, he went to the produce pallet. It was stacked five feet high straight across the pallet. There were boxes of cantaloupes, peaches, avocados, grapes, onions and coffee. The boxes were stacked around the edges of the pallet. In the center was located two hundred pounds of drugs. On top of the drugs were stacked five one hundred pound bags of coffee. The weight on the coffee bags was intentionally set at one hundred pounds, so they would not be moved casually and yet one man could move them if it were necessary. Noah poked around the pallet, checking it for stability making sure everything looked correct. The contents were a little too accessible, but he did have an idea, and he would have Frank relay a request to D.C. for what he needed. Finished with the inspection he picked up a bottle of Dewar’s and headed back inside of the crew area. Noah tucked the bottle into the ice chest in the galley before heading up to the flight deck.

  “Hey Frank!”

  “Yes, yes, yes, yes,” one at a time and then all four came in harmony, “Yessss.”

  “You guys really are too much! When you call company, I need one four by eight sheet of ply wood one quarter of an inch thick, but I won’t need it until we reach DC. We will need five dinners and five breakfasts and whatever you guys will have.”

  “Hungry are we?” The pilot looked over his shoulder.

  Noah replied, “Hey, you guys are headed to a hotel for twenty-four hours. I’m stuck here with this crap until you get back. While you are at it order a selection of munchies.”

  “Are you going to smoke some of our cargo?” Frank laughed.

  “No, I’m an alcohol man,” the reply came. “But I do plan on attacking a bottle of Dewar’s while you are gone. Don’t bother ordering mix, even the ice is optional.”

  “I will call company dispatch and relay your request,” Frank said with a smile. “I hope you’re not going to resort to cannibalism in the meantime.”

  2

  D.C.

  The flight into D.C. was uneventful. Landing south to north Frank flew half way down the runway before touching down following short landing procedures. When they pulled on the parking spot Noah went down opening the door and lowering the stairs. A tall figure walked on board. He knew this man from other trips, “Hey Joe what’s cooking?”

  “Hi Noah, welcome to DC. How was the flight?” He did not wait for an answer. “We have you here until 16:30 tomorrow afternoon. We will have the mechanics do a fuel quantity check and do an ‘A’ check. We have three approved company security guards for the aircraft. That means you get a night in the sheets. The limo to the Sheraton will be here in about thirty minutes. Oh yeah, we have your sheet of half inch plywood in the warehouse. I know that you wanted quarter inch, but it’s here now. Do you have the log book?”

  Noah laughed. “Half inch will work just fine, go on up to the flight deck and ask for Frank. He has the log book.” Joe rounded the corner heading for the flight deck.

  “Hey Frank.”

  The quartet answered in unison, “Yes.”

  “Who is Frank?” Joe asked.

  “We are.” The quartet answered. Joe knew that he had been set up.

  “So you guys are the four Franks. Have you got all the goodies for the mechanic?” He turned to the engineer’s console. Frank pointed to the log book and indicated the notes on the fuel tanks giving Joe the new fuel load. This fuel load would bring the aircraft just short of max takeoff weight.

  “Here are the new numbers. It will be a fill up. Are you going to do the work tonight or in the morning?”

  “In the morning Frank, that’s when we will have a cleared mechanic. You are listed as a security flight, and we only use cleared personnel.”

  “Good…” Noah said wanting to be around when anybody was working the aircraft, “We will seal it up and kill the power. Nobody goes on or off the plane unless I am here. No exceptions.”

  “You’ve got it. I have three security guards outside waiting for instructions right now. Noah do you want to give them their instructions personally?” Joe pointed to the three men standing just outside the aircraft.

  “That will be perfect. I’ll shut the power down, and we will seal things up.”

  “Your wish is my command. I’ll see you outside.”

  Noah looked over the three guards who were standing on the ramp just outside of the crew door. Joe waved the guards over.

  “Noah I want you to meet James, Earl, and Ray.” Noah shook hands as the introductions went around. “They are all cleared security. Just give them your instructions and you can have a night in clean sheets and a hot meal. The mechanic won’t be here until zero seven hundred. Frank is shutting down the systems. We can seal the plane until someone from the crew gets back in the morning.”

  “Joe you’re the best. I really could use a night off. The way things are shaping up the rest of this trip will be spent on board this baby. It is simple nobody on or off the plane until I get back. If this turkey catches on fire not even the fire department goes on board.”

  “Those boys get pretty insistent. How do you propose I stop them?”

  “Anyway you have to.” Noah’s voice was firm. “I’ll be back at zero seven hundred sharp.”

  “You’ve got it. See you at seven.” Noah went back into the plane bumping into the four Franks coming down from the flight deck.

&nbs
p; “Hey, guys the ride will be here in fifteen minutes. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Right, we will be up front.” The quartet answered. The four men exited the plane heading for the building. The engineer commented over his shoulder.

  “The power is off. This is the only door open and all of the breakers in the bay are all popped off. We will see you up front.” The last few words faded off into the noise from the airport. Noah caught up with the crew in front of the building.

  “It’s crunch time.” Noah looked at the four men. “They want to brief me on the requirements of our little journey. Do you guys have a spokesman? Your necks are out just as far as mine. I would really prefer that everybody understands what is going to happen on this run.”

  “Thanks, we really do not want to be treated like mushrooms, feed us shit and keep us in the dark. We do get our own brief, but they frequently double deal us. The man in the driver’s seat is our spokesman. He can cover all the details for us.”

  “I’ve got it. It looks like our ride is here.” Noah nodded and pointed at the parking lot. “Do you want to finish this when we get to the Sheraton?”

  “Sounds good,” the quartet answered. The five men walked back inside the office grabbing their bags. A white nine-passenger van with the Sheraton logo pulled up to the building. They climbed into the van for the short ride to the hotel.

  All five men showed their IDs and were given rooms without filling out any paperwork. The desk clerk gave them their room keys and they all went directly to the elevator. Their rooms were on the third floor overlooking the pool. Noah’s room was at the end of the hall. There was one room in between his room and the others and they all agreed to meet at the restaurant at 19:00. Noah tossed his bag on the bed unlacing and kicking off his boots. He was about to wiggle out of his flight suit when he heard a knock at the adjoining door. Noah answered through the door.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It’s Creed open up,” the reply came quietly. Noah twisted the lock on the adjoining door, opening it.