Convoluted Journey (The Mercury Black Authority Book 1)

by Finian Blake

  Ralph broke the silence, “What about this thing with Buck and Creed. Are we going to have problems when we do the drop?”

  Noah said, “A drop is what we may have to do. I will need your help setting up for an airborne drop. If there is one sign of trouble, we are going to roll the cargo out the back and head for the Honduran border. We will do a pass to see what things look like and if there is any sign of a double cross they can catch the load on the fly. Give me a hand tightening up the nets. We might be in need of a quick drop when we get to Iran and if we are forced to land we will be empty. The big part of that trick is not landing in the country that you do the drop in. Ralph can you drop the load on target?”

  “It has been a while, but I will at least get it close. Do you have a target in mind?”

  “It will probably be a last minute selection.” Noah moved on to the next problem. “Tehran is an approved fuel stop, but I want to be out of there as soon as possible. It will be a gas and go with no frills. We will not even wash the bugs off the windshield.”

  The approach to Tehran was smooth when they parked the Ark on the same spot as before. A fuel truck was standing by with Noah giving the driver instructions for the load. He looked around not seeing anybody that looked like they were from the Embassy. He checked the surrounding area finding that the guard that he had given the photo to was there. They were fueling so he could not smoke. He walked up to the guard, “I hear that there was a real storm over those pictures.”

  “Things have become very unstable here,” the guard said nervously. “All over the country people are protesting the Shah and the Secret Police are detaining people at random. The Ayatollah Khomeini’s followers are trying to return him to Iran and the more that Shah’s Secret Police oppress us, the more supporters we gain.

  If you are American, they think you are CIA. The rebels and the Secret Police are both looking for you, so after this you must leave and not return. There are CIA men here that want to question you. It is dangerous so you need to leave right away. Our movement owes you a debt and we will make sure that you can leave Tehran the rest is between you and Allah.”

  It took a little over twenty minutes to fuel the Ark. When the fuel was on board a guide man waved them off the spot with the Ark spending a total of 25 minutes on the ground. Frank was well versed on the route and was familiar with most of the land marks from the last run. Ten minutes out the Frank tried the new frequency. They received an answer the first time they tried and although there was no smoke at the end of the landing strip Frank still made a smooth landing using every foot of the roadway. He took the roll out all the way down to the end of the road doing a one hundred eighty degree turn. As the Ark came to a stop the empty trucks pulled in immediately behind it. Noah moved to the bay lowering the ramp to loading level. Ralph opened the crew door and the general came aboard going directly to the cargo bay signaling his men to start unloading.

  “Before I bring my family on board let me see the papers.”

  “General, I appreciate caution. There is a map case with a double vertical white stripe on it. Inside there are three envelopes on top of a lot of cash. There is one envelope for each person. Look the contents over and let me know if the papers are acceptable. We cannot delay our departure in the least since it seems that the Iranians are pissed off at everyone and that especially appears to be Americans.”

  The second truck was backing up, as the general went forward. The last pallet was being unloaded when the general returned. “The papers are in order, but the cash is very short.”

  “There is one point five million in the bank in LA. This is just walking around money. Discuss it and do whatever you want to do. When this ramp closes we are out of here forever. Go decide.” The general went out to his car. He got in the back seat giving no sign of an answer until Noah was receiving the last pallet.

  “Fire up three and four, I am just setting the locks,” Noah called the flight deck looking forward just in time to see the general, his female aid and driver running for the front door. Noah raised the ramp putting up the last set of locks knocking the general over as he came in the crew area.

  “We are ready to go let’s move.”

  “We cannot go the car is in front of the wing.” Frank was not happy.

  “Frank, use engines three and four to move us forward and when we clear the car fire up the other two engines, but we need to move now!” He could hear the two engines strain as the Ark crept forward. After only a few seconds he heard another engine start and after a few more seconds he heard the final engine start. Noah scrambled up to the flight deck. “Short takeoff now,” Frank went to full power dialing for more flaps. He could see cars driving toward him on the road. He dialed a little more down flap. After a short roll the Ark jumped in to the air with the tires clearing the roofs of the cars by only a few feet with Noah being happy that the occupants were ducking instead of shooting. Frank raised the landing gear and went into a slight climb to match the upcoming mountains as everybody let out a sigh of relief when the Ark surged forward rapidly clearing a small rise which put the Ark out of range.

  “I am going to fly tree top level and then pop up high to a cruise altitude over a large lake that sits near the Turkish border.” Frank said as he leveled off at two hundred feet off of the ground. “I can stay low working the passes to keep us off the radar. At max speed we will be out of Iranian air space in thirty minutes and out over the Med in an hour and forty minutes more.”

  The Ark popped up steeply over Lake Umia when there were no more mountains to hide behind. They might as well go high since the flight was officially a flight from Tehran. Over Hakkia Turkey everyone relaxed a little, since the radical flying was over. Noah slipped down to the crew level to check on the passengers. The General and his wife were buckled into their seats and their daughter was using the jump seat in the crew area. Noah buckled into the other jump seat. “I am sorry to push you, but things did not seem right.

  “By the way those cars rushed for us,” Gregory started. “They would not let us through this time, and it was necessary to force the border. I think that we have damaged relations with our neighbor Iran. Our people are holding that part of the border so that our trucks can get back across. They can cover the distance in five minutes. The inbound cargo was in Azerbaijan before the last pallet was loaded. Those cars were our security force they were supposed to be protecting me. That is why we boarded at the last possible second. I think that they were also supposed to arrest me when the deal was done.”

  The general reopened the envelopes passing out the papers as he did introductions.

  “This is my wife Anna Smirnoff,” he handed her a set of documents. “This is my daughter Alice Smith,” he passed another set of documents. “And I am Gregory Smirnoff,” he removed his papers from the envelope. “We will need some time to study these. I see that you have Anglicized the spelling of our last name to Smirnoff. I like that touch. They will never think that I would just misspell my last name.”

  Noah walked into the cargo bay returning with the clothes that they purchased in Manchester.

  “Put these on including the underwear. Remove everything Russian.” The ladies looked at their clothes seeming relatively pleased. Terri had not let him down with her choices having made some middle of the road choices to get them by.

  “I know that they may not be what you would select, but they will get you started. It is your choice of course, but I recommend that you dispose of any Russian clothing. People want to keep that which they are familiar with. Your underwear, sox and personal hygiene items will give you away. Even if you do not like them get American or European toiletries. They went in the lavatory one at a time to change. Noah did a critical check of the fit with everything fitting as well as could be expected. They settled down to memorize their new information.

  Noah went up to the flight deck. The crew checked in with Turkish Air Traffic control. The flight over Turkey went quickly passing out over the Medi
terranean well south of Adana. They were twenty miles out over the Med when Turkish Air Traffic control called. They wanted to know if the Ark was going to stop for fuel in Adana. “Negative Adana we are not scheduled to stop. This was just a fly over.”

  “According to our paper work filed twenty days ago you scheduled a fuel stop in Adana.”

  “That paper work was revised two days ago. We are proceeding to Cyprus, which is our new fuel stop.” Frank was slow playing them at 310 miles per hour. That was five miles for every minute. Fran pushed the throttles to max to get every mile per hour possible. “Let me double check our paper work. I am sure that it was properly filed.” He flew on in silence until Turkish control called them back ten minutes later.

  “We are waiting for your answer.”

  “I am looking for the paper work, so I need another minute or two. Here it is. The paper work was filed at twelve hundred hours Greenwich Time two days ago. Please check your paper work.” After calling Cyprus for landing clearance Ralph gave them the news.

  “We are not in Turkish Air Space any longer.” Ralph was checking their position.

  “Please return for inspection,” Adana was insistent.

  “Negative Adana we do not have enough fuel, for a safe return. We are continuing on to Cyprus.” Noah did not want to be nasty with the controllers, since Everywhere Air would have to over fly Turkey again. Turkey and Greece were NATO allies, but they had a natural distrust of each other and their feuds went back millennia. Any requests would be carefully routed through channels and they would be long gone by then.

  Buck is really screwing around and there was no doubt in Noah’s mind that he set it up. “Nobody is ever called back for inspection on an over fly. Once you pass their air space it does not make any difference.”

  Fran was curious, “Susan said that Creed and Buck are in Nicaragua. What do you propose to do about that? They know where we are going. They will definitely try something down there.” Ralph was more than a little concerned.

  Noah smiled slyly, “I am setting up something for that. Ralph, I will need your help with that. If there any problems, we will do an air drop heading due north. I have Susan working on something to cover you when the run is through and I have a backup for that just in case she cannot come through.

  “You are going to do that with the general on board?”

  “Call the general Gregory and you must also call the women Anna and Alice. They have their new identities. All of their papers are in order, and they are officially on our manifest showing us as leaving Tehran with them. Our passengers will leave us in Barbados. Our two missing Franks will pick them up and take them to the States. Which tactic we use will depend on Susan’s success.”

  “You do have a plan to get us clear?” Ralph was sounding a little more at ease.

  “Yes I do. I told the others before you joined us that I will cover you.”

  They made a direct approach into Cyprus with the Ark making a smooth landing at eight o’clock in the evening. As soon as the Ark pulled on to the refueling spot, a customs van pulled up to the plane.

  Two officials met Noah at the door, “We have a report that you have unauthorized passengers on board.”

  “No, everybody on board is listed on the manifest. We are carrying scientific instruments and these are the technicians. Their passport numbers are on the manifest.” The official read the manifest and checked the passports. There were stamps from various countries, including entry and exit stamps from Iran with everything matching perfectly.

  “It must have been an error. The fuel truck will service you now.”

  “Is there a catering company near the airport? The food we loaded in Iran was not to their liking.”

  “We will take you to a phone, and we will see.” Noah left with the official and returned in ten minutes.

  “I had to take whatever was available. I just took twenty meals that were already prepared and some random supplies.”

  “I understand that you will be paying in cash.” The fueling supervisor said as he presented the bill with Noah paying in dollars as had been prearranged and the food arrived shortly after the fueler departed.

  The Ark took off for Gibraltar with Frank taking a flight path that would keep him over the center of the Mediterranean and with luck they would land in Gibraltar shortly after midnight. Noah went down to talk to Gregory.

  “I told you the documents were good. My source comes up with the real thing. That is why they are so expensive. You can take any of those documents and renew them when they expire. A renewal notice will come to your address when it is time and arranging this required some huge bribes. Your documents will be good well into the future.” Noah pulled out an envelope from his bag. “I purchased a home for you. It is at the marina in Huntington Beach California with a private slip for a boat. The house is furnished enough that you can live there comfortably when you arrive. There will be basic food in the pantry and refrigerator. You will also find two Mercedes Benz parked in the garage with the keys on the kitchen counter. Here are the pictures of your new home. You did say that you wanted to be on the water.” Noah said handing a few dozen pictures to Gregory. Gregory passed the photos to Anna and Alice. Noah stopped for a while, to let them digest things.

  Anna was first to speak, “You bought this for us?” The sound of disbelief was in her voice. The pictures astounded her.

  “Yes, but I used your money. The papers for the house and cars are with a gentleman named Sean. I have arranged for him to meet you at the Long Beach airport. He has set aside a few days to acquaint you with various things that you will need to know. You will find ten changes of clothing hanging in your closets.” Noah withdrew a second envelope from the case. “This is a letter of credit for one point five million. My friend will help you start all of the accounts you need. After a few days Sean will take you to a photographer called Jeff. He will create a family photo album for you. Baby pictures, school pictures, family picnics and friends. Look it all over. Right now I am going to get a few hours of sleep, and we can talk later.” Noah went up to the flight deck slipping into one of the bunks. He put earplugs in and drew the curtains fading off to a restless sleep.

  Noah managed two hours of sleep before his brain kicked into gear again. He went back down to the crew lounge finding that Anna was still pouring over the pictures and Alice was just as enthusiastic. Noah picked up the case and opened it for Gregory.

  “There is $375,000 cash in the case that is a bonus and not part of the two million for the arms. The papers, transportation, house and cars are all documented and legal. Memorize your histories visit the addresses, schools and other places mentioned, drive around the neighborhoods your licenses are all good, so if the police stop you, everything will check out. If anybody checks your papers you need to be patient. Whatever you do don’t run. Sean is a good resource pay close attention to what he has to tell you. When we get to Barbados stay for a while, go to the beach have a good time with your family and take some pictures of your family vacation. I want you to get a tan, or at least a sunburn. A private jet will take you to Houston Texas where you will clear customs and then on to Long Beach Airport.” Noah paused a moment. “I am assuming that you have some personal belongings.” Gregory nodded. “This is the tough part. We need to go back and review everything. We can do that on the next leg. Talk to your wife and tell her that you must throw all most everything away.”

  “We took very little it was difficult to part with so much, and it will be almost impossible for us to part with more.” Anna sounded unhappy.

  “I know I have done the same thing as you are doing now,” Noah pressed. “If this is going to work you must make a clean break. You can have a good life with a bright future. If you invest you will never need to work again. You and your family may live comfortably off of your investments. Talk to your family and we will talk again later.”

  The Ark made its way to Gibraltar. They landed shortly after mid night finding the fuel t
ruck was waiting when Customs met the aircraft. There were minimal formalities because Lynn managed to arrange a diplomatic greeting at customs through the home office. Noah requested a mechanic to check the engine oil and tires. Two of the tires needed to be replaced because they suffered damage in the off field landing and the crew was worn out after nearly twenty hours in the air, so Noah requested in-bond status for repairs. The irregular landings were taking their toll on the Ark. He stayed with the Ark while the others went to the hotel for twelve hours. Noah bought one main gear and two nose gear tires also requesting a strut inspection. Fuel, tires and service were just over ten thousand. It seemed like a lot of money, but Noah did not want to take any chances. A break down with this load would be a disaster and he would rather pay up front for preventative maintenance than break down in the middle of nowhere.

  He received permission to stay with the Ark for the repair and Gregory insisted on staying with the plane as a courier. Noah started to clean up the Ark. The day’s travels left a fair mess. After he was finished in the crew area, he went back in the bay, examining the pallets and nets looking for identifying numbers on both pallets and nets. He went outside and talked to a mechanic paying him two hundred dollars to grind all of the ID plates off of the pallets. Noah took a knife cutting all of the tags off the nets not wanting to take any chances if they needed to drop the cargo. Gregory helped him locate the family’s personal possessions. There were not that many. There were two ammo cans filled with one hundred pounds of gold coins each. Most of the coins were from the Romanoff period. He showed Noah a small bag that was hung around his neck that was filled with Russian Diamonds. Gregory had somewhere around a million and a half with him from his other enterprises.

  “I must provide my own retirement. The drugs were just recent. They were going to arrest me for profiteering after this last deal. Those cars on the road were trying to stop me. I had no choice but to leave. I do like your alternative to defection. I do not think that your CIA would let me take all my extras with me especially my family. Tell me why you are doing this?”