Everything started just a couple of days ago, last Monday. It was late, maybe 2 or 3 in the morning. I had fallen asleep in front of the laptop, browsing the net in search of news. Well, news there were plenty, but nothing definitive: The French and the Brits are still pounding the Lybians, but running out of steam fast, or at least so it seems. The Italians, choking with refugees, are crying out loud for the end of the "disastrous NATO intervention". I can sympathize with that. Ghadaffi does not seem to be on the run anytime time soon, and the Italians are picking up the tab of all those refugees by themselves. If NATO "gets the hell out of Dodge" - as the Americans use to say - maybe dear Colonel Ghadaffi will need some seasoned mercenaries - not the kind of african fourth-rate guns-for-hire that he have now. We'll see.
There was something else on the news and this was very promising: apparently, in the Kingdom of Bahrain (this is in the Persian Gulf, for those not much into geography) part of the population thinks that it's about time for the old king to go. The king strongly disagrees of course, so the tanks are on the streets, and so are the rebels. This is very, very good. It's allways nice when those Middle-East kings and Sultans get scared: that usually leads them to spend money - and with all the rioting and regime-throwing going on, in and around the Persian Gulf, they all start to think that it might be a good idea to have some muscle handy, just in case.
There was something else on the news and this was very promising: apparently, in the Kingdom of Bahrain (this is in the Persian Gulf, for those not much into geography) part of the population thinks that it's about time for the old king to go. The king strongly disagrees of course, so the tanks are on the streets, and so are the rebels. This is very, very good. It's allways nice when those Middle-East kings and Sultans get scared: that usually leads them to spend money - and with all the rioting and regime-throwing going on, in and around the Persian Gulf, they all start to think that it might be a good idea to have some muscle handy, just in case.
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| Persian Gulf - You can see Bahrain and Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates) |
The crown Prince of Abu Dhabi had that same idea some months ago (clever guy) and started to form a foreign mercenary unit - kind of a Praetorian Guard - somewhere in the desert. The inicial idea was to hire around 800 guys, but they settled for 580 - at least so they say. I'm on the waiting list for that one. I bet the recent events in the (until now) quiet kingdom of Bahrain will help him to decide to boost that outfit - just in case the people of Abu Dhabi starts to have some funny ideas. Good move from his part - I would do the same. I was reading all this and thinking to myself that probably very soon in the future I would have a nice gig again (possibly in the private army of His Highness the Crown Prince) and I fell asleep.
My laptop woke me up around two in the morning, wailing. I set up a loud alarm in case I would receive an email in a certain email account that very few people know about. So, when the yelling of the alarm woke me up, I knew something was up. I logged in and there it was, a short email from one of my pals - one of the half dozen guys that I trust in the whole world. The message only had numbers on it - dozens of them - but I knew wich ones to look for between all that mess.
"Goddamn!" - I tought to myself. One of those numbers meant "Call me", another one meant: "NOW". Some of the others, told me where to call.
I cursed again. What is this about? Why send me a high-priority message asking me to call at once, at 2 in the morning? It's not as if a small war somewhere, in need of mercenaries, is going to vanish before morning, right? Unless... Unless thare is some outfit ready to take off in the next few hours and they are missing someone! The tought made me jump, and in a couple of minutes I was outside, looking for a phone boot.
I cursed again. What is this about? Why send me a high-priority message asking me to call at once, at 2 in the morning? It's not as if a small war somewhere, in need of mercenaries, is going to vanish before morning, right? Unless... Unless thare is some outfit ready to take off in the next few hours and they are missing someone! The tought made me jump, and in a couple of minutes I was outside, looking for a phone boot.
My mate awnsered the phone after the first ring.
"Hey man, how' ya doing?"
"How do you think I am, at 2 in the morning?" I asked.
He laughed: "Well, just called to know if you'r busy ?"
I started to get angry, but then it hit me that this was not small talk. "Nah" I said. "Not really. A couple of ideas but nothing definitive. Why?"
"I have a proposal for you. New guys in the block, nobody any of us knew before".
"Don't tell me. Abu Dhabi ?"
"Nah, nah nah! Not the prince. Absolute strangers, I tell you. And serious, at least so it seems."
"Why do you say that ? You have a gut feeling ?" I asked, in a bad mood.
"No man, listen, to start with, they found ME, right? It's not that easy. And when I referred to you, they knew YOU, man!"
I raised my eyebrows: to be "known" is not the dream of every mercenary. "They KNOW me ?"
"Yep. And they know Johnny, too".
I kept silent for a moment.
"You there ?"
"Yeah, I was just wondering" I said. "You sure they're some new guys ? Not someone from the old days that wants to settle some score ?"
"Relax, man. I met one of the those guys, a Swiss. It's nobody from the old days. They know about the job me you and Johnny pulled in N'djamena in 2008, that's why they want us".
I smiled: our little stunt in Tchad made us three instant stars inside the restricted circle of professional mercenaries, at least for some time; after all, it's not everyday that a 3 men fire team saves the ass of a full platoon of the French Foreign Legion.
My mate kept going: "...And I know they're serious 'cause of the amount of money they're willing to spend, man!"
"What ? You settled the payment already"?
"Nah. I mean, the expense money they gave me."
"What do you mean, expense money ?"
"I mean 5 figure numbers man, plus 1st class airplane ticket, plus 5 star hotel, just to have a talk with them,
"Hey man, how' ya doing?"
"How do you think I am, at 2 in the morning?" I asked.
He laughed: "Well, just called to know if you'r busy ?"
I started to get angry, but then it hit me that this was not small talk. "Nah" I said. "Not really. A couple of ideas but nothing definitive. Why?"
"I have a proposal for you. New guys in the block, nobody any of us knew before".
"Don't tell me. Abu Dhabi ?"
"Nah, nah nah! Not the prince. Absolute strangers, I tell you. And serious, at least so it seems."
"Why do you say that ? You have a gut feeling ?" I asked, in a bad mood.
"No man, listen, to start with, they found ME, right? It's not that easy. And when I referred to you, they knew YOU, man!"
I raised my eyebrows: to be "known" is not the dream of every mercenary. "They KNOW me ?"
"Yep. And they know Johnny, too".
I kept silent for a moment.
"You there ?"
"Yeah, I was just wondering" I said. "You sure they're some new guys ? Not someone from the old days that wants to settle some score ?"
"Relax, man. I met one of the those guys, a Swiss. It's nobody from the old days. They know about the job me you and Johnny pulled in N'djamena in 2008, that's why they want us".
I smiled: our little stunt in Tchad made us three instant stars inside the restricted circle of professional mercenaries, at least for some time; after all, it's not everyday that a 3 men fire team saves the ass of a full platoon of the French Foreign Legion.
My mate kept going: "...And I know they're serious 'cause of the amount of money they're willing to spend, man!"
"What ? You settled the payment already"?
"Nah. I mean, the expense money they gave me."
"What do you mean, expense money ?"
"I mean 5 figure numbers man, plus 1st class airplane ticket, plus 5 star hotel, just to have a talk with them,
no strings attached."
"Five star hotel !? Where are you, anyway ?"
"Humm..." He seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Are you in your home phone ?"
"Of course not !" I awnsered angrily. "What do you think I am, some kind of moron ?"
"OK, OK, dont get offended, it's just that, in a deal that smells so much of money as this one, one can never be too careful, now can we ?"
I calmed down a bit: "I'm in a phone boot, so spit it out".
"OK" my mate said. "Well, I'm in Monte Carlo".
"Monte Carlo ?"
"In Monaco, stupid!" He laughed. "How many "Monte Carlos" do you know?"
"Five star hotel !? Where are you, anyway ?"
"Humm..." He seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Are you in your home phone ?"
"Of course not !" I awnsered angrily. "What do you think I am, some kind of moron ?"
"OK, OK, dont get offended, it's just that, in a deal that smells so much of money as this one, one can never be too careful, now can we ?"
I calmed down a bit: "I'm in a phone boot, so spit it out".
"OK" my mate said. "Well, I'm in Monte Carlo".
"Monte Carlo ?"
"In Monaco, stupid!" He laughed. "How many "Monte Carlos" do you know?"
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| Monte Carlo (Principality of Monaco in the south of France) |
I started to laugh too. "Monte Carlo ? Ahahahahah! Who are you, the bloody Madonna ?"
"Hehe! She's an american, man. She doesn't go to Monte Carlo, she goes to Miami Beach or something."
"Whatever. And what do these guys want, anyway ?"
"Look man, I'm giving it to you the same way this Swiss guy told me: They are a tight group of very influential men and they want to talk to us. Us, this means me you and Johnny, we just have to be in Monte Carlo this Tuesday and listen to what they have to say. Plane tickets, accomodation and 10.000 in expense money. So, what do you say ?"
I tought about it, but not too long. "I'm in. And Johnny ?"
"He's in too, they reached him before they reached me. The Swiss guy told me the only of us they couldn't reach was you."
"So, now what ?" I asked.
"I'm going to call the Swiss guy and he's gonna send you the same package he sent me, by UPS. Where do you want him to send it ?"
I gave him the name and adress off a small cafe, two blocks away from my place: those "new" guys could know me, but I'll be damn if I was going to tell them where I lived, too.
I spent half an hour packing, and went to sleep.
"Hehe! She's an american, man. She doesn't go to Monte Carlo, she goes to Miami Beach or something."
"Whatever. And what do these guys want, anyway ?"
"Look man, I'm giving it to you the same way this Swiss guy told me: They are a tight group of very influential men and they want to talk to us. Us, this means me you and Johnny, we just have to be in Monte Carlo this Tuesday and listen to what they have to say. Plane tickets, accomodation and 10.000 in expense money. So, what do you say ?"
I tought about it, but not too long. "I'm in. And Johnny ?"
"He's in too, they reached him before they reached me. The Swiss guy told me the only of us they couldn't reach was you."
"So, now what ?" I asked.
"I'm going to call the Swiss guy and he's gonna send you the same package he sent me, by UPS. Where do you want him to send it ?"
I gave him the name and adress off a small cafe, two blocks away from my place: those "new" guys could know me, but I'll be damn if I was going to tell them where I lived, too.
I spent half an hour packing, and went to sleep.
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