Not Quite a White Knight Bk. 03 Pt. 05

I was not possessive with Cynthia as I was with Gracie.

I thought about sending somebody else with her. The obvious choice was Abril, the two were close. The issue there was the timing for the law firm socials Abril had to attend. Corum was also scheduled for a visit to his home soon, he was a good escort for either or the pair.

Then the Patron asked about Resha. Surprisingly she was becoming attached to the colony, seeing it as an ideal place to raise her young child, except without medical services that was impossible. I said I needed her working until January. Then I might appreciate having her beyond the reach of any questions from the authorities or the firm. I was thinking about her to help in the household, with Mer and Pur's education. But if the medical was covered, I could see her choosing the Colony for a time.

She would need a job after I wrecked the law firm.

Then the Patron snuck in his grand proposal, assuming the medical service was covered. It seemed that Resha had impressed him greatly, both in bed and out. Basically, after about six weeks after I sent Cynthia down here, he would return with her via private jet. He could see LA and my house, and then propose to Resha, asking her to serve as his consort for the next 5 years, or until he died, whichever was sooner. After that time her choices would be open, including living with the new Patron (me), or in Samantha's home, or in Marta's home, or by herself. He would offer her enough money (a million a year) so she would never have to work on her knees, or answer to a boss, ever again. The money could be placed in a trust arrangement so she could not be scammed.

She was a whore, so he would be giving her a chance to do pursue her chosen profession, to be the highest sort of whore, like royalty kept. She would secure her future life and her son's. It made me feel good because my grandfather would live out his life with her very pleasant company day and night. Could anything be better for him?

When he was gone, I would be Patron, and she might well cling to me instead of returning to LA.

By then I would have Gracie and Cynthia, and my Tribal wives, and Li, and perhaps Abril and Nia, maybe Irene... it would be a crowded bed. You know, in Camelot somebody sang that a night alone "might be restful, now and then."

This all made a medical professional a priority, but I already had that in mind. In any event I had to keep my grandfathers alive as long as possible.

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Chapter 35. War Council

I was pleased to see the Chief and Marta show up for the war council. He still had his IV hooked up but he was more-or-less dressed and out of bed. Marta was very pleased with him, except when he talked about going back up the mountain.

Captain Thomas brought a few officers including Irene. Once the meeting started the first announcement was from the Patron, he had acquired another helicopter that would arrive at the end of the week. This was a biggie. It was a Chinook helicopter that was largely rebuilt and was due to arrive before the weekend. With two jet engines and two propellers it was a heavy lifter, I knew a Chinook carried more then 80 men during the Falklands campaign. (Both the Brits and the Argentineans used them.) It was an expensive, but very useful, addition.

Argentina retired their inventory from active service in 2002 but they were not sold all at once. With financing aid from the Patron, a good one was purchased from Argentina, they were the only South American country to use this model for their military. The former pilot for this Chinook, a guy named Mateo, fronted the purchase. Once he had ownership he flew it to a barge in the Rio de la Plata. Some spare parts (about 11,000 pounds) were stuffed inside the big helicopter before departure, Argentina wasn't going to use them and Mateo would, so he might have skipped the documentation on that part.

Once on the barge the chopper was covered by tarps and disguised as a crane while it was towed upriver to a tributary into Brazil. There Patron had a large shed in a remote area where it was refurbished over a 2 year period. Soldiers from the Colony rotated as security. After a final test flight it was again put on a barge and towed further up the river, much deeper into Brazil to a point near the continental divide between the two great watersheds (the Rio de la Plata south and the Amazon north.) The Copter had about a 400 mile range. With a two refueling stops using fuel drums it carried as cargo it could make the flight while avoiding problems. Total cost was about $10 million.

In general, helicopters are short-range vehicles in terms of mechanical factors, fuel consumption, and pilot concentration. There were cases of a helicopter flying around the world, but those were extreme cases that took weeks because piloting was so exhausting.

The jet-powered helicopter was not something that could be flown and serviced by just anybody, but the Patron made a deal with some folks who had no choice. Mateo brought along his ground crew chief, they had both been attached to this bird in the service and kept an eye on her after retirement. Knowing the bird was half the battle. They brokered the deal for a profit and included their services for 5 years. At the end of that period they had negotiated a back-end to start a new life elsewhere.

The mechanics were 3 other former members of the Argentine military - all ground crew senior mechanics. They were unwillingly retired from service along with the Chinooks in the fleet. (When any military stopped using a vehicle it had to deal with the folks trained to deal with the vehicle. Chinooks are a specialized investment in training.) They worked on it during the 2-year refurbishment.

The "no choice" thing came up after the trio left the military with their retirement pay. After 18 years as grunts they were tempted to live big and try their luck in a gambling casino. They agreed to use 10% of their lump sum as a stake. They won the first night and had a good time. Their handle was enough so the casino covered their drinks, meals and a suite with a blond who did double duty and a sultry brunette. These two made sure that the trio got less sleep than usual. The shady casino boss checked the men out and made them targets. Casinos are a business, and some businesses are less ethical than others.

The next day the trio returned to the gaming tables. They won at first so since they were playing with "house money" they started to push the bets. After some drinks, some friendly chat with the ladies and some fast reverses of luck they took a time-out in the bar. There they met a pair of guys who said that, with help "they could turn the tables on the casino's built-in advantage." The pair schemed to collude in their betting, but they needed more guys, to rotate the wins. They seemed friendly and it was almost like they knew the trio - the girls had briefed them. Slowly the mechanics put up their entire retirement amount as a stake and then signed some IOUs with the others on their "team." They had some success, then they sank into debt deep, until they were broke. When they talked again they discovered they all owed debts no honest man could ever pay.

In the settlement meeting at the end of the night casino boss planned to make an example of the team, unless they settled the debt with some services rendered. What service? The boss wanted a shipment the military base was holding - cases of weapons. The trio knew where the shipment was stored plus they still had IDs for walk-on access. The other two members on their team could not enter the base, but they did own a heavy truck. At that point the trio realized they had been set up, but they didn't see any other choice.

The pair of truck guys would pick them up the next night. Once on base the unarmed trio would move the crates to a break in the fence, where the civilian truck would be waiting. Once they transferred the shipment the casino boss promised "their debt cleared." The trio figured they would be killed as fall guys. They started to think about grabbing weapons while on the base, but except for security troops all weapons were under lock and key, plus the mechanics were 17 years out-of-practice at shooting a weapon - and they barely got through basic training then.

That was when Mateo got involved. He and his buddy had watched it all happen and told the trio they would bail them out at the break in the fence. They had a secret weapon.

Mateo and his buddy picked off the two thieves - plus the four armed goons the casino boss sent, using silent crossbows that did not alert the military guards. They pulling the trio out safely, with a truck full of military weapons, and earned their gratitude.

That gratitude translated to a 5-year contract with a good payout at the end. The trio was dead if they stayed in Argentina, but Mateo had a solution - they would be in Brazil, with armed guards around 24/7, insuring their safety.

The as they worked the trio figured out that Mateo's employer was a drug dealer, but Mateo vouched for him, he sold cocaine to the rich US gringos who helped the Brits during the war, so it was okay. Everybody in Argentina knows how they got screwed in the Falklands war. The Argentine government taught those indisputable facts in school.

If they gave the weapons to the casino, the weapons stolen from the Argentine military would stay local, killing local civilians. Plus the trio were likely to be eliminated because the goons were not returned in usable condition.

The trio figured working for a drug dealer was the moral high ground.

Now, two years later, they had been well treated while working on the Chinook, basically rebuilding it so it was mechanically good as new. Now that the Chinook was done they were helping to get it to a new home.

The ground crew trio really had no idea where they were going except that it was in South America and away from Argentina. They were fine with that. The work was reasonable, once in the Colony they could also work on the Huey and the Hercules which used similar engines. The work was light, and the bosses listened to then, so it counted as a good gig.

Then there were the women. In the Colony there were no bars, no whores, and no way to spend money to impress a girl... the girls just responded to niceness. Even better, they appreciated honest work, and were not raised with Catholic ideas. Plus, there were a few Tribal girls, who actually walked up and asked guys to scratch when they itched, then thanked them when they did a good job. What a concept!

The Patron expected the three to form relationships with women in the Colony or the Tribe, so they were unlikely to leave when their contracts was up.

The hanger for the Chinook was ready. With great lift ability, the copter could lift an M-113, a Sheridan tank, or one of the SAM mobile batteries slung below. The problem was the limited range of those thirsty turbines. For emergencies the Patron had established fuel dumps in the jungle on routes to Lima, Iquitos, Brasilia and Argentina.

-

Captain Thomas reported on the military preparations under way. The attack would be at dawn on August 18, roughly a month away. We anticipated a dozen guards, and 6 to 8 staff in addition to the Five main targets at the location. The Captain was taking 30 troops, all with military experience under fire, to the ranch used by the Five with smaller numbers to secure the other locations. The new Chinook made the logistics of staging a lot easier. A few men and women from the Tribe, including the youngest council member, asked to be involved. None had experience as soldiers, but they would get some basic training and could function as drivers, cooks, supply clerks, etc.

I explained that my fake wedding to Abril was in the works, I planned to catch a red-eye LA-to-Lima the night of August 16. When I said a fake wedding deserved a fake wedding night it got a laugh.

There was one new bit of information, and it explained a lot about the Five. They had a ship registered to carry ethical drugs from Asia which was docking at the port of Salaverry on August 15. The drug cargo would be removed to a secure warehouse by professional security guards. However, after dark on August 17 a large truck was reserved to meet the ship and then take "a shipment" to the airport. There a Caribou was chartered to meet the truck and fly the shipment to a dirt field near the ranch. The Five's own guards would attend at both ends.

Question: What type of cargo is unloaded a night, with limited lighting?

Answer: The type with 2 legs, wearing handcuffs.

It sounded like, after the legal drugs were unloaded and the ship cleared inspection, the human cargo from Asia would be unloaded from hidden compartments for movement to the retreat. After 40 days at sea there was no hurry. All of the Five would be at the ranch, along with their guards, because nobody wanted to miss the test drive party for the new inventory from Asia. After the retreat they would be shipped or sold.

The Captain's question was, should we stop the truck on the way to the airport, which was risky, or would we let the Five do the heavy lifting and grab the girls up at the other ranch, where they added a complication. He had to figure how many men to assign.

Thinking of manpower was his job.

But I went a little outside the lines. I asked about the cargo plane company. "Could we divert the Caribou and substitute our Hercules? I am sure that, once the guards and girls are on our plane, we could fly them directly here. Wouldn't that make things easier? We would treat the girls humanely as soon as possible without the party at the retreat."

I may be a drug dealer and a low-life lawyer, but I really hate human trafficking.

One of our pilots had worked for the plane company. With friends in low places diverting the Caribou was as easy as a $100 bribe and the plane would suddenly have a mechanical problem so it was grounded in Lima.

The guys moving the Asian girls just expected a cargo plane, they didn't care about the type. They would be happy to board and fasten the girls in seatbelts. The our guys could pass out coffee to make the flight comfortable to the folks with guns. They would each get a cuare chaser before hogtying. Safety first.

It would mean the Five would have no girls to abuse for breakfast when they started on the 18th, but Captain Thomas was sure they would be busy then. It also meant fewer innocents in the line of fire when the flash-bangs went off before dawn. By removing the innocents from the assault, nobody had to hold back. That made it a better plan.

In all it seemed the military operation was on track and in good hands, by noon on the 18th the Five would be enjoying the hospitality of the Truth Brothers and our people would be reading anything in the house that looked interesting. Computers would be shipped to Samatha's computer folks.

-

Chapter 36. Siesta

When the military people were done it was siesta time, so we took a break. The heat wave had broken so the house was very comfortable. Marta went with the Chief, the Patron found Resha, and Cynthia went with her parents to their room to talk to Pammie.

I settled in Gracie's bed where we talked and cuddled. Plus I admired her body.

Gracie showed a powerful need just to chatter about life in Detroit. Marta was so nice to her, far better than her own mother had been. Still, she wondered about being back in LA.

I could not be encouraging about her return date, I really had nothing to give her as news, only hopes and the promise that I had a lot of folks working on it.

Next she asked about my job, including the show wedding with Abril and the wife-exchange. I explained what Abril was getting out of it, how she loved her father and needed a specialist lawyer to get him out of jail, which put a different light on the situation. It was not just about me or lust. Our wedding night would be spent on a commercial red-eye to Lima, so I could help with the people who needed to answer questions.

Gracie knew there was something I was holding back, how I was going to rob the law firm. But she did not push it, which was pretty endearing by itself.

Gracie did know I had been with Marta earlier in the day, she thought that was pretty wonderful "for a son to love his mother that way." As she said this she was rubbing her belly.

That got me thinking about my sons and my feelings about my mother. In the Tribe, Marta's sleeping with me was not usual, since she was past childbearing it was not taboo but was considered "being a very good son." That was not why I did it, I made love with Marta because I loved her and I was raised that way. But thinking of my male children with Cynthia or Gracie or others I wondered, what would I think of them being with their mothers?

That rabbit hole led me to consider the duty of the White Scarf once I became Patron. Could I give the White Scarf, with all it implied, to my own daughter? Or to the girl my son might marry? Or in general, if I was married to, say, Cynthia, could I give the White Scarf to any couple, knowing the groom would spend that night learning about sex using Cynthia's body as the most delightful workspace? I could use retainers, but that was avoiding responsibilities.

I had already decided that Li and Gracie would not be with the Patron, while Resha had been happy to please him. I had basically given my okay for the Patron to have Cynthia during her 6-week visit when I was not here. Was I irrational? A hypocrite? Or just somebody with a complex parsing between lust and love?

It was an angle I had not considered, yet it was a decision Bente was expecting from me.

"Batman?" Gracie was trying to get my attention. I had not given her another name for me yet. Another task on my list.

"Yes dear?"

"Do you think we could sleep together tonight? I mean, alone together? Just us two? I like Cynthia and Resha and the others but..."

Suddenly my previous train of thought evaporated from my mind. At her request another idea popped into my head, something I had not done for quite a while. "Yes dear, I think I can take you out tonight."

"Out? Like to dance or drink or something? I did not think you had those here."

"Yes... no... you will see. Surprises require some mystery." She was both pleased and a little bit miffed, Gracie was not fond of my surprises until they happened.

As I returned to the meeting I stopped at the kitchen and requested some things.

-

Chapter 37. To Steal A Mountain

After the siesta Marta, the Chief, the Patron, Irene and my future wives met me in the briefing room. I had a slide show running, as people gathered I planned to have the pictures showing LA traffic, some ships including the battleship Iowa, the airport cargo terminal at a busy time, and Santa Monica pier. I had shots of the Howlers and the great cats from the Zoo and some large vistas from the Griffith Park. Surfing at the beach. There was even a X-rated picture of Do Wong in her outfit for the Blank, with me off to the side. (Mer and Pur noticed it but stayed still.) The concentrations of humanity and large outrageous constructs would hold the attention of the crowd as they gathered.

My grandfathers were impressed, they really had no idea of what LA was like.

The Chief wanted to hear what I was going to say when I addressed the people. The more critical population was the Tribe, so for some of this I spoke as if I was addressing the people on the mountain.

I was going to start with current events, starting with pictures from space of the Tribe, the Colony, some individual houses, then some similar shots of LA, the mansion, the Pablo and such. I explained how any child in the US with access to a computer could get such pictures. The Five had used an airplane, but that was because they were not as smart as a US child.