The Brit returned to the hotel carrying a couple of knapsacks full of gear. Knapsacks seemed to be common locally and nobody looked twice at someone carrying them. He went straight to the suit’s room and dropped them off. Out of one sack he pulled a small bundle of euros and handed them over.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerfect. I should be able to carry that amount on my person and in my carry-on without attracting too much attention. Do we have the car yet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m off to get that now. Should be back in an hour or so.\u201d \u201cGood. Then you can make our other arrangements.\u201d On his way to buy another vehicle, the Brit\u2019s disposable cell phone rang. He recognized the number so he answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite a pile of information you gave us.\u201d \u201cThought it might come in handy.\u201d \u201cYou mentioned being able to perform some roundups if we could get you transportation.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are three cells we would like rounded up. We can get you a plane to Germany from the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have my email address, do you not?\u201d \u201cThe Hotmail one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will work. Send everything you have to it. I will talk with my people and see when we can get them. You wouldn\u2019t happen to have a boat around here, would you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNeed to extract three members from here and get them to international waters for pickup. Planning on driving them to Mangalore and finding someplace along the shore line to quietly leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was muttering in the background, then the conversation resumed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill your cell phone work there?\u201d \u201cPresumably. If not I will pick another up while there and call you.\u201d \u201cIn three days we can have a rubber duck team on the beach north of Mangalore. They can take you and your guests to a sub. How many people?\u201d \u201cThree of them and myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will call you in two days to confirm.\u201d \u201cVery good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The phone call ended. Hans was never going to believe this. That little information payment they made was returning dividends. He knew the man in the suit didn\u2019t want the Americans involved, but these guys were working so far off the reservation nobody knew they existed, much less any reporters. He dialed the man in the suit\u2019s cell phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to have an emergency powwow. I\u2019m going to sneak to the office. Call Hans and tell him we are both coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Brit knew this was going to be trouble. Best to get it all out in the open now. If the man in the suit didn\u2019t want it played this way, then he wouldn\u2019t leave India. Here, one could make his death look like a hate crime. You didn\u2019t have to bother getting rid of the body.<\/p>\n
An hour later they were all back at headquarters. The Brit had actually bought the second car and parked it behind the building. He was a few minutes late because of it. At least he brought some fresh bread and bottled tea for the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn two days we get a phone call to confirm we are ready to extract,\u201d he started the meeting. \u201cA rubber duck will meet us along the coast just north of Mangalore. They will take myself and the three members to a sub that will take us out to international waters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you get a sub? How did you do this without leaving town?\u201d inquired the suit.<\/p>\n
\u201cReceived a phone call from some people needing a favor. Told them I needed a favor before I could give them a favor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat favor do they need?\u201d inquired Hans. He knew, he just wanted to hear it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to check my Hotmail account for the next few days, Hans. We will be getting one or more files of cells and or cell members to be rounded up in the United States. Flights in and out will be taken care of. We just need to provide boots on the ground and local transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese people who need the favor, they don\u2019t want any information about where the suspects end up?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. They just want to know what they know and be done with them. They have more evidence than they need for conviction, but due process would be strategically inconvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning it came from an illegal covert OP,\u201d said the suit.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll covert Ops are illegal somewhere. These guys own big planes, have use of airports and landing strips around the world. They say getting us from America to Germany is nothing. We just have to perform the nab and get them to the airport or landing strip.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do they want us?\u201d asked the suit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn case it goes bad,\u201d Hans said without looking up. \u201cIf there is an explosion, firefight, or film on the news we will be left hanging out to dry. They can\u2019t protect our people once the media gets some footage of them. With us being the ones to get caught, they can say it was done by foreign nationals without the knowledge or consent of the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing is certain. Neither Hans nor I should be in the United States handling this. At least not in the field. Film at eleven of a Brit will make it difficult for them to deny.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said the man in the suit, \u201cIf there are white guys involved, the press won\u2019t buy the cover story. It needs to be Arabs and\/or Chinese doing the actual roundup, probably just Pakistanis. If one of them is nabbed, my government can play it up saying they were rooting out terrorists wherever they found them, which is what they had publicly pledged to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEither way, film at eleven will eventually be a major problem,\u201d said Hans.<\/p>\n
The suit concurred. \u201cI am heading back in the morning to arrange for the Huey. I will see what we have left for a roundup team that can be sent. Find out how much coordination and technical support they are going to provide when the email comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking of the Huey,\u201d Hans interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell me you already have one!\u201d \u201cNo! I wanted to tell you that there will be a care package at Pakistani headquarters first thing in the morning. The guy who was there a little while ago said he would sign for it and not open it.\u201d \u201cIndian currency won\u2019t do me any good.\u201d \u201cEuros.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you send the team on commercial flights, they can exchange their euros for American dollars at the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot an entire Twinkie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue, but there are currency exchanges and they could take turns coming to Germany escorting prisoners. The Americans won\u2019t be able to know about the rest of the operation, so best to have our own people on the plane to handle the loading of the vans.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK,\u201d said the Brit. \u201cI\u2019ve relayed my information. I\u2019m going to take the rest of these bottles and spend the next two days in my hotel room. I will put my phone on a charger there. Simply let me know what to say before they call back.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that, the meeting was over. He handed the car keys to the suit, grabbed the remaining five beers and walked out the door. The suit fired up the car and drove back to the hotel beating the Brit by a long while. He parked where he could find parking, but it was getting late and people were bedding down in the street. Pakistan may be poor,<\/i> thought the suit, but it doesn\u2019t allow this kind of squalor.<\/i><\/p>\n
Back in the three-man team apartment, the one watching the external surveillance cameras saw something he had never seen before. Someone actually knocking on the trainer’s door. He quickly woke the others since the man was carrying a small bag. Once they cleared their eyes, he played those few seconds back for them. The other two gathered a bag and a club along with the car keys and went to wait for the man in the dark. If he was just a courier, he would be coming out soon and never be seen again.<\/p>\n
\u00a0
***********************
You are reading a special promotional version of \u201cInfinite Exposure\u201d containing only the first 18 chapters. This is the first book of the “Earth That Was” trilogy. You can obtain the entire trilogy in EPUB form from here:<\/p>\n