Chapter 41: Scouts and Prep

During the 10-hour overnight flight to Peru I again went over the reports that had been put together by our scouts about the Five.

In total, Captain Thomas sent out 20 specific scouting missions, all with backup in case they got in a jam, like counter-surveillance or random gang actions. It turned out the Five missed that chapter in “How To Be A Criminal For Dummies.” Or maybe they figured the usual suspects were always watching. Either way it was a fatal mistake.

The scouts had orders to keep their heads down. They did that, none were spotted. The indians, especially the older women, distinguished themselves in getting information without appearing to be the slightest bit of a threat.

The Five lived and worked in Moyobamba, that was where their drug company and hospital were. Their ‘good’ whorehouse was outside the city limits. In the port of Salaverry they also had a warehouse at the docks and the budget whorehouse that smelled like fish. This was also the home port of their medical supply ship. Those two cities got the most intel missions. We also sent people to Lima, Trujillo (a larger city near the port of Salaverry) and Chiclayo (where the Five were from). These last two cities were ‘top five in the country’ cities in terms of populations with roughly half a million each. Most were “take a look, don’t ask,” missions.

All but Lima were in the northwestern part of Peru.

Lima, in the southern half of the country, is huge. With over 9 million people it is home to roughly one in three of Peru’s residents. There are spectacular estates and terrible slums.

When we found out about tiny Troma we sent a few missions there, but we had to be careful because it was a small place (under 200 people) where even one stranger would be noticed. Our people essentially camped high on the mountain outside of town and watched.

Troma was about 150 miles from Moyobamba, the Five’s base of operations, a single road connected them. Troma is also about 120 miles from the Colony, but that is over the mountains with no road. Because of the isolation the Five considered Troma a safe refuge, a safe place play with their new Asian toys, and the place to stage their invasion force. They planned to train their attack force using some of the lower-quality Asian girls as incentives. As long as they had their own security forces they had no trouble with the locals.

You should know that travel by road in Peru is very limited, basically to go north or south you have to drive to the Pacific ocean first, and travel the costal highway which was paid for, in part, by US taxpayers who envisioned a road (the incomplete Pan-American Highway) from north Alaska to south Argentina. Some cities like Iquitos (the major seaport on the Amazon the Colony uses) do not connect to any highway or railroad grid at all. The Colony is about 50 miles from the nearest paved road.

Besides the road the drug company owned a Twin Otter (STOL or Short Take Off + Landing aircraft) and a Eurocopter EC145 (helicopter), these were used for medical deliveries and by the doctors who sometimes traveled to other hospitals. Several of Peru’s more populous cities were within range of Moyobamba. Many hospitals have helipads and a collection of privately-run airports connect the northern cities to each other. The Five also used these unique aircraft to travel to and from their compound in Troma. The Twin Otter can land at their remote mansion, on the long driveway. There is even a hanger. STOL aircraft are the fastest way to get around the rugged country.

Before the copper mine was discovered, Troma was just a wide spot on the north side of the stream that carried water down the mountain. Some trails suitable for walking converged there, these had been highways in the Inca period (Inca’s walked everywhere, they had no horses to ride) and the routes continued to link population centers to this day. Essentially the area was unchanged from the time of the Incas until the World War.

In the 1930’s an old prospector named Guz found a seam of copper ore in the mountain south of the stream and made his fortune on the crest of the worldwide recovery from recession.

Within 5 years there was a pit mine 50 yards deep dug into the side of the mountain. To keep the pit dry the stream had been widened to a small, artificial lake serving farming to the north and the mine to the south. The town, north of the stream grew when the government built heavy bridges, a dam and a highway for the ore trucks. They also took a flat piece of land, about a mile north of the town, and built a single 6,000 foot runway. Guz built a small hanger for his plane (a Ford Tri-motor), there was no control tower.

The Guz home and a shanty town for the hundreds of workers was south of the pit. The home was three stories, made of native rock, and with three escape tunnels including one that had an entrance on the second floor concealed in the chimney brickwork. The house had no windows on the first floor, Guz had an unreasonable fear of robbers or a worker uprising so he wanted his home to be a fort. He hired American “cowboys” as his security force, he thought the language gap would keep them loyal. He even imported English-speaking “clean” whores for the cowboys.

As the crow flies, the house was about a mile from town. However, because of the lake, the mountain and the highway, the walk between the house and the town was around 2 miles (for a fit person who could climb) or more than 3 miles if one could not climb the steep intervening hills and wanted to stay on the smooth path.

The seam of copper was not as rich and as deep as Guz hoped, when it ran out suddenly he found himself overextended and lost everything to a group of predatory creditors, vicious men who dressed like bankers and thought themselves clever. The creditors were sure the mine was mismanaged, with a rich seam just waiting for them when copper would be more valuable due to demand. So they invested in modern mining equipment, dug a lot of ground, and found just enough copper so they kept digging, spent money they didn’t have, and everybody involved went broke - except those who were killed by angry investors. A couple had grand show trials because government funds were involved. They all went broke, proving at great personal expense the seam was really played out and the pit carved in the side of the mountain was worthless, along with all property in the area.

A year later other clever men believed they had inside information from German spies about more copper. The spies lied and their masters bought land in Chile. A third set of fortunes, mostly French, were ruined.

The house itself was nice, but because there was nothing of value nearby, and the only view was the ugly mine pit, so it sat empty for decades. Finally, with access to a STOL plane and a helicopter, the isolation had value to the Five.

The Five purchased the mine cheaply as an isolated retreat where they could play with their young female Asian imports without any interference from the lawful or the unlawful. The house was large enough that all of them had plenty of privacy. There was no police or military presence to bribe, and with nobody to rob there were no criminals, so they only needed a caretaker to take care of the property. They outfitted the house to modern luxury standards (soundproofing, sauna, security cameras, etc.). The only thing they skimped on was communication assets - they assumed the 1930’s phone line would always work. They widened, leveled and paved a long section of the driveway and parking lot allowing a STOL plane like their Twin Otter or a chartered Caribou to land directly in front of the house for easy Asian takeout. Aircraft parked in the pit, under two large open hangers they were well protected from the elements.

Our first priorities for the mansion were to locate the escape tunnels and communication links. One mission disconnected the phone wire (a single line to a junction box on the highway), then used a forged letter “from the owners” to allow two visitors to interview the caretaker and his wife about the property. The letter suggested that the property was being considered for sale, so the caretaker and his wife were eager to ingratiate themselves to our people as they gave a tour of the house, including the escape tunnels. They hoped to keep their jobs. Cell phones were useless in the area but the Five might have a sat-phone so we brought a jammer. We were sure the FCC would not object.

The caretaker and his wife kept the house clean but they actually lived in the guard’s building next door, which could house 20 men. Part of the arrangement was that the couple had to vacate the property while the Five were in residence.

They said two guards would arrive by truck on Friday August 15, around Noon, with fresh food for the owners. The caretaker couple had to be packed up and out by then. They expected to stay with friends in Troma for 2 weeks or longer, the Five really did not want them to see what was going on. Trucks and aircraft would arrive from Moyobamba on Friday and Saturday. Normally the Five were only in residence for a week, but this time the stay would be longer and some additional tents were planned. There would be many visitors.