Chapter 4: A Few Surprises

“Simon, I have been giving some thought to possible additions to our crew.” stated James. “At the same time, I was thinking that we are going to have to be very careful about allowing anyone to find out about this project.”

“Very true.” said Simon. “What did you have in mind?”

James told a short story “Back in my years with DND (Canadian Department of National Defense) I had some interaction with a lot of the ground forces. It isn’t common knowledge, but when we were in Afghanistan, the fighters and choppers spent a lot of time helping out the grunts on the ground. I got to know one group quite well. They called themselves ‘The Invisibles’, partly because the enemy never knew they were even in the neighborhood until it was far too late. Even after their mission was complete, nothing was known about their forays into enemy territory, except once, when something went wrong.”

James continued, “I was completing my advanced chopper training when a call came in for emergency retrieval. Mine was freshly refueled and ready to go, so I was told to get my butt to the extraction landing zone (LZ) and haul them out of there. I grabbed Bill and the nearest Gunner to man the machine guns and took off for the co-ordinates. When we arrived, there was a huge firefight in progress. We managed to cause enough of a disturbance that the enemy hunkered down just long enough to allow the whole team to pile into my chopper and we hauled ass out of there. We arrived safely back to base where we got the wounded into the medical tents and surveyed the damage. The chopper took over thirty hits from small arms fire. I remember several hand held rockets narrowly missing us and we expended almost every round of ammo we had. All six of that team were wounded, but miraculously none died. I heard later that they and we had wounded or killed over fifty enemy insurgents.”

“The leader of that group, Grant, visited me one evening in my quarters to thank me personally for hauling him and his men out of there. We shared a couple of cold beers and have been friends ever since. He is an extremely cautious individual and not likely to just jump on a plane and come in for a visit. The last I heard he had left DND, started his own private security company called ‘Intelligence Security and Investigation’ (ISI), and was looking for business. I have a number to contact him but I need a good reason to do so, one that he will accept without too much question.” said James.

Simon thought about it for a while then said, “You know, maybe we can solve a couple of problems here. We have no idea if what we are doing is attracting attention. We do not know what we will have to do to ensure that we will not be discovered as we get busier and we do need people. See if he will accept a contract and let’s hire him.”

“I have just the idea.” James said, as he dialed the phone.

A female voice answered “ISI, may I help you?”

“Grant Morgan please.” James replied.

“Who is calling?” she asked.

He replied “James Brooks”

“One moment please.” she said.

A click and a pause then a deep male voice came on the line and spoke “Hello James, how are you doing old friend?”

“I’m younger than you, grunt!” replied James.

“Ouch, that hurt!” said Grant, chuckling.

“But I am doing exceptionally well, how about yourself? Long time no see.” said James.

“Not too bad. Getting the occasional bit of work. Nothing exceptional. You wouldn’t be calling to offer me a job would you?” replied Grant grinning.

“How do you do it Grant, right to the point. As a matter of fact I may have a ‘contract’ for you and a team. Long term. Exceptional benefits. Starting immediately. Totally ‘need to know’. Interested?” replied James.

“What kind of work are you suggesting? You know I will not do certain types of contracts and I will need to know a LOT more than that before I commit to anything.” said Grant.

“Let’s just say I want you and a team to do one week of covert surveillance of a perimeter. Your only contact will be me. I will expect a report from the field every six hours and for this you will be paid $1,000.00 per person per day plus expenses. This first job will be only seven days, but it should allow you to get back in the field.” said James.

Grant asked “Okay, so far so good! How big a perimeter? Where is it? Who is handling logistics and pay plan?”

“Perimeter will be approximately four miles per side, square. Terrain is mainly flat to moderately hilly, a canyon in the North and a lake in the South West. It is in central Alberta and you will arrange insertion of your team and any initial support requirements. We will arrange extraction. How does $100,000.00 up front sound with the balance on completion?” replied James.

“Whew, big perimeter. I’m going to need my whole crew. It’ll probably take me a day to get there and inserted. I’m going to need more details!” said Grant.

“If you are agreed, I will send you everything you need. Do we have a contract?” asked James.

James glanced over at Nate with a questioning look on his face. Nate showed him his laptop screen with a grin.

“Your contract is signed my friend. Now how soon can you get me the details?” asked Grant.

James looked over at Nate and Simon, who was staring at the laptop as well. James gave Nate the thumbs up. Nate began typing furiously. Map co-ordinates of Simon’s property, a secure website address and log-in, a secure phone number and contact schedule were sent to Grant. A few more seconds and he sat back with a relaxed smile on his face.

James replied, “Check your personal E-Mail in-box for all the relevant details you will need. Your corporate bank account has already received several deposits totaling somewhat more than $100,000. Remember Grant, this is strictly covert surveillance, don’t break the schedule unless you spot something unusual. You will know what I mean after you are fully inserted. There should be enough information in there to tell your team. No one is to know where you are doing this contract and this phone call never happened.”

“Understood.” replied Grant. “Hey, I never told you my e-mail or account numbers. How did you do that?”

“Goodbye Grant, talk to you soon.” said James chuckling, then hung up the phone.

“That went well, good idea!” exclaimed Simon. “Nate, good job as well!”