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, 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 particular Chinook, a guy named Mateo, fronted the purchase. Once he had ownership he flew it to a barge in the Rio de la Plata. For a few dollars more 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 skimped the documentation on that part and kept the middle man - that would be the government - out of it.

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 who did the work 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 wrenches 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 casino boss checked the men out and made them targets. Casinos are a business, and some businesses, especially in Argentina, are less ethical than others.

The girls got orders to stick to the men, to keep them at the tables and see that they were taken care of.

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 sensibly took a time-out in the bar. If they left then it would have been fine. But the girls introduced them to 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? Well, it seemed that they had some special knowledge to exploit. 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 stepped in. He and his buddy had watched it all happen and told the trio they would bail “their old friends out” at the break in the fence. They had a secret weapon.

Mateo and his buddy picked off the two thieves - plus the four heavily armed goons the casino boss sent. The secret weapons were silent crossbows plus night-vision headsets so they did not alert the military guards. They pulling the trio out safely, with a truck full of military weapons, the goon’s weapons, and earned their gratitude.

The trio felt they were being set up again, so Mateo said they could have the truck and half the stolen weapons if they wanted out. He gave them 30 minutes to decide, Mateo and the crew chief were getting on a boat and the drive would take that long.

As they drove away from the base the trio knew they were dead if they stayed in Argentina, plus their accounts were all encumbered so they had no resources. They could not even get their suitcases.