Part 7

[trey]

An anti climatic ending to be sure, but it gives a good cut off.

The helicopter lands roughly onto the deck of the freighter. David, Jean, an the rest of the crew grab their packs. Alex, who is carrying nothing, stays in his seat. Skinner climbs into the backseat once everyone has jumped out.

SKINNER
Oh good, come with me.

Alex grabs Skinner’s one arm and he is helped out of the copter onto the deck of the boat. Alex steadies himself after being upon the copter for so long. A man in a dusty leather jacket is seen standing by Skinner. Skinner gestures him towards Alex.

SKINNER
Rob, this is Captain Huston. Many people don’t actually get to meet him personally, but I want him to show you what it is we’re made of.

HUSTON
(joshing) Mate, I got a goddamn cockhole cockhole cockhole ship to pilot. I’ll bring him down to the hull to get assigned, but hell, I can’t individually introduce all you worms. I’m sorry Rob, it’s nice to meet ya. (shakes Alex’s hand powerfully) Skinner, I’m glad you found us, sorry we couldn’t hold the ship.

SKINNER
It’s no problem. Is there any way I can reach Ammer from here?

HUSTON
Room oh-one on the front desk. They’ll let ya in, just make sure you let ‘em know it’s you.

SKINNER
Thanks. I’ll see you two later.

Huston and Alex watch Skinner walk towards one of the upper decks. Huston looks at Alex and sizes him up.

HUSTON
Well then, let’s get you assigned to a squad.

(at this point the two begin to walk into the lower levels of the ship)

The two keep walking nobody saying anything.

HUSTON
Not much of a conversation guy, eh?

ALEX
(smiles) I’m just making sure I ask the right questions.

HUSTON
Wha? Don’t worry, you got past Skinner, you can’t ask no wrong questions.

ALEX
What can I be assigned to?

HUSTON
Extraction mission, extermination mission, I dunno. You good with guns?

ALEX
Guns? I can’t say I’ve fired too many. I suppose I can learn.

HUSTON
Yeah, we could work on that. Not sure if we have time right now.

ALEX
Why, are we in a rush?

HUSTON
Maybe, it all comes down to what top brass tells us. Everyone answers to someone here. You’ll probably answer to at least two other guys on your squad.

ALEX
That’s alright, I’m here to, you know, take care of business. Work over time.

HUSTON
(smiles weakly) Well that’s good. We usually weed out the non-team players. Give them the shit stick… (bumps into teenager holding several boxes) Jesus, Vincent! Watch yourself!

Alex helps Vincent pick up one of his boxes and then watches him on his way.

HUSTON
Well, at least you’re not one of those fucking kids. We have a few young’uns that we usually get stuck with while their parents serve as pilots or majors. Like Vincent. (smirks ruefully in Vincent’s direction) Well we’re here. (knocks sharply on the door) BEDNARCZYK! We got a live one!

O.S. VOICE
Hang on.

ALEX
Am I….

HUSTON
They’re gonna probably just strip you down, just as a precaution. Find out what languages you speak, military experience, basic shit like that. You’ll get a squad assigned, don’t worry they’ll show ya through. (thumps him on the back) Good luck Rob.

Huston walks off. Alex looks off before sighing, smiling to himself, and walking into the door. Scene fades out. Scene fades into Alex walking onto the deck of the freighter holding a folder. Alex walks along the deck asking inaudible questions to various crew members. One of them points in the direction of a stout, baling man leaning over the edge of the freighter. Alex walks up behind him.

ALEX
Excuse me, are you Tariq Bakir?

Takir turns around.

TARIQ
(jestingly) I may be. What’s it to ya?

ALEX
Rob Phillips, I’m now part of Squad C-10-4, um (looks at folder, laughs to self) Well, I’m gonna be part of your crew.

TARIQ
All right, all right. You, uh, new?

ALEX
Joined just four days ago. Already met Harold McKinny, Captain Huston, a guy from the Monica kidnapping….

TARIQ
shit, that’s a pretty good introduction. Hey, walk with me. You’ve met the others on our squad, right?

ALEX
No.

TARIQ
Well then, let’s get to Rashad Krimani. He’s our leader.

ALEX
Is he one of the good people?

TARIQ
(laughs) Hell, we’re all the good people, don’t you know that?

ALEX
Tariq, I’m gonna be honest with ya, I haven’t a clue as to what the hell is going on. Some friend from prison sent me here and….

TARIQ
Well, I’ll level with ya, Rob. You go by Rob, right?

ALEX
I don’t…. care, it’s whatever.

TARIQ
Lemme put to ya this way. The world’s dug itself into a big shit hole, yeah? We will be getting it out of that hole.

ALEX
How…. Exactly? That’s basically what Skinner told me and I still don’t have any idea as to what we actually do. The guy who assigned me just gave me a bunch of codes that he said Rashad would know.

TARIQ
What it takes man. If we gotta kill a million Americans to clean the air, it’ll happen. If we have to shut down all of China’s power to clean the water, we’re gonna get it done. We just have to get our orders from The Humanitarian. He’s like our boss, some radical 60’s guy, been in jail for public protest. Over the years he united arms dealers, revolutionists, anarchists, and the like to build into what we have today.

ALEX
Well how big is it?

TARIQ
What, our organization? Well, you’ll see it once we hit the island. Arthur McDermott, who’s this industrialist in the UK pays for much of our boats, copters, you know shit like that. He’s like Big H’s mouthpiece and keeps him out of investigation, so yeah, he’s a big guy to us.

Two men are standing on the far side of the deck. Behind them in a helicopter with “Wind fucker” spray painted on the side. One is thin, mustachioed and has much more animated body language. The other is tall, crew-cutted, and muscular with a permanent grimace. Tariq and Alex approach them as the two men can be heard talking indistinctly about the Middle East.

TARIQ
Rashad! Hey, this is Robert Phillips, he’s gonna be our new member.

Rashad (the thin one) sizes him up and extend a weak handshake.

RASHAD
Can you fire a gun?

ALEX
Not really….

RASHAD
shit…. Any flying experience?

ALEX
Not exactly….

TARIQ
But hey, don’t worry, we can learn him as it goes along….

RASHAD
(sighs) Alright, we’ll find you something to do. God help us, if Vincent can hit a car from 300 feet up, you can. Hey, I’ll have to meet up with you guys later, kay? (says this with an obvious distracted tone)

TARIQ
Alright, but hey, I’ll come by later.

RASHAD
Rob, find me in an hour right here, got it?

ALEX
Sure, no problem.

The two walk off.

[trey]

Yes, I wasted my week last week. Too much school work. I'm sure you were all upset. My contribution this week is this scene continued although I still don't know how to end this (not that I plan to end it with some giant explosion or anything)

ALEX
Well he seemed friendly.

TARIQ
Heh. Rashad’s a real professional guy. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but I think he’s not a big fan of flying around in the copters, and doing the dirty work. I know he used to be one of those IT guys for Sprint…

ALEX
(genuinely surprised) Really?

TARIQ
Yeah, don’t be surprised, a lot of us wouldn’t exactly fit in a Bond picture. I flunked out of medical school and became a trumpet player in Manhattan.

ALEX
And that’s where you were recruited for this?

TARIQ
I was doing real bad for a while. Behind on bills, living in a shithole apartment, tired of disappointing my wife and our son. I usually spill to our bartender and would for several months. Then one night he asks me what I wanted for the next few years. I wanted to be able to live somewhere safe, clean, and didn’t want to keep fighting for earn my keep. I told, I said I was just so close to the edge. I didn’t think I could find a way to make it all happen, that I was finished. Two nights later, he introduced me to a few members. They gave me the sales pitch, if you will. Within a few weeks I was fertilizing forests and beating coal miners in the desert. I may not know much about the Humanitarian. Not his name, his location, where he came from, or anything, but he knows what’s going down. And he knows what will happen if we don’t act, as soon and hard as we can.

ALEX
(awed and a little sickened) Wow. (beat) I joined from the advice of an old prison buddy. I was mostly a drifter before I came here, but that was only this week.

TARIQ
Seventeen months. It’s always someone who knows someone isn’t it? (grins) I can’t imagine how this got off the ground, but I gotta hand it to the Big H.

ALEX
Mmmm.

At this point they are watching the sea over the deck. Kitty corner, two men are skeet shooting, hollering and cheering at their firepower. Huston suddenly comes up from the top cabin.

HUSTON
Hey! Stop that! That’s enough! Don’t give us away or you’ll be fuc-

One of the men jokingly fires at the far side of the cabin, laughing at this very dangerous joke. Huston becomes enraged and pulls out a large pistol from his coat. The man drops his gun and fearfully races over to the other side of the boat where the life jackets are. Suddenly, the large man with Rashad jumps out of nowhere and pummels him to the ground.

SHOOTER
Hey, man! I was a fucking goof! Get the fuck offa me!

The large man smashes the shooter’s face into the deck until his cheek is cut open. Huston, still holding his gun, strides up and flips him over using only his foot.

HUSTON
Eli, watch him. I’m calling Ammer.

ELI
What do you need me for?

HUSTON
(shoots a quick shot into the shooter’s stomach) Keep the seagulls away.

Huston walks off calmly into the cabin. Nobody on the deck is looking at the body and Eli now except Alex. Eli stares at Alex but doesn’t give off anything threatening. Business resumes on the boat’s deck. Alex finally looks away from Eli and the body.

ALEX
Christ…..

TARIQ
Yeah, they don’t fuck around. We have plenty of people who join for bloodlust and sport. I mean, as long as they follow orders they can think whatever the fuck they want. That sort of mentality just makes me sick…..

ALEX
Mmmm. That guy going to be with us?

TARIQ
Eli? Yeah, I think so. He’s an alright guy, just very quiet. Don’t let the look fool you, you’d find Rashad a lot scarier. Well not too bad, just, you know…..

O.S. VOICE
Tariq! Tariq!

The camera turns to see Vincent, the kid from before, walking up to the two men. Vincent is walking with a somewhat limp, which wasn’t apparent the last time he was seen.

TARIQ
Rob, this is….

ALEX
Vincent (slaps Vincent jovially on the back). You okay? Sorry Captain Crunch and me bumped into you there.

VINCENT
Nah, nah, it’s….

TARIQ
Yeah, Vincent takes a lot of shit from us. Probably because he got an easy access pass due to his mom being a pilot for the China project. But we love him ju-

ALEX
Umm, China project?

VINCENT
Yeah, China and Japan are gonna get an assload of firepower from us. Just a total fucking leveling-off.

TARIQ
Christ, put it that way, you make us sound like murderers. (laughs heartily)

Alex doesn’t laugh but forces a sly smile.

ALEX
So (turns to Vincent) you, on with Tariq and I?

VINCENT
Sure am. You a good marksman?

ALEX
(laughs) God, no. No, but Tariq said I should pick up a few things on the job. Basic, well you know.

VINCENT
Mmm. Anybody got an idea as to when we’ll be hitting HQ?

TARIQ
Pssshhh….. Two, maybe three days? I don’t why we just don’t take copters, we can spare the fuel. (smiles)

VINCENT
You can bunk with us. You’d probably be on the floor, but it’d take out the awkwardness of finding out Yukio’s roommate. (sees Alex confused) Yukio was the guy who shot at Huston.

TARIQ
Mm’yeah, I always had such a bad feeling about that kid.

VINCENT
Eh, he wasn’t a bad guy. Just a little unglued.