Bullet 4 Pg 1-5

The hours before

1000hr

The pain in the head was bad; made so by the six hours of liquor and other substances which I took last night. I was at the bar to meet an old friend of mine from the island; wrong choice to make when you are supposed to be on a discreet holiday from anyone you know. But Henry was a good friend and we go back a long way. I was surprised that he come here to this lonely part of the country where possible chaos is waiting to erupt. I should had known then as Henry is like me; a mercenary who strives on war and conflict. I am here on the assumed holiday but to evaluate if there are takers for my skill. My days as Kingfisher the Master assassin is over, but the urge in me remains the same, so I went for the next available trade in the line. The works are plenty if you do not take personal consideration on the sides in the conflict, but the pay can be bad if you are the losing party.

But not Henry, as he is always on the winning side; ever to gain and first to leave on the break of the luck. There he was walking in through the bat wings and right up to my table, as if he knew I would be there. In fact, i just arrived five days ago from a stint in the war torn continent and escaped to here where the next major break could come soon. But it came sooner than I thought but not before six hours of hard drinking sessions and a bad headache this morning. The only consolation I had was I got a contract to fight for the rebels; or one fo the rebels anyway. But that is not the reason I am out of the bed. My other reason I was that I am  out of the bed from my rented accommodation was the pounding on the door. If that does not cease, my head would not stopped throbbing.

"Marius, we got to move. The rebellion broke out yesterday and they are swarming the place. Get a cold shower and we need to be off soon. Come on; I have things to do." That was Henry my contract manager or you can call him the agent who just signed me up.

I took my shower and was pushed out my place in a rush. When the lift doors opened, we were greeted by scenes of mob on the outside. The streets are in chaos with people running and looting the shops. The Hotel management has managed to get their security personnels to man the entrance and discouraged any looting here. We can hear the sounds of gun fire and sirens. Henry pressed the lift to the basement where we exit.

"The jeep is over there." Henry motioned to me to follow him at a fast pace. He is driving a Land Rover 110 Defender. I hoped in the passenger seat while Henry went to the rear of the Land Rover to retrieve some things. He came in to the driver seat and shoved me a AK47 rifle.

"Use it to scare them off. Fire above their heads unless they have guns."

I clicked the rifle to fire single shots and strapped in the belt.

We came out of the rear of the hotel and into an alley. Its quiet here and there are no people on the place. Henry took the Land Rover to the right and drove to the junction where he exit out to the main street. Here I can see the looting and fighting as people do what mobs call on them. Henry drove on the pavement knocking down people and crates, while I fire my rifle in the air to clear the path. I saw a who was drawing a handgun to fire at us but I shot him first in the chest. We sped past him while passerby watched the man bleeding on the pavement.

I just remembered that I walked on these pavements the last few days; smiling at the sales girls as they tried to induce me to buy their wares.But now the shops are closed or broken into with people looting it. I can't even see the stray dogs that usually are in the alleys entrance; perhaps they gone from the usual corners and alleys for their own safety or laying dead in there.

I was told by Henry, the city is under siege with the rebels and loyalty soldiers since the break of dawn. The President has been removed and executed this morning by his personal guards. The Vice President is already on the way to the military airport. Most of the Cabinet members are either in hiding or executed, or on flights out of the country.

More to it, the other rebel factions are coming into the city to established their holds and grab power if possible. The country could collapsed in days. I knew that the country was poised for a civil war but I did not expect it to happened so fast.

"But where are we headed?" I asked Henry as he gunned down the roads in his Land Rover. He does not answer me but focused on his driving as we take to the smaller alleys and streets to avoid roadblocks or barricades. Soon I find myself being driven down the street I am familiar with. Its to the embassy row and in our line of works it means more pay or more works.

"We are not going there I hope." But Henry did not answer me. We came up to a road block and Henry flashed a ID which allowed him to drive through. I don't like this as this means he is connected to someone influential. We drove down a small road on the back of the embassies and he stopped at one of the gates. There are two soldiers there of the sovereignty of that embassy. It was what I feared.

"Henry, I am not going in there. He owed me big and he won't pay. You did not say it from them. I am out if they are the paymaster. But Henry ignored me and on approval by the guards, he was driving us in. But I sat in the car while Henry waited for the host. The embassy is located at a small villa by the river at the edge of the inner city. The men I did not want to meet is now walking out of the back patio glass door. He is dressed in his gentlemen suit and wearing a shoulder holstered gun. I knew him for five years now, worked for him on three years and he dunked me into hostile spots but the last one he did no bailed me out. I had to do it myself. I promised no more jobs for him, but today Henry just lied to me when he told me the boss is someone else. I should had known for Henry to re-surfaced so suddenly and buying me drinks should had a stinker at the end.

"Marius, surely you do not blame me for the desert job? I did tried to get you but you had left by then. And more to it, you did not returned my calls after that. I had to get Henry here to get you here, but your timing is perfect. Six hours after you are recruited, the conflict escalated. So ain't you the best person for the job?" I looked at the man in the suit whom I used to call a friend.

"Gavin Nates, frag your war. I had enough of your war speech and let me go back to my holiday." Gavin Nates is company man and he attracts troubled mission or high risk missions, which people like me can do. But I am pass doing that for him in particular.

"Marius, I am your only employer of this hell hole. Do this one and I will have you air lifted out. Or you can leave here, and try your luck at the airport. Oh! You don't want to leave just yet. You want someone to buy your services. Unfortunately for you, the loyalist General Diego hates your kind, and the rebels chief is under my payroll. He won't buy unless I tell him so. Plus the local mobs are out for your life on a contract just issued by the cartel. Not mine but by someone you hurt bad. The Loman Group. The current patriarch has just issued a five million contract dollars for you. You killed their only son, the ex-President of the Island. I am also tempted to collect but I need your services. You see the Loman and myself are at odds too. We are fighting for the same cause but on opposing sides. The Loman Group aka the Cartel engineered the coup that topple the King then, and now with the rebels, I am pushing for the King to come back. But there is a problem. The ex-King wants me to take care of a mission he has and the only person who can do it is you." Gavin is trying very hard to get me into his game but I am declining.

"Gavin, frag your mission. I would take my chance with the Loman's." I turned to walked away. But Gavin stopped me.

"Marius, this involves you whether you liked it or not. Just go and see the King. Let him explain the situation then you can decide on it. The King is here now. He will see you now."

Once inside the embassy, I was greeted by a old man who walks with a cane. I recognised the man immediately as the previous King of the nation before the country first elections changed the rule of monarchy to republic. That was ten years ago and now the man who was King is a commoner in the confines of his own country.The ex-King is dressed in his casual white shirt and dark pants now walked with a cane that support his body weight as he moves. The old man gestured to us to followed him to his library which was on the left of the hallway. We were told to sit ourselves while he took his rightful place behind the main desk. There was a young lady standing next to him with her left hand on his right shoulder.

"Henry tells me much about you, Marius Silva. And he felt that the best person to be entrusted with the task is yourself. I will cut short the conversation to the matter we are to discussed now. I want you to lead a team of men into my old manor at the hills and retrieved my granddaughter and to bring her to safety from this country. She can stay in exile with her relatives in over the border until I settle this conflict. I do not want her to held as a hostage or placed at danger here. I would pay you handsomely for the task. But there are two conditions; she is not be harmed in any way, and she would be escorted by her nurse which would also protect her. She must reached the border in 72 hours from noon today. We are only an hour away from the clock now. Do you accept?"

I looked at Henry and I was lost between the need to killed him now for dropping me into a job when I know not what the risks are, or hugged him for dropping me the job which may be the easiest that I ever done.

"There is one other thing that you need to know. The lady's father is your old adversary, ex-President Loman from your previous island. Loman engineered my downfall when he was the President of the island . But he failed to see his efforts created a new government that excluded him. He 's been fighting since then to topple the new Government until his own retirement as President. But he continues on in his private capacity but he failed to do so until his death. But since his death, his empire continues with the ill gotten wealth and that person running it is the grandmother of the child. The Loman family has been estranged from my daughter since since the day I was deposed off. Matriarch Loman staged the coup today as she is also the woman behind some of the rebels. She would stopped at nothing to get Claudia, her granddaughter back to her side. Your main nemesis would be her paid mercenaries."

Loman was dead for six years now but I never knew about Mrs Loman. The Loman's wealth was not traced and it was believed that it was moved to overseas. But since then, I had not bothered to look at the news from the island as I also have left it. But now I am back to see my old self in rescuing the granddaughter of one from her grandmother.

"No, I cannot take his task. Henry, please cancel the contract." I got up to walked out but the old man stopped me.

"Kingfisher. You can't walked away as Mrs.Loman has put a contract on you. If you helped me, I could get you the needed facilities to get yourself to safety but you must take Claudia. We are helping each other here; and without the other we are up against heavy odds. I believed you are the one who can carry this out for me and my Claudia. Can you compromise?"

"No. I will find my own way out of this island." I walked to the door of the library, but the old man was insistent.

"Claudia's guardian is your sister, Melanie. Melanie is waiting for her across the border. Melanie can bring my Claudia to the concerned people to restored the country back to its previous glory. Claudia is the hope of the new nation. He can restore the country back. The last ten years has been a series of conflicts after conflicts but with the restoration of the Monarchy, the country could prospered again. Do it not for me or Melanie, but do it for the nation. Claudia's nation."

"No." I opened the door to walked out. The next room to ours exploded just as I walked down the corridor. I was lucky or its a miracle that I was walking the other direction. If not, I would be part of the plastering on the wall. Henry rushed out with the ex-King heading for the rear exit.

"The rebels are here. They have launchers. Follow us...." Henry was shouting as he led the ex-King down the stairs. Halfway down, they were met by four soldiers who took over the guard function. I was right behind Henry, and he motioned me to follow him to the front door.

On reaching the front entrance, I saw Gavin with a AK47 on his right hand peeking out the window. Around him are more soldiers who are now at every window watching the main gate. 

"Henry, take the rear gate. We will hold them here. I got reinforcements coming in ten minutes. But go on your mission. Time is of essential." Gavin was back at his post and getting ready for the coming fight. Henry and myself ran for the rear door and exit out to the same yard which we came in earlier.