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The Company
Time: Saturday, October 6, 2012 (near midnight).
Place: Construction camp not far from Gisenyi, Rwanda.
Last Event: Labor-management relations and gold coins.
Before turning in for the night, the Agents discuss driving back to Kigali in the morning, to purchase additional food, medical supplies, and tools for the underequipped construction camp. The decision is that the whole team should go – taking all three jeeps – to avoid leaving anything or anyone sitting around the worksite, just in case. Then it's time to get some sleep. Wen and Zhang stand the first watch, Paul and Vinnie take the second, and Klas and Lev handle the third, but nothing comes up.
On Sunday morning, Anabel negotiates a day off for the workers not just today but every Sunday, both to boost morale and to reduce contact between Paarl's men and Jean-Pierre's crew. She manages to buy Paarl's cooperation for the price of a case of booze to be added to the team's shopping list. Jean-Pierre doesn't want anything in particular, but when Anabel suggests that his men use the time to bring in some of their families to take advantage of Darmatech's hospitality, he explains that such arrangements would require transportation. Anabel promises to organize rides after her people return. Finally, she gets labor and management to agree to keep their distance from one another.
After that, the Agents board their jeeps and roll out, with their gear (particularly the weapons!) still carefully packed out of sight beneath tarps. Vinnie takes the lead, Paul follows, and Zhang brings up the rear. The drive goes remarkably well; the team reaches Kigali before noon. In town, everybody does his or her best to act like an idealistic-but-streetwise aid worker – a foreign humanitarian who hasn't lost hope despite some bad experiences – rather than a corporate stooge or, worse, a mercenary. It seems to work, at least at first; neither RNP officers nor local toughs offer any hassle.
The first order of business is to obtain some cheap vehicles large enough to haul out a significant load of supplies. Vinnie's hope is to find some old pickup trucks. As luck would have it, the group's route takes them through an area with quite a few scrap yards selling materiel damaged in the fighting during the 1990s. The Agents pull over at one of these, where the man in charge is willing to accept gold for three old junkers. Vinnie manages to get him to throw in access to his junk heap for parts. With the deal made, Vinnie unpacks his tools and surprises everyone by getting the first wreck running in about an hour!
Now that they have a vehicle with a cargo bed at their disposal, the Agents decide that it would be most efficient to start shopping while Vinnie repairs the other pickups. The plan is for Jili, Lev, and Zhang to remain with two of the jeeps and watch Vinnie's back while everybody else drives into town. With that settled, Anabel, Klas, and Wen set out in the third jeep. Paul and Qoqa follow in the rattletrap truck.
Additional medical supplies are the top priority, and Anabel and Qoqa figure that the group would have the most luck at a UN facility, as the Agents know that Darmatech has strings to pull there. Kigali proves to be tidy and organized, watched over by RNP officers who are happy to provide directions. The biggest problem with the jaunt is the old truck, which handles poorly. Along the way, Anabel reaches Chaturvedi by satellite phone and asks him to arrange to have the Company broker a deal wherein Darmatech promises a significant donation to the UN in return for transferring some gear to its people in Kigali. Chaturvedi promises to do his best but warns that the arrangements might take a while – especially on a Sunday.
Chaturvedi's warning triggers a change of plans. Anabel has Klas pull over so that she can explain to Paul and Qoqa that the Company might need time to smooth over the arrangements that would see UN supplies released to Darmatech personnel. After a brief conference, the Agents decide that it would be best to take this curve in stride and use their afternoon to acquire food instead. The staff at the front door of the UN compound are happy to give directions to the nearest large market. Anabel radios Jili about the change in plans and then it's time to get moving.
The market is huge and easy to find. Anabel heads in, accompanied by Klas and Wen for security, while Qoqa and Paul mind the vehicles. As vendors of foodstuffs aren't likely to accept gold, the first priority is to locate a moneychanger. Klas spots one near the edge of the square and the Agents get in line. As usual when Anabel does the talking, things go smoothly. Given the value of the coins she wants to exchange, the dealer can only complete half the trade; however, he recommends another broker who should be able to take care of the rest.
The three Agents stroll across the square toward the second moneychanger, whose sign Klas can just make out on the far side of the market. On the way, however, Anabel notices a couple of men keeping a close eye on her. They might well be plainclothes RNP or other authorities, but Anabel suspects that they're criminals who saw her selling gold. She tucks the money further out of sight and asks Klas and Wen to stay close.
Anabel's suspicions are confirmed a moment later when a horde of children explode out of nowhere, "playfully" tugging at her clothes and chattering. Klas' response is to hug Anabel closely, thereby trapping the gold and cash safely between them. Meanwhile, Wen looks for the men Anabel spotted, who are doubtless behind the swarm of what Wen suspects are youthful pickpockets. She soon spots one of them, stooping to give instructions to a child as he points toward Anabel. Wen slips into the crowd and circles around on the man from the side.
As soon as Wen is within striking distance of the man directing the theft attempt, she darts out of the crowd and kicks him in the crotch. This sends him to the ground but also precipitates the appearance of two of his allies, one of whom draws a knife and goes for Wen while the other produces a machete and lunges for Anabel and Klas. Unfortunately for the would-be thieves, their marks aren't naïve tourists but well-trained secret agents. Klas outmaneuvers the machete-wielder and drops him with a knee to the temple, while Wen leaps at her opponent, hurtling over his knife and knocking him out with a devastating heel to the forehead.
The children try to capitalize on the chaos to snatch the money that Anabel is carrying, but Anabel manages to cling to it until Klas can return to her side and bellow at them. The sight of their grown-up masterminds knocked out and Klas charging them is more than enough to drive them off. Then Anabel and Klas join Wen, and the three of them intimidate the one conscious adult scumbag into fleeing as well. Amazingly, not one of the many RNP officers around the market shows up during this altercation, allowing the Agents to leave the scene unopposed.
Eventually, the three get to the second moneychanger and do their business. With a pile of Rwandan francs in hand, Anabel settles down to her favorite activity: shopping. Over the next couple of hours, she buys cooking ingredients in bulk, some kitchenware that Vinnie requested, and the liquor she promised Paarl. Her bargaining skills more than offset any losses from exchanging the gold; she even has enough left over to get a few cases of beer for the workers and a ridiculously large snack for Wen (who's upset at the lack of dumplings), and to hire porters to carry her purchases to the truck, where Qoqa and Paul wait patiently. There's no further trouble with thieves.
It's mid afternoon by the time the shoppers are returning with their load of provisions. On the way back, Klas, Paul, and Wen spot something fishy down an alleyway around the corner from the scrap dealer where Vinnie and the others are waiting: a parked pickup truck surrounded by dangerous-looking characters. To Paul's eyes, the men look like a criminal gang. Klas and Wen aren't sure about that, but they can't help but notice that most of the toughs are doing a poor job of keeping firearms out of sight. Both Paul and Klas speed up a little.
On reaching the scrap yard, Paul hops out and warns that there may be crooks coming – probably after hearing that the place's owner was paid by foreigners with gold. Wen and Klas add that the goons have guns. Since the Agents also have illegal firepower, going to the police isn't an option, so the decision is to try a show of force. Moving swiftly, Klas, Lev, and Wen mount the group's machine guns on their jeeps, while Qoqa and Vinnie unpack and distribute AK-103s. Vinnie takes a TR-870 combat shotgun for himself.
With no trouble yet in sight, the Agents decide to get into a better position. At Lev's direction, they roll the jeeps to one side, where the junk offers partial concealment. Then they pull netting over both the vehicles and themselves, making it difficult to see what's lurking amidst the scrap. Vinnie remains with the pickup trucks, sliding underneath one as if to work on it, shotgun at the ready. With the trap set, everybody waits to see whether it's actually necessary.
Sure enough, the truck that was parked around the corner shows up, screeching into the lot followed by a couple of men on foot. Six thugs jump from the back of the vehicle, all brandishing AK-type rifles, while the driver and two runners pull out Uzis (or, more likely, cheap knockoffs). All nine guns are pointed in Vinnie's general direction. A lot of intimidating shouting ensues, the gist of which is that Vinnie had better show himself and hand over the gold . . . or else. The entire gang seems completely unaware of the ambush lurking in the junk.
On Lev's signal, the Agents waiting with the jeeps pull aside their netting, exposing three machine guns and five rifles pointed at the gang's flank. Needless to say, this gets the tough guys' attention. Capitalizing on the distraction, Vinnie quietly slips out from under the pickup truck and adds his shotgun to the hardware arrayed against the robbers. Klas, being the tallest and most physically intimidating, orders the goons to put down their weapons, leave their vehicle, and get lost.
The gang members respond by lowering their guns and backing away slowly. They don't drop their weapons, but it's clear that they know that they're as good as dead if they turn to fight. Leaving their vehicle behind, they vanish into the street. Given the number of RNP patrols around, the Agents figure that the goons aren't likely to linger nearby with rifles. Of course, the same applies to them . . .
Vinnie notices that the confiscated pickup truck is considerably nicer than the ones he has been fixing up and informs the others of this, adding that he also managed to get a second rattletrap running. With the truck Paul was driving, that makes three vehicles with cargo beds, which should be enough for the group's plans. The Agents decide that it would be smart to get going while the going is good. They quickly stash their firearms and get on the road, moving out in a column of six vehicles.