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The Company
Time: Saturday, February 23, 2013 (mid afternoon).
Place: "Camp" outside Monrovia, Liberia.
Last Event: Discussing information bought off of Montgomery Swift Jr.
In light of what Swift revealed, the Agents discuss their next move. The choices boil down to ignoring the Kigali attackers, now en route to Miami by ship; reporting them to the authorities somehow, gambling that they have no strings of their own to pull; or actively pursuing them into the U.S.A. Most of the group would prefer the third option if the team hadn't had so many run-ins with American operators in the past . . . but then there's reality. The biggest problem is getting into the U.S.A. without tripping every kind of alert. In the end, the decision is to call Chaturvedi and see what options he can offer.
Anabel gets Chaturvedi on the satellite phone and brings him up to speed on current events. Then she raises the topic of following the men who attacked the group in Kigali. Chaturvedi is apprehensive about his team entering the U.S.A., but understands why they would want to pursue shadowy freelancers who are running around with high-tech tools like nerve gas and remote drones. He says that he's still working on cover ID for the Agents, but could – with Sakata's help – rush things a little. If nobody minds risking false papers that might start the clock ticking and eventually cause new problems of their own, he can have something ready in 48 hours.
The Agents quickly discuss Chaturvedi's proposal and conclude that it's worth the risk. Ben, who has an airtight cover identity, volunteers to fetch the group's false papers and return to Monrovia with them; he and Chaturvedi arrange to meet in Brussels. Further planning determines that if Chaturvedi can have the documents ready in Brussels in two days' time, then even accounting for Ben's flying time, the team can catch a flight from Monrovia to JFK – with a connection to Miami – on Wednesday. With the Chloë Luudens due in Miami on Thursday, the timing would just work out. Chaturvedi is confident that the Company can book all the flights necessary to make this happen.
With that settled, the Agents conclude their call and prepare to venture into Monrovia, which means losing the firearms and heavy body armor. Klas, Lev, and Wen get the task of removing fuses from grenades and firing pins from guns, and generally rendering the group's more dangerous hardware inert. Vinnie digs a hole in which to stash the gear, while Qoqa gets to work cutting brush for camouflage, both of them conscripting the aid of their idle teammates. With these preliminaries out of the way, Qoqa "cleans" each piece of kit and packs it into the pit. Finally, she and Vinnie bury everything and disguise the cache.
Toward evening, the whole group piles into Ben's rental truck and heads into the city. With everybody disarmed and Vinnie driving carefully, there are no hassles. Ben exploits his papers and bankroll to check everyone in at a hotel; his cover story is that he's a rugby coach, obtaining rooms for players and their families, not that anyone he speaks with actually cares. Then the whole crew takes advantage of the first beds and showers they've seen in days. That night, the Agents in each room take turns sleeping, but the caution proves unnecessary.
Come Sunday morning, Ben grabs a cab to the airport, where he catches his flight to Brussels. After that, all the Agents can do is wait. They keep a low profile at the hotel while remaining alert for trouble. All goes well, however, and late on Tuesday, February 26, Ben pulls up at the hotel in a taxi. Behind closed doors, he distributes professional-looking forged documents and explains that the group has bookings on tomorrow morning's flight to JFK, under their new identities.
On Wednesday morning, the Agents catch taxis to Robertson International Airport, where Ben bids them farewell. The Company-provided identity documents and flight bookings work flawlessly, and soon the entire crew is on its way to the New York City by air. The flight is uneventful and gets the team into the U.S.A. after dark. Immigration control at JFK is a far more intense experience than check-in at RIA, but the false identities do the job. There are no hitches with the connection, either. A few hours later – quite late at night – the day-long journey finally ends in Miami.
Given the hour and the amount of time spent on uncomfortable jets, the Agents' top priority is to get some rest. After stopping to purchase some prepaid phones, they catch the shuttle bus to the hotel that the Company arranged, where they check in. Most of the gang hits the sack, but a few people have preparations to make for the morning. Vinnie spends some time online researching vehicles for sale in the area, and sniffs out a couple of SUVs being sold at a bargain price. Anabel visits the nearest drugstore to buy cosmetics, hair dyes, and other paraphernalia with which to disguise her allies, and finds everything she needs. Qoqa goes with Anabel to pick up first-aid gear . . . and vodka.
The Agents once again take turns sleeping and standing watch, but Wednesday night passes uneventfully. First thing on Thursday morning, Vinnie decides to see about those SUVs. Calling ahead, he learns that the seller is happy to meet with him early in the day if he's willing to pay cash. Vinnie doesn't need a flashing sign to deduce that this means the vehicles are probably stolen, and asks Paul to accompany him as backup. The two of them make their way to the address that Vinnie got from the man on the phone, which proves to be in a less-than-classy neighborhood.
Vinnie and Paul's arrival triggers an argument between the fellow Vinnie spoke with and his lady friend, who's annoyed that her man's "scumbag friends" are banging on the door before breakfast. This gets the pit bull in the yard barking. The fact that the seller is wearing boxer shorts with crummy little pistol shoved into the waistband is icing on the cake – the whole situation seems as comic as it is criminal. Paul and Vinnie suppress snickers and manage to convince the small-time crook that they aren't police officers; they just want to do business and leave.
Eventually, Vinnie and Paul get a look at the vehicles. They seem to be in good shape. Vinnie learns that they're brand new, stolen recently in Fort Lauderdale, and don't have plates or registration. Vinnie negotiates a good price and pays up, which ends the argument between the seller and his female companion, at least. Then he pulls out in one SUV while Paul follows in the other.
During the drive back to the hotel, Vinnie looks down a side street and just happens to see two SUVs of the same make and model as the ones he bought. He pulls over, and Paul follows his lead. Grabbing what tools he has, Vinnie sneaks down the street, swipes the license plates off the vehicles he spotted, and replaces them with plates stolen off a couple of nearby cars, just to confuse the situation. Then he breaks into both of the parked SUVs and steals registration papers out of the glove boxes. Paul stands watch the whole time, but nobody shows up. Before long, Paul and Vinnie are back on the road, now with plates and registration for their hot rides.