The Company

[dr_kromm]

This recap covers the sessions of July 21 and July, 28, 2009. We didn't game on August 4 (because I was in the UK) or on August 11 (because I had my plate full catching up with work). At both sessions, we had Bonnie ("Xiang Wen," a.k.a. "Wu Xie Zhi"), Marc ("Anabel Windsor," a.k.a. "Abigail Wilson"), Martin ("Zhu Zhang," a.k.a. "Harold Lee"), and Mike ("Vincenzo Calliente," of many aliases). Stéphane ("Jean-Baptiste Dieudonné," a.k.a. "Jimmy Matthieu") was absent.

Time: July 1, 2009 (wee hours).
Place: Triple-M warehouse, near Port of LA.
Last Event: Combating heavily-armed rivals searching the warehouse.

As the last of the rifle-toting intruders crumples to the ground, JB, Vinnie, and Wen dart from their hiding places in order to deal with the situation before security guards or police show up to investigate the gunshots. JB and Vinnie search the bodies for the item that Vinnie heard the men discussing in the office. They find one article of interest – a small USB drive – and also retrieve Anabel's pistol. Meanwhile, Wen grabs rifles and ammo . . . just in case. With sirens now sounding in the distance, the three bolt.

Up ahead, Anabel and Zhang reach Vinnie's rented Cadillac. Without the keys, they hide in the shadows nearby, keeping watch on the street and the fenced compound, and reporting to their associates by radio. Thanks to Anabel and Zhang's warnings, the other three manage to elude the guards and police, and reach the car unhindered. Behind them, the warehouses are in turmoil as security men peel down lanes and shine lights in dark corners.

As soon as the squad is reunited, they hastily stow all the firearms in the trunk of the Cadillac. Then they jump in and pull out, with Vinnie at the wheel. He drives slowly and skillfully, avoiding incoming police vehicles without arousing suspicions. After a few minutes, it's clear that the Agents have successfully fled the scene.

On the road, JB plugs the found USB key into his special Company phone. Unfortunately, about all he learns is that the device's contents are encrypted. Anabel calls Chaturvedi and fills him in on the night's events. The handler seems genuinely surprised that the warehouse was empty. He says that he'll arrange a morning flight back to New Jersey, and will have somebody ready to decrypt the data on the captured thumb drive.

Since they have six hours before their flight, the Agents decide to stash their gear at a 24-hour self-service storage facility. Wen surprises everyone with her knowledge of the area ("I went to school on the West Coast!"), and leads them to a suitably low-rent business in a dodgy neighborhood. Anabel goes in alone and rents a small unit, paying in advance for 12 months. Then she rejoins the others and the five stash their illegal weapons, the firearms taken from their opponents in the warehouse, the break-and-enter tools and knives that Vinnie bought earlier, and the first-aid equipment that JB picked up. Such a cache could come in handy at a future date!

With that done, the team returns to the hotel, where everybody packs their possessions. As soon as they can, they check out, drop off the rental vehicles, and head to the airport. The tickets that Chaturvedi booked are ready under the agreed-upon assumed names, and there are no problems with the Company-provided false ID or with security. After a short wait, the group is jetting toward sunrise.

The plane touches down at Newark toward mid-afternoon on July 1. In the arrivals area, a man with a "Sharkmeat" sign is waiting to give the Agents a lift. He's clearly just a driver who believes that he's picking up a jazz band. The Agents are soon back at the Jersey City safe house.

There, they find Chaturvedi with Jili and the rest of Röttwalkyr. Jili takes the USB drive from JB and gets cracking. As she works, Chaturvedi debriefs the team on their findings to date. Anabel asks whether the events in Manhattan are still in the news, and if the police are on the squad's case. Chaturvedi states that strings seem to have been pulled fairly high up – the case is already going cold, despite its high profile. With that, the group gets a bite to eat and grabs some rest.

Toward nightfall, Chaturvedi convenes Sharkmeat and Röttwalkyr to brief everyone on Jili's findings. Using the data on the USB drive, Jili has managed to learn that the contents of the Triple-M warehouse left LA aboard MV Vanra Bhakti on June 29. The vessel flies an Indian flag, and is headed for Mumbai. Its ETA is July 21. The shipment of interest consists of 12 containers of "machine parts," but the ship is quite large, and there are dozens of other cargoes aboard.

Chaturvedi explains that the top priority here is to establish that arms of U.S. origin, preferably with known lot or serial numbers, are heading out illegally on a merchant vessel. With the information from Adler's place and the rather obvious Triple-M connection, he figures that the Company could establish ties to American black-ops funding – perhaps not so well that the general public would believe it, but certainly to the satisfaction of a foreign intelligence service. To make all that work, the squad will need to keep tabs on the cargo after it reaches Mumbai.

Thus, the group formulates a plan: Sharkmeat will borrow Jili, who is an expert at electronic surveillance, and head to Mumbai to plant tiny satellite transmitters on the containers in order to learn where they end up. JB will stay in the U.S. with Röttwalkyr so that they won't be left shorthanded in the interim. Chaturvedi will arrange a cover story for Anabel, Jili, Vinnie, Wen, and Zhang – they'll be in Mumbai for a convention on pharmaceutical machinery, which starts on July 20.

Since the team won't need to fly out until July 18, they have 16 days to prepare for the mission. Chaturvedi recommends that they sharpen the necessary skills. He says that the Company will pick up the tab on any training that they can squeeze in during that time, and can set up tutors or private lessons as needed. From July 2 to July 17, the Agents get ready for the upcoming operation:

• Anabel takes a crash course in Hindi. She's naturally gifted with languages and already somewhat familiar with Hindi, so that goes quite well.

• Jili assembles the surveillance gear she'll need, and has Chaturvedi use Company resources to put it in place in time for the squad's arrival.

• Vinnie realizes that the group will probably end up putting around ships in a small boat, so he brushes up his already decent boating skills, familiarizing himself with several recent small craft and reading up on India's maritime regulations.

• Wen, also in anticipation of some nautical action, takes a two-week refresher course in scuba.

• Zhang takes Vinnie and Wen's lead, and grabs a couple of weeks of swimming lessons – which is about all he needs, given his natural athleticism.

Come July 18, the group is ready to go. They dress like corporate drones, pack lots of business clothing, and tote nothing that would draw undue attention. Chaturvedi hands out Company-arranged false passports, along with tickets under assumed names. Then it's time to fly, fly, and fly some more . . .

The Agents arrive in Mumbai on July 20. They check in at a Western-style business hotel which sports air conditioning, a nice pool, and so on. As arranged by Chaturvedi, there are "business samples" waiting for them there. In the privacy of their rooms, they open the packages and check their kit – mainly a bunch of scuba gear and surveillance equipment. Then it's time to wait. The Vanra Bhakti is still on schedule, so there's time to relax by the pool. That night, Wen assembles some homemade flash-bangs . . . just in case.

The next day, Jili checks her laptop and informs the others that the Vanra Bhakti arrives at around 19:00 local time. Mooring has already been arranged, and she has the pier number. She also notes that the sun sets at 19:18, which means it will be possible to check out the cargo after dark and before enough time has elapsed to unload the vessel.

Anabel and Vinnie head toward the waterfront to look into acquiring a small powerboat. They arrange rental of a Zodiac-style craft with a small outboard motor, and pay the deposit and fees in advance. The other three eventually join them with the squad's gear, which is carefully packed out of sight in coolers and picnic hampers. Vinnie then takes the controls and the group heads out for some "sightseeing."

The Agents motor around a bit, playing at being tourists. Toward dusk, though, Vinnie steers the little boat toward the port. By keeping out of sight behind piers and other obstacles, and by running the motor at low speed or not at all to avoid being heard, he manages to get in sight of the Vanra Bhakti without being stopped by harbor patrols. Hidden under a projecting pier, the group waits.

Before it gets too dark, Wen dons her scuba gear and takes a quick look at the situation up close. The water proves murky and polluted, and there's little to see. However, she's fairly certain that there are no divers, minisubs, or other underwater lurkers around. She also gets a fair idea of where the ship's hull-mounted maintenance ladders are.

Once Wen is back, it's time to move. Everyone readies surveillance gear and radios, and Wen gets out the homemade flash-bangs. Thus prepared, the team paddles the Zodiac silently toward the Vanra Bhakti. Vinnie's smuggler's instincts pay off once again – nobody spots the boat as it approaches.

As the Agents pull up alongside, Zhang spots a workable route up various projections on the vessel's hull. He slowly but skillfully scales his way aboard in advance of the others, locates a small ladder for his associates to use, and then retreats to a hidden position where he can watch the approaches. When Zhang radios the all-clear, his allies board the Vanra Bhakti. Wen comes up first, followed by Jili and then Anabel. Vinnie stays with the boat, keeping it close to the ship's hull on the seaward side, where neither the crew nor those ashore can see it easily.

The boarding party moves stealthily toward the cargo areas. These are well-lit and swarming with workers, who area already preparing to unload the vessel. Wen uses her scope to scan the containers until she spots one with the relevant bar code. It's evident that it, along with the rest of the Triple-M shipment, is being readied for expedited treatment. The team must act quickly! After a brief discussion of options, it's decided that Jili will sneak up with her gear, Zhang will accompany her for security, Wen will watch over them with the scope and warn them by radio as needed, and Anabel will cover Wen's back as she observes.

Without further ado, the plan goes into action. Thanks to dark outfits, sneaky climbing shoes, and Wen's occasional warning, Jili and Zhang move up unchallenged. There's a brief encounter with a worker in an area that Wen can't see, but Zhang solves this by bashing the man on the head and making it look like a work-related accident. With the unconscious laborer laid out the deck behind them, Zhang and Jili reach the Triple-M containers. As Zhang stands watch, Jili wires the cargo with powerful-but-concealable transmitters. Then the two sneak back to the others.

From Anabel and Wen's hiding place, the four make their way back to the ladder. There's a brief moment of panic when Jili falls in the water. Fortunately, this is after she has planted the sensitive electronics! Wen and Zhang manage to fish her out unharmed, and the accident doesn't seem to have attracted unwelcome attention. Then Vinnie motors back to the marina, where the team drops off the rental boat and gets a cab back to the hotel.

In the wee hours of July 22, everybody showers off. Once she's thoroughly clean (the water was filthy), Jili sets up her receiving gear. Her setup shows the cargo's GPS coordinates; it's still in port. Through the night and into the morning, the group stands watch over the receiver. At around 10:00, on Zhang's watch, the cargo starts to move. Zhang alerts the others. Anabel and Wen don't wake up gracefully, but Jili is only too happy to roust them from their beds.

Once the team is more-or-less awake and assembled in Zhang's room, Jili works her magic with the laptop and deduces that the cargo is leaving port on another ship: MV Jal Saanp. Wen calls Chaturvedi on her Company phone and asks him to pull the files on that ship. After a short wait, Chaturvedi calls back and lets the Agents know that the Jal Saanp is headed to Bandar Abbas, Iran. Anabel – the group's expert on international affairs – proposes two possibilities:

1. The U.S. is backing some sort of coup attempt in Iran, with the intent of capitalizing on current unrest there to install a friendly head of state. In the right hands, a few hundred thousand kilos of weapons and ammo should be more than enough for that purpose

2. The U.S. is giving arms to groups on the Iran-Iraq border to engineer some kind of hostilities there, possibly as a pretext for invasion. Two or three hundred tonnes of arms would do that job fairly nicely as well, depending on the specifics.

What remains is the question of how to play this. Should the Company use its legitimate connections to warn India or Iran? Would it be wise to warn one of the many navies in the Gulf of Oman or the Persian Gulf, in the hope that they'll board the vessel and inspect it? It's a difficult call!

After some discussion, the Agents conclude that the smartest course of action would be to have the Company call its Indian contacts and arrange for the Indian Navy to board the vessel and inspect it while it's still in the Indian sphere of influence. They call Chaturvedi, who agrees that this would probably have the desired effect, as India would likely be unhappy with the U.S. using it as a stepping stone in its schemes, but would keep its response measured and diplomatic. India is influential enough that the resulting knuckle-rapping wouldn't be easy to ignore in international diplomatic circles, even if the revelation never made it into the news. Chaturvedi asks for a full report ASAP.

The group wastes no time. Vinnie, being the most familiar with shipments and smuggling, prepares a comprehensive report. It contains details of the Triple-M investigation; electronic copies of all the records and manifests that Jili decoded, including the sensitive parts; the container numbers and port of origin of the shipment; the names and registration info of the two ships, along with the details of their routes; and the frequencies and codes of Jili's transmitters. Next, Anabel takes the report and spins it to seem Russian by adding uniquely Russian terms and usage, on the theory that India is on good terms with Russia and might well treat Russian intelligence favorably. Then Jili uploads the files to Chaturvedi.

With that done, Wen safely disposes of her jury-rigged flash-bangs, and the Agents check out and depart for the airport. Once again, it's a long flight. It's impossible to get updates on how the Indians responded to the "Russian" report.

The five weary travelers return to the Jersey safe house around midday on July 23. There, they learn that the Jal Saanp has returned to Mumbai under naval escort. Chaturvedi confirms that the Company was able to get the report into the right hands in New Delhi, who gave Western Naval Command orders to board and search the Jal Saanp. He has no details on what transpired, but Company sources confirm that cargo was confiscated and Indian diplomats have been in a lot of meetings up in D.C.

Chaturvedi thanks the team for its hard work. The Agents request that before the Company closes the book on this operation, it does what it can to compensate its innocent victims: Hank Desmond in Manhattan, the security guard at the Triple-M warehouse in LA, the dock worker aboard the Vanra Bhakti in Mumbai, and so on. Chaturvedi says that he'll see what he can do about that. He then adds that everybody has earned some leave time.

Since Sharkmeat has to stay together, there's some debate as to where to take the leave. In the end, Anabel persuades everybody that the shopping is good in Paris. Thus, the morning of July 24 sees them touching down at Charles de Gaulle . . .