“OK, folks, to recap: We have two primary hostage targets that we get on the bounce and a secondary Theater of Terror target. The primaries are going to be extracted to an abandoned airstrip ten clicks west of the arena as our first choice. If that’s not available we go ad hoc. Right?”
“Right!” I hear in unison.
I’d like to put Gunther in action but Panther still doesn’t have jumpjets; we did find them but they were damaged. So he stays liaison but now he is also reserve.
“Al, Chin, you have your coffins?” These “coffins” are brand new. They’re padded boxes we just threw together today so we can bounce our hostages away. I sure hope they work.
“Right.”
We’re going in skydiving. The focus is a big Danago rally. The governor’s capture of the air force base is only hours-old news and our part in it is subtle enough that the governor’s general is taking all the coverage and credit. So as yet these people have no idea just how fast or far we can move and they have neither canceled this rally nor beefed up security.
This rally is to whip up support for squashing our buddy the governor, and given his disconcerting victories of the last 24 hours the top Danago people have chosen to attend to make sure it goes smoothly. We are here because George Harris and Markov Smallet are either here or coming. Harris, second-in-command of the faction, is on the scene already overseeing preparations. Smallet is the financier and should be driving in for the rally climax.
We want them but we want them quietly. Once we have them I’ll crash the party as Kull and put on a big but brief scene. The ensuing panic will cover our kidnapping. If their media want to downplay it, as we hope they do, they can spend many media minutes on Kull’s spectacular, sound bite–full gate-crashing instead.
While we’ve been en route our armor targeting systems have been acquiring the profiles of small arms on this planet. With those in the targeting systems the small lasers can pick them out automatically and we’re less likely to have “accidents” of the sort that started the trouble on the plaza. The small lasers are wonderful for dealing with small threats. Now with autotargeting on full auto, any short gun barrel in a hand and any long gun barrel on a shoulder will get heated without my intervention. A gun strapped to a shoulder or in a holster will not be bothered.
If our intelligence is good we know the route Smallet will take to the rally. All we have to do is finger his vehicle on that route. We should be able to extract him from his car, which will be a no-brainer. Al is in charge of that.
Getting Harris out of the center of a rally discreetly is going to take a lot more finesse. This hour he’s the center of attention for all those in charge of conducting this rally. Ideally we would extract him out of a men’s room while he’s taking a dump. We plan on the next best move: We have someone call him to his office.
But as I’m thinking this through … Who’s going to get Harris to hop more quickly and reliably than his “sugar daddy”, Smallet? And if he’s going to hop why not have him hop outside to Smallet’s car?
“Now this becomes slick,” I mutter to myself.
“Sean,” I ask. “Does Smallet’s car have a car phone?”
“Yes,” he says without hesitation—this faction’s intelligence network is becoming a pleasure to work with.
“OK, folks. A change in plans.
“Al, you move first. Capture the car with Smallet in it but don’t mess the car up. Proceed to the rally, make Smallet call from his car phone for Harris to meet him at his car. We can leave the coffins on the plane, for now. Gunther, you bring them in if we need them.
“Yes, Commander.”
“That’s slick,” says Al. “And we drive to the airport?”
“Exactly. I’ll put on my show while you drive, then bounce to the airport. Chin, you and I will hide out in the rally building. You’re mobile reserve; if there’s a problem you go with it, if not you back me up. I’ll stay in the building until I’ve done my shtick. Remember the hostages are primary, my act is secondary. If things are going sour I’ll cancel.”
“Ah, but the show must go on,” quips Al.