Chapter 28: B7 Level Armored Vehicle

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To ensure the safety of Friday’s escort mission, they had to obtain an armored vehicle. Even if they had not been down to a single vehicle, and even if the Opel station wagon had not broken down, trying to get Angel through the two hundred kilometers of highway west of here to Krasa Town in those two utterly unarmored wrecks would have been pure fantasy.

The mission would also receive assistance from a platoon of ISF security forces and four armored Humvees. The ISF was an elite force of the interim Iraqi government, personally armed and trained by the American military. Unlike the motley tribal militias that made up the ICDC, the ISF consisted of former regular soldiers who had surrendered to the Coalition and defected from Saddam’s government. Their combat effectiveness was considerably greater.

Their equipment was also superior to that of the ICDC. The Americans had issued them a large number of secondhand Humvees for transport.

Song Heping assumed that the Cook intended to borrow a Humvee from the ISF, but the man had other plans.

“Sang, come with me.”

“Where?”

“To borrow a vehicle.”

“Borrow a vehicle?”

Song Heping was utterly bewildered.

“Don’t ask questions. Just come with me.”

Since his superior had told him to go, Song Heping had no choice but to follow.

When they reached their destination, Song Heping discovered that they were standing in front of Blackwater International’s office building.

He assumed the Cook meant to apply to Blackwater for an armored vehicle.

Although the Musician was a freelance mercenary outfit, the contract had been signed between Angel and Blackwater International. The company ought to provide at least some equipment, so requesting an armored vehicle would have been perfectly reasonable.

But he soon realized that he had guessed wrong.

The Cook went straight to the GRS branch established there and found Thomas.

When he pushed open the door, Song Heping saw Thomas sitting beside a desk. Only then did he roughly understand what the Cook had in mind.

He had no intention of applying to the company, nor of borrowing from the ISF. Instead, he had come directly to Thomas. He intended to cash in on the personal favor between them.

Thomas and Song Heping were not strangers.

The moment Thomas saw him, he opened his arms and gave him an exuberant hug, pounding him vigorously on the back as though they were old friends who had not seen each other in years.

“Friend, what brings you here today?”

Thomas looked from Song Heping to the Cook.

“I heard you squeezed Mad Dog Rice out and landed yourselves a decent PSD contract. Congratulations on getting such a choice assignment!”

“It is a choice assignment,” the Cook said, “but our team is too small. Taking on this contract is like a little snake trying to swallow an elephant. No matter how big its appetite, it still needs the ability to do it. We’ll have to rely on you for a great deal of help, brother.”

“You still need my help?” Thomas asked. “GRS doesn’t handle Blackwater’s affairs.”

“No. This is something you can definitely help us with.”

The Cook then turned his eyes toward Song Heping and gave him a meaningful look.

Song Heping immediately understood.

The Cook had brought him along because Thomas had once shared life-and-death experiences with him. They had a fairly solid bond.

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Song Heping had also been able to join the Musician mercenary group thanks to Thomas’s recommendation.

With Song Heping present, Thomas might be willing to show them some consideration.

The Cook certainly had calculated everything well.

Although Song Heping did not understand why the Cook had come here for a vehicle instead of applying to Blackwater or borrowing one from the ISF, this was not the time to investigate.

“Yes, we came to borrow a vehicle today.”

Since the ball had been passed to him, Song Heping had no choice but to take it.

“One of our vehicles was damaged during yesterday’s operation. We have another mission on Friday, and having only one vehicle would be very inconvenient, so we came to ask whether we could borrow one from you.”

In truth, Song Heping felt uncertain as he spoke.

Although he and Thomas had once gone through life and death together, they had only met that one time. Besides, Blackwater and GRS belonged to entirely different organizations and were, strictly speaking, completely unrelated.

If Thomas lent them a vehicle, it would be a personal favor. If he refused, that would be perfectly understandable.

But to their surprise, after considering the matter for less than three seconds, Thomas immediately gave them a straightforward answer.

“No problem! What kind of vehicle do you want?”

The Cook’s face lit up.

“Preferably a B7-rated armored vehicle. Preferably two…”

Perhaps he felt that the request was excessive, because his voice dropped noticeably toward the end.

A B7-rated armored vehicle was no ordinary armored car. It was the highest grade among all security vehicles. The requirements were extremely stringent. It had to withstand fire from 7.62-millimeter armor-piercing rounds and even resist various types of grenades, small TNT charges, and C4 explosives.

Thomas frowned when he heard this.

“B7-rated armored vehicles… Do you know how scarce they are right now? Everyone wants them. Ten arrived just last month. Apart from the six taken by several of our special departments, the other four were sent to the Interim Governing Council for use by local officials. Even the CIA has managed to acquire only six vehicles after being here for several months.”

The Cook gave an awkward smile.

He also felt that his request might have been a little excessive.

He was just about to speak when Thomas suddenly continued, “Still, for the sake of my life-and-death friendship with Sang, I can assign the two vehicles belonging to my department for your use. But it’s only a temporary loan. These things are expensive, so use them carefully. Try not to turn them into scrap metal.”

The Cook was stunned.

He had not expected Thomas to agree so readily.

Two B7-rated armored vehicles!

A single one cost more than a million dollars.

And Thomas had actually agreed?

The Cook found it unbelievable.

“You two wait here. To move those vehicles, I’ll have to speak with my superior. I’m only a minor department chief, after all, and something like this requires approval from Operations before the vehicles can be released. But for Sang’s sake, I’ll do everything I can to help.”

With that, he told the Cook and Song Heping to wait there for a while and left the office.

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The moment he was gone, the Cook’s expression became animated.

“Oh, God!”

If they had not been in the GRS office, the Cook might have expressed his excitement with a stream of Russian curses.

“He’s actually willing to lend us two?”

Then he lowered his voice and said to Song Heping, “To be honest, I was already prepared to consider it a stroke of unbelievable luck if we managed to borrow a B6-rated armored vehicle. I never imagined he’d lend us two B7s!”

Song Heping was surprised as well.

But he also sensed that something was not quite right.

Even he did not think he and Thomas were close enough to warrant this kind of generosity.

Thomas had actually loaned them both armored vehicles belonging to his own department.

At the thought, Song Heping could not help reaching up to touch his own face.

Was his face really that valuable?

Thomas certainly was a man of action. Calling him decisive and swift would not have been an exaggeration.

He returned in less than five minutes.

“Done,” he said.

“Two vehicles, both B7-rated. Our people need to remove a few things from inside them first…”

As he spoke, he turned toward the Cook.

“Cook, you understand that some equipment in our vehicles has to be removed before they can be lent out. So come back and collect them in two hours. Since you don’t leave until Friday, this won’t delay your mission.”

“Of course!”

With Thomas going this far, what more could the Cook say?

This was already an enormous favor.

“We’ll come back for the vehicles in two hours.”

The conversation had come to an end, and the men said their farewells.

When they parted, Thomas once again gave Song Heping the same enthusiastic embrace he had offered when they first arrived.

“Good luck, friend!”

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