Free Countdown: The Liberators-ARC by Tom Kratman Page A

budget will cover that.
    "Make sure the driver has the tank filled before you take off," the waiter warned. "Sometimes they'll deliberately run out of gas so they can take up a collection among the passengers."

    Labaan thought the driver's demand for rental of the bus to be outrageous.
    "You think so, sir?" said the driver. "Come with me."
    The driver then led him to the nearest gasoline station. Labaan took one look at the cost of a liter of fuel and said, "I agree. Here to Abéché, at the price you quoted."

CHAPTER SEVEN

    The villainy you teach me I will execute,
    and it shall go hard, but I will better the instruction.
    -Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice,"
    Act III, Scene I

    D-123, San Antonio, Texas

    It was very late. While some of the crew could be heard arguing quietly, or in the case of Kosciusko and Gordo, not all that quietly, most were asleep. Phillie could hear still others typing on keyboards. She was amazed that any of them were still on their feet. She heard footsteps and looked up as Boxer descended the staircase.
    "Well," said Ralph, walking down the stairs, "Victor's going to be a problem."
    Stauer, currently poring over a map with Wahab, looked up and asked, "Why's that?"
    "He's been caught and is in a Myanmar jail. Lox and Bridges are working on a complete report of the situation."
    "So much for Victor," Stauer said. "Now who replaces him?"
    "Nobody," Boxer answered. "The only other one who both could have and would have, Israel Efimovich, is in an Italian jail. And that Yemeni I mentioned is too much of an unknown quantity."
    "Well that sucks moose cock. Suggestions?" Wes asked.
    "Spring one of them. I'd recommend Victor, in part because he's better at his job than Efimovich, in part because his operation is probably much more intact, and in part because a Myanmar jail has to be easier to spring him from than an Italian one. After all, the Italians have been practicing on the Mafia for decades."
    Stauer nodded and turned to Phillie. "Hon," he said, "would you call Terry at the lodge and have him come here?"
    "But it's so late . . . "
    "Trust me, babe, that's not an issue."

    "You're actually going to free Victor Inning from jail?" Wahab asked. As an African, he was more than ordinarily sensitive to the various wars fed by the likes of Inning and his competitors.
    "You knew we were going to use him, Wahab," Stauer said. "What difference how we get him? I mean, does your chief want his son back or not?"
    "Speaking of which," Ralph interjected, "I know how the boy left Boston. I think I do, anyway."
    Both Stauer and Wahab were interested in that. "How?" the African asked. "And how do you know?"
    "I did a query of queries," Boxer answered. "About six weeks ago someone at sea, on a ship christened the George Galloway, did a number of searches for kidnappings and disappearances reported in Boston. Can't think of any good reason for someone to do that who wasn't concerned expressly about kidnappings in Boston. The Galloway also left Boston the morning after the boy disappeared. It was next seen in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. After that, the trail goes cold, unless the boy's still aboard."
    "I wonder what the crew could tell us?" Stauer mused.
    "I doubt they'd tell us anything," Boxer answered.
    Stauer gave a wicked grin. "Yes they would. It's only a matter of making sure they understand their real priorities. Can you track down where the ship is and where it's headed now?"
    "Piece o' cake," Boxer answered.
    "Phillie," Stauer called out, "tell Terry to bring his tame SEAL, too."

    "Use four men to take down one ship with a crew of maybe twenty or twenty-five, when they've got no warning that we're coming?" the SEAL asked. He sneered "Piece o' cake."
    The SEAL, more exactly the retired SEAL, Richard "Biggus Dickus" Thornton, had arms the size of Terry Welch's legs. And Terry's legs were not spindly. Even Stauer found the man's sheer bulk and obvious strength almost intimidating.
    "But," Biggus added, "We'll