Where's Svlad? - The Hunt Is On!

 

The de-briefing took days. The boys from Cabo decided that the prospect of being kidnapped was probably more attractive than sitting in a trailer in the middle of Tornado Alley with No-Neck and his side-kick Dribble-Chin. For fun, the guys ditched after a week and took a road trip to Manhattan ... Kansas. They told Biff they were practising being undercover by taking a class in making donuts.

 

Never Load a Full Banana Clip and Then Look Down The Barrel

 

Next came weapons training. The guys actually liked this. It was decided they needed to know how to fire a weapon, but no one had any delusions about actually arming these clowns. (Think of the hotel bills we'd have to pay!) Of course after marksmanship classes, there was "looking innocent while going through the airport" classes.

A Hunting We Will Go!

Biff and Richard Head had been assigned all over the world during their tenure in the CIA. Both had served in Southeast Asia, South America, and Europe during the Cold War. Since the only clue had been Head's mosquito card, Biff decided that the staff had to look in all places where he and Head had both been stationed.

Each team was equipped with a camera, and a laptop computer. Dexter moved from Costa Rica down to Argentina, and promptly dropped his camera in a river on day three. (He still can't really explain how this happened. We've made note to never allow him to handle fine pieces of art, or nitroglycerin.)

 

Trouble took off for Europe (he wanted to drive the autobahn, and eat in fine restaurants which was a bit of a stretch since the two are not in the same country.) He decided against the traditional safe house approach, instead he kept moving from town to town.

 

Mongo headed for Asia. First getting a feel for the region by staying in Tokyo for a week. This couldn't be a base of operations though since neither Biff nor Head had been stationed there. However, Tokyo was a good place for acclimating. It was important that Mongo continue to see the latest films for his movie reviews. Arrangements were made to extract him on a semi-weekly basis so he could shotgun four or five films at a time.

 

Bills Bills Bills

Biff realized that LowComDom was going to need a revenue stream to pay for all this travel. To help offset costs he opened the LowComDom Store-O-Wackiness. (You know, you could really help by buying a t-shirt!)

 

GMT +7

Arrived Saigon safely. Not drinking the water.

Mongo

Mongo arrived in Vietnam at midnight. The locals were out in force interested in providing a ride into town. In fact, Mongo got the distinct impression that there weren't any Socialists in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Everyone was looking for a way to do business. During the ride in, he learned that Vietnam has two seasons, Monsoon and Hell. He was lucky enough to arrive between the two when the weather was its mildest.

Base Camp 1

The next day he hunted for a building that could be used as a safe house while in country. He would have to use the safe house sparingly. There are only two kinds of Americans in Vietnam, businessmen and tourists. Knowing he wouldn't fit the profile of a businessman, Mongo settled for the later. If he stuck his nose into some thing that he wasn't supposed to, he could always act like a stupid out-of-towner who didn't know any better - which wouldn't be far from the truth.

Saigon Safe House

Off the busy streets, but still close to the action, the safe house had the unusual characteristic that it didn't have the walls of the next building rammed right against it. This gave Mongo a sense of security, all be it a false one.

 

Now, with the chess pieces in place, the real game could begin.

Next Time: Part 4 Needles in Haystacks