Black Cat - Full Moon

Black Cat 5 (Language, Minor Violence)

5 - New Places (L) (P)

Braking was hard as we neared the end of the runway and I think we started turning before we reached it. As we straightened out to taxi to the terminal area, the stewardesses were walking the aisle checking on windows and buckles. I heard a couple of complaints but any open windows were re-shuttered and at least one person was told to stay seated and absolutely not to leave their seat until in the air again. The staff then spaced out the length of the plane to ensure windows stayed closed and passengers stayed seated.

Victor pulled the cuffed brief up into his lap from the floor and began unbuckling, nodding his head to me to also get ready. The jet came to an abrupt stop, jerking the stewardesses standing in the aisles but they seemed to be expecting it and were already braced for it. As soon as we came to a stop, one began releasing the forward door but did not open it yet. Victor stood and started forward with me following closely.

I heard some grumbling behind me but no one seemed to argue about getting up. As we got to the door, I could hear the clatter of the stairway coming closer and then felt the slight bump as it was pushed into position. I heard someone shout 'Clear' and then Victor nodded to the stewardess on the door who nervously opened it enough to look out and then push it all the way open for us to exit.

Victor stopped just inside the door, seemed satisfied and started down the stairs at a brisk pace. As I followed him, I saw a black sedan idling just beyond the engine but clear of the wing. Three men exited as Victor started down the stairs, a driver staying with the vehicle. One man stopped a few feet from the sedan and turned to face away from the plane. The other two met Victor close to the bottom of the stairs, one of them moving to the side so he had a clear view under the plane and across the tarmac to the hangers and the terminal. As I stopped about halfway down I realized the terminal was still some distance away, at least out of range of most hand weapons.

The stairway was not open grating, so after scanning the area I began trying to look over the side to see under the stairs as much as possible. Victor and his counterpart were watching me and had not started any king of exchange. Both had briefs locked to their wrists and tightly gripped in their hands. The expectation for an all clear was obvious. My problem was I could smell cigarette smoke with a slight breeze and no one was smoking. There was only one place it could be coming from.

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When I looked at the guard watching under plane, I waved my hand for area clear and then waved arm down and motioned under the stairs and raised the open palm of my left hand to ear level. I doubted we used the same hand signals, but he drew a weapon, gave me a thumbs up and moved forward to check underneath. As he moved closer to the stairs, he suddenly went into a tactical approach. Although I was back to scanning the area I could see his change which triggered me to move down the stairs as quietly as I could while making sure both couriers were aware of the change. Victor and I were the only ones without weapons.

I quickly turned to the door and saw the stewardess reaching to grab the door and signaled her to stop, hoping she would stay as silent as possible. The guard had moved up alongside the stairs and swung around weapon pointed as I looked over the opposite side to watch from above. He spoke rapidly but I could not understand him but figured it was probably Khmer. As he backed up, two men in ground crew came out from under the stairs, both trembling. Whether an act or for real made no difference, they weren't supposed to be there.

There was a quick interrogation while another man from a pickup truck came hurrying up, probably a supervisor given his pants and shirt vs the sloppy way the two below were dressed. After some harsh words and some bowing by all three of the locals, they withdrew to where the supervisor had come running from. There was still no other activity on our portion of the tarmac and no vehicles moving anywhere. The guard below checked under the stairs called all clear, I gave an all clear and the exchange of wrist cuffs and attached briefs took place.