Kids Contribution

The First Message

REPORT COLLECTED FROM OMICROM DEVICES OF INVOLVED AGENTS.

AUTHENTICATED WHITEHALL 981221

0200 Luanda, Angola. May 20, 2001.

The African Savannah stretched out before him. Lush and green, it supported more life than everwhere except the Brazilian Rainfrests. Herds of Wildebeest were migrating now; the beginning of the long dry summer, after the lush life bringing spring. What he loved most was the cycle of life.

Kid was given to letting his mind wander. Bt there wasn't much else to do when he ran. The Mk. III Scout Helo had dropped him off at the extreme southern limits of the city in the middle of the night for security reasons. hat that mean was that you could see the cty on the horizon; glittering and devilishly technological - two things Kid hated. So Kid packed up and ran off towards the city which was only about thirty-five mies away. That gave him a good four hour run to think about what he was going to do here. Hopefully shoot things, he thought to himsef.

Masque had directed Kid over here after sending him to Siberia for a short while. Siberi had been lots of fun, he'd done some big game hunting on the local Soviet Military Personal and Equipment. Now less than four days ater he was in an almost exactly opposite terrain. From hilly and mountainous to flat and arid. But still he had his mission; that was to earn what was going on with the ships that were invisible to visible light and all other means of detection. So Masque had sent him out here to do the leg work, just like an Intel Op, he thought. Not that Kid minded, he loved the out oors.

0220 Luanda, Angola. May 20, 2001.

Now he'd been running for just twenty minutes and was htting his stride. Everything seemed to calm down and he just kept running. Nevermind he was running at a world record Marathon pace. Five minute miles equaled twelve miles per hour. That was so fast that he had to stop and rest periodically to let the dogs rest.

Recently he'd picked up these dogs and bgan training them. They were magnificent animals, the three of them. First was Alpha, he was almost the size of a small man, actually he was larger than small men. Weighing in at two hundred pounds of raw muscle it could kill female lionesses. Alpha was as viscous as an 8-horsepower psychotic chainsaw on amphetamines. It was bred from German Shepherd, Rotweiller, Pitbull, and Mastiff. Alpha's coat was a dark brown and his eyes were a coal black which led some to think he was a small bear at first glance. It could tear the arm off of a man and devour it in just four bites. It was a carnivore and it was fierce.

While Alpha provided the power, violence and carrying power (yes, he could hump almost fifty pounds of gear); Shake was Kids tracker. The little Collie/Beagle mutt was hyper bt a divine tracker. He could pick up three day old trails and scurry after the smallest game or prey. Shake had a rich red-brown coat that almost defied explanation as it was rare for either breed of dog, and it's eyes were actually a dark hazel. Shake could track for days and run for hours on end. He also had the training of a K-9 bomb/drug sniffing dog. The last interesting thing about the dog was that it shook if it sat still for too long.

Last was Gopher, a strage cross-breeding of Black Labrador and Golden Retriever. The strangest dog though, produced the most intelligent dog of the three. It could do almost everything but talk, incuding very basic math on an abacus! When Kid was training it he would put Gopher in a kennel and then walk out of the dog's field of view, where he would descent himself. Then he would go out into the woods with an orange ball or a bananna (or anything sufficiently random) and spend three or four hours crossing his trails and losing his scent. At the end of the time he would hide the object. Then return another three or four hours later after repeating the process to be sure there was no way Gopher could follow his trail. When he got back to the kennel he would open it and say "Go get the thing." Whatever it was Gopher would return with it in under an hour. Kid couldn't even explain it. Gopher was also prone to walking up to him with a stick in his mouth, either hoping Kid would play Go Fetch; or that Kid had hidden it he was showing it to Kid to prove that he could find it. This was a little funny Kid thought, but it was good when he needed firewood. Gopher was also a great swimmr and a rescue dog who was gentle enough to save drowning babies.

All three of these dogs he had trained since they were pups. They responded to his hand, verbal, and body language signals. Each was totally under his control. They wouldn't bark while he was in a hide, they wouldn't pee or shit all over unless they got his OK. Barking never happened except as a warning when he told them to be on guard; they never freaked out; and would walk over teeter-totters or through fire when he commanded them. They were a loyal a loyal could be. They were also all highly intelligent and incredibly cunning.

As the three dogs ran along beside him he let his mind get back to business. These ships were coming to Africa for a reason. What would that be? Africa was the second largest continent by area and was sparsely populated at best. It had few powerlines running across it, major highwas were a dream, and suburban sprawls were not even imagined. If anybdy was doing anything in Africa they would want seclusion and solitude. If someone didn't want to be disturbed that meant going into the jungles or underground. The western coast of Africa under the hump held some of the richest rainforest on earth, the Congo river ran into the heart of Africa, and Madagascar on the east of Africa was a densely jungle too. The jungles would offer protection from all of Man's wonderful technological prying eyes.

The flat savannas of Africa covered most of the continent, and of course the worlds largest desert, the Sahara covered the remainder. These were the other place to hide things in Africa; you hid things in their vastness. But to hide in those you would have to go underground, that meant forethought and preparation. It would also be difficult to hide the construction of such a thing unless you started somewhere there was already inhabitants. Starting your secret base under a small village would hide the people coming and going, but not the heavy equipment. To hide that you would have to start under a large city, and there weren't many of those in Africa.

So Masque must think they would be hiding in a Jungle becase he sent me, Kid thought, and he knew I hated cities.

For this operation he had come prepared. He had disguised himself as an African by wearing dark face paint and dressing in the loose fitting cotton pants with shirt that was very ommon in the region. Unlike normal he had strapped all his gear onto his backpack and just wore a pistol holster on his utility belt. Having all that gear on you in ninety degree weather meant you would sweat allot and get very tired very fast. Kid didn't need either of those t happen. In his hands he carried a modified XM-25 7.62mm Battle Rifle that the company used. His had an improved stock with adjustable butt plate, cheek rest, and self-contained cleaning kit. He added a suppresser and a larger sporting military grade telescopic sight. His other two rifles were broken down and stored in his rucksack. The BFG, and the 5mm Sniper rifle completed his complement of weapons. His only pistol was the .44 Magnum 8-shot survival pistol and he wore it on his belt. Overall his equipment weighed over 200 lbs. And he would be running with it for the next several days.

With everything he could need, including hundreds of rounds of ammunition, he had set off towards his goal.