(from the personal notes of Quarbani Singh)

Day 37

In my line of work, you naturally meet colleagues from all walks of (prior) life, with all kinds of quirks and qualities. Here, having someone to watch your back is virtually a requirement...though you have to be careful who you’re trusting. I remember one “comrade”--an ex-Warsaw Pact Albanian, Josip Idromeno. We worked together for a few weeks. It didn’t take long for him to prove his credentials; he was a black-op vet from the old school. He also proved himself quite familiar with the art of graft & corruption, as there was almost never a job we worked that he didn’t come out with more than the “employer” had promised him. One thing he WASN’T good at was hiding the fact that our business agreement was, to him, a means of lining his pockets twice as quick with half the effort.

Eventually it all came to a head. I was asked by the APR to locate a shipment of gold which was being paid to the UFLL by <NAME OMITTED>, <NAME OMITTED>’s expatriate king, to assist in his return to power. Soon after taking the job, Josip caught wind and got in touch with me. Apparently Prince <NAME OMITTED> had different plans for the money, so he contacted Josip to A) arrange for his father’s (ahem) timely demise and B) confirm to HIM the location of the shipment. Idromeno thus called me, offering me the “once in a lifetime opportunity” to “kill a king”. He also wanted me to find the gold drop-off point, notify him, then meet him to “secure” it for the Prince.

Throwing me to the wolves to do work he either hadn’t the stomach or capability to handle was one thing; what twisted me was the off-handed, “what are you going to do about it, errand boy?” attitude that underscored our exchanges. Never mind the fact that it was certain some of that gold was going to end up missing, and I’d be the one pinned to the theft.

In the end, everything came off smoothly. I pulled off an impressive night-raid--sneaking into a secure, highly guarded stronghold and assassinating the King (with none of his security the wiser until i was long gone). I passed the rendezvous info to Idromeno, then met him at the site—a remote oasis in the northern desert. We were even able to stave off a last minute overrun by faction mercs. However, it was once the last militia men were dead that Josip’s and my plan deviated. First, I quietly called Prince <NAME OMITTED>, informed him of both the location and amount of gold at the rendezvous, then told him to wait until he’d gotten a second call from me. Second, while Josip was policing his gear after the firefight, I placed the barrel of a shotgun to the base of his skull and pulled the trigger.

I’d like to think that the Prince was puzzled to arrive after my call to find A) all of his gold, B) a platoon’s worth of dead guns-for-hire, and C) the body (and a few feet away, half the head) of his primary contact. However, I’m guessing that the only thing he actually did was load up his “inheritance” and go back to his sumptuous south-of-France villa. After all, why would he concern himself about some old, ex-Eastern Bloc self-serving mercenary son of a bitch? Who would?