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POV of Private Contractor
25-26-April-1921
''Look, friend, I would like to be able to help you and do something, but you are not making it easy for me. I cannot do much if you only tell me that three of your company companions who work here simply disappeared. First of all, they should not even be here'' I said, moving my hands dramatically while looking at a Briton who seemed quite distressed.
''I know, but I cannot give you what you are asking for. It is not something within my ability to provide in order to receive a little help'' said the Briton, whose eyes were somewhat red, so it seemed he had been crying or had simply gotten sand in them.
''Right, but again, where the hell do I search? You are asking me for help to find three Britons in the middle of an enormous area. That is why I need those plans, to know where they could have gone, because it is not as if I can simply arrive and search the whole place. I do not have as many men as you think. My duty is to protect this area to ensure that construction work on the extraction wells goes properly and that no one approaches without authorization. Nothing more. I cannot simply abandon my watch post to go looking for three Britons God knows where they got lost'' I said again, moving my hands to give more theatricality to what I was saying.
''I cannot, but there must be something you can do. I do not know, did you not see them or anything like that?'' asked the Briton.
''If I had seen them, believe me, I would have arrested them, locked them in a jail and released them once their identities had been confirmed, but that is what I would have done. Look, I do want to help you. I know how difficult it is to be surrounded by all these heathens while trying to do your duty. Out of simple religious solidarity, I would like to do something, but you are asking me for the impossible. Unless you convince whoever came up with the plan to give me the information, I cannot do anything else. I am sorry'' I said while pressing my lips together after finishing speaking with the Briton.
''God… what am I going to tell their families?'' he said while covering his face with one of his dusty hands, closing his eyes and looking at the ceiling of our watchtower.
''I am sorry, friend, but you cannot take risks like that either. The Arabs do not like the British too much, especially after the knife you gave them with your secret treaty with the French, and traveling in such small numbers probably ended badly. They may have died in some village or anywhere else. If we find anything, we will try to send the bodies so they can be identified, but more than that we cannot do. If one of our regular patrols finds something, we will let you know'' I said while shaking my head.
''I understand… thank you anyway'' the Briton said while covering his face with a white cloth and beginning to return the way he had come.
I remained watching as the Briton returned the way he had come and, when I confirmed that he was already far enough away, it did not take me long to start laughing together with all my men.
''He, he, he… Did this idiot really think we would try to help him?'' one of my men said while covering his face with one hand, trying to contain his laughter.
''It is pathetic. Not long ago, those fellows executed us as if we were simple criminals as soon as they got their hands on us and now they come asking us for help to look for some of their companions'' said another of my men, who could not stop smiling at the situation.
''Yes, pathetic, especially considering that those idiots passed through our prospecting zone during the night, clearly trying to find some oil well we had not yet discovered so they could later try to claim it from the Ottomans as part of their own extraction treaty'' I said while looking into the distance, checking that I could no longer distinguish the Briton.
''And what happened to the Britons in the end?'' asked the first one who had spoken.
''What else? We shot them in the legs, gagged them, managed to find out what their plan was, put a bullet in their heads and then left the bodies in an Arab village farther south, inside the British sphere of influence. If they find the corpses, they will surely blame the Arabs. It is not as if they lack reasons to want to kill Britons after all the betrayals and lies they fed them during the war, so I very much doubt they will bother us again about those three'' I replied while crossing my arms and observing the landscape with satisfaction.
''With these, that makes eleven Britons this month. Those fellows do not stop sending prospectors north, do they?'' one of my subordinates asked.
''We found one of the largest oil deposits that exist in this region. Clearly, the British are trying to find out whether there is any similar field nearby that they can claim for themselves. Especially considering that the Ottomans lied to us quite a bit with that reference to the two years of exclusivity they had promised us. Now we have to watch those Britons like hawks, because they do not stop trying to get into our zone to carry out secret prospecting'' I replied while letting out a growl of annoyance.
''What a nuisance. Without all of this, it would be a relatively quiet job, where the only serious problem would be this damned heat that does not stop rising. Fortunately, we have ample water reserves, because otherwise we would have fairly serious problems maintaining this position, with the sun beating down on us worse than a father with a belt in his hand after discovering bad grades at school'' one of ours said while making a grimace, as if he had just remembered some beating he had received as a child.
''Stupid Britons, never letting a man earn his pay easily'' I said while scratching my beard when I heard an engine approaching and, shortly afterward, several more behind it.
''They are our trucks'' one of our observers said from the watchtower.
''Aha'' I replied while standing up, and it did not take me long to see that a Hauptmann had appeared accompanied by several German soldiers.
''Mein Hauptmann'' I said while straightening up and saluting my officer, just like everyone else around me.
''At ease, Leutnant. I hope the British visits have not cost you any sleep, because we have a mission for you that you will have to carry out soon'' the Hauptmann said while beginning to take a map out from his clothes.
''How can I serve?'' I asked while clenching my teeth and trying to contain a smile.
''Some secret diplomatic missions with the Shah's government and some authorities in the area have led us to an agreement. It is not something official with the government, since it did not show too much interest in getting rid of the British and their Persian oil company. However, we did manage to establish contact with one of the notables from the Bakhtiari area, who do not particularly like the shitty deal they signed with the British. So we managed to arrange a kind of tentative plan to study British reactions in the region'' the Hauptmann said while placing on the table the map of the place where they wanted to send us.
''Then what will we have to do?'' I asked while looking at the map.
''You will use this and cross the border'' he said while tossing me a small bag that made a metallic sound when it fell into my hands.
''Silver coins'' I said while putting a hand inside the bag and taking out several coins.
''Kran, official currency of the Persian government. With that, you will get the border guards at this crossing to look the other way. One of them will join you as a guide and take you to one of the pipelines in the area. There, you will fulfill the objective and then withdraw. We want to observe how the British react to the incident without them being able to immediately attribute it to a foreign operation. If they suspect too soon that it was deliberate action, they could retaliate against the local population and that would considerably reduce the cooperation of the groups supporting us here'' the Hauptmann explained while pointing on the map to the route we had to follow.
''What do we know about the area?'' I asked while continuing to look at the map.
''There is some British presence and a few guards. The guide should be able to help you cross the region without too many problems, but if you are discovered, you will have to withdraw immediately. Here are the Persian uniforms you will use'' the Hauptmann said.
''Understood'' I replied while nodding. ''You heard him, boys. Time to change'' I added while pointing to the uniforms we had to put on and the equipment we would use to pass ourselves off as Persian troops.
I had to move with a group of twenty men, while the rest of my unit stayed behind. Only an interpreter who spoke the Persian dialect of the area, Luri, accompanied us.
Wearing our uniforms, we traveled toward the border, moving among the Ottoman army and gendarmerie patrols deployed in the area while waiting for nightfall.
When it finally grew dark, we crossed the border, avoiding the Ottoman patrols guarding the limit with Persia, and it did not take us long to reach Persian territory, where we removed our uniforms and kept only the Persian ones, storing ours to use when we returned.
In the middle of the night, we saw some fires and several figures moving in the darkness, who seemed to belong to the border guard. Since we had crossed exactly at the marked point, it did not take us too long to reach them, where the interpreter drew the guards' attention and they immediately became alert, moving to aim their rifles at us.
Keeping calm, I moved a hand toward the bag and showed it to the guards. The one who seemed to be the officer stared at me with an enormous smile when he saw the contents of the bag and discovered the large number of silver coins inside.
He exchanged a few words with the interpreter and, shortly afterward, one of the men from the group began moving with us and guided us south, where we were supposed to strike one of the British pipelines in the area.
In the middle of the night, we moved quickly through the territory using some horses the locals had, which helped us advance much faster and avoid the few night patrols we encountered along the way.
We continued advancing for a good while until, finally, we caught sight of our objective.
Several pipes transported the oil from the oil wells toward the refineries. Since this was only a mission to test the British response, we placed the explosives on the pipes while confirming that there did not seem to be anyone in the surroundings.
We installed the explosives in a matter of minutes and extended the cable as far as we could while moving away from the explosion zone.
''Activate it'' I said while looking at the soldier who had the detonator.
We heard a powerful explosion and it did not take long before we saw an enormous column of fire rising toward the sky while brightly illuminating all the surroundings.
''The cable, the cable! Quickly, we have to return! Do not leave evidence that will make the investigation easier for them'' I said while my men prepared to abandon the area.
Pulling on the detonator cable, we quickly managed to gather all the wiring before climbing onto the horses and beginning to return toward the Persian-Ottoman border, while avoiding the patrols running toward the enormous column of fire that still continued rising without stopping.
When we returned to the Persian camp, I threw another bag of silver coins that had been given to me before beginning the mission, while we listened to the Persians argue among themselves over how they would divide their share of the money.
We returned the way we had come and quickly removed the Persian uniforms, hiding them in the same place where we had concealed our own uniforms. After dressing once again in our usual clothes, we climbed into our vehicles and began returning toward our zone of operations.
We left all that chaos behind and allowed the spies and diplomats deployed in the region to determine how well or badly the British had taken the whole affair.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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Warhammer Fantasy won the poll, so that's what I'm going to do, and Sangy is already working on a cover.
Likewise, I'm saving the stories about The Witcher and Youjo Senki for later since I liked the ideas.
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