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Post by vgraumann on Sept 21, 2018 18:31:38 GMT -6
September, 16th 1:45PM
Köhn, Germany
Exactly fifteen minutes after Marina had finished her lunch Marten stood and knocked on her office door, his hair fresh cut and styled. After he was lead in by the secretary and stood at rest, his briefcase held in front of him. At this point he waited on her; as far as he was concerned the interview had already started.
The man was definitely young by the standards of the Slater Conglomerate; and his face was completely intact too. The same was the same. All in all he looked quite well made, average height, average weight, but most of it muscle. That much of obvious by the look of the muscles in his neck above his black shoulder he wore under the jacket of his dark grey business suit.
He would remain at rest until he was told otherwise but he greeted her just the same, avoiding even a nod. “Frau Von Witzland,” the german accent was obvious but by what the man had read she was Austrian and probably wouldn’t mind if he spoke with his native accent. “I am Marten Baldewin and I am here for the job interview.”
His language was a bit clipped but his tone said non-hostile. In fact he was nervous under the bootcamp face. He’d heard the Slater’s, was that is to say the Slater Conglomerate only hired ex-military personnel and his time in the GSG9 was still considered a state secret.
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Sept 21, 2018 19:55:36 GMT -6
Marina had spent nearly a month looking for another member to round up the security personal at the disposal of the family. Their "Private investigator" had grown far too old and was well over due for retirement after serving the Slater family for well over 30 years. In her humble opinion Englishmen policemen lacked the necessary investigative edge to be of any use to the point she even considered hiring an American freelancer with law enforcement background or even a German. German cops were to her knowledge ruthless son's of bitches so when one showed up looking for bodyguard work she immediately appointed an interview at her office.
The blond secretary would pass his resume, smiling when he showed up in time for the appointment. Slater's HQ building in London was minimalistic in it's style of decoration, everything from the chairs to the design of the halls looked out of a modern sci fi movie. Marina's office itself was decorated with the usual book shelve, walnut desk decorated with photographs of her family including a few family shots with her husband, daughter and youngest son.
She would greet Marten in their native tongue, shaking his hand and urging him to take a seat. The woman accent was distinctively Bavarian in pronunciation so at one point she went back to English to avoid confusing or annoying Marten.
" Tell me about your previous experience, Mr. Baldewin, have you been in the force? I am looking for someone with exceptional patience and deductive skills." She wanted to make clear from the get go the qualities she was looking for this position. There were already enough hardened servicemen providing 24/7 protection to her family but she needed someone with professional investigative knowledge.
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Post by vgraumann on Sept 22, 2018 6:24:16 GMT -6
Marten took his seat across the desk and sat his briefcase down on the floor next to him. The office, he’s noticed, was quite well appointed. While his unit had been well funded he couldn’t help but relax a bit into the leather backed armchair he had been offered.
“I have a total of seven years active experience, eight if you include my time at the academy and the last six months. There was a twenty-two week period of special training in that period though, so I will leave you to decide if you want to count that from the total.” He was actually proud of his time in law enforcement and was more than happy to explain how long he had been there but even after his resignation he still treated some of his experience like the state secret it had been.
“As a patrol officer I was involved in a couple of high profile arrests; primary the breakup of a multinational narcotics trafficking organization in cooperation with INTERPOL and the apprehension of the cell responsible for the subway bombings across Berlin three years ag, with myself making the arrest of the mastermind after he had gone to ground.I was also selected to participate in the Annual Warrior Competition two years ago.”
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Sept 24, 2018 13:23:04 GMT -6
The Slater Conglomerate HR department had already ran a background check on Marten prior to this interview. Marina had checked the information twice but she would need more than that to determine if Marten was up to the task.
" How would you feel about moving to the United Kingdom? We'll provide you with an apartment in a relatively calm neighborhood if you desire." The building already belonged to their firm and the utilities were always paid well in advance.
" I dread that city. No matter it is where my family is, my husband and our two kids. "She chuckled, realizing her son and daughter had already grown past that.
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Post by vgraumann on Sept 24, 2018 18:28:12 GMT -6
“Does the Slater Conglomerate have the necessary paperwork for their employees to carry offensive weapons if necessary?” After so many years with a USP 9mm strapped to his chest the German wound feeling naked without one.
“London has plenty of history but I would prefer to ensure that I could rise to the occasion if I ever had to defend myself or someone in an emergency. A firearm is not necessary but it is preferred. I do have a personal preference that I would like to carry. If it is not already stocked I would not be opposed to taking a deduction in pay for the first six months to cover the cost.”
In truth surrendering his standard issue USP 9mm had been nearly as difficult as saying goodbye to his friends. He still had the pictures taken at his going away party on his phone. The commander of his unit had personally collected the funds for a 24 hour bar crawl and even requested time off to join them.
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Oberst
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Post by Oberst on Sept 24, 2018 19:06:33 GMT -6
" We can easily arrange for all the permits. You'll be lawfully employed with our security firm we'll just have to file all the paperwork first which would take about two weeks, don't worry I got my people working on that as we speak." There was no doubt Marten was going to need a gun on his person if he was to work as one of their bodyguards. Getting such permit issued was not beyond Slater's reach but even they had to go through some bureaucratic red tape first.
" We won't have to deduct anything from your paycheck. We give our security personnel the tools they need and if we don't have them on inventory we can get you anything, within reason. What we are offering you is a life time position as one of our body guards. Not only fire arms but any surveillance equipment you might require, microphones, security cameras, GPS trackers ... " Marten's role was not insignificant since he would be their eyes and ears.
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Post by vgraumann on Sept 24, 2018 19:45:46 GMT -6
Marten raised an eyebrow at the mention of security gear. It wasn’t surprising to hear but he had to wonder what he was going to be doing. His experience had been more as the boots on the ground but now it sounded like he was filling in some kind of special nieche that she needed.
“This is certainly a very impressive offer, not to sound like I am reconsidering.” He could tell that his role was something important but he was confident he was up to the task. “If I am to make ground recognizance I will need ten days to make my preliminary go-to for the city.”
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Post by Oberst on Sept 25, 2018 20:11:13 GMT -6
" That would be your very first assignment, Marten. Now then I recommend you to get your luggage ready, we depart to London in two days. You will come with me and my secretary in a private flight so don't worry about getting into any lines at the airport." Marina would write down her contact information, dismissing Marten shortly afterwards. " Be there at six AM." Miss Antoinette Chambers was normally Marina's son secretary but she'd decided to bring her along for the trip simply because she wanted to ask her a few questions about Julius away from his prying ears. The short haired blond would wave at Marten, thanking him for showing up for their interview. " I look forward to seeing you at the airport, Mr. Baldewin." |
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Post by vgraumann on Sept 26, 2018 8:11:51 GMT -6
Marten thanked his interviewer politely and nodded. Six AM was early to most people but he had spent the better part of several years as being on call at all hours of the day so it was far less early than he had had to be somewhere before.It wouldn’t be hard for him to arrive; most of his things had already been packed.
He’d paused when he heard the secretary address him. He gave a small bow and returned her thanks, admitting his surprise at just how brief the interview had been. It was clear that the vetting process for the role had been rather extensive and that he had been selected even before he had sat down. “It will be a pleasure working with you frau... Forgive me but I don’t think I have learned your name.”
While his english was good it was still his second language and he had a habit of using german honorifics when speaking.
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Post by Oberst on Sept 26, 2018 8:51:29 GMT -6
" Antoinette Chambers." The short haired blond would shake her hand vigorously to Marten. Since they would most likely be seeing each other often from now on it was important to make a good first impression.
48 hours later...
Being one of Slater's main executives meant Marina would often travel all across Europe. In order to save as much on travel as possible she had acquired a twin engine, propeller driven transport of medium size. It wasn't a jet but she could afford to go from Sweden to Italy for much cheaper than it would cost to maintain a jet.it could also more easily land in short runaways which was quite an advantage in certain mountainous regions.
Mrs. Von Witzland and Antoinette had gotten there right on schedule, guiding Marten to an electric car that would take them and their luggage to the hangar. Within an hour they found themselves flying over the North Atlantic. The fair weather allowed them to take the most direct route. Even the skies over England looked clear but that could change at any moment. The two pilots constantly communicated with the air control stations monitoring their course.
Miss Chambers decided to sit down next to Marten, leaving Marina to get comfortable. Marten's new employer had a habit of taking two seats for herself and snoored lightly. At most she only slept six hours a day so any chance for a nap she took.
The aircraft interior was spacious and was decorated to resemble a certain Hotel in Monte Carlo. Marina's husband owned one of the racing teams that competed at the Grand Prix.
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Post by vgraumann on Sept 26, 2018 13:23:28 GMT -6
Marten had found himself chatting with the blonde haired woman who he found sitting next to him. He opened up considerably more towards her than he had been back at the interview and found her quite pleasant company in fact. She was quite pretty and quite the conversationalist, he had to admit. It wasn't every day that someone could get him to put whatever book he had with him down one a plane and engage him in conversation. He did not dislike talking, in fact that was hardly the case, he merely did't engage in it often. Antoinette was something of a charmer, having dragged him into conversation and having been more than a match for his wits, leaving him a bit on the back foot in fact. At first they had merely spent the time talking about their impressions of the family they worked for but after a while the conversation had wound up drifting from that to their personal lives.
Marten admitted to his own being kind of dull. He had not been with anyone for the long term in over two years and the majority of his time was in fact spent in relation with his job, or it had been. He'd left his time in the police behind him but there were still plenty stories to tell from it even if he was no longer a member. One of his personal favorites involved chasing a mugger down while off duty. It was your classic foot chase for at least half a kilometer through the heart of a city, complete with traffic etc. The ending was kind of a letdown as the person had misjudged the strength of the lid of a dumpster and would up breaking through the plastic only to be stuck waist deep in an urban restaurant's trash.
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Post by Oberst on Oct 7, 2018 17:31:42 GMT -6
" You're an attractive young man, I am quite certain you'll have no problem getting any girl you want. London might be expensive but there are a lot of places you can go have fun. I wouldn't mind showing you around when we get the chance." Miss Chambers couldn't help but flirt a little with Marten. He was certainly her type and was single. She listened to the stories he shared finding them quite interesting. Without a doubt he was the right person for the job.
" Working in the force sure seems dangerous. Rest assured you won't face the same risks and the Slater's always pay well and on time." Antoinette had been working for them for nearly five years and in her opinion they did well taking care after their employees.
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Post by vgraumann on Oct 7, 2018 20:34:49 GMT -6
Marten shrugged a little. Back then he had fervently believed in what he was doing up until a certain point. Half the time the danger had never really crossed his mind up until he was waist deep into what he was doing but usually it had made him better instead of causing him to slow down.
“Sure but don’t mind me if I wind up checking under the car every time we leave someplace. There was a lot of trouble in the 90’s and even our generation of locals do it if they are from my certain areas. Now you, Miss Chambers, are far more interesting than any girl I would expect to meet in London, and might I say for prettier than any one I have met so far in my life. This will be my second visit to England after I was an exchange student.”
He gave her a smile and shook his head a little. “Would you believe that I fell in with a bunch of football hooligans?”
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Post by Oberst on Oct 9, 2018 21:25:08 GMT -6
Marten's flirting certainly didn't got unnoticed. Just like any other woman Antoinette couldn't resist when someone complimented her own good looks, after all she didn't spend as much time in front of the mirror dolling up for nothing. Knowing young men found her attractive was quite the confidence boost.
" Soccer enthusiast, I take it? " She could believe him quite easily since football soccer was the most popular sport in all of Europe. Antoinette wasn't exactly a fan. After an hour the plane finally landed but not exactly at London's international airport. Instead it looked a lot like a privately owned airfield in Southern England. Marina preferred to avoid busy airstrips since it could take hours to get clearance to land.
Upon descending from the plane, Marina was greeted by one of their bodyguards who briefed her on the latest updates from this side of the channel. The majority of her security agents were Austrians as well, most ex-military. " Helmuth here will take you to the city so you can settle down in your new apartment." She would give him a key with a tag attached with the room number written on.
The building where most of Slater's close associates resided was a multi-store apartment complex in one of London's most exclusive neighborhoods. The building itself looked highly futuristic with a predominant black color. The apartments all had their own balconies with plenty of room. When Marten opened the door he would find that the place itself still reeked of a newly furnished house.
A few hours later in the evening while looking down his balcony, Marten would spot Miss Chambers carrying her purse and moving inside the building.
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Post by vgraumann on Oct 10, 2018 20:14:33 GMT -6
The rest of the flight had passed surprisingly quick for Marten and he was almost disappointed when the conversation had to end. It had been several months since he had time for this kind of talk and this was the closest he had ever come to going in detail in to exactly what he had done on the force.
He was impressed by the building where his new apartment. It was nearly state of the art in all fashion but in truth, he had a soft spot for traditional hardwoods. The minimalist style was fine but he knew that in time he would have to decorate his own room in something less austere.
He had turned and headed inside, having seen his recent conversation partner come inside. She had promised to show him around the city and he was dressed well enough for the occasion, so now would be as good a time as any in his opinion. That all depended on her own mood in the matter though.
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