Red Waters

Chapter 1 - The Plan

It was 4:12 in the morning. The shrill of Ethan's intercom had rudely awoken him. He quickly slipped on his burgundy silk robe and wondered to the front door of his apartment. He flicked the latch on the glass panelled door and poked his head around the frame with caution. Relieved when he saw a familiar figure, trotting up the apartment block stairs.

Before him was his colleague, Ari Levinson. Standing 6 feet tall, his worn clothes stuck to his muscular form, as he jogged up the stairwell. His hair was shoulder length and parted down the middle, dark brown, matching his scruffy beard. His tan skin was only just visible, as the light from the moon shone in through the hallway window. He held in his arms, blueprints and schematics for, what Ethan could only assume, was a new mission.

"It's four in the morning, Ari." Ethan stated, a flat and unamused tone in his voice.

"Perfect timing" Ari retorted. "Do you always wear a silk robe?"

Ethan rolled his eyes as Ari squeezed passed him and walked into his living room.
Ari quickly set the masses of rolled up documents he was grasping to, on the wooden coffee table and sat down confidently on the avocado green armchair across from them.

"I've got a plan" Ari announced, a pleased look on his face. No care for what time it was, or any inconvenience he might of caused.

"Right, and what plan would this be Ari?" Ethan questioned.

"I know how to get the refugees out of Sudan and safely to Israel." Ari spoke, plainly.

"You do, do you?" Ethan's words dripping in a condescending tone, "...and how would you do it this time Ari?"

"Well...basic" Ari started, enthusiasm and hope oozing from the few words he had managed to speak, before Ethan cut him off.

"Ari, go home." Ethan spoke quietly, knowing that Ari had arrived back from a failed mission in Ethiopia, not two weeks earlier.

The thing was, it was not Ari's nature to let things be. He was not a person who followed rules, especially if it meant breaking them for the greater good. He was a risk taker, he thrived in dangerous situations and well, normal life was somewhat boring to him. Ari had been working on different plans and missions for the last two years, helping move mass numbers of refugees from war torn countries to safe zones, located around the globe. He was good at it too. However two weeks ago, whilst in Ethiopia, the mission went bad, leaving Ari and his right hand man Sammy Novan in a jail. This was the reason he was flown back to the United States and fired from his current position. However he almost never took "No" for answer.

Ari gave Ethan a mischievous look and continued with his discussion for the new plan. Earning multiple eye rolls and huffs from his ex boss.

A whiskey or two later and Ari had explained his idea on how to evacuate large numbers of refugees from Sudan to Israel, the plan included buying a rundown hotel on the Sudanese Red Sea Coast. The hotel was owned by an Italian company, who had closed down due to a rise in violence in the area and the building had been left empty for the last 6 years. The hotel, under the name of The Red Sea Diving Resort, was on a 50 mile stretch of land outside of Sudan law and was not currently being surveyed by the countries corrupt government and so, would be a perfect place for Ari to operate his mission from.
This plan would allow him to evacuate significantly more refugees, under the front of a hotel.

"So... what do you think?" Ari asked after reciting every fine detail of his new plan.
"Do you think it could work?"

Ethan looked at Ari, he kept a pokerface, as to not reveal that he thought the plan was bloody brilliant.

"It could work, there would be a lot of moving parts." Ethan stated.

Ari just sat, looking at Ethan, a hopeful look on his face. He only wanted to hear one thing. He wanted Ethan to say yes. If this his plan didn't go ahead, thousands of people would be persecuted for no good reason. It didn't sit right with Ari. He couldn't sit by and do nothing. It meant too much to him. Ari was adopted by an American family, when he was only four. He was taken from his mother in Israel. The mass genocide that was happening in Sudan hit too close to home. He felt it was his purpose to help as many people as he could.

"Do you have a team in mind?" Ethan asked, seriously.

"No shit, of course I do." Ari stated, leaning forward, the excitement building up.

"Meet me at HQ, tomorrow. 9:30, on the dot Ari. We will have to talk them into this... but, I think this is your best idea yet."