E’volvo’lution Chapter 5

We kissed a bit more and then she said that we had to work again in the morning. We got back on the bikes and went to our respective homes. Astrid was still up when I got in and she took one look at my face, “A good night, I see.”

I suppose that I looked blank so she laughed, “You can always tell when a girl has had a good night, especially when she’s forgotten to redo her lipstick.”

I wished her goodnight and went up to my room to clean my face and think about the day. It had only been a week of being Antonia and I had already had feelings for a guy and now a girl. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that it would be nice being with Berget, and to forget any feelings I may have had for Greger. I was sure that he’d revised his own feelings already.

At work on Monday I was welcomed into the garage and was given the task to clean and reset some injectors, which was a pleasant job for me. I finished around lunch time.

We had a lunch room with vending machines so I got myself a sandwich and a hot drink. Berget came in and sat with me, telling me that I looked good in the overalls.

As we all went to go back she told me that the logistics manager wanted to speak to me and led me to his office. When I knocked I heard him call to come in. He stood and shook my hand and asked me to sit.

He told me his name was Gustav Karrlstrom and he said that he was sorry that he hadn’t been able to welcome me to the company last week. It seemed that I had been far too busy.

He chuckled, “Ludwig told me about his day with you. He hasn’t had so much fun for years.”

He then explained that, although Anders, Greger and Bjorn were the owners, he was the one who organised the runs, allocated loads and kept everything running smoothly.

“It was I who needed to get another truck going to Kroonprint while you were down south. We have another driver in ‘Answer’ today as well. The boys at Kroonprint were not happy Wednesday when you didn’t show up as usual but their boss told them that you were getting them out of a jam. For someone so new, you have a fan club already.”

I just sat there in amazement as he went on. “Anders has pulled some strings and tomorrow you‘ll be in the office with a gentleman from the Diesel Mechanics Accreditation Board who’ll test your knowledge and let us know what we have to do to complete the courses. We can let you finish it full time to get it out of the way.”

I thanked him for that and said that I thought it may only take a few weeks to finish the electric module. He then floored me by telling me that he had been contacted by the army who requested that I do the electronics and computer modules as well and that they would pay for my time.

I was confused and probably looked it. “The military was happy about your commitment last week. So happy, in fact, that it has been hinted that we may be doing similar things in the future, and we should be very discreet. They’ve told me that you’re on their books as a Non Commissioned Officer in the Transport Division and that I should help in any way I can. I don’t know what they’re thinking but there’s an appointment pencilled in at the Ministry of Defence next month so you’d better buckle down and finish the course.”

I left his office more confused than ever. Just over a week ago I was a jobless guy in Sweden and here I am in Estonia, a working driver, a girl and now in their army.

Could it get any crazier? And then it did.

I was walking away when his door opened and he called me back. “Antonia, I’ve just had a message on my computer. We need a load picked up at the docks urgently and taken to the Kalev factory. It’s a double trailer job and I’m told that you have that qualification. There’s a truck in the yard, a Globetrotter tractor, and I think we have a spare double trailer container unit out there. I’ll call the yard foreman to sort it out and Ludvig will come with you to tell you where to go. Good driving, girl.”

I went out, via the locker to take off the overalls and pick up my bag; finding Ludvig and another guy in deep conversation in the yard. I was pointed to a truck, given the keys, and the yard foreman told me where the trailers were kept.

I got into the truck and fired it up, checking all the gauges were good and that the tanks were full. I went and backed up to a set of trailers where Ludvig was waiting. We latched them on to the turntable, hooked up the cables and pulled up the jockey wheels.

Ludvig got up into the passenger side, “I hope you can drive these things, I was all right with a single trailer but these doubles are way too big for me in my old age.”

We pulled out of the yard and he directed me to a different gate at the port. He had the paperwork, and we were directed to a loading stand. He explained that the other gate we used was for single containers and the smaller ones that we carried on ‘Answer’.

Where we were now was for the really big containers and that we would really feel the load once we were back on the road. It was no worse than the load I’d taken to Moscow but I didn’t tell him that. I also didn’t tell him that this was the first time I’d driven a fully loaded double in city traffic.

We made it to the Kalev factory without knocking down any traffic lights so that was a good thing. I kept the speed down and got a few horns beeped but I didn’t let it worry me.

At the factory they had an unloading crane. I had to pull up at a mark while they took the front container and then move forward to another mark so that the back one came under the gantry. The paperwork was signed and we were on our way back to the yard.

There’s a trick to backing double trailers well, and that is to swing around so they are perfectly straight before you go for the reverse. I did it by more luck than judgement and was shaking a bit when I climbed out of the cab to disconnect, suddenly surprised by a burst of applause from about ten guys watching.

I gave a mock bow and then Ludvig and I put the jockey wheels down, unhooked the cables and lines and lifted the trailer off the turntable.

When I had returned the truck to its parking spot I gave the yard foremen the keys. He told me that Anders was in the office and wanted a word.

I went into the office and was pointed to Greger’s room where he and his father were sitting. They both got up and gave me a hug.

Anders smiled, “I watched you bring that unit back today. That was the neatest bit of parking I’ve seen in all my years. What on earth can we throw at you that you can’t manage?”

I laughed and said that if things kept escalating like they had in the last ten days I was sure they would find out before the week was out.

He then ordered me to be in bright and on time in the morning. His friend was anxious to meet me and get me onto his books as accredited.

He then made the day even crazier, “The army have requested that we get you an Estonian passport under the name of Antonia Berg so that you can be ready to help them in future. There’s a certain base commander in Germany who’s a big fan of yours and he’s certain that you’ll be visiting him some more in the future.”

“I think Gustav mentioned a meeting we’ve been invited to. Well, you and I have been asked to attend by name so it will be interesting to hear what they have to say. Now, run on home, you have done much today and, by the way, the garage foreman has told me that those injectors are back on the truck and it’s running as sweet as he’s ever heard it. Now go and get a rest, there will be much to do for you this week.”

I picked up my bag and left before anyone else wanted me to do something. I was a little early at the house so I spent my time putting a load in the washing machine.

When the office closed Berget came around and helped me. We did find a little time to look at how the washing was going. When Astrid got in we had everything prepared for dinner and a load of stuff going around in the dryer.

Thankfully Berget was able to stop me from putting everything in the dryer, or else I would have to shop for underwear again soon.

Of course, Berget and Astrid had known each other for some years so I was the newbie in the conversation. We had a good chat until Erik got in and we cooked the meal.

After Berget had gone home I told Erik about the odd events of the day. The fact that the army had me listed as enlisted in the Transport Division made him sit up, “It wasn’t just a short term cover, then.”

I retired early, still feeling the effects of last week but was kept awake with visions of seeing those two trailers behind me and idiots in cars trying nip in, not knowing that the back axle can take a route some five metres different from the front of the truck.

The next day and the rest of the week I was sitting in a room with the official who held my future in his hand. We went back over everything I’d done already before he got to the things I hadn’t done. He gave me a verbal exam on the electrics, and I found out that I actually knew most of it already. It’s almost a mechanical system compared with the computer driven systems with Wi-Fi.

On the Thursday afternoon he took me through the odd bits I didn’t know before and ticked me off for the electrical module. This meant that he could sign my papers.

I spent the following week in a classroom pulling apart computers and putting them together again. In the end it was the usual old saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” I finished that week knowing what staple bits I needed to carry to swap when things went wrong and the Friday he gave me my full set of papers, just like that!

Before he finished with me he sat me in the office and made us both a coffee.

“Let me play a little game, Antonia. I’ll describe a person, and you can tell me if it fits the person who stopped you finishing the course”

I nodded and he went on. “This person is in his fifties and has been with the company for at least fifteen years.”

I nodded again. “This person is a pal of the boss, or even worse, the son of the boss.”

I smiled and nodded, now seeing where this was going.

“This person has not driven for years and hasn’t attended a course since you have known him, saying that there was nothing he didn’t know”.

At that I laughed out loud.

“That person was so afraid of being shown up by someone younger; and a girl no less, he was prepared to destroy the company rather than let you get certified. He knew that you could bring him down. You’re very lucky they let you go, because you would have been ground under had you stayed there.”

He shook my hand and told me that Anders was a very lucky boss to have me turn up on his doorstep.

Anders decided that my new status meant we could have another dinner; he did like to eat out! The party gained Berget as my partner, and we all had a good evening.

I pointed out that my papers were in the name of Antonia. Anders smiled, “That’s right, so is the new passport that turned up in the office mail today, I think Berget may have it in her bag.”

Berget grinned and pulled it out to give me. It was genuine and had a picture of the new me with all the rest of the details being correct from my old passport except for the F instead of M.

I just had to go and give him a hug, “Thank you, so much. I’m sure that it’s all correct and I may know more as I get better in Estonian.”

“Ahh!” he said, “The language barrier. For the next two weeks you’ll be going to the language college for a rush job on the usual Estonian words and phrases that will get you by. You’ll pick up the rest of it as you go. The army is paying for it and they want you to attend wearing your kit and lanyard as you’re enrolled as one of theirs.”

“You’re to wear your hair under a uniform cap which, I’m told, is in the back-pack you were given, along with an instruction sheet on how you should dress. This is all very odd but they are talking about something they want to suggest at the meeting they set up. It all sounds mysterious but could be good for the company so we’ll follow orders for now.”

Then he told me that I have a photo shoot in the morning with ‘Answer’ and he’d been told that all the outfits will be supplied. I just needed to be at an address which he gave me.

So Sunday morning I walked to the yard and the security guy helped me open up the shed. I warmed the truck up and input the address on the GPS and then drove out. The place I arrived at was in an industrial area and they had a door open for me to drive in and shut down.

For the next four hours I was poured into four different outfits, made up and posed with the truck that now had a green screen behind it. By the time I was back in my normal driving kit and heading back to the yard, I had a new respect for professional models.

Sunday afternoon I checked the back-pack more closely and did a test dress in the kit they had supplied. I was supposed to wear the big jacket. It would be good on the bike anyway.

Erik did an inspection and declared me acceptable. I set everything out for the morning as I needed to report early.

Monday morning, I got Astrid to take a couple of pictures of me to show my mother when I see her next. At the college I was expected and referred to as Trooper Berg the whole two weeks, during which time I was immersed in Estonian until I could follow conversation in the shops, in a café, on the road or just chatting with friends who were prepared to help out when something new was added. It was twelve hours each day, even on the weekend, and I was staggered at how well they managed to give me the knowledge.

Of course, the following Saturday evening was another meal out and this time it was a typical Estonian place where I was expected to be in charge of the ordering. I managed to get through. There were a few new dishes I needed help on but was declared to be now almost Estonian.

Anders told me to take Monday off and get myself some good clothes to meet a minister in. He gave Berget a company card and the order to make me look like I want to take over the army before taking over the country. Everyone else would be guys in very expensive suits.

We had a lovely day together on Monday. I ended up with three skirt suits, two pant suits and the underwear, shoes and accessories to match. I don’t know what the card limit was but if we didn’t reach it that was alright, wasn’t it?

Tuesday morning, Astrid made sure I looked totally powerful and had a proper bag that I could drop my notes into.

At nine I was picked up by Anders in a chauffeur driven limo and we went into the city to the administration buildings. We were dropped off at an imposing place and directed to an upper floor after being checked for machine guns or bombs.

Erik had suggested that I wore my lanyard and he was proven right as we were quickly checked off and I was sure the guard at the entrance wanted to salute me.

When the lift door opened we were greeted by Erik, who smiled and welcomed us to his workplace. He led us to a large meeting room where we joined the Minister for Defence, and a couple of aides who were there to look after us and also keep the notes.

Also, as we walked in, Q stood up and so did the base commander from Potsdam. Q took my hand and said, “Welcome to the upper reaches, Antonia” in Estonian.

I answered, “This is so high my eyes are watering,” in the same language.

He laughed, “I told you so, Felix, where’s my ten Euro.”

We all sat down and the Minister said, “We have to thank Lundin Transport for pulling our military out of a hole. The operation ran like clockwork and we are here today to put a new operation into motion. I have approved a budget that, I hope, would get things going but we have not yet been able to think of exactly how it should look. We want to be able to move things about without the protesters knowing that things are moving. Does anyone have any ideas?”

The guys all stayed quiet but I had been thinking about this since it looked like being the project.

“OK, why did it work the first time?”

Q said, “Well no-one expected that a girl in a famous truck, on her own, would be carrying a sensitive load.”

“What’s the most important part of that sentence, the secrecy, the truck or the girl?”

The Minister nodded, “Well, obviously it was all three. It was so over the top it just flowed.”

“Exactly, that’s what has to be replicated on a bigger scale, depending on how much you want to move and how often.”

Felix smiled, “A lot and almost every week, from any base to any other base.”

Anders, being a very canny businessman, said, “That means bigger trucks, perhaps trailer or even double trailers.”

The other guys nodded so I came in with what I had thought of. “If we put together a small fleet of tractors and enclosed double trailers, or even container carriers; we could drop them off one day and pick them up the next. As extra cover we could be given a contract to transport non-military supplies which would give us a solid reason to be going in and out.”

Q laughed, “I love it. How would we disguise the trucks so that they aren’t stopped by demonstrators?”

I sat back and smiled, “The same way we did it the first time. We get new Globetrotters and give them a good enough paint job to win ‘Truck of the Year’ at a truck show. We put them about so that they become as well known as ‘Answer’ is locally.”

The Minister was running it through his head and the others knew when to stay quiet. He asked, “What about the drivers?”

I chuckled, “That’s really the easiest part of it. I’m sure that there would be at least a half a dozen good looking girls already qualified in the Transport Division, who may even be thinking of getting out for a job in the industry. We’ve already had a number of enquiries from girls who want to drive. If we’re talking long distances with doubles you’re going to need a two person crew anyway.”

The Minister asked Anders and me to excuse them for a few minutes. We were taken by one of the aides to a side room where we were given a cup of coffee.

When he handed me my cup the aide smiled, “You’re the complete package, Antonia. I saw you at the truck show and I was totally surprised when you kicked that truck into life to drive it out. Now, you walk in here and lay the complete plan on the table from out of the blue. They won’t be talking about a yes or no in there at the moment. Felix is the big cheese from NATO, and I could see he’s on your side all the way.”

He looked at Anders, “When you’re asked to go back in I expect that they’ll offer you that contract and give you a timeline.”

That’s exactly what happened. The Minister said that a contract will be negotiated to provide civilian transport service to NATO. We were authorised to buy at least three trucks but the rider was that they had to comply with military standards in their build. We were given carte blanche with the fit-out and paint job; as long as it was so far out there it would be totally unbelievable that they could be carrying military hardware.

We would be involved in recruiting the drivers and they fully expected that there would be some in the army who would come over, especially as they would all have an NCO position like mine.

Q gave me a business card with the name of an officer in the Transport Division. “Any questions about drivers, give him a call. I’ll get him into the loop this afternoon.”

It was handshakes all round and kisses on cheeks from me. Then Anders and I were ushered back down the lift and into the limo heading back to the yard.

He kept chuckling until I asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Those poor guys just didn’t know who they were inviting into their web. This time it’s Flies three, Spider nil. How do we buy three army trucks?”

I laughed, “We’re a Volvo company so we get the ones they supply to the Swedish army, of course.”

Marianne Gregory © 2022