Shadows of War (51 page)

Authors: Larry Bond

BOOK: Shadows of War

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Northern Vietnam

Zeus and Christian didn't find out
that the
SEALs'
plane had been delayed until an hour after they had arrived at the rendezvous point just north of TuyÃªn Quang. Christian, who hadn't said much the entire ride, cursed as soon as he put the satcom radio down.

The stinking Navy, he said, could never get anything right.

“It was probably the Air Force,” said Zeus. “They fly the planes.”

“Whatever. Now we have to sit in this damn truck for another four hours at least.”

“We can go back and check out the town.”

“Give me a break.”

“It didn't look that bad.”

“Yeah, for Vietnam. It's not like there was a McDonald's on the edge of town.”

“Maybe a little restaurant.”

“Hell, Zeus, we went right down Main Street. There was no place open. And I wouldn't have trusted them if they were.”

Zeus took out his map. They were roughly 140 miles from the province where the SEALs were going to land; that was nearly ten hours of biking, maybe more, since they'd be going over the mountains. The delay meant that they'd have to do a lot of it during the day.

Not a great idea.

“Maybe we should get closer to where they're going to land,” suggested Zeus. “At least get into the mountains there.”

“Where?”

“The Con Voi range.”

“That close to the Chinese?” said Christian, his voice rising an octave.

“They're not that far south or east.”

“You're out of your idiot mind.”

Zeus sighed and began folding the map back up.

“You think just because you served in Special Forces that you're Mr. Gung Ho,” said Christian. “And that you're a goddamn genius.”

“I don't think I'm a genius.”

“Perry does. Which is what counts, right?”

Zeus shrugged.

“You better tell them what the hell we're doing,” said Christian, starting the truck.

Northern Vietnam

They walked along the road,
staying on the shoulder and moving as quickly as they could. Mara, in the lead and holding the rifle, had to concentrate to see the path ahead. The clouds had thickened and the night was dark; it was hard to see more than a stride or two ahead.

“Can you hold up a bit?” said Josh.

“You want me to take her?” asked Mara, turning around.

“No, just slow down. She's still sleeping. Kid must be exhausted.”

He walked up next to her, his shoulder brushing against hers. “Okay,” he said.

“Come on,” said Mara, hooking her arm through his. “We'll walk together.”

They walked together in silence for a few minutes before Mara asked if M

was getting heavy.

“It's all right,” he told her.

“That was a hell of a story she told.”

“What's going to happen to her?”

“I don't know,” said Mara. “They'll probably try and find a relative. When it's all over.”

“Might be going on a long time.”

Not the way things are going, Mara thought, but she kept that to herself.

“How long can the Vietnamese hold out?” Josh asked.

“I don't know. Watch the curve coming up.”

They walked in silence again for a few minutes.

“What was it you said about where the devil played?” asked Josh.

“The message was confusing.”

“The person I was talking to is a Charlie Daniels fan. We were talking about a song just before I came here. He knows that means a crossroad. At least I hope he does.”

“You must know him pretty well.”

“Well enough.”

“He your boyfriend?”

Mara laughed. “Oh, God no.”

“I didn't mean to make you laugh.”

“That's okay. If you knew the Million Dollar Man, you wouldn't even ask.”

“He's rich?”

Mara explained where the nickname had come from. Josh told her that he had never really followed wrestling.

“Really?” said Mara. “I used to watch it all the time when I was little. My brothers got me hooked. Triple H, Batista, Rey Mysterio, all those guys.”

“Why would you watch wrestling?”

“If I have to explain it, you won't understand it.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What'd you do? Watch
The Magic School Bus
?”

“I loved those shows.”

Mara laughed. She'd loved them, too.

“Science was a way for me to deal with the world,” said Josh. “It kept things â¦ ordered.”

“And you wanted that.”

“I needed that.”

He leaned closer to her. Mara waited for him to explain what he meant, but instead he stopped short.

“Is that the airplane?”

She stopped and listened. For a second, she thought it was. Then the sound became much more distinct.

“The helicopters are coming back,” she said. “Let's get into the trees.”

The helicopters
were ninety seconds from landing when the infrared operator raised his hand, signaling Jing Yo over. “There's something about two kilometers south of the village, near the road but in the jungle. Warm bodies.”

Jing Yo leaned down, looking at the blur. He'd already told the pilots to land, and had given up his headset so he could jump quickly from the chopper.

“What is it?”

“We'll have to get closer to find out. It may be another tiger or some other animal. Or a person.”

“Not in the village?”

“We're still a little far away.”

“Let me see the village.”

Jing Yo waited while the technician readjusted his screen. He was starting to feel tired, worn down by the last several days.

If he felt that way, then his men would feel even worse. But they had a mission to complete.

“Here, Lieutenant. This is the village.”

The screen looked similar but not exactly the same as it had earlier. The technician explained that the fires, having mostly burned themselves out, were continuing to cool, and so looked different to the sensors.

“Wasn't this building on fire before?” said Jing Yo, pointing to the southernmost barn in the center of the hamlet. It was the one they had searched earlier.

“Uh, I'm not sure.”

“It was mostly intact, remember?” said Jing Yo. “There was heat on one side, and you thought the fire was spreading up the wall. But now the wall is not burned down.”

“Okay.”

“It's cold. Why would that be if there had been a fire there?”

The operator shook his head. Jing Yo went to tell the pilots to change course.

The jungle was so thick
and the night so dark that Josh simply couldn't see where he was going. He carried M

with him as he pushed slowly ahead, partly guided by Mara's tug. The helicopters were getting closer.

“Which way are we going?” he asked Mara finally.

“We just have to get distance from the road.”

They pushed on, stumbling between the bushes and trees. M

, her face pushed tightly into Josh's shoulder, groaned as the branches slapped across her back.

“Once they're on the ground, they'll have a hard time finding us. Even if they have night glasses. Goggles won't be able to see through all of this brush. We'll get in deeper and keep moving toward the drop area. Just be calm.”

“I'm calm,” he told her. “You stay calm.”

“I'm calm,” said Mara. Her voice was a tight rasp.

“We're going to be okay,” Josh told M