The Cover of War (26 page)

55

Military Intelligence Headquarters

Tan Son Nhut AFB

10°48'41"N 106°39'50"E

C
olonel Hitchcock thumbed through a growing stack of Intelligence
reports.

The first was
from the late Captain, Nash: it went on about how Nash had observed unusual
activity in
Saigon
, including a
possible female spy network, which was targeting, among other things, the
journalist Danny Thorn.

That fucking
reporter,
Hitchcock thought.
I hope the VC has
gotten rid of him.

He kept reading.
Nash's report speculated that Amai Nguyen was manipulating the press for some
kind of military gain, and that something big was in the pipeline: possibly a
large unit offensive against
Saigon
itself.

'Rot,' Hitchcock
muttered.

Secretly, he was
glad that the upstart Nash was dead. He was still taking flak over the
political incident that Nash had caused with Major Johnson, not to mention the
debacle in the
South China Sea
.

Because of
that idiot,
Hitchcock thought.
I'm lucky to have
kept my goddamn pension.

He binned Nash's
report and went to the O-Club.

56

D
anny felt like he was in a movie.

Underground, he
thought that he would never escape the claustrophobic hell and the brutal
torture; but Amai had saved him.

Amai,
he thought.
She loves me.
 

There were so
many questions he wanted to ask her; so many things he wanted to say; but there
was no time - they were running for their lives.

He scrambled
down the jungle path behind her. Tree-roots, rocks, banks, and overgrowth
tripped their feet and pulled at their limbs, slowing them down. Danny kept
looking back, expecting to see NVA soldiers with assault rifles, but all he saw
was Golota's malevolent face, studded with sweat.

Danny's
shoulders ached and his mouth was dry. He felt a desperate fear of Triet: he
knew the psychopath would pursue them to the death. Danny just hoped that they
could get far enough into the forest to avoid re-capture.

The thought hit
him hard:
I can't be caught. I can't go back underground. I can't face that
again. I'd rather die.

* * *

An awful fear gripped Amai, as night
gripped the rain-forest.

In Triet's
underground hell-hole, her main focus had been to escape with Danny; but now
free, she had to find a way to stop Tet; to inform MACV of the awesome assault,
of which they were completely unaware. The guilt of her involvement was eating
her alive. In the middle of
Laos
, running from an army, it seemed impossible, but she would never be
able to live with herself if she didn't try.

They stopped.

'We gotta get
off this path.' The voice was Golota's.

'I agree,'
Chaske said. 'Let's get into the bush. Move slow and quiet. Blue, you're on
point.'

Golota cocked
his ear. 'I hear a Whistle.'

The redhead
said: 'Bullshit.'

Flecked with
red, the whites of Golota's eyes stood out in the gloom. 'Listen dip-shit . . .
they're coming.'

Amai strained
her ears and heard it: the sound was certainly a whistle blast. She knew the
NVA communicated that way and fear crept through her veins.  

'Move,' Chaske
said. 'Let's go.'

They left the
path and threaded through the foliage. The undergrowth got thicker and the
ground more gnarled. Having to climb, twist, and slide, sapped Amai's strength.
Thunder clapped overhead and it started to rain heavily.

Chaske stopped
them again;
Cam
appeared
exhausted.

Amai put her
back to a boulder. Concealed in the leathery foliage, she felt like a child
again, afraid of the dark, and fearing the presence of a monster.

This time the
monster's real
, she thought.

She felt Danny's
warm body beside hers. She put her head on his shoulder. 'Hi.'

'Hi.'

She stroked his
face. Overhead, the trees groaned in warning.

Amai knew they
were being hunted. She knew the consequences of capture. She was not scared -
she was terrified.

The monsoon
stopped. Amai was drained and groggy, but she knew what she had to do: she had
to tell Chaske, and therefore Danny, about Tet. She had to risk coming clean.
They could get her in contact with the American General. Then it would all be
over. Tet would be dead in the water.

She would not do
it to help the oil stealing Americans; she would do it because it was the
right
thing to do. She would do for
Saigon
's children. In her mind, there was no other option. She would be
able to face life again - even if Danny hated her for it.

She saw Chaske
signal Danny. Danny got up and went to him.

Amai had
immediately recognized Chaske as the man from
Laos
- the man who had saved her. She owed him her life. Now he was here
with
Cam
. It was bewildering,
but Amai had seen the bond between Chaske and her sister.

But he knows
we're Viet Cong.

She looked at
the two men and shivered. Now was the time to face up; now was the time to
admit her deceit. She went to get up and stopped; Golota was looking straight
at her. She sensed his fear; the fear that she would expose him as a traitor.
The secrets he had given her for drugs amounted to treason. Golota had
unwittingly aided Triet in setting up Tet.

Suddenly,
Golota's face was close to hers. He whispered into her ear so that no one else
could hear: 'Keep your mouth
shut
- or I'll fucking kill you.'

Amai knew he
meant it and nodded. Golota backed away.

Amai looked
across to Chaske. The big Native American was watching her. She got up and
pushed through the ferns toward him.

Chaske looked
over her shoulder. 'How do you know Golota?' He looked her in the eye.

'Chaske. We can
talk about old-times later. Right now there's something very important that we
must do.'

'What's on your
mind?'

She caught
Danny’s eye and felt breathless. 'I have something to admit,’ she said.
‘Something awful-'

They were both
staring at her.

'I was one of
Triet's agents in
Saigon
.'

Neither man
spoke.

Amai's anxiety
climaxed. She swallowed a sharp lump. 'Things changed when I met you, Danny. I
was naive. You made me see.' She looked at Chaske. 'We can talk about these
things later – right now the Viet Cong are about to launch a massive attack. Eighty-thousand
troops. Every city.
Saigon
will
fall. I know how to stop it. I must warn MACV.'

Chaske's face
screwed up. 'Staying alive is our first priority. If you hadn't noticed, our
situation isn’t good.'

'
Saigon
will be a bloodbath. We have to get
to a radio-'

'We can't warn
anyone
if we're dead.'

'We
must
hurry.'

'Why me?' Danny
said. 'What did you use me for?'

'Your contact
with Westmoreland,' she said. 'The information I gave you was designed to lure
American forces toward Cambodian - to weaken the city.’

'Oh.'

Amai continued:
'Those troops
must
be called back to the city.' She looked at Chaske.
'Let's double-back east, find friendly forces, and use their radio-'

Chaske spoke
with calm authority: 'No. Not east. East is fatal.'

'But-'

‘We'll deal with
this -
if
we make it.'

‘Chaske,
listen.’

'Don't question
my leadership, Amai. Are we clear?'

Amai nodded. She
was infuriated. For her admission, she had expected action.
We'll be too
late!

Danny looked
dark; hurt; shocked.

'I was going to
the Americans,' Amai said to him. 'I was going to tell them everything. But
Triet's men took me-'

'I don't know
what to believe,' Danny said.

'I'm on your
side now.'

'Really?'

'Triet
manipulated me, Danny. That was my life. I have to make it right.'

Danny looked
away.

Amai said:
'Remember I got you out of that hole.'

Danny rounded on
her. 'You put me in that hole.'

She felt tears.
'Triet put you in that hole. Triet put us both in that hole. I love you Danny.
You must
believe
that?'

Behind them a
shrill whistle broke the quiet.

Chaske said:
'That's close.'

Golota appeared.
'We should never've come this way. It's only a matter of time before they
over-run us.'

* * *

Triet's intestines had knotted.

He could not
relax until Tet's secret was safe; until Amai and the Americans were dead. Tet
was the culmination of years of dedicated work, and its success depended
entirely on surprise. If allowed to escape, they would destroy the element of
surprise; destroy his life's work; and destroy his future status as a national
hero. They
could
destroy the entire North Vietnamese war effort. To him,
Amai was
Vietnam
's most
dangerous enemy.

She should have
stayed loyal to me,
he thought.
The Americans
oppress us to enrich their Military Industrial Complex. They kill and burn our
children for profit . . . and she runs to them?

His stomach
cramped violently.

Tet will
drive the Americans out
, he thought.
Tet will
rid our country of their war-mongering filth.

Triet was sure
that his soldiers were not far behind Amai, Danny, and their Special-Forces
rescue team. His scouts had their trail, and were now closing in, but it scared
him how far into the jungle they had been able to get. 

His lips curled.
They won't get much further.

Thanh came out
of the heavy undergrowth, and said: 'You need to see this.'

Triet followed
him through the thick foliage. They stopped beside a scout, who pointed to a
patch of trampled ferns, and said: 'They slept here.'

'Is it human or
animal?' Triet said.

'It's them.' The
scout knelt beside a group of footprints. 'There are
two
women with
them. Both Vietnamese by their foot-sizes.'

There's
another traitor
, Triet thought.
Who?

He guessed that
the new traitor had helped Amai and Danny escape.

There was a
series of short, sharp whistle blasts, and Thanh said: 'They've got them.'

57

C
olonel Hitchcock rubbed his eyes and yelled to Corporal Mancini for
more coffee.

Hitchcock was
halfway through the pile of intelligence reports and was struggling to keep his
eyes on the words.

The usual
crap,
he thought.

He began
thinking about going to the Maison Blanche for a brandy or two. The thought of
getting a fresh young boy to screw crossed his mind; he knew of a man who could
supply such things.

The next report
was marked:
Top-secret
.
Project
Igloo White. Eyes-Only.

It was from the
Infiltration Surveillance Centre at
Nakhon Phanom
,
Thailand
.

The report
waffled on about large percentage increases in NVA transportation movements
down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Truck numbers heading south had apparently tripled
in the last month.

If the
goddamn Air-force was doing its job,
Hitchcock
thought.
They'd have bombed them into scrap-metal by now.
He scratched
his head.
Things have gone downhill since World War Two. Too many young
upstarts, climbing the ladder before they're ready.
He scoffed. 'They're a
new breed all right.'

58

C
haske wondered how Golota knew Amai; it was obvious they did - and
did not like each other. There was something going on that he didn't know
about.

Chaske pushed
the thought aside; right now, he needed to lead his team to safety. It was his
call to go west. It was his responsibility to keep them alive.

Amai's dilemma
would wait.

Chaske took the
front and led the team into the dripping undergrowth. Here the canopy was tall
and the lower foliage dense.

Chaske heard the
whistle clearly this time. Despite the cover, he knew the NVA would close in.
It wouldn't be long.

He looked back at
the faces of his team.
Will I get them all killed?

Chaske carried
only one claymore. He stopped to set it up. Stringing a short tripwire between
two saplings, the anti-personal mine took sixty seconds to lay. He made a clear
footprint several feet past the tripwire and felt a pang of regret - it
would
kill. 

Chaske pushed
forward, lifting their pace. The others followed silently. Then he saw
something that stunned him: the greenery opened up to reveal a one-hundred foot
wall of rock, blocking their path. Chaske felt trapped. He followed the
rock-wall, but guessed it could go for miles. Further along the cliff, a
waterfall pounded the rocks. Chaske felt like he was being corralled. With the
rock-face blocking his right, and the NVA behind, he could only follow the
wall. 

A whistle blew
to his left.
We're surrounded.

The whistle blew
louder.
They'll have us in minutes.

The foliage
ahead moved. Someone was in front of him. Chaske raised his MP-5. The top-half
of a man appeared and disappeared. Chaske's finger hooked the trigger. Behind
him the claymore went off with a heavy thump, which echoed through the trees.

Chaske's focus
stayed on the point where the man had disappeared.
 

Blue raised his
weapon; he had seen the man too.

'Wait here,'
Chaske whispered. 'I'll take him quietly.'

Chaske
unsheathed his knife and slipped into the scrub. He moved fast and silently to
the point where the man had appeared, and felt a stab of fright. The man was
gone.

Did he see
me?

Then Chaske saw
him only feet away. Not wanting to give the man any chance to react, Chaske
charged. In the seconds before contact, the two locked eyes and Chaske knew
instantly that something was wrong.

He's a
Montagnard.

The Montagnard
held up big hands. 'I help you,' he said. 'I help you.'

Chaske's knife
stopped an inch from the Montagnard's chest 'How?'

The Montagnard's
eyes opened to circles. 'Come. You in danger. Come.'

'Where?'

He pointed to
the rock-face. 'Up.'

Chaske's
instinct was to trust the Montagnard. Chaske turned. Blue was behind him,
followed by the rest of the team.

Blue eyed the
Montagnard. 'What's the go, Top?'

Chaske said:
'Everyone follow me.'

* * *

Chaske jogged behind the Montagnard, who
wore only a loin cloth. Fat veins wrapped around his stocky calves, and the
skin of his bare feet was thick and hard.

The Montagnard
led them to the base of the cliff, near the waterfall. Trees grew from every
crack. Moss and water dribbled down the rock. Vines drooped to the forest
floor. The waterfall rumbled beside them.

Golota yelled above
the torrent: 'He's leading us into a killing-zone.'

'He's a
Montagnard,' Chaske said. 'I trust him.'

Golota's eyes
were bloodshot and he scratched hard at his neck. 'We should never've come
here, Thorn.'  

The Montagnard
began to climb. He used plants, vines, and crevasses to scale the rock. He
climbed quickly. Then he stopped and motioned for Chaske to follow.

Golota said:
'We'll be easy meat up there.'

Chaske felt that
Golota was right.
But there's no time.

The Montagnard
beckoned frantically.

Chaske put his
hands on the rock and began to climb.

Within minutes
the team had gained sixty feet of elevation.
Cam
and Amai's climbing skills stunned him - they scaled the rock
better than any of the men.

The Montagnard
stopped on a ledge beside the waterfall. Chaske climbed up beside him and
looked down into the jungle. It was a long way down. Then the Montagnard
disappeared behind the sheet of water and Chaske understood. Chaske turned and
helped
Cam
up onto the ledge.

The Yard's face
came through the water. 'Hurry.'

One-by-one, the
team slipped behind the waterfall.

'Careful.' The
Montagnard said. 'Big fall.'

Chaske was last
through. He looked down and saw the first NVA soldiers, creeping toward the
rock-face. The claymore had made them cautious. Chaske shrank back through the
veil of water and found himself in a cavernous area with the rest of the team.

* * *

'They can't just disappear,' Triet yelled
over the roar of the waterfall.

Thanh's head
shook. 'We were right behind them.'

Triet looked up.
His men covered the rock-face like termites. 'They must be up there. There's no
where else.'

Thanh nodded
thoughtfully. 'A platoon of regulars are probing toward us from the west. They
have search-dogs.'

Triet forced a
smile.

Thanh continued:
'They won't get far either way.'

Triet lifted the
rat from his shirt pocket. He held her between both hands and kissed her nose.
'Beautiful,' he crooned. He put the rat away and thought of Amai. Killing her
was everything to him now.

She and her
rescuers were Tet's last obstacle.

Despite his
hate, he felt admiration: Amai had an incredible ability to escape and survive.
She had guts - that was why she had been such a valuable asset.

His eyes
searched the rock-face, and he thought:
What would I do if I were her?

The waterfall
roared beside him.