Bimat--A Vietnamese Adventure

by Robert A Webster

  Stu, hearing mumbling from the Control Centre, looked at Akhim laying on the floor. “Hmm,” he said, “If the buggers fainted, I know a way to wake him.”

  Stu knelt down and rubbed his knuckles hard up and down Akhim’s sternum.

  Akhim winced and knowing his feigning was no longer working, opened his eyes, and glared at Stu.

  Stu was again pummelling Akhim’s face when the firing began.

  Bullets exploded through the walls and into the barricades. Stu stopped thumping Akhim, grabbed his rifle and he and Spock, although scared shitless, popped over the top of the overturned desk and returned fire, sending the mercenaries outside ducking for cover as bullets flew around them.

  Mophi knew this would be short lived. He knew they had only one magazine of ammo and the way they sprayed indiscriminately, it would not last long. With only the occasional 9mm round coming from the commandos room, Mophi continued barking out orders to continue firing.

  The noise of the gunfire echoed around the Control Centre and the smell of cordite filled the air.

  Stu and Spock knew they were almost out of ammo. They nodded to each other like Butch and Sundance, but unlike the western heroes, they weren’t planning to run into the sun and die in a blaze of glory. They would be cowering behind a desk, shitting themselves, but nevertheless, together.

  The bullets coming into the room increased as the mercenaries saw less resistance coming back.

  Suddenly, all hell broke loose as the sound of more shells thundered through the air, followed by shouting and bellowing and a noisy cacophony went on for several minutes.

  Stu noticed from his cowering position that bullets were no longer coming into their room. He looked at Spock, who fired off his few remaining rounds in a last defiant act.

  Stu and Spock heard the Commander next door shouting in Vietnamese. They peered through the large hole in the dividing wall, saw Captain Ca opening the door, and run outside with his dagger in hand, followed by Pon, wielding his Juglave.

  After a few more minutes of ear splitting gunfire, the uproar ceased, leaving only the sound of shouting and chattering in both English and Vietnamese.

  Spock and Stu, confused but relieved that the bullets had stopped, looked through the bullet holes into the Control Centre, but unable to see through the smoke, they sat back behind the desk.

  Spock looked mystified and shrugged. “What do you think happened, matey?”

  “No idea, but it looks like the cavalry arrived,” said Stu and looked at Grimes and Akhim laying on the floor behind them, bloodied and bruised from their beatings and looking terrified.

  Spock and Stu smirked at them as Kim and Pon appeared at the hole in the wall from the next room and stood in the gap smiling at them.

  “You can come out now my friends, it’s over,” said Pon with a beaming smile.

  “Hello you two, I’m happy to see you again,” said Kim and the relief on her face said it all.

  Spock and Stu stood up and brushed themselves off.

  “Hi Kim,” said Stu, still confused. “We’re glad to see you’re safe.”

  Spock looked over the desk at the devastation in the office and saw bullet riddled screens, walls, and corpses of the two mercenaries. Spock wondered what had just happened and, as his near death experience hit home, he fainted.

  Spock was in a happy place when he heard Stu shouting. “Spock, Spock !” And as the dark veil lifted, he regained his faculties.

  He looked up and saw the concerned faces of Kim, Pon, and Stu staring down at him.

  “Are you okay mate?” asked Stu, putting a bottle to his lips and telling him to drink.

  Spock took a gulp of whisky from a plastic beaker that Stu had recovered from amongst the smashed bottles on the floor.

  “I could only find this bit in a smashed bottle,” said Stu. “They’ve shot everything else.”

  Spock took a few large gulps and Stu helped him to his feet.

  With Spock and Stu sharing the cup of whiskey, they walked outside.

  The Control Centre, although filled with hazy cordite smog, now seemed quiet. A dozen Vietnamese Commandos dressed in black pyjamas stood in front of mercenaries and pleading technicians as they lined up with arms raised and weapons on the ground.

  The assault by the Vietnamese Special Forces commandos had been straightforward.

  Once given the order, they had crept unnoticed out of the Cu Chi tunnels entrance one by one.

  They grouped at the rear of the Control Centre while the individuals inside were preoccupied with their attack on the rooms.

  The assault took the mercenaries by complete surprise, with the Vietnamese force sustaining no losses. However, they shot and killed three mercenaries in the first few seconds. It was a precision operation, skilfully executed.

  Captain Ca and several Vietnamese commandos helped his wounded commandos out of the room and over to the amphibious vehicle. Other black pyjama soldiers milled around, searching for any hidden enemy survivors.

  “They’re the tour guides’ from Cu Chi tunnels,” said Spock as a few commandos came over to assist them.

  “Yeah,” said Stu as he also recognised one who had impressed him with his proficiency in shooting targets.

  The senior officer came over, greeted Kim and then the others, and asked if everyone was okay.

  He spoke in Vietnamese, so Kim translated.

  “This is Lieutenant Minh-Xun of the Vietnamese Special Forces, and he apologises for cutting it so fine. Their Commander put them in place several days ago disguised as tour guides. They had to wait for orders from their Commanding Officer, Brigadier Nhat, to launch an assault, which came about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Cutting it fine is a bloody understatement,” mumbled Spock realising he now needed to change his soiled pants, as did Stu.

  Lieutenant Minh-Xun, seeing them all safe, called his Commanding Officer and reported that everything was under control and Kim and the others were safe.

  Grime’s satellite phone that Kim had rang five minutes later and Kim sounded overjoyed as she spoke to her elated father.

  Captain Ca, seeing Kim speaking on the sat phone, took the phone from his backpack and called Brigadier Lee.

  Captain Ca thought Lee sounded taken aback at first, but then heard relief in his voice when he realised they weren’t dead.

  The Captain told Lee what had happened and how one of his commandos was dead and the other three badly injured. Lee sounded overjoyed when Ca told him that Kim and the others were safe.

  Lee told Ca to get his wounded sorted and he would fly over.

  Kim and Pon finished their conversation with Thran and Lee called them shortly after.

  Captain Ca and his injured commandos, along with some prisoners, were taken to the amphibious vehicle accompanied by several armed Vietnamese commandos and driven through the tunnel.

  The remaining prisoners, along with the bodies of the dead mercenaries and technicians were placed in body bags to await the amphibious vehicle’s return.

  Spock and Stu ignored all the confusion, unable to understand what was going on. They decided to recover their bags and change their pants.

  As they approached the office, Grimes and Akhim were being led away by two soldiers.

  “Bastards,” screamed Stu still seething. He ran up and pummelled more on Akhim’s face; having to be pried off by Spock and the soldiers, but not before getting a last kick in on Grimes’s bollocks, leaving him doubled up in pain.

  “Steady on matey,” said Spock with a big grin, “you’ll have a heart attack.”

  Spock and Stu, now feeling justified, returned to Grimes office and found their debris-covered bags.

  “First things first,” said Spock, and with his soiled pants now around his ankles, he recovered his adventure hat from his bag.

  Stu groaned.

  “Lucky adventure hat, matey… ooh, what’s that?” asked Spock as something else caught his eye.

  Spock changed his pants and
sauntered over to the wall, rummaged through the debris, and picked up an undamaged half bottle of Nep Moi Vietnamese Ruou, strong urban whiskey. “Look,” he said. “I told you my hat was lucky.”

  They walked out of the office smiling as the amphibious vehicle returned and loaded up for the second journey to the surface.

  Spock and Stu stood, watched, and smiled at one another.

  “That bus looks full,” said Stu smirking. “We’ll wait for the next one.”

  Spock nodded and said. “Good idea matey,”

  He and Spock walked back into Grimes’s office, righted two bullet riddled chairs, and sat and drank the whisky.

  Captain Ca returned in the vehicle and spoke to Minh-Xun about his brother who stood with the remaining prisoners. Ca looked nervous as Pon hadn’t stopped glaring at him. The Lieutenant’s orders had been to take everyone involved into custody.

  Captain Ca knew Ming-Xun had to follow his orders, so he said. “This vehicle will be overloaded, so Ca and I can catch it on its return.”

  Minh-Xun nodded and beckoned Ca from the line of prisoners and the brothers went and sat on the floor in front of the room where they had held the beaten commandos and chatted.

  Pon looked angry as he sat with Kim at the front of the full vehicle, but after it had gone a short distance, Pon jumped out and shouted to Kim. “We’ve forgotten Spock and Stu. I will get them and I have to retrieve my belongings. I will get the transport when it returns.” He ran back into the centre and up to the Thos’.

  Glaring at Ca, the fisherman, and with a snarl in his voice, Pon said. “You kidnapped my wife and seduced her, you must pay. Stand up like a man and face the justice of the Tinju.”

  Ca didn’t argue; he had been involved in the kidnaping, although not understanding what seduction or Tinju meant, he stood up and saw the rage in Pon’s eyes as he sprung out the blades of his Juglave.

  “No,” said Captain Ca standing, “please sir, my brother was also a victim of these people. He has been stupid and naive.”

  Pon ignored the Captain and threw his Juglave, which whistled past Ca’s head, removing his ear and impaled into the wall behind him. Ca howled in pain from his lost lug.

  “That was your first lesson,” said Pon glowering, as he did not intend to use his weapon to slaughter an unarmed man.

  Captain Ca knew that his brother stood no chance against Pon, so he leapt at the monk, who spun around and, using the Captain’s momentum, kicked him through the air sending him crashing to the floor.

  The Captain got to his feet and once again attacked Pon. Over the next few minutes, as Fisherman Ca stood back holding the side of his head, he watched the two allies clashing in a ferocious, bloody, aggressive battle, with Pon easily overwhelming the resilient, tough, but outmatched commando.

  Even with all his years of fighting hand-to-hand combat, Captain Ca had never experienced an onslaught like this and he’d never been hit so hard, fast, or with such fury.

  Pon knocked him to the floor many times but respected the man for getting up. The exhausted Captain launched another attack and went to strike Pon who grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm straight, and punched his elbow, snapping the bones. The Captain howled as Pon brought his foot up and struck him behind the head, knocking him to the floor. Captain Ca, unable to move, waited for a fatal and conclusive blow.

  Fisherman Ca then moved in front of his brother.

  “Your fight is with me, not my brother, so kill me and leave him alone,” said the defiant Ca, glaring at Pon. “There has been enough pain today already, so finish it now.”

  Pon stood back. He looked at the battered and broken Captain on the floor protected by his blood soaked brother.

  Pon thought about his own brother, Dam, who he had killed before having the chance to get to know him, regret that still haunted him. Remorse crept in as he watched the bond forming between these two and wished he’d been given the same opportunity with Dam.

  Pon had never experienced the feelings of betrayal, jealousy, or mistrust before. He’d been sheltered as a simple monk who now lived a settled life with his faithful wife Kim, or so he thought.

  Nevertheless, as a Buddhist monk, he only resorted to using his highly honed skills for defence and carry out Tinju duties, but this was neither.

  Pon walked past the Tho’s and pulled his Juglave from the wall.

  He went back and stood in front of fisherman Ca. “You are right. There has been enough bloodshed for one day,” he said, and helped Captain Ca to his feet.

  Pon looked at the Captain who cradled his shattered arm and winced in pain. Pon nodded and said, “You fought bravely my friend.”

  The brothers looked relieved and nodded at Pon.

  “Hello everyone, what you up too?” said a gummy, smiling, spannered Spock, wearing his hat at an angle, who, with a spannered Stu staggered up to them from Grimes’s office and interrupted the poignant moment.

  Spock and Stu sensed a strange atmosphere from the three and saw Ca, the man who they’d seen on the movie clip with Kim.

  Stu whispered to Spock, “Pon must have kicked his arse and chopped off his ear.”

  “Yes matey,” said Spock with a Popeye squint while looking at the Ca’s.

  “Phew… I am not seeing double,” he said sounding relieved when he recognised the beaten, bruised and bone shattered Captain Ca from Lee’s house and noticed the uncanny resemblance between the pair.

  However, as they’d already had too much to comprehend for one day and as everything now seemed fine, they decided it wasn’t worth wasting their spannered state worrying about.

  “Where’s everyone gone?” asked Stu, seeing only them, and a few Vietnamese commandos still searching around the Control Centre.

  Pon told them that they were waiting for the vehicle to return and pick them up.

  “Oh well,” slurred Spock. “Good timing, all the booze is finished.”

  Stu handed Pon his cloth bag and Spock took the relic from his pocket and handed it to him. “I think I’ve put everything back,” said Stu wobbling.

  “Thanks Stu, I will go check and then change my clothes. Keep hold of the Holy Relic Spock and I will get it later.”

  Pon took his bag to Grimes’s office, so Spock put the relic back in his pocket.

  The Ca’s hobbled over and waited for the amphibious vehicle.

  “This must be fate my brother. We must have been brought together to save each other,” said fisherman Ca as they continued on their painful walk.

  Spock and Stu looked around and decided to wait for Pon.

  They staggered over to the centre and looked over the desks now strewn with bullet riddled electronic equipment. They noticed blood stains on the floor and grimaced.

  “Huh, we were lucky mate,” said Stu, to a preoccupied Spock.

  “Look at that stain,” said Spock furrowing his brow and looking puzzled as he pointed to a bloodstain on the floor. “It’s coming from the English twats office to here,” he then pointed to another stain. “That fainter blood trail goes between gaps through those machines.”

  “And your point, Sherlock?” slurred Stu.

  “My point is matey,” said Spock, sounding sensible. “I don’t recall seeing that big dopey Arab being taken away.” He waved his finger in the air, “or seeing him at all after everything calmed down.”

  Looking like a pair of bloodhounds, Stu and Spock followed the blood trail as it disappeared between metal desks and up to the Cu Chi tunnel entrance hatch. They went to the ajar hatch and heard a faint groaning coming from inside the tunnel. They opened the door fully and gazed into the shaft. Apart from a small shard of torch light seeping through along the ceiling that looked like a blocked water pipe, the tunnel was pitch black.

  “Huh,” said Spock and looked around. He saw a large torch hung on the wall recharging and turned it on.

  “Well, this works,” said Spock as the torch gave out a strong wide beam of light, which he shone into the tunnel. He and Stu peered
inside.

  They saw Mophi’s rear end and legs, but the rest of his torso was obscured as he’d squeezed a short way into the narrowing tunnel before getting stuck; unable to go forward or back.

  Mophi’s voice echoed as he pleaded. “Please, help me. I can’t move.”

  Spock and Stu looked at Mophi’s arse and then at each other.

  “What’s that sticking out his arse pocket?” said Stu who leant in and took out the remote control from Mophi’s pants.”

  “What is it matey,” asked Spock as he and Stu looked at the small rectangular metal box.

  Stu shrugged “Dunno,” he said and pressed a red square button.

  “No!” screamed Mophi in panic.

  Stu grumbled “Huh, whatever it is it doesn’t work,” he said shaking the box and sliding off a small panel. “Oh, there’s no batteries in it that’s why.”

  Stu threw the remote control away as Mophi implored. “Please, help me, I can’t breathe.”

  Spock and Stu looked at one another and smirked.

  Spock slammed the door shut and said. “Fuck him. Let Dumbo suffer a while longer.”

  They walked towards Grimes’s office sniggering.

  Pon came out wearing his jeans and T-shirt and wondering what had amused his two friends.

  “Ready matey?” asked Spock and put his arm around Pon’s shoulder.

  Before they reached the Tho’s, Spock imparted to Pon his drunken philosophy about women. “I'm sure they were put on the planet to bloody annoy us,” he said with his philosophers grin that he saved for moments like this.

  The amphibious vehicle returned a few moments later, with four armed Vietnamese soldiers.

  One soldier spoke to Captain Ca before heading into the Control Centre.

  The five boarded the vehicle, which drove along the tunnel. Captain Ca looked concerned as he told Pon. “They came back to search for the mercenaries’ leader.”

  Pon puckered his brow and was about to suggest he helped look for him until he saw Spock and Stu sniggering.

  “Don’t worry matey, he isn’t going anywhere,” said Spock and the three friends tittered as they went through the tunnel.

  — Chapter Fifteen —