Code Name: Crescent: A Matt Preston Novel

by Paul Shadinger

  “When the deal was set to go down, I ended up being assigned to a different mission. I think it was cause the captain didn’t trust me. The captain got Price and Hollis and a couple more guys and they all went off in a Huey with loads of military equipment. Later I heard the warrant barely got the chopper off the ground, it was so heavy.”

  Walter took another deep puff. He exhaled and started in again, “A few weeks later I heard through the grapevine the two dudes that went with them were never seen or heard from again… listed as AWOL. Hollis and Price showed up back at base camp for a while and then were off on a new mission. The next time I saw them, Price was all fucked up and we were taking a powder off the hill and out of country.

  “The really weird part is the captain returned with all of the stolen stuff and nothing was ever said. The warrant just landed the bird with all the stuff the captain had pulled and they both disappeared. If you asked any questions about what happened, you were just told it was part of ‘Code Crescent’ and that meant ‘shut your mouth, don’t ask questions, it’s none of your fucking business.’”

  I took a hit off the pipe and as I handed it back to Walter, I asked, “I wonder why the colonel—who I think was the captain in your story—came and asked me what Hollis said up in the tower.”

  Walter settled back in his chair, deep in thought. Still looking out across the valley, he said, “Well, the grapevine said the gold disappeared. The deposit they got when I was with them, and the payment for the military stuff. Somehow the warrant, the captain and Price and Hollis all got separated. Lots of rumors about that. I heard the warrant flew off with the gold, but I also heard that the captain and the pilot came back together with the stuff. I heard Hollis and Price knew where it was, but there was no way I would ever ask them any questions. I even heard the captain took off with it. But it looks like if your colonel is that captain, he didn’t take it either. Either way, I guess we really don’t know what happened.”

  “Why didn’t you want me to ask you about Crescent?” I asked Walter.

  It was difficult to make out Walter’s features in the dusk. He sat quietly for so long I started to wonder if he’d fallen asleep. Eventually he grunted and looked over at me. “I’m happy with my life, Matt. I don’t want it to change.” I understood, and I had to agree. Walter did have a great life now. “I cannot begin to describe how amazed I am at how my life turned out. I know you get it because you’re a big part of why I’m here and because of Thien and all, you know?”

  “I understand. I’m happy your life is so good. For a while, I was very concerned about you.”

  He nodded and continued, “Crescent? Matt, without you being able to read my mind or something, there is no way to explain why I felt the way I did, but from the first moment I heard about Crescent, I knew something was wrong.” Walter turned to me and leaned forward. “You know Price and Hollis? You know how crazy weird they were? That was just the start of how spooky Crescent was. Dude, you know we did some weird shit, right?” I agreed. “This was beyond the stuff we were doing. I just knew it wasn’t going to turn out well right from the start. I just knew it!” Walter grew still again. “I don’t want anybody to know I’ve even heard the word Crescent. I don’t want anybody to think I know anything about Crescent, the gold or who was involved. People have killed, and been killed for a lot less than what the gold is supposed to be worth.

  “Everything about Crescent was beyond secret. It took place where we weren’t supposed to be and it involved people who were not supposed to be involved. The way people talked about it when we were setting it up made me feel like there was some serious black shit connected to it. I wish I had the words to describe it…” Walter looked over at me. “But I saw fear in the captain’s eyes when he told us about it. The fear wasn’t about the mission; it was something else. Like I said, I can’t describe my feelings right, I just remember it scared the fuck out of me and I was really glad when I was sent off on another mission instead of going on that one.”

  We sat there awhile and I thought Walter was finished, but then he spoke up “Nope! As far as I know there were only a few people who knew about Crescent. I know of three people who might still be around. Since Hollis and Price are dead, that leaves just the captain, flyboy and me. I don’t know what happened to the warrant officer, I don’t even know if he’s still alive. Well, I guess that leaves me and the captain for sure. If the two cats who came and visited you were the captain and the chopper jockey, it sounds like somebody’s trying to find the gold.”

  We sat for a long time staring off into space. I didn’t know if Walter was back in country or just what he was thinking about. Suddenly Walter jumped in his chair, startling me. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Do you remember the stripper I told you about?”

  “Lan?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Her father was one of the two village leaders the captain talked to. He was one of the natives who had the gold.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Because Price and Hollis knew the family, the captain had to use them to get to the leaders and to the gold.”

  “Did I tell you Sakol found the father living in Vancouver BC?”

  “I think you did mention it. I wonder if the captain knows they live in BC.”

  We fell into silence again. Considering how the colonel had acted at my place, I hoped he didn’t know about Sakol’s friend in BC. I wondered why the colonel had waited so long to try and find the gold, if that was what he was really trying to do. I had a thought. “Walter, do you remember the name of the pilot?”

  “Dude, please leave this alone. I don’t want to see you get hurt. I keep telling you, when they were setting up that mission, I knew it was a lot more than just the captain’s involvement. There was something else going on there besides our side trying to arm some of the mountain people. Call it CIA or military intelligence or whatever, but there was something really strange about the whole deal. I’m positive I got left behind because I asked too many questions.”

  “I appreciate your concern, but I’m getting pulled into this. I’ve had a gray van following me off and on for the past few days and I think somebody was in my apartment while I wasn’t there.”

  “See? Leave this alone. Matt, go home. Find Sharon and take her someplace fun for a while.”

  “I’ll consider it. But, do you remember anything else about the chopper pilot?”

  “The cat’s name was James. Chief Warrant Officer Grade 3 James. I don’t know his first name, at least I never heard it. Or if I did hear it, I’ve forgotten. Shit, man, I’m amazed I ever remembered his last name. Oh, and the captain was Mac something, like McNut, or something like that.

  “Do you mean McNaulty?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “That’s the name on the colonel’s jacket.”

  Walter looked concerned. In a soft voice he said, “Dude, you so need to leave this alone. Please don’t make me sorry I told you all this.”

  I tried to reassure him, “I promise you won’t regret it. This is our secret. How’s that?”

  I could see Walter was not happy with the way things were, but he still smiled and said, “Cool. How long can you stay?”

  “Till tomorrow. Okay?”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  I stayed for another day. I knew there were things I needed to deal with back in town, but since Kim was safe with Sharon, and I really didn’t want to deal with the colonel and his sidekick, I stayed.

  Thien cooked an amazing dinner that last evening, and afterwards Walter and I were comfortably curled up in the two huge chairs Walter had made. Even with the chill in the air, we were comfortable sitting on the front deck looking off into the distance. Walter lit the pipe and we were passing it back and forth. Like I said, the only time I smoked anymore was when I was visiting Walter, and he had a big patch of weed he’d grown among the vegetables Thi
en planted. We were both lost in thought as we passed the pipe back and forth. Finally, Walter cleared his throat and asked, “Can we talk about why you came over here?”

  “You mean Crescent?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What about it?”

  “I’ve thought about it off and on all day now, and it’s my belief McNaulty was going to kill the village leaders once the deal was done. Basically they were going to rip off the gold and then murder the chiefs.”

  “Is that something you heard or something you just think?’

  “I really can’t answer that. My memories are all fucked up. Like I said, I kept thinking about it today and that thought just came to me. Don’t know why.” Walter looked over at me, “Matt, I’ve tried to forget all this shit. I never told you this, but at the end there I was sent in to take out a leader in some movement. I believe the papers had already been signed over in Paris ending the war and all, but we were still doing our shit before we had to beat feet.

  “Anyway, I think they sent me cause they believed nobody was coming back from the mission, and somebody wanted me gone. I did what I was supposed to do, but I almost didn’t get away. I got as far as Thien’s village and her people hid me. Getting them out of country as everything fell apart at the end, well, it was like my payment for what her people did for me.”

  Walter took a deep hit on the pipe and as the smoke curled out of his mouth, he continued, “Sometimes I think I missed the dude and he’s coming after me, but I know there’s no way he walked away. Shit like that bothers me, man. Who was I to snuff anybody? Because some officer told me to kill somebody made it right? You know, the way we were trained, you’re never supposed to ask questions, and I didn’t. But now when I think about it, it ain’t right.”

  I don’t know how long we sat there passing the pipe back and forth. I understood so well what Walter was talking about. Those were the memories we kept locked away. Those were the nightmares I didn’t want to remember. Now Walter’s excellent smoke had unlocked the door and it was wide open.

  The memories started to flow and I found myself back in country. It was so real. I could smell the damp, hot jungle, and I could also feel the fear. These were not happy memories. Finally, I dragged myself back to Walter’s deck out in the middle of nowhere. “Why did you bring up Crescent?” I asked.

  “Oh… you know it was always my belief that the mission was a lot deeper than anybody was supposed to know. Like for some reason that village was doomed. The whole thing was supposed to blow up and that village was supposed to be wiped out. There were rumors about it. I told you Price had a lover there?” I agreed. “I also think I heard one time Price took Hollis to the village and Price’s lover committed suicide. But there are so many things I think I did or heard, and I wonder.”

  I was lost in my own fog. Like I said, I didn’t smoke much anymore and since Walter’s stuff was so strong, it really hit me hard. His comments took me back… I remembered how it was that I became involved with the unit I was in back in Nam.

  I know I surprised a lot of people when I decided to drop out of college and join the Army. What people didn’t know was after two semesters I had less than a one-point grade point average. I had done my best to have sex with every available girl in school, and I wasn’t interested in going to class. I knew I was headed for expulsion so I just dropped out and went into the military before I got drafted. What would have surprised friends even more would be the knowledge of what I did in the Army. When I was in school, I was always in the band. I liked being in the band. Besides, I wasn’t really good at any sports. I could run and all, but I wasn’t that fast to play any kind of sports. I was coordinated, but again, not enough to play any team games.

  So for me to end up in a fairly elite group in the military would have stretched their belief. But if the truth be told, I was really just going with the flow. You know, going with the flow… as in you started dating and then you were sleeping together and then maybe living together or at least so close it became assumed you were getting married and then it was happening, it didn’t matter if you were screaming in your head as you walked down the aisle, “Fuck no… Fuck NO… I do not want to get married.” You just got swept along… you went with the flow because it was easy. At least that was my first marriage.

  When you enter the Army, you’re given a battery of tests. The tests given in the morning everybody has to take. The tests in the afternoon you get to keep taking as long as you pass the previous test. Take one test and if you passed, take a break. Take another test and if you passed, come back and take another. It didn’t matter they didn’t let you get to sleep until midnight the night before, and then woke your little ass up at 4:40 the next morning. Let me tell you, it was really tough pulling it together and giving some sort of coherent answer.

  The group of us who were testing kept getting smaller and smaller. Fewer and fewer guys passed each test and as we moved on, we moved to smaller and smaller rooms. Much to my surprise, I was one of those moving on after each test. I just kept going with the flow. Next thing I knew we’re taking the last test of the day. At the end of the day we were allowed to return to the billets and have dinner.

  It was towards the end of basic training when I was called into the company’s duty office. What transpired in the CO’s office I am still not at liberty to discuss, but when basic training was over, I was sent to a school in a place where I never expected to end up, and I was still going with the flow. I was taught a lot of really weird shit and I ended up doing some really spooky things—the things I try and not think about. Again. Just going with the flow.

  After I came back to the States, my story was that I was in the band. I was taught what a bandsman would do in the Army and from that point forward that’s what I said I did for Uncle Sam. For a long time, it worked just fine. Then one day, Price and Hollis showed up in my life and all of a sudden the memories were back. Now they were coming out at times I least expected. Of course sitting on Walter’s deck smoking his killer weed didn’t help keep them at bay either.

  Walter asked, “Are you sure Hollis never said anything to you about Crescent?”

  “Shit, Walter. You know I’d tell you if I remembered anything.” Walter murmured and I continued, “Don’t you think I’ve gone over and over that day up in the tower? But nothing was said about anything called Crescent. I know I was pissed and angry, and I was wounded and maybe not tracking as well as I should have been, but I’d remember that. We were up in the tower and Hollis started calling me names after I shot him. He started talking about how he murdered Blackjack and I ended it. You know he didn’t have any bullets left?” Walter acknowledged that. “I’d do the same thing again. Maybe he wanted to tell me something about Crescent and never had the chance. Dunno, dude. You know I’d tell you if I knew something, right?”

  “Matt, I don’t doubt you in the least. All you’ve done for me and Thien, I trust you completely. It just seems so weird that McNaulty would come out of the woodwork now. Why did Price and Hollis getting killed start him on this?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. It was weird. I looked over at Walter and asked, “Don’t take this wrong, but I could ask you the same question. Have you told me everything you know about Crescent?”

  I watched as Walter slumped deeper into his chair. He lit the pipe and took a long pull. Still holding the smoke, he started to talk, “It’s just a fluke I even know what I do. When we got back from the first visit to the village, I didn’t like the way things were shaping up. I just knew deep down inside it wasn’t what the captain was telling us it was. I can’t tell you what was said, or what made me feel that way. Even today when I think back on the parts I do remember, the one thing that stands out more than anything else are the feelings I had about that mission. It wasn’t what we were being told, it was more like what we weren’t being told.”

  I could hear Thien in the cabin with little Matt and Bean
. From time to time I would hear her talk to him, making baby sounds and laughing. I could tell little Matt was playing with Bean and I could hear sounds of happiness coming from all of them. It made me sad. I think I would have liked to have a wife and children too. I would like to have been sitting on my front porch listening to my wife and son playing with a puppy. But for some reason I was just too independent. I wanted to live my life my way and as much as I would have liked to have had the family and all, I wanted my independence more. I loved Sharon, but after a few days together I started to feel the noose. I could feel it, tighter and tighter until I finally broke. No. A wife and children seemed to work for Walter, but not for me. Bummer!

  As both of us sat staring off into the night, Walter suddenly jumped in his chair, frightening me as he exclaimed, “Fuck! Fuck, fuck. I wonder if…” His voice drifted away.

  “What is it? What happened?” I asked in alarm.

  Walter explained excitedly, “Sorry. But I just recalled something. I think I remember seeing a book. I’m not totally sure, but I think I remember seeing Hollis writing in a book a couple of times. I asked him once what it was and he told me it was none of my business. The problem is I’m just not that sure, but I can close my eyes and I think I see the book in his hands.” Walter closed his eyes. “I remember seeing him sitting at a table, book open and he was writing. I asked him what he was doing and he told me to go away. I asked him again what he was writing and he asked me if I minded if he wrote in his diary.” Walter stared at me. “He told me it was his diary, then told me to fuck off. At the time I thought it was odd. He was the only guy I knew in the whole unit who kept a diary. And of anybody in the unit, he was the least likely. I knew I didn’t want to keep a record of my time over there. When I got back stateside, the last thing I wanted was something to remind me of being in that hellhole.”