by Barry Sadler
A skyhook, he thought. That's what it is. A skyhook! I saw pictures in China of this operation. That was how they intended to make their escape. He turned to his men.
"Quickly, you dogs! Quickly! They must not escape me."
He whipped his men onward, to the area of the balloon through the oncoming shadows that night would be on them soon. His point man sent word back that he could now see the clearing. One of his men, shortly upon their arrival in the now desolate area, yelled to his commander that he'd found something. Lon headed in his direction, just able to see his man standing over a bundle. As he hurried, he yelled a warning to the soldier not to touch anything. Before the yell had cleared his lips, the man had already bent down, reached inside, and raised the dim mass. Lon's warning was too late. He watched as the curious Khmer Rouge soldier disappeared in a blinding flash of helium fire, ignited by the grenade that had been placed in position beneath the bundle and under the tank. Its handle had been set to go off if the tank was moved at all, releasing the awesome explosion and devastating blast that would destroy anything in its range.
Lon fell to the ground immediately, covering his face. Gradually he raised his eyes, feeling the intense heat emitted by the blast that had turned the soldier to charred ruins.
He raised himself from the ground and ordered his men to beat out the grass fire. Going over to the seared body of his man, he kicked the remains several times, cursing the ignorant peasants he was forced to serve and contend with. The fire was extinguished by the time his anger was vented on the burned and blackened corpse.
His trackers pointed the way, and he urged his men after their quarry. Night fell suddenly and completely. He cursed his luck. There was nothing darker than the jungle at night.
Moving south, according to his compass, Casey kept his people going for several more hours. Casey was tired as hell and knew that the others had to be also. He stopped for a brief interval to see how the women of his group were faring. In the darkness, he bumped into Yu Li. This time he did not back away. Neither did she.
"How are you doing? Do you need rest yet?" His voice was almost a whisper yet seemed loud in the jungle stillness.
"No," she whispered, "but soon my mother will."
Casey could read the concern in her voice for her mother. He liked that. There was nothing like the respect the Orientals held for their kin.
"Don't worry, little one. If we must, I'll have the men take turns carrying her. We will leave no one behind."
Yu Li drew herself erect, proudly determined. "Little one is what you call children. I am no child."
Her direct look and defiance made him swallow, half choking. He composed himself and chuckled.
"You're right there, Yu Li. You're certainly no child."
George turned the position of point man over to one of Phang's young Kamserai, giving him a few words of advice that the soldier promptly ignored. They moved on through the night, with brush and vines whipping at their faces and arms. You can't fight the jungle, Casey thought. You either move with it or wear yourself out. Flowing with the show, not fighting the land and its lay, they weaved and twisted, bent and crawled, until Casey finally called a halt to their march near a small stream.
"One hour," he told them all. "Sleep if you possibly can. I will take first watch on our back trail. Van, you take the front. Go out about fifty meters only. Come back in close as we start to move out."
Van nodded in agreement. Hoisting his HK G-3, he faded into the shadows and vanished quickly from their view.
Huan was comforting his wife, assuring her that their children were in good hands and safe. Yu Li headed for the stream to get them some water. No one had to tell the Cambodian mercenaries not to smoke or make noise. Phang had trained them well. Each of the men settled into his own private world and thoughts. Some went to sleep instantly, and others spent the time repairing rips in their clothing or mending damaged gear. A few ate cold balls of rice slowly, as exhausted men will do.
All of them had run hard that day. From the time of the first grenades up to now, none had slowed. The rest that any of them had enjoyed had been little
Casey went back the way they had come. About fifty meters to their rear he sat down, his back resting against a tree. Removing his camouflage cap, he used it to wipe the sweat from his face. He took the lid off his canteen and took a long pull of the warm water. He rinsed his mouth, spat it out, took another, and swallowed. He poured some of the water into his hat, using it as a rag to wash his face and chest, enjoying its freshness. Though warm, the water cooled him as it mingled with the perspiration. His body gave a slight shiver as the liquid ran down the hairs of his chest and soaked the shirt at his waist. Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he settled into himself, trying to plan ahead.
Of all the damned luck, he thought. They'd almost made it. What were the damned Khmer troops doing in this area in the first place? Phang had told him there was no reason for them to be this far out. Their only mission could have been looking for us. Somehow they knew we were coming. How? Who gives a damn how? They had to get out. Get out. Get out or die; and it was a long way out if they didn't arrange a pickup some way or another and find some damned place away from here.
A small crackling sound, maybe a branch snapping beneath someone's weight, jerked Casey to instant alertness. The Swedish "K" he carried swung automatically around to the direction of the sound.
"It is me," came a small voice. "Yu Li." She approached him on her knees, her hands feeling the way through the darkness until she touched him.
"What is it, damn it?" he hissed. "What are you doing out here?"
"Hold your temper, big nose. I bring you food." Pulling herself alongside him, she handed him a cloth. Inside was rice and sardines, along with the ever present nuoc nam sauce for spicing the food. He grunted in acceptance and ate, chewing slowly and noiselessly. She watched, waiting until he was finished and then placing the cloth back inside her clothing. She raised herself until her eyes were level with his. Casey thanked her for the food, smiling.
Yu Li spoke, her eyes unwavering: "I'm going to take good care of you. I will not have a man who is weak. You must eat and keep up your strength."
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Casey snapped in a whisper, starting to rise. Yu Li's hands fell on his big shoulders, forcing him back to his seat. "Sh! Hold your voice down, big nose. I made up my mind when you first came to our cave. You would be my man, and I saw in your eyes that you wanted me also. Good! So be it. I will have you, and you shall have me."
Casey started to respond to her statement, but protest was impossible. Her mouth covered his, molding itself to his lips. A long sweet blending, her tongue sugary and serpentlike, slithering into his mouth, searching out its depths. He seemed to breathe her in, his arms reaching to pull her to him, but she slipped from his arms easily.
"Not now, ugly one. Later!"
She faded back into the dark of the jungle, back to the rest area, leaving him there in a state of near shock. Damn, he thought. I feel like something has been pulled out of me. The little bitch means it. She wants me and means to have me. Shit! If that kiss was any indication of things to come, she might get her way.
Their hour of rest was over. He returned to the camp area, rounding them all up and counting. They moved to the south and arrived at the edge of a swamp at about dawn.
Casey waved Van over, and they approached Phang. "Do you know this place," Casey asked the old man. "I have been here before, Casey, but no man knows it very well. It runs for many miles in many directions." "Can we hide in it?" Casey demanded.
"Oh, yes, young one. Many have hidden in these wetlands. Perhaps many still do."
Casey thought about it for a moment before speaking. He put his hand to his jaw pensively. "Phang, what do you think? Should we lay up here for a while? It looks to me like it may be a good place to lose those mothers behind us."
Phang agreed. "Yes, it would be hard for them to know which way we went
in these swampy lands. Perhaps it would do us no harm at all to rest here and wait for night to cover us."
The three of them turned, walking back to the others. Casey snapped his orders to them all, with Phang echoing the American's words in translation.
"Okay, everybody into the water. We'll go in for a mile or so, then cut over to the west and find a place to lay up for the night. We can all use the rest, and we should be safe."
In Casey's opinion, Huan's wife seemed to have caught her second wind. She was moving fast and doing nicely, close beside her man. Huan was helping her whenever she faltered, smiling encouragement as they treaded through the water and slime of the swamp. Yu Li was close by Casey's side, grabbing his arm at times. He caught Huan's eye on him once, and Huan shrugged knowingly, as if to say, "What can I do? You're a trapped man." Casey grinned back weakly.
George and Van were not slow to notice what was going on between him and the girl, and they deliberately let their conversation run to the proper care and beating of women. He chose to ignore their quips, knowing that to respond would only urge them on to greater efforts.
The going was relatively easy at first. Then the mud, black and stinking, began to build up on their feet. Great black lumps clung to them, growing ever heavier and more burdensome. The stench was from thousands of tiny plants, animals, and insects that had died, trapped in the mud to decay, the gases from their bodies forming small pockets by the thousands, breaking open and releasing their foul odors with every step of the invaders, filling their noses with the putrid smell of death and rot, releasing their odious contents to rest in the throats of the thoughtless and careless intruders in this land of no man.
About 1000 hours they located a hummock, raised from the ground level of the swampy fen. It seemed reasonably dry underfoot. Casey turned to them all, smiling.
"Okay, troops. This is the place. We camp here. Phang, I think you can let your boys make some small fires and cook us a meal. Have them make enough to last through the night, too."
"Very good, my son."
Phang passed permission to build fires, and in less than a minute's time, small wisps of smoke were mingling with what seemed to be a permanent condition of low fog, hanging in the trees. Most of the trees had leaves and foliage only on their upper branches. What the Americans would call Spanish moss and the Spanish would call French moss hung in ghostlike strings from trees that resembled the cypresses found in the Florida everglades. A number of snakes found their way into the camp area, making their presence known to the intruders. To their immediate determent, they became a portion of the noon meal.
After their poor but sufficient feast, all of them spent a great deal of time scraping an unbelievable amount of mud from their footwear. Casey instructed George to have them all clean their weapons before resting and to make very sure that sentries were out and alert. He doubted that Phang's men would be slack in their duties, but it never hurt to double check. The Khmer Rouge were not fools and possibly were already on their trail and closing fast.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Casey had no way of knowing how correct his thoughts were. Lon and his men were resting at the same spot where their prey had entered the waters of the swamp.
Souvang reported to his colonel. "Master, they have gone into the swamp. Do we follow?"
"Do we follow? Of course we follow, you fool! Do you think I have endured all we've gone through just to give up the hunt at this point? Do you honestly think I would chance losing them now? Get the men on their worthless feet!"
Lon's men entered the stagnant waters uneasily. Most of them, like Lon, were not born to the jungle. What lay in store for them must be learned by experiencing it. The old hands, the ones who'd been raised in these forsaken lands, could not have told them anything that would have given them. the slightest comfort as far as these water were concerned. Bad, that's what the waters were. Bad!
But they feared the wrath of their commander more than what lay in wait ahead. They entered and followed him, with the Meo casting about for any signs of passage. It took some time, but even in this maze of mud and slime, the Meo followed the nearly invisible spoor of their prey.
A slight discoloration of the water, where small dead leaves and insects floated, showed that someone or something had passed this place or that. Another gave them direction, and they followed, slowly but surely, each clogging step taking them ever closer. They followed, with Lon relentless in his determination to overtake them.
Casey's party rested, holding their weapons to their chests like spears even as they slept. Casey opened his eyes to find his jungle boots sitting beside him, spotlessly clean, with no trace of mud or slime. All of his other gear had been treated, the same, right down to his holster. He'd taken it off before falling asleep, content that the Swedish "K" was propped on his belly, his hand on the grip, ready for use.
Yu Li had proclaimed to all that he was hers. She knelt before him now. Somehow, he noticed, she had managed to clean herself. Even her nails were spotlessly clean.
"Eat," she said, holding a bowl of rice to his face. As soon as he started to protest, she stuffed his mouth full of rice. "Eat, big nose. Do not talk! Eat and keep up your strength."
Casey sputtered and swallowed. "All right, damn it to hell!" he bellowed in a low voice, "maybe you're right. But even if you are, I am the boss. You will do as I say, or I'll turn you over my knee and spank that pretty little ass of yours until it looks like sunset. Do you understand me, woman?"
Yu Li bowed her head, looking pleased at his outburst. "Yes, I understand. You are the master. I am sorry if I have offended you. If you wish, you may beat me now."
Casey grunted, confused by her quick acceptance of his demands. "No, not right now. But go and fetch Phang. Bring him to me."
"Yes, my master." Yu Li bowed deeply and left him.
Huan watched them until his daughter had left. He approached the American who'd come to save them.
"Ah, my young friend, it is indeed serious. Never have I seen her submit to anyone or anything. You are in a lot of trouble. A word of wisdom from one who has much experience with this she-devil child. The next time she offers for you to beat her, do it. You will understand why I tell you this afterward." Huan left him there, a father shaking his head in sympathy for the man who had gained his daughter's affection.
Why in the hell, Casey thought, couldn't they all mind their own damned business? They were all turning this into a thing he didn't want to happen. Yet it was happening. He could feel it, not only in his loins but in his heart. And it was no damned good, especially for her. He remembered the others he'd loved, the ones who had found affection for Casca, and he for them. He'd loved them all. He'd outlived them all, and he'd lost them all to a thing called time. Time was something that he'd always had plenty of, but it was a bastardly thing that they couldn't share, and it was no use to pretend that it would be any different this time. Phang knelt beside him, bringing him out of his reverie.
"Yes, young lover of Chinese girls, what is it you bade of me? My wisdom in the handling of women perhaps?"
"Knock that crap off, Phang, you old degenerate. The question is this: How do we get out of this damned place?"
Phang pointed slowly to the west and then moved his hand in the direction of the east. "Take your pick, young one."
Casey pointed to the west. "At least we'll be out of this hummock for a while. Farther west will put us closer to the vector of the aircraft when it returns." He rose, stretching.
Once more, they all took their individual positions for the march and snaked their way through the cypress like trees. All day they marched, waging war with the uncountable swarms of insects. Mosquitoes and jungle ticks were doing their best to devour them. Phang and his men doused themselves liberally with repellent from their survival kits. Casey gave his repellent to Yu Li, since her eyes were asking why the insects refused to bite him. The act of their avoiding him puzzled her greatly but only reminded Casca or Casey. Sometimes he
forgot about the time he'd been tied to the tidal stakes at Helsfjord in northern Scandinavia. He grinned now, remembering how the crabs had slithered sideways, nipping at his legs and just as quickly moving off, refusing to taste further. Even the fish and a cruising shark drawn by the blood caused by the crab bites had refused to make a meal of him. Flesh and blood cursed by the Jew, Jesus, at Golgotha was evidently not worth feeding on. And so it was with the mosquitoes and ticks here today.
He commented to Yu Li and the others who'd noticed it that he was too mean to bite; his skin was too tough to penetrate. None of them had been convinced, he thought.
Van and George shared their repellent with Yu Li's parents. The hours passed, and then, between the trees, rising like a mirage, covered with vines and ground growth, a tiered temple, of the kind built by Khmer kings six hundred years ago, found at Angor Wat, suddenly loomed ahead. This one was old, showing centuries of neglect.
The Kamserai were silent as they approached the temple. The ground fog swirled around it, rising higher. There was no fog on the ground now; it hung above their heads thirty or forty feet, like a cloud, obscuring the sky from their view. Unless one had a watch on his arm, Casey thought, it would be impossible to tell whether it was night or day.
"Okay," he yelled. "We rest here for a while. Van, take a couple of Phang's men and check out the building. The rest of you find positions and take a break. No fires," he added, "but you can smoke." Phang made the translation to the rest, adding a few orders of his own.
A temple, Casey reckoned. He'd heard many stories and read of people finding things like this. He wished he had a camera. Yu Li came beside him, putting her small hand in his. Casey froze for a moment. If he rejected her now, there would only be the immediate pain to suffer. He couldn't find the strength to do it. Slowly, his fingers closed lightly around hers. An agreement was reached between them without a word being spoken. Yu Li was his woman now, and all knew it. He knew that he would live to regret it.