Soldier of Fortune

by Barry Sadler

  He bent down, peering through the hole in the wall. Looking in, he saw the small tunnel Phang had passed through. This had to be the way out that he'd mentioned. Putting himself into the passage, he followed it to its end. He studied it for only moments before deciding, like Phang, that this was their way out.

  Tearing out the blocking stones and growths of centuries past, he stuck his head out into the night, breathing deeply of the cooler air, fresh compared with the stale air of the tube he'd just passed through.

  Drawing back, he re-entered the chamber he'd just left and went directly to Yu Li. Somehow he'd almost forgotten that her father, Huan, was in charge of the family. Now that she was his woman, it seemed natural that she should be second in command. He'd change that outside. He didn't wish to offend her old man. That was easy to do with Orientals.

  "We've found our ticket out of this hellhole." He could see she hadn't understood the use of "ticket." He broke it all down in somewhat better English, telling her what they must do.

  Yu Li had moved back to care for Phang, and Casey could see that he was starting to come around. He said aloud to the girl, "God, he's a tough old bird." He looked down at Phang, speaking softly. "How are you, my father?"

  "Your father? Is that what it is now? I am so desperate that I must have a big nosed, round eye for a son? Ha. Your father! May Buddha and all the holy ones have mercy on me if that sad condition is true."

  Casey chuckled. "Yeah, I see you're all right, you old bastard. You're too mean to die."

  Phang grunted. "That's better. Now I know you. You're Casey Romain. The one with little respect."

  "I found your hand, Phang. Do you want it?"

  "No." He sighed. "It belongs to the snake now. Leave it to him."

  "Good enough," Casey replied. "I found your exit. Are you well enough to travel?"

  Phang nodded. "If I am not, leave me here."

  "Not on your life, old man, and I mean that. We came together, and while there's a chance for any of us, we leave together. In the meantime, eat these." He handed Phang four tetracycline tablets from his first aid kit and gave the bottle containing the rest to Yu Li. "Give him two of these every four hours until there are no more."

  Leaving Yu Li to tend to Phang, he returned to Van and George, informing them of the opening that Phang had found.

  "We will try and hold them here at this door until later in the night. Then, when they seem to have settled down, we will leave quietly. I think we'll be able to hold them for a while. So far, we've hurt them pretty bad while losing none of our own. There's only one way in, so periodically toss a couple of rounds in their direction to keep their heads down."

  George nodded and fired two great thumping shots down the narrow hallway. The echo, bouncing off the chamber walls, made it sound like a small cannon had just gone off.

  "That should keep them down for a time, Trung Si." He rolled over and fell asleep after telling Van to take watch. George never failed to amaze Casey, or Van either for that matter. The bastards could sleep anywhere under any condition.

  Right now, he thought, it looks like a Mexican standoff. They're out there, and we're in here. There's only one way in for them, and they think there's only one way out for us. I've got news for the commie bastards. If they'll refrain from attacking before dawn, there won't be a damned thing for them to attack. He went to check on Phang's condition, or was it because he wanted to be near Yu Li? He wasn't sure.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Lon and his men rested in the outer chamber. The men were feeling a certain amount of pride at taking this small portion of the temple. They were resting and taking care of their wounds. Lon was pissed, not at his losses but at the fact that this mission, though seeming relatively simple at the outset, had turned into a full scale police action.

  He dismissed it from his mind, contemplating their immediate problem. So they have a machine gun? That altered the situation slightly, but he still had the upper hand. He would let his men rest, and then, shortly before dawn, when it was darkest, he would throw one last heavy attack into the room where they waited. They would not come out; of that he was certain. But he had enough troops to afford a number of casualties, and so they would wait and rest, as the foe was evidently doing. But their time was being wasted; the enemy. They had nowhere to go.

  He went to a corner, had his aide lay out a blanket, curled up, and slept. But not before leaving orders that he was to be awakened at 5 A.M. sharp.

  Casey waited also, not for the attack but for the hour when it would be darkest. Then they would make their escape. He went to one corner of the room and lay down behind a pile of fallen square cut stones, laying his poncho and liner out and placing his head against the rocks. He closed his eyes. His mind was drifting away, when suddenly he felt a warmness beside him. Before he opened his eyes or could speak, Yu Li had picked up the poncho liner and covered them both with it. Still not speaking, she undid his trousers and deftly removed her own clothing without disturbing the liner covering them. Silently she moved closer to him, letting her skin rest on his. She put her mouth to his ear.

  "You are my man, and I want to give you that which I have never given any man before you."

  He pulled himself into a sitting position as Yu Li slid sideways to straddle his legs. Putting her hand between his legs, she grasped his manhood and gently placed him inside her moistness, just past the lips of her vagina.

  He resisted the urge to thrust deep, holding back, feeling a strange excruciating pleasure in doing so. He knew that to penetrate her virginity by thrust would be painful. Taking a deep breath and relaxing, he put his arms about her and held her close until the initial sexual high had passed. Then he settled down, no longer feeling like he would burst inside.

  Yu Li seemed to know that the initial crisis had passed. She moved herself slightly, adjusting her position, and gently moved herself down the full length of his throbbing muscle. She felt a sharp burning pain as her hymen broke and then an unfamiliar moistness inside. She lay still.

  He didn't move, knowing what had happened. He must give her time. Then, as if on cue, they began to move together, their hips rotating in ever widening small circles, thrusting as one and then stopping for a moment.

  He gave her all the time she needed to adjust herself to this new invasion. He felt her right leg move up and back, around his waist, resting at the base of his spine. Her hips began to move with long sucking thrusts, pulling him forward and back, until he finally joined in a rhythm that grew stronger with each penetration, until Yu Li gave a long low cry under her breath and he felt a deep shudder of relief run its course through her body. He knew she had finished. She was complete now.

  He moved her off him gently, the weight of her easy to hoist and lay aside. Bending over her, he took one and then the other of her golden breasts into his mouth, kissing and sucking the nipples until they grew hard and eager for more. She threw her arms around him and held him tight, sobbing, holding him close, sweat dripping from her forehead, hair like a black cloud covering them both. She slept.

  Damn, he thought, if those bastards out there had hit us a moment ago, I wouldn't even have noticed.

  Waiting until Yu Li's breathing told him she was under, he bent to kiss her warm lips and then rose, arranging his clothes once again. This damned sure isn't in the military manuals, he thought, but it is good enough.

  Yu Li snuggled into the warmth of the poncho liner, putting her face into the nylon, where she could still smell his body. She smiled a secret smile that only another woman could understand and fell asleep once again.

  Casey moved to Van by the entrance. Van smiled at him, showing even white teeth. Casey pointed his finger at him.

  "Van, this is one time I will not tolerate any damned wisecracks from you. Understand?"

  Van nodded in agreement. "Of course, I understand, old boy. What do you think I am, an uncivilized savage? I was educated at Eton, remember? That puts me at least three rungs higher than you on the
sensitivity ladder." Not giving Casey a chance to respond, Van asked, "When do we leave?"

  "Soon! We'll give everyone a chance to rest. We may not get any more for a while. You take it easy and get some pak time. A siesta won't do you any harm, son. I'll cover things here for a bit; then we'll move 'em out."

  Van moved over by George and in less than a minute's time was softly snoring. Casey smiled. Damn! They were good men. A warm feeling seemed to grab him. Maybe it was left over from Yu Li, but he felt exceptionally friendly and concerned for his friends tonight.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  It was quiet; the time was now. He moved quickly, waking his two men first and instructing them to rouse the Kamserai troops of Phang and prepare them to move out. Two of the Kams, healthy, stout looking soldiers, were ordered to look after old Phang. Then he went personally to Phang's side and woke him.

  "Old friend, it is time to leave. You go first."

  Casey led them a short way through the temple, showing them the exit and telling them to go on ahead with Phang and the family. He and his two boys would follow shortly. He watched as they all crawled, winding their way through the tunnel and out into the open air, carrying their chief and then returning for Huan and Yu Li's mother. Casey went then to Van, instructing him to personally take care of Yu Li. Van started to protest but hesitated when he saw the steel determination in Casey's eyes.

  Now there were only two remaining he and George. Lon picked that exact moment to attack. Casey heard the sound of running feet in the hall, leading toward the room where he and George waited. Without hesitation, he turned the MG 34 to the hall and cut loose a long burst, moving the weapon deftly from side to side, laying down an impenetrable wall of small missiles. George stood beside him, losing one bursting round after another into the hallway. The ear shattering echo of their weapons was answered by the wailing screams of agony from the mouths of wounded and dying Khmer Rouge soldiers.

  Casey's gun ran through a belt of fifty rounds. While George covered him, he reloaded. The Khmer were still coming, and as far as he was concerned, their return fire was getting too damned close for comfort. He could hear Lon urging his men on as he and George moved back toward the hole. Casey followed George into it and stopped firing, giving his man a chance to clear the tunnel. He could hear the Khmer soldiers running as they frantically searched the empty chambers, trying to locate them. The firing had stopped, and they were confused. But they were gradually getting oriented and had filled the room they'd just vacated. George yelled at him to hurry and join them outside.

  Reaching into his jacket pocket, he removed a long gray object. It resembled a spray can of insecticide somewhat, but he knew that it was infinitely more deadly. A white phosphorus grenade could do a lot of damage anywhere, let alone inside a chamber such as the one he'd just left, packed tightly now with blind and groping combat troops.

  Reaching into his other pocket, he removed another of the deadly grenades. He pulled the cotter-like retaining pins, holding the hammers down, waiting until the sounds told him that the room was jammed with men. Now! He tossed the two instruments of destruction into the room, one to the right and one to the left, spinning around. He'd better get his ass out of the area fast.

  Before he reached the end of the tunnel, the WP grenades went off, ear splitting, sending thousands of pieces of white burning death streaming throughout the room. For a second, the entire room was illuminated as if a huge flashbulb had exploded, freezing the Khmer soldiers in a variety of positions. Then the white death began reaching out for them in the enclosed area of the chamber. White phosphorus that burned as long as there was air to hit it. Large pieces burned their way into and through the soft, vulnerable flesh of several men's bodies and dropped onto the floor, still glowing white.

  The battle wise ones quickly covered the white burning specks with dirt anything to keep the air from getting to the phosphorus particles. The young had to suffer until the older men could come to their aid. When it was over, eight of Lon's men had been killed by the grenades. An additional nine were wounded from the phosphorus and would be unable to continue the chase. Another eight had been riddled to pieces by the fire from Casey and George's weapons in the hallway.

  Lon was not a happy man when he located the escape route they had taken. For once disregarding his own safety, he threw himself into the tunnel and crawled through and out into the air. He ran to the edge of the swamp. Raising his AK-47, he snapped off one shot at a distant fleeing figure. The shadow of the figure dropped suddenly. Good, he thought. One for my side.

  On his return trip through the snakelike tunnel, he was in less of a hurry. As he entered the chamber, he spotted the remains of Phang's man who had been downed by the snake and Phang's hand still grasping the head. That ought to slow them down a little, he figured. Gathering his men into some semblance of order, leaving the wounded to their own devices, he again set out in pursuit of his quarry.

  Dawn found both parties wading through waist deep water. Fog, forming from the cooler water meeting the warming air, nestled about their waists.

  Casey counted. Out of the ten men Phang had with him at the outset, there were now seven. Two had been killed, and one was unaccounted for.

  George had heard a familiar noise several hours before but had said nothing to anyone. He knew the sound well. An Indochinese crocodile had made a kill. The gurgling, whishing sound had been the croc spinning itself around in the water, trying to tear bite size pieces off its latest kill. What it could not eat now it would carry back to its lair under a mud island and wait for it to decay. It would be easier to eat then. Casey had noted that one of Phang's men was missing. He had to be the croc's meal. George shuddered. That was a hell of a way for a man to die. He continued to march.

  All that day and all night they waded, occasionally finding some semi-dry land to walk on for a while. But the scout they had placed at their rear would always come running at the moment they decided to try to rest, saying that the Khmer were close behind. They had to keep moving.

  The killing pace began to take its toll on the women and on old Phang, wounded as he was. Casey took Yu Li under his arm and helped her forward, counting each step, assuring her that they would be out of the swamp soon. Huan helped his wife, and the Kamserai took turns aiding their chief. They all kept moving, taking one clogging, mud sucking step at a time. Finally, when they were all certain they could go no farther, Casey's promise, that they'd soon be out came true. He looked down at his feet and realized that he'd been walking on dry ground for some time without knowing it. Not damp ground but land that was completely and thoroughly dry. They were out of the swamp. He couldn't believe it. He must have been in a, stupor and unaware that he had been. He shook his head to clear it and slowly let Yu Li slide down his arm until she touched the ground.

  Casey called to George, not loud, more a harsh whisper. "Take a couple of the Kamserai and fix a Malay gate for our friends behind us, son."

  George grunted. The closest he ever came to an expression of pleasure was just then, Casey thought. George sat about gathering the help he needed in preparing the gate to Casey's specifications. He'd done them before; and he knew how his main man liked them set.

  A wooden log with sharpened stakes tied across its width so that when the rope, or trip wire, was sprung, the log bar would swing down and the stakes would strike whoever had tripped the trap, embedding the stakes deep in the chest or stomach, depending on the person's height. It wasn't pleasant to think about, but George enjoyed preparing it. It took a mere fifteen minutes to set up and was usually well worth the effort in casualties.

  Casey knew that Yu Li and her kin, especially her mother, needed this well-deserved rest period. He was glad to offer it to them, though he dreaded the results of the wasted time.

  He walked over to where the two Kamserai warriors had placed Phang on the ground. The old man was hanging on like a trooper but didn't look good to Casey.

  "Old one, it is time for us to part comp
any. I'm going to send you and your men back into the swamp. You can exit somewhere on the other side, and your men can take you home. You've all done more than your share. Me and my two boys can take it the rest of the way now. We're only a couple of hours away from the Kampot River. When we get there, we'll grab a junk sampan and head for the coast."

  Phang grunted in protest, but Casey shook his head. "No, Phang, you could do us no more good there, especially in your condition now. You belong in the woods with your people."

  Phang started to complain again, weak but determined. Casey wouldn't hear it. He knelt down closer to the old warrior, tasting salty tears at the corner of his mouth as he hugged his aged friend gently.

  "Long life and many sons for you, Chief of the Kamserai."

  Casey's Adam's apple threatened to choke him as he spoke. He motioned for the warriors to take their chief back the way they'd just come. Back into the swamp, knowing that his pursuers would more than likely follow the signs that would lead them to the party accompanying the women, away from Phang and his men. The old one and his troops would be safe.

  They moved out, leaving Casey and his small party alone. Phang's eyes were dim but still alert yet clouded with real regret at leaving his American warrior friend.

  Casey turned determinedly to his two man squad, grinning. "Well, gentlemen, it looks like we're all that's left now. Let's move out. Check your weapons while we move."

  They did as he instructed, cleaning the muck and scum from the working parts of their arms, making them as battle ready as possible without breaking them down completely.

  They re-entered the jungle of the lowlands. They were in the basin country of Cambodia now, only a few feet above sea level, winding and twisting their way, each taking a turn at the point position. Casey occasionally caught Yu Li's eye, and the memory of the events of the previous evening flashed on him again, despite his fatigue.