A whistling hoot traveled from afar. Bolan's brow furrowed. 'What's that?'
'A railroad runs through the forest,' Nark explained. 'Trains carry ore and lumber from mines and sawmills up north. The maps don't show it. The line was laid down only recently. Guess who owns the railroad?'
'Don't tell me,' said Bolan.
'You guessed,' said Nark.
'Who owns it?' asked Heath.
'Tiger, of course,' said Nark. 'In the Golden Triangle there's hardly anything they don't own. Which is why they've got so much clout with the Thais. They've got the money and they've got the troops. Some people call this a second Taiwan, another Nationalist Chinese republic. Unofficial, of course.' He paused to listen to the distant whistling. 'Must be a lot of elephants on the line.'
The shout sent Bolan and Nark to their feet. A rapidly approaching drone grew in the sky, and a small plane skimmed the treetops. 'Thai army,' said Nark, catching the Pali writing on the fuselage.
'And he's coming back,' said Nark, ears registering a change in the pitch of the engine. 'Everyone under the trees!' he shouted.
It was easier said than done. The noise of the Piper Cub had sent the horses galloping in confusion. The Montagnards were still chasing after them when the spotter made its second pass.
'Now he knows we're here for sure,' said Nark.
Vang Ky ran to them. 'Colonel, we've been discovered!' he cried. 'What do we do?'
'Round up the horses for a start,' Bolan replied, anger in his voice. 'I told you to tie them.'
'I'm sorry, Colonel. I tried to tell them.'
Discipline was not one of the Montagnards' strong points. Everyone did what he wanted, individualism and personal freedom being enshrined traditions. There was not much Bolan could do about that, either. With irregular troops you could not play the disciplinarian; the troops simply went home.
'He must have glided down,' said Heath, 'or we'd have heard him earlier. It's almost as if he knew we were here.'
'He probably did, too,' said Bolan, eyes on the circling spotter.
'How could he know?'
'By the color of the trail.'
'Sorry?'
'An unused trail's yellow,' Bolan explained, 'the ground bleached by the sun. When a lot of men march on a trail they churn the ground back to its original color, terra-cotta. A good spotter will look out for that.'
The headman Ly appeared. 'Colonel, we must do something,' he said. 'The Thais will send troops and will block the trail.'
Bolan nodded, eyes still following the spotter. The plane was unarmed, but that was small consolation. 'Nark! Bring the map.'
They laid the map flat on the ground and Bolan studied it. There were two ways out of the forest: north by the trail and east by a dirt road.
'Does this road still exist?' asked Bolan.
'Yes,' replied Vang Ky. 'But we want to go north. Tiger is to the north.'
'I know,' said Bolan, 'but I propose to give the Thais the idea we're changing directions. I want them to think we're going east. Then, while the Thais are looking for us in the east, we disappear to the north,'
'How can we do this?' asked Ly.
Bolan told him.
A little later fifty Montagnard riders slipped from the main force, heading east. They left in groups of five, keeping close to the trees — away from openings in the canopy — so the Piper would not spot them. All carried machetes in addition to their weapons.
At their head rode Bolan and Heath. The pilot came from New Mexico and was at home in the saddle. Bolan had taken a liking to him; the young man impressed him.
The forest was flat, so they made good time. They came to the dirt road and followed parallel to it, keeping inside the trees. The road crossed the rail line, and eventually they reached the eastern edge of the woods. Ahead was a stretch of open country before the road disappeared into another forest.
They all dismounted, and the Montagnards proceeded to cut down branches that they tied into large bunches using lianas. Bolan inspected the road. The soil was powder dry; there had been no rain since the night after he arrived in Thailand. Perfect.
When everything was ready, Bolan inspected the diversion force. They sat on their horses, rifles on their laps, handkerchiefs over their noses like bandits. Behind each horse was a large bundle of branches attached by a cord to the saddle.
'Remember,' Bolan told them, 'when you shoot, you shoot to miss. If we down that plane, the Thais will send a regiment and we'll never get out.'
Grunts acknowledged this last point.
They checked their radios. Twenty handsets arrived with the arms. Communications always played a big part in Bolan's scheme of things. Then Bolan ran to a spot from which he could observe the entire road.
'Okay, Heath, let's go!' Bolan said into his radio.
A pair of riders galloped out of the forest, down the road and into the next forest, the branches behind them raising dust. The dust hung in midair, as there was hardly any wind.
'Next, 'said Bolan.
A second pair galloped out, this one already partly obscured by the dust. As they went by, the cloud over the road thickened.
'Next.'
On the fifth turn, Nark's voice came on the radio. 'It's working,' he said. 'The Piper's heading your way.'
The spotter flew overhead. A wing dipped as the pilot prepared to investigate this dust cloud to the east. A moment later he was zooming skyward, bracketed by tracers from riders on the road and in the forests. When he reached a safe height he began circling.
'Phoenix to Nark,' Bolan said into the radio. 'He's hooked. Start moving out.'
'On the way,' the other replied.
Now began a tense waiting game, the plane circling, the riders galloping. Occasionally the plane tried to come down for a closer look. And each time it was driven off by gunfire. A closer inspection might have revealed riders galloping both ways.
The radio came to life. It was Nark. 'We hear choppers.' A little later he added, 'Eight helicopters. Heading your way.'
The sky filled with the sound of rotor blades, and the helicopters passed over Bolan's head. They were Sikorskys. They flew far over the forest, the sound faded, and Bolan lost them from view. The plane went on circling, the riders galloped.
'Colonel,' the radio whispered. 'This is Ly in the other forest. I can hear the helicopters land. They are using the clearing. There is a big clearing in the middle.' A little later, 'The helicopters are leaving.'
The Sikorskys reappeared over the forest, flying south this time. In due course the Piper flew off after them and a silence descended on the area. Bolan watched the Piper turn into a dot in the sky.
'Phoenix to Mr. Ly,' said Bolan into the radio. 'Return.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Phoenix to Nark. Where are you?'
'Couple of klicks from the northern edge,' Nark replied. 'But Major Vang Ky is already at the edge with the point team.'
'Phoenix to Major Vang Ky. What's the terrain like?'
