Shadows of War

“Call,” she told him. “Then wake up M?. We’ll meet them near the reserve.”

“Let’s let her sleep. I’ll just carry her.”

“It’s a couple of miles.”

“She needs to rest,” he said, handing over the phone after punching the emergency number.

“I can’t hear anyone.”

“No, you just talk. That’s how we’ve done it. He calls back.”

“This town is too crowded. We’re going to the place where Jimmy and I slept,” said Mara, trying to word the message in a way that would confuse the Chinese. “Tell the Million Dollar Man we’ll meet where the devil played.”

She clicked off the phone and followed Josh out of the barn.

* * *

There was no identification in the dead man’s clothes, and while there were papers in the truck, they were in the glove compartment and probably belonged to the truck’s owner, not necessarily the driver.

The tiger had eaten a good portion of the man’s face, along with much of his torso and legs. Jing Yo thought there was a very good possibility there was another animal nearby, though if so it hadn’t shown itself.

The mauling made the men jumpy, and so Jing Yo decided they would bug out as soon as possible. He had Ai Gua fetch a body bag from the helicopters, which were idling in the nearby field. The private looked pale when he returned, clearly not relishing the task.

“We will do it together,” said Jing Yo. “It is an act that must be performed.”

He remembered the first time he had touched a dead man — Brother Fo, an older member of the monastery who had died in his sleep the night before Jing Yo arrived. Jing Yo had helped another monk remove the body from his cell. Seeing his discomfort, the other man had explained the necessary cycle of all things, how death fit into the cycle. When his training was done, said the monk, he would no longer fear death.

Another monk in the hall overheard them. As they passed out, he whispered to Jing Yo, “For some of us, training never ends.”

He meant that among even the most devout, death was never fully accepted. It was a lesson Jing Yo valued greatly, but it was not a story to share with Ai Gua.

They completed their task quickly. Remains packed in the helicopter, they took off, Jing Yo once more in the helicopter with the IR sensors.

The operators were just beginning their recalibration routine when a message came in from division intelligence. “The scientist’s cell phone has been active again,” said the major relaying the information. “Very close to your position. We have the coordinates.”

Even as he transferred them to the GPS, Jing Yo realized they were at the village they had flown over earlier.

24

Northern Vietnam

Zeus and Christian didn’t find out that the SEALs’ plane had been delayed until an hour after they had arrived at the rendezvous point just north of Tuyen Quang. Christian, who hadn’t said much the entire ride, cursed as soon as he put the satcom radio down.

The stinking Navy, he said, could never get anything right.

“It was probably the Air Force,” said Zeus. “They fly the planes.”

“Whatever. Now we have to sit in this damn truck for another four hours at least.”

“We can go back and check out the town.”

“Give me a break.”

“It didn’t look that bad.”

“Yeah, for Vietnam. It’s not like there was a McDonald’s on the edge of town.”

“Maybe a little restaurant.”

“Hell, Zeus, we went right down Main Street. There was no place open. And I wouldn’t have trusted them if they were.”

Zeus took out his map. They were roughly 140 miles from the province where the SEALs were going to land; that was nearly ten hours of biking, maybe more, since they’d be going over the mountains. The delay meant that they’d have to do a lot of it during the day.

Not a great idea.

“Maybe we should get closer to where they’re going to land,” suggested Zeus. “At least get into the mountains there.”

“Where?”

“The Con Voi range.”

“That close to the Chinese?” said Christian, his voice rising an octave.

“They’re not that far south or east.”

“You’re out of your idiot mind.”

Zeus sighed and began folding the map back up.

“You think just because you served in Special Forces that you’re Mr. Gung Ho,” said Christian. “And that you’re a goddamn genius.”

“I don’t think I’m a genius.”

“Perry does. Which is what counts, right?”

Zeus shrugged.

“You better tell them what the hell we’re doing,” said Christian, starting the truck.

25

Northern Vietnam

They walked along the road, staying on the shoulder and moving as quickly as they could. Mara, in the lead and holding the rifle, had to concentrate to see the path ahead. The clouds had thickened and the night was dark; it was hard to see more than a stride or two ahead.

“Can you hold up a bit?” said Josh.

“You want me to take her?” asked Mara, turning around.

“No, just slow down. She’s still sleeping. Kid must be exhausted.”

He walked up next to her, his shoulder brushing against hers. “Okay,” he said.

“Come on,” said Mara, hooking her arm through his. “We’ll walk together.”

They walked together in silence for a few minutes before Mara asked if M? was getting heavy.

“It’s all right,” he told her.

“That was a hell of a story she told.”

“What’s going to happen to her?”

“I don’t know,” said Mara. “They’ll probably try and find a relative. When it’s all over.”

“Might be going on a long time.”

Not the way things are going, Mara thought, but she kept that to herself.

“How long can the Vietnamese hold out?” Josh asked.

“I don’t know. Watch the curve coming up.”

They walked in silence again for a few minutes.

“What was it you said about where the devil played?” asked Josh. “The message was confusing.”

“The person I was talking to is a Charlie Daniels fan. We were talking about a song just before I came here. He knows that means a crossroad. At least I hope he does.”