Edge of War

The proprietor pretended to look at the phones again, then upped his offer to two hundred thousand dong.

“No,” said Mara loudly, this time using English. She turned to leave the store.

“Wait, wait, lady,” said a woman, rushing from the back room. She spoke in English. “Don’t worry about husband. Eels for brains.”

Mara showed her the phones impatiently. The woman turned them over, looking at them as if they were pieces of jewelry. She flicked one on.

“These active,” said the woman.

“I figured you’d take care of getting new accounts,” said Mara.

“Without accounts they’re worthless,” said the man in Vietnamese.

“You just have to reprogram them,” snapped Mara in English. “I know that happens all the time.”

What actually happened all the time — and what Mara was counting on — was that the phones would be used on the existing accounts until the phone company finally got around to shutting them off. That could be days if not weeks. Of course, stating that explicitly meant acknowledging that the phones were stolen.

The store owners didn’t just suspect the phones were stolen; they were counting on it. But if Mara said that, they wouldn’t take them.

The wile looked at her. “Five hundred thousand dong.”

“One million dong each.”

Mara pushed the phones into the woman’s hands. The woman tried to give them back. The man behind the counter harangued her for interfering.

“Eight hundred thousand,” said Mara, speaking Vietnamese. “The account is good.”

They settled on seven hundred and fifty, with the woman throwing in a sling bag Mara decided she could use for her gun. Once the money changed hands, the man became gracious, insisting on giving Mara a bottle of water. He would have tried selling her the rug if she hadn’t left abruptly.

* * *

Mara had expected the trains south to be packed, but the station was almost empty when she arrived. Kerfer, Josh, and the others were huddled at the far end of the large room, camped out around a dozen of the light blue chairs. They’d bought some civilian luggage, and used them to stow their weapons and other gear. The SEALs had even found some new clothes and a doll for M?. She held the doll in her arms, rocking it gently and humming to it as she leaned against Josh.

“I’m assuming you have some sort of plan,” said Kerfer when she arrived. All six of his men — Eric, Little Joe, Stevens, Jenkins, Mancho, and Silvestri — were sprawled nearby.

“Are the trains still running?” Mara asked.

“You sent us here without knowing?”

“They were running this morning,” she said defensively.

Kerfer made a face. Mara went over to the ticket stand, a small podium-style desk near the door. The clerk assured her that the full schedule of trains was operating. She asked for tickets for Hai Phong — the cheapest trip available — and tried to pay with her credit card. The clerk told her that they were accepting only cash. She tried to use dongs but he would only take dollars, greatly depleting her supply.

Josh sat on the chair, his head hanging down about midway over his knees. His face looked even whiter than normal, and his eyes were gazing into space. M? leaned against him, but he didn’t seem to be paying much attention to her.

“You with us, Josh?” Mara asked.

“I’m here.”

“He’s got some sort of bug,” volunteered Little Joe. “He ain’t pissing too well.”

Great, thought Mara. She had the images Josh had made of massacre, but Washington wanted Josh and the girl as well. There was no substitute for a firsthand story.

She put her hand against his forehead. He seemed a little warm. “You take aspirin?” she asked.

“Eric gave me some. I think it’s something I ate,” he added.

Hopefully. Otherwise they’d all have it soon.

“Hang in there,” Mara told him. Shouldering her backpack and sling bag — her folding-stock AK-47 was in the pack, her pistol in the bag — she pointed to the door out to the tracks. “Our train leaves in ten minutes. Let’s go.”

Mara walked across to the southbound train. It wasn’t the one she had tickets to, but it was the one she wanted. This train traveled along the coast, with stops at Dong Hoi, Hue, and Da Nang, among others, before heading inland to Saigon. It was a sleeper, and ordinarily would have been at least half full with tourists and businesspeople. But it was empty.

“Hey, they even got TV,” said Little Joe, pointing.

They spread out in the cars.

“You gonna give us all tickets?” Kerfer asked.

“They’re not for this train,” said Mara, handing them out. “What?”

“They aren’t going to collect them,” said Mara. “We’re not going to be on long anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head.

“Listen, I gotta know what’s going on here,” said Kerfer. “I don’t like being on a train to begin with.”

“Neither do I,” said Mara. “I didn’t have enough cash for the right train. Besides, we’re going to jump out down the line. A friend has arranged to leave some vehicles for us.”

“You should have said that before.”

“What difference does it make?”

“It makes a difference.”

“Well, that’s what we’re doing. It was a backup plan,” she added. “And now we’re using it. Because I don’t like the fact that the train is so empty. The ones this morning weren’t.”

Kerfer frowned, then went and gave his men the tickets.

Two minutes later, the train started out of the station. They still hadn’t seen a conductor.

* * *

Josh slumped against the window. His pelvis felt as if it were burning up. He breathed slowly, trying to dissipate the pain.

He imagined it was something he ate, but had no way of knowing for sure. Maybe it was a urinary infection, but he hadn’t had sex in weeks.

Three months now, actually. When he and his girlfriend broke up. So that couldn’t be the cause. It must just be something he ate or drank.

“They have bathrooms on these?” he said, feeling the urge to pee.

“Up there,” said Mara, pointing.

The small closet reeked of human waste and ammonia. Josh felt his stomach churning and leaned over to retch. But nothing came out.

“Let it all out, man,” said Squeaky, who was standing outside. “Just let it go. You’ll feel tons better.”

“Trying,” muttered Josh, steadying himself against the side of the coach as the train began to pick up speed.

* * *

The train ran along a highway through the city and immediately south. It chugged along slowly, barely approaching thirty miles an hour. Mara nervously watched the countryside pass by. Knots of Vietnamese troops were parked every quarter mile or so along the road. This was the safest way past the military bunkers where most of the government and army officials had taken shelter to the south, but it took them perversely close to them, as well as to several military installations along the sidings.

Mara left Josh and M? in the seat near the back of the car and went up the aisle to the first row, not expecting a conductor but prepared to deal with one if he showed up. A small bribe would be sufficient to take care of any problem about their destination, especially since they weren’t going to be on the train for very long.

“So when exactly is it we’re getting off?” said Kerfer, settling down beside her. He leaned forward and rested his arm on the seat back of the row in front of him, leaning toward her.