Shock of War

7

Hanoi

The door to Anna’s apartment was open. There was no one inside, and the place seemed neat and completely in order, as if she had just gone down to a neighbor’s. But she hadn’t.

No one in the building answered his or her door when he knocked. Not that he would have been able to talk to them anyway.

Zeus had no idea what to do. Finally he went back to the hotel, changed into his BDUs — the only clean clothes he had left — and had the driver Chau had left him take him to the bunker.

* * *

“What the hell did you do?”

General Perry’s words slapped Zeus as harshly as the rain had. He curled his fingers into fists and looked at the ground.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“What did I tell you? I told you to stay away from the action. Why the hell aren’t you in civilian clothes?”

“This is all I had that was dry.”

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” Perry shook his head. “You’re out of control, Major. I gave you orders — you know what our mission here is. We are not here. We are not involved. I thought you understood that.”

There were any number of things Zeus could say, but Perry was in no mood to be interrupted. His stars were screaming, and the only option was to shut up.

“What the hell got into you, Zeus? You were the responsible one.”

“General, I can’t say — ”

“You’re damn straight, you can’t say. Why did you let Christian jump on that tank?”

Perry had obviously gotten a report from the Vietnamese.

“I didn’t let him do anything, sir,” said Zeus. “He ran before I could stop him.”

“Christian did that? Christian ran into the line of fire?”

“It wasn’t like that. There were explosives set to a bridge, and they didn’t go off. Christian thought he could fix them. He went with the demo guy and I went after him.”

“What the hell does he know about demolitions? Jesus, Zeus! You should have stopped him.”

“I did run after him. In the storm, it was hard to tell what was going on.”

“Damn it, Murphy! I told you to stay away.”

Zeus felt his cheeks burning. Part of him realized that Perry was just unleashing his frustration, fairly or unfairly, on the object that happened to be closest at hand.

Unfairly. Perry’s attitude was one hundred and eighty degrees from where it had been only a few days before. He’d approved the mission to Hainan, which was even more suicidal than what he and Christian had just done.

“Go back to your quarters,” said Perry finally. “Don’t come until you’re called for.”

Zeus turned on his heel and left without a word.

* * *

Perry folded his arms in front of his chest, angry with himself for losing control. He’d been unfair to Zeus.

But then everything about the situation was unfair. They shouldn’t be here in the first place if the country wasn’t going to support them.

Now he had to deal with Christian’s death.

There was a knock on the door. One of Trung’s colonels leaned his head inside.

“General, if you have time,” said the colonel, “General Trung would request to talk to you.”

Perry walked with him to Trung’s office, his mind still fixed on the problem of Christian. It was the lying to the family that bothered him. He couldn’t tell them what had happened because of where it had happened, so he’d have to make up a story. That was lying.

It dishonored everyone.

Trung was talking to General Tri, the commander in the northeast whom they’d been helping. Perry stopped just outside the doorway.

“General Perry,” said Trung in English. “We would be honored if you could join us.”

“General.” Perry nodded at Tri.

“We are very grateful, once more, for your help,” said Tri. “And for the sacrifices of your men.”

“Yes.”

“Were you successful in obtaining the weapons?” asked Trung.

“I’ve been told two planeloads of Russian AT-14s are en route,” said Perry. “There will be more.”

“We have only the missiles for the infantrymen?” said Tri. “Nothing for the tanks?”

“That’s all so far.”

“As we are constituted,” said Trung, “the best strategy would be to use these weapons in the north immediately. In the west we still have time.”

“Agreed,” said Perry.

“If Major Murphy is agreeable, we would appreciate his tactical advice,” said Trung.

Perry stiffened.

“Major Murphy needs to rest,” said Perry.

Trung stared at him. Perry stared back.

“The Vietnamese people are grateful for your sacrifices,” said Trung finally. “As is General Tri.”

“Thank you.”

“We have no experience deploying that weapon,” continued Trung. “We would be grateful for assistance.”

Perry had been ordered to provide assistance — which meant that he should allow Murphy to help.

It was his duty.

“Once the major has rested, he can assist in developing a proper strategy,” said Perry. “I’m sure he’d be happy to do so.”

“Thank you, General. We are most grateful.”

“Yes,” said Perry. “I’m sure.”

8

Hanoi

Zeus needed someone to help him deal with the Vietnamese so he could find Anna, but it was pretty clear to him that General Perry wasn’t going to help. The only person he could think of who might was Ambassador Behrens. So instead of returning to the hotel, he went back to the embassy.

The rain had slackened to a light mist. That was bad, he thought; the more water, the better for the Vietnamese.

The Marine in the center hall told him the ambassador was out. He suggested he see Juliet Greig instead, and pointed Zeus toward her office.

Zeus sneezed as he went up the stairs. “That’s all I need now, a cold,” he muttered.

Greig’s office was a suite, with two outer offices and a larger inner one. When he didn’t see her in any of the rooms, Zeus decided to stand near the hallway door and wait for her. He’d been standing a few moments when he realized he smelled coffee being brewed somewhere in the vicinity. He walked toward the end of the hallway, and found a room that served as a kind of kitchenette, with a counter and a small refrigerator and a microwave.

Greig was standing in front of a Mr. Coffee, watching as fresh coffee poured into the carafe.

“Real coffee,” said Zeus.