They cut loose. They blew beehives. Darts disinterred.

Somebody yelled, "Friend!"

Somebody yelled, "Tran Dinh!"

o o o

Tran had a campsite. Pete called it Tran's Fontainebleau.

One acre. Weeds and mulched dirt. Bug nets and grenade nets. Brushed-steel lean-tos.

They slept hard. They slept late. Tran's men cooked brunch.

Tran scrounged off Stanton. Stanton scrounged the Army. Stanton scrounged pancake batter. Stanton scrounged pork rinds and Spam.

Tran had six slaves-all ARVN rejects. Tran vibed Baby Caesar. Tran vibed diva.

The slaves served chow. Flapjacks flambй-torched in T-bird wine.

Chuck loved it. Pete went yum-yum. Bob gagged. Mesplиde gagged. Marv Three scarfed it up. Wayne took a bite. Wayne gagged. Wayne fed Tran's pet snake.

Tran spoke English. Tran spoke French. Tran ran the drill:

Two Hueys come. We go then. We co-opt poppy farms. We "negotiate."

Pete took Tran aside. Wayne watched the tкte-a-tкte. Wayne heard "improvisation." Pete grinned. Tran grinned. Tran went tee-hee. Wayne caught the gist-"negotiate," _shit_.

Chuck issued ammo. Chuck issued rules: We all carry birdshot-beehives verboten.

Wayne dumped his ammo. Wayne reloaded. Wayne thought it through:

Short-range loads. "Improvisation." Pete knows/Tran knows/Chuck knows. They _all_ know-but _you_.

Tran gave a speech. Tran indicted the Cong. Tran indicted the French. Tran excluded Pete and Mesplиde. Tran indicted Ho Chi Minh. Tran indicted Ngo Dinh Diem. Tran indicted gnarly Charlie de Gaulle.

Tran eulogized Preston Chaffee. Tran indicted the Beard. Tran extolled boss-man LBJ. Tran yelled. Tran coughed. Tran chewed an hour up and went hoarse.

Wayne heard chopper thumps. Wayne saw the Hueys.

They closed in. They hovered. They landed and perched. The doors popped. The pilot Marvs motioned them up.

Tran said a prayer. Tran issued bullet-proof vests. Wayne looked at Pete. Pete smiled and winked.

o o o

They did staggered takeoffs. Bob took Flight #1. Bob packed a 7-65 sniperscope.

Pete clocked off ten minutes. Flight #2 readied. Tran yelled, "All aboard!"

They climbed in. Wayne grabbed a door spot. Chuck rode the door gun. Pete got a back seat. Mesplиde stuck close. Tran stuck by the Pilot Marv and Marv Three.

The Pilot Marv goosed it. The rotors whipped. They climbed. They leveled. They held.

3K level-check that green-green valleys/green hills/green brush.

Wayne looked down. Wayne saw soil rows and hollows. Wayne caught the gray tint.

Sweet soil. Good alkalines-low pH all. Poppy food. Dope slaves burn trees. Ash feeds the soil.

Calcium and potassium. High phosphate counts. Spring burns and fall plantings. Beans and corn for interim crops.

They passed Saravan. Wayne saw tin roofs and spires. Wayne saw stick figures and grids. Saravan came and went fast. The ground regreened.

Chuck got airsick. Chuck puked in a bag. Wayne looked away and looked down.

There-

Dope fields/row furrows/coolie-hat slaves.

Pete grabbed the Pilot Marv's headset. He listened. He laughed. He held three fingers up. Tran laughed. Chuck laughed. Mesplиde laughed. Marv Three went bang-bang.

Wayne got the gist:

Bob's up in chopper 1. Bob's got a rifle. Bob's popping outland guards. Bob's toppled three.

The Pilot Marv banked. Wayne saw huts. Wayne saw a landing strip. He pulled his.45. He checked the clip. He jacked a round in.

The Pilot Marv leveled. The Pilot Marv rotored down.

There-

A barracks. A slave jail. A volleyball court. A welcome line-Li'l Tojo plus six. Little Laotians/fatigues and jump boots/World War II Nazi lids.

Pete laughed. Chuck pointed _way_ east-check the brush/catch that glint.

Wayne looked over. Wayne caught the glint. There's Bob. There's chopper 1 perched. That glint's off a hog machine gun.

The Pilot Marv touched down. The Pilot Marv cut the props. Tojo saluted. Tojo's goons snapped to.

Tran jumped out. Pete jumped out. Chuck jumped out and tripped. The Pilot Marv jumped out. Marv Three steadied him.

Mesplиde jumped out. Mesplиde tripped. Wayne jumped and caught him. The ground dipped. There's seven kadre men-up against Tojo plus six.

Tran hugged Tojo. Tran played MC. Tran dropped kadre bios-all last names _di di_.

Tojo was "Dong." The Tojoettes blurred-Dinh/Minh/whoever. They all laughed. They all hugged. They all bumped sidearms and hips.

Wayne looked around. Jail slaves loitered close. They wore loincloths. They sucked pipes. It was O-head servitude.

Wayne saw Iojoette volleyball-four goons per team/a thirty-goon barracks hard right.

Wayne coughed. His vest fit tight. His breath butterflied. Tran reached in the Huey. Tran grabbed their pumps. The Tojoettes bristled uptight.

Tran passed the pumps out-all kadre/one per. Dong smiled. Dong said, "You carry guns. That all right. Guns number-one A-OK."

Tran smiled. Tran talked Viet. Dong talked Viet back. Marv Three translated-all pidgin-gook:

We get nice tour. We have lunch then. All A-OK.

Dong whistled. Dong gestured. Dong dispatched a Tojoette. He ran off. He hit the barracks. He ran back. He schlepped six M-1s.

Dong bowed. Dong issued guns-all Tojoettes/one per. Dong smiled. Dong talked Viet. Marv Three translated-all pidgin-gook:

Trust A-OK. Parity better. Lunch and peace accord.

Dong bowed. Tran bowed. Dong went you first. The kadre hiked out. The Tojoettes hiked close behind. Dong and Tran hiked back.

They cut through the dope fields-poppy stalks 4-ever-grids/rows/ grid paths. Slaves raked soil. Slaves dropped seeds. Slaves trimmed stalks back.

They wore coolie hats. They wore shackles. They wore floral BVDs. They walked weird. They shuffled. Their shackles gouged bone.

It was _good_ soil. It looked limestone sweet. It vibed low pH.

They hiked. The sun arced. The Tojoettes lagged behind. The Tojoettes breathed curry fumes. Wayne smelled it. Wayne gauged it-just ten feet back.

The Tojoettes had M-1s. The Tojoettes had bolt-throw rifles-one shot per throw. The Tojoettes had.38s. They were flap-holstered-slow-draw style.

Not here-not now-they won't try.

Wayne looked sideways. Pete caught it. Pete winked. Wayne read, "Your call, kid."

_They_ had bullet-proof vests. _They_ had better weapons. The Tojoettes had Nazi lids.

Wayne gulped air. Wayne stretched his vest tight. Wayne smelled fish stew.

There's the lunch hut. It's all bamboo. Four frond-and-stalk walls. Wide doorway opened up.

Wayne looked sideways. Wayne winked. Pete winked back. Wayne walked ahead. Wayne hit the hut. Wayne doorway-lounged.

The kadre caught up. Wayne bowed. Wayne went you first. The guys shook their heads. The guys aped gook manners. The guys went you first.

Wayne shook his head. Wayne bowed. Wayne went you first. The guys laughed. The guys shucked. The guys jived.

The Tojoettes caught up. The guys bowed. The guys went you first. The Tojoettes shrugged. The Tojoettes went fuck it. The Tojoettes walked straight in.

The guys blocked the door. The guys aimed. The guys jammed their backs point-blank.

Wayne shot his.45. Pete shot his pump. Bullets and bird pellets flew. The noise got four-walled-back shots/powder burns/muzzle roar.

Chuck shot. Marv Three shot-full magazines. Mesplиde tripped. Mesplиde shot. Rounds ricocheted.

Pete got dinged. Pete went down. Pete's vest bullet-flared. Wayne got dinged. Wayne went down. Wayne's vest popped and flamed.

Pete rolled. Wayne rolled. Dirt ate the vest flames. Recoil and reverb. Ricochets ricky-tick.

Wayne saw blood spatter. Wayne saw big stew pots. Wayne saw blood in fish stew.