“I can neutralize them.”
“And the Chinese?”
Serick shook his head. “Still to be heard from.”
The soldiers trudging down the path in a line were nervous as they looked right and left, afraid of what might be lurking in the jungle around them. Less than five meters away, Kamigami and Tel lay under a low bush counting them as they filed past. But there was more. Kamigami was taking their measure as soldiers, judging the way they moved and carried their weapons after being in hot pursuit for three days. He was not impressed. The signs of exhaustion were evident, the result of poor conditioning. But even more telling was the way they bunched in a tight group and clung to one another like ducks in a row. It had been easy leading them in a series of circles, always coming back to the path that led to the east. He seriously doubted they even knew where they were. It would be simple to render them. When the last man had passed, Tel started to speak. Kamigami waved him to silence. On cue, four stragglers stumbled past. Kamigami held up his hand and waited. A lone man came into view, driven by the fear of being left behind. He struggled to keep from collapsing as he disappeared down the path.
“I count twenty-seven,” Kamigami said.
“My feet hurt,” Tel said in a low voice.
“It’s only pain,” Kamigami told him.
Tel pulled off his boots and rubbed his aching feet. In all his nineteen years he had never been so bruised and abused. Yet for some strange reason he felt good. “Will they come back this way?” he asked.
“Eventually,” Kamigami replied. “When they realize they’re out of the park, they won’t go much farther. Might run into civilization. They’ll rest, maybe ten, twelve, hours before returning to base.” He pulled out his chart and GPS. “Go back to where I left the bicycle.” He pointed to the spot on the chart where he had dumped the bicycle laden with supplies. “There’s claymores in one of the bags. Bring back as many as you can carry. Meet me here.” Again he pointed to the chart. “Memorize the coordinates and never mark them on a map.”
“What’s a claymore?” Tel asked.
Kamigami stifled a sigh. Don’t kids know anything these days? he lamented to himself. He described what the olive drab, three-and-a-half-pound antipersonnel mine looked like and how it was carried in a canvas bandolier. Tel listened attentively as he pulled on his boots. “Off you go,” Kamigami said. “Heads up. Hurry.” He watched approvingly as Tel moved out, staying low and in the shadows. “The boy is a quick learner,” Kamigami mumbled to himself. He leaned against a tree to rest. He calculated he could make the journey in three hours, so Tel should do it in four or five — if he didn’t get lost. Then he fell asleep.
The inner alarm was there, cutting through the fog of sleep. Kamigami came alert, pleased that the sixth sense that had saved him so many times in combat was still there, undiminished by time. There was movement in the brush off to his right. He cracked an eyelid as he freed the Beretta in his holster. It was Tel. He faked sleep to see what the boy would do. Tel emerged from the brush weighed down with bandoliers, paused, and gazed at Kamigami. Certain that the big man was asleep, Tel retreated back into the bush and made a loud noise.
“Bull elephants in mating season make less racket,” Kamigami said half aloud.
“I didn’t want you to shoot me by mistake,” Tel replied.
Kamigami knew that Tel was only being polite and didn’t want to embarrass him by catching him asleep. “I saw you the first time.”
Tel grinned, not believing him. “Yes, sir.”
“Cheeky bugger,” Kamigami grumbled as Tel shed his cargo. “How many did you bring?”
“All of them. Twelve.”
“Six is the normal load,” Kamigami explained. He checked his watch. Tel had made it back in less than three hours. “Well done,” he conceded.
“What now,” Tel asked, eager to get on with it.
“Impatient bugger,” Kamigami groused. He set to work and showed Tel how to rig one of the small mines. He unfolded the short scissor legs and sat the mine on the ground. He read the words on the face of the claymore: “‘Front Toward Enemy.’ Pretty simple.” He attached the firing wire and rigged the firing device.
“Why are the words printed in English?” Tel asked.
“Because these particular puppies were made in the good old US of A and probably sold to some government in the name of military aid.”
“Then they were resold into the black market.”
“Something like that,” Kamigami allowed. “Okay, ambush time.” Tel watched as Kamigami found a relatively open area and set three mines twenty-five meters apart. Then he strung the firing wires to a concealed position fifteen meters back from the trail and connected the claymores to a common firing device. “Normally this is all I would set along a trail like this. But since you were such an industrious little pack mule, we’re going for overkill.” He moved up the trail and planted another set of three. After rigging and camouflaging the mines, he moved farther along the trail and set up another three. Kamigami showed Tel how to activate the firing device and gave him his orders.
“Your job is to fire this last set of claymores when the Gomers are in range.”
“Gomers?” Tel asked. “My uncle said that was a bad name Anglos used for us.” Kamigami stared at him, not understanding. “I mean…ah…Gomers are Asian. Aren’t we Gomers, too?”
Kamigami laughed. “Naw. Gomers are the bad guys. Never identify with the enemy you’re about to render. Give ’em all a name, something derogatory.” He turned very serious. “Never forget what those bastards did to your family.” He studied Tel for a moment, wishing he could read the look on his face. “Here’s the drilclass="underline" I detonate the middle set of claymores when the main body of Gomers is in range. It won’t get ’em all, and I expect a few to head your way. Your part of the contract is to nail them. But only detonate your claymores if you’ve heard mine go off first. Otherwise you’ll be taking them all on. After firing your claymores, fall back into the jungle and rendezvous at the bicycle. If I let the Gomers go past, wait for me here. If something goes wrong and you don’t know what to do, hide for twelve hours, then rendezvous at the bicycle.”
“What will you do?”
“Good question,” Kamigami said. “If the conditions are right, I’ll initiate the ambush. Then I’ll fall back on the first set of mines and render any Gomers coming my way. I’ll clean up and meet you at the rendezvous.”
“Why can’t I clean up?”
“No weapon,” Kamigami replied. “Just do what I tell you this time. You’ll have plenty of chances later. Let’s do it.” Tel followed him as they walked the trail, checking the camouflaged mines.
“Why did you pick such an open area for the ambush?”
“They won’t suspect it here. I’m betting the survivors will be afraid to run into the bush and will stay on the trail.”
“And right into a second ambush.”
“That’s the idea,” Kamigami replied. He walked Tel through the initial part of his escape route three times. Satisfied that it was burned into Tel’s memory and he could do it in the dark, he then helped Tel camouflage his observation post. “Whatever you do,” Kamigami cautioned, “keep your head and butt down when the claymores go off.” He returned to the middle set of claymores and scooped out a depression in the soft earth before covering it with foliage. He crawled inside, rigged the firing device, and made himself comfortable.
Once more he fell asleep.
It was almost dark when it all went wrong. The man serving as point for the main column of soldiers was not concentrating as he came down the path. Instead he was daydreaming about his girlfriend and the reception he knew was waiting for him at the base camp. That, plus the fact that they were no longer chasing a shadow and hadn’t heard the so-called vampire’s whistle once, made him indifferent to the task at hand. As a result he trudged past the first string of claymores without seeing a thing. That’s when luck took over. He was lost in an erotic vision when he stumbled off the path — right into the first claymore of Kamigami’s string. For once his training held, and he simply cut the firing wire with his knife. But a little success went to his head, and he then forgot his training.