"We are soldiers," he went on. "We must obey orders."
"And I am a man," Bolan retorted. "A man has a duty to defend his woman. Is that not right?"
"We still won't tell you," said the corporal.
"We shall see," said Bolan. "We shall see."
Chapter 16
A trio of dots in the sky, the helicopters flew toward him. As they neared, Bolan recognized them as a Chinook cargo and two Huey gunships. They flew in pyramid formation, low and slow, following the trail, obviously looking for him.
He ran to the bonfire and lit it. At first there were only flames, but as the fire spread to the wet leaves inside, smoke rose. Immediately one of the gunships flew ahead to investigate. It passed over the clearing and circled.
Bolan took off his shirt and waved it, mainly so they could see the color of his skin, in Asia the surest id of all. But the crew was not waving back. Something was making them suspicious. The side gunner panned his weapons as if he were shooting it.
The second helicopter joined in, and the sky filled with the clatter of blades. The gunner of the second helicopter pointed out something in the clearing to a man inside.
Suddenly Bolan understood. It was the soldiers under the trees. To the gunners it must have appeared as if they were hiding and that Bolan was the bait for an ambush. Bolan ran to the corporal and brought him out in the open, pointing to his tied wrists.
That did it. The first gunner held out a thumbs-up, the Hueys widened their circle, and the Chinook approached. It had been sitting out the inspection in the sky at a safe distance.
The helicopter came to a hover above Bolan, the shadow of its huge shape filling the clearing. Treetops swayed from the rotorwash. From portholes gunners leaned out inspecting the ground.
Bolan waited for the message container that would tell him where to proceed for the pickup. The clearing was too small for the Chinook to land. Instead, Nark stepped out the side door and sailed down harnessed to a rope. The Chinook was equipped with a winch.
"I have passengers," Bolan shouted over the din. He held up two fingers.
"There's room," Nark shouted back.
Nark took off his harness, then they cut the corporal's bonds and harnessed him in. Nark waved to the crew chief in the doorway, and the corporal sailed up like a package. The soldier was next, then Bolan, and then finally Nark. The helicopter moved off.
"Where's your lady friend?" asked Nark, taking a seat next to Bolan on the side canvas bench.
Bolan told him what had happened and what he proposed to do. "Who's the flight chief?" Bolan asked.
"Our pilot," said Nark, "Captain Opersdorf." Nark spoke into Bolan's ear. The din in the helicopter was overwhelming. "But I wouldn't say anything about promises. I don't think he'd understand. Better keep it pro. Say she's an agent. We blew up the hardsite, by the way."
Bolan gripped his arm and nodded his thanks. He went to see Opersdorf.
The flight commander listened to Bolan's request with a decided lack of enthusiasm. Tonight was bridge night on the U.S.S. Idaho at anchor off Kobe Island. Anything that would interfere with his presence at the table was most unwelcome.
"Colonel, this is highly irregular," Opersdorf replied. "Our orders are to fly you directly to Kobe. Nothing in them says anything about additional extracts in route."
"I realize that, Captain, but it's imperative the agent be rescued."
"No, Colonel, I can't order my men into a shoot-out without proper authority. For that I need a written order and it has to be through channels."
"There will be no need for a 'shoot-out," Bolan replied. "A show of force will do. And there's no time to go through channels. I'm asking a favor of you, Captain."
"Sorry, Colonel, but a combat mission is too much of a favor. What if one of the helos is downed? How will I explain that? I was doing you a favor?"
"Okay, Captain," said Bolan. "I'll go after the agent myself. Give me a minute to check, and I'll tell you where you can let me off."
Bolan left and returned by Nark's side.
"Well?" said Nark.
"No dice," said Bolan. He explained what he intended to do.
"You can't go after her alone," Nark protested. "You'll get killed."
"She saved my life, Nark," Bolan replied. "A good enough reason for me to risk mine." He glanced at the Shans.
The soldiers were huddled on the bench with the expression of Earthmen captured by Martians. Neither had been in a helicopter before. In their brown flight suits and helmets with huge black visors, the crew did indeed resemble spacemen.
"The crew chief says he can squeeze the information out of them," said Nark.
"I'll do my own dirty work," said Bolan, rising.
But he still needed the crew chief's help, so he went to talk to him. The other handed him a belt with a safety strap.
Bolan moved to the Shans and leaned over the corporal.
"The time has come for you to give me the information," he said.
He led the corporal to the rear of the machine. "Stand here."
Bolan put on the belt and attached the safety strap to the railing overhead. That way if there was a struggle he would not fall out with the corporal. "Where are they taking my woman?" he asked.
"I cannot tell you," replied the corporal.
Bolan nodded to the crew chief. The other pressed a lever, machinery hummed, and the rear ramp opened revealing the void below. The corporal's Adam's apple did a jig, and his eyes widened in terror.
"If you don't tell me," said Bolan, "I will push you out. When your body hits the ground it will be like hamburger. A hyena will eat it in no time. Your spirit will be imprisoned in the hyena. And what for? You think your friend won't talk when he sees what happened to you?"
The corporal looked at his comrade, but the other was not even looking. In that instant the corporal knew the soldier would talk. That was why he was looking away, so as not to reveal the truth in his eyes. The corporal looked at the void below, then back to his partner, then to the others.
The eyes of the long noses surveyed him with indifference. It was as if he were already dead. A yard away was death. Death! And for what? It occurred to him that he could always invent some story for Captain Yeu. Or he could quit the army. All kinds of possibilities lay open... as long as he lived.
"They took the Kohimo trail," he blurted out.
"What is their final destination?" asked Bolan.
"The town of Bur."
Bolan went to Nark who opened a map.
"What time did they leave?" asked Nark.
"About seven," said Bolan.
Nark glanced at his watch. "They should be entering the Plain of Chuk."
"About that," said Bolan. "I'll ask him to drop me on the other side."
He went to see Opersdorf. "I'd like to be dropped off on the northern edge of the Plain of Chuk. Is that possible?"
The pilot considered the request in silence. "What will you do after we drop you off?" he asked finally.
"Wait, then follow them until they camp for the night," said Bolan. "I'll attempt a rescue during the night."
"Alone?"
"Alone."
Opersdorf considered this. "Taking you there will entail a half-hour detour," he said.
"If that's too long, you can drop me off right now," said Bolan.
"I didn't mean that," said Opersdorf. "I meant if we're going to make a detour we might as well go whole hog and make the attempt with you."