"Come in." Admiral Magruder looked up from his desk as Captain Fitzgerald and Vince Glover, the ship's Exec, walked in. He knew there was trouble by the look on their faces, before they even said a word. "Let's have it."
"We've got a strange report, Admiral," Fitzgerald said. "Tell him, Vince."
"There's a kid down in CATCC, Admiral, SA Howard. I just got a call from his chief. Seems he thinks three of his shipmates were kidnapped."
"Kidnapped? That's a new one."
"The guys he's named are AWOL, sir," the Exec said. "The chief said he figured it was a… uh… rather imaginative attempt by Howard to keep his buddies out of trouble. But if they did just miss the last bus, they could've caught the first one this morning. It kind of lends credence to the story."
"How sure is Howard of his facts?"
"Hell, Admiral, this is an eighteen-year-old. He's not sure of anything.
I think he's still freaked out by his first time ashore in Bangkok."
Magruder chuckled. "The city has that effect."
"But he's sure enough to be pretty excited about it," the Captain added.
"He insists that if it was all a joke, his buddies would've been back aboard before he was. I've reviewed these men's records. They're all steady. No reason to think they might desert."
"Who were the victims?"
"Radarman Third Paterowski. Signalman Third Bentley. Seaman Rodriguez."
"We're doing some more checking on them," Glover said. His frown deepened. "But Admiral, there's something more. It maybe nothing."
"Spit it out."
"One of the men is a radarman working in CATCC. Another's an RD striker… also in CATCC. And this kid Howard was assigned as CATCC message runner."
Magruder understood what Glover was saying. "Three out of four of these guys from CATCC," he said, rubbing his chin. "Doesn't necessarily mean it was deliberate. Three buddies, all from the same department, all hit the beach together. Get into trouble together…"
"Yes, sir. But we can't ignore the possibility that there was more to it than that."
Magruder sighed. "Agreed." He looked at Fitzgerald. "What do you think, Captain?"
Fitzgerald shrugged. "Could just be a case of grabbing three guys off the street at random. They could've gotten rolled and be laying in an alley someplace."
"But…?" Magruder prompted.
"We ought to proceed dead slow, Admiral. There have been anti-American demonstrations… and according to our That sources, the communists have been cheering the downing of our Tomcat yesterday. I'd say we should treat this seriously."
Magruder sighed. "Agreed." He was worried, more worried than he wanted to show.
When addressing the men of his carrier battle group, the admiral liked to stress the fact that no man's job on board the Jefferson was less important than any other, that everyone had a part to play. In the sense that the ship was a seagoing city with each department supporting all of the rest that was true.
But he would have felt a lot less worried had the missing men been from the ship's laundry. Men assigned to CATCC knew a hell of a lot about how things worked on a carrier, about call signs and radio frequencies for regular air traffic, about daily schedules for carrier ops and exercises.
"It's probably nothing," he said again. "Nothing worse than some of our boys getting rolled, that is. But we won't take the chance. Vince, put out the word through the SPs. Liberty is cancelled for all personnel."
"Aye, aye, sir."
"Have Intel debrief Howard. Maybe he can tell us something more, something we've missed."
"Yes, sir." The Exec paused, then scowled. "Damn."
"What is it, Mr. Glover?"
"I just remembered, Admiral. CAG just showed me a list of senior personnel ashore. Your nephew… uh… Commander Magruder, sir. He's on it."
"Tombstone? Why?"
"CAG said he was under some stress, and he'd told him to take some time off."
"We have any other squadron COs ashore?"
"Yes, sir. Bayerly, VF-97."
"Thank you for telling me." He felt a sharp disquiet. Three men from CATCC missing… and now both Tomcat skippers were ashore as well. Bayerly had been temporarily replaced as squadron CO, of course, but it still didn't seem to be a good idea to have both men off the ship now.
Fitzgerald interrupted his bleak thoughts. "Do you really think there's a connection, Admiral? Between the kidnapping and the attack at U Feng, I mean."
"Hell, I don't know. We can't know. But if we wait until we get the facts straight, it may be too late."
Fitzgerald nodded. "Agreed. Problem is, if I don't have the facts I get to feeling a bit paranoid."
"Sometimes, Captain," Magruder said evenly, "that's the best way to be."
The unconscious man's hands had been shackled together, then slung over a meat-hook suspended from the warehouse ceiling. His head lolled forward against his bare chest. Silently Hsiao went through papers and iDs found in the man's wallet. "A third class petty officer," he said. "Not a man of high rank."
"They were not wearing uniforms," Phreng said. They were gathered at the edge of the harsh circle of light which illuminated the naked prisoner. His personal effects, together with certain tools, were spread out on a nearby table.
"Never mind, Phreng," Hsiao said. "You did well. If these men work in air traffic control, as you say, they will have information we can use."
"Thank you, General!"
"You know what we are looking for." Hsiao nodded at a bucket of water standing on the floor nearby. "Revive him and proceed with the questioning.
You know where to reach me when you're through."
"Yes, sir!"
Hsiao turned, his eyes meeting those of a man who stood in the shadows outside the circle of light. The agent known as Sword had arrived only moments earlier. "Come with me."
"This is insane, General," the man said as they walked away. "Kidnapping American naval personnel was never part of the plan!" The stacked crates rose like canyon walls around them, creating privacy, and Hsiao allowed the challenge to pass without rebuke. Sword was tense, on edge… and would have to be handled with great care.
"It would be better if we had officers for questioning as well," Hsiao said softly.
"Officers! No! Impossible!"
"Flight officers would be best," Hsiao continued as though he'd not heard Sword's words. "They are certain to know the procedures we are interested in.
These low-ranking seamen" ― he jerked his head back over his shoulder to indicate the prisoner ― — "may not be sufficiently trained for our purposes."
Behind him he heard Phreng's voice questioning… demanding.
"You do not understand, General!" The man was almost frantic now. "It is far more dangerous to kidnap officers."
"I fail to see how." He walked several more steps, then added, "There will probably be a number of Jefferson's pilots in Bangkok tonight."
"Yes, sir." Sword stopped.
Hsiao paused, waiting for him to go on. "You know where such officers could be found, do you not? You are in a position to know, certainly."
"I want no part of this, General Hsiao. I never anticipated this. My position in the government could be-"
"Your position, Colonel, is with me!"
The words seemed to shock the other man.
Hsiao was aware that his entire plan could never have been carried off without this man… senior aide to the That Army's General Duong… and liaison officer with the visiting American naval forces. Colonel Kriangsak had been invaluable already, but his greatest service was yet to be carried out.