Don Pendleton - Tiger War

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."

Bolan smiled.

"This is Lema one to Lema two and three," Opersdorf drawled into his radio. "We're changing course." He gave the gunships the new headings. The flight turned north.

"How do you propose we go about this?" Opersdorf asked Bolan.

"We land ahead of the column and I talk to them."

"What if they take you hostage?" said Opersdorf. "Then where will we be? I'd rather you negotiated from the air. We have a bullhorn on board."

Opersdorf called the crew chief and told him to get the bullhorn out. Next he briefed the gunships and his own machine gunners. They flew on.

"The Shan soldiers in the back," said Opersdorf. "What do we do with them?"

"Drop them off near some village," said Bolan. "But after the rescue."

The plain appeared, a vast stretch of grassland dotted with an occasional tree. Opersdorf gave Bolan a pair of field glasses. As Bolan brought them to his eyes, his heart sank. He and Nark had miscalculated the column's speed. It was traveling much faster than they had figured. Instead of being on this side of the plain, it was nearing the other.

"Going to be touch and go," said Opersdorf, observing the plain.

The plain would have been a perfect place to attempt a rescue had they arrived an hour or two earlier. They would have had time to reconnoiter the force and identify Ty Ling — and time in which to do some selective shooting in case the column did not comply with their demands.

At the approach of the helicopters, the foot soldiers scattered, throwing themselves into the grass while the horsemen broke into a gallop, heading for the safety of the tree line ahead. The tree line was only about three miles away. Too little time for a rescue.

"We're out of luck, Colonel," said Opersdorf.

"An eagle snatch, Captain," Bolan said. "Let me try it!"

"Move fast, Colonel."

A minute later Bolan emerged from the side of the Chinook wearing a harness. He sailed down at the end of a rope, coming to a halt ten feet above the heads of the galloping horsemen. He spotted Ty Ling right away. She was near the front, her horse attached by a long rope to the saddle of a horseman ahead of her.

"Agent is at eleven o'clock," said Bolan into the side mike of his helmet. "The wide straw hat. A hundred yards from me."

"We see her," said Opersdorf. He was leaning out of a porthole coordinating the operation while the copilot flew the helicopter.

"Drop me five feet, left ten yards," said Bolan.

Slowly Bolan flew over the heads of the galloping riders. On either side flew the gunships, their side gunners pointing their weapons down at the riders.

"Right two yards."

Now he could hear the thunder of the hooves, could smell the horses' sweat. Behind him he heard a shout of surprise. A burst of fire rent the sky as a Huey fired at a rider about to take a potshot at him.

"Slow down a little!"