Colin Cotterill - Slash and Burn

“Yes, well done, comrade,” he said.

They arrived at what could only be described as a quarry. Enormous rocks littered the bare landscape. Craters were all around. Ahead, the mountain had been opened up like a spoon through a blancmange.

“Messy,” said Dtui.

“We’re here,” said Phosy. “But I’m not sure what it is we’ve found.”

“Somebody’s blown hell out of this mountain, is what we’ve found,” said Johnson. He climbed up onto a heap of rubble and looked back along the devastated trail. “How far are we from the Thai border, here?”

Dtui asked Lit.

“A little over forty kilometers,” she said. “Why?”

“I don’t know. It just looks like a lot of trouble’s been taken here to set up some kind of quick transportation route south from this point. To clear the land this dramatically using conventional methods would take half a year at least. The spooks were always experimenting with different chemicals. I wonder if they really did come up with some super napalm and some enterprising spark had the bright idea to use it to clear jungle. There has to be something in that mountain to make it all worthwhile.”

Dtui had broken out the space rations and water. They sat in the shade of a bellyache tree that had held out against the bombs and the napalm and somehow survived. Phosy wasn’t interested in eating. He threw back a cup of water and said he had to take a leak. He walked around to the rear of a ridge of dislodged boulders and began to work his way up to the cliff. He was a slave to his curiosity. A man less fit than Phosy might not have made it over the debris. It wasn’t an easy climb. But the scramble over the rocks left him barely winded. He knew he could be up and back before the others had finished their lunch. Geology wasn’t his strong point but the multicoloured veins in the boulders all around filled him with wonder. It wasn’t their beauty that impressed him, rather the fact that these whites and browns and greens had taken thousands of years to form and he was so new compared to….

The bullets peppered the overhang beside him and sent shards of rock into the side of his face. One caught his eye. He recognized the yap yap of an AK47-a second burst and he was on the ground now, his body pressed tight up against the cliff face. There was no cover. The shots were coming from above-far to the right. Blood stung his eyes so he couldn’t see the shooter. He tried to make himself as small a target as possible but he knew it would only be a matter of time before one of the 7.62 shells found him. At the end of the second volley, he heard a familiar voice.

“He’s one of ours, you idiot,” shouted Commander Lit. “Hold your fire.” There were a few seconds of silence before the shooter’s own voice echoed down from a cave entrance.

“How am I supposed to know that?”

“Because I’m telling you.”

Although Phosy couldn’t see, he could tell the security commander’s voice was coming from not far down the slope. He’d been following the inspector up the mountain.

“And who are you?” asked the shooter.

“Well, soldier, unless you stole that PL uniform you’re wearing, I’m your damned commanding officer so-”

“I don’t know that.”

“No, that’s true. You don’t. But my duty papers are in my pack here. If you think you can hold back from killing the pair of us, I’ll take them out and show you.”

“I’ve got my orders.”

“So have I. I’m Commander Lit Keovieng, previously security head in region five. Currently on special duty in Vientiane. The man you just shot at is the inspector of police in Vientiane. If you kill either of us you’ll be in front of a firing squad before supper time. Now put down your weapon and get down here and look at these papers before I climb up there and pull you down.”

There was another silence.

“They didn’t tell me anyone was coming,” said the shooter.

“They didn’t tell me anyone would be here trying to kill us,” said Lit.

“I’ll have to radio it in.”

“Are you relayed to Phonsavan?”

“Yeah.”

“Then tell Captain Chuan that Commander Lit is here from Xam Neua.”

“Right. Don’t go anywhere.”

“I’m going up to look at my colleague, if you don’t mind. Wouldn’t want him bleeding to death, would we?”

Lit climbed the final twenty meters where he found Phosy bloody but grinning.

“That was madness,” Phosy said.

“Nonsense.”

Lit removed a cloth from his shoulder bag, spat on it and started to clean Phosy’s face.

“You bleed a lot for someone with no wounds,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Saving my life.”

“I did no such thing.”

“Standing down an armed guard. He could just as easily have shot you too. You aren’t in uniform. That was a brave thing you did.”

“I doubt he could hit a tank from two meters.”

“You’re probably right, but, thanks.”

They were hit by a small avalanche of pebbles from above as the shooter, his weapon now over his shoulder, scrambled from his roost to join them. He was wearing flip-flops so much of his descent was on his backside. He smiled a set of dark brown teeth.

“Comrades,” he said, holding out his hand. “No hard feelings, eh?” Phosy shook the hand. The shooter’s salute to Lit looked more like a backhander to his own ear.

“Commander,” he said. “Just following orders.”

“I’m sure you were.”

“Truth is, they told me to shoot to kill. But I usually just wound ’em. Then they can limp home and tell their friends not to come. If they’re dead, people come looking for ’em, right?”

“Right.”

They heard footsteps on gravel and the sentry reached for his weapon.

“Relax soldier,” said Lit. “I think that’s the rest of our party come to see if we’re alive.”

“Phosy! Phosy, are you all right?” came Dtui’s anxious voice.

“I’m fine,” Phosy yelled.

“Lit?”

“I’m fine too,” shouted Lit. He shrugged at Phosy. “Thanks for asking.”

Dtui, aided over the rocks by Sergeant Johnson, appeared around a huge boulder. When she saw the state of her husband she scrambled alone over the last few meters. She could hardly catch her breath.

“What’s he doing here?” the soldier asked when he saw Johnson.

“Prisoner. Don’t worry about it,” said Lit.

“Who did this to you?” Dtui screamed.

“That was me, comrade,” the soldier grinned. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

She glared at him, grabbed the cloth from Lit and began her own inspection.

“Always have to be the hero,” she mumbled. “Always have to run off on your own to show how clever you are. Can’t wait five minutes. Safety in numbers, ever hear of that? Heavens, Phosy, you’ve got a lump of rock sticking out of your face … and you’ve cracked a tooth. How, pray tell me, is that not as bad as it looks?”

“Could have been a bullet through his skull,” said the shooter looking over her shoulder at the wound.

She reached into her pack for her own medical supplies and pointed a bandage at the soldier.

“You,” she said, “I’ll get to you later.”

“Be nice to have the support of a good woman,” said the soldier.

“So what exactly is it you’re guarding up here so enthusiastically?” Lit asked.

“You don’t know, comrade?”

“If I knew I wouldn’t ask you, would I?”

“That’s true. It’s gold, sir.”

“Gold?”

“Lots of it.”

“We have gold?” Dtui looked up in surprise.

“It’s all around,” said the sentry. “The mountains in Xiang Khouang are chock full of the stuff. Locals have known about it for centuries but, until the war, nobody knew how to get to it. No heavy equipment. No roads. Some of the villagers would come up here to do a bit of mining. Trek a week up, a week back. All they could carry on a donkey. But by the time they’d sold it to the Chinese dealers, it barely covered the cost of sticky rice for the journey. Not worth it.”