Hwang Sok-Yong - The Shadow of Arms

“Of course, it’s merely a formality. But it could become extremely useful to you. You once told me you needed a wild card for protection, something suitable for the mysterious nature of your duty here, didn’t you? Well, here is the card for your protection.”

Yong Kyu looked over the paper. It contained information on the quantity and price of various goods and the destinations to which they were consigned.

“This is. .”

“That’s right. Goods that clearly have been shipped to the NLF and to the residents in liberated areas. It’s a detailed description of materials that have been fraudulently siphoned off from the supplies that were supposed to be used for the phoenix hamlets resettlement project. Can you think of a better card to hold in your hand? It’s one you can play against the Americans as well as the Vietnamese authorities.”

Ahn Yong Kyu quickly put the paper away. “Isn’t the dealer your own brother?”

“Yes, and that was a great help for discovering more detailed information. Later, I tracked down those outbound trucks and so was able to make an accurate description. If you use this card when you need to, it’ll shake up the whole of central Vietnam as well as the Da Nang administration. There’ll be a storm of personnel changes in the command of the US forces, not to mention the Vietnamese army. However, as you yourself said, whether you should actually use this card, or just gulp the information down is a decision requiring very serious consideration.”

Ahn Yong Kyu took a deep breath in order to remain calm.

“Fine. But there’s still something I’m curious about.”

“What’s that?”

“I still have no information on the dealings in weapons.”

Nguyen Thach frowned. “What do you want, to become a prize agent so the Americans will award you a silver star? You may find the metal too heavy to bear.”

“Just curious.”

“From the quantities shown on that statement, you can guess,” said Thach. “Black market dealing in the phoenix hamlet supplies is vital for the Americans and Vietnamese alike.”

“Thank you,” Yong Kyu said sincerely. “I will be leaving here in three months. And I like to travel light.”

“That’s precisely your position. Everything in Vietnam belongs to the Vietnamese. Am I not right?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m glad we’ve come to understand each other. One more thing. I must inform you that things are shaping up so that it’s going to be difficult for us to share an office any longer. My brother is completely absorbed in the cinnamon he’s collecting with Major Pham in the highlands. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve had to give up my own repair shop as a warehouse for their use.”

“I understand. We’ll move out. You’ve been a great help to us.”

Nguyen Thach stood up. “Well, it’s not as though we’ll have nothing more to do with each other from here out. You can find an office anywhere in Le Loi market, and we’ll continue to do business together. Here comes Mr. Toi. I hope you’ll relay my intention to him.”

As he left the pub, Thach nodded to Toi who was just coming in. Sitting down across from Yong Kyu, Toi asked, “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean? Am I not allowed to have lunch with a dealer of ours?” Yong Kyu said.

“What did Nguyen Thach have to say?” Toi asked, flipping the cold food this way and that.

“He asked us to vacate the office. Looks like his brother is going to use his service shop as a cinnamon warehouse.”

“You must have said something. You didn’t touch the very bottom, did you?”

“I’ve just found out who the main dealer to the NLF is,” said Yong Kyu.

“Who?”

“As we knew from the beginning, it’s none other than Nguyen himself. But I’ll make no more inquiries.”

Toi looked around in perplexity and then asked, “How can you say that when this is only the beginning?”

He gave me some information that can be used for a counterattack, and he has even more information than that.”

“Look, we’ve known that from the start. Did he say so himself?”

“No, but he didn’t have to. I could just tell.”

“Then the conditions have not changed.”

Yong Kyu could not resist taking out the piece of paper and showing it to Toi. “This ought to be enough. It’s dynamite.”

Toi snatched the sheet of paper and quickly scanned it. “Very specific. No doubt it’s useful. But one thing is missing here. There’s nothing at all about weapons dealings.”

Ahn Yong Kyu took the paper back from Toi. “We can make some guesses from the quantities of the goods. Still, this is sufficient for me. Now, I’ve got my hand on the main root. When I’m in a fix, I’m going to yank it out. I don’t give a damn who ends up digging potatoes later, I just don’t want to be the first one to dig. I’ll spend these last couple of months without any worry and then I’ll be on my way home. After that, it’s none of my business whether you do the job or not.”

“Same goes for me,” Toi said. “As I told you before, I’m an opportunist created by the reality of Cochinchina and South Vietnam. Even so, we have to know this. I’m just an informant employed by your detachment, but even when you’re gone I still have to make a living here. I told you there was something odd in the air across the river. We can uncover the Da Nang supply line of the NLF.”

“So? Shall we report it to the Americans?”

Toi paused for a moment then leaning low across the table, said, “We’ll lose nothing. We started by tracing back the flow of C-rations and ended up grabbing Pham Quyen by the ankle. We can go further to squeeze their throats.”

“I’m going to make a copy of this memo and give it to the captain. And our dealings in B-rations with Nguyen Thach are finished now, too. I’ll have to be independent here. But I have no problem if you want to keep digging for the NLF supply lines. If you come up with some solid information, though, you have to consult with me concerning the consequences.”

“We’ve been good partners. I’d like to do something good for you before you return home.”

“Thanks. What would be good for me?”

“Koreans are poor like us,” Toi said. “You never know when hard times will fall upon you. If we’re lucky, we might be able to make some big money. Then, when you go home, I’ll also quit the joint investigation headquarters and go to Saigon.”

Yong Kyu changed the subject.

“It’s getting late. I need to look in briefly on Stapley and then go into the office for a talk with the captain. By the way, what did you learn when you went out earlier?”

“I confirmed that the daily passes of the American soldiers have been restricted. It’s been three days. Considering the overall circumstances, a full scale operation doesn’t seem likely.”

“Where have you been?”

“I went to see an Indian moneychanger. I know his wife well. People may soon want to change their military currency. It’s like the calm before a storm. I’ve been through something similar once myself. After Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated, there was a great bedlam in the market. Those who had inside information lost nothing, and those connected in some way with the Americans held out to the last minute. Of course, the American soldiers are given plenty of time to exchange their money. But on the street, the notes can lose 30 to 50 percent of their face value in an hour, then they will drop to 10 percent and before long they are wastepaper.”

“What about the apples at Puohung Company?” Yong Kyu asked.

“They figured it out fast enough. The upper class in Da Nang, those who are holding military currency, are eager to spend it as quickly as possible. Those with connections to the US military make arbitrary offers to purchase at a discount from face value and start gathering up the military currency. At the moment, a single apple can cost twenty military dollars. I’ve seen a hunk of frozen beef or a turkey go for a hundred.”