Hwang Sok-Yong - The Shadow of Arms

“I’m sorry,” Yong Kyu said, “but this is important.”

Thach pulled himself out of the hammock and took a seat in a steel chair without a word. Finally he raised his head and said, “What is it?”

“You’ve got to introduce me to a clerk at Puohung Company.”

Thach took his time before responding. He poured some cool green tea from a plastic pitcher and drank it slowly. “Can you get me antibiotics?”

“I never said I could get them myself. I’ll put you in touch with a man who may be able to get some for you.”

“Who’s the man?”

“The director of the Red Cross Hospital in Da Nang.”

“It all sounds very uncertain.”

“True, he might refuse. But one thing is for sure. Apart from the Vietnamese military, it’s about the only place you will find that has a flow of medical supplies.”

Thach let out a short laugh. “I’m also aware of that. But there’s no guarantee the Red Cross Hospital will siphon off medical supplies from the American army. And if he gets offended and reports me to the authorities I’d be vulnerable and end up spending lots of money for nothing. So, under these circumstances, I can’t introduce you to anyone at Puohung Company.”

Yong Kyu grew impatient. The Vietnamese never trusted foreigners. Any competent merchant in Le Loi market could easily see through men like him and Toi. And wasn’t old man Hien, the owner of Puohung Company, an even bigger merchant than Cuong? Hien’s men would never trust Toi, let alone Yong Kyu, and any attempt to approach them would be reported instantly to their boss. Without help from Thach as a trusted intermediary, there would be no success in establishing contacts with Puohung.

“All right,” Yong Kyu said. “I’ll find out what he thinks about it and then I’ll introduce you. Will that satisfy you?”

“Certainly.”

“And the information on NLF dealings?”

Before Yong Kyu went on, Thach held his finger to his lips. “Shhh, that’s no simple matter. The details on how much of which items have been transferred to whom is recorded in detail in daily reports and submitted to the concerned American authorities. Go out in the market right now and try to buy a captured weapon. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in uniform or not.”

“What do you mean, ‘captured weapon’?”

Nguyen Thach laughed softly. “Go out to one of the street stalls in the back alley over there and say you want to buy some personal firearms. Let’s suppose a company commander who has no real accomplishments to brag about in field operations is in need of captured weapons. His promotion and reputation require military exploits more than anything else. His adjutants and sergeants often put in an appearance at the market to purchase ‘captured weapons.’ Where did you get that six-shot revolver of yours?”

“My predecessor bought it in the market.”

“See what I mean? If the price is right, loads of guns will be delivered to wherever you want.”

“Can they be traced?”

“Never. Even if you arrest the dealer and interrogate him, it’d be pointless. The chain of transactions moves endlessly up. The links keep circling back upon themselves. It’s like being adrift on a great ocean, constantly floating up and down on endless swells.”

Yong Kyu understood. “If so, it’s imperative for us to be in the know.”

“As I said, I can give you daily information.” Thach then asked Yong Kyu, “So what do you think I want?”

“Since you’re a trader, I expect you’ll be wanting money, profits.”

Thach responded lightly. “Not necessarily. I’ve got an idea. Once you find out some of the details of the transactions of Puohung Company, share that information with me every day. You and I will exchange information, what do you say?”

An interesting proposal, Yong Kyu thought. But what were his motives? Thach was well aware of Yong Kyu’s intention to bribe a clerk in order to get filled in on the company’s dealings. In effect, that was what Thach himself had suggested, and he was about to make the introduction. If Thach was so interested in the Puohung transactions, why had he not bribed the clerk himself? Most of all, why was he so curious about Puohung Company? Yong Kyu decided to just ask.

“What do you gain from information on Puohung Company? And how come you don’t find out such things yourself?”

“Ha, ha. I’m sure it puzzles you. It’s like the graduations on the bridges. Have you seen the water level graduations marked on the bridge pillars?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Without those graduations, you’d have no way of gauging whether the level of water was going up or down, whether the flow is increasing or decreasing.”

“Are you saying that the transactions of Puohung provide a scale of some kind?”

“For instance, it’s crucial to know the price of dollars in international markets. Similarly, the Le Loi market is an economy formed through circulation of goods from the US PXs in Da Nang. As you already know, Puohung is the only company that deals directly with the American soldiers. What is important is knowing precise details of those transactions.”

“You mean A-rations?”

“Right. Those items are bought and consumed by Vietnamese civilians who have a steady US dollar income. Oranges and apples are nothing like nuoc mam noodles or bánh mì . In this market it’s very useful to know in advance the trend of changes in A-ration prices. If you get current information on supply and demand, then you can have a rough picture of price movements. The ones who run the black market are also the ones who buy A-rations. With the money they earn from trading in guns, they may buy gold or opium, but they also have to eat like everybody else and their menu is as sumptuous as the profits they are earning from black market dealings. In short, the customers for A-rations are the very people who make up the black market. A-rations are an indicator of price trends and shifts in supply and demand throughout the Da Nang markets. I’m just trying to be ready in case there’s a panic.”

“What kind of panic?”

“We’ve been through a couple of panics in the last few years. The military currency changes sometimes. When that happens, the GI notes turn into wastepaper overnight. The finance section in the US forces command makes an announcement one night and replaces the military currency faster than lightning strikes. Vietnamese merchants who hold the superseded money can become beggars overnight. Everybody knows that currency control is also treated as an operational matter. To be closely informed about the daily transactions of Puohung Company is something my brother and I are very interested in, like other merchants in the market. Do you understand now?”

“I do. And as for my other question. .”

“What was that? Oh, yes, you asked why I wouldn’t gather the information myself. Because it costs money to do that. If I need daily information, it’ll cost me money every day. Since I know many of the merchants from outside Da Nang who are on the NLF side, if I go out into the market and look around I’ll have a pretty good estimate of what merchandise is moving where for the NLF. In that way I can gather the information you need without spending any money, but to keep track of that old snake Hien I would have to dip into my pockets every day, so. .”

Thach broke into laughter and slapped Yong Kyu on the back. But Yong Kyu did not find it funny. “It isn’t fair.”

“No, you’ve got it backwards. You people came empty-handed to a marketplace in another embattled country and are making money for yourselves here.”

“Many of us have died in the fighting.”

“You’re soldiers.”