Chapter 3

The following characters appear in this chapter:

Bob

Retired Special Forces Sergeant, 6’-0’’ tall, 200 pounds, 46 years old, short brown hair, blue eyes

Frank

Retired Special Forces Sergeant, 5’-11’’ tall, 205 pounds, 48 years old, short black hair, brown eyes

George

Retired Special Forces Sergeant, 6’-1’’ tall, 210 pounds, 45 years old, short blond hair, gray eyes

Reverend Mother

Called Pea Sou or Older Sister, 5’-5’’ tall, 105 pounds, 60+ years old, white hair, brown eyes, wears white nuns clothing

Leck

Assistant to Reverend Mother, 5’-0’’ tall, 100 pounds, mid 20s, short black hair of a nun, brown eyes, wears the same white garments as the Reverend Mother

Following an excellent lunch of Sweet and Sour Pork and a beer, I returned to the hotel to look over the list of guided tours. These tours were on buses that picked people up from a number of hotels and took them to the destination or destinations that they had chosen for the day. They returned those on the tour to their hotel when finished. There were only so many seats available for each tour each day, and it was best to book your travel ahead of time. I chose the Wat Tour, which went to a number of the largest and most impressive Wats in the city for tomorrow. It is an all day tour. I chose the Floating Market tour for the following day. It requires about half a day. I also picked the Jewelry tour for the fourth day as it is a morning only tour. I wanted to be sure that I was here when Chanthra and Yuang returned.

Later that afternoon following a short nap, I showered and changed clothes before heading out to the Senior NCO Club. It required another taxi ride, and I was getting tired of always needing to get a taxi.

There was no Enlisted Men’s Club in Bangkok, as most of the junior enlisted personnel preferred to hang out in the various bars and other establishments that Bangkok is famous for. For the same reason, there was no regular NCO Club. There was, however, a Senior NCO Club and an Officer’s Club. All of the taxi drivers knew where they were as well as where the main PX / Commissary is located.

To have access to the club, one had to be a member. I was at the entrance counter to pay for a club card when I heard someone call my name.

“Mike ... Mike Barnett!” a voice said in a surprised tone, and I turned to see who it was. Standing there, about five feet from me, was my old teammate Bob staring at me with a quizzical expression on his face.

“We heard that you had been killed in an auto accident,” Bob said following that.

“That was the excuse that they came up with,” I told him but went no further, as this wasn’t the time or the place for an explanation.

“We just got into town, and I thought I would come by and see who was around,” I continued.

“WE?” he asked in a surprised voice.

“My wife, house-girl, and I. They are at one of the Wats presently,” I told him.

“You’re ... married?” he asked, also in a questioning voice.

“Yes, we met on my previous assignment. I retired in Korat after returning. We’re on vacation presently,” I told him. Bob saw that I had my wallet out, and that the club greeter had a card in his hand and smiled.

“Mike will be my guest tonight, Harry,” he told the club greeter before turning back to me.

“Where are you going on this vacation?” he asked. “You won’t need a club card if you are only going to be here for a few days,” he added, as I put my wallet away, and we started into the club.

Bob went right to the bar, though I would have preferred the dining room. At a booth in the back sat two more former teammates, George and Frank. We joined them after ordering at the bar. They also seemed surprised to see me.

“Damn Mike, we heard that you were killed in some kind of auto accident,” Frank said as we joined them.

“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” I told them, as we settled on the seat of the booth.

“Mike was on some kind of assignment,” Bob told the others in a very quiet voice.

“But that accident story came out something over four years ago,” George said, also in a very quiet voice.

“It was a very long assignment and not something I can talk about, you understand,” I told them. They knew that some SF personnel were given very secret assignments, often with the CIA or other organizations. Besides, I was sure they would never believe the truth.

“We’ve been back for a couple of months,” I added.

“We?” they asked.

“Mike is married,” Bob told them to shocked looks from them.

“Must have been one hell of an assignment,” Frank said.

“We’ve only been married a short time. We couldn’t get married while on the assignment,” I told them. “I couldn’t reveal my real name.”

“So, is this a vacation or a honeymoon?” Bob asked with a grin.

“A bit of both,” I answered noncommittally.

“Where are you headed? Frank asked.

“Chiang Mai and the rest of beautiful Northern Thailand,” I told them, before adding after a few seconds, “plus maybe a bit of Burma and Northern Laos, the Thai portion.” All three of them sat up on hearing this.

“You’re talking about going to the Golden Triangle. You don’t want to do that. It isn’t healthy,” George, who had been an intelligence guy, told me. “The Kuomintang is very active there. They don’t like intruders or visitors. There are also a number of drug-lords with personal armies. None of them are careful about who they shoot,” he finished.

“Especially, you wouldn’t want to take your new wife there, not if you love her,” Frank told me.

“Are you going on another secret mission?” Bob asked very quietly after a few seconds. “And if so, hasn’t the CIA or whoever you’re working for briefed you on how dangerous it is there?” he added. I just smiled at them.

“No, not me. I’m retired now and not up for any of that kind of stuff. I was just wondering if we could check the area out. If it’s as dangerous as you make out, then we’ll pass on going there,” I told them. We sat there for a short time following that, but nothing much was said. I finished my beer before saying anything else.

“I’m for dinner. Will any of you join me, my treat,” I told them but received no answer.

“It been good seeing all of you again,” I told them, and leaving the bottle there on the table, I rose and headed for the dining room. On the way there, I heard what sounded like the continuation of our previous conversation.

“Mike is up to something. That fucker doesn’t know how to quit. He may not even be retired,” I heard Bob say.

“He could be retired but working for the CIA or some other agency. He always was a ball buster,” George was heard to say.

“And that story about his old lady being at some Wat was probably a lie. He probably isn’t even married. He never seemed like the marrying type,” Frank added.

I had to wonder how I had heard this discussion being on my way to the dining room, as I was quite some distance from my former teammates. As I continued to walk, it occurred to me that Chanthra had often told me that her amulet spoke to her when there were things that she needed to know. I just smiled then realizing how little they actually knew. I had a nice dinner at the club before heading back to the hotel.

The following three days were filled with the tours. The Wat tour was very impressive, as there are many large beautiful Wats in Bangkok. The Floating Market tour was interesting, and there were many things for sale on it, but I had been in Thailand for many years and was a bit jaded, unlike many of the tourists who were greatly impressed with what they saw. However, even I made a few purchases of things that appealed to me, and that I thought Chanthra or Yuang would like. On the Jewelry tour, I was apprehensive, fearing that they would return early and find me gone. I needn’t have worried and did see a ring that I was sure that Chanthra would like. We would return later and buy it, if she really liked it.

Chanthra has the Narrative

Pongpen is an excellent driver, and she had a nearly new car. Travel in Bangkok had not improved in the 36 years that I had been absent. It had, however, changed. Where previously most travel was on the Klongs or canals, many of them had been filled in, and there were now roads where they had been with only a few of the larger Klongs remaining. The traffic was very heavy even, or especially, on the larger roads. Once out of the crowded center of the city, the traffic was better, and we could travel at a constant speed, which was faster than the train which I was used to. Yuang, who was seated next to me, had a terrified look on her face at the speed at which we were traveling.

“It’s all right, Yuang,” I told her, even though I wasn’t sure that it was. “These cars are made to travel this fast, and sometimes even faster,” I added. She didn’t look well on hearing the last part of what I had said.

Wat Tai Yacum was originally built many miles from the city with its many large and lavish Wats. Even now, it is still well outside of the city, and it requires some time to arrive there. As we approached the old original Wat, it appeared to have changed little while I was gone. It did appear that some work had been done to restore a portion of it.

Pongpen had slowed as we approached the Wat, and we had passed the original buildings of the old Wat before the changes here became visible. During my time here previously, there had been only a few wooden buildings on piles where the novices and the teachers lived. Instructions were given outside under the trees. When it rained, instructions were given on the open ground floors of the buildings. There was also a large kitchen building where food was prepared and eaten. All of the buildings had been of wooden construction. There had also been only a small number of novices and teachers.

Now, however, the area was filled with new buildings, and there were many, many more people here. They were all women, and many were visibly pregnant. There were rows of buildings where the many people now here lived. There were three large buildings where instruction appeared to be given. Additionally, there was a huge kitchen where food was prepared and several covered areas where people could eat. I also saw what appeared to be a large dispensary or hospital along with a pharmacy for dispensing medications. There was also what appeared to be a two-story office building, which we had parked next to. The last few types of buildings were of masonry construction, while the others were still built of wood, but were obviously of recent construction. There were also still many trees around the perimeter of all of the buildings.

I sat in the car for a time taking in all of the changes. It was obvious from her reaction that Yuang was very impressed with what she saw here.

“It has changed a lot since you left,” Pongpen said breaking me out of my memories of the past on seeing all of this.

“Yes, it has changed a great deal,” I admitted before recalling why we were here.

“Where do I report to the Mashee Yhi (Reverend Mother)?” I asked.

“Her office is in the building that we are parked next to, along with a number of other offices. The Amulets have become a more organized religious movement since your time,” Pongpen told me.

NOTE: While the characters mainly speak English when together, at the Wat, they are speaking Thai. It has been translated as most readers do not read Thai which has 76 characters in its writing system.

Yuang and I followed Pongpen into the building after exiting the car. I was well aware that the one I was going to meet was not the same Reverend Mother who had been in charge in 2477 by the Buddhist calendar (1934). At the time, she had been an old woman, and I was sure that she had long since gone to her next life or possibly even to Nirvana with the Buddha.