Chapter 13

The following character reappears from previous stories:

Kim Atchine,

MSG, Senior Medical Technician, 5’-7’’ tall, 135 lb, 34C-23-34, 40 years old, black hair, brown eyes

The following new character appears in this chapter and the next:

Khong

Chief Monk at Wat Mahathat, 5’-4’’ tall, 115 pounds, 39 years old or so, shaved head, brown eyes

“We need to talk,” I told the Colonel. “But not here,” I added. We were still standing around the truck that Greg and I had just removed the bomb from.

“This is as good a place as any,” she told me before casting a ward and a silence spell around herself, Greg and me. “Go ahead,” she added.

“We are up to our collective asses in alligators,” I told her.

“What else is new? What’s the latest flap?” she asked, coolly.

“One of the drivers tried to blow up his truck, but he wanted someone else to actually do it. Fortunately, Sergeant Walker looked under the hood before trying to start the engine. Greg and I defused and removed the bomb. The Cougars stopped the driver who was trying to escape. We will need to interrogate all of the drivers before we can allow them to resume work.

“There are also the prisoners that we need to interrogate. Finally, you need to call Mr, Henshaw about religious rites for the dead guerrillas. Apparently, we require a Monk to pray over the dead before burning the bodies with whatever they use,” I told her before remembering, “we need the Marines to help offload any more shuttles until we get the driver situation straightened out.”

“I’ll call Captain Chesapeake again and explain things. They won’t be happy, but there isn’t much that can be done without trucks to move the cargo,” Greg said in a resigned voice.

“This is going to be hard on the Magic users ... all of us,” Trish said before adding, “I’ll call Mr. Henshaw and see about a Monk, and what we need to incinerate the 25 bodies.” Following that, she canceled the ward and the silence spell.

“I’ll see how Lucy and Kaera are doing and get the drivers lined up. The prisoners can wait for a while. They’re all frozen in place anyway,” I told her. Greg was already on his radio.

Lucy and Kaera had finished interrogating the new kitchen help, and they had taken them to the mess facility for them to start work.

“How did it go?” I asked when I caught up with them.

“Not too bad, one of the drivers helped. They are all women with families and husbands with either no jobs or very low paying jobs. They were delighted to get jobs out here. They said that working at the hotels or clubs wasn’t good, as the men always wanted sex from them, and they had enough of that at home,” Lucy told me with a smile.

“They were really frightened by Susie and Clare. They thought they were demons or evil spirits. We assured them that they were neither and that they wouldn’t hurt them. We took them to see all of the Feline Partners that were here on the way to the kitchen,” Kaera added.

“Well, that’s one down. We are going to need to interrogate all of the drivers. One of them tried to blow up a truck with one of our mechanics on it. Fortunately, Sergeant Walker checked under the hood first. The Cougars stopped the driver, but we are going to need to check on the rest before they can be allowed into the compound with a truck,” I told them. “And that doesn’t include the prisoners, plus we need to take care of the bodies of the dead, and we still have the Marines to unload and get settled,” I added.

“It’s going to be a long difficult day,” Lucy said with a sigh.

“We’ll need all of the Magic users to help. They can work in relays. Some working while others recover,” I told them.

“Yeah, a long hard day. Where are we going to keep the prisoners?” Lucy asked while Kaera just listened.

“We can use some of the large shipping containers and put wards around them. Eventually, we’ll turn them over to the local authorities to be tried,” I told them, but didn’t add anything about the possible trouble there. We had enough to do as it was.

“Where are we going to do this?” Kaera asked.

“Probably in the warehouse. It has the most available open space, and we can work on two or three men at the same time,” I told her.

“We need to add heavy interrogation chairs to our equipment list,” Lucy suggested. It was a good idea. We would need to use what was available this time.

The interrogation of the truck drivers and the prisoners was lengthy and time consuming. We could only do three at a time at most, and often just two at a time. I won’t bother you with the questioning, suffice it to say there was the usual sweating and groaning. It was hard on the Magic users also, and we switched them off after each suspect they worked on. It was early afternoon by the time we finished just the drivers. Only two shuttles had landed in that time. Both of them were carrying assault vehicles and their assigned squads. Each shuttle also carried an extra squad so that personnel could be switched to rest and eat. They had brought field rations and sleeping bags with them.

The Colonel joined us about an hour into the interrogation process.

“I talked to Henshaw. He was shocked about the attack and that we had dead. He is looking into finding a Monk to pray over the dead. He wasn’t sure how we could burn 25 bodies. He is working on that also. How are the interrogations going?” she asked.

“So far, we haven’t learned much. Those we have worked on are just drivers doing their jobs and glad to have steady jobs. None of them appear to have connections to any of the guerrilla organizations. We are saving the guilty driver for last as he will probably take the longest,” I told her.

All of the Magic users took turns interrogating the drivers and then the prisoners. It went into late that evening before we finished. From the information that we gathered, it appeared that the attack had been a joint operation. Those who had captured the drivers belonged to an organization that called itself “Ayutthaya”. Most of the dead belonged to an organization named “Taksin”. Both of these organizations took their names from Thai history. There was another Thai organization that called itself the “Thai Cong”.

We also learned that there was a Cambodian organization calling themselves the Khmer Rouge, and a Laotian organization named “Pathet Lao”. Again all of these names came from their home country’s history. The bomber belonged to the Thai Cong organization, but his attack was more an opportunistic one than a planned attack. Still, it could have killed one of our mechanics and injured other people.

That afternoon, four shuttles landed under the watchful eyes of the assault vehicles. The Marines had started moving into their barracks and setting up their platoon spaces. There had been extra personnel on each shuttle to aid in unloading and getting them set up in the barracks. Captain Chesapeake had been on the last shuttle of the day. He is a tall, heavy set man with a deep voice. He is also a bit old to still be just a Captain and a Company Commander.

Greg told me that he had turned down several headquarters jobs because he loved being a line Marine and the job of company commander. The Colonel invited him to dine with us, but she and I were still questioning prisoners through dinner. Chesapeake and Roanoke came over to the warehouse after they had eaten to watch as we interrogated the remaining prisoners. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t know anyone outside of their small cell in the organization. It was typical of how terrorist organizations were organized and operated.

We didn’t hear from Mr. Henshaw until the next morning. It was just as well, as we were all busy until late that evening.

Joel and Kanisha plus Sergeant Platner had organized security sweeps by our aerial Partners and patrols by the ground Partners while the rest of us were busy. They hadn’t found anything. Sergeant Walker’s people had repaired the bus and the drivers had gone home that night as had the kitchen help. Naomi had cast wards around the trucks to be sure that no one interfered with them. The Marines’ assault vehicles were parked in our parking area and also warded for the night. All of the wards around our perimeter were checked and reinforced where necessary before it grew dark. There were Marines on guard duty over night inside our compound. We were as prepared for another attack as possible.

Trish and I slept together that night after a rather late dinner. Sleep was all that we did, as we were both worn out. We were up early the next morning, and I took Bob and Susie out to check the area around our compound for booby traps and any sign of spies from the various guerrilla organizations. Natalie also went out with Clare to help check the area. Samson and Sara along with Chet and Millie flew reconnaissance flights over the area around us.

The kitchen help arrived on time and hurried into work. The drivers managed to arrive before the first shuttle landed. They had a new man to take the place of the saboteur. Lucy and Bland interrogated him before he was allowed to start work.

Mr. Henshaw’s convoy arrived at about 1000 hrs. that morning. The large vehicle in the lead held part of his security detail. His car was second. The third vehicle was a car that held three monks. The 4th and 5th vehicles were large stake trucks loaded with limbs, branches, and the trunks of trees. The final vehicle was the same as the first and contained the remainder of the security detail.

At the time, we had the two assault vehicles guarding the road and the approach from the rice paddies. There was a shuttle on the ground that had just finished unloading. There was a second shuttle waiting to land, and a Marine Assault Shuttle flying cover for both. Things were very busy with trucks moving the last of the supplies from the grounded shuttle.

We had been alerted to the convoy’s approach first by the assault shuttle, and then by the assault vehicle guarding the south approach from the city. I had formed up Tiger Team and Jaguar Team in the parking area on being alerted, and we had moved out of our compound on the second alert. Major Roanoke was with us, and he had the south assault vehicle stop the convoy well before the runway, so the one shuttle could take off and the other one could land. Tiger Team went to meet those in the convoy, while Jaguar Team checked the nearer rice paddies for any sign of human presence.

By the time we arrived at the convoy, Henshaw’s security detail had emerged from their vehicles and were eyeing the surrounding area with suspicion. Mr. Henshaw emerged from his car as we arrived there with an upset look on his face. This was when the first shuttle took off and a few seconds later the second shuttle landed and then turned around to return to the end of the runway to unload. During this time, you could have set off a bomb right next to us, and we wouldn’t have heard it, as the shuttles are that loud.

“Good grief!” Henshaw said when we could all hear again. “Is it always that noisy?” he asked.

“The shuttles are always that noisy. You just don’t hear it or notice it that much inside the civilian ones because of the insulation,” I told him.

By this time, we had been joined by three Monks dressed in saffron robes who had been in the second car.

“This is Venerable Khong. He is the Chief Monk at Wat Mahathat in New Bangkok. He and his assistants are here to pray for the dead and conduct the cremation service,” Mr. Henshaw informed us.

By now we had learned the correct way to greet important local guests, and greeted the three Monks in the correct Thai manner. They returned our greeting, but it was Henshaw who continued the conversation.

“When will you be ready to conduct the ceremony and will there be continued interruptions by those shuttles?” he demanded, obviously not pleased to be out here where an attack had occurred.

“After the required preparations are completed, and the Monks are ready to proceed. Yes, there will be shuttles landing and taking off all day,” the Colonel informed him in a less demanding voice than he had used. She then turned to the Monks.

“I’m Colonel Ferguson, Commander of the First Mobile Headquarters Team, Reverend Monk. What preparations will be necessary before you can conduct the ceremony?” she asked respectfully.

“We must see the bodies first and where to conduct the ceremony. Is there a place less busy where it can be conducted?” the Chief Monk, Khong, asked in good Standard.