Chapter 8

We filed out of the front gate toward the saddle. I handed Tweed the smoke grenade, as we hurried down to the LZ. In just under five minutes, I was in place and ready. I called the chopper again.

“Air Cobra 17, this is Golden Badger 3 Zulu. I am popping smoke now,” I told him as I signaled Tweed.

“I identify green smoke. I say again green.”

“Roger, Air Cobra 17. I’m upwind of the smoke and ready to guide you in.”

The chopper that approached then wasn’t a Huey either. I recognized it as a much older Sikorsky CH-34 Choctaw, from my Path Finder training. It had Thai Special Forces markings. When it landed, several soldiers in Thai Special Forces uniforms jumped out with weapons pointed in all directions. They were followed, more leisurely, by a Thai Special Forces Colonel, a couple of aides and last, but not least by Suenee and Sophie!!

Lieutenant Tamusarit had stepped forward to salute the Colonel and was shocked when the two women stepped out of the helicopter. His surprise wasn’t any greater than Captain Warren’s or mine, however.

Suenee spotted me immediately, rushed over to me, and planted a big kiss on my cheek. Sophie just stood there and looked upset that Sawyer wasn’t there to greet her. The CO gave me a dirty look, but had to step forward to greet the Thai Colonel.

“This is Colonel Sangtaram, the Commander of Thai Special Forces in this area,” Lieutenant Tamusarit was saying to the CO, as the CO stepped forward and saluted.

“Welcome, sir. It’s nice to meet you,” the CO said.

“Yes, Lieutenant Tamusarit’s call for additional people came at a fortunate time. I received a few new people just the other day. Also, it was necessary to bring Major Kung’s niece and her friend here. I hope this won’t inconvenience you too much, Captain,” the Colonel said.

“Additional help is always welcome, sir.” the CO said. “The young ladies are a bit of a shock, however.”

“Yes, I see one of them has already found the reason for which she insisted on coming here. The other one looks unhappy, but then all of your people aren’t here,” the Colonel finished. He then turned to speak to Lieutenant Tamusarit.

“Well Nephew, continue to do a good job here, and I will see you later at Headquarters.” He then handed the Lieutenant a book in Thai that looked rather old and well used. “This will give you something to ponder in your leisure time, Nephew,” he said. The Lieutenant and the CO saluted, as the Colonel and his aids got back on the chopper. I took Suenee over by the CO and prepared to signal the chopper to take off.

“Air Cobra 17, this is Golden Badger 3 Zulu. You are cleared for take off.”

“Roger, Badger 3 Zulu. Taking off now, out.”

As the noise from the chopper faded into the distance, the CO turned to me.

“Introduce us, Baker,” he demanded.

“Sir, this is Miss Suenee Sa, Major Kung’s niece and my girlfriend. The other lady is MSG Sawyer’s girlfriend, Miss Sophie.”

“What?” the Captain asked in shock.

“Where Sawyer?” Sophie demanded.

“He’s up at the camp,” I told her.

“Speaking of which, I suggest that we all return there now,” the CO said, rather forcefully.

LT Tamusarit marched his enlarged command with their baggage back to camp. I took Suenee’s bag and the CO took Sophie’s bag and we headed back up the saddle to camp. LT Sykes brought the security platoon in behind us.

“Lieutenant Tamusarit,” the CO said as we entered the front gate, “that bunker next to yours is empty. It would be a good place for your new men.”

“Yes, I was thinking the same thing, sir.”

The CO and I, plus the women, continued on to Operations while LT Sykes released the security platoon. Sawyer was just coming out of the Operations bunker as we approached and Sophie wasn’t shy about greeting him. She rushed up to kiss him on the mouth. It was the first time I had seen the big NCO shocked since I had met him.

“I suggest that we adjourn to Operations, Master Sergeant Sawyer,” the CO said with emphasis on Sawyer’s rank. Most of the troops in camp had seen Sophie’s greeting, and it was apparent that the CO wasn’t happy at all. Once we had gotten inside, the CO immediately demanded to know what was going on.

“All right, just whose idea was this,” he demanded, loudly, “and what am I going to do with two civilian females?”

Sawyer blanched, as I had never seen the CO as upset as this in the short time that I had been here. Suenee was the one that stepped forward.

“It was my idea, Captain,” Suenee said, quietly. “My amulet directed me to come here to assist Sergeant Baker. THEY, The Amulets of Power, are the ones that stopped the mortar attacks and have eliminated the threat that was coming here to assault your camp and the others on the border. Your people will report tonight just how thoroughly that threat was eliminated.”

Captain Warren just stood there in shock and surprise for a minute at least.

“How do you know these things?” he finally managed to ask very quietly.

“My amulet tells me many things,” was all that Suenee said, but I couldn’t let it go at that.

“Sir, she is the one that warned Maj Kung that his compound was going to be attacked.”

“It was you?” Sawyer asked in shock.

“Yes, again my amulet spoke to me about this,” Suenee acknowledged

“Yes, and I came with her,” Sophie added. “It’s not proper for a Thai lady to travel alone. Besides I was lonesome for Sawyer.”

“I guess it’s too late to send them back,” the Captain finally said. “Where are we going to put them, Operations Sergeant?” A frown crossed Sawyer’s face for a second before he smiled big time.

“I’ll put Baker and the young lady in the alternate commo bunker. It’s big enough and we don’t need it for anything else right now. Sophie can stay in my bunker with me, sir.”

“All right, all right,” Captain Warren said in disgust, “this is all that I need - two love sick men when I’m trying to fight a war. I can’t send them back - at least not right a way. TSF would be offended, not to mention her uncle, since that Colonel brought them out here personally.

“You two had better stay straight, or I’ll ship all four of you out of here and you two back to Lop Buri. Do you understand me?” he demanded in anger.

“Yes, sir,” we both answered.

“Do not worry, Captain,” Suenee told the angry CO. “We will not cause you any trouble. There are already many women here. We will fit in with them. I will start my classes for the other women shortly. You will hardly know that we are around.” Captain Warren didn’t look like he believed that.

Sawyer took us over to the alternate commo bunker. It was a bit of a mess inside. It was apparent that some of the indigenous troops had been using it for drinking and smoking.

“Let’s go over to supply bunker #3,” Sawyer told me, “and we’ll get you some bunks and a couple of footlockers. There are plenty of empty ammo boxes around here for construction of other furniture.”

Supply bunker #3 was parallel to the back gate and about twenty-five yards in from it. The alternate commo bunker and the alternate medical bunker were parallel to the long axis of the camp and a short distance further in than the supply bunker. They were about eight meters apart.

Sawyer and I carried the cots and footlockers over to my new home. We had placed blankets, sheets, mosquito nets, pillows, towels and some other things in the footlockers. Suenee and Sophie were cleaning up the bunker when we returned. Already some of the local women had come over to help them and brought a broom and dustpan with them. They all quieted down as Sawyer and I returned with the things from supply. The women took them from us and then indicated that we should leave while they worked.

“Do you need to get back to commo?” Sawyer asked me, as we left the bunker.

“No, Meadows said to come back after early chow,” I told him.

“All right, I’ll put you on last shift for guard tonight again. Get your stuff policed up and move it over here in a bit. I’m going to get a cot and footlocker for Sophie. The cots are OK for sleeping on, but we may have to use the floor for sex. There isn’t enough room for the two of us on a cot,” Sawyer told me. I helped him move the stuff for Sophie over to his bunker and then went to pack up my stuff in Tweed’s bunker. When I got there Tweed was up and sweating.

“Too damn hot in here to sleep,” he told me as I entered.

“You won’t have to worry about me waking you up anymore,” I told him. “I’m moving to the alternate commo bunker.”

“What’s up?” he asked.

“My girlfriend showed up with TSF this afternoon and Sawyer put us in there,” I told him and started to pack.

“Girlfriend!?” Tweed asked in surprise and shock.

“Yes, she came out from Ban Lung.”

“With TSF?”

“Yes, the TSF Colonel-in-charge of the local area brought her and Sawyer’s girlfriend out in his chopper,” I told him.

“In a chopper with Sawyer’s girlfriend?”

“Yes, along with some more people for LT Tamusarit.”

“Damn, you know the right people, Baker. I wish I could get a girlfriend out here, but all of the local women are married and they watch their daughters like hawks,” Tweed complained.

“Well Tweed, Suenee picked me, I didn’t pick her, but she sure is nice. I don’t have any regrets there.”

I moved my stuff over to the alternate commo bunker. I even made an extra trip to get a spare air mattress, in case we had to use the floor like Sawyer suggested. Of course Suenee and I weren’t as large as Sophie and Sawyer were.”

Things were progressing well when I returned to my new home. The women had setup the cots and blown up the air mattresses. The mosquito nets were setup over the cots and they had brought in some stands made from ammo crate wood to raise the footlockers up off the pallet floor of the bunker in case it flooded. They really had the place looking pretty good in a short time.

After a short while the other women left and Sophie went to Sawyer’s bunker to work on it. I was finally alone with Suenee, and she came into my arms.

“Are you mad that I came?” she asked.

“No, I’m not mad, just a little shocked. We’re just a bit busy here and I don’t know how much time I’ll be able to spend with you. I’m worried about you being lonesome,” I told her.

“I have my work and it won’t always be so busy,” she assured me with a smile.

We kissed for a long time after that. When we finally came up for air and I looked at my watch it was time for me to go to early chow. I needed to eat and get over to commo to relieve Meadows.

“Come with me and eat,” I told Suenee. “I have to go on duty after that. You can have a small light in here after dark but you must cover the firing ports and entrance if you do. No lights are to be visible after dark because that’s when they attack.”

“Yes, I know. The other women told me about all of that. They even lent me a small kerosene lamp to use. I will wait here for you to get off duty,” Suenee told me.

At the mess hall, we both ate. The women there already knew who Suenee was and why she was here. They smiled a lot at both of us. When we finished, I went to commo and Suenee returned to our bunker.

“Damn, boy, how the hell did you get a girlfriend to come all the way out here?” Meadows asked, as I entered the commo bunker.

“I didn’t. It was her idea,” I told him.

“Damn! I wish I had a woman that would do that for me. Some of the mama-sans here are starting to look pretty good. Their daughters have always looked good, but that’s a sure way to get shipped out of here,” Meadows told me.