Chapter 3

COL Page had returned to Lop Buri late on Friday and arrived at his office at 0900 hrs on Saturday morning. LTC Hawkins was waiting for him, as their quarters are next to each other, and he was aware that his boss was back.

"Here you are, sir," LTC Hawkins said, as he entered his boss's office. "The top report is from last year and the bottom one is from March of this year. After you look them over, I'll tell you what was left out and why."

"Left out? Do you mean that these reports aren't complete or factual?" COL Page demanded, somewhat upset.

"Sir, these reports are as complete and as factual, as the people at our higher headquarters would believe. After I explain the rest of the story, you will understand why certain things were left out," LTC Hawkins explained.

"And my predecessor, Colonel Sheppard, approved of all of this?" COL Page asked. He had just assumed command in July.

"Yes, sir. He most assuredly did. Just read over the reports and see what you think. I'll come back in when you're finished," LTC Hawkins told him. COL Page started to read. He was very aware that many of the pages of the documents he was reading were marked 'Top Secret'.

It was well past noon before he finished the second document and he took a break for lunch before continuing. He locked the documents in the safe in his office while he was at lunch and instructed the Staff Duty Officer to allow no one in his office in his absence.

After a quick lunch, COL Page returned to his office to find LTC Hawkins waiting for him in his own office. He followed the Colonel into his office and had a large folder marked 'Working Papers' with him. The two men were in there with the door closed for several more hours while LTC Hawkins explained about the Amulets and cited first hand reports from the 'working papers'.

"If you were working in the Pentagon and received a report with the information in it that I have just given you, what would you have done, sir?" LTC Hawkins finally asked.

"I'd assume that the whole bunch of you out here were drunk and move to have all of you relieved," COL Page answered seriously.

"Now you know why we left this information out. No one not actually on the ground to witness these happenings would ever believe them. That's why there are so many unanswered questions in those reports. Not because we didn't know the answers, but because no one would believe them."

"So you think these Amulet things are real?" COL Page asked.

"Yes sir, I do. I've spent a lot of time doing research on them. As that TSF Lieutenant said in Cambodia, 'there are many things about Thai history that are not included in foreign history books'.

"Thai is an even more difficult language to read than it is to speak. There are 76 characters in their writing system and many special cases. That's not to mention that information on these Amulets is difficult to come by, especially for a foreigner.

"I've even visited the Wat near Bangkok that is dedicated to them, but the women there are very close mouthed especially to a farang (Foreigner). I do, however, believe that something is out there looking after Thailand. Something that is very powerful. Powerful enough to wreck an assault force of armored vehicles several miles long in an instant. Powerful enough to set off explosives in multiple underground bunkers at the same time. Something that the people in Washington would never believe in," LTC Hawkins finished in a very quiet voice.

"Jesus, Colonel! Put that way, you could scare the pants off of people," COL Page said.

"Yes, sir, but just look at the evidence. The aerial photographs showing the destruction at Attapu, and not just once but multiple times.

"Then there are the reports from the end of hostilities in March. We talked to everyone involved. We spent weeks interviewing people. Everyone that we talked to agreed that the Vietnamese forces disappeared right at noon. DISAPPEARED!! Not one here and another one over there and maybe a few others over several days had withdrawn. NO, they all just disappeared at noon on the 10th! Everything along over a thousand miles of border - puff, just gone.

"The Thais were not prepared for the massive scale of those attacks, and it was all along the border with North Vietnam, Lower Laos, China, and Lower Cambodia. Their forces are very mobile, but everything was committed, they had no reserves left, they were getting their ass kicked, and were retreating everywhere. Then at noon it all just stopped!

"One minute it was full attacks. The next, no one was in sight - just wreckage. No assaults, no more shelling, no working vehicles, and not over hours or days, but in a minute or so. You tell me what could cause that!" LTC Hawkins asked passionately and then sat down.

"I have absolutely no idea," COL Page answered, very quietly.

"And Baker is tied into this how?" COL Page asked after a minute or so.

"Through the amulet he wears and through his wife. She is the one dedicated to the Amulets. I was advised in Upper Cambodia not to touch her. According to the legend, she can only be touched by her husband and her father. Any other male will die. I didn't choose to test the legend," LTC Hawkins said with a shiver.

"But this all sounds so preposterous!" COL Page said waving his hands.

"Do you know a better explanation, sir?" LTC Hawkins asked in all honesty.

"No, ... no, I don't," COL Page admitted, reluctantly.

All of the classified documents and the working papers were returned to the classified container in the Group S-2 before both officers returned home that evening for some serious drinking.

Monday morning, the 11th of December, I reported to work at my usual time after doing PT.

"Baker, you're to report to the Group Commander immediately," the OIC told me when I came in. This was followed by, "What did you do now?"

"Nothing that I know of, sir," I replied.

"Well, get up there. The Colonel, himself, called me as soon as I came in this morning," he told me.

"What's going on?" I asked Sawyer when I got to Headquarters.

"I have no idea. The CO said to send you in as soon as you got here," Sawyer told me. "Go knock on his door."

"Sir, Sergeant Baker reporting as ordered," I said, as I saluted after stopping in front of the Colonel's desk when told to enter.

"At ease, Baker," the Colonel said after returning my salute. "Have a seat. I have some questions that I need answers to. First though, tell me what happened at the awards ceremony on Thursday. Why were you seated on the side of the hall when the others were shown out?"

"The King wanted to talk to us. My father-in-law and me that is. We had a private audience with him after the ceremony, sir."

"Just you and your father-in-law with the King??" COL Page asked in surprise.

"Yes, sir. We were in there for several hours. He asked me how I won the medal, and I explained about the battle at the pass and my part in it. Afterward, he thanked me for the 'firsthand account' as he put it."

"The King did - himself?"

"Yes, sir. The King. He really is a very nice person," I told him.

"All right. That wasn't the reason that I called you in here, but I was interested in what you had done," COL Page told me.

"The reason I called you in here," he continued, "is to question you about the information in these reports," and he held up two Top Secret reports. "In your opinion, are these reports accurate?" the Colonel asked.

"I can't say, sir. I've never read them. So I have no opinion on them," I told him.

"All right," he acknowledged, and then called, "Sergeant Major!" Sawyer came in a few seconds later.

"Call Commo and tell them that Baker will be up here for a few hours, will you?"

"Yes, sir. I'll call them now," Sawyer said before he left.

"I want you to sit there and read each of these reports, and then tell me what you think of each when you finish it," the Colonel told me, and handed me the first report - the one on Attapu.

"Well?" he asked, looking up from his work as I closed the folder.

"As far as it goes, it's factual. It just leaves out a lot, sir," I told him.

"A lot of what?"

"A lot about the Amulets, sir. Do you know about them?"

"Yes. Colonel Hawkins gave me a rundown on them on Saturday."

"Do you believe what he told you?" I asked.

"It's difficult. I have spent most of my career at 10th Group in Germany. They never had any problems like these, and yes, I do find it hard to believe. Go ahead and read the second report now."

The second report dealt with the fighting in March. I was quite amazed at the extent of the fighting and the questions left unanswered by the report.

"And that one?" the Colonel asked looking up from what he was doing as I closed the last folder.

"Again, sir, it leaves out a lot, but I wasn't aware of the extent of the fighting. It does get it right that everything stopped at noon. All of our people agreed on that, but there is no reason given for the sudden cease of hostilities, or what happened to all of the men and equipment," I told him.

"Exactly what did you have to do with it?" he asked next. I spent the next forty-five minutes or so going over what I had done just before and during the battle in the pass.

"And this amulet?" he asked when I had finished the part about my amulet.

"It's this one," I answered, as I pulled my amulet and its gold chain out from under my shirt. Again the amulet came to life on its own and hung there in the air over the Colonel's desk. A few seconds later, it was joined by Suenee's amulet and gold chain, just before Suenee walked into the room. The two amulets floated above the desk and rotated so they could be viewed from any angle. The locked door had opened by itself.

"Yes, Colonel," Suenee said, "you do not have to believe in the Amulets, but they are here anyway. They are the protectors of my country and they taught the Vietnamese a valuable if expensive lesson last March."

"How did you get in here? That door was locked!" the Colonel asked in amazement.

"Nothing is beyond the powers and abilities of the Amulets, Colonel," Suenee told him with a smile.

"That was what was in those drawings that Colonel Hawkins had in his working papers, isn't it?" he asked taking a closer look at the revolving amulets.

"Yes, sir. It's what everyone saw at the various locations where the Amulets were visible. It's what triggered whatever the Amulets did to stop ALL of the Vietnamese attacks and destroy their equipment all at once," I told him, as our amulets returned to Suenee and me.

"You've given me a lot to think about, Sergeant," The Colonel said after a few seconds. "You may return to your duty section for now. I'll talk to you later after I've had time to consider what I seen and learned." I saluted him and left his office with my wife. Those outside it were shocked to see me come out with Suenee, as they hadn't seen her enter. We didn't say anything to them.