THERE BE DRAGONS

by Peter Hallett

“You saw one of those creatures after the ambush?” asked Cage.

  “I suppose it’s okay to tell you now. Yes,” said Stephens.

  “So when they showed up at the village, you and Diaz had already had experience with them, you’d engaged them before?” asked Moore.

  “I’d hardly call it an engagement. I did fire a few rounds at it … and in it … but nothing like the battle at the village or like we’ve just had,” said Stephens.

  “You didn’t report it?” Moore sounded frustrated.

  “I didn’t wanna spook the men. It’s your job to do that.”

  “Tell me where this happened. I want all the details.” Moore’s voice grew louder.

  “Not now, Agent Moore,” said Stephens.

  “This is important information,” said Moore.

  “To you it is,” said Stephens. “But to us it ain’t. It doesn’t change what we’ve been tasked to do.”

  “Do we need to be concerned the Russians will follow us?” asked Teacher.

  “I don’t know … do we, Moore?” Stephens said.

  “The only way around that drop adds days to the journey,” started Moore, “they won’t be able to catch us up before we reach the camp.” He stood upright. “If they try to cross the river by climbing down the cliff face, they’re gonna take a few casualties. I don’t think they’ll risk that route. We do need to worry about the possibility they’ve radioed the base. If they have, our mission just got a whole lot harder.”

  “I can’t cope with it being any more difficult than it already is,” Buttons moaned to no one.

  “Did we just encounter wild dragons or trained ones?” asked Jackson.

  “I believe they were trained ones,” said Moore. “Hence the locality of the Russians and their tactic of attack. The ones you encountered at the village were no doubt trained too. You’ll have to ask the sergeant and Diaz about the one at the ambush.”

  “How the hell do they train a dinosaur?” Buttons asked.

  “I’m sorry—” started Moore.

  “Need to know information?” finished Buttons.

  “Exactly, Private.”

  “Could those Russians trailing us have more dragons that they didn’t release on us at the bridge?” Jackson asked, but before Moore could answer he continued. “In other words, the Russians can’t cross from cliff to cliff, but the dragons can. So, if they have more of the animals left in their party, they could already be searching for us.”

  “True,” said Moore. “I think if we stay under the trees we should be able to travel undetected.”

  “You think?” Buttons asked.

  “Yes, Buttons. I think,” said Moore. He threw up his arms, apparently exasperated.

  “This ain’t the time for a shit-slinging competition, gentlemen,” said Stephens.

  “You’re the CIA, Moore. You should know.” Buttons ignored the sergeant.

  “What about if they did radio in?”

  “What about it, Cage?” asked Moore.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter if they have any more dragons with them. They could just unleash some from the base,” Cage said.

  “Let them,” said Teacher. “I know how to make them explode now. You’ve just gotta hit them in the neck. I plan on doing that to heaps more before this mission is finished.”

  “Teacher’s right. Aim for the neck,” said Stephens. “The rest of their body can take a beating, but the neck can’t. The bullet must ignite whatever fluid mixes to shoot their fire.”

  “Easier said than done,” said Jackson.

  “And we don’t know how many dragons are at the base?” asked Diaz.

  “Correct,” said Moore.

  “We could be walking into a hornets nest. A very deadly one.” Diaz shook his head.

  “Again I’ll say it,” Buttons pointed at Moore, “you’re the CIA, you should know this stuff.”

  “I—”

  “Even if he did know, he wouldn’t tell us,” Jackson said.

  “That’s not true, I—”

  “At least we took out some of the guards that would normally be stationed at the base,” said Stephens. “Both human and animal.”

  “That’s one way to look at it.” Moore closed his eyes for a second. His body wobbled.

  “How far to the base?” asked Cage.

  “We should reach it by nightfall,” answered Moore. He opened his eyes and his balance had returned.

  “Then we make our attack under the cover of night,” said Stephens.

  “Agreed.” Moore removed his map. It took him only a second to point them in the right direction.

  “That way.”

  “I know we’re all exhausted,” said Stephens. “And it won’t get any easier. But I know what you’re all capable of. So, dig deep … and don’t lemme down.”

  • • • • •

  Jacobs woke in a chair in the hut of the Dragon Master. He was sat at a desk and on the other side sat the Russian. On the desktop was a tin cup of water and some bread on a tin tray.

  “Drink. Eat,” said Dragon Master.

  Jacobs considered the acts for a brief second before he took the bread and bit into it. As he chewed, he took the tin cup of water and drank. He swallowed both the drink and food with the same mouth full.

  He finished the bread and picked at crumbs that had fallen onto the table. He drank from the cup again. He looked over it at Dragon Master and tried to gauge his reaction with narrowed eyes. Jacobs mumbled into the cup, “I don’t care if I’ve done what he expected or not. I’ve got to eat, Lynch. I’ve got to drink. As soon as an opportunity arises to do so, I will.” His words echoed around the tin. He could see Dragon Master strain his ears. “My plan is to fight, and survive all they throw at me. I need food and water for that, Lynch.”

  “Did you enjoy the bread and water? Or is that a redundant question?” asked Dragon Master.

  “It was a little overdone for my tastes. I’m afraid I will have to waive paying the tip,” said Jacobs.

  Dragon Master steeped his fingers before him, his elbows rested on the desk. “It is amazing how you still continue with your quips. Do you think that your wit will anger me?”

  “It has already done so.”

  “Yes. You are right. Of course it has done so.” He interlocked his fingers. Repositioned his chin on them. “I have found a new way to deal with your comedy. I’m not going to ignore it, nor address it.”

  “Sorry to break this to you, comrade, but you’ve got to do one or the other,” said Jacobs.

  “What is your name?” asked Dragon Master.

  “You know I won’t answer that.”

  “You will!” Dragon Master had raised his voice. He calmed himself before he continued. “You have been able to resist so far … and I must congratulate you on that fact. Not many last as long as you have done.”

  “What’s the deal with the food and water?”

  “You know the answer. It is the same reason you have eaten it. It is to keep the game going. I don’t want you to die on me yet. I’m not finished with you.”

  “What do you want from me?” asked Jacobs. “No, let me rephrase that. What do you really want from me? I’m sure knowing my name must be of minor concern, in the grand scheme of things.”

  “You are wrong. It is of every concern. I will show you how important it is to me.” He turned to the rear of the hut and shouted in Vietnamese. The door to the hut opened.

  NVA Torturer entered. He threw a bound and gagged GI to the floor.

  Jacobs turned and saw the soldier, now knelt with an AK pressed into the back of his skull.

  It was Lynch.

  Jacobs’s eyes widened.

  Lynch shook his head and Jacobs knew the meaning.

  “Yes, you are right, Lynch. It would only give the Russians more leverage. And they already have enough of that.”

  “Who is this Lynch, I wonder. I feel like I know him, with all the babbling you’ve done.” Dragon Master stood and went to be by Lynch’s
side.

  Jacobs turned away from his friend and continued to look forward over the desk. He stared blankly at the wall near the door.

  “You have taken all we have done to you. And like I said, I congratulate you for such tenacity,” said Dragon Master.

  Jacobs didn’t speak. He just tried to control his breathing.

  “But maybe you will not be able to take what we do to a fellow countryman of yours, yes?”

  NVA Torturer walked over to Jacobs. He twisted the chair so it faced Lynch.

  Dragon Master now had a pistol pointed at Lynch’s temple.

  NVA tied Jacobs’s wrists to the arms of the chair. The ropes cut at him. They burned his pumped veins.

  NVA then took the chair that sat at the other side of the desk and placed it to face Jacobs’s seat, just a few feet away from him.

  They sat Lynch in the chair and tied his wrists in the same way. They fixed his legs to that of the chair, the ropes gripping his ankles to the bamboo, the bindings rubbing at his tendons. He had no boots.

  NVA walked behind Jacobs. He could hear the commie search for something. It sounded metallic.

  Finally he saw what it was.

  A big pair of metal pliers.

  The NVA knelt by Lynch’s feet and placed one of the GI’s little toes into the device.

  “I will ask again, what is your name?” Dragon Master shouted at Jacobs. “I am not in a playful mood today! I am of a business mind. So, answer the question. And answer it fast. Now!”

  Lynch shook his head at Jacobs.

  Jacobs opened his mouth and went to speak.

  Lynch screamed a muffled cry through the gag. His butt rose from the chair. The ropes held the rest of him in place.

  NVA had cut the little toe off.

  “I pose the same question. Answer or another toe goes,” said Dragon Master.

  Jacobs’s mouth opened again, but no words came out. He was in shock. He couldn’t bear to see Lynch suffer.

  “Once we run out of toes, we will start on other body parts,” said Dragon Master.

  He managed to sputter them out, “It’s … Jacobs.”

  “Very good, Jacobs. Now we are making progress.” The Russian smiled.

  “Just don’t hurt him anymore,” begged Jacobs. “If you must hurt someone, please make it me.”

  “You see, that is the trouble. Your attitude.” Dragon Master waved a finger in disapproval. “Plus the small matter of me not believing your body can take much more. Hence this body-substitute.” He placed his hand on Lynch’s shoulder.

  Lynch shook it away.

  “So, do you understand that you have brought this pain on this man?” asked the Russian. “You are responsible for all the hurt he will face. Your disobedience, your jokes, and your prayers, are the reason this man will feel agony like never before. I hope you are happy … Funny Man … Jacobs.” He smiled again.

  Lynch screamed a muffle once more.

  Another toe was gone, the next one along on the same foot.

  “Stop!” yelled Jacobs. “Stop now! Just ask me anything. I’ll answer!”

  “You know the questions,” said Dragon Master. “So answer them. As I said before, I am not in a playful mood today. I do not wish to repeat myself.”

  “Yes. I have a wife. Yes, I—”

  “Her name?” Dragon Master interrupted.

  “That wasn’t one of the questions,” said Jacobs.

  Lynch screamed. Another toe now missing,

  “Please stop hurting him! I’m begging!” shouted Jacobs. His voice rasped from the strain.

  “Of course you are begging. That is the idea,” said Dragon Master. “Now answer my question or yet another toe goes bye-bye.”

  “Samantha,” said Jacobs, defeated.

  “Have you been married long?”

  “About six months.” Tears rolled from Jacobs’s eyes. “Every time I cry, a little more pain leaks away.” He looked at Lynch and mouthed, “Sorry.”

  Lynch closed his eyes for a brief second and nodded an acceptance once they opened again.

  “You are right, Jacobs. You are sorry, a very sorry individual. Your wife wishes a divorce, yes?” asked Dragon Master.

  “How did you …” Jacobs couldn’t finish his sentence. Confusion swallowed up the words that remained.

  Dragon Master shot Lynch in the head with his pistol. The bullet sailed through the back of his skull and out of his forehead.

  The projectile hit Jacobs in his left shoulder. The front legs of his chair rose from the impact to his body. When they touched back down, they creaked.

  Blood from Lynch had spattered onto Jacobs’s face. Red freckled the lids of his eyes. Tears clung to the lashes.

  “I know everything about you,” said Dragon Master. “I have known your name from the beginning of our conversations.”

  “How?” Jacobs opened his eyes but did not look at Lynch’s lifeless body. He looked at his executioner; at his side now stood NVA Torturer, holding the bloodied pliers.

  “It does not matter how. It matters that we do,” Dragon Master said. He then removed a picture from his chest pocket. He stuck it to the blood on Lynch’s forehead. It stayed in place, at a Dutch angle.

  The subject of the Polaroid’s capture faced Jacobs. He looked at it. He had too, but didn’t want to. He still had the blur around the edge of his vision but it was clear whom the still frame was of.

  It was Samantha.

  She held the hand of another man. They were walking down a street. The was the same street in Jacobs’s hometown that the candy store sat on, the store his grandparents had taken him to when he was a small boy. More tears rolled down his cheeks.

  “We killed her yesterday,” said Dragon Master. “Both her and the man you see her with. Their blood became one pool on the bed they had made love in. I hope the ring you gave her turned her finger green.”

  “No … no! Y … y … you didn’t hurt her!” Jacobs choked on the words he yelled.

  “I see you still feel love for Samantha. Even though your heart must have broken from seeing her image, her likeness holding hands with your oldest friend.”

  “You didn’t kill her!”

  “Denying the truth, Mr. Jacobs, does not make it a lie,” said Dragon Master.

  “Why do this to me?” pleaded Jacobs.

  “If one of my dragons brought you here, brought you to us, you must have been on a mission to kill my pets, to destroy this base. I do not like that. We have … I have worked far too hard and long, in this awful, shitty, hot country for that to happen.” Dragon Master made a fist with his free hand as he spoke the last words.

  “That is not true,” started Jacobs, “I’m just the LT of a regular platoon of grunts. We had orders to search a village. That’s what we were doing when the dragons attacked us. I don’t even know where I am.”

  “No,” Dragon Master’s fist shook. “What you speak is false. You lie.”

  “Denying the truth does not make it a lie,” said Jacobs with a smile.

  The anger boiled over in an instant. Dragon master put his pistol back in its holster and took ahold of the pliers from NVA Torturer. He charged at Jacobs and grabbed the thumb on his left hand. He forced it into the plier’s teeth and tore the thumb off.

  Jacobs screamed in agony.

  “Put him back in the cage,” ordered Dragon Master.

  • • • • •

  It was the dead of night when the team led by Stephens and Moore crawled through leaves and ferns towards the moonlight, towards the ravine and the enemy base.

  They came to a stop at a safe distance and Stephens removed his Starlite. He placed it to an eye. He allowed time for his vision to adjust to the green, then took in the view of the base.

  Around the camp’s perimeter sat three guard towers. They appeared to have been arranged to take advantage of the tall trees that grew around the base. The upper branches helped to camouflage the sentinel boxes and the trunks of the trees helped with supporting th
e structures.

  Barbed wire was strung along wooden posts that formed a square to enclose the compound. Behind this was more barbed wire, this time just unrolled. It looked like a slinky-toy zigzagged in random patterns.

  The entrance to the base was a large wooden gate, with a sentry box to its left. Through the gate sat three wooden barracks arranged in a U-shape.

  Not far from these were a bamboo hut and a bamboo bridge that went over water. The water ran through the base and into a tree line towards its rear.

  At each side of the camp were forested cliffs, and built into one of these cliffs was a concrete bunker.

  “That looks conspicuous,” Stephens said quietly.

  “That’s the building that holds the detonator to blow the base,” whispered Moore.

  Stephens signaled for the men to move back into thicker growth.

  The team crawled into the darkness and trees.

  • • • • •

  They all knelt down and kept their voices to a whisper.

  “Okay,” began Stephens, “here’s the plan. Jackson, you’re gonna position yourself with a clear line of fire at the main entrance to the camp. No matter which route we take to hightail it outta there, you can bet we’ll have commies chasing us, and they’ll come running through that gate. Your job is … well, it’s self-explanatory.”

  “Sure is,” said Jackson.

  “I’ll take out the guys in the guard towers,” said Stephens.

  “How do you plan to do that, Sarge?” asked Teacher.

  “Silently and at a distance.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “There ain’t much you do get, Teacher.” Stephens tapped a finger on the quiver tied to his leg.

  “I’m gonna make use of this.”

  “I still …”

  “It’s a bow and arrows,” Stephens said.

  “It looks kinda small.”

  “It doesn’t stay that size. Some assembly is required. In fact, Moore, put this together for me.” Stephens removed the quiver from his leg and gave it the agent.

  Moore started to fasten the bow together. Teacher watched with a curious expression.

  “We cut our way through the barbed wire,” Stephens went on, “me and Moore head towards the bunker at the rear. The barracks are for you guys.” He pointed at Cage, Diaz, and Teacher. “Three barracks, three soldiers, one to each. Kill every man in them. Silently. Can you do that?”