“Follow me” Trautman said
He and Ortega went to the radio station and asked to get in touch with commander Martinez.
“There's the chance you have a Janus” Trautman said.
“A what?” Martinez's voice crackled out of the radio.
“One of my men's faces was blown away by one of yours M16s. You probably have s Janus, someone who sabotages your ammo. A guy putting defective rounds amongst the others”
“Fuck, I knew it”
And he knew it for real.
Half an hour later, Trautman received a priority message: a South Vietnamese soldier had been shot in the back while trying to run away from the B base.
***
While the body count was still going on outside, inside the command-hangar Ortega, Trautman and Colin were looking at a big map hanging on the wall.
“Let's exclude the terrains too difficult to travel under heavy load. This leaves them just two sectors Then Ortega took over:
“So this leaves them with just two options: re-join the survivors of our attack force, or retreat in the border's direction”
“You are a Special Forces soldier, Skorpio – said Colin -. What would you do if you were in their shoes?”
“I don't know... The attack we suffered was a Toccata and Fugue . We didn't kick the shit out of them like you did. On the other hand, the attackers weren't few either, so they could get back into Laos without reuniting their forces. I don't know”
“They will reunite for sure – said Trautman -, but there's only one place where it's worth doing it. So let's say they are there already, right now. We can catch them, if they are there. Should we send some helicopters out?”
Colin was not expert enough on the subject to have a strong strategical opinion, but the helicopters were theirs, so he had the last word over the matter.
“I don't know – he said – going out to find them is quite a serious risk. How many men do you have at disposal, Trautman?”
“Just Skorpio's team, at the moment. The other team has not recovered yet. Skorpio?”
“We are not rested at the moment, but we can give it a try”
“Fine”
Colin waited for Trautman's reply.
The colonel looked straight into Ortega's eyes.
“Do you think you can do that, Skorpio? Are your men up to fighting again? How's Eagle?”
Ortega had a last moment second thought, so it took a little while for him to reply.
“Yes... Eagle is out of action” he said while reflecting on it.
They hadn't slept for the last twenty four hours. They had eaten little and in a hurry, and they had never rested at all. He hadn’t for sure.
On the other hand yes, they could make it.
All things considered, it was just a matter of staying sat in the Hueys and studying the terrain down below, in order to understand the route the Vietcong were hiding in, and then the Phantoms would enter the game.
Yet Ortega had some difficulties in replying anyway, because lives – and many – could depend on the answer he was going to give.
They could do it. They weren't too tired to give it a try.
So Ortega decided to tell them the simple truth.
“Yes, I am sure we can make it. Our shape is good enough to get the job done”
“Are you sure, Skorpio?”
Ortega nodded vigorously.
“Then it's decided. As soon as Team A are in operative condition again, I will order them to join the chase too, just to be sure. But when you're over there, I want you to stay on board your Hueys, don't get too close to the enemy and - most of all - don't do anything stupid. The mission is just to locate and avoid contact... Am I clear?”
“Yessir”
Ortega was about to leave, when Trautman stopped him.
“Skorpio?”
“Yes?”
“I am telling you this again: don't engage. We are talking about two hundred North Vietnamese regulars. And when you get there, shooting you down will be as easy to them as bird hunting.
If you give 'em a chance to engage, you are all going to get yourselves killed, period. Don't do it. Am I clear?”
“Yessir”
Said Ortega, then he saluted and left.