Casca 14: The Phoenix by Barry Sadler

Orientals. "Do you think he's reliable, Sergeant?"
    Casey nodded his head. "No problem there, Colonel. I'd bet my life on it."
    Tomlin grimaced mentally, Not just your life but mine, which is infinitely more important . "Very well Sergeant, I'll see what I can do. Give his name to my orderly and I'll check him out for you. Anything else?"
    Casey nodded, "I'll need to be able to pick my own weapons, and I'll need some gold, probably a couple of thousand dollars ’ worth to start with."
    Tomlin and Gomez both looked at him as if he were mad. "Just what the hell do you need with gold, Sergeant? You're not going to open up an account in Switzerland are you?"
    For the first time Casey laughed easily in the colonel's presence. "No, but I will need help that I don't think you would be able to supply. There is a Cambodian Kamserai chieftain named Phang that I would like to put on the payroll. He has the means to supply me with up to date information on Vietcong activities and their whereabouts. Also, he's not restricted by the border and has enough men to put up a hell of a fight when necessary, and it will probably be necessary, especially across the border, if we have to go back into Laos or Cambodia after Ho. I'm sure you'll agree that a border fight between Kamserai bandits and the Vietcong would cause less of an international outcry than an incursion in force by American or South Vietnamese units?"
    Tomlin grudgingly agreed to Casey's demands. "I'll see to it, but you had better show me some results, and quickly, if you expect to continue in this matter." To Gomez he directed his next words, which dripped with heavy emphasis. "You, Captain, are in charge. Get the details as to how to contact this Kamserai bandit. What's his name? Phang? Just remember anything that goes wrong will be your direct responsibility. Any further communication from Sgt. Romain will come through you. Is that clear?"
    Gomez agreed that it was. He knew the reason why he was put in charge. If things went wrong it would be his ass that was hung out to dry and, if it went well, then Tomlin would reap the benefits. Everything was normal. They were dismissed with an offhand wave.
    Both were relieved to be out in the open again. Being around the former attorney too long gave both a slightly oily feeling, as if they had just been conned in some manner. Perhaps Tomlin's short career around the criminal element had contaminated him to some degree to where he couldn't trust a straight deal. Gomez and Casey had both known types like that.
    They walked together across the compound. "What do you think will be your first move, Sergeant?"
    "I won't know that till I get Van here, and locate old Phang, the Kamserai. Once that's done, I'll be ready to move. It's too early to make any kind of definitive plan. As I see it, we have only two choices. One, we go after Ho, or two, we make Ho come to us. And I wouldn't be surprised if he has already made plans to do just that."
     
    Colonel Ho van Tuyen spoke with emphasis as he directed his one-handed aide: "From this moment on your duties will consist solely of locating the one who crippled you and humiliated me. Use our agents to find him. That shouldn't be too difficult. I have already received a communication from Kontum that one of our agents was killed attempting to assassinate an American Intelligence officer. A sergeant answering our man's description was with the Intelligence officer the same day. As I see it, we have two choices in this matter. We can go and get him or make him come to us. Either one will suit me well enough, as long as he is in my hands before the month is out."
    Troung agreed. Now that he had a mission he would, as always, see it through. He, like Ho, had managed to convince himself that he had been mistaken about the scar-faced American's death. Now that the matter was cleared up he could go about his business with a clear mind. When next he had the American in his power, he would put to rest any