was over, the sailors—free at last—poured like a great white sea into the crevices and alleys of Texas Street.
The night was mad. The Shore Patrol ran back and forth, unable to keep up with all the explosions being ignited by the half-crazed sailors. Even the MPs had to keep on the move. They were tense. Alert.
I saw different faces in the jeeps tonight and asked one of the MPs about it.
“We’re on twenty-four hour alert while the
Kitty Hawk
is here, but we have to get some rest sometime.”
“Twelve-hour shifts?”
“Or more, if needed.”
Ernie and I wandered away from the bright lights, checking the outskirts of the bar district. Like all beasts of prey, the muggers would look for stragglers, strays who’d wandered from the main herd.
It was mostly residential area back there, high walls of brick or stone and securely boarded gates.
There were a few bars, however, and a few neighborhood eateries. Some sailors were wandering around, those who wanted to get away from the hubbub.
A couple of big Americans about a block in front of us turned a corner. They looked familiar to me somehow. We trotted after them, but by the time we got to the dimly lit intersection they were gone.
“Who was it?”
“I’m not sure.”
We walked into a bar closer to Texas Street proper and ignored the girls until they left us alone with only two cold beers for company.
“We’re not getting anywhere,” Ernie said.
“Something’s got to break soon.”
“It better. It’s not just muggings any more. It’s murder.”
I felt my innards sliding slowly into knots.
“We got to stay out tonight. Through curfew if we have to.”
“Yeah.”
I looked at Ernie. “Could it be the Koreans?”
“It could. But if the Korean National Police really believed it, they’d be cracking down on every local hoodlum hard, trying to squeeze the truth out of them.”
“What if the local police are in on it?”
“Then we’re in trouble. But I don’t believe it. Too much pressure from up top. The Koreans need us to ensure that their Communist brothers to the north don’t pour down here like they did two decades ago. And maybe more important nowadays is that they need the foreign exchange the fleet brings in.”
“And if the navy seriously believes that the Koreans aren’t doing everything they can to stop the assaults on their sailors, they could stop coming into port here.”
“They’d lose dock fees and re-supply money …”
“Not to mention tourism.”
We both laughed.
“Somebody in the navy then. In the advance party.”
“Could be that, since the
Kitty Hawk
was still at sea last night.”
I thought about the map I had made and the blotter reports.“The last time the
Kitty Hawk
was here, there were no muggings until they had docked.”
“So?”
“We’ve been assuming that it’s probably a gang of sailors aboard the
Kitty Hawk
that have been preying on their own shipmates.”
“Yeah, but maybe there’s more than one group. Ideas like this are catching.”
“That’s possible. But maybe it is somebody in the advance party or maybe it’s somebody who’s here all the time. Somebody who knows the terrain, the lie of the land, the ins and outs of all the back alleys.”
“And if it’s not Koreans …”
“That’s right. GIs. GIs who spend a lot of time down here.”
“Village rats.”
“All the GI village rats have gone into hiding until the fleet leaves.”
“So it seems.”
I took a sip of my beer. I didn’t like what I was going to say. “That leaves the MPs.”
Ernie thought about it for a minute. “That would also explain why there were no arrests made in the past.”
“It sure would.”
He looked at me. “But why do the muggings only occur when the
Kitty Hawk
is here? And not other navy ships?”
“That I don’t know yet.” I looked around. “Let’s find a phone.”
“A phone?”
“Yeah. I got a call I want to make.”
The desk sergeant didn’t want to answer any
The night was mad. The Shore Patrol ran back and forth, unable to keep up with all the explosions being ignited by the half-crazed sailors. Even the MPs had to keep on the move. They were tense. Alert.
I saw different faces in the jeeps tonight and asked one of the MPs about it.
“We’re on twenty-four hour alert while the
Kitty Hawk
is here, but we have to get some rest sometime.”
“Twelve-hour shifts?”
“Or more, if needed.”
Ernie and I wandered away from the bright lights, checking the outskirts of the bar district. Like all beasts of prey, the muggers would look for stragglers, strays who’d wandered from the main herd.
It was mostly residential area back there, high walls of brick or stone and securely boarded gates.
There were a few bars, however, and a few neighborhood eateries. Some sailors were wandering around, those who wanted to get away from the hubbub.
A couple of big Americans about a block in front of us turned a corner. They looked familiar to me somehow. We trotted after them, but by the time we got to the dimly lit intersection they were gone.
“Who was it?”
“I’m not sure.”
We walked into a bar closer to Texas Street proper and ignored the girls until they left us alone with only two cold beers for company.
“We’re not getting anywhere,” Ernie said.
“Something’s got to break soon.”
“It better. It’s not just muggings any more. It’s murder.”
I felt my innards sliding slowly into knots.
“We got to stay out tonight. Through curfew if we have to.”
“Yeah.”
I looked at Ernie. “Could it be the Koreans?”
“It could. But if the Korean National Police really believed it, they’d be cracking down on every local hoodlum hard, trying to squeeze the truth out of them.”
“What if the local police are in on it?”
“Then we’re in trouble. But I don’t believe it. Too much pressure from up top. The Koreans need us to ensure that their Communist brothers to the north don’t pour down here like they did two decades ago. And maybe more important nowadays is that they need the foreign exchange the fleet brings in.”
“And if the navy seriously believes that the Koreans aren’t doing everything they can to stop the assaults on their sailors, they could stop coming into port here.”
“They’d lose dock fees and re-supply money …”
“Not to mention tourism.”
We both laughed.
“Somebody in the navy then. In the advance party.”
“Could be that, since the
Kitty Hawk
was still at sea last night.”
I thought about the map I had made and the blotter reports.“The last time the
Kitty Hawk
was here, there were no muggings until they had docked.”
“So?”
“We’ve been assuming that it’s probably a gang of sailors aboard the
Kitty Hawk
that have been preying on their own shipmates.”
“Yeah, but maybe there’s more than one group. Ideas like this are catching.”
“That’s possible. But maybe it is somebody in the advance party or maybe it’s somebody who’s here all the time. Somebody who knows the terrain, the lie of the land, the ins and outs of all the back alleys.”
“And if it’s not Koreans …”
“That’s right. GIs. GIs who spend a lot of time down here.”
“Village rats.”
“All the GI village rats have gone into hiding until the fleet leaves.”
“So it seems.”
I took a sip of my beer. I didn’t like what I was going to say. “That leaves the MPs.”
Ernie thought about it for a minute. “That would also explain why there were no arrests made in the past.”
“It sure would.”
He looked at me. “But why do the muggings only occur when the
Kitty Hawk
is here? And not other navy ships?”
“That I don’t know yet.” I looked around. “Let’s find a phone.”
“A phone?”
“Yeah. I got a call I want to make.”
The desk sergeant didn’t want to answer any
Similar Books
