One Man's War by Lindsay McKenna Page B

beat down thickly upon them. Pete’s flight suit clung damply to his body.
    â€œYeah, well, this damn Tinkertoy war is getting to me,” he griped. “Since I last saw your sister two weeks ago, we’ve been flying three to four missions a day. I haven’t had any time off to go visit her.” Pete ignored the constant movement of trucks and men, and jets taking off in the distance. Fatigue lapped at him, but despite it, his thought and, incredibly, his heart, centered on Tess. “And she never stays at Da Nang at night. What’s with her, anyway?” If Tess would come back to the base at night, Pete would have ample opportunity to see her, to chase her. It would be easy to take a jeep from Marble Mountain and drive over to the main marine facility a few miles away.
    With a laugh, Gib slowed his walk as they approached the line shack. “Now you know how I feel. I wish she’d stay here at night, too—for different reasons.” Gib gave Pete a significant look laced with amusement. “But Tess is committed to her villages and the people in them.”
    â€œShe’s a one-woman show out in the bush,” Pete muttered, opening the creaking screen door to the stuffy line shack. A number of other pilots were already at the counter filling out discrepancy logs for the crew chiefs. Pete and Gib went to the small refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of soda pop.
    â€œI get concerned about her,” Gib admitted.
    â€œShe could walk on a damned land mine out in a rice paddy at any time,” Pete said. “Or get shot at by these VC snipers that are cropping up more and more every day.”
    â€œOr get kidnapped by the VC.”
    Scratching his damp hair, Pete pursed his lips. “She’s trying to do too much. Last time I was there, she was playing doctor. Isn’t being an agricultural advisor enough?”
    Gib shook his head. “No argument from me, but Tess has a great love of these people. I worry about her. This place has really drained her emotionally. I wish she hadn’t signed up for a second tour. She needs a rest....”
    Sourly, Pete looked around. “Well, if you ask me, these gooks aren’t worth that kind of attention. They live in the Stone Age, they’re backward.... They don’t even have plumbing in their homes, or a commode!”
    Frowning, Gib said, “Look, Pete, I know you don’t like the Vietnamese but don’t call them gooks. At least, not in front of me.”
    Warned, Pete sank into silence. He reminded himself that Ramsey was exactly like his sister: a sucker for the underdogs of the world. After they’d finished debriefing and were walking back to the headquarters tent, Pete decided to test Gib.
    â€œHey, let me have permission to drive over to Le My. I want to see if Tess has got those pieces of plywood up.”
    Ramsey shrugged. “Go ahead. Ask Tess if she’ll consider coming in tonight. Tell her I’d like to see her and catch up on what she’s been doing out there.”
    The gloom that had surrounded Pete immediately dissolved. With a grin, he said, “Yes, sir, Major.” Rubbing his hands together, Pete could hardly wait to see how his gifts had made Tess’s life easier. How would she respond to him? Would she be glad to see him?
    On the way over in the jeep, Pete frowned at himself. Since when had he ever felt this good about seeing a woman? His heart felt expanded, and happiness kept throbbing through him, catching him off guard. Trying to tell himself it was the “chase” that had him so pumped up, Pete ignored the other possibilities. All he wanted—no, needed—was to see Tess again. What a lucky bastard he was.
    * * *
    Pete went straight to Tess’s hut at the far end of the village. The children, half-naked, skinny, their eyes dancing with joy, ran all around him. Ordinarily, Pete hated the kids following him, but something was changing inside