if anything happens in Europe. If he gets interrogated and can’t hold out, it’s going to cause major problems. The Soviets will know most of our plans and how we intend to carry them out. We’ve got to at least try. “
“It was pretty damn scary, I’ll tell you,” Farrow said, sitting with Thorne at the same table where they’d met months before. Thorne was nursing a beer. Farrow was working on his third. “It was like….something changed in the room. The kid just closed his eyes and kind of went out somewhere and next thing you know he was spilling all this stuff out. It was eerie.”
“How was he afterwards?” Thorne asked. “Any problems?”
“Kind of shook up I think. I don’t know if it’s because doing it shakes him up or because he’s scared of me or he kind of….relates to what he’s viewing. If that’s what he’s doing. Any reports back on whether what he’s seeing is any good? I have to tell you, I think it’s real. Just the way he came across, and this is a kid mind you, made the whole thing feel like it was happening right in front of me. I’ve never seen anything like it with any other viewer. Most of them stumble around with these vague impressions. This kid talks like he’s watching it on television or something.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Thorne said. “In the meantime try and keep him calm. If he’s the real thing we’ve got some serious thinking to do. Can we afford to let him run around a schoolyard? He could be the most significant intelligence asset we’ve got.”
“What other choice do we have?” Farrow asked. “We can’t just walk in and tell his parents ‘Sorry folks, but we have to take your kid away. National security you know.' It might be better just to hide him in plain sight.”
Thorne finished his beer and waved the waiter over for another. “I’ll worry about that. You just worry about keeping on his good side.”
“How’s the girl doing?” Farrow asked.
“Your friend Mr. Ruff is reluctant; it seems, to do much pushing. But next week she’ll be given her first hard target. Let’s wait and see how she works out, but all indications are good. Quite a little pair we’ve got here.”
The helicopters passed to the East of Quan Tri and began their descent just as the sun was breaking over the horizon. Inside were twelve Special Forces soldiers whose boots hit the ground before the skids of the chopper. They fanned out, four heading into the ruins of the temple, the other eight moving in pairs to the four corners of the site.
Rifle fire erupted immediately. The squad of VC waiting to hand off their prisoner was scattered and unable to resist in force. Two had been left to guard their prisoner and had been caught scampering out of the small overhang under which they lay and cut down with short bursts. One group of four were drawing water from a small stream nearby and when they heard the sound of the choppers coming in, had melted into the jungle. Another pair, perhaps more committed, had begun putting down fire from the south. One was caught in the return fire and the other slipped away after he was hit. From the North the leader entreated the remaining men under his group to advance across the clearing but the three who listened ended up with their blood spilled into the black jungle earth.
Inside the temple the four members of the invading group found Major Arnold Brewer, U.S. Air Force, lying on a small pallet, his hands and feet tied. He was cut free and carried bodily by the group out to the edge of the clearing. The choppers were called back in. He was thrown aboard somewhat casually. The whole operation had taken less than three minutes. One soldier had received a spray of stone chips across the cheek and was bleeding lightly. His wounds were declared inconsequential and the chopper raced across the jungle at treetop level for a mile before clawing into the sky and returning to base forty minutes
“It was pretty damn scary, I’ll tell you,” Farrow said, sitting with Thorne at the same table where they’d met months before. Thorne was nursing a beer. Farrow was working on his third. “It was like….something changed in the room. The kid just closed his eyes and kind of went out somewhere and next thing you know he was spilling all this stuff out. It was eerie.”
“How was he afterwards?” Thorne asked. “Any problems?”
“Kind of shook up I think. I don’t know if it’s because doing it shakes him up or because he’s scared of me or he kind of….relates to what he’s viewing. If that’s what he’s doing. Any reports back on whether what he’s seeing is any good? I have to tell you, I think it’s real. Just the way he came across, and this is a kid mind you, made the whole thing feel like it was happening right in front of me. I’ve never seen anything like it with any other viewer. Most of them stumble around with these vague impressions. This kid talks like he’s watching it on television or something.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Thorne said. “In the meantime try and keep him calm. If he’s the real thing we’ve got some serious thinking to do. Can we afford to let him run around a schoolyard? He could be the most significant intelligence asset we’ve got.”
“What other choice do we have?” Farrow asked. “We can’t just walk in and tell his parents ‘Sorry folks, but we have to take your kid away. National security you know.' It might be better just to hide him in plain sight.”
Thorne finished his beer and waved the waiter over for another. “I’ll worry about that. You just worry about keeping on his good side.”
“How’s the girl doing?” Farrow asked.
“Your friend Mr. Ruff is reluctant; it seems, to do much pushing. But next week she’ll be given her first hard target. Let’s wait and see how she works out, but all indications are good. Quite a little pair we’ve got here.”
The helicopters passed to the East of Quan Tri and began their descent just as the sun was breaking over the horizon. Inside were twelve Special Forces soldiers whose boots hit the ground before the skids of the chopper. They fanned out, four heading into the ruins of the temple, the other eight moving in pairs to the four corners of the site.
Rifle fire erupted immediately. The squad of VC waiting to hand off their prisoner was scattered and unable to resist in force. Two had been left to guard their prisoner and had been caught scampering out of the small overhang under which they lay and cut down with short bursts. One group of four were drawing water from a small stream nearby and when they heard the sound of the choppers coming in, had melted into the jungle. Another pair, perhaps more committed, had begun putting down fire from the south. One was caught in the return fire and the other slipped away after he was hit. From the North the leader entreated the remaining men under his group to advance across the clearing but the three who listened ended up with their blood spilled into the black jungle earth.
Inside the temple the four members of the invading group found Major Arnold Brewer, U.S. Air Force, lying on a small pallet, his hands and feet tied. He was cut free and carried bodily by the group out to the edge of the clearing. The choppers were called back in. He was thrown aboard somewhat casually. The whole operation had taken less than three minutes. One soldier had received a spray of stone chips across the cheek and was bleeding lightly. His wounds were declared inconsequential and the chopper raced across the jungle at treetop level for a mile before clawing into the sky and returning to base forty minutes
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