The Cover of War by Travis Stone Read Free Book Online

Hoa thug went to the bar.
Amai spotted the toilet and went in. She took off her wet dress and underwear,
and washed off the drainpipe's grime. Then she went through another door, which
led from the bathroom, into the strippers' changing room. She found some
clothes, put them on, and then went back into the club. The top fitted too
tightly across her chest.
    Triet was
waiting at the bar.

6
    Tan Son Nhut AFB
    Hangar 38
    10°48'49.62"N
106°39'25.00"E
    D anny parked the jeep. A man in a flight-suit stood in front of the
hangar.
    'Morning, Sir.'
The pilot said, obviously checking Danny's face against a small photograph.
'We'll get your suit on and get airborne.'
    'A flight-suit?'
    'Yes, Sir.
You're flying Phantom Airways.'
    Danny felt
giddy. 'Oh.' It was an over-the-top way to travel, but the General did have
some pull.
    He followed the
pilot across the tarmac to the rear of an arched, concrete hangar, and realized
the high-pitched whining sound was probably coming from his ride. The air
inside the hangar was rich with the nauseating smell of JP-4 exhaust.
    The pilot helped
him into the flight-suit and Danny could see the grey Phantom, waiting on the
tarmac like a captured shark, desperate to swim away. He felt nervous and hoped
he wouldn't throw-up in the cockpit.
    Danny put on the
green helmet and waddled out to the big jet. The pilot indicated the steps.
Danny climbed into the backseat. He was sweating. The pilot buckled Danny's
harness, and then got into the front. The canopy came down, sealing Danny in.
He felt helpless; his life now in the hands of a man he'd know less than ten
minutes. The Phantom rolled forward and taxied fast before turning onto the
wide runway.
    A metallic
female voice came through Danny's helmet speakers: 'Surger four-four, cleared
to takeoff runway zero-seven right.'
    A mighty roar
engulfed him and Danny felt his body crush back into the seat. Then the ground
was moving rapidly away; the wings shuddering; the roar falling back to a
shrill whine.
    Christ, what
a thrill.
    The jet climbed
steeply, giving Danny a magnificent view of the continent.
    'We'll go
angels-twenty,' the pilot's voice came through the helmet. 'We're over Cambodia now.'
    'That's fast.'
    'Already doing
eight-hundred-miles-an-hour, Sir.'
    Cambodia flashed below.
    'Thai airspace.'
    A city grew out
of the landscape.
    'A last minute
change of location,' the pilot said. 'We'll be landing at Bangkok .'
    Odd, Danny thought. The General had purposefully concealed Benmore's
location.
    Danny could hear
a faint Asian voice giving instructions to the pilot. The jet banked
sickeningly hard to the right, and as it leveled, a long runway stood ahead.
The Phantom felt like it was coming in too fast. Danny gripped the seat. The
airframe shook. The landing gear clunked as they opened and locked. Fat white
lines and a big number '03' flashed below. The jet touched down, pulled-up
hard, and turned right off the runway.
    'Welcome to Bangkok , we hope you enjoyed your flight.'
    Danny checked
his watch; twenty-two minutes ago he had been in Saigon . The jet taxied to a row of hangars where a lone C-130 stood,
turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, and then stopped. The pilot unbuckled
Danny, and told him to go into the hangar.
    Danny climbed
down and walked across the apron, feeling woozy. The Phantom taxied away behind
him. Danny walked through the empty hangar to the far end. A door opened and a
man walked in.
    'Come with me.'
The man's words were as blunt as his features and Danny instantly got the
feeling that he could 'handle himself'. The man opened the passenger's door of
a Citroen Lady Grey parked behind the hangar, and then got into the driver's
seat. Danny got in beside him. 'I assume you'll take me to Benmore?'
    The man grunted
and the Citroen pulled away.
    Bangkok 's traffic was thick, but unlike Saigon 's, mostly cars and busses. Suddenly the Citroen swerved into a side
street and accelerated; the driver's eyes flicking from the