Page 129 of Cry Havoc

The Montagnard’s weapon was gone, but that did not necessarily mean that the enemy had confiscated it. The rifle could have easily been lost at any point during the extraction and subsequent crash.

Then he saw another body. This one was not burned or disfigured from the crash.

Hoahn.

He had been executed with a bullet to the head. Tom had seen enough head shots to know what they looked like.

There could be more bodies scattered in the jungle.

Find them.

Tom forced himself to move in an arc around the downed bird, looking for bodies and tracks.

When he was directly north of Hoahn’s body, he saw the sign.

“There is always a sign.”It was a lesson he had learned long ago in the mountains of Colorado.

There is always a sign.

He knelt.

Two sets of bare feet, one larger than the other.

Quinn and Hiep.

They had survived. Tom was sure of it.

There were other signs as well: tracks from sandals and canvas boots worn by the NVA.

They had taken Quinn’s and Hiep’s boots and were forcing them to march barefoot to make it harder to escape.

The right side of the larger bare footprint was slightly dragging.

Quinn was hurt.

Tom looked ahead to the north into the dense foliage, weighed his options, and then moved off in pursuit.

CHAPTER 45

THEY WERE HEADED FORthe Trail—the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Tom checked the Waltham compass on his watch strap. North.

They would hit the supply route and continue north, farther into Laos, perhaps into North Vietnam. Wherever they eventually stopped would most certainly be outside the operational boxes in which MACV-SOG was authorized to operate. Thanks to whomever was passing Hanoi intel from Saigon, the NVA and Pathet Lao probably knew the constraints of the operational boxes in Laos better than some in SOG.

If their destination were indeed outside the operational zone, their only chance was for Tom to plot it and get back to Phu Bai. He prayed that Lieutenant Colonel Backhaus had enough political capital built up, from his years of distinguished service, that he would risk a court-martial and authorize a rescue mission for his men without the approval of higher-ups in Saigon. If he made it back to Phu Bai alive, Tom was prepared to make an extremely convincing case. And if it fell on deaf ears, he was already thinking of how he might pull it off by going rogue.

You are getting ahead of yourself, Tom.

Stay on the spoor and plot their final location. Then deal with getting back to Phu Bai.

Prioritize.

Tom also knew that, just like MACV-SOG units, the NVA would havea rear security element. He hoped they would be a little less alert, believing that they were the only ones in the jungle.

Remember what they told you in BUD/S: hope is not a course of action.

Do what you know how to do: cut sign and stay on the track.