The Vets (Stephen Leather Thrillers) (61 page)

“The good old poodle-shooter,” said Horvitz. He picked one up. “Never trusted them myself. They were always fouling unless you kept them spotless, and how could you keep them spotless in the jungle?”

“What did you use, Eric?” asked Lewis.

“An AK-47 usually,” said Horvitz, running a hand down the metal barrel. “That way, if the VC heard you firing, they figured it was one of their own. The AK-47 never jammed, even if you treated it like shit.” He turned to look at the men. “You know Mattel used to help make this weapon?” He raised his eyebrows. “You know, the company that made Hot Wheels and the Ken and Barbie dolls?”

“Come on, Eric,” laughed Carmody. “That was just a rumour.”

Horvitz shook his head. “Saw one myself, Larry, in 1972. Most M16s had the Colt logo, but I saw a couple of grunts who had M16s with the word Mattel in the centre of a serrated circle on the handgrip. Wasn’t a rumour, I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Mattel, huh?” said Lewis. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

Tyler returned, swinging the bunch of keys and holding a blue nylon suit-carrier which Lehman assumed contained the inspector’s uniform. “Everything okay?” said Tyler. “Anything you gentlemen didn’t want to ask in front of Mr Wong?”

“It seems straightforward enough,” said Lehman.

“We’re sure no one is going to get hurt?” said Doherty.

“Chuck, you’ll be sitting up front with Dan. The only person you’ll hurt is yourself if you screw up on the controls.”

Nobody else had any comments so Tyler said he wanted to test the Huey. “Dan, can you get ready? You’ll need a fire guard, right?”

“Yeah, someone with a fire extinguisher. They’ll have to stand here, by the fuel filler, until we’re sure there’s no chance of a hot start.”

“Bart, can you get that? There’s an extinguisher on the wall over there.” Lewis went over to get the red fire extinguisher. “Okay, I want us all to get into the back,” Tyler said to Horvitz and Carmody. “And you too, Bart, once the turbine is up and running. All four of us will be in the back to give Dan the feel of the weight. That okay with you, Dan?”

“Sure, it’s a good idea,” said Lehman.

He began to walk round on his pre-flight inspection, even though the Huey wasn’t going anywhere. He checked the left side of the helicopter, and knelt down to push the fuel-drain valve on the underside to check that there was no water in the fuel. He checked the tail rotor was free and then climbed up on to the top so that he could inspect the main rotor, the mast, the rotor hub, the swash plate, the transmission mounts and the control rods. He took extra care over the nut at the top of the mast. The Jesus nut, they called it, because if it failed it was all over. Only when he was completely satisfied did he climb down using the concealed foot holes next to the pilot’s door. Tyler took the crew chief’s seat just behind where the pilot and co-pilot would sit. Carmody and Horvitz sat at the back, facing forward. Lehman climbed into the pilot’s station and watched as Doherty swung awkwardly into the seat on his left. They both put on their helmets and nodded that they were ready. Doherty opened the operator’s manual and placed it on his lap.

Lehman clicked the radio trigger switch on his cyclic with the index finger of his right hand. “You okay?” he asked through the headphones in Doherty’s helmet.

Doherty clicked his radio mike on. “I’m fine,” he answered.

“Okay,” said Lehman, “let’s rock and roll.”

Doherty grinned and placed his finger on the manual. “Ext LTS switches,” he read.

“Set,” said Lehman, flicking them into position.

“Battery switch,” said Doherty.

“On,” said Lehman, clicking the switch.

“GPU.”

“Connect for GPU start.”

“Fuel switches,” said Doherty.

“Set,” said Lehman.

“Fire guard.”

Lehman twisted around to check that Lewis was standing by the helicopter with the fire extinguisher in his hands. “Posted,” said Lehman.

“Rotor blades,” said Doherty.

“Clear and untied.”

“Throttle.”

Lehman twisted the throttle to the starting position. “Set for start.”

“Engine,” said Doherty.

“Start engine,” said Lehman. His left hand tightened on the collective and he pressed the starter trigger switch there. The electric starter motor whined and the turbine began to hiss like a boiling kettle. Lehman’s eyes flicked automatically to the exhaust-gas temperature gauge as the rotors began to turn above his head. Flick, flick, flick, the rotors speeded up into a blur and the gauge went briefly into the red danger zone and then slid back into the green.

“INVTR switch,” said Doherty, his voice clear in Lehman’s ear above the noise of the turbine.

“Main on,” said Lehman.

“Engine and transmission oil pressures,” said Doherty.

Lehman scanned the gauges. “Check,” he said. The oil pressure was in the green for the main transmission and the gear boxes in the tail.

“GPU disconnect,” said Doherty.

“Disconnected,” said Lehman. He scanned all the gauges on his side of the instrument panel. All were green. He looked over to Doherty’s side and checked there were no problems there. Doherty gave him the thumbs-up, then turned and signalled to Lewis that there was no more need for the fire extinguisher. He stepped back, the downdraught from the spinning rotors kicking up clouds of dust around him. He put the extinguisher by the wall of the warehouse and then joined Horvitz, Carmody and Tyler in the back of the Huey.

Lehman studied the gauges, checking that the torque, exhaust and oil levels were all within limits and the electrical system was performing as it should. From somewhere in the back he heard a tapping sound and he focused on it. It wasn’t mechanical, it sounded like something knocking on the side of the Huey.

Tyler had said that he could lift the Huey a few inches off the ground to check if the rotor shaft was stable and that the Huey could generate sufficient lift. He pulled slowly on the collective and gave the cyclic the merest hint of a push.

He could still hear the tapping. Dit-dit-dit daa. Dit-dit-dit daa. He realised it was someone in the back tapping nervously. He looked over at Doherty. He was sitting with his hands almost touching the controls, but obeying Lehman’s instructions not actually to take hold of them. They only had a few metres of clearance above the whirling blades and there was no margin for error, the sort of error that two decades in a monastery could induce. Doherty was looking out of the front of the cockpit, his mouth open as if in shock. The tapping stopped. Lehman gave all the gauges a final check and increased the pressure on the collective. The nose rose first and he quickly compensated, bringing the tail up. The Huey tried to swing clockwise and he pressed down on the left pedal, keeping her straight. Lehman looked over to Doherty again, hoping that he’d confirm that there were no problems, but the man was still sitting motionless, his eyes wide. Great, thought Lehman, that’s all I need. A frozen co-pilot.

He lowered the collective and slowly brought the Huey down on to the floor. He miscalculated at the last second and the tail dropped. The stinger scraped the floor before the Huey settled on to the heel of the right skid, then the heel of the left. Lehman breathed deeply, thanking the Lord that it was the stinger that had touched the ground and not the rear rotor. Contact with the stinger was untidy, with the rotor it could be fatal. He shut the helicopter down on his own because Doherty still hadn’t moved.

The vets scrambled out of the side doors, bending their heads low because the rotors were still turning. Lehman applied the rotor brake and brought them to a halt. Lehman took off his helmet and climbed down to see Tyler shaking hands with Lewis and congratulating him. He pumped Lehman’s hand when he walked over. “Great job, Dan,” said Tyler, his eyes sparkling. “I’m really proud of you. I want to take all you guys out for a beer.”

“All right!” cheered Carmody.

“I’ll pass, Colonel,” said Lehman. He jerked a thumb at Doherty, still in the co-pilot’s station. “Chuck and I want to go over the controls again, and we’ll get to work on the route planning. We can go over it with you when you get back with the men.”

Tyler slapped him on the back. “Sure, Dan, sure.”

“I’ll stay, too, Colonel,” said Lewis. “My stomach’s not feeling too good tonight. I don’t think I’d be good company on a beer run. Besides, I’d like to give the slick another going over.”

“Okay, Bart. Eric? Larry? You guys on?”

“Sure, Colonel,” Horvitz and Carmody chorused.

“Then fall out, gentlemen. Fall out.” He dumped the suit-carrier on the workbench under the maps and photographs and went out with the two men. Lewis and Lehman watched them go.

“Something wrong, Dan?” asked Lewis.

“It’s Chuck. He’s frozen.”

They waited until they heard the Toyota drive out of the compound before they went over to Doherty. He was sitting rigid in the co-pilot’s seat, his hands loose on the controls.

“Chuck, are you okay?” whispered Lehman, not sure how the man would react to sudden noises.

Doherty closed his eyes. “There’s something wrong,” he croaked, his voice little more than a dry rattle. “There’s something very wrong.”

“What? What’s wrong?” asked Lewis.

Doherty used both hands to take off his flight helmet and put it on the pilot’s seat. He kept looking out of the front of the Huey all the time. “I didn’t catch on at first,” said Doherty. “It was just a knocking, somewhere in the back.”

“The tapping?” said Lehman. “Yeah, I heard it.”

“What? Something wrong with the turbine?” asked Lewis.

“No, someone was tapping,” said Lehman. “Didn’t you hear it?”

Lewis shrugged. “I was too busy checking everything was okay,” he said. “So what’s with the tapping?”

“Three short taps, one longer tap,” said Doherty.

“Morse code?” said Lehman. “The letter V?”

Doherty slumped forward and put his head in his hands. “That’s what it sounds like, but it’s not Morse. It’s just nerves. Somebody who doesn’t like flying in Hueys.”

“So?” said Lewis. “So what’s the beef?”

For the first time Doherty looked at the two men. “I heard it before,” he said quietly. “I heard it before, a long time ago.”

Lewis looked at Lehman as if to ask what the hell was going on. Lehman shrugged. He was just as confused. “What do you mean, Chuck?” he asked.

“Remember I told you about the Special Forces team I dropped into Laos? The guys who killed the women and kids?”

“I remember,” said Lehman. “That was when you took the Huey to Thailand.”

“What I didn’t tell you was that one of the guys was tapping when I took off, exactly the same tapping I heard today. Three short taps, one long one. One of the guys was nervous.”

“What, you’re saying that one of the men you left in Laos was in the back of the Huey tonight?”

“Dan, what the fuck is going on?” asked Lewis, totally mystified.

“I’ll fill you in later, Bart,” hissed Lehman. “Chuck, you think one of the men was on that CIA operation?”

“That’s what I think,” said Doherty.

“So who is it?”

Doherty slapped the cyclic. “I don’t know!” he said. “That’s what’s burning me up.”

“You didn’t see the guy in Nam?” asked Lehman.

“I saw him, but, Dan, that was more than twenty years ago. It was night, remember. And they had camouflage paint on their faces and they were wearing bush hats. Dan, they could be anyone. All I can remember is that he had blondish hair. He took his bush hat off to put on the flight helmet. Or maybe it only looked blond because it was cut so short.”

“Well, we can narrow it down to three,” said Lehman. “I take it the guy wasn’t black, right?”

Doherty smiled, the tension beginning to drain from his face. “Yeah, that much I do know.”

“So it’s either Tyler, Horvitz or Carmody,” said Lehman. “Or a coincidence.”

“It doesn’t feel like a coincidence to me,” said Doherty.

“You guys want to tell me what’s going on here?” asked Lewis.

Lehman briefly explained about Doherty’s abortive mission in Laos. When he’d finished Lewis ran one of his big, square hands through his curly, greying hair. “Shit,” he said. “Horvitz was in the Special Forces, we know that.”

“But Carmody might just be mad enough to shoot women and kids,” said Lehman. “We know what he’s like now. Imagine what he would’ve been like twenty years ago.”

“Yeah, but don’t forget one thing,” said Doherty. “It was Tyler who knew where the Huey was. Where I was.”

Lewis and Lehman nodded.

“And there’s another thing,” added Doherty. “Whoever it was, he knows that I left him behind, left him and his friends to the VC. I can’t imagine he’s going to forgive me for that, can you?”

Lehman clucked his tongue and frowned. “Chuck, it might be nothing more than a coincidence. Let’s just be calm, just take it easy. In forty-eight hours we’re going to be very rich, and nobody’s going to do anything to spoil that. You stick with me all the time, and we’ll keep our eyes open. Bart’ll be in the back when we take off and he can keep an eye on Horvitz and Carmody, see if they start tapping. If it isn’t one of them, it might be Tyler. But, Chuck, they won’t do anything until after this is all over. Okay?”