The Eighty-eighth Key Ch. 05

Callahan saw McCall about fifty feet away, the right-side door standing wide open, so he pushed his way out the wrecked Huey and through the brush, diving into McCall's 'bug and hanging on tight as they climbed out of the swampy undergrowth by the river.

"Thanks," Callahan said.

"Roger that," McCall said, now pointing to the center of the camp. "Pad right there."

But Callahan wasn't plugged into the intercom and couldn't hear over the symphony the door gunners were playing. He fumbled on the floor in the dark, felt another helmet and pulled it on, checked the circuit and spoke. "You good?" Callahan asked.

"Man, you'd better take it. I'm seeing spots."

"Spots? You hit?"

"Not sure. Maybe..." and with that McCall slumped into the left side door.

Callahan got his hands and feet on the controls as he felt his way towards the pad; the door gunners were firing almost straight down into the weeds as he flared and watched an Arvin with an M-16 bayonetting someone about ten feet away. He felt bodies being tossed in back then heard the gunners screaming "Go-go-go!" even as he throttled up and hit the collective.

Okay...nose down and let's not get our ass shot off this time...torque in the green...

He saw men in the grass and screamed: "Gunners, dead ahead!" as he pulled hard on the collective and running the torque deep into the red. He knew the gunners were leaning out and shooting down into the weeds again as he slammed the nose down and eased back on the throttle. "Any medics onboard?!" he yelled.

"I don't know," Doug Parish said, his grinning face about a foot from Callahan's. "Do I count."

"Co-pilot's hit," he managed to say as he turned and looked for Hué City on the horizon.

It wasn't hard to find. Fire covered about half the horizon from down in the treetops and amber coils of smoke drifted skyward, framed by massive new explosions every few minutes. Chatter on guard was non-stop now, forward controllers vectoring in some A-6 Intruders inbound from Dixie Station and the tower at Phu Bai telling anyone on the frequency that the base was closed until further notice.

"Better head for Danang," Parish said. "We got some bad stuff back here."

"How's McCall?" Harry asked.

"Got some plasma running; he'll be okay."

"What the fuck is going on down there?" Callahan said as he scanned the panel, then the sky ahead.

"You been asleep or somethin'? This shit's been goin' on for about four hours."

"Where?"

"Far as we could tell just about everywhere. Danang, Saigon, you name it."

Callahan shook his head as he thought of Cat, hoped he remembered Danang's guard and dialed it in, made the call. "This is Kilo Bravo Six, Dan Guard over?"

"-Six, go ahead."

"Inbound from C-Med, Phu Bai closed, we've got three, three, and four."

"Roger -Six, we're closed to inbound now, standby for vectors to Dixie Station, advise when you can you copy TACAN, out."

"-Six go ahead."

"Okay -Six. One-zero-five degrees, TACAN channel two-four."

"Got it. Thanks."

"We'll let 'em know you're inbound, -Six. Out."

"Understood, out." He dialed in the frequency and looked at the DME as it came alive, then checked their fuel state, doing the quick math in his head then shaking his head.

"You know what, Callahan? I don't like it when pilots start shaking their head, if you know what I mean? Makes my nut-sack itch like a madman."

"We're gonna be sucking fumes about the time we get there."

"Where's there?"

"Dixie Station? Been there?"

"The fuckin' carrier! Oh no fuckin' way, man. What's wrong with Danang?"

"Closed."

"Fuck. This ain't lookin' too good, amigo. I hear they got sharks and shit out there, know what I mean?"

"Yeah, well, there's a shitload of goddamn snakes down there too, doc. You got a preference?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. A warm hooch and no one shooting at me -- for at least 12 hours..."

"Amen to that," Callahan heard someone in the darkness say, but by that point he was lost in another memory. His Looney-Junes on fire, dying in his arms over and over again, her soft eyes crying as the light faded. He remembered kissing her last tears before he closed her eyes, his mind filling with that terrible anger again and again as he pushed the Huey through the night, waiting for the fuel to run out.

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