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Seeing Mickey Singer inside the HUS surprised Ethan, then he remembered that the little Marine cook was on his way to a court-martial for raping some young Vietnamese girl and murdering her father. It bothered him that he was now considered a criminal equal to or worse than Singer.
Ethan tossed the olive-green duffel bag to the HUS's cargo deck and climbed in. The nose mounted piston engine roared and the UH-34 lifted off the ground, gained altitude and flew east. He was surprised at the small number of men in the cargo bay.
Singer sat on the starboard bench with his arms crossed over his chest, his face colorless. Ethan did not like the desperation in the other prisoner's eyes. He counted four body bags in the cargo area of the HUS and knew one was Gunny and another, Toski.
It would be easier to hijack the HUS if he had someone on his side. But he didn't know Singer well enough and wasn't sure he could trust the cook. There were four dead men in addition to him, Singer and the Marines manning the M60 machine guns—one on each side.
Ethan looked east out the open door at the mottled green landscape of the highlands. Through thin clouds, he saw the bright-green geometric quilted-blanket pattern of rice paddies—a sharp contrast to the rainforest they were flying over.
The M60 gunner closest to Ethan was cupping a smoldering cigarette with his hands and wasn't paying attention to him.
Should Ethan include the cook in his plans? Asking Singer to join him would add new risks but trying to take over the HUS by himself would be riskier. Picking up his duffel bag, Ethan slid the short distance along the smooth aluminum bench until he was sitting across from the thin, short cook.
Singer glanced briefly at Ethan then went back to looking at his feet.
The gunner closest to Ethan took a long drag on his cigarette. The other one took out a package of gum, stuck three sticks in his mouth and chewed vigorously.
Ethan thought about his escape plan again and had doubts. What if Singer were working for Ortega? What if Ortega had promised to help clear the cook's name if Ethan attempted to escape and Singer stopped him?
That type of thinking was paranoid and ridiculous. The Marines in this HUS could not beat Ethan in a fight, and Singer was about fifty pounds lighter with little combat experience. He wasn't even a recon Marine.
"I've got a forty-five and some grenades," he said to Singer's ear. "I want to take this HUS. You want to join me?" He opened his duffel bag, took out the forty-five, slid a clip into it, and chambered a round.
Singer did not say a word and looked as if he were holding his breath as he stared at the forty-five. Ethan guessed the cook was eighteen or nineteen and probably immature as hell and just as stupid.
"Do you want to go to prison for that rape and murder?" Ethan asked.
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§ “Running with the Enemy” was awarded an Honorable Mention in General Fiction at the 2103 San Francisco Book Festival
§ Discover a new world of Publishing–-the 2013 San Francisco Book Festival Event held on May 18 at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in SF.
