Remo sent the tank into the bush. Its tracks chewed up elephant grass until it reached a tree line. He braked and pulled himself out of the driver's cockpit.
"Gather up as much foliage as you can to cover the tank," he ordered.
"You heard the man," Dick Youngblood barked as he wriggled out of the turret. "Let's move, move, move. We ain't home yet."
The Amerasians got busy. Of the former prisoners of war, all but the ailing Colletta pitched in.
"You really kept up the discipline," Remo said admiringly as they broke branches and made a pile for the others to carry to the tank.
Youngblood cracked a wide grin. "You know it. When the last real officer died, morale was bad. That was when I turned into a real hardass. If I caught a man talking Vietnamese, I'd whip his raggedy ass. For a while it was rough on the men. I was pushing 'em one way and the gooks another."
"What happened?"
"Everybody found out I was meaner. The gooks started leanin' on me instead of the men, but I could take it. They'd starve me, but I was such a mother I wouldn't lose weight, just to spit them. They'd stick me in that ol' conex and when they'd come to get me out, I'd smile into their ugly faces and say thanks for the ride."
Remo grinned. "Same old Youngblood."
"Feel like Oldblood now, Remo. I've been holding out so long that now I can see freedom in sight, I just don't know if I have the strength to make it through the homestretch."
"Listen. We'll make it. Chiun will see to that."
"You got a whole new attitude toward ol' Uncle Ho now that we're on the loose."
"He should be catching up with us any minute," Remo said, looking around. "Listen, do me a favor. Stop calling me Remo."
"Why? It's your name, ain't it? Or did you forget that too?"
"I can't explain. And don't use the name in front of the men, either. You and Chiun are the only ones who know who I am. Let's keep it that way."
"Now, what the hell difference does that make?"
"A life-or-death difference. Just trust me."
"Okay, you're the man. Hey, don't this remind you of the time you stole that gook tank and ran it all the way to ... Now, what was the name of that little shithole hamlet?"
"Phuc Hu."
"Yeah. That's what we called it, all right. You know, rememberin' you drive that sucker in that day, with our side itching to blow you away thinkin' you was Charlie that was one memory that kept me going all these years. Funny what a man clings to when he's down to zero."
"I remember Khe Sanh a lot better."
"Yeah, Khe Sanh. It all changed after that, didn't it? And Tet. You remember Tet?"
"Yeah," Remo said, searching the road with troubled eyes. "I remember Tet."
They finished camouflaging the tank. The men began settling down. Remo set two Amerasians on sentry duty because they were fresher.
"Shit," Youngblood said, sitting down and putting his back against the grass-entangled treads. "Tet. Hey, you remember that cocksucker of a major we had at Khe Sanh? What's-his-name?"
"You mean Bauer?"
"Yeah. That was his name. Deke Bauer. Everyone hated him. Meanest sonovabitch I ever met. I used to lie awake in that conex and wonder whatever happened to him. Sometimes I'd make up grisly ways for him to buy it, just to pass the time."
"He died," Remo said distantly.
"Our side or theirs?"
"Neither. He bought it back in the world."
"The world. Man, I last saw the world when I was twenty. I'm over forty now. Nam sure took a big chunk of this old Leatherneck's life. Wonder if I can hack it back there now."
Youngblood suddenly looked up at Remo with skeptical eyes. "How'd you know Bauer bought it back in the world? I thought you couldn't remember nothing but Nam."
Remo didn't answer for the longest time. Then he spoke. "Here comes Chiun. Remember what I said about using my name."
But Dick Youngblood didn't reply. His eyes were closed and his big bulldog face had settled into sleep. Remo went to greet the Master of Sinanju. Chiun came riding in on the back of his elephant. Chiun tapped the elephant's flank with a short length of bamboo and the elephant stopped and knelt. Chiun dismounted.
"You did not need to wait," Chiun told him. "Rambo and I would have caught up to you."
"We need rest," Remo said simply.
"We need to reach the American submarine," said Chiun. "If it is discovered by the Vietnamese, it may leave without us, and then where would we be?"
"In Vietnam," Remo said simply. "Where a lot of us have been for a long, long time. Anything else would be a step up. Even dead."
"You seem more at ease than I have seen you in a while," Chiun pointed out.
Remo looked away. "Why not? We're almost to the coast. "
"I mean with me."
"You got us out. I'm not worried about you anymore."
"But your face is not entirely free from worry."
"Don't you think it's time to get rid of the elephant? He's slowing us down."
"I promised him a nice home when this is over."
"He won't fit in the submarine."
"That remains to be seen," Chiun said.
"Have it your way, Little-" Remo abruptly walked away.
Chiun bounced after him. "What did you say?"