Tiger War by Don Pendleton Page B

Bolan.
    "You guessed," said Nark.
    "Who owns it?" asked Heath.
    "Tiger, of course," said Nark. "In the Golden Triangle there's hardly anything they don't own. Which is why they've got so much clout with the Thais. They've got the money and they've got the troops. Some people call this a second Taiwan, another Nationalist Chinese republic. Unofficial, of course." He paused to listen to the distant whistling. "Must be a lot of elephants on the line."
    "Avion!"
    The shout sent Bolan and Nark to their feet. A rapidly approaching drone grew in the sky, and a small plane skimmed the treetops. "Thai army," said Nark, catching the Pali writing on the fuselage.
    "And he's coming back," said Nark, ears registering a change in the pitch of the engine. "Everyone under the trees!" he shouted.
    It was easier said than done. The noise of the Piper Cub had sent the horses galloping in confusion. The Montagnards were still chasing after them when the spotter made its second pass.
    "Now he knows we're here for sure," said Nark.
    Vang Ky ran to them. "Colonel, we've been discovered!" he cried. "What do we do?"
    "Round up the horses for a start," Bolan replied, anger in his voice. "I told you to tie them."
    "I'm sorry, Colonel. I tried to tell them."
    Discipline was not one of the Montagnards' strong points. Everyone did what he wanted, individualism and personal freedom being enshrined traditions. There was not much Bolan could do about that, either. With irregular troops you could not play the disciplinarian; the troops simply went home.
    "He must have glided down," said Heath, "or we'd have heard him earlier. It's almost as if he knew we were here."
    "He probably did, too," said Bolan, eyes on the circling spotter.
    "How could he know?"
    "By the color of the trail."
    "Sorry?"
    "An unused trail's yellow," Bolan explained, "the ground bleached by the sun. When a lot of men march on a trail they churn the ground back to its original color, terra-cotta. A good spotter will look out for that."
    The headman Ly appeared. "Colonel, we must do something," he said. "The Thais will send troops and will block the trail."
    Bolan nodded, eyes still following the spotter. The plane was unarmed, but that was small consolation. "Nark! Bring the map."
    They laid the map flat on the ground and Bolan studied it. There were two ways out of the forest: north by the trail and east by a dirt road.
    "Does this road still exist?" asked Bolan.
    "Yes," replied Vang Ky. "But we want to go north. Tiger is to the north."
    "I know," said Bolan, "but I propose to give the Thais the idea we're changing directions. I want them to think we're going east. Then, while the Thais are looking for us in the east, we disappear to the north,"
    "How can we do this?" asked Ly.
    Bolan told him.
    * * *
    A little later fifty Montagnard riders slipped from the main force, heading east. They left in groups of five, keeping close to the trees — away from openings in the canopy — so the Piper would not spot them. All carried machetes in addition to their weapons.
    At their head rode Bolan and Heath. The pilot came from New Mexico and was at home in the saddle. Bolan had taken a liking to him; the young man impressed him.
He brings back a burning plane, lands, and instead of running, starts unloading. Cool.
    The forest was flat, so they made good time. They came to the dirt road and followed parallel to it, keeping inside the trees. The road crossed the rail line, and eventually they reached the eastern edge of the woods. Ahead was a stretch of open country before the road disappeared into another forest.
    They all dismounted, and the Montagnards proceeded to cut down branches that they tied into large bunches using lianas. Bolan inspected the road. The soil was powder dry; there had been no rain since the night after he arrived in Thailand. Perfect.
    When everything was ready, Bolan inspected the diversion force. They sat on their horses, rifles on their laps, handkerchiefs over their noses