Fields of Fire by James Webb

Author:James Webb [Webb, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: new
ISBN: 9780133142860
Publisher: Prentice-Hall
Published: 1978-08-14T05:00:00+00:00

“IT won't work, Lieutenant.” Gilliland grinned mischievously.

“It's got to work, Sarge. Don't be such a goddamn cynic. Just because you're a short-timer—”

“Hey, Lieutenant. I'm so short I got to look up to look down.”

“Yeah. O.K. I know. But don't be so negative all the time.”

“Now, Lieutenant.” Gilliland still flashed a secret, knowing grin. He dragged ceremoniously on a cigarette. “You know there's nothing I'd rather leave you with than a good attitude. Really.” Gilliland lay back on his poncho, his head resting on his pack, staring at the roof of his poncho-liner hootch. “Couple weeks I'm gonna be laying in a real rack with my woman, trying to decide if I want steak or lobster for dinner. Least I can do is try to leave you with a good attitude, for Christ sake.” He rolled his molten eyes, a humorous smile lighting his face. “But it ain't gonna work. I know.”

“You've got a friend—”

Gilliland laughed, enjoying the mystery he had provoked. “That's right. I got a friend. He's the Gunny for the regimental Civil Affairs Section.” Gilliland raised his eyebrows, a gesture of finality. “Lieutenant, the resettlement ville is full.”

“Full? That's goddamned impossible. I saw it a couple months ago. It wasn't even half-full. Hell. A quarter-full. It can't be full.”

Gilliland grinned ironically. He flicked his cigarette into the grass. “Oh, it ain't really full. It's just full on paper. But you won't get any ville full of people into it, I guarantee.”

“I don't get it.”

“C'mon, Lieutenant. You gotta think crooked. District Chief says he's got five hundred bodies in the ville when he only has two hundred. Government sends him five hundred rations of rice. He feeds two hundred people, then sells three hundred rations of rice on the black market. Pretty tricky, huh? Him and the Sergeant Major would make a gruesome twosome.”

Hodges was stunned, unbelieving. “There's got to be some way to stop that. Why doesn't somebody blow the whistle?”

Gilliland explained, teasing Hodges with overbearing patience. “Who you gonna blow the whistle to, Lieutenant? This is what they call one of those ‘Civil Affairs.’ The Vietnamese run it. We just coordinate it. If the Man says the ville is full, then the ville is full. You might scream to the Province Chief, but he gets a cut off the rice, you can bet your sweet ass. Only thing to do is get it while you can, whenever they feel like letting a little go. But you ain't gonna get any whole ville in there.”

“I'm gonna try like hell.”

“I'll bet you a bottle of booze you lose. Jack in the Black.”

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