Free Dragon Sim-13 by 1959- Bob Mayer

0100. I'll have Hooker run the rest down as they come in. I'll meet you at the compound at 0200."
    "Roger that, sir."
    A thought struck Hossey. "You have any idea where Hooker might be right now?"
    "Probably at the NCO club, sir. He usually gets fired up there and then heads downtown around midnight."
    "Thanks. Out here." Hossey put down the phone and headed for his car to drive to the NCO club.
    On the other end of the line, Dave Riley replaced the receiver. He quickly dialed the phone number of the one team member who didn't live in the barracks. Then he went out into the hallway and pounded on the doors of those who did. The only one to answer his door was Olinski.
    "What's up, Top?"
    "An alert. We need to go downtown and find the guys. I already got a hold of Chong at his yobo's place. He's on his way to the team room. I told him to get our team and isolation gear ready to go."
     
    Riley waited while Olinski threw on a shirt, then they headed for the gate. Riley led the way as he broke into a trot. He knew he could try for a cab, but the chance of getting one of the post-run cabs at this hour on a Saturday night was slim. The same was true for getting a Korean cab right outside the gate. They'd get to Itaewon quicker on foot than by standing around waiting for a taxi. Besides, Riley hated waiting.
    With Olinski trailing behind him, Riley turned right on the main Korean street that separated North and South Post Yongsan. After a quarter mile, the cinder-block walls on either side that guarded the military post disappeared, and they arrived at a major four-way intersection. On the other side of the intersection, bright lights indicated the beginning of the Itaewon district. During the day, Itaewon was the mecca for shoppers in Seoul. The many stores and sidewalk vendors catered to both local and foreign browsers. At night, the district transformed itself into Western-style nightlife. Dozens of nightclubs blasted music into the streets, and the twenty-block area was garishly lit by hundreds of neon signs. Clusters of bar girls lurked inside most of those bars, waiting to fall on GIs with money in their pockets. Riley knew which of the clubs his team members frequented. He decided to start on the main street and then work his way south.
    Clark Air Force Base, Philippines Friday, 2 June, 1400 Zulu Friday, 2 June, 10:00 p.m. Local
    The crew was scraped together from whoever could be found on base. The 1st Special Operations Squadron didn't normally keep an alert crew. There hadn't been a need for one, since Talon missions usually required a few days of planning and advance notice. One of the hastily gathered-in crew members, Maj. Ed Kent, blinked as a pair of headlights turned in his direction. He opened the glass door to the base operations building and dragged his deployment flight bag outside. An air force station wagon pulled up next to him and a burly black enlisted man got out. "You the new EW officer?"
    Kent nodded as he threw the bag in the backseat. "Major Kent." "I'm Master Technical Sergeant Young. I'm the loadmaster for the aircraft you'll be flying on. You must be new. I've never seen you before. You can hop in the car with me and I'll take you over."
     
    Kent got in the passenger side and Young started the car rolling slowly along the flight line. "I just got in country a couple of days ago."
    Young looked him over. "How much time in Talons you got?"
    Kent shook his head. "I just graduated from the electronics warfare school for them at Hurlburt. I was the EW man on an F-111 before this. You know what this is all about?"
    "I don't know what the hell is going on, but it sure got the colonel hopping mad. Lieutenant Colonel Riggins, that is," Young explained. "He's the pilot for our bird. They're preflighting right now. He had to replace the copilot too, cause his usual had a few too many at the o club this evening." He glanced over at Kent. "There a fire we got to put out or something? We don't see too many