Free Sergeant Dickinson by Jerome Gold Page A

to me. “He say he not want to do fire and maneuver. He say people get hurt. He want everybody fire machine gun.”
    â€œOkay. Tell him okay. I agree.”
    Mr. Hoang spoke to Sergeant Huk. Then Sergeant Huk spoke to Mr. Hoang. Mr. Hoang turned to me. “He say it be safer just shoot machine guns. He say he no want anybody get shot.”
    â€œOkay. Listen. Tell him I agree with him. Tell him I think he is a fine sergeant. Tell him I would make the same decision if I were patrol leader. Tell him something like that.”
    Mr. Hoang studied me. Then he turned and spoke toSergeant Huk at length. Sergeant Huk grinned ingenuously. He saluted me, turned on his heel and returned to his men.
    Mr. Hoang says: “That give him confidence, what you say.” Then Mr. Hoang says: “He’s a
moi
.”
    I do not respond.
    The machine guns stopped. A light flashed along gray metal. Sergeant Huk and another man were inspecting a gun’s breach.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    I went down on one knee and bent over the butt of the gun.
    â€œHold that gun steady.”
    A round had been driven past the chamber rim. The soft brass cartridge peeped out of the chamber at me like a tired yellow eye.
    â€œHasn’t it fired?” I look at Mr. Hoang. “Ask him.”
    Mr. Hoang and Sergeant Huk spoke.
    â€œHe say it shoot one round, then one other round.”
    There must already have been a round in the chamber when the belt started to feed. They’d been using each round to fire the one before it. They should have had a double explosion in the breach, but they hadn’t. Luck. I should have checked the weapon before we crossed the road. But I hadn’t.
    â€œTell him not to fire this gun anymore. Shoot off all the ammunition with the other one. Be careful that your men don’t burn out the barrel. I’m sure they’re in a hurry to get this damned problem over.”
    I looked at the sky. The stars seemed permanently fixed. The wind, frost-cold, was coming up again. The single machine gun started.
    â€œWell, we missed it again. Mr. Hoang, tell Sergeant Huk I want to talk to him.”
    We were in the drainage on the return march. I stepped out of the column and watched it pass. Then it stopped. Sergeant Huk returned with Mr. Hoang. Sergeant Huk looked apprehensive.
    â€œSergeant Huk, I have to do something here. There is a booby trap up the hill that I must do something about. I want you to take your men down to the road and wait for me there. Do not worry if you hear an explosion.”
    I waited while Mr. Hoang explained it. I returned Sergeant Huk’s salute and he went back to the head of the column. Mr. Hoang hung back.
    â€œYou go with him, Mr. Hoang. I’ll be only a few minutes.”
    When Mr. Hoang had gone I walked up the wash. I found the two bushes I had picked as markers when I set out the trip wire and I walked between them. Nothing happened. I turned around and walked back. Again nothing. I started back up the ravine. My eyes searched the ground in front of my boots as I walked but I knew that I would not be able to see the transparent line against the rime. The last thing I wanted to do was dismantle that bomb. I walked back down again, then stopped and looked at the sky. There was no indication that dawn would ever come.
    I clambered up the right-hand side of the wash. My feet slid on the frost, and I concentrated on keeping my balance. When I reached the top I turned and faced each direction. In the east beyond the mountains where eventually the sea was, the sky was lightening behind thin gray clouds.
    Now it comes, I thought. Now that I’m here the sun comes. I took my flashlight out of my pocket and turned it on.
    I found the tree with the battery behind it. I inspected the copper leads. The charge was still in place, the blasting cap inside. The monofilament fishing line I had used as a trip wire was tied to a lead from the blasting cap. Four or five