Free P. O. W. by Donald E. Zlotnik

couldn’t take much more torture and that the sensors weren’t worth the
     young man’s life. The edge of a Polaroid photograph was sticking out from under the NVA intelligence officer’s desk and caught
     Garibaldi’s eye when he looked down. He could see that the man tied to the bamboo rod was Barnett, but he couldn’t see who
     was wielding the bamboo cat-o’-nine-tails. He didn’t hesitate; if he had taken the time to think, he wouldn’t have done it.
     The photograph could have been a set-up.
    Garibaldi dropped the box of candy to the floor and then fell on all fours to retrieve it. He shoved the photograph into the
     box and almost gave himself away when he saw that it was James who was beating Spencer. Garibaldi hid his gasp by coughing.
    “Barnett has until dark, and then I have something
special
for him that I’m quite sure will be convincing as to my dedication.” Lieutenant Van Pao instructed the guard to take the
     colonel over to Bamett’s cage and let him talk to him until dark.
    Spencer was set in his decision to hold out as long as he possibly could before revealing what he knew about the sensors.
     It was obvious that the NVA wanted the devices destroyed, and that could only mean the seismic-intrusion devices were causing
     them a great deal of trouble. Every day he could hold out meant a day longer that the North Vietnamese were suffering casualties
     because of him.
    “Spence, I know what you’re thinking and how you feel, but a night with Mother Kaa… No one will hold it against you if you
     talk now.” Colonel Garibaldi’s voice was soft. “Besides, the photograph of James beating you will surely be proof enough as
     to what you’ve put up with under torture!”
    “No… I might not make it through the night without spilling my guts to those bastards, but I’ve got to try….” Spencer’s eyes
     were locked on Mother Kaa’s cage. She had been sleeping all day long and would probably be very active once the sun dropped
     behind the mountains.
    Colonel Garibaldi respected Barnett’s dedication, but he also knew that when the boy broke under torture, he was the type
     who couldn’t be put back together again. “All right, then… I’m not going to waste any more time trying to convince you.” The
     colonel leaned forward and spoke in lower tones. “Let’s talk about Mother Kaa…. I don’t want to scare you, but if they put
     you in her cage tonight, you’d better know a few things about large snakes.”
    “Like what?” Spencer’s voice quavered in front of his fellow prisoner.
    “Normally, I don’t think she would try… eating…”—Garibaldi hesitated for a second with the word and then said it anyway; he
     had to make it clear to Spencer what he was in for and what he could do to protect himself—”… an adult human, but she’s one
big
bitch, and you’ve lost a lot of weight.”
    “Do you really think…” Barnett couldn’t take his eyes off the cage. He was imagining a long bump in her body come morning
     that would be him. “Man!… Colonel, I’m scared.”
    Garibaldi hugged the young soldier. There was really nothing else he could do to try to reassure him. “Listen: You are going
     to make it out of this fucking place! Think
positive
!”
    Spencer’s eyes opened wider and wider as he watched the thirty-six-foot-long python slowly move her coils.
    “Spence!” Garibaldi’s voice was sharp. “Listen to me! I’ll be awake all night long with you… and this is what I want you to
     do: First, talk to me, tell me everything that’s going on in the cage once it gets dark and I can’t see. Second,”—Garibaldi
     didn’t want to say it, but he had to warn Spencer—“protect your head. If she’s going to try anything, she’ll try biting your
     head and start there…. But she
has
to bite you somewhere, in order to get traction with her coils.”
    Spencer’s voice broke, and tears rolled over his cheeks. “Oh… shit… Colonel… I’m so