Those eyes, a pale, chilling blue, were now gazing across the veranda. In the distance the lush Thai hills seemed to steam in the afternoon heat. Youre on a fools errand, Miss Maitland, he said. Its been twenty years. Surely you agree your father is dead.
My mothers never accepted it. She needs a body to bury, General.
Kistner sighed. Of course. The wives. Its always the wives. There were so many widows, one tends to forget
She hasnt forgotten.
Im not sure what I can tell you. What I ought to tell you. He turned to her, his pale eyes targeting her face. And really, Miss Maitland, what purpose does this serve? Except to satisfy your curiosity?
That irritated her. It made her mission seem trivial, and there were few things Willy resented more than being made to feel insignificant. Especially by a puffed up, flat-topped warmonger. Rank didnt impress her, certainly not after all the military stuffed shirts shed met in the past few months. Theyd all expressed their sympathy, told her they couldnt help her and proceeded to brush off her questions. But Willy wasnt a woman to be stonewalled. Shed chip away at their silence until theyd either answer her or kick her out.
Lately, it seemed, shed been kicked out of quite a few offices.
This matter is for the Casualty Resolution Committee, said Kistner. Theyre the proper channel to go
They say they cant help me.
Neither can I.
We both know you can.
There was a pause. Softly, he asked, Do we?
She leaned forward, intent on claiming the advantage. Ive done my homework, General. Ive written letters, talked to dozens of peopleeveryone who had anything to do with that last mission. And whenever I mention Laos or Air America or Flight 5078, your name keeps popping up.
He gave her a faint smile. How nice to be remembered.
I heard you were the military attaché in Vientiane. That your office commissioned my fathers last flight. And that you personally ordered that final mission.
Where
did you hear that rumor?
My contacts at Air America. Dads old buddies. Id call them a reliable source.
Kistner didnt respond at first. He was studying her as carefully as he would a battle plan. I may have issued such an order, he conceded.
Meaning you dont remember?
Meaning its something Im not at liberty to discuss. This is classified information. What happened in Laos is an extremely sensitive topic.
Were not discussing military secrets here. The wars been over for fifteen years!
Kistner fell silent, surprised by her vehemence. Given her unassuming size, it was especially startling. Obviously Willy Maitland, who stood five-two, tops, in her bare feet, could be as scrappy as any six-foot marine, and she wasnt afraid to fight. From the minute shed walked onto his veranda, her shoulders squared, her jaw angled stubbornly, hed known this was not a woman to be ignored. She reminded him of that old Eisenhower chestnut, Its not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Three wars, fought in Japan, Korea and Nam, had taught Kistner never to underestimate the enemy.
He wasnt about to underestimate Wild Bill Maitlands daughter, either.
He shifted his gaze across the wide veranda to the brilliant green mountains. In a wrought-iron birdcage, a macaw screeched out a defiant protest.
At last Kistner began to speak. Flight 5078 took off from Vientiane with a crew of threeyour father, a cargo kicker and a copilot. Sometime during the flight, they diverted across North Vietnamese territory, where we assume they were shot down by enemy fire. Only the cargo kicker, Luis Valdez, managed to bail out. He was immediately captured by the North Vietnamese. Your father was never found.
That doesnt mean hes dead. Valdez survived
Id hardly call the mans outcome survival.
They paused, a momentary silence for the man whod endured five years as a POW, only to be shattered by his return to civilization. Luis Valdez had returned home on a Saturday and shot himself on Sunday.
You left something out, General, said Willy. Ive heard there was a passenger
Oh. Yes, said Kistner, not missing a beat. Id forgotten.
Who was he?
Kistner shrugged. A Lao. His names not important.
Was he with Intelligence?
That information, Miss Maitland, is classified. He looked away, a gesture that told her the subject of the Lao was definitely off-limits. After the plane went down, he continued, we mounted a search. But the ground fire was hot. And it became clear that if anyone had survived, theyd be in enemy hands.
So you left them there.
We dont believe in throwing lives away, Miss Maitland. Thats what a rescue operation wouldve been. Throwing live men after dead.
Yes, she could see his reasoning. He was a military tactician, not given to sentimentality. Even now, he sat ramrod straight in his chair, his eyes calmly surveying the verdant hills surrounding his villa, as though eternally in search of some enemy.
We never found the crash site, he continued. But that jungle could swallow up anything. All that mist and smoke hanging over the valleys. The trees so thick, the ground never sees the light of day. But youll get a feeling for it yourself soon enough. When are you leaving for Saigon?