to him. "Never seen a man dropped by an empty gun before."
"You f ... frightened me."
"Just messing with you, son. Just a little joke."
"I fainted."
"You sure did."
"Wh ... wh ... where are we going?"
"Nam Bak."
The name meant nothing to Geung. "Why?"
"Top-secret mission." The sergeant put his finger to his lips to show there was a need to keep quiet about it. Geung felt very important to be going on a top-secret mission, but he'd made a promise. He got clumsily to his feet and walked to the tailgate, using the chests and knees of the seated soldiers for support. The sergeant caught hold of him before he vanished off the end of the truck. "Now what do you think you're up to?" the old soldier asked.
"I ... I ... I ... I have to g ... guard the morgue."
"No you don't, son."
"Yes. Yes I d ... do. I promised Comrade Dr. Siri a ... a ... and Comrade Nurse Dtui."
"You don't work at the morgue anymore."
This was a serious revelation to Geung. "No?"
"No."
"Where d ... d ... do I work?"
"You'll find out."
"B ... b ... but I ... I pr ... pro ..." The words began to collide again and Geung's head spun.
"Geung, younger brother, I don't want any trouble from you. You understand?"
"I ... I ..."
"Just go back to your seat and enjoy the journey. You'll like--" But before the sergeant could say another word, Geung passed out again, this time across the laps of the Third Division of the Lao People's Liberation Army Infantry on its way to the north to hunt out insurgents.
Concrete Man
The jeep pulled up in front of the president's compound, and Siri looked up the slope at the pretty pink-and-green villa that nestled in among the towering cliffs. Carved out of the rock opposite was a one-and-a-half-car garage, and where the steps began to wind upward, an ornamental heart-shaped pool had been lovingly fashioned from a bomb crater. It was all so creepily quaint.
"You know, Doc?" Dtui said as they started up the concrete steps. "All this time I had visions of you lot living up here like cavemen, wrapped in bearskins. I didn't dream it would be so--civilized."
"Surely you didn't expect the president of the republic to have had to hunt for his breakfast with a bow and arrow?"
"It wouldn't surprise me, given how hard it is to find breakfast up here."
Lit led them to a walkway that wound up to the cave entrance. Up the incline a little way, a boulder the size of a bloated buffalo lay on a bed of flattened itchy fruit blossoms and poinsettias. It must have given the concrete one heck of a thump when it landed, then bounced into the garden. The force of its impact had tilted up a long, straight section of the three-foot-wide path, causing it to snap at various points. Now it lay in sections, like carriages after a train crash.
Ahead, a small canvas tent had been erected over the path between two of the sections. Lit lifted the canvas from its frame to reveal a mummified arm protruding from one side of a wide gap in the concrete. It was covered in a transparent plastic bag tied to the wrist. Its palm was up and its fingers bent into claws. From its position, Siri estimated that the body, assuming it was still attached to one, would be lying on its back inside the unbroken slab of concrete.
"Well, I suppose we should get cracking," Siri said to the two workmen who'd followed them up. Both had stonemason's chisels and metal mallets.
"How would you like it, Doctor?" one asked.
The section that lay before them was over six feet long and two and a half feet deep. Siri pondered for a moment. "I think we should attack it from the sides. Here, I'll give you some marks to guide you." He used a block of white limestone to score a line on either side of the broken section of pathway.
"Uhm, Dr. Siri," Lit asked, "wouldn't it be easier to go in from the end where the hand's sticking out, or from the top?"
"Easier, yes, Comrade Lit. But not as beneficial."
"I don't think I understand."
"Nurse Dtui will explain it to you."
Dtui was
"You f ... frightened me."
"Just messing with you, son. Just a little joke."
"I fainted."
"You sure did."
"Wh ... wh ... where are we going?"
"Nam Bak."
The name meant nothing to Geung. "Why?"
"Top-secret mission." The sergeant put his finger to his lips to show there was a need to keep quiet about it. Geung felt very important to be going on a top-secret mission, but he'd made a promise. He got clumsily to his feet and walked to the tailgate, using the chests and knees of the seated soldiers for support. The sergeant caught hold of him before he vanished off the end of the truck. "Now what do you think you're up to?" the old soldier asked.
"I ... I ... I ... I have to g ... guard the morgue."
"No you don't, son."
"Yes. Yes I d ... do. I promised Comrade Dr. Siri a ... a ... and Comrade Nurse Dtui."
"You don't work at the morgue anymore."
This was a serious revelation to Geung. "No?"
"No."
"Where d ... d ... do I work?"
"You'll find out."
"B ... b ... but I ... I pr ... pro ..." The words began to collide again and Geung's head spun.
"Geung, younger brother, I don't want any trouble from you. You understand?"
"I ... I ..."
"Just go back to your seat and enjoy the journey. You'll like--" But before the sergeant could say another word, Geung passed out again, this time across the laps of the Third Division of the Lao People's Liberation Army Infantry on its way to the north to hunt out insurgents.
Concrete Man
The jeep pulled up in front of the president's compound, and Siri looked up the slope at the pretty pink-and-green villa that nestled in among the towering cliffs. Carved out of the rock opposite was a one-and-a-half-car garage, and where the steps began to wind upward, an ornamental heart-shaped pool had been lovingly fashioned from a bomb crater. It was all so creepily quaint.
"You know, Doc?" Dtui said as they started up the concrete steps. "All this time I had visions of you lot living up here like cavemen, wrapped in bearskins. I didn't dream it would be so--civilized."
"Surely you didn't expect the president of the republic to have had to hunt for his breakfast with a bow and arrow?"
"It wouldn't surprise me, given how hard it is to find breakfast up here."
Lit led them to a walkway that wound up to the cave entrance. Up the incline a little way, a boulder the size of a bloated buffalo lay on a bed of flattened itchy fruit blossoms and poinsettias. It must have given the concrete one heck of a thump when it landed, then bounced into the garden. The force of its impact had tilted up a long, straight section of the three-foot-wide path, causing it to snap at various points. Now it lay in sections, like carriages after a train crash.
Ahead, a small canvas tent had been erected over the path between two of the sections. Lit lifted the canvas from its frame to reveal a mummified arm protruding from one side of a wide gap in the concrete. It was covered in a transparent plastic bag tied to the wrist. Its palm was up and its fingers bent into claws. From its position, Siri estimated that the body, assuming it was still attached to one, would be lying on its back inside the unbroken slab of concrete.
"Well, I suppose we should get cracking," Siri said to the two workmen who'd followed them up. Both had stonemason's chisels and metal mallets.
"How would you like it, Doctor?" one asked.
The section that lay before them was over six feet long and two and a half feet deep. Siri pondered for a moment. "I think we should attack it from the sides. Here, I'll give you some marks to guide you." He used a block of white limestone to score a line on either side of the broken section of pathway.
"Uhm, Dr. Siri," Lit asked, "wouldn't it be easier to go in from the end where the hand's sticking out, or from the top?"
"Easier, yes, Comrade Lit. But not as beneficial."
"I don't think I understand."
"Nurse Dtui will explain it to you."
Dtui was
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