THERE BE DRAGONS Read Online Free PDF

covered by his helmet. “You talking to me?” asked Jacobs.
    “Yeah.” His reply was monotone, dead of depth and texture. “Have you made a note of your escape from the bunker?”
    “What?”
    “You keep looking over your shoulder towards the exit. You’re planning what to do if we’re attacked and overrun.”
    “I guess I am … well spotted,” said Jacobs.
    “Before the slopes get into our lines, they’ve gotta make it past barbed wire, mines, tripwires, flares, and oil drums filled with Fugas, a more than deadly mixture of diesel and napalm that is ignited electronically. I guess I’m trying to relax you somewhat with this list of information.”
    “Thanks.” Jacobs blinked. It pained him. “I haven’t slept more than two hours a night since arriving here. My eyelids feel like they have sledgehammers chained to them. So, what I’m saying is, I don’t mind talking to you, soldier. It will help me stay awake, but let’s keep the conversation to a low hum.”
    The soldier sniffed snot down his throat. “I’m Bane and I have only fifty-five days until I get to go home.” His voice still lacked emotion, no warmth, no attitude; it was just a flat-lined expression of sameness.
    Jacobs eased his finger. He noticed it was too tight on his weapon’s trigger. His knuckle was going white. He needed to relax. He tried to loosen up with a slight shake of his head. Then he gave the crick his neck deserved. “Well, Bane,” Jacobs coughed slightly. His mouth was dry. “Its nice to meet you. It sounds like you’ll be enjoying a cold beer back on American soil sometime soon. You got anything of interest waiting for you back home?”
    “No.”
    Jacobs coughed once more, an itch forming somewhere inside.
    “You don’t need to fill the awkward silences with noise … like a cough. I’m used to making people uneasy. It must be something about my way.”
    “No, not at all,” lied Jacobs.
    “You’re not a good liar, sir.”
    “I wasn’t—”
    “Do you have a girl, LT?”
    “I do. Just that question reminds me how much I miss her. She’s called Samantha,” said Jacobs.
    “Got a picture?” Bane held out his right hand, eyes still down, his helmet still his face’s veil.
    Jacobs saw that Bane’s waiting hand, so he removed his helmet and took a picture of Samantha out from inside it. He handed it to Bane then fixed his helmet back in place on his head and stared back out the slit at the shadowy jungle.
    Bane moved the picture under his helmet and had a quick glance before he handed it back to Jacobs, who placed it in a pocket.
    “She’s very pretty. But then again, I’ve gotta say that, don’t I?”
    “Why? Because I’m a lieutenant?” asked Jacobs.
    “No. It would be rude not to. It’s a given response to seeing a picture of a guy’s girl. It’s kinda a rule out here.”
    Jacobs smiled. “It’s a good rule. It must stop heaps of fights.”
    “It does.”
    “Over the last few days I’ve taken time to walk around the base,” started Jacobs. “During my walks, I’ve seen the ARVNs, the South Vietnamese, and the stream of officers being flown in and out. I’ve made the effort to ask them questions about what it’s like in the field … but I’ve given up now. I’ve grown tired of men telling me that I was sure to die out there.” He nodded at the jungle. “My confidence is in a constant state of flux. It’s become a snowy mountain range of highs and lows, with daily avalanches and the occasionally thaw. So, with the hope of getting a more informative response, let me ask you, what is it like in the field?”
    “You know, sometimes the enemy just walks or runs into the perimeter defenses without their weapons.”
    “What?” Jacobs was shocked.
    “Yeah. I’ve seen it. So have many of the other guys. They walk like they don’t have a care in the world, or run like rabid dogs.”
    “What do they do that for, to test our defenses? To get us to use up our ammo before their proper