The Dark of Night

By Robert F. Reynolds

As Navy Security Policemen Robinson and "Teddy Bear" make their nightly jeep patrol rounds, an enemy attack goes awry sending missles into a local Vietnamese hamlet.  In the dark night, the pair escort an ambulance to the scene.  Against Teddy Bear's orders, Robinson joins a small group of Military Police and Medics to venture into the perilous village seeking casualties, while leaving an uneasy Teddy Bear to guard the vehicles.  Anything can happen In the Dark of Night...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert F. Reynolds
• Release date: Oct 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223117988

Robert F. Reynolds

Robert F. Reynolds has penned several books, including: A Perilous Place; Thunder Bay; El Paso Run; The Rabbit's Tale; Along the Quay; Gray Wolf Pass; Mackinac Drift; Orchids and Sand; Molasses Men; Ernesto Juarez; Stiller's Creek; A Dark and Curious Place; A Fine Gray Rain; and others.  He's also written several music related books in his The Music of.... series. 

Book preview

Robert F. Reynolds

All characters and events depicted in this book are the imagination of the author.  Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. 

Copyright: 2023

the Dark of Night

Introduction

A haze lay over DaNang. City lights reflected off clouds resting above the town, casting an aura, a serene glow over the city.  The air base stood out brightly.  Across the area, civilian and military personnel alike slept peacefully.

"Lai dai, mau len... Hurry and follow me," the group’s leader whispered. But there was little need for caution this far out on the paddies. 

The silhouettes crept past a thatched-roof farmhouse; a hovel of bamboo and palm leaf. Its inhabitants slept soundly in the night's middle hours—all slept but one. 

Rutting of his sows had awakened the farmer. He lay hearing faint footfalls as they pulled from the muck of the fields and set again in ankle-deep water. The added weight of their cargo pulled their bare feet deeper into the bog. Each step was laborious, a chore, but they were almost to their destination.  

The farmer trembled, but it was not from a chill.  The night was warm and the air thick. He did not want to know what moved through the dark, what spirits passed this way. He covered the mouth of his sleeping partner so she would not make a sound. She turned away in discomfort.  The pigs snorted and dodged about their pen.  Daylight was a long way off.  The sound of footsteps moved away and disappeared, but still, the farmer could not sleep.

***

Robinson had come up past the Officer’s Club.  It was late, long after curfew and streets were empty.  He was behind the wheel.  He liked driving, even though Teddy Bear outranked him.

He and Teddy Bear stopped to chat with Perkins, who had made his rounds of the other guards—one in back, one in front, and him acting as a rover.

A week before, the guards had radioed in about hearing a gunshot across the way. Robinson was alone in the jeep that night and had responded to the call, but all was quiet when he got there.  Sporadic gunshots were common on many nights. 

Everything’s copacetic. Perkins motioned vaguely, indicating the rest of the guard force. 

Word of the day? Teddy Bear joked.  He was a good guy, but out of his element in Vietnam.  Even at normal times he kept himself wrapped in his flak jacket.  The extra layer made him appear even chunkier than usual. 

Did I confuse you? Perkins fished a cigarette from a small C-rat pack as he leaned against the