A Perilous Place
()
About this ebook
Robert Reynolds
Based in Calgary, Robert is an emerging author who spends his days working in the oil and gas industry but has been a big fan of the spy thriller genre ever since his childhood when he read one of his grandfather's original James Bond paperbacks from the late 50's. He is married with a young daughter and when he's not day dreaming about dangerous adventures in exotic locales he enjoys running and other outdoor pursuits.
Read more from Robert Reynolds
Three E's of Doo-wop: The Echoes; The Elegants; and The Excellents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Music of the 4 Seasons Featuring Frankie Valli Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThunder Bay: Mystery and Intrigue In Northern Michigan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVanilla Doo-wop Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Fine Gray Rain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Music of the Tokens: A Lion Sleeps... Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Music of Bobby Goldsboro Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGay and Lesbian, Then and Now: Australian Stories from a Social Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Music of Del Shannon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Music of Johnny Rivers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Matter of Finances Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Four Evers: The 4 Seasons' Connection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOutlast the Rain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsErnesto Juarez Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rabbit's Tale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDion and the Belmonts: Early Doo-wop and Rock and Roll Years Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Christmas Eve--A Christmas Tale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Dark and Curious Place: Vietnam War Era Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMackinac Drift Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWith The Angels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlong the Quay Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDestruction of Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNovah Burns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDragon Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrouble's Garden Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Perilous Place
Related ebooks
Hard Carbon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Lies Beneath Stillwater Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarianson: From "Mackinac And Lake Stories", 1899 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of the Wild West- Campfire Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Land of Strong Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOpening Goliath: Danger and Discovery in Caving Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shooter from Skeleton Canyon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Scarlet Plague Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarooned in Realtime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bamboo Bends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExhalation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSome Three Hundred Years Ago Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mandate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnspeakable Horror: The Deadliest Shark Attacks in Maritime History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Lacuna: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monarch, the Big Bear of Tallac Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFamily Reunion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Long Midnight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArizona Nights Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Destiny Relic: The Gold Lust Series, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Shadow Rider of Thorn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe End of the Point: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Valley of the Fox Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inner Circles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShadows of Death: A Desert Sky Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ravaging the Dead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Skirmishers: Feare Series Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe True Tales of The Most Famous Frontiersmen: Their Adventurous Lives and Stirring Experiences in Pioneer Days Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Land of Strong Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
War & Military Fiction For You
The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All Quiet on the Western Front Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Grapes of Wrath Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Going Postal Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Lost Names Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Things They Carried Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All Quiet on the Western Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Run Silent, Run Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Johnny Got His Gun Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Naked and the Dead: 50th Anniversary Edition, With a New Introduction by the Author Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing at Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Memory Keeper of Kyiv: A powerful, important historical novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Here to Eternity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War of the Worlds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Visitors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the First Circle: The First Uncensored Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At Night All Blood Is Black: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Lake of the Woods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cold Mountain: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Room on Rue Amelie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Three Fates Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Winemaker's Wife Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Perilous Place
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
A Perilous Place - Robert Reynolds
A Perilous Place
Robert Reynolds
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events depicted in this book are of the imagination of the author. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.
Copyright: 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7948-4874-0
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure…
Helen Keller
A Perilous Place
PART ONE
Chapter 1
Rattles and clatters brought a startled PO3 Higgins racing to the storeroom. He flipped on the light switch to find a marauding creature scattering 50-pound bags of flour, ripping open pasta boxes and banging canned vegetable goods against the floor. Jagged glass from broken mayonnaise jars had turned the floor into a dangerous and slippery obstacle course. Bloody footprints marked where the small ape had mistakenly stepped, breaking open the hardened soles of the animal’s feet, causing it to scream out in pain and to become even more agitated over its entrapped situation. It was a toss up who was the most surprised, Higgins or the monkey, but the small storeroom had the latter threatened and trapped. Higgins grabbed a mop and began poking at the creature trying to force it back to and out the upper window with the torn mesh screen.
Get out of here!
Higgins yelled, wielding the mop handle like a saber. The monkey lunged toward the door, but the threatening human stood between it and freedom. Higgins blocked the doorway and the animal shrunk back into a corner baring its teeth. Had it known, freedom did not lie beyond that door. Had the frightened creature made it through, even more chaos would ensue when it found itself surrounded by several more revenge seeking humans. For the moment, the small storeroom provided a greater chance of survival.
Higgins prodded and poked, sparring with the animal as he tried to keep it at bay. He hoped it would notice the torn window and remember how it had gotten in. However, all that it knew now was that escape was in question. Hayes heard the racket from up front and ran to help, slipping on the wet floor and skating into a row of storage shelves before going down in an oily heap.
Help me get that thing out of here!
Higgins yelled.
Hayes slid back to his feet, grabbed a knife off the shelf and began stabbing at the animal.
I want you to help me get him out of here, not butcher him,
Higgins growled. "Get the broom!
Where did it come from?
Hayes shouted, slamming the door shut behind him. The same small room trapped all three of them now and the terrified creature was intent of surviving. A can of Del Monte Peas hurtled their way.
These damn monkeys live on the mountain and sneak on the base to scavenge,
Higgins gasped, making another thrust to keep the animal from darting past.
We’ve got to get it out of here before it does anymore damage,
Hayes said, slipping on a glob of lard that greased the floor. He hadn’t noticed yet, but blood dripped from his hand where he’d tried to break his fall and struck broken glass.
The two men had the ape more or less cornered, but it was frightened, taking a defensive posture, snarling and baring sharp teeth. Terrified, it swatted at the wooden handles that jabbed its way. It darted left then right, not knowing which way led to safety. The men made a final lunge with a mop handle and a broomstick, encouraging the beast to scale the metal storage shelf beneath the breached window. It smelled fresh air and sensed freedom. Without looking back it scurried up the shelf leg, finding the opening. The frightened creature ducked through the torn screen and scampered off toward the perimeter fence and the safety of the mountain.
PART TWO
Chapter 2
The aptly named Monkey Mountain rested on the tip of the Son Tra Peninsula with the bay of Da Nang on one side, the South China Sea on the other. Camp Tien Sha, a former French Army Post left over from Colonial days, was now the primary United States Navy Base in I Corps. The base pressed against Monkey Mountain’s south side, separated by a perimeter fence and a narrow zone cleared of brush and wild grasses. Primates lived in the foliage overlooking Camp Tien Sha and frequently crossed onto the base to scavenge.
A paved road running north and south, Rai Bien Son Cha, came straight onto the base through a whitewashed gate on the compound’s south side, splitting the camp down the middle. Immediately to the southwest of the base was the Vietnamese National Police Basic Training Center. Local national trainees studied there to become Canh Sat, to become White Mice, so nicknamed for their white helmets, gloves and shirts. Some believed the name aptly described their timidity and rapid speed of departure in a crisis.
Immediately before entering Camp Tien Sha, the road split to the left and skirted the bay. If one followed the road around the western side of the mountain, he would come to Spanish Beach, passing along the way an ARVN, Army of the Republic of Vietnam camp, and DeLong Pier; the deep water port where the large ships and tankers docked. One could turn away from the bay and follow a road that led farther up the mountainside to where a target range was located. There, marksmen could practice using weaponry by firing into the hillside. From that lofty pinnacle, a person could look out over the Bay of Da Nang and the South China Sea. The location offered a most beautiful site for target practice. Here is where the ‘newbies’ received refresher weapons training before they assumed the responsibility of carrying a rifle or operating more serious weaponry. Higher still, a radar site sat on the very top of the mountain.
The view from Monkey Mountain provided breath-taking vistas of water, earth and sky. From atop the mountain, one could see the ocean, the bay, the coastal plains, or the city of Da Nang, depending on the direction of observation. A sprinkling of ocean-going vessels, both Navy and commercial, sat moored in the harbor. If one watched carefully, he might see the wake of a Harbor Security craft patrolling the waters.
The rest of the peninsula was mostly flat and sandy, with marshes in the low-lying areas and a smattering of rice paddies where the soil was rich. Small rural villages dotted the peninsula.
American armed forces used much of the isthmus for military interests. The Naval Support Activity Reefer and Covered Storage Area, including a large ammunition depot, and the marines at the III Marine Amphibious Force were located a few miles directly down the road from the Navy base.
***
An easterly-running dirt road, if one envisioned it as a road, paralleled the camp’s perimeter fence on its southern flank. Potholes, mud holes, and protruding rocks made it more a pockmarked obstacle course than a thoroughfare.
Clusters of shanties, small houses and decrepit hovels alongside this road made up the hamlet of Nam Tho. Fishermen and peasants, laborers and artisans, women of honor and women of pleasure, good people and bad occupied these ramshackle houses. Their nearness to the base presented boundless opportunities for employment or for providing services, many of them dubious.
I know every skivvy house in the vill,
Fowler bragged. And there are a lot of them.
That’s quite an accomplishment,
Hauser chided, raising his beer in a mock toast. It’s something you can write home about.
Do you know any girls who don’t work the street or in the bars?
Donovan said.
Of course I do,
Fowler said, offended by his friend’s lack of belief. He reached in his wallet and pulled out a black and white photo. Check this out. She’s my girl from over in Da Nang. She’s from a wealthy family.
Maxwell peered closer in the dim light of the club.
Pretty girl.
You’d better believe it,
Fowler finished off his beer. He slammed down the empty Schlitz can and stormed out of the club.
I’ve seen that picture,
Maxwell said after Fowler was out of earshot. The next time you’re up on Doc Lap Street, check out the photos on display at that Chinese photography shop on the corner. You can buy a stack of those photos for 50P.
***
The rear perimeter of the Navy base butted against the upward slope of Monkey Mountain, although the base itself was practically flat. There were no foothills to speak of and Seabee bulldozers had flattened the minor fluctuations toward the rear of the compound; where the base ended, the mountain began.
The mountainside was only moderately steep; not sheer, and it angled down then broke away onto the sand plain that made up most of the peninsula. The perimeter fence followed the contour of the mountain, although there was little to the contour, as it was almost straight, as straight as one could expect in nature. Cyclone fencing, topped with razor sharp barbed and concertina wire kept potential intruders out. Well, it kept out most intruders, but not the determined, agile furry ones.
Do you know the guy in Engineers with a pet monkey?
Maxwell said.
I’ve heard of him,
Hauser said. But I wouldn’t want one.
I think they’re cool,
Brinks said, picking up on the tail end of the conversation.
No way!
Hauser said. You never know what to expect from something wild; too many diseases. No thanks, I plan on getting out of this place alive.
Wooden guard towers rose at the corners of the base, and a few additional towers spread along its rear. Beginning at dusk, brilliant spotlights shone outward from the towers, bathing the perimeter in stark white light. Navy Security Guards manned the towers, protecting the base. The rear perimeter guards looked almost directly into the mountainside, into the forested jungle, into scattered tufts of elephant grass and the small rockslides where the earth had given way.
Ain’t no one gonna attack us from the rear,
Maxwell said. All I’ve ever seen back there is those wild monkeys. As long as they ain’t armed, that’s all I care.
Although no man would have dared try to scale the barrier, apes, on the other hand, were not so timid. As darkness fell, the monkeys would descend from the mountain and scamper across the few naked yards between the jungle landscape and the base, scale the protective fence and drop inside. They would scavenge their way to the dumpsters and trash containers behind the dining hall, clubs and snack bars; anywhere they might find morsels of food. They were talented scavengers and they could raid the base of its refuse practically undetected. When their task was complete, they would leave the same way they came in, returning to their safe haven on the mountain.
***
Seaman Jonathon Spencer flew into Da Nang with dozens of other anxious young men dropping into war, cramped into the narrow canvas seats that lined the cargo hold. The C-130 rumbled in and touched down at the air base, taxied across the sun-blistered tarmac and came to a halt. The wide-eyed men did not know what to