In the Golden Triangle

Chapter 13: Everyone Likes Fire

Kitt hopped down from the truck and felt gravity pull on him—the temptation to follow it all the way to the ground was getting stronger with every step he took. He took a deep breath and didn't even mind the smell of old food that wafted in from the mess hall. After spending thirty minutes in a truck full of men who were as sweaty and dirty as he was, even the smell of old food was preferable.

With the back of his hand he rubbed some sand from his eye. Someone bumped into him and he didn't even have the energy to grumble about it. Back to back patrol duty had put everyone on edge, and Kitt was no exception. Even the usually levelheaded Hin was at the end of his rope.

Generally, patrol was considered a nuisance. You walk your sector and try not to get too bored or step on a snake. But lately they were hearing gunfire every day. It was coming from across the Myanmar border. There was something more nerve wracking about not being able to see the people shooting—like every rustling bush or tree could be hiding someone ready to take your life. Kitt knew it was a matter of time before someone's temperament snapped. There had been more than one innocent squirrel staring down the barrel of a gun because it rattled a bush.

The worst part was that it followed them to camp. It had been days since anyone had put together a football game or laughed in the mess hall. A pall was covering the camp and the anxiety only rose with every day that passed. It's not as if they weren't aware how close to the border they were, and how relatively unprotected. The border loomed large, an invisible boundary that meant so much and yet Kitt couldn't tell you where it began and ended. It was all the same when they were trudging through the jungle.

How could something so arbitrary mean so much? It wasn't even tangible. There wasn't even a sign or a flag.

Kitt was considering all of this up until the cold spray of the shower struck him in the face. The cold water seemed to push past his intrusive thoughts, and he felt a little better. A shower always made everything all right, and he felt more like a human as the dirt swirled down the drain between his feet.

He roughly washed his hair and tried not to think about the cartels anymore. That was big picture stuff, and he was logical enough to know he couldn't do anything about it. Instead, he needed to figure out what to do about the men under his command. They were one bush shaking rodent away from discharging their weapon and with the way things were going, it would probably start something Kitt wasn't ready to write a report about.

Shutting off the shower he grabbed his towel and began roughly drying off. Any good ideas of how to break the tension eluded him. Lt. Colonel Khamsi would probably suggest something like a good run. Kitt could only imagine how that suggestion would go over.

They would burn him alive.

After getting dressed he was walking back to his tent with the damp towel in his hands. An idea was beginning to form.

"Hin." Kitt said as he wrenched the door to their tent open.

His best friend was sprawled out on his bed with his boots hanging off over the edge. He made some sort of grunting sound that Kitt took as an invitation to continue.

Kitt hung up his towel and sat on the bed opposite Hin. "What does everyone like?"

Hin turned his head and squinted at Kitt. "Sex?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, not that."

"I'm pretty sure everyone likes sex, Kitt."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

"But you admit that I'm right."

Kitt regretted even starting this conversation.