Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shaman" data-source="post: 2887118" data-attributes="member: 26473">“Talk to some of these guys who were in Indochina,” replies Ortu, unlacing his boots again. “They’re like fish in a net. The Communist thing.”“Fish in the sea, Silvio, not a net.” Manolo Sánchez rolls over from where he’s lying on his bedroll, props himself up on one elbow. “It’s Maoist doctrine. ‘The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.’”Ortu waves his hand. “Whatever.” He sprinkles foot powder liberally in his boots, then sets them aside. “No cards for me, thanks.” He slides into his bedroll, pops the earpiece from his transitor radio in an ear, and lies back with his head on his hands.Sánchez sits up and reaches into the pocket of his smock. “Room for one more?” the veteran legionnaire asks, a tidy wad of francs in his hand.Sánchez settles in, declines Marcel’s proferred cigarette, pulling an Ideales from his own pocket instead. The Spaniard watches as the cards are shuffled. “In Indochina you could never be sure who was Vietminh, and who wasn’t. After awhile they all became ‘viets.’ It was the only way to stay alive – treat every one of ’em like he was going to cut your throat if you turned your back.” He takes a long drag from his cigarette – the lines on the veteran's face are deep in the glow of the flashlight lighting the cards. “The fellaghas use the same tactics. Some of ’em learned ’em from the viets themselves, in prison camps. That waiter - ” he focuses on Normand “ - could’ve been working with that mechanic back in Portemonte, for all we know.” He flicks a bit of ash from his cigarette and takes another pull. “The Arabs, the Berbers - they're no better or worse than anyone else. But you can’t trust them either, not completely. Even in the best of times they’re a shrewd people. Cunning. And these are not the best of times.”</blockquote>

Verification