Shadow of the Red Dragon

The sounds were faint at first and unexpected, but Lieutenant Polaski immediately recognized the distinctive chopping clatter of a helicopter breaking up the serenity of this mountainous piece of Korean landscape. It came from the north bearing an unknown occupant. Not wearing sunglasses, the young officer shielded his eyes with his hands placed just below the rim of his winter hat and just above his eyebrows. He peered into the cloudless, blue November sky looking for this odd looking flying machine. Within a matter of seconds, Polaski spotted it about five hundred feet in the air and approximately a mile or two away. The helicopter reminded him of a dragonfly with its bulb like head and long tapering body. It might be strange looking he thought, but certainly a blessing in this or any other mountainous country. Every soldier from private to general knew the chopper, as it was affectionately called, would have a very successful future as the engineers would undoubtedly develop it in the years to come. Polaski knew some top brass had to be on board for not just anyone got the use of an up and down flying machine. Looking down at him and his five men was a full bird Colonel. The twenty-three year-old officer with blond hair wondered if a bird’s eye view was an advantage in discovering truck tracks or hiding places. He decided it would be if it didn’t blow the evidence away with its oversized fan that kept it aloft. Before his thoughts on the subject were finished, the flying marvel was hovering directly above the scene, but maintaining an altitude that was high enough to prevent the flying fan from creating a wind that would disturb the site any more than mother nature was doing by itself with its wind and light snowfall .The glass shell of the helicopter’s cockpit was reflecting the sun’s brilliance with such efficiency that Polaski couldn’t make out the pilot or his passenger. On a cloudy day Polaski would have had an upward glance at one of the U.S. Army’s most capable and successful investigators. Colonel Richard S. Lunt. The old cop was observing the investigating team, but his gray-blue eyes were focused mostly on the two lifeless Americans lying in the road. Then almost as quickly as it had appeared, the chopper slowly flew over the road and disappeared as the path began to curve northward. The Second Lieutenant didn’t move except to slowly run in place for a moment to keep his feet from getting too cold, while he continued to look upward for the return of the unknown officer. The noise of the rotating blades and engine became fainter and fainter, until it was no longer audible, but the young soldier with the brass bar on his hat held his ground. His intuition told him that whoever was on that aircraft was only scouting out the area and would return to inspect the actual site of the brutal crime. After several minutes, a small but satisfied smile began to develop on Polaski’s face, when the copter reappeared in the distance. At first too far to hear, but close enough to spot. It was to the left of the road now and at times traveling in a zigzag pattern, but constantly making its way back to the bullet-ridden vehicle. Fortunately there was an adequate clearing on the left side of the road that could be used for a landing pad, and the flat surface was only two hundred feet from the rear of the ambushed truck. As the pilot began to set down on this patch of earth, the Lieutenant made his way over to it. The snow that had lightly fallen during the night left less than three inches of white powder, but the flow of air created by the helicopter blades made the area around the mechanical dragonfly appear to be a violent blizzard. Both officers seemed to be in harmony of thought about entering this miniature storm. The Colonel didn’t exit the cockpit and the Lieutenant stopped advancing just short of the perimeter of the short-lived squall.