The Crystal Warriors Read Free Page A

with light carbines and two held Thompson submachine guns. They turned occasionally to trade shots with their tormentors, but with no effect. They could have been moving faster, but their progress was slowed by a wounded man who was half-carried, half-dragged by two of his comrades.
    "Get ready, Sergeant, they're almost on us. If they make a move with their weapons, open up."
    "Yes, Captain."
    Ikawa took a deep breath, trying to remember the correct words. He stood up and barked a command.
    "Halt!"
    Mark snapped out of his exhausted stupor.
    "Jesus, a Jap," someone screamed behind him.
    The Japanese officer extended his hands, to show he was weaponless.
    "Don't shoot," the Japanese officer shouted. "My men have you covered."
    He had to decide, he had to decide now. Mark looked over his shoulder. Giorgini was already swinging his carbine around.
    "Giorgini, freeze! Don't move a goddamn inch!"
    "But, Captain..."
    Mark turned back to face Giorgini and started to raise his own .45.
    "Giorgini, if you move, I'll blow your goddamn head off."
    He stared at his men for a moment. They were silent―the only sound was the snapping of the bullets overhead. Gazing beyond his men he saw the swarm of Chinese bandits advancing up the slope.
    Mark looked back at the Japanese officer.
    "Captain, you're trapped. I offer you quarter," Ikawa shouted. "Those men behind you are the soldiers of a renegade warlord. He doesn't care if you're American, Japanese, Nationalist, or Communist. Any outsiders meet death at his hand. You saw what they did to your man."
    "Goddamn it, they killed Ed," Goldberg cried.
    "You've no time, Captain. Surrender and I will give you quarter. If you do not, my men will finish you or leave you to them." The Japanese officer pointed back down the hill to the advancing horde.
    Mark followed his gaze. There was no hope; he had to take the chance.
    "Drop your weapons," Mark cried.
    "But, Captain!"
    "Drop them now!"
    He heard the carbines, Thompsons, and .45s hitting the ground.
    "Good," Ikawa grunted. "Follow Sergeant Saito, he'll show you the way. Now move!"
    Mark looked again at the Japanese officer, and hesitated.
    "Move your men out. Or do you want the bandits to finish you the way they did your comrade?" Ikawa asked softly.
    Ed, damn them, they killed Ed. He looked back at the advancing host, while the air reverberated with the snap-crack of passing bullets.
    "All right, move it," Mark commanded. "Follow their sergeant. Lets go!"
    The Americans fell in behind Sergeant Saito, but Mark stayed behind. Several Japanese soldiers sprinted to pick up the American weapons, then rejoined the retreat.
    Mark fell in at the back of the column, running alongside the Japanese captain.
    The Chinese gave a shout of triumph as their comrades crested the opposite hill. Within seconds a light machine gun opened up on the fugitives, stitching a line of tracers up the slope. A Japanese soldier in front of Mark crumpled with a loud grunt as a bullet ricocheted off a rock and struck his helmet a glancing blow.
    "Nishida!"
    One of the Japanese privates was bent over his stunned comrade, trying to help him up. Mark looked over to his captor. Ikawa yelled at the soldier who had stopped, then ran back to help the private pick up his comrade. Together they started off towards the narrow defile that offered their only hope.
    Mark felt as if his lungs were about to burst. Every breath was an agony of fire. Fifty yards, thirty yards―the machine-gun bullets whined around them. Another Japanese went down, his head smashed like an overripe melon, and the radio on his back a shattered ruin. Overhead there was a sharp crack-whine: The Japanese in the defile were opening up with cover fire.
    He stumbled into the protection of the rocky path where the rest of the men, Japanese and American, were bent in exhaustion. The officer and private finally came in, dragging their dazed comrade and dropping him behind the protection of the rocks.
    The captain shouted