Hawke glanced at his watch and checked the position of the sun. It was mid-day on the fifth day since he had made contact with Sok An. His heart sank. It looked like they were going to have to proceed without the advantage of local knowledge. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his short brown hair. The lack of local knowledge would make everything harder but it wouldn't prevent them from moving forward.

His sensitive ears caught a rustling sound and the soft fall of a footstep on the track leading into the clearing. Hawke quickly took cover and pulled his gun from its holster.

Sok An came into view; his brown eyes scanned the area and Hawke took a step forward so the other man could see him.

'You made it.' Hawke said removing his sunglasses to meet the other man's eyes.

Sok An nodded. 'I was able to claim I had received a word from a relative in the next village who was ill and needed help.' He patted the bag he carried. 'I have brought some fresh provisions.'

'Thank you.' Hawke said. He knew the food must have been hard to come by. 'We're camped another half a mile away back towards the mountain.'

'Lead on.' Sok An said.

Hawke replaced his sunglasses and gestured in the direction they needed to go. They walked in silence and at a steady pace. It wasn't long before they reached Dom and Airwolf.

Sok An stared at the helicopter and reached out a hand to touch her. 'Incredible.'

'Yes, she is,' agreed Hawke.

'I thought she had been destroyed in Libya.' Sok An said.

Hawke offered Sok An a seat on the fallen log. 'That's what they say.' He motioned at Dom. 'Dom, this is Sok An. Sok An, Dominic Santini.'

'It's a pleasure.' Dom said a little shyly.

Sok An bowed. 'The pleasure is mine.'

Hawke handed Dom the bag of provisions. 'Sok An brought us some fresh food.'

'Oh great.' Dom looked in the bag and brought out a vegetable. At least he thought it was a vegetable. 'Ah…you might have to show me what we do with some of this.'

'I will be happy to.' Sok An said. 'How about we eat first and plan afterwards?'

'Sounds good to me.' Dom said.

They cooked lunch and sat around the camp fire eating and exchanging small talk as Sok An described how he'd come to work in Cambodia as an undercover agent.

'Of course,' he concluded, 'I may be extracted now the merger with the Company is taking place.'

'Why would they extract you?' Dom asked puzzled.

'The Company have better links with the various factions around here.' Sok An said matter-of-factly. 'They have infiltrated most of the organisations and they are responsible for most of the intelligence coming out of Cambodia. Even the CIA cannot match them.'

'So you'll be going home to America?' Dom checked.

Sok An nodded. 'My parents own a restaurant in New York.' He smiled. 'I think I might retire from the intelligence business and help them.'

Hawke offered Sok An more coffee and he declined.

'Perhaps,' Sok An said, 'we should discuss how best to proceed with finding your brother?'

'Suits me.' Hawke admitted.

'Sooner we get this over with the better.' Dom concurred.

Sok An nodded. 'You have a map and the exact coordinates?'

Hawke nodded and Dom hurried to get them from the cockpit. They spread the map on the ground and Hawke pointed at their location.

'We're here.' He shifted his finger to the North. 'And the location of the prison is meant to be here.'

'You told me you planned to do a reconnaissance by foot?' Sok An said.

Hawke nodded. 'I want to keep the helicopter for the actual rescue.'

'And not give away your major advantage.' Sok An nodded. 'It's a good plan. It will take us at least a day to travel there and we will have to travel in the light.' He drew a finger at a point between the locations. 'This area is heavily populated with landmines. We will have to stay overnight near to the camp. Use a day to accurately understand the camp routines, stay overnight again and travel back the next day.'

Hawke agreed. 'I was hoping to set off tomorrow morning at first light.'

'I agree.' Sok An said. 'The area we will be travelling into is held by one of the senior generals, a man called Nhek Prengh. He is notorious amongst the people as being one of the strictest enforcers of the Khmer Rouge regime. If we are caught, we will be tortured.'

'So let's make sure we don't get caught.' Hawke said dryly.

The sun was barely up when the two men rose and dressed in army fatigues to make the walk out to the prison camp. Dom waved them goodbye unable to keep the worry from his eyes. Hawke appreciated Sok An's silence as they walked and the other man's skill and abilities. They were able to progress through the forest taking trails and tracks that were not immediately obvious to someone without knowledge of the terrain. They slowed as they reached the outskirts of Prengh's territory. They had to find a way around not one but two patrols and the second forced them to make a wide diversion from their previous course. It was already twilight when they found the prison camp.

Hawke ducked under the cover of the bushes and peered through the binoculars at the camp. He frowned. It looked like it had taken heavy artillery damage at some point in the past and he fervently hoped Saint John hadn't been around when it had happened. The scorch marks across the ground spoke of a terrible battle. He adjusted his focus. There were four buildings in the camp. One was obviously the prison and he could just make out the huddled shapes of men behind the bamboo bars. The other structures were more protected from the elements; an office or headquarters, a guard's barracks and a communal hut. There were peasants working around the camp hurrying across the yard with buckets of water from the well or simply tending to the guards' every whim. Hawke frowned at the way they were jostling a young girl. She already had a defeated look in her eye. He offered the binoculars to Sok An.

Sok An shook his head and looked upwards at the darkening sky. 'We should make camp.' He said in a very quiet voice.

Hawke nodded and they crawled backwards until they were sure they were out of sight. They found a good spot that could be easily defended and after a quick meal, they took turns at watch or slept until the sun rose again.

Hawke was eager to get back to the camp. A whole day of surveillance made it more likely that he would see his brother and he peered through the binoculars eagerly. There was little movement in the camp beyond the peasants who ran back and forth. They made notes as the morning wore on of the timing of the guard patrols and the changes but the prisoners were not freed from their cage and Hawke became restless as the day moved on without any sign that he would be able to get a better view.

'Patience.' Sok An cautioned him.

Hawke sighed. He couldn't explain to the other man the hope that quickened his heart and his breathing, and tightened his gut into knots. He gulped in some air; his brother might be yards away in the camp. 'Maybe I can get a closer view.' Hawke murmured.

Sok An caught his arm before he could move and dragged him away from their look-out. 'You have to calm down.'

Hawke rubbed his eyes. 'It's just…my brother could be locked in that cage and I'm doing nothing.'

'You are planning his escape.' Sok An corrected. 'If you go without a plan or get caught trying to get closer, you may get all of us, including your brother, killed. Go back to the camp and take a break. I'll continue the surveillance.'

Hawke shook his head. 'I'm OK.' He met Sok An's anxious brown eyes. 'I promise.'

The rest of the day passed without incident but without any sighting of his brother either. The prisoners remained in their cage not even released for ten minutes exercise in the yard. Hawke desperately tried to make out their features but the distance was just too great and the angle wrong. They spent another night by the camp before they made their way back to Airwolf.

Dom greeted them eagerly but held back on his questions until they had rested and eaten. The flames of the camp fire lit their faces.

'We didn't see him.' Hawke said simply as he picked up his coffee mug, knowing it would be the first question Dom would ask.

'But it's the right place?' Dom checked.

'Yeah.' Hawke nodded. 'It matched the photo exactly.'

'The camp has been used as a prison for many years.' Sok An noted.

'There were scorch marks on the ground.' Hawke said. 'Like there had been some kind of battle.'

Sok An shook his head. 'I have heard nothing of a battle at the camp but it is possible. The factions challenge each other all the time.'

'So what do we do?' Dom asked.

Hawke sighed. 'We go in and get the prisoners out.'

'What's the plan?' Dom asked.

'We take Airwolf in at first light.' Hawke said. 'The guards are minimal first thing.'

'Only some local people who the guards use as slave labour are working at that time.' Sok An explained.

'We take out the main structures, the office, barracks and communal area.' Hawke said. 'That should eliminate a large number of the guards.'

'And then?' Dom asked.

'And then you drop me and Sok An in the middle of the compound.' Hawke said. 'We'll get the prisoners out.'

'I…I don't like the sound of that.' Dom said folding his arms across his expansive chest. 'It sounds too risky.'

'A full frontal assault is the only way we're going to get in and out of that prison, Dom.' Hawke said. 'They have a couple of anti-aircraft guns but we can take them out on the approach.'

'He is right.' Sok An agreed. 'The patrols are well coordinated and the fence is in good order. It will not be possible to sneak in on the ground.'

'I still don't like it.' Dom said.

'Sok An and I will release the prisoners,' Hawke continued. 'I'll try and find Saint John, get him and the other American in the photo back to Airwolf.'

'I will try and take the local prisoners out of the camp and to the nearest friendly village.' Sok An said.

'We hightail it back to the US.' Hawke concluded.

Dom sighed. 'What if you get cut off and you can't back to Airwolf?'

Hawke pointed at Sok An. 'I'll go with Sok An and meet you outside the village.'

'Well,' Dom said, 'we'd better get a good night's sleep because tomorrow is going to be a busy day.'

They were up before daybreak. Hawke and Dom dismantled the camp and packed up ready to go. Whatever the success of the mission, they would return to the US. They performed a systems check on Airwolf and climbed aboard.

'All her systems are green, String.' Dom said delightedly from the engineer's console.

'This is amazing.' Sok An said as he adjusted the heavy Airwolf helmet. His brown eyes darted around the cockpit trying to take everything in.

'Yeah.' Hawke said in agreement. 'She's something.' He grasped the cyclic and took Airwolf up. They hovered above the tree lines.

'Lock in the coordinates of the prison camp, Dom.' Hawke ordered.

'Coordinates locked.' Dom confirmed.

'Combat mode.'

'Combat mode.' Dom deployed the ADF pods and the guns.

Hawke shifted in his seat and his blue eyes narrowed on the misty horizon. 'We'll go in low and fast. Turbos.'

'Turbos.' Dom pushed the lever and Hawke hit the button that shot them forward.

They zipped over the Cambodian landscape, taking only a few minutes to do the journey that had been an arduous walk for Hawke and Sok An in the days prior.

'The prison is dead ahead, String.' Dom said as he brought up the forward scan on his monitor.

'Lock on the anti-aircraft weapons and give me Hellfires.'

'Hellfires.' Dom confirmed.

Hawke slipped the visor down on the helmet used the targeting system. He fired. One explosion took out the first gun. He fired again. Another hit.

Airwolf screamed over the prison and Hawke slowed to turn her for another run. This time they targeted the buildings and the fence around the cage holding the prisoners; they blew them up; the explosions caused chaos on the ground. There was fire and smoke everywhere. The peasants and guards were running everywhere; there was no order. Hawke landed Airwolf in the centre of the exercise yard and slipped out. He landed at a crouch gun in hand and Sok An quickly joined him. Dom moved into the pilot's seat as Hawke and Sok An ran across the yard to the cage. Hawke covered Sok An as he unlocked the prison door. He shot one guard and then another.

Sok An was herding people out pointing them at the destroyed fence so they could make it out into the forest. Hawke saw a guard move into position with a rocket launcher and he shot him before he could take aim at Dom. He reached for the small radio.

'Get going, Dom. We'll meet you at the secondary location.'

'Understood.'

Hawke watched as Airwolf rose up. She flew overhead with an eerie howl of engines. His attention on the helicopter he saw the guard taking aim at him too late…there was a shot that echoed across the prison and the guard crumpled to the ground.

Hawke's eyes snapped to Sok An. The agent lowered his gun and gave Hawke a nod.

They both hustled the remaining prisoners through the fence. Hawke realised with a sinking heart that he hadn't seen any Americans in the quiet, thin men who they had rescued.

Sok An was yelling in his native language to the men for them to follow him and Hawke brought up the rear as they hurried away from the prison camp and into the forest. They marched for a long time, eager to get distance between them and the prison but it was still hours before they reached the village Sok An had identified as friendly. He spoke with the leader and they were quickly taken into one of the huts.

Hawke searched the ravaged faces for his brother again, hoping he had simply missed him in the rush to leave the prison; he wasn't there. He swallowed hard against the disappointment that weighed down on his chest.

Sok An sat down beside him. 'We are safe here. The village leader has a cart. He is arranging to transport all of us immediately. It will be a little while before the guards can come after us.'

Hawke nodded.

Sok An looked around the prisoners. 'Your brother is not here.'

'No.' Hawke agreed gruffly. 'He's not here.'

'I'm sorry, Hawke.'

Hawke registered the other man's deep sincerity and nodded; unshed tears gleamed briefly in his blue eyes. He cleared his throat. 'Thank you for all your help.' He took another brief look at the prisoners. 'I'd better radio Dom; leave you to it.' He stood and offered his hand.

Sok An shook it solemnly.

Hawke was at the door of the hut when Sok An called his name. He turned with a quizzical look at the agent.

'Wait!' Sok An gestured for him to come back. He turned to one of the prisoners and began speaking rapidly in their own language. Hawke was unable to follow but it was an animated conversation.

'This man,' Sok An explained, 'has been imprisoned for a long time. I asked him if he remembered two Americans.'

'And?' Hawke asked eagerly.

'He says there were two Americans captured a year ago.' Sok An confirmed.

'Does he remember what happened to them?' Hawke asked.

Sok An turned back and there was another rapid exchange of words. The agent smiled at Hawke. 'He says men came from the sky like today but there was a huge battle between the Khmer Rouge and those who attacked. The prison was in flames and there was so much gunfire. He thought he saw one of the Americans injured but when the helicopters left, both men were gone.'

'A rescue attempt?' Hawke asked.

Sok An nodded. 'He does not know where they went, only that they left.'

'Thank you.' Hawke said softly. 'Tell him thank you.'

Sok An nodded. 'Good luck, Hawke.'

'You too.' Hawke shook his hand again and left the hut. He radioed Dom and arranged to meet him at a location about half a mile west of the village. He was still aware of the danger that he might get captured and kept a low profile as he made his way to the rendezvous spot.

He hid in the bushes until he saw Airwolf descend through the tree cover. He ran over and climbed in. Dom moved his substantial frame to the back of the cockpit. Hawke pulled on his helmet and after a brief check with Dom took Airwolf back up.

Dom sat and looked at the back of Hawke's helmet worriedly. 'I'm sorry, String.' Hawke had told him when he'd radioed that Saint John hadn't been in the prison.

'I know, Dom.' Hawke sighed. 'I really thought this time might be different.'

'At least we managed to get those people out of that prison.' Dom said. 'That's something to hold onto.'

Hawke adjusted their course. 'It's not the only thing, Dom.' He relayed what the older prisoner had told Sok An.

'So you mean Saint John was there?' Dom checked.

'Saint John was there,' Hawke confirmed, 'and he was rescued.'

'By who?' Dom demanded.

'I don't know, Dom.' Hawke said. 'But I'm betting somebody at the Company does.'

'You could be right.' Dom sighed. 'I guess we're back to square one, huh?'

'I guess.' Hawke scowled. 'Every time I get close but just not close enough.'

'One day, kid.' Dom promised.

Hawke looked back over his shoulder at Dom's compassionate warmth and let it ease the ache in his chest a little. He shifted position and trained his eyes on the sky ahead. 'Let's go home, huh?'

Dom beamed. 'Now you're talking.'

'Turbos.'

Airwolf shot forward through the mist.