Chapter 8: Storm clouds
[Author's Note: For anyone not familiar with these characters and the following events: Colonel Sieu, General Fulbright and Tia appeared courtesy of the A-Team episode "The Sound of Thunder". Lieutenant Angel and General Chow appeared in the episode "Recipe for heavy bread".]
Colonel Sieu glared at Face and Murdock with complete hatred in his eyes. The friends exchanged uncomfortable glances with each other, as everything began to fall into place. The Colonel being in town wasn't just a coincidence. He was the one who had set this whole thing up. They both had a feeling that this little rendezvous wasn't going to be pretty!
They had encountered Colonel Sieu in Vietnam some months back during a personal mission with General Fulbright. They had just assumed he had gone up in flames when Hannibal blew up the oil drums during their escape with Fulbright and his mixed-raced daughter, Tia. The hut where the Colonel had been standing in at the time of the explosion must have given him some protection, but clearly not enough to escape his injuries.
"I guess you guys don't need any introductions!" sneered Angel.
"Well, if it isn't Mr Snitch!" said Face sarcastically. "I would recognise that snidey voice of yours anywhere!"
"Nice to see you, too, Lieutenant Peck!" rebuffed Angel.
"How the hell did you and the Colonel ever get acquainted, Angel?" scrutinised Face. "You all part of the General Chow Appreciation Society?"
"You might wanna know that I don't go by the name Angel anymore," said Angel.
"No kidding!" snorted Face. "Well I guess with your track record, you'd be a dead man walking! So just when we think you couldn't sink any lower, you end up working for the CID!"
"CID … Feds … it's all the same to me," said Angel, shrugging his shoulders in an indifferent manner. "CID were pretty keen to get their hands on the illusive A-Team after their miraculous escape from the firing squad. You've made quite a fool out of them one way or another. I was happy to oblige them – with a little help from your aunt, of course! Now, if you tell us who you are working for and give up the rest of the team, you could save yourselves a whole lot grief in the long run."
"Yeah sure!" scoffed Face. "Right up until the point when they put us back on the firing line again!"
"What's this got to do with the FBI?" asked Murdock. "I'm assuming they are connected to the Colonel in some way? He wouldn't be in the country otherwise. They got some big deal going down with him? I'm pretty sure he isn't here on a site-seeing tour!"
"The Feds have their own agenda in all of this," said Angel. "I believe they are interested in finding out about what happened to a mutual acquaintance of the team and Colonel Sieu. You might say this little exercise is a collaboration between the two organisations."
"I guess it took both the Feds and the CID working together to bring the A-Team down!" declared Murdock, triumphantly.
"Enough!" shouted Colonel Sieu. "This is not a social gathering. I want you to tell me the whereabouts of one General Harlan Fulbright. I have some unfinished business to settle with him."
"Then it will have to remain unfinished," informed Murdock. "Fulbright never made it back to America alive. You made sure of that. He died when you shot him in the back."
"But I saw the white-haired American carry him into the helicopter," persisted Colonel Sieu. "Why would he continue to risk saving his life if he was already dead?"
"Coz, we don't leave anyone behind!" asserted Murdock.
"I don't believe you!" yelled Colonel Sieu. "No doubt you are trying to protect him from the consequences of his actions. Or maybe you killed him yourselves after you found out what sort of man he was?"
"Come on guys, give it up!" urged Angel. "The Feds know you were involved with his disappearance and possible murder. The Colonel can't confirm either way what happened to the General. This is your chance to give us your side of the story."
"You're wasting your time, Angel," said Face. "Murdock is telling you the truth. The General never made it back alive. And even if he had made it, we wouldn't dish the dirt on him. He didn't deserve that."
"So what did you do with his body?" questioned the Colonel, further.
"We gave him a burial at sea so you cockroaches couldn't get your hands on him!" retorted Murdock. "So if the Feds are trying to pin the blame on us for his murder, they're gonna have a hard time proving it!"
"And what about his traitorous, daughter?" snapped back Colonel Sieu. What happened to her?"
Murdock and Face gave the Colonel a rebellious smirk. There was no way they were going to give up Tia. They had brought her back to America with them for safety, as she would have been seen as a war criminal in her own country. Thanks to Face's skilful ability in forging fake ID and legal documents, she had made a new life for herself in New York.
"I don't remember Fulbright having a daughter, do you Murdock?" said Face, feigning ignorance.
"Sure don't," responded Murdock, scratching his head in wonderment.
"Perhaps this will help jog your memory," threatened Colonel Sieu, drawing out a very large sword from his hip scabbard. The guard held on to Murdock as Sieu wielded the weapon dangerously close to his face. But the pilot didn't even blink as he returned the Colonel's steely grimace with gritty defiance.
"What about you, Lieutenant?" taunted Colonel Sieu, turning his attention to Face. "Does your loyalty lie with your comrade or with a cowardly conspirator who brought disgrace and dishonour to her country?"
Face said nothing as he fiddled nervously with his tie. He looked uneasily at his buddy, who was only inches away from the blade. Colonel Sieu took his silence as an action of non-cooperation and with a very deft and skilful flick of the sword, slashed Murdock on his upper right arm. It was only a slight graze, but it was deep enough to draw blood. The pilot couldn't help it as he gasped in pain.
"Wait!" yelled Face in panic, as Sieu raised his sword to attack Murdock further. He moved as if to scramble towards his buddy, but was immediately restrained by the guard.
The Colonel lowered his sword as he raised his eyebrows questionably at the conman. "Well, Lieutenant?" he said.
"It won't do you any good going after the girl," said Face, trying to reason with the deranged solider. "She's only a kid. She wasn't part of the Underground Movement and didn't have any political motives. She wasn't working with her father in some secret coup to bring down the Vietnamese government. She had a grievance with General Fulbright being her father. That was the only reason why she brought him to Vietnam. In fact she hated him so much she wanted to kill him."
"More lies!" retorted Colonel Sieu. "Why would you make excuses for this girl and her father? Maybe you were in league with them all along to bring down our Movement? The infamous A-Team were well-known for their disreputable conduct during the Vietnam conflict. Now, for the last time, Lieutenant. Where is General Fulbright's daughter hiding?"
Face gave Murdock a worried, questioning look. Murdock gritted his teeth as he shook his head vigorously at Face. It was a look that said, "don't give him what he wants".
"We don't know where she is," reiterated Face, in a resolute voice. "She hated us even more than she hated her father. She had it away on her toes before we even made it back to our Landing Zone."
"Liar!" bellowed Colonel Sieu. He lashed out at Murdock again, this time slashing him across his left shoulder.
"Stop it, please!" begged Face, feeling totally helpless as he watched his buddy suffering without being able to help him. He struggled to release himself from the guard's clutches, but was unable to do much with an AK-47 stuck in his back.
"Maybe you need a little time to regain your memory," said Colonel Sieu. "I can see your defence mechanism just needs a little time to weaken. I will be back shortly and maybe then your memory will have returned."
"You won't get away with this, Sieu!" bluffed Face. "The people we work for now probably already know we are here."
"Wishful thinking, Peck," sneered Angel. "Look, you're not gonna get out of this one, so why don't you just let Saigons be bygones? You can do yourselves a favour here. If you don't wanna give up the team or tell me who you're working for, then CID are quite happy for Sieu to take care of you for them. After all, he's got more than one reason to seek his revenge on you and getting rid of half the A-Team is better than nothing! But if you tell Sieu what he wants to know, he'll probably go easy on you."
"You know that's not gonna happen," mocked Face, scornfully. "Hannibal already told you once before that we're not for sale or open to negotiation in any shape or form."
"I will have retribution!" yelled Colonel Sieu. "Otherwise, Lieutenant, you will see your friend suffer needlessly and painfully. And believe me, no-one will hear his screams down here but you."
As the madman left the room with his cronies in tow, Face rushed to Murdock's aid, lowering him gently to the ground. Murdock was dabbing at his wounds, helplessly with his hands.
"You okay, buddy"? asked Face, his eyes full of concern as he could hear Murdock muttering under his breath.
"That dude just trashed my fave T-Shirt!" lamented Murdock, looking down sadly at his ripped and blood-stained "Poets Contrive But Pigs Provide" garment.
"I wasn't talking about your damn T-Shirt!" exclaimed Face, bending down to examine the extent of Murdock's injuries.
"Oh that's nothing - just a little flesh wound, is all," asserted Murdock cheerfully, determined not to let Face know how much he was hurting. "The porch light is still burning! Just need something to stop the juice from flowing."
A frantic scan of the sparse room confirmed the Lieutenant's fears that there was nothing to treat his buddy's wounds with. Coming to a quick decision, Face quickly undid his tie, throwing it down on the floor. Unbuttoning his shirt, he whipped it off and started to rip it up into make-do bandages. He then proceeded to stem the flow of blood dripping from Murdock's wounds, patching him up as best as he could.
Satisfied that the pilot was as comfortable as he could make him, he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and slipped it on over his muscular, sun-kissed torso. He then began to pace up and down in an agitated manner.
"Well at least he didn't give me the fire-roasted sword treatment he was gonna give Fulbright!" wheezed Murdock, trying to lighten Face's mood.
"Not funny!" responded Face, gravely. "We're in serious trouble here, Murdock. What are we gonna do?"
"You can't tell him where Tia is," said Murdock, his voice quiet but firm. "And we can't give up the team, either. They're getting pretty close, but they obviously don't know Stockwell is involved yet. I think we better keep it that way."
"But I can't just stand here and see you being tortured – or worse!" protested Face.
"Well, believe me, I don't think your picklocks are going to get us out of this one, Amigo!" joked Murdock.
"I'm gonna have to tell them something," said Face, the decision clearly tearing him apart. "Perhaps I can divert their attention for a bit?"
"It won't come to that," reassured Murdock. "Hannibal will have a plan to get us out of here before that happens. Don't worry, Faceman, it will be a piece of cake!"