“One step at a time, Cong Ly. They have something valuable. How much they have might depend on how big a reward they receive.”

“What kind of reward?”

“Five thousand dollars. Maybe more.”

“Five thousand dollars?” Condley choked back a laugh. “That’s fifteen years of income for somebody living back here.”

“It would not only go to them,” said the colonel. “As you know, there are many people who would be paid. For them, maybe only ten or twenty dollars.”

“Big problem, Colonel! We don’t pay bribes!”

“Not a bribe!” said Colonel Pham. “In your country you have what they call a contract. What you get depends on what you give. Am I right?”

“Services,” grinned Condley, beginning to understand. “They provide a service, and they are paid for the value of that service.”

“Dung roi!” exclaimed the colonel. Exactly.

“They have to show us first.”

“That might be difficult,” said the colonel. “Because once they show us, the service has been performed whether they’re paid or not.”

“They can always work with Ha Noi to deny me an exit visa if I don’t follow through.”

Colonel Pham laughed at that. “You don’t want to leave anyway. At least that’s what my youngest daughter tells me.”

It was the first time he had mentioned Van. Condley grinned stupidly, fighting back an immediate nervousness, and he could tell that the ever-astute colonel was reading his forced smile perfectly. “Sooner or later I will leave, Colonel.”

“Maybe to Hawaii?”

Another knowing smile. Given their shared cynicism regarding Francois Petain, Condley decided to take both remarks as compliments, even as an encouragement. “Maybe to Hawaii, maybe to Da Lat.” The colonel laughed warmly at that, as if it were confirming some secret expectation.

“I should show you Da Lat sometime, Cong Ly.”

“Okay, Colonel. And I’ll show you Hawaii.”

“I would like that. You could buy me a shirt like Professor Muir’s. Then maybe people would think I’m a Filipino.”

Condley grew serious. “Please tell them we’re not trying to trick them. But it really depends on what they have.”

“I think you will be happy with what they have,” said the colonel. “But there has been some resistance to this idea. If you want success you should make sure that they are happy too.”