The boy wept.
“He’s just a child,” Sarah said in disgust.
“He has been found guilty of the worst crime,” Hesbani told her. “He has slaughtered and must be held accountable to Allah.”
Hesbani struck the boy, bloodying his mouth. A man standing in the crowd caught the boy and kept him upright on his knees. The boy cried out louder.
“Leave him be, yer tosser,” Hamish spat.
Hesbani glanced at Hamish curiously. “What is tosser?”
“It’s a fella what hits kids.”
Hesbani sneered. “Then I am, indeed, a tosser.” He struck the boy again.
Sarah closed her eyes. “Please stop.”
Al-Sharir raised a hand to stop Hesbani. He took a step towards Sarah. “Would you like to know this boy’s crimes? His actions have caused many deaths.”
Sarah knew what the kid would be guilty of, it was clear from his clothing. “He’s been helping the allied forces. Informing on the Taliban.” The boy had probably grown up in a village controlled by NATO forces, lived on their handouts, and begging for Western clothing. “He’s just a kid doing what he thinks is right. Leave him alone.”
Al-Sharir stared at her. “He is Taliban.”
Sarah’s jaw dropped. “No…”
Hesbani sniggered. “Confused by his clothing, are you, Captain? He dress that way to get close to Western troops. He spy on them from only feet away. IED that take you and your men, was his creation. A very clever boy, no?”
Sarah shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. The IED belongs to you.”
Al-Sharir shook his head. “Taliban leave IED. I just clean up mess. That is not why boy is here. He has been setting up bomb for fun. He is evil.”
Sarah looked at the sobbing child and shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
Hesbani laughed. “Why? Because he is just boy? He is killer. You are looking at a Taliban trained from birth to make and set bombs to kill your soldiers. He has killed many dozens. Your own men among them. Murder is all he know.”
“It is true,” Al-Sharir said. “He is well known to us. He has a talent for death. The Taliban have trained many innocent children to be killers. Once they reach a certain age, they are irredeemable.”
“But… what do you care what he does against the West?”
“I care because every death he cause bring more in return. I believe in fighting for Afghanistan freedom, but buried bomb and booby trap not way to get it. No honour in creating something that kill children as easy as soldier. Last week one of boy’s bombs kill innocent girl, five year old. Her father saw her blow up. He bring remains back to village and weep for days. I see it with my own eyes.”
Sarah swallowed. Part of her had stopped caring what had happened to the boy, but another part reminded her that it was not the boy’s fault that he had been raised by the Taliban. “Hand the boy over to Camp Bastion. Why cause more death? You said you want the fighting to stop, so cooperate.”
“Cooperate with foreign invaders?” Hesbani snarled. “We deal with own problems, enforce own laws. We want death to end, but can only happen if we unite against West.”
“My friend is right,” Al-Sharir said softly. “Why should we hand boy over when it our laws he broken? You wish imprison boy when Allah demand deeper punishment.”
“Kill the bastard.” Hamish shrugged. “If you don’t, our lot will once they get him.”
Sarah stared at her corporal. “What?”
“We lost three young lads to that IED. The kid deserves an execution. He’s Taliban.”
“That’s not who we are,” Sarah said. “We’re here to help this country, not execute its children. We are not executioners.”
“No,” Hesbani said, “That is what we are. Boy has been found guilty by Islamic law. What British think is irrelevant.”
Al-Sharir raised his hand to Hesbani. “Perhaps Captain is right. Maybe we compromise. Boy does not have to die.” Al-Sharir placed a hand against the boy’s bruised cheek and said, “Ta shaista starge lare.” Then he gave Hesbani a nod and the boy was unceremoniously dragged to his feet by the man.
“Your lucky day,” Hesbani said, grabbing the boy by his throat and holding him up. With his free hand he slid a rusty peshkabz from a scabbard on his belt. The ceremonial dagger was commonplace amongst the hill tribes of Afghanistan, but not so common in the South.
The boy yelled in terror, kicking his legs so hard that both sandals flew off his feet. Hesbani controlled the boy with only a single hand, while waving the dagger in front of the boy’s face with the other.
Hesbani shoved the dagger into the boy’s left eye.
Then the right.
The boy slumped to the ground, howling in a way that wasn’t human. He clutched his ruined eyes and began convulsing in the dirt.
Sarah lurched forward and threw up.
Hamish moaned beside her.
“Your turn now,” Hesbani said, grabbing Hamish by the back of his shirt and tugging him to his feet.
Hamish struggled and was struck across his face. Tears blinded him and the fight left him.
Sarah cried out to Al-Sharir. “Leave him alone. You said you would let us go.”
“I said that I would let you go.”
“Please. Please, don’t kill him.”
Al-Sharir tapped his chin with his forefinger and seemed to think for a few seconds. Eventually he nodded and said, “Okay. I have idea. Wazir, take his eyes. We send back with captain as gift to British camp.”
“No!” Sarah screamed.
“Just kill me,” Hamish moaned. “I’d rather die.”
Sarah tried to get up, but a firm set of hands from the crowd held her down. Hesbani kicked Hamish in the back of the legs, sending him to his knees.
Al-Sharir stood in front of Sarah. “Do not struggle, Captain. You have innocent one inside you, remember? It is the only reason you yet live.”
Hamish looked at her with wide eyes, surprised by the revelation.
“Just let us go,” she begged. “You’ll just make things worse if you execute a British soldier.”
Al-Sharir raised an eyebrow. “Ah, but I save more than I kill. Boy killer will set no more bombs. Any debt I have to British Army are even, no? I tell you what, I let you decide corporal’s fate. I already been fair to you, but still you ask more. So, do I have Wazir kill corporal or should he take eyes?”
“Neither. Please, neither.”
Al-Sharir nodded. “Okay, third choice: I let him go and blind you instead. Your child safe and corporal will live. Your face already very bad, no? At least you not have to look in mirror.”
“Y-you’re sick!”
“You offend me. I am being more than kind. Make choice now.”
Sarah caught Hamish’s gaze and they looked at each other in complete horror. Neither of them made a sound.
“Make decision!” Al-Sharir shouted at her.
“I can’t!”
Al-Sharir’s face grew thunderous. “Fine. Choices now shrunk. I blind you or kill him. Your sight or his life.”
Sarah couldn’t find her voice.
Al-Sharir folded his arms. “Fine. Wazir, take Captain’s eyes. We send corporal back unharmed, to tell everybody what hero is his commander.”
“No!” Sarah gushed in floods of tears. “K-kill him. Don’t hurt me. Kill him.”
Hamish stared at Sarah with bloodshot, terror-filled eyes. He looked truly stunned.
Sarah stared down at the dirt.
Al-Sharir huffed. “And there we have it. You British have forever seen yourselves noble and just, yet none of you prepared to suffer for convictions. You rather watch friend die than lose something of your own. Your greed, your selfishness will be downfall. Wazir, get over with. I sick of being around these soulless devils.”
Sarah couldn’t help but watch. She’d sentenced her corporal to death; the least she could do was watch what her decision had wrought.
Hesbani took the already b
lood-soaked dagger and swiped it across Hamish’s throat. Blood spewed onto the sand and Hamish fell backwards, clutching his opened neck in silent terror. Sarah looked away and wept as the crowd of cheering men yanked her to her feet and dragged her away.
OXFORD, 2014
Paul Foster was dead before he managed to pull the trigger. His head exploded in a cloud of mist and he slumped face down on top of Sarah. Sarah just lay there. She had been about to die, but she was still alive. Somebody had saved her life, but who?
Paul’s dead body was dragged aside. Sarah’s rescuer, a middle-aged man with a face that looked like it was made of rock stared down at her. A large scar sliced upward from his forehead and cut a furrow along the top of his closely shaved head, almost like the seam on a tennis ball.
“You alright, luv?”
Sarah couldn’t verbally respond.
The man patted her down with harsh, all-business hands. His expression was oddly affectionate considering the harshness of his battle-hardened face. “Are you in pain?” he asked her.
Sarah managed to shake her head.
“Can you stand?”
Sarah nodded.
“Let’s give it a go, then.”
Sarah took his hand and was yanked to her feet. She dusted herself off and tried to regain her senses. She went to speak, but her rescuer bolted off toward the crumpled mess that had once been a Jaguar XFR.
There were other men around, too, perhaps six in total. They all wore urban combat suits covered in pouches. In the middle of the road was the Foster’s Audi TT. Its flat tyre had finally brought it to a stop.
Sarah watched the chaos for a moment, but then snapped into back into reality. “Howard!” she yelped. “Mandy!” Both men were still inside the wrecked Jaguar. Mandy had been shot. She had to get them out of there.
Sarah raced to the upturned Jaguar. The man who’d rescued her, along with his team, had produced the Jaws of Life and were in the process of forcing the vehicle’s frame apart.
“Stay back, Captain. We have this under control.”
“You’re Mattock,” she said.
“Yes, I am, and you’re Captain Stone. What the bleedin’ hell happened here?”
“I don’t know.” It was the truth. Sarah’s mind was a blur. “We were trying to run them off the road. Mandy got shot.”
Mattock grimaced. “Mandy took a bullet?”
Sarah swallowed. She’d never exchanged two words with the giant from MCU, but she hated knowing he was hurt. “I don’t know how bad it was,” was all she could say.
“How about Howard? Is he okay?”
“I don’t know. He was in the back.”
“We’ll ‘ave ‘em out soon enough, luv, but we need to get you out of here. The Old Bill are coming.”
To prove his point, a fleet of police cars skidded to a stop in the middle of the road.
“What will you tell them?” Sarah asked Mattock.
“It’ll be messy, but I can get this squared away, but with Mandy and Howard incapacitated, we can’t afford to have you retained for questioning. We need to get you out of here and back to the Earthworm, sharpish.”
“I’m not leaving Howard and Mandy.”
“I’m not giving you a choice, Captain. You look like shit and you’re the only witness to this entire fuckfest. If the Old Bill get ‘old of yer, they’ll be questioning you till the Queen farts. All the while there are bad guys out there plotting their next move.”
Sarah nodded. She couldn’t afford to be retained into custody. Even if she wanted to stay, Mattock looked like he could crush her until she changed her mind. “Okay,” she said. “What should I do?”
“Take this.” Mattock handed her a slim, electronic device. “It’s an MCU mob-sat. Take off now, find someplace safe, and then call Director Palu. He’ll arrange to have you extracted. Don’t let the plods catch you until I have this all squared away.”
The police were getting out of their cars and heading cautiously toward the scene. Sarah wanted to run, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the upturned Jaguar. Howard and Mandy were still inside and it felt wrong to leave them. She’d made a habit of leaving people behind and she cursed herself for it. But what could she do?
I can catch the sons of bitches responsible, that’s what.
“Move your arse,” Mattock shouted.
Sarah bolted, disappearing into an alleyway. It was the same direction that Ashley Foster had gone. Maybe if she was lucky, they would run into one another.
STRENGTH
It was 7:30AM when Sarah stopped running. She reached a bus stop and keeled over, collapsing on the bench and dangling her head between her legs. She could lay low there for a while, pretending she was waiting for a bus. Hiding in plain sight.
She pulled the mob-sat from Dr Bennett’s blazer and switched it on. She hit the icon marked, CONTACTS, and a long list of names appeared, including Prime Minister Breslow herself.
A bus stopped at the side of the road. Sarah remained seated until it closed its doors and drove away. When it did, she searched the contacts list and found DIRECTOR PALU.
Palu picked up, but said nothing, so Sarah stated her name.
“Sarah, are you alright? Mattock just reported in, he said you had to clear the area.”
“I’m fine. I’m a mess, but that was true when you hired me. I need picking up.”
“Where are you?”
Sarah looked around. She spotted a bus timetable and read out the address. “I’m sitting in a bus shelter in Botley. Bus stop 12, Raleigh Park Road.”
“Lay low. Bradley’s on his way.”
“Roger that.”
“Are you injured?”
“Only emotionally.” Sarah cleared her throat. It’d been a joke, but it was kind of true. “I… killed Leanne Foster. Mattock killed Paul Foster and Ashley got away. The whole family are involved in this somehow.”
Palu exhaled deeply. “Dr Bennett and I are looking into every lead we have. We’ll figure this out. Just sit tight, okay?”
“Will do. I’ll report in if I have to move.”
“Roger that.”
Sarah slunk forwards on the bench and watched the morning traffic. She wandered if anybody else would die today. If Hesbani struck again, there would be anarchy. The people of Great Britain were a tough bunch, but they weren’t used to being victims. They were fighters, not defenders.
Forty minutes later, Bradley skidded up in front of the bus stop, driving the remaining Jaguar from MCU. As soon as Sarah closed the car door behind her, she felt safe again. She was glad to see Bradley, and he looked glad to see her.
“Are you okay, Captain?”
Sarah sighed. “I’m not a captain, so stop calling me that. Just get me back to the Earthworm.”
Bradley said nothing, but he looked anxiously at her from the corner of his eye. Eventually he said, “Howard’s okay.”
Sarah stared at him. “Really?”
Bradley nodded. “He has a broken arm, but otherwise he’s okay.”
“What about Mandy?”
Bradley went quiet.
“Bradley!”
“We don’t know yet. He took a slug in his lung. Mattock took him to John Radcliffe Hospital. He’ll tell us as soon as he knows anything.”
Sarah let her head drop. She was glad about Howard, but Mandy had taken a bullet meant for her. “What do we have on Ashley Foster?” she asked. “You can’t let her get away with this.”
“We can’t,” said Bradley. “Bennett and Palu are finding everything they can. There has to be a reason the Fosters are involved in whatever’s going on. We’ll find a way to link them to Hesbani, and then it’s only a matter of time.”
Sarah rubbed lightly at her scars and thought. Paul Foster had been concerned about his daughter getting to safety, the same way any father would be. Something must have happened to make a middle-class family man so militant. Finding out Paul Foster’s trigger could be the key to figuring everything out.
&n
bsp; Sarah was going to say her goodbyes and get out of this situation before she got any deeper. “Is Howard back at the Earthworm?” she asked.
“One of Mattock’s men took him back,” Bradley confirmed. “I hear he reached you in the nick of time.”
Sarah thought about Paul Foster kneeling over her, about to pull the trigger. “Saved my life. Just like you did back at the clinic.”
Bradley blushed. “Least I got a shot off. I’m improving.”
Sarah didn’t allow him to make light of the matter. “You need to do better. You could have ended the situation sooner. We would have Dr Cartwright in our custody if you’d taken Ashley down. Everything that’s happened this morning is because you didn’t pull the trigger the second you were supposed to.” Sarah thought about how quickly she had pulled the trigger on Leanne. She hadn’t hesitated. “Soon as you’re sure, you need to act. People die if you don’t.”
Bradley looked like he was about to erupt into tears.
Sarah softened. “Look, I’m not one to give you a lecture. Since Howard brought me in, I’ve been nothing but a liability. But unlike me, you’re sticking around. You need to get better at this.”
Bradley nodded. He seemed suddenly determined. “I will.”
“So you’re not going to quit anymore?”
“Not while there are people like Hesbani in the world. I want to do this. I’ll get better, I promise.”
“Don’t promise me. Promise yourself, because if you don’t get better, you’ll be dead, and you’re too young and sweet for that to be okay.”
Bradley chuckled. “Thank you, Captain.”
“It’s Sarah.”
“Sorry. Thank you, Sarah.”
Sarah cleared her throat. “Now, get me back to Dr Bennet so she can give me more of the good stuff. My head has cleared, but the fuzziness left a shitload of hurt in its place.”
Bradley pulled onto the highway and picked up speed. “So, what are you doing all the way over in Botley?”
Sarah shrugged. “I had to run. I just headed in the same direction Ashley did. I kept on going but never found her. Eventually my legs gave up and when I stopped I was in Botley.”
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