by Bruce Cooke
Both Scott and Bill laughed.
Bill looked at Scott. “With luck, we should be there by tomorrow evening.”
“Thank God. Do we have to ride a camel back again?”
“Hopefully, no. Once we get there, we will have to find out where El-Hasham lives. From what I can remember, there are only a few small hovels. It never attracts much attention from the Yanks and our forces. Suits him perfectly,” Scott said.
“No Taliban?” asked Pipa, scared at the thought.
Scott shook his head. “They are like the Viet Cong. They come at night, unobserved.”
“And you know this how?”
Bill interrupted. “It was well known when we were here. We would come in, find nothing, and leave, but we knew what was going on. A couple of people hate the Taliban and would inform us. They didn’t like the Yanks much either, but we got on well with them.”
“And do I have to wear this ridiculous clothing once we get what we came for?”
“It helps keep you cool, but you can revert to trousers and thin top if you like. No shorts,” Bill said.
She nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. That night, the temperature had dropped, and Pipa felt warm snuggling up to Scott on the blanket they lay on. The sun rose early, and they ate before the caravan departed that morning.
They had only been on the trail for an hour before they came across some Talibans.
Bill whispered, “Don’t speak or do anything. Let the leader have his say.”
They listened to the conversation that was getting heated. Reluctantly, the caravan leader gave the Taliban some goods that seemed to satisfy them. They rode away towards the mountains, carrying their ill-gotten goods.
“Are we safe now?” asked Pipa, much relieved to see them disappear.
“Yeah. They take whatever they want but don’t strip the traders of everything in case they stop trading. Then they get nothing.”
“Lovely place,” she said sarcastically.
They proceeded without another interruption, and Kholm came into sight.
“What now?” asked Pipa again. She felt like a novice having to ask questions all the time.
Bill turned to her. “As soon as it gets dark, we find this bloke and have a quiet word with him.”
“And, of course, he will be most cooperative, won’t he?”
“He will be if I start cutting off his fingers one by one,” Bill said.
Pipa was horrified. “You wouldn’t?”
“They are used to violence in this country. I could threaten to remove his head as an alternative.”
“My God. What is the world coming to?”
“Survive is the key word, my dear.” Bill looked at Scott, who nodded.
Pipa sighed. This was certainly not her world.
Bill asked a few questions once the caravan settled. He smiled and came back to the others. “He lives in a small squat about a kilometre from the main square. It is isolated, and that’s why he chose it.”
“Then let’s go,” said Scott, ready for action.
“Let’s eat first. It may be some time before we can eat again,” Bill said.
After they ate, Bill looked at his watch and nodded. “It’s ten thirty. He will be getting ready to sleep.”
They gathered their weapons and made their way to the house. Lights were still on, and Pipa wondered how they could get electricity in such an isolated place.
“We’re not in the Middle Ages,” said Bill. “But to you, it might seem so. He has a generator.”
“So we just walk up and knock on the door?” asked Pipa, frowning.
Scott smiled. “Not quite like that. We check out the place for trip wires and hidden booby traps. El-Hasham is no fool, and he has a lot to protect.”
“Yeah, you stay here, Pipa, while we check it out.” Bill led the way while she sat down and waited.
* * * *
Scott and Bill crawled across the open ground silently. Bill pointed to a trip wire that led to a small charge big enough to blow a leg off. They found two more before both were satisfied they had cleared the way. When they reached the house, they kicked in the door and found El-Hasham sitting in front of a computer, looking startled at the intrusion.
“What do you want?”
Scott pointed his rifle at him and ordered him to sit away from the desk. Bill patted him down for weapons and found nothing.
Scott almost sneered at him. “We are here because Mr. Creswick says you are cheating him.”
That made El-Hasham open his eyes wide. “Cheating? That has to be a mistake.”
“The deal was for six million dollars. You are a million short.”
“No, no. It was for five million. That‘s the truth.”
Scott looked at Bill and raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what we were told.”
“I can show you,” he said, fear spreading over his face.
“Okay, then show us.”
He hurried back to the computer and pressed a few keys. The file came up, and both Scott and Bill peered at the information.
“He might be telling the truth,” said Scott, pretending.
“You think Creswick made a mistake?” Bill gave him another false stare.
Scott pointed to the file. “It says the money has been paid to Mr. Pallister in his false companies.”
“Yeah,” said Bill. “We don’t want to kill him if we don’t have to.”
“What do you think?” said Scott, raising an eyebrow.
“Maybe if we take back copies of the transaction then that will satisfy both Creswick and Pallister.”
Fear was still with El-Hasham. “Yes, yes, I can give you copies.”
Scott eased down his rifle and nodded. “Okay, but if it’s wrong, we will be back.”
The man quickly punched more keys, and soon the printer alongside the computer churned out six pages of notes.
Bill snatched them up and read them. “Okay, but if this is wrong then we will be back.”
“Yes, yes,” said the man. “You will find it all correct.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Scott pocketed the papers. They walked out of the door, leaving the man sweating at his close call.
* * * *
When Pipa saw them, she ran forward. “What happened?”
“He was very cooperative. He gave us copies of all the transactions.”
“You didn’t kill him?” she asked fearfully.
“No, we just told him Creswick thought he was cheating him. So he ran off the files he had and gave them to us.”
“And you didn’t cut off a finger?”
“Of course not. You think we’re savages,” said Bill, grinning.
Pipa wasn’t sure what had happened but looked at the files Scott handed her. She went through each sheet and smiled. “This will do it. It will prove your innocence.”
He grinned. “Only if we get back in one piece.”
“How do we get home then?” she asked, looking at both.
“Creswick will be here soon, and when he does, he will call in his Taliban mates to hunt us down,” Scott said. “We start out on foot and go over the mountains. Even the Taliban will have trouble finding us.”
“We walk?” That didn’t sit well.
“Yeah, we keep going until we come across a Yankee chopper or patrol. It might be a few days,” Scott replied.
“Even the camel sounded better.” She sighed, shaking her head.
Chapter 16
Creswick was sitting in his room when the phone rang. He picked it up immediately.
“This is General Brixton. The road has been cleared.”
“Then we can leave straight away.”
“Yes, but it’s at your own risk. The Taliban don’t care if you are a soldier or a civilian.”
“Thank you, General. I’m sure we will be okay.”
Creswick knocked on Greg’s door and roused him. “We can go. Get your stuff. We leave now.”
“The road has been cleared?” Greg rubbed his eye
s.
“Yes. I’ll make a phone call to make sure the Taliban don’t bother us.”
Half an hour later, they were in their car and ready to roll.
“How long will it take?” asked Greg nervously.
“We can’t drive faster than fifty Ks an hour. That makes it five hours.”
Greg nodded and settled back in his seat. Halfway there, they were stopped by the Taliban. A few words were spoken that Greg didn’t understand, but they were left to find their way.
It was actually six hours before they arrived. Creswick drove straight to the hovel of El-Hasham, and he came out to greet them.
“Mr. Creswick. It has been settled. I didn’t expect you to come personally.”
“What do you mean settled?” Creswick asked angrily.
“Your men were here and said there was a mistake in the deal. I told them everything had been settled, and they asked for proof. I gave them a printout of the deal, so they left.”
“You fool! They weren’t my men. They were the enemy.”
“Enemy?” El-Hasham said disbelievingly.
“Yes, you blithering idiot. We have to get them. How long ago did they leave?” Creswick asked.
“Last night around eleven.”
“Which way did they go?”
“I don’t know. I was just happy to see them go.”
“Was there a woman with them?”
“I didn’t see one, but one could have been outside,” El-Hasham said.
“How many soldiers can you come up with in a hurry?
“Ten, maybe twenty.”
“Then round them up. If they get back to Australia, the whole thing will blow up in our faces.”
An hour later, the men were assembled outside the house. Creswick explained what had happened and how they had to be found and killed.
“One is a woman,” he said, and some of the men grinned.
One looked around the house and found footprints. He eagerly pointed toward the mountains, and they quickly formed a group and set off to find them.
“They have at least fifteen hours start.”
“How far can they go over the mountains?” asked Greg.
“These men are used to tracking down people. We should catch up by tomorrow morning.”
“But Peters is an ex-SAS,” Greg said. “He can find his way around. He was fighting here.”
“But the woman isn’t. She will hold him up.”
They set off, and the going was hard. Creswick saw this as an advantage as Pipa couldn’t move as fast as Peters. She would definitely slow him up.
* * * *
The trio made good progress mainly because Bill knew what he was doing. They came to the first snow and looked down in the valley below.
“No sign of them,” said Scott, taking the binoculars from Bill.
“Not yet, but they will come.”
“I know. We have to keep moving as fast as we can,” Scott said. “The rocky ground would leave no footprints, but the snow will. With a bit of luck, it might snow tonight and that will hide any tell-tale signs.”
Bill made a point. “Don’t forget they know the mountains better than we do.”
“Yeah, we just have to be careful.”
“Are you still good with the sniper rifle?” asked Bill as he took back the binoculars.
“Of course. I can hit anything within a kilometre.”
“We may need it if you still can.”
Pipa gasped with exhaustion. “Can we rest?”
Scott looked at his watch and agreed. “It’s six. We will eat and get some sleep. I’ll take the first watch, and Bill will take the next. How long, Bill? Four hours?”
“Sounds about right.”
“Okay, let’s rest and eat. Only Army rations, I’m afraid,” Scott said.
“If you put out your arm, I’ll stick a fork in it,” said Pipa, smiling.
He laughed and handed her a tin of Army rations.
* * * *
They were on their way by seven the next morning. Bill kept looking for signs of pursuit but found none. They went down one mountain and up the next before Bill grabbed Scott’s arm as he looked in his binoculars.
“They’re following.”
Scott took the binoculars and saw what Bill had seen. “How far?”
“Maybe three Ks away. We have to slow them down.”
Scott agreed. “Okay, let’s see where we are.” He pointed to a position on the map. “This is what we will do. You take Pipa to this point. It’s about ten Ks away. I’ll slow them up for a while. I should catch up in a few hours.”
Pipa looked horrified. “You’re going to stay behind?”
“I’ll snipe a few. They will look for cover. Then I’ll come after you. I can move pretty quickly by myself.”
“Please be careful, Scott. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t, but take the papers with you. If things go sour, then they will find them on me and its game over.”
“Come on, Pipa,” said Bill, tugging at her arm.
As they left, she looked back to see Scott smiling at her. She suddenly ran to him and kissed him on the lips.
When she returned to Bill, he looked at her softly. “He’s the best in this business. Don’t worry.”
She shook her head. “All this is foreign to me. I will worry about him. I can’t ignore it.”
“It’s nice that he has someone to care about him. He’s had a tough trot lately.”
“When I met him, I didn’t think for one second about how I would feel now. Funny how things can change.”
“He’s one of the good guys. He deserves someone like you looking out for him.”
* * * *
Scott watched them leave then looked for a good spot to set up his rifle. His experience soon took over, and he found several rocks that would be hard to spot from below. He watched as the soldiers came closer until they were about a kilometre away. It was as he suspected. At least twenty of them, all armed to the teeth.
Let’s see if I can lower the odds.
He aimed at one of the leading men. He took careful aim and pressed off a shot. The leading man threw his arms up and fell to the ground while the others scrambled to find shelter. Scott could see the confusion he had caused. They were looking at each other, having little idea where the shot came from.
A few seconds passed before they tentatively stood up and began to move slowly forward. Scott grinned to himself and lined up another with the same result. A barrage of shots were fired, but none even came close to where he was hiding. The nervousness was apparent as some seemed reluctant to expose themselves to the fire when they still had no idea where it was coming from.
Scott noticed some run to the side in an endeavour to get around where they thought he might be. He quickly brought down another, then another. Now panic really did set in. Someone was waving his arms as if to urge them on, but Scott brought him down as he was some sort of leader. Now he knew they would stay hidden in as little cover that they could find until it became dark. He looked at his watch and worked out it would be another two hours before darkness came. He would wait another half an hour, fire off a few more shots, then leave.
* * * *
Creswick was furious as he hid behind good cover. “It has to be Peters,” he said savagely.
“How do you know that?” asked Greg, laying alongside him.
“He was a sniper in the Army. He must be a long way off, or we would spot him. That’s what he did in the Army.”
Greg was very nervous. “So what do we do now? I’m certainly not standing up.”
“We wait until its dark then go for him.”
“Your soldiers are very nervous.” Greg looked at those hiding close by.
“So am I. I’m not going to expose myself to get my head blown off.”
“What about some of the men he hit,” Greg asked. “Some are only wounded.”
“That’s up to the leader. He might take them back to where we left f
rom.”
“One can’t do that. They will have to take at least six back with them.”
Creswick tightened his lips and scowled. “I don’t give a shit about them. It’s Peters I want.”
Greg shook his head. This bloke was full of compassion.
Another shot rang out, and everyone ducked even closer to the ground, if that was possible.
Frustration set in. This was not going to be easy.
* * * *
Scott grinned to himself and checked his watch again. Time to go. He watched the soldiers still huddled behind sparse cover. Maybe one more. He fired off another shot, enjoying the mayhem he saw.
He peered through his telescopic sight and lined up Greg in the cross hairs. He knew Pipa would be upset if he shot him, so he aimed to Greg’s right and fired. The shot bounced off rocks nearby, forcing Greg to dive even closer to the ground. Then Scott saw Creswick crouching even lower. He grinned again and aimed at the rock Creswick was sheltering behind. Again, he fired, and panic spread over Creswick’s face at his near miss.
Scott packed up his rifle and followed Bill and Pipa’s trail to the appointed meeting place. He figured he had at least another hour before they were game to expose themselves. The ground was rocky, and there were still patches of snow along the routes. He made sure he didn’t step on any of it. By the time he reached the appointed spot, the sun had set and the evening began.
Pipa gave a cry of relief when she saw him. She rushed to him, hugging him tightly with tears in her eyes. “I thought you might be dead.”
“Who, me? If I get this sort of greeting, I might disappear again.”
“What happened?” asked Bill, also glad to see him.
“I sniped a few, and the rest hid behind any rocks they could find to shelter. As soon as one put his head up, I fired again. I could see the panic as none were game to expose themselves.”