by Chris Ryan
‘I really meant with the diamond.’
‘Oh, I see. Well, he has magic spells of his own. All those medicines he was taking and giving other people. Who knows? Maybe one of them’ll protect him.’
‘How much will he get for it?’
‘Only a fraction of what it’s worth. He’ll be cheated, for sure. But still he’ll get enough to make him rich.’
Tim suddenly took off on another of his sprints, and when he came back, he panted, ‘Genesis.’
‘What about him?’
‘You never went back.’
‘Couldn’t. Not a chance.’
‘So he’s still there.’
‘Yes. He’ll be there for ever, now.’
‘Won’t the animals dig him up?’
‘I don’t think they can. There was living rock under him, and we put all those stones on top.’
‘He was a good man, though.’
‘Yes. Sometimes he annoyed us, but he was one of the best.’
‘Then why did he have to get killed?’
‘I can’t answer that. It’s one of the mysteries of life – why good isn’t always rewarded, why evil flourishes, why good people get diseases like cancer when they’ve done nothing to deserve it. Some people say God’s fighting the Devil, but the Devil’s pretty crafty and keeps hitting back.’
‘You know when you got charged by the elephants?’
‘Yes?’
‘How many were killed?’
‘People, or ellies?’
‘Ellies.’
‘Five or six, at least. There may have been more wounded that went off and died somewhere else. That was horrible.’
‘If you got swallowed by a crocodile, would you still be alive inside it?’
‘Not for long. If you hadn’t already been crunched, you’d suffocate from lack of air.’
The sun was nearly on the horizon. Time to go.
‘We’d better be off,’ I said.
‘But, Dad, why did you bother to load up the shells, if you could have blown them up anyway?’
‘I didn’t know enough about it. I thought if we did that, we’d create a major hazard and put half of southern Africa at risk. As it is, there’s widespread contamination of the area. The President’s complained to the United Nations. He’s suspended relations with Britain. It would have been better if we could have got them out.’
‘What d’you think happened to the old man at the mine?’
‘Boisset? No idea. I hope Joss didn’t get suspicious of him as well, otherwise he’ll have had him shot too.’
‘Was it a failure, then?’
‘What?’
‘Your mission.’
‘Our task. Well, we went out to train Alpha Commando, and we did that pretty well, for as long as they let us. But the civil war’s still going on, and yes, the whole thing did go belly-up.’
‘Was it your fault?’
‘I don’t think so. I made mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes at times. But the man who really wrecked everything was Joss. Then again, I blame the diamond. If it hadn’t been for that, Joss might have stayed on-side.’
From behind us, a drift of cold evening air came blowing over the long, smooth slopes of the Beacons.
‘Brrrrrrh!’ I went, giving a violent shudder and jumping to my feet.
Tim stared at me in consternation. ‘What’s the matter, Dad?’
‘That wind on the back of my neck. Like I said, ever since our session when the little kid died, it’s given me the jankers.’
Still the boy was watching me. ‘Dad,’ he went. ‘Are you dying?’
‘What a question!’ I forced myself to make a joke of it. But all I could say was, ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so. But I’m not sure. The doctors don’t know, either. I got myself a bad dose of radiation, right enough. But so far it hasn’t done the damage they expected. They’re giving me a fifty-fifty chance.’
‘Was it that medicine Jason gave you?’
‘That’s going to save me? How do I know? Maybe it’s helped.’ I picked up my day-sack and slipped it on to my back. Long, purple shadows were stretching out over the folds in the mountains. Dusk was seeping into the valleys.
Looking down at the boy, I was disconcerted to see tears in his eyes.
‘Come on,’ I said, sweeping him up in my arms and sitting him on my left hip. ‘On the way home we’re going to drop in at Tesco’s and get some things for a good fry-up, because I’m definitely not planning to snuff it today.’
‘But Dad,’ he persisted. ‘Didn’t you say the German woman was the ninth white person to die because of the spell?’
‘If you leave out the two South Africans in the Beechcraft, yes.’
‘Then I hope you’re not going to be the tenth man down.’
GLOSSARY
Basha Sleeping shelter
Bergen Rucksack
BG Bodyguard (noun or verb)
Blue-on-blue Accidental strike on own forces
Bwangi Hello
Casevac Casualty evacuation
Choka Piss off
Comms Communications
CTR Close target reconnaissance
DA Defence attaché
DOP Drop-off point
DPMs Disruptive pattern material camouflage garments
DZ Drop zone
ERV Emergency rendezvous
ETA Estimated time of arrival
Exvil Exfiltration
Fiti Sorcerer
Go-away bird Grey lourie
GPS Global positioning system, navigation aid
Gympi General-purpose machine gun
Head-shed Headquarters
ID Identity, identify
Ima! Stop!
Incoming Incoming fire
Juju Spell cast by witch doctor
Kremlin SAS headquarters
LUP Lying-up point
LZ Landing zone
Magellan Brand-name of GPS
MRE Meals ready to eat
NBC Nuclear, biological and chemical
ND Negligent (accidental) discharge of weapon
Nshima Maize meal
OP Observation point
Pinkie 110 Land Rover adapted for SAS
PNGs Passive night goggles
QRF Quick-reaction force
RTU Return to unit
Rupert Officer
Satcom Satellite telephone system
SEAL Sea, Air and Land – American special forces unit
Shamouli Parachute flare
Shreddies Army-issue underpants
Sin’ganga Witch doctor
SOP Standard operating procedure
Stag Sentry duty
U/S Unserviceable
Zikomo Thank you
319 VHF radio