The pickup had ground to a halt in front of us, the windscreen crazed and opaque. For a moment no one moved, then a fist punched through the screen, and Dexy’s face appeared, framed in the hole. ‘There goes my no-claims bonus.’ He grinned, but not as convincingly as before.
The impact had dented the roof and jammed one of the doors. I slid along the seat, kicking out the rest of the windscreen with my boots. ‘Right, let’s get the hell out of here before anything else falls off the mountain.’
I reversed right to the edge of the clearing, revved the motor until it screamed, then let in the clutch and hurtled at the slope. The pickup was airborne clearing the low ridge, and I almost lost it as I landed. I fought it back under control and kept the revs high, swerving around the tree stumps and boulders. I caught one huge rock a glancing blow, but still had just enough momentum to reach the top.
The rest of the team saw the glow of brake lights and began running up the slope after me, while I grabbed a piece of sacking and rubbed oil and dust over the fresh white scars on the bodywork.
Before we moved off, Dexy tried to raise Dave on the net, repeating the call sign over and over again. The only answer was the hiss of static. ‘They’re probably just holding radio silence,’ Dexy said. ‘Maybe there’s a Taliban patrol nearby.’ The others nodded in agreement, but I could tell that nobody bought into it.
I drove at a crawl into the gathering dawn, unsure what might be around the next corner. Stretches of dirt road had been buckled and fissured, and half-blocked by rock falls. We paused before every bridge.
There was a stream of people fleeing the mountains, shoulders bowed. They raised their faces to peer at us as we passed, but there was no curiosity in their eyes, only resignation.
Along one stretch, half the road had been carried away. We crept past, the offside wheels an inch from the edge. I looked down a sheer drop to the river, a gash in the red earth.
Dexy had tuned the car radio to the Taliban ‘Voice of Sharia’. The normal diet of martial music and prayers was interrupted by a special announcement. ‘The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is already working to rescue those trapped and injured in the earthquake which struck the Emirate in the early hours of this morning. It is believed that the epicentre was in the mountains north of Konarlan.
‘The religious people of Konarlan and Badansan provinces are providing with love every assistance they can to the forces of the Islamic Emirate. They are thanking Allah for their salvation. The officials of the Islamic Emirate are in touch with the people and are helping to solve their problems swiftly.
‘Mullah Muhammed Omar has sent his condolences but has issued a warning that when corruption festers in an Islamic area, Allah becomes angry and punishes the people. Unless they follow the Taliban and Sharia law, the punishment of Allah will continue.’
Dexy made me pull off the road at once and again tried to contact Dave on the net. Once more there was no reply. Jeff caught my eye and gave a slow shake of his head.
Tank saw him and reacted angrily. ‘Don’t be so quick to write them off.’
We worked our way onwards into the mountains. By midday the stream of humanity had dwindled to a trickle. We saw no traffic or livestock and very few people. The blasted landscape through which we passed was now all but deserted.
By mid-afternoon we were climbing a steep pass, the engine of the pickup groaning. I pulled off the road into the cover of the trees two miles short of the summit and the Taliban guard post overlooking Konarlan.
The near end of the valley looked almost untouched by the earthquake, but in the distance beyond Konarlan I could see grey and yellow gashes of bare earth on the slopes, rents torn in the fabric of the forest.
Dexy was staring beyond Konarlan towards the hidden valley where his troops were lying up – if they were still alive.
‘What’s the plan?’ I said.
‘We have to get to the LUP, link up with the other guys if they’re there and then press on to the target. We’ve only got forty-eight hours and there’s a lot of miles to cover.’ He paused. ‘But first we have to deal with that guard post.’ He stabbed his finger at the map. ‘If we’re not back by 20.00 hours, make for the Emergency RV at grid 352683. The window is 22.00 to 22.10. After that, if there’s no show from us, you’re on your own.’
Rami, Boon and Tank followed him up the hillside, moving silently through the trees. We were invisible from the road, but I could not have felt more exposed. I closed my hand around the butt of the Kalashnikov, but it offered little reassurance.
I glanced at the others. Their expressions seemed to mirror my own. ‘We’re too vulnerable here. We’ll lie up in the woods where we can watch the road and the pickup. Here we’re just sitting targets.’
We worked our way in among the trees. We couldn’t risk making a brew, but we drank some water and divided the last of the naan bread and fruit we’d brought with us, putting aside a share for the other guys. ‘That’s it,’ I said. ‘From now on it’s emergency rations and what we can scavenge.’
We settled down to watch and wait as the sun sank the last few degrees to the horizon. At last the approach of dusk purpled the hillside with shadows and the birds in the wood behind us began to fall silent.
I heard a vehicle approaching from the west. We flattened ourselves in the undergrowth as the engine note grew louder and a red Toyota pickup flashed into view. I could make out more than a dozen Taliban soldiers clinging to the back as it raced past and disappeared up the hill.
I caught Jeff’s eye. ‘Don’t worry. We’ve heard no shooting, so the guys can’t have been compromised. The Taliban are probably just on their way to help out in the earthquake zone.’
His expression didn’t change. ‘Or they’re looking for us.’
‘Well, they haven’t found us, have they?’
He shrugged. ‘But I wish they were still behind us instead of somewhere in front.’
Another hour dragged by, then I heard a voice further up the road. I slid off the safety catch and peered into the darkness, picking up the white flash of a turban. I took aim at a point two feet below it and tracked the single figure as it approached.
I saw the outline of an old man’s bearded face as he drew level and staggered past, his wavering voice rising and falling in an endless lamentation. He stumbled frequently in the dark and once fell full length in the dirt. He pulled himself up again and carried on, moving away until the darkness swallowed him up again. The sound of his voice faded to a whisper and then died away altogether.
I glanced at my watch. ‘Fifty minutes before deadline.’
No one replied.
Forty minutes later there was still no sign of the others. I inched my way over to Amica and Jeff. ‘We need to get our shit together. If there’s no sign of them in ten minutes, we have to take off.’
‘Shouldn’t we wait a bit longer?’ Amica said.
I shook my head. ‘It’ll take us all of two hours to get to the Emergency RV.’
‘And if they don’t show there?’
I shrugged. ‘Like Dexy said, we’ll be on our own.’
‘No you won’t, we’re here.’
I had seen no trace of sound or movement, but Dexy and the guys were standing in the trees just behind us.
‘You guys had better improve your sentry skills. If we’d been the Taliban, you’d be dead by now.’
It took me a moment to calm my nerves. ‘What about the guard post?’
‘It’s unmanned… now.’
‘And the red Toyota?’
‘Stopped for a look around, found the post deserted and went straight on. It stopped a couple of miles down the other side, though. Either something’s going on down there or the road is out. We’ll get a bit closer, then have a look. Let’s go.’
He touched my arm as I got behind the wheel. ‘It’s after curfew and we’re a long way from home. Use the moonlight to steer by, and as soon as you clear the summit start freewheeling. Only use the engin
e when you have to. I’ll tap on the cab when I want you to stop.’
He jumped in the back. I drove past the deserted guard post and began to freewheel down the other side of the pass, bump-starting the engine to clear a couple of rises. I’d just shut off the engine for the third time when I heard Dexy’s tap on the cab roof. I braked to a halt at once.
He sent Tank and Boon forward to recce the road ahead. They came back some twenty minutes later, silent as shadows. ‘The Taliban vehicle’s still there,’ Tank said, ‘but there’s no sign of the soldiers. The road’s been swept away just beyond it. They must have gone further up the valley on foot.’
‘We’ll have to do the same,’ Dexy said.
As we began to unload the bergens, Rami glanced towards us, then touched Dexy’s arm. ‘Dexy, a word. Over here.’
The two of them moved a few yards away. A minute later Dexy shook his head and began to walk back towards us. ‘Get ready to move out.’
‘What about the pickup?’ I said.
‘It’s served its purpose. Send it the same way the road went.’ I got back in, released the brake and let the pickup freewheel down the road. I saw the shape of the Toyota outlined against the sky ahead of me. I eased past it, then braked at the edge of the landslip. Fifty yards away I could see the road continue, a grey ribbon in the moonlight.
I pulled the wheel over, but kept my foot on the brake as I opened the door and eased myself out. At the last moment I released the brake and threw myself back as the pickup rolled over the brink and vanished from view. I heard it tumbling down the mountainside long after it had disappeared from sight. ‘If the suspension wasn’t knackered before,’ I said, ‘it sure as hell is now.’
The weight of my bergen made me stagger as I hoisted it on to my shoulders. We roped ourselves together and then began to inch our way out across the rockslide. Darkness made the cliff seem even more sheer. Stones and small rocks slipped away from under my feet at each step, bouncing away down the mountainside.
I’d crossed far worse traverses in my climbing days, but I could tell that Jeff, in front of me on the rope, was badly frightened, and it made him lean towards the mountainside, trying to hug the slope. ‘Stand more upright, Jeff,’ I said. ‘You may feel safer at that angle, but your weight’s actually pushing your feet sideways and it’s more likely you’ll slip.’
As I spoke, the rope jerked and tightened as he slid away down the slope. I grabbed a handhold and braced myself to take the strain, but as the rope snapped taut, it almost dislodged me as well.
I heard a muffled curse as Tank, on Jeff’s other side, struggled to hold on. I waited a few seconds. ‘It’s okay, Jeff. Climb back up. We’ll take the strain.’
He didn’t move. He was gripping the mountainside, staring straight ahead of him into the rock an inch from his nose. I had seen people freeze before at times like this. Sometimes they could pull themselves out of it, but usually they had to be helped.
Rami was just behind me on the rope. ‘Brace yourself.’ I said. ‘I’m going to climb down to him.’
‘Be quick,’ he said. ‘If we’re spotted here, we’re finished.’
I ignored him and began to work my way down. I dug in next to him, holding myself against the cliff with my feet and knees, then reached over, took Jeff’s right hand and tried to move it. He was rigid.
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Just move your hand a couple of inches and put it down again.’
He didn’t even turn his head. ‘I can’t.’
‘You’ll have to. If we can’t move you, we’ll have to cut the rope and leave you here.’ The tone of my voice as much as my words got his attention. He turned his head a fraction as I forced his hand away from the rock. He gave a gasp as it came free. I pushed it upwards. ‘Find a handhold, find a hold. All right?’ Without waiting for a reply, I reached across him and advanced his left hand a couple of inches. We moved with painful slowness, inching our way up the slope to the ledge where the others stood waiting. I shortened the rope between us and guided him on across the scarred mountainside. He grew in confidence as we reached the other side, and made the last few yards to the road unaided.
As soon as he realised he was safe, he sank to the ground and shook uncontrollably. I grabbed him by the arm. ‘Don’t show weakness,’ I said. ‘That bastard Rami has already tried to ditch us. We must move on.’ I didn’t give him time to think about it. I pulled him to his feet and shoved him down the track in front of me.
We moved in four-hundred-yard stages. Dexy was lead scout, Tank at number two. Jeff, Amica and I came in the middle, with Boon and Rami at the back. We moved in silence, communicating only in whispers or clicks of the tongue. Before each stage we would pause to look and listen, then move on again.
Konarlan was just visible lower in the valley, but there was not a light to be seen. Half a mile short of the village we left the road, working our way round the north side through the tangled cedar forest. The guys moved in complete silence. Jeff, Amica and I struggled after them, trying not to snap twigs underfoot or scuff our feet.
In the darkness it was impossible to see how much of the village was still standing. Twice we froze as dogs barked. It was the only sign that the village was still occupied.
We had passed the last houses and begun moving back towards the track when dawn started to break. Dexy checked his GPS and we began to search for a place to lie up for the day. After twenty minutes, we found a huge toppled cedar, its broken roots standing clear of the soil.
We moved another four hundred yards past it, then looped back. We dragged brush and undergrowth against the roots, then crawled wearily into the hide as Tank and Boon took the first watch. The guilt I felt at resting while they stood guard did not last long.
Dexy glanced across at Amica and grinned. ‘If the Taliban find us, you’re in deep shit, Amica, lying with six men and not married to one of us.’
She didn’t smile back. ‘If the Taliban find us, we’re all dead.’
She lay down next to me in the cramped space, so close I could feel the warmth of her breath on my cheek, and closed her eyes. I lay watching her in the gathering light. The scars across her nails made my jaw clench.
She opened her eyes and smiled gently, then closed them again. A few moments later her breathing slowed and she was asleep.
Dexy was trying to raise Dave on the net, but yet again all he got was white noise. He hesitated for a moment, then contacted base on the satphone. ‘Base, this is Raider Three. There has been an earthquake. We’ve lost radio contact with eight members of our patrol in an LUP near the target.’
There was a silence as the base controller digested the news, then an American accent came up through the static. ‘Roger, Raider Three. The mission remains paramount and you have less than forty-eight hours to accomplish it. What do you propose?’
‘To go to the LUP and investigate, and then carry out the mission with whatever personnel we have.’
‘Roger that.’
Chapter Twelve
I dozed for a few hours, then took a turn on watch in the early afternoon. A trickle of people was still moving down from the mountains towards Konarlan. A few clutched tattered bundles; most were empty-handed, their dirt-encrusted faces weary, their eyes downcast. One old man slumped at the roadside, too exhausted to carry on. He accosted every passing person. Each one shook his head and moved on.
As soon as it was dark, we prepared to move. Jeff disappeared, heading for the rough scrape of a latrine Boon had dug a few yards away. When he came back a few minutes later I saw a flash of white in the darkness as he stuffed something into his bergen.
‘For Christ’s sake, Jeff. You haven’t brought those bloody toilet rolls?’
He looked up, his expression defensive.
We shouldered our bergens, but paused for five minutes at the edge of the road, watching and listening, before we moved out in single file. Hunger gnawed at my guts and I felt tired before we’d even started the night’s march. The straps of m
y bergen sliced into my shoulders, and every time we paused to listen and watch I slipped my hands under them to ease the weight.
As we moved closer to the heart of the earthquake zone, the silence of the night became complete. We paused at midnight to drink some water and eat a few mouthfuls of our rations. An hour later we passed the ruins of a walled garden. The grapevines that had sprawled over the domed earth mounds had been pulverised and buried in rubble, but a few unripe apricots still clung to the branches of a tree, the only one still standing in that valley of desolation. We ate some and filled our pockets before moving on.
As dawn approached, I was stumbling with tiredness, but Dexy still forced us on. A large village lay between us and the LUP where we’d left the rest of the troop and where the valley walls converged.
We stopped short of the outskirts and held a whispered conference. ‘We can work our way around the cliffs,’ Dexy said, ‘but it looks hard going. I think we should risk the village.’
‘What if we’re compromised?’ Tank said. ‘Do we fight or bluff?’
‘Bluff,’ Dexy said. ‘We can’t afford to shoot it out this far from the target.’ He glanced at Rami. ‘Agreed?’
Rami said nothing.
Dexy studied him for a moment. ‘If you have a problem with this, now’s the time to say so. Don’t come to me afterwards and say we should have done something else.’
Rami looked up. ‘Agreed.’
We began to move towards the village. There was a network of fissures and crevasses across the ground. The houses at the western side had simply disintegrated into the soil from which they were built. We picked our way through the rubble of what had once been living rooms and courtyards.
Nearer to the centre of the village many of the buildings were intact, and a maze of dark, high-walled alleyways confronted us. Dexy led us away from the main track and through the narrow side alleys. High above us I could see the stars, but ahead was a dark tunnel, unbroken except by wooden doorways and small barred windows.
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