At the Highways of Madness by West David J

Author:West, David J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LOST REALMS PRESS
Published: 2017-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

One Thousand One Nights Unseen

“The desert, sometimes it gives and sometimes it takes,” said the Sergeant-Major.

“Yeah, it will take all right,” spit Corporal Wilson. “But I haven’t seen it give anything.”

“Plenty of sunshine, plenty of hot days and freezing nights. Hell, it gives more variety than anyone could possible want. It gives us an enemy, a purpose.”

“It sucks,” said Wilson, slinging his rifle. “Nothing to do but sit here, without beer, without girls, without fighting, without porn. This damn place sucks the life out of you.”

“You need to appreciate what we have here, Wilson. Nobody else ever gets to come to Saudi Arabia, nobody. Time comes and Saddam, the Republican Guard with their Gerald Bull 155mm’s; oh we’ll fight, we’ll get to experience it all soon enough.”

“You can fucking keep it. Damn rag-heads. Look, there’s a couple more.” He raised his rifle in an aggressive, though poor firing stance.

A pair of Bedouins crested the flowing dunes and came with arms wide open. They held empty canteens and pointed at the water truck.

“Put your gun down, Wilson, they’re friendlies. Republican Guard has to be miles from here anyway.” Greeting them with the customary bow and heel of hand to forehead, the Sergeant-Major said, “Salaam aleikum.”

“Aleikum salaam,” they returned.

“Salaam, salaam...you bastards,” muttered Wilson, repeating the benediction with a scowl.

“Sergeant Major! Report!” called the XO, from the flapping tent entrance. “You too, Wilson.”

Wheeling, they each strode to the command tent and saluted facing the XO.

“At ease. Come inside and take a look at the situation map.” He pointed at some indistinct areas with a handful of roads trailing across the open desert. “Seems a whole platoon of Captain Davis’s has gone AWOL. We are all to be on the lookout and be extra vigilant in finding them.”

“How long have they been missing?”

“They should have reported in by O-five hundred yesterday. More than a good twenty four hours ago. We are to keep it on a need to know basis, we don’t want anyone panicking and we especially don’t want any trouble with our Saudi hosts. But everyone in this quadrant is supposed to search in shifts. I am sending your team out to the Tango Delta quadrant.”

“Any intel on what may have happened, Captain, sir?”

“I’d sooner believe they found a good spot for some R&R and are hoping they can beg forgiveness later instead of asking permission. But the fact is they are AWOL and no eyes in the sky can find them just yet, so it’s a ground pounder patrol. You will leave immediately.”

“Yes sir!”

***

The Sergeant-Major took Wilson and three more members of his fire team in a Humvee and drove out to the north west, Tango Delta quadrant. Smack in the middle of nowhere.

Borders were arbitrary out here at best, but as far as U.S. coalition forces were concerned, it was all an uninhabited no man’s land. No one in Operation Desert Shield had even seen the lay of the land except from the air and even then it was just cursory and very quickly, and all simply to be sure Saddam wasn’t about to cross the border.

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