Scotland by David Lee Knight

Scotland by David Lee Knight

Author:David Lee Knight
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803818948
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing
Published: 2024-04-26T12:24:28+00:00


Chapter 12

Richard – Afghanistan

Major Richard Ogilvy entered the prefabricated room that doubled as both sleeping quarters and office, and leaned against the wall for a full minute to let the air conditioning unit work its magic. He carefully unwrapped the shemagh from around his neck and used it to wipe the sweat off his face. He had often thought to cut the scarf in half but had never got around to it – they were always too big, but very useful for keeping sand and bugs from getting inside his combat shirt and prevent the sun from burning the back of his neck. He was glad the long, hot, dry summer was coming to an end. The room was sparse – a steel-framed bunk, some fake wood storage units, and a utilitarian metal desk with the top covered in stained fake leather. He flipped the blind in the single window to a steep angle, cutting out some of the too bright sunlight. He pointed the muzzle of his rifle into the sand butt, put there for that purpose, and worked the bolt to ensure that the chamber was clear. He made sure the safety was on and placed the rifle in the rack but left the magazine in place, as even here in Camp Bastion attacks occurred frequently, although rarely did anyone breach the perimeter.

His company had been rotated out of a forward fire base for two weeks of down time, or what passed for that in this god-forsaken country. Ironic, he thought, how through the centuries, religions were the most frequent cause of, or perhaps excuse for, conflicts and often the most vicious.

He sat down at the desk where there was a pile of admin awaiting his attention; he shoved it to one side, leaned back in the chair, and stared at the ceiling and considered. He had just seen someone in the camp that had brought a surge of something like excitement deep down in his gut. It awakened a whole load of memories that mostly he kept securely boxed up in his head. Fucking Standish, he was sure. The camp was so large, almost the size of a small town, that the chances of him spotting the man had been tiny. It was an opportunity he would not let go past.

One of the platoons in the company he commanded had been going through an exercise programme, and Richard had joined in, letting himself come under the control of the instructor. It was a punishing workout in the heat and he did not have to do it, but it was good for morale if the officers trained as hard as the men, and he liked to keep fit. During the session he had noticed the civilian accompanied by a small group of Royal Engineers by the perimeter wall, and thought he looked familiar. Richard was pretty sure he recognised the man. Afterwards, he asked the instructor, who was permanently based at the camp, what the group was doing.

‘That’s



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