Spider Shepherd: SAS: Volume 2 by Stephen Leather

Author:Stephen Leather
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure, Short Stories, War & Military, Genre Fiction, War
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Published: 2014-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

During the night they flew in a Hercules to Bagram airbase, 25 miles north of Kabul. Built and named by the Russians, it was the only airport in Afghanistan that could accommodate the huge C5 Galaxies that Shepherd had seen taking off from Doha, and one was landing every five minutes. Men swarmed around them unloading ton after ton of supplies, while trucks and armoured vehicles rumbled down the ramps from the vast holds of the aircraft. The night was cold and, fresh from the searing heat of Doha, Shepherd pulled his jacket close around him as Spud, Shepherd, Lex and two other SAS troopers who had joined them walked across the dusty compound and found a place to bed down for the night in a draughty tattered tent.

Everyone was up before dawn and Shepherd, Spud and the others were sitting on folding stools eating their breakfast of naan bread and grapes as they watched the sunrise inching down the western face of the mountains. Shepherd took a sip from his mug of watery instant coffee and grimaced at the taste. ‘Any idea why we’re here?’ he asked Spud.

‘I went to see the Major first thing,’ said Spud. ‘Nothing specific, they just want more bodies on the ground. The Yanks are keen to show that this is a joint effort so they want to embed us in whatever Delta Force are doing.’ He looked up as an Afghan boy approached. He walked with a limp, his left foot twisted inwards. He could not have been more than ten or eleven years old, but the expression in his eyes, so dark they could almost have been black, suggested that he’d seen a lot of life, good and bad. He broke into a broad smile as he caught Shepherd’s eye, ‘Salaam alaykum, Inglisi. You want cigarettes?’ He pulled two packs out of his sleeve. ‘Only two dollars.’

Spud glanced up ‘Fuck off kid.’

‘Leave him be, Spud,’ Shepherd said, ‘He’s just trying to make a living, like the rest of us.’ He turned back to the boy. ‘No smokes thanks, kid, but what else have you got?’

‘Anything you want, Inglisi: grapes, mulberries, tea, sugar, songbirds, gold jewellery, a pesh kabz - an Afghan knife - or if you want to dress like an Afghan man, I’ll give you good price on a beautiful salwar kameez. Or I can get you a Kalashnikov. Just tell me and I’ll get it for you.’

‘A Kalashnikov?’

‘Sure. Cheap, too, same price as a half-kilo of sugar.’

Shepherd glanced at Spud. ‘What have we got ourselves into here - a country where you can get a Kalashnikov for the price of a bag of sugar?’

He turned back to the boy. ‘No guns, thanks, and I suppose a decent espresso is out of the question?’

The boy’s face fell. ‘That might be more difficult, but I’ll try.’ He paused. ‘What is espresso?’

‘I’m pulling your chain, but a mint tea would be good.’

‘At once, Inglisi. At once.’ The boy turned and ran off as fast as his limp would allow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.