The Sandpit: An Action-Packed Spider Shepherd SAS Novella by Stephen Leather

Author:Stephen Leather [Leather, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-04-19T03:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Ahmad reappeared some time later, and began talking to them as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Swallowing his reservations about the Pakistani officer’s fate, Shepherd resumed the discussion about their next moves. As the sun was setting they broke off to eat a meal of kid goat and rice prepared by Ahmad’s wife and mother, and then they lay, smoking and talking, on the flat roof of Ahmad’s two storey house on the edge of the village. By now it was fully dark with an icy chill in the air, but they were in no hurry to move, enjoying the breathtaking panorama of the stars overhead, with the snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush still just visible, illuminated by the starlight and filling the eastern horizon.

‘Do you believe in God?’ Ahmad said after one long period of silence.

Shepherd and the others raised their heads in surprise. ‘Blimey Ahmad, where did that come from?’ Shepherd said.

‘It was something I’ve been wondering about. So, do you - believe in God, I mean?’

‘I was saying a while back, I’ve never yet met a soldier who didn’t cry out to one God or another when the bullets start flying,’ said Shepherd.

‘There are no atheists in foxholes, that’s what they say,’ agreed Jimbo.

‘Looking at the sky in the east, it is tempting to believe in something,’ Shepherd said, ‘Because right now I can see billions of stars and galaxies up there and it is easy to imagine that there must be some pattern, some purpose, or some supreme being up there. But in the grey light of northern Europe with a bunch of corrupt clergy fleecing and deceiving the faithful, it’s much harder to believe in anything like that.’ He paused, studying Ahmad’s expression. ‘But do you really mean, do I believe in a God to keep me safe in battle? Because if that is the real question, then the answer is no. My comrades and I believe in something, but it’s not a supreme being blessing our actions because we think God is on our side.’

‘You’d need to be talking to Delta Force for that, Ahmad,’ Jimbo said. ‘They’re almost all born again Christians, who hold a prayer meeting before they go on any mission.’

‘And they’re good at what they do,’ Shepherd said. ‘But it’s not the praying or the belief in God that makes them good. It’s the training and preparation they do. And we’re just the same.’

‘In fact, we taught them everything they know,’ Jock said, getting in on the act.

‘The Taliban fight because they believe Allah wants them to fight,’ said Ahmad. ‘And they believe that Allah is on their side.’

‘Well that I don’t believe,’ said Shepherd.

‘I won’t have anything to do with any God that forbids bacon,’ said Jock, but Shepherd flashed him a warning look. Ahmad was a sworn enemy of the Taliban but he was a devoted Muslim, too.

‘I don’t believe that God is on my side when we go into combat,’ said Shepherd.

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