The Saldorium: Book 1 by Ryan King

Author:Ryan King [King, Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-25T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Malcolm didn't know how long it would take for the German battle group to realize that one of their vehicles was missing, but having worked with the Germans before, he didn't think it would be very long. He knew his team needed to get to their next rendezvous as soon as possible.

"Go left here," Liezel, nearly always the team's navigator, told him.

He turned down a narrow dusty street flanked by mud walls topped with broken bottles and rusty barbed wire. At the next intersection, she indicated another turn and then more turns to the point that Malcolm became disoriented. They thus made their way gradually westward beyond the outskirts of Falzabad. Malcolm had to downshift as their path rose from the river valley and up into the surrounding hills. In his rearview mirror, he could see a thick plume of dust that obscured everything behind them as if they were emerging from a dirty brown cloud.

They drove for several hours up and down steep mountains and valleys. Finally, they crested a particular hill and there was no longer any need for Liezel to guide them to their objective. They could all clearly see it in front of them. Off in the distance was a large compound with a series of buildings surrounding a central house that by Afghanistan standards surely passed for a mansion. Square guard towers stood at the convergence of mudbrick walls whose color matched the surrounding countryside perfectly.

"This still seems like a bad idea to me," said Andrew. "Going into the den of an Afghan warlord could have several negative outcomes."

"Rebecca assured us it will be okay," Zurab said. "Sharid Khan has helped the Saldorium in the past and can be trusted."

Liezel grunted unconvinced. "I'll take your word for it."

Two bearded men with AK-47s flanked a large metal door set into the mud wall. As their vehicle drew closer the men brought their weapons incrementally upwards until they were finally pointed straight at the German vehicle by the time they stopped.

"I will go talk to them," said Zurab opening the door.

"That might not be a good idea," Farid said. "I don't think Afghans are too fond of Russians."

"But I'm not Russian," the man answered with a confused look on his face.

"I do not think they will see the distinction," the tall man answered climbing out instead. He left his weapons inside the vehicle and walked up to the two guards. There was a series of bows and then some talking. Finally, the guards relaxed and as Farid walked back towards the vehicle the large metal door began to slide open.

"We can go on in," Farid said climbing into the back of the vehicle.

Driving inside they could see a number of other bearded men watching them from various locations of the compound. Some sat on chairs in the shade. Others studied them from defensive positions along the walls. Still others went about their business while keeping an eye on the newcomers. Malcolm parked the vehicle beside several SUVs as they heard the large metal door clanged shut behind them.

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.