War Torn

Chapter Fifty-one

‘I’M GETTING FED UP WITH CLEANING WEAPONS ALL THE TIME AND never using them,’ said Sol.They had just eaten another sand sandwich. The civilians were busy. Angus had disappeared on stag again.Binns said: ‘I’m wishing the Taliban would attack us just to give us something to do.’‘Write a rap about Jackpot, Streaky,’ Finn said to Bacon. ‘We’ll help. It’ll give us something to do.’‘You can’t write a rap about nothing happening,’ said Streaky. ‘Rap’s rough and angry. Not bored and sleepy.’‘It’s another game of cards then, lads,’ said Finn, reaching for the pack.Jamie groaned.Mal closed his eyes.‘OK, guys, we’ve finished with the dynamite for now.’Martyn had appeared in a cloud of fine dust.‘That’s a shame,’ said Finn. ‘It was the only interesting thing going on around here.’Everyone had wanted to set the dynamite off but Emily had shaken her head and wagged her finger.‘This is a radio-controlled explosion and human error could have a catastrophic effect on our results.’‘What happens now, Martyn?’ asked Jamie.Binns looked up hopefully.‘If you’ve finished with the dynamite, can we go back to Sin City?’‘Emily has to collate the results from all the seismometers. When she’s put them together in the lab –’ Martyn gestured to one of the Vectors – ‘they should give us a complete picture. But if the images are wrong then we’ll have to adjust them and repeat the experiment. So we can’t go anywhere until she gives us the all-clear.’‘What are you going to do, then?’ demanded Finn. ‘While Emily’s in her lab?’‘Play blackjack with you,’ said Martyn, sitting down on an upturned crate.The sandstorm had ended a couple of days ago but the camp was still covered with its sand. Even the playing cards retained a gritty residue.Dave came out of the ops room holding a radio.‘McCall thinks he’s seen some movement in the hills again,’ he said.Everyone groaned.‘Right, we’ll have a few more pairs of eyes over there,’ said Sol. ‘Mal, Binman, Streaky, go for it.’‘But last time he said that we called out aerial surveillance and they didn’t find anything!’ moaned Binns.‘Yeah,’ said Dave, ‘but there was a sandstorm so the eye in the sky might have made a mistake.’‘Certainly,’ agreed the OC, emerging behind him. ‘And we shouldn’t get complacent.’But the men came back reporting there was nothing to see.‘Maybe,’ said the boss to Dave, ‘Angus should spend less time in the tower.’‘Well, let him finish his stag,’ said Dave. ‘He’s down in ten minutes anyway.’When a lad from 3 Section had replaced him, Angus climbed down from the tower to find Martyn sitting in the shade of the sangar.‘Hey, Angry, come talk to me.’‘What? Now?’‘Yeah. I’m sort of interested in this movement you keep seeing.’Angus was already red from the heat and now he reddened still more.‘No one believes me.’‘Well, describe it, can you?’Angus was surprised, but he sat down and got out a cigarette. He offered Martyn one and looked relieved when he didn’t accept.‘Well, it’s like a shadow. When the sandstorm was starting and I could hardly see the hills, that time it looked like it could have been a person. But the other times it’s been like when you see a cloud shadow. Which sort of appears and then disappears when the sun goes in . . .’‘What do you think it is?’Encouraged by his interest, Angus said: ‘At first I thought maybe it was the shadow of an aircraft. Some sort of aerial surveillance. But I don’t think so. I don’t know what it is.’‘An animal?’Angus shrugged.‘You want it to be Taliban. Right?’Angus flicked his ash down. ‘Well . . .’‘Because you want some action. Right?’‘That’s what I signed up for.’‘You’ve already shown one helluva lot of courage. I’ve heard about some of the things you’ve done. Your dad must be proud of you.’Angus looked at the ground.‘Not really. See, my dad was in the Regiment. So he did some amazing things himself. Especially in the Falklands war.’‘This is really none of my business . . . but can I say something?’Angus watched Martyn’s corrugated face curiously.‘Supposing I told you that you’ve already done much more than your dad ever did? Supposing I said that you don’t have to keep trying to impress him, being a hero, looking for action. Because he never was in the Special Forces. Would that be a relief?’Angus’s eyes had grown suddenly bulbous. His cheeks were bright red. His cigarette was turning to ash.‘What do you mean?’‘I’ve grown to like you, Angry. I used to think you were a big thug but since then I’ve seen that you’re a good guy underneath all that noise. That’s why I’m telling you this.’Angus seemed to swell in the heat.‘Your dad wasn’t the hero you think.’‘What?’‘I’ll tell you something. It’s going to upset you at first. And then, in a little while, you’ll begin to feel good about it.’