Gray Genesis

by Alan McDermott

  ‘Have I got time for a kip before we go and get this Sentinel guy?’ Smart asked.

  ‘Yeah, please tell me he’s got time to get his beauty sleep,’ Sonny added. ‘I can’t bear to look at his ugly mug anymore.’

  ‘Says the man who lives on short naps,’ Smart retorted as he threw a buttered roll at Sonny’s head.

  ‘Relax,’ Gray told them, ‘you can sleep as long as you like. Sentinel has been taken care of.’

  When they began to protest, he shared Durden’s plan with them—they liked it as much as Gray and Balmer had.

  With dinner out of the way, Gray and his men walked back to their accommodation. Inside, they found that the mail had been delivered in their absence. On Gray’s bunk sat a letter and a small parcel—both from his wife, Dina. He opened the letter first.

  My darling Tom,

  I miss you so much, as always. It’s lonely at night, even though Mum pops round every day. She’s still working at the supermarket, and Dad’s just got a promotion. They’re going to Greece for their holidays in a couple of weeks.

  The weather here is fine. Lots of hot days, then a thunderstorm to clear the air, then sunshine again. I’m getting a nice tan. I bet you are, too!

  There’s something I have to tell you. I didn’t want to put it in a letter, but if I keep it to myself, it’s going to drive me crazy. It’s something I wanted to tell you in person when you got home, something that’s going to change our lives forever, and if I wait, you won’t know to be extra careful. You have to be, because you’re going to be a daddy!!

  I don’t know the sex yet (it’s only week ten) but we can find that out the next time you get leave.

  I love you, darling. Please come home soon.

  Always & Forever,

  Dina (and the little one!) xxx

  Gray was stunned, though he smiled when he thought back to the last night he and Dina spent together just before he had been shipped back out to Afghanistan. He re-read the letter twice as a fire ignited in his chest. All he wanted at that moment was to get on a plane and see his wife. But compassionate leave was for funerals or serious illnesses to loved ones, not pregnancy. Besides he didn’t want to leave his team short-handed, not when Dina was only a quarter of the way. Even if she was a week overdue, he doubted he could swing a few days off.

  Not that it would come to that. He’d planned for some time to quit the army once Dina became pregnant, and now that it was a reality, he was having no second thoughts.

  It would be hard to say goodbye to the lads. They’d been his family for as long as he could remember—he considered them all brothers. It wasn’t as if he’d never see them again, but once out, he envisaged a quieter life. No more spending the nights under the stars in a foreign land, waiting for the bullets to start flying. His plan was to recruit only the best ex-soldiers for his new business, and he couldn’t think of a finer bunch than the men under his command. To a man, they were dependable and excelled at what they did.

  ‘What’s up?’ Smart asked, breaking into Gray’s thoughts. ‘Bad news?’

  ‘Depends who’s asking. Bad news for Sonny, good news for you.’

  ‘I don’t get you.’

  ‘I’m quitting,’ Gray said to Smart, ‘and you’re next in line to take over the team.’

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘It’s the lottery,’ Sonny said. ‘I bet he’s won the lottery!’

  ‘Kind of,’ Gray smiled. ‘Dina’s pregnant.’

  Roars of congratulations broke out, along with a hefty dose of back-slapping.

  ‘So, any idea who the father is?’ Sonny asked.

  ‘Me, you dick,’ Gray said, pushing Sonny onto his bunk.

  ‘Hey, I’m just asking. You’ve been here for a while, and she just found out. You do the math.’

  ‘Ignore him,’ Smart said to Gray, ‘he’s just winding you up. So, when are you leaving?’

  ‘I’ll ask Russell to start the paperwork tonight. It should all be sorted by the time we rotate back to the big H.’

  He hoped so, at least. Finishing this tour would be hard enough; he didn’t need the added pressure of deploying to another war-torn hotspot.

  ‘Well, I say good luck to you,’ Smart told Gray. ‘In fact, the sooner you get things up and running, the better. Pencil me in for your first contract.’ He gestured towards Sonny. ‘Not sure how much longer I can put up with this little shit.’

  Gray knew it was just banter. Smart and Sonny were so close they could be twins, their physiques notwithstanding. If he got his business up and running and Len started working for him, it was a safe bet that Sonny wouldn’t be far behind.

  ‘The moment you get out, come and see me. I’ll put you at the top of the list.’

  Gray opened the package. It was Dina’s fortnightly supply of chocolate bars, magazines and a selection of video tapes of his favourite shows that she’d recorded from the television.

  ‘Enjoy those while you can,’ Sonny warned Gray, as he studied one of the tapes. ‘Once the kid comes along, you can kiss your free time goodbye.’

  ‘Gotta agree with the runt this time,’ Smart said. ‘Your life’s really gonna change, but mostly for the better. By the time the kid’s two, you’ll have forgotten the sleepless nights and shitty nappies. If it’s a boy, are you gonna push him towards the army?’

  ‘Never thought about it,’ Gray admitted, though he instantly disliked the idea. He knew first-hand how dangerous soldiering was, and the thought of his child being in harm’s way didn’t sit well. That was a long way off, though. Plenty of time to steer his son or daughter towards a different path. ‘I’ll deal with that when I come to it. Let’s get the kid through kindergarten first.’

  Gray picked up his towel and wash bag, then headed towards the showers, his head filled with the future.

  Chapter 33

  Farhad Nagi’s hands shook as he tried to stuff his belongings into the bag.

  It had been less than two days since Abdul al-Hussain had been reported missing by his wife. The men who had gone to his farm to investigate had found two wrecked vehicles and the dead bodyguards, but there had been no sign of the man himself. Bullet casings found at the scene pointed to the British and Americans—and if they had the warlord, they would be coming after his men, too.

  How they had found al-Hussain was a mystery, but Nagi suspected the CIA man he’d been dealing with in his role as Sentinel had something to do with it. All of his talk of visas and plane tickets to America had been lies, not that Nagi would have used them. His devotion was to Abdul al-Hussain and the Taliban. The man who called himself Durden had tricked Nagi, and with the great man gone, his usefulness was at an end.

  They would come for him next.

  He had to get out of town, and quickly. He had a sister who lived in the north, but staying with her would be risky. He didn’t know how far the CIA tentacles stretched, so it would be better to go where he knew no-one—and no-one knew him. He’d considered going to stay at the training camp run by al-Hussain’s one-handed friend Ali Kamal, but if the Americans had made Abdul talk, that would be one of their first targets.

  Nagi froze as the door to his house shook under a barrage of fist-thumping. He cursed himself for not running the moment he learned of al-Hussain’s capture. Abandoning his belongings, Nagi ran to the back door and flung it open, only to find his way blocked by an imposing figure.

  ‘Going somewhere?’ Ali Kamal asked.

  ‘Oh, praise Allah, I thought you were the Americans.’ Nagi stood aside to let Kamal enter his home. He was followed in by two large men.

  ‘And why would you be expecting a visit from our enemy?’ Kamal asked as he looked around the room. His eyes came to rest on the partially-packed bag.

  ‘After Abdul was taken by them, I assumed they would come for the rest of us. He is a great man, but he is old. And there is no telling what means they are using on him. If they manage to make him talk, none of us will be safe.’

  ‘We are quite safe
,’ Kamal assured him. ‘Our leader is dead. He won’t be talking to anyone.’

  Nagi was stunned. ‘Dead?’

  ‘He was hacked to pieces and his body left for the buzzards. We recovered it and gave him a proper burial.’

  ‘But… how did you find him?’

  ‘A note was delivered to his widow early this morning,’ Kamal said. ‘It made interesting reading. She contacted me straight away.’

  ‘A note? Who was it from?’

  ‘That, I do not know. But it gave the name of the man who betrayed Abdul.’

  ‘That is great news!’ Nagi beamed. ‘Who was it?’

  Kamal wandered over to a dressing table. It stood on four spindly legs, atop an ornate rug. He turned and faced Nagi.

  ‘You,’ he said.

  ‘What? Are you serious? I loved Abdul like a father!’

  Kamal indicated for the two men to move the dresser. They picked it up and shifted it out of the way, then Kamal crouched down and lifted the rug. ‘Then explain this,’ he said.

  Nagi walked over and saw that a shallow hole had been dug in the compacted dirt floor. Inside the scraping lay an envelope and a cell phone.

  Nagi pointed at them, perplexed. ‘Those are not mine!’ He went to pick them up. But Kamal’s henchmen grabbed him by the arms and held him back.

  Kamal reached down and took the items from the hole. He turned the phone on and checked through the messages, nodding solemnly. Then he took two documents from the envelope.

  ‘A US visa and a plane ticket to Washington, DC. Both are in your name. Now why would you need these?’

  Nagi was lost for words. He had no idea how the papers had found their way into his home, but they certainly weren’t his. He’d never asked for them, and had no intention of leaving Afghanistan. He could only think of one explanation.

  ‘The American, Durden. He is framing me.’

  ‘And he sneaked into your home, planted these items, and then sent a note to Abdul’s widow? What possible reason could he have for doing that? Why not just kill you if he wants you out of the way?’

  Nagi struggled to answer. He had to say something, though, because the evidence—even if manufactured—was stacked against him.

  ‘Perhaps they want us to fight among ourselves,’ was all he could come up with.

  ‘An interesting notion,’ Kamal said, ‘but I’m afraid I don’t believe you.’

  He nodded for his men to release their grip, then handed the phone to Nagi who looked at the screen. It was open on a text message. He read it silently.

  Farhad. Thank you for all you have done. In return for giving us al-Hussain, I will have your visa and ticket sent to you in the next hour. Enjoy your new life in America. LD.

  Underneath, there had been a reply from the phone he was holding:

  Thank you. It was my pleasure. God bless America.

  Nagi knew he was being set up, but he would have a hard job convincing Kamal of the truth.

  ‘I swear by all that is holy, I did not send that reply. I have never seen this phone before in my life.’

  ‘Your lies are becoming tiresome,’ Kamal said. He turned to his men. ‘Take him outside. I want everyone to witness what happens when you betray your people.’

  Nagi began screaming in protestation, but his words fell on deaf ears. He was dragged out into the bright sunshine, and continued his denials until his dying breath.

  Chapter 34

  ‘What do you think this is about?’ Sonny asked Gray as the plane began to taxi to the runway.

  Gray hadn’t had much time to form any kind of opinion. An hour earlier he’d received instructions to report to Captain Russell who had told him to inform his brick that they were shipping out on the next Hercules. Gray had asked where to, and the response had been Hereford. A military transport would take them to Kuwait where they would catch a civilian BA flight to Birmingham International and make their own way to the base from there. When he’d pressed for a reason for the hurried return to England, Russell told him he knew as much as he did. ‘The orders have come from so high up that I’ve had a nosebleed just reading them,’ he was told.

  It had to be serious, though—they were in some kind of trouble.

  ‘They know about our conversation with Dagher,’ Gray told Sonny. ‘That’s all I can think of.’

  ‘So what if they do? We’ve all signed the Official Secrets Act, so it’s not like we’re going to tell anyone.’

  ‘With things this serious, a signature on a piece of paper isn’t going to convince them that we won’t go to the media.’

  ‘Tom’s right,’ Smart said. ‘If this gets out, a lot of powerful people will be in some deep shit. They’ll want us silenced as soon as possible.’

  ‘Permanently?’ Sonny asked.

  ‘I doubt they’d go that far,’ Gray said, though even as the words left his lips, he wasn’t sure he believed himself. The way the virus had been deployed was tantamount to chemical warfare. It was one thing for it to be stolen and misused by the enemy, but for the British and American governments to willingly unleash it… well, that simply couldn’t be allowed into the public domain. ‘Keep your eyes and ears open, just to be on the safe side.’

  Gray’s conversation with Russell hadn’t been all bad news. Gray had been put forward for a Distinguished Gallantry Cross—second only to the Victoria Cross—for his actions at FOB Vincent, and the three men he was travelling with had been nominated for the Military Medal. Whether they actually received them now remained to be seen.

  Half of the journey home would be spent on a commercial flight, which meant they hadn’t been able to bring their weapons along. Gray felt particularly naked without as much as a sidearm to protect himself.

  His fears proved to be unfounded.

  The transition from military to civilian aircraft in Kuwait went without a hitch; no wet team waiting to smoke them. Nor did the government think it necessary to plant a bomb on the British Airways flight.

  After touching down in Birmingham Gray decided they should hire a car rather than take the coach to Hereford. He wanted to be in control of the situation, not leave his fate in the hands of a civvy driver. They managed to get out of the airport unaccosted and remained vigilant for the sixty-mile journey to Stirling Lines in Credenhill.

  When they reached the gates to the base, they showed their ID even though they all knew the corporal manning the post well. He routinely checked their cards, then informed Gray that the CO wanted to see him the moment he arrived.

  ‘The moment of truth,’ Gray told Smart as he parked up.

  ‘Want me to come with you?’

  ‘Nah, you guys go and get something to eat. I’ll meet you as soon as I’m done.’

  Gray walked to the colonel’s office. The adjutant announced his arrival, and Gray was shown straight in.

  He was surprised to see that Colonel Markham wasn’t alone. Standing next to his desk was a forty-something man in a sharp suit. He was holding a steaming cup which he placed down when Gray took up his position opposite Markham.

  ‘Sir!’ Gray said, snapping to attention and saluting.

  ‘At ease,’ Markham said. ‘This is Mr Hamilton. He’s with—’

  ‘—the civil service,’ Hamilton broke in. ‘Colonel, you can leave us now.’

  Markham looked royally pissed off at the idea of being kicked out of his own office, but whatever department Hamilton worked for, he clearly had superiority here.

  ‘Tell me what you know about Miriam Dagher,’ Hamilton said once Markham was gone.

  It looked as if Gray’s instinct had been correct. Try as he might, he hadn’t been able to come up with any other reason for pulling him and his team out of Afghanistan in such a hurry. That had left him a lot of time to work on his strategy—denial.

  ‘I’m afraid I can’t discuss operational intelligence with you, sir,’ Gray replied. For some reason, he disliked the man already. Maybe it was his inherent distrust of politicians and the like, or just
the air of arrogance the man gave off.

  ‘Sergeant Gray, I can assure you I have the highest level of clearance imaginable.’

  ‘Then you’ll know more about her than me,’ Gray said, puffing out a snigger.

  Hamilton, however, didn’t see the funny side. ‘Are all you soldiers so… insubordinate?’

  ‘I was just pointing out the obvious,’ Gray told him. ‘I was kept in the dark about the reason for bringing her out alive, but I’m guessing you know the story behind it. Would that be a fair statement?’

  Hamilton looked ready to explode, but after a few deep breaths, he regained his composure. Perhaps it was the realisation that he was alone in a room with a seasoned professional for whom killing was part of the job. ‘That’s irrelevant,’ he said. ‘You were given strict instructions not to speak to the woman.’

  ‘And I didn’t,’ Gray said confidently.

  ‘That’s not what she told us.’

  Gray tried to read the man, but his face was blank. Was he bluffing, or had Dagher really told him about their conversation on the chopper? She had no reason to volunteer that information, and he couldn’t imagine the Americans torturing her after what she’d done for them. ‘I don’t know where she got that idea from,’ he said, deciding to stick to his position. If he admitted knowing the government’s dark secret, it would leave him—not to mention his team—in a precarious situation. ‘Besides, she’s a traitor, a terrorist. Why would you believe anything she said?’

  ‘Because she was slipped a dose of sodium thiopental before being debriefed under polygraph. She said that you and an American master sergeant threatened to throw her out the back of a helicopter.’

  The bluff had failed. The use of the word ‘debriefed’ rather than ‘interrogated’ meant Dagher had been telling the truth—Hamilton had him by the balls.

  The one thing in Gray’s favour was that Hamilton had confronted him about it on his own turf. If the idea was to eliminate Gray and his men, there would have been no forewarning. They could have done it in Afghanistan, alerting the enemy and leading Gray and his men into a trap. The fact that he was here meant the government had other plans for the team.