Free Death in the Desert by Jim Eldridge

alive. That was the main thing.
    As the sergeant prodded Nelson with his rifle to take the men away, Taggart stopped them.
    ‘This is your last chance to do something decent. Tell us where Al Haq’s hideout is.’
    ‘And if we don’t?’
    ‘Then you’ll be put on the next plane back to England, where you’ll be arrested.’

19
    They were taken to a large building at the centre of the base. In the main room were four huge cages. The soldiers unlocked the doors of two of them, took the plastic restraints off the team and pushed them inside: Nelson, Tug, and Omari into one cage; Mitch, Two Moons, and Gaz into the other. There was nowhere to sit in the cages, except what looked like a portable steel toilet in one corner of each, welded firmly to the bars.
    The soldiers who had ushered them into the cages left, but Mitch could see through the half-open door that two others had been left on duty to guard them. The men of Delta Unit squatted down inside the cages, near the bars so they could talk.
    ‘We need to get out of here before they can putus on a plane,’ said Nelson. ‘If they kick us out, our mission’s failed.’
    ‘Maybe we should tell Colonel Taggart the truth?’ suggested Omari.
    Nelson shook his head. ‘No. According to Taggart, Al Haq’s men have stepped up their action recently and they’ve killed six of Taggart’s men. That’s not going to make him sympathetic to our mission. He wants to kill Al Haq, not talk to him.’
    ‘That’s one thing that puzzles me, big time,’ said Mitch, frowning. He turned to Omari. ‘If Al Haq is as keen to talk peace as you say he is, why is he going on the offensive in this way?’
    Omari shrugged, a puzzled expression on his face. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘Perhaps he’s bluffing, trying to convince the Taliban he’s serious in his support for their cause.’
    ‘Or maybe he never really planned to go ahead with the peace talks,’ suggested Tug. ‘In which case we would be really stupid to carry on with this mission.’
    There was an awkward silence, during which the men looked first at Omari, and then at Nelson. ‘I, for one, am gonna be really mad if Benny dies because we’ve been suckered by this uncle of yours,’ grunted Two Moons. There was no mistaking the anger in his voice as he looked at Omari.
    ‘Hold it,’ ordered Nelson. ‘We don’t know for sure Al Haq has changed his mind.’
    ‘But stepping up the attacks certainly suggests it,’ said Tug pointedly.
    ‘No!’ said Omari firmly. ‘I am certain my uncle did not lie to me when we met. He wants peace, I am absolutely convinced of it. He told me that he was sick of his children and grandchildren dying in a war. He wants an Afghanistan where they can live without fear.’
    ‘Well, he’s sure got a funny way of showing it,’ muttered Mitch.
    Once again, the men of Delta Unit looked at Nelson for direction. The colonel regarded Omari thoughtfully for a while, then he asked: ‘You’reprepared to stake your life on your uncle’s word?’
    Omari nodded. ‘Yes, I am,’ he said.
    ‘OK,’ said Nelson. ‘Then so are we. We go on with the mission.’ He looked at the men of his unit. ‘That right, fellas?’
    The men hesitated, then nodded.
    ‘If you say it’s OK, Colonel, then I’m with you,’ said Two Moons.
    ‘Me too,’ agreed Mitch.
    Tug and Gaz nodded.
    ‘Good,’ said Nelson. ‘The other reason I’m not going to tell Colonel Taggart the truth is because he’d then have to do one of two things,’ continued Nelson, ‘Give us an escort to Al Haq’s hideout …’
    ‘Out of the question!’ said Omari firmly. ‘That would ruin everything.’
    ‘… or let us go. And if he did that he’d have to tell his commanders the truth. And sooner or later one of them would mention why we’d been let go, and what our mission was. And that word would be picked up by some of the locals.’
    Omari nodded. ‘I see what you mean,’ he said.
    ‘So, like I said at the