Page 36 of What Remains

“Yes,” Kazim said. “Bad men coming.”

He thought Kazim was right. Worse, whoever was headed for the others was coming from a direction where they wouldn’t be seen. The cave entrance looked south and southwest. Unless Mac had posted someone out in the open to keep an eye on their blind side, they wouldn’t know anyone was coming until it was too late.

If someone’s coming, I have to warn the others.But he also needed to know what he was warning them against.Not only that, I have to figure out how.Because their radios would be off. Mac had been clear about that. So, how?

First things first. “Listen, I have to get us atop this next rise to see into the valley and east of the aqueduct. If something is coming, they need an idea of what that is.”

“Bad men.” The boy’s knuckles whitened as Kazim tightened his grip on his Kalashnikov. “Bad men come take us away. Come kill Shahida.”

God, I hope you’re wrong.He also hoped no one would see them just yet. Getting them atop the next rise meant they’d be silhouetted against the sky. There would likely be sun dazzle caused by light bouncing off the Humvee.

They also had another problem. Driver would undoubtedly have one of his men watching for their return. For all John knew, everyone was clustered at the entrance. So, they’d see the Humvee stop. Would they reach the wrong conclusion? Think thattheywere the enemy?

Can’t just sit here.Besides, time was running out. They needed to load the boys into their vehicles and beat feet.

Dropping the Humvee into gear, he slowly rolled the vehicle to the top of the next rise. Once there, he stopped again and released a held breath. So far, so good. He spotted tire tracks to the right where they had all turned off the main road earlier than day. Raising the binos, he glassed the valley floor. The entranceto the defunct aqueduct jumped into focus and he saw now not two, but three boxy vehicles nosed toward the entrance.

So, Shahida’s back.That was good news. There was movement at the entrance as a man stepped into the open. A split second later, he was joined by another tall, slimmer person.Driver and Mac.He was too far away to make out actual facial features; although he could tell from their posture that they were looking at one another. Driver seemed to arguing. Neither had looked in their direction.

“You see?” Kazim prompted. “Bad men?”

“No.” Another thought occurred to him then. If they did spot the Humvee, Driver and Mac might assume thattheywere hostiles. Otherwise, why wouldn’t their vehicle simply keep coming? Even as he thought this, he spotted both blobs turn his way and then one rush back into the cavern.

Crap.He had no idea what kind of weapons Driver had stashed back there. With his luck, they’d lob an RPG or something. But wouldn’t they check first? Maybe that’s what Driver was doing: running back for binos. If he was, then Driver would have a bead onhim. He might be able to use that to his advantage to warn them.

If there’s even something to warn them about.

“You see?” Kazim said again. “You see the men coming?”

“I’m looking, I’m looking.”Got to make this quick.Aiming the binoculars northwest toward the cavern’s blind side, he squinted against glare bouncing off the mountain. For several agonizing seconds, he saw absolutely nothing. The wolves had vanished. Nothing else stirred, not even the hint of a breeze. Forcing himself to move slowly so as not to miss anything was agony, but he did so, trailing his gaze over scrub and rocks, brown scree and rubble, the deep folds carved from the mountain by centuries of runoff and wind, and then the startling swaths of green which marked the spring. A few white stalksof some plant swayed in the breeze. Had he seen those this morning? He couldn’t recall, but someone back at the airport once had pointed those out amongst the grasses and plants lining the perimeter of the airport. That soldier said they were…was that it? Wild licorice, that was it.

Wait a minute. He’d just seen something that set off a small ping of alarm. What was it? He glassed the same area on the blind side again, though more slowly, as he dredged up what he’d seen in the same area that morning. Burnt rock and khaki scrub and sun-bleached scree, the emerald-green of that literal oasis in the middle of all this desert. All that was the same. What wasnotthe same were?—

Those patches of white.Plants which he thought were flowering licorice. They hadnotbeen there this morning. Even if they had been and were now only being stirred by a breeze, nothing else was moving. But these plants were.

Because they had legs.

6

Tunics.That was what he was seeing slowly approaching the base of the mountain but well around a bend and out of sight. The men must have come from the north, over and around the mountain, and now he picked out details. Pakools. Beards. Rifles slung over shoulders and spare magazines dangling from belts. Were these Taliban? Flowers had said this was last contested place in the whole country.

And we’ve got a passel of kids. He swept his gaze over the approaching mean.Kids whom Shahida’s made into her own little army?—

The thought stuttered and died as he spotted a tall man bringing up the rear. Along with a rifle, this bandit or Taliban or whatever he was carried a long green tube with a pointed end on a strap which he’d hooked over a shoulder.

An RPG launcher.

Oh, holy God.He must’ve spoken the words aloud because Kazim asked, “What you see?”

“Nothing good.” Dropping back into the driver’s seat, he said, “We got to go.”

“Too far, John.” Kazim clutched at his arm. “We no get there in time to help!”

The kid was right. The moment they barreled from the road onto the dirt, they’d be seen, and those fighters would realize the jig was up. A warning shot was no good, either. Too far away, for one thing. For another, any kind of weapons fire would be interpreted as hostile. The last thing he needed was his people deciding to target him and Kazim. What was left? How to let his people know there was trou?—

Wait a minute.A spark of an idea. He’d just seen it, he’d pushed it aside, hadn’t given it any thought. Reaching past Kazin, he popped the glove box, pawed around?—

And found the orange flare gun.

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