Remembering the mine directly in front of him, Leo let go of Zabi and Nara, turning hastily, once again forced to keep his feet on the same spot. If the mine exploded at this range the blast would injure the three of them. He reached out, trying to guess where it was, shielding it from the hail. His hands were lashed with falling ice. Within seconds he could no longer feel them, numb from the elbow down. The hail continued, the storm interspersed with detonations ringing across the landscape. Leo’s arms were shaking. He couldn’t remain in this position for long, protecting the very device that had been dropped to kill him.

The hail began to weaken, changing back into icy rain. The rate of explosions slowed down until then finally there no more detonations. Unable to keep his arms out in front of him any longer Leo lowered them. He slaed his hands together, like two slabs of dead meat, trying to restore circulation, his fingers not responding. He was too cold to think about the consequences of the hailstorm, and it was Fahad who called out from the front:

—The path will be clear.

Was it possible that all the mines had been destroyed, or had the detonations merely stopped when the hailstorm passed? Beginning to move his fingers again, Leo called out to Fahad:

—How can we be sure?

Fahad called back:

—This mission is blessed.

Though the notion carried no weight in Leo’s mind the indisputable truth was that they would die if they remained here, freezing cold, waiting for dawn. Leo said:

—We must take the chance.

Nara was more cautious.

—We don’t know that the path is clear. Some mines have been destroyed, surely not all of them, maybe not even the majority of them.

Fahad shouted back angrily:

—You are a non-believer! You wouldn’t understand the significance of this event!

Furious, Nara replied:

—My faith doesn’t make me stupid. I don’t believe I’m invulnerable.

Leo interrupted:

—It is irrelevant what we believe. We cannot stay here! By tomorrow morning we will be too weak to run, too weak to escape. We must press ahead. It is a calculated risk. I will go first.

Fahad replied:

—You are the reason for this mission. You are the person the CIA wants. If you die the mission has failed. The girl should go first.

Nara said:

—I agree. I will go first.

Fahad contradicted her:

—Not you. The girl, the miracle girl, she will find a path. It is no coincidence that she is with us when this happened. We must trust in her.