The descent from the mountain pass carried them down several thousand feet in as many seconds. Once upon a time a mighty river, fed by snow melt from the tall peaks before its course must have been diverted by landslides and seismic shifts over the course of history, had carved a smooth, rounded channel through the rocks, like a twisting bobsleigh run which they followed for a few miles until they finally climbed up onto a broad, flat plateau. Beyond that, they were happy to see that the terrain was clear and empty, with no obvious hazards in sight for miles.

‘We’ve managed to stay more or less true to our course,’ Ben said as they pulled over to rest a few minutes and check the compass and the map. ‘Judging by the amount of distance we’ve covered, I’d say we can’t be more than a couple of hours from our destination. Should get there before dark, anyhow.’

‘Nothing but plain sailing between us and the caves of Gurghazar,’ Madison said brightly.

‘Let’s not start patting ourselves on the back just yet,’ Holt said. He swept an arm in a circle. ‘This whole area crawls with more than just Taliban patrols. The local tribal militia groups are just as liable to be hostile, seeing as we’re driving around in castoff US army vehicles. From a distance they could easily mistake us for Talibs. And even though most of them have been at war with each other for as long as anyone can remember, there’s nobody they hate more than those mofos.’

‘But most of the militia tribesmen still use horses and outdated weapons,’ Ramin said, looking as anxious as ever. ‘That’s what I’ve read, anyhow, in one of the articles I edited for the institute. They’re hardly likely to attack us, are they?’

‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that,’ Ben replied, another of those rare occasions when he had to agree with Holt. ‘These are some of the toughest and bravest warriors in the world, not to mention they’re brilliant cavalrymen. They learned from elders who cut their teeth riding into battle against Russian tank battalions when they were still in their teens. They’re afraid of nothing and nobody, and certainly not of us. We’ll have to watch out for them.’