‘That’s just what they’ll do to the rest of us,’ Wolf went on. ‘You, your Eminence, they’ll be sure to take alive, so they can cart you straight back to Kabul and the nearest TV studio where you’ll appear in front of the world’s media, battered to a bloody pulp and not so pretty any more, in what will be the biggest news story since 9-11.’

‘Jaden’s right,’ Ben said. ‘I wouldn’t recommend that strategy much.’

‘Then what can we do?’ the prince asked, sounding almost desperate.

‘The only thing we can do,’ Ben replied evenly. ‘This is where we’ll make our stand. Whatever comes, we’ll face it. Together.’

Baldacci’s face spread into a broad grin. ‘Now you’re talking. Death or fuckin’ glory, people. Love it.’

Francine shot him a frosty look and snapped, ‘Your language is as foul as your friend’s, young man,’ indicating Holt.

‘Yeah, mate, watch your effing language with ladies present,’ said Scraggs.

Baldacci gave him the finger. ‘Eat me.’

‘But that’s insane,’ Ramin protested to Ben. ‘There are just a handful of us. We can’t defend ourselves against hundreds of heavily armed troops.’

‘It is what it is,’ Ben said. ‘No choice. That’s our only play.’

‘We’d have been a lot worse off if we’d stayed at the orphanage,’ Wolf explained to the fraught Ramin. ‘Up here, we have a certain tactical advantage. We’re built like a castle, secure from the rear and with a steep wide-open killing ground to the front that the enemy will have to cross to reach us. These caves are deep enough to be pretty bombproof, so the children can shelter there safely. Then if we did get overrun, we can fall back inside.’

‘If we are so forced to do, will they not follow?’ said Father Bugnolio.

‘Of course they will,’ Wolf told him. ‘And we’ll be waiting for them in the tunnels.’

Ramin sank his ashen face into his hands and let out a low groan of despair. ‘I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t want to fight. I can’t fight.’

‘It might not come to that,’ Ben said.

‘But if it does,’ Wolf told Ramin, ‘then believe me, you’ll do whatever it takes to survive. Because you’re a human being, and that’s what we’ve been doing for millions of years.’

‘I won’t survive,’ Ramin muttered, completely sincere. ‘I’ll be killed. I know it.’

‘If that’s what you believe,’ Ben replied, ‘then that’s what’s likely to happen. A positive mental attitude is the best weapon you have, in battle.’

‘Easy for you to say. You’re all professional soldiers.’

‘And impervious to fear or pain,’ Baldacci said. ‘Bullets just bounce off us. Fire can’t burn us and sharpened steel gets blunted against our flesh.’