Then the task force settled themselves into place, dwarfed like eight little Jonahs inside the belly of a gigantic whale, and within a minute the huge aircraft lurched into motion as they taxied out of the hangar and went lumbering towards the runway. Soon they were off, with that familiar old great rumbling rib-shaking roaring whoosh that drowned out all possibility of conversation until they were at cruising altitude and the engine note settled to a loud steady drone.

Nothing now would happen for some hours. The lull before the storm, when a great deal would be happening, from the instant they set boots down in enemy territory. Some of the other men exchanged the occasional shouted comment or joke, the vociferous Cale doing more than his fair share of the yakking. Ben instead spent his time catching up on lost sleep and mentally preparing himself for what was coming. Never, ever had he imagined he’d find himself once more in this situation, heading into a military operation. Especially not one like this, a secret mission that for him contained a personal mission of far greater importance.

At some point, sooner rather than later, he knew he would have to break away from the group and go off in search of Madison. He’d have to pick the right moment to do that, and it might not be easy. The army had long ago stopped putting deserters in front of a firing squad, but nonetheless the UK Special Forces high command most likely wouldn’t take too kindly to one of their hand-picked troopers going AWOL in the middle of a critical operation.

Ben was aware of it, but he didn’t care. His commitment to his friend came first. He leaned back against the curvature of the fuselage, feeling its thrumming vibration against his spine, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Chapter 10

Hours, hours, hours.

At last, the endless monotony was broken by the pilot’s announcement that they were approaching Afghan airspace. The plan was to get as deep in over the border as possible without attracting notice, and for that purpose the drop zone had been chosen in a vast, empty region of wilderness. That could have been said of much of Afghan territory. Even so, it was a risky operation. Taliban patrols could appear unexpectedly out of nowhere, with the artillery to blow them out of the sky like a wildfowler taking down a high goose.