‘Maximi’ was the name that the Special Forces unofficially gave to the more powerful version of the old Minimi squad automatic weapon, a light machine gun that was compact enough to be carried like a rifle and gave its operator some serious firepower. The beast was belt-fed, each belt they’d been issued with holding a hundred 7.62mm rounds. Normally every man in a team would carry at least one belt for the squad machine gun in his Bergen. Ben would have to lug as much ammo as he could manage unaided. With the weapon itself, three belts draped around his shoulders like metallic yellow pythons and all the rest of his supplies loaded on his back he’d be packing as heavy a load as he’d ever carried on active duty before. But what the hell. SAS soldiers routinely tabbed long distances over all kinds of terrain with 130-odd pounds of equipment strapped to them. A few pounds more wouldn’t kill him – or at least, wouldn’t kill him as effectively as the enemy might.

Ben looked down at Saleem, lying there so still and peaceful he might have been sleeping. Years of unending conflict had been tough on the wildlife of these Afghan regions. All the same, he knew that there were other wild predators than humans running around these mountains. He remembered how, back in the day, he and his troop had sat listening to the eerie howling of the wolves at night. There were bears and hyenas too, and once one of his men had sworn he’d glimpsed a leopard prowling near their camp. He didn’t like the idea of leaving poor Saleem lying there in the open to be eaten, so he moved his body back inside the van with Buchanan’s and covered them up as best he could. Saleem’s own people would have washed the body clean for admission to Heaven, wrapped him in a shroud and interred him on his right side facing towards Mecca.

Leaving the war dead behind unburied was a shitty deal at the best of times. Ben felt bad as he made his final preparations, wishing he could do more for them. That could so easily have been his body lying there in a bullet-chewed van in the middle of nowhere.

And then, he was ready. ‘Okay, Madison,’ he said out loud. ‘Here I come.’

Chapter 18