Where Are We Now
Chapter23
Afghanistan
Dawn broke and the mastiffs were there for them to load up with supplies ready for the trip into the mountains. At the last minute Dr Bahil had to cancel as there had been a suicide bomber near to the hospital and there were a number of civilian casualties along with a couple of American soldiers that she and Dr Antonio needed to deal with. As Jackie had Theatre experience from her days in Bastion she was staying behind to assist at the hospital and Ruby would also remain behind and be mentored by Jackie in theatre. That only left her and Mimi as the medics to help with the vaccinations.
"Load up let's move" Kingy bellowed. Captain Hurst had decided not to stick with the sections but to mix them up, try and get better cohesion between them and working as a team. So Kingy along with Brains and Dangles from 1 section 4 rifles, Monk, Throbber and Prof from 2 section, Roberts and Davis from 3 section along with Molly and Mimi as medics would be on this mission.
The Mastiff bounced and jerked across the terrain and up the mountain, after a few hours they were nearing their destination and could see entrances to the caves cut into the side of the mountain. They pulled up, disembarked and made their way into the first cave entrance they saw. It was damp with a musty smell and it took some time for their eyes to adjust to the dim light from the bright sunlight they had just come from.
Colour Sergeant King raised his arm in a sign to halt the move forward. While there were signs that someone was living in this cave there was no one there. Kingy continued to move forward, motioned for Monk to follow and they went further into the cave.
"Where is everyone" said Brains looking around at pots, pans and what looked like bedding with no sign of the people they belonged to. "It's a bit off the beaten track here, they can't be far away" he continued.
There was a roar of an engine and they were momentarily blinded by headlights and a cloud of dust before a truck skidded to a halt in front of them. All ten soldiers swung into action pointing their weapons at the truck unable to see who was in it from the volume of sand over the windscreen and the dust it had generated in the cave.
"Hands up" shouted Kingy "Hands where we can see them"
There was a huge explosion and more dust blew in from the entrance and all of them dropped to the floor.
"What the Fuck was that" shouted Dangles his ears ringing from the explosion
"Dangles, Brains, move to the entrance see what's happened and we will keep eyes on this shower" ordered Kingy.
Both men got up and edged to the entrance using the walls as some form of cover. The cave seemed darker but that could just be the dust.
"Oh shit" exclaimed Dangles
"Understatement mate, what the fuck happened, where's the fucking entrance?"
"I reckon that was an RPG but who are those tossers in here with us, we better get back"
"Report Dangles, Brains what's out there?" ordered Kingy
"Looks like an explosion at the entrance there is no way out"
Kingy turned back to the truck. The engine had been turned off and he could now see 3 local men sitting inside. From his many tours of Afghanistan, he had picked up a smattering of Pashto and told the men to get out with their hands up. The driver's door opened and the first of them stepped out.
"No need for that mate and you can put your weapons down we're British"
Kingy walked closer to him so he could see him better in the headlights of the truck. He nodded and lowered his weapon
"Lower weapons" he ordered "I remember you, seen you in Bangladesh at the raid with the drug dealers"
The other two men also got out the truck and Molly was staring at one intently before grinning, she would know that beard anywhere. She had met Spanner a few times when Elvis was alive. Elvis liked a barbeque and liked all his friends to be there when he did, Spanner and his wife always welcome along with Spunky and Peanut and their partners. They were always very loud and drunken barbeques with Spanner on his guitar and the rest of them singing crap at the top of their voices.
She moved forward towards him "that beard gets bushier every time I see you, you could still pass for Wicket"
The man next to him turned to look at him with a slightly bemused expression "Wicket"
"Jackson let me introduce you to our little cockney half pint with a passion for Star Wars, this is Corporal Molly Dawes-James and don't ever let her start one of her drinking games you'll be pissing vodka for a week".
Jackson threw his head back and laughed "Yeah! I can see it now you do have a look of an Ewok, all cuddly"
"Piss off Jackson" but he was laughing as he put an arm around Molly in greeting "Have you met our new Boss, Molly? And she shook her head.
"Right, no formalities here, I'm Blue" he said to the group of now confused and worried soldiers "I suggest we sit while we explain what has happened and then work out what we are going to do" he continued with some authority, Kingy bowing to the superior rank.
Using the upturned boxes that were scattered round the cave they sat while Blue explained what was going on. Apparently they had been on a mission in the area to infiltrate a suspected Taliban camp which was hoarding weapons, to be used in Kabul. Their task was to destroy said weapons, which they had done and the mission was a success.
What they hadn't realised was that there was a small fraction of men that were not in the camp and when they were leaving they followed what they didn't notice was that they had an RPG launcher in the back which they appear to have used and caused the entrance to collapse leaving them all trapped.
Mimi whimpered "Are we trapped here then are we going to die here" Kingy frowned he didn't want her getting hysterical and causing the rest of the men to start panicking, so he nodded at Molly to sort her out.
Molly got up to sit next to her and put her arm around her shoulders "It will be alright, we'll get out, might take a while but we will get out"
"They know we are here, back at camp" she started "When we don't check in they will come looking. There is a regiment of Royal Engineers here somewhere and I expect the Septics have a similar regiment so they will be sent here to dig us out"
"We might run out of air" she said tearfully
"Nah we won't air will get in somewhere, might pen and ink a bit after a while with 10 blokes in here but we won't run out" Mimi sniggered at the last remark. She really did need to calm down but she was glad that she wasn't the only girl here and that Molly was there too, she already sensed Molly's kindness and respected her experience.
"Why are you here?" asked Blue
"The Brig was asked to supply medics and a small team to come here to vaccinate kids but when we got here there was no one here" replied Kingy he shook his head "Looks like some sort of setup"
"I would say capturing 10 British Soldiers and using them as hostages would be pretty much a coup" nodded Blue "Good job we came along and joined your party"
"I suggest we do guard rotation at the entrance to see if we can hear anything from outside and make sure that no insurgents get through" stated Blue "Kingy can you organise 3-hour shift pattern two men on each shift and include all of us".
"We have some supplies in the truck if your guys go through their Bergans we pool resources" he carried on with instructions "Spanner, Jackson check out the entire cave see if there are any other exits. Brains, Monk find a quiet corner to use as a latrine, I think it's safe to say we will be here for a while, see if there is any water about. We have a portable stove in the back of the truck so we can boil any water we find and cook anything we find to eat".
Both men nodded but were wincing they had a funny feeling that they didn't really want to be eating anything supplied by the SAS it might not be standard army issue rations.
As they walked away Monk said, "I hope they find us quick, I have a bad feeling we are going to be eating rat or something equally horrible".
"I think you might be right there" replied Brains not sure if he felt like throwing up at the very thought of it.
The rest of them continued to sit in the main area while plans were being made.
"Who knew you were coming here?" asks Blue
"What apart from the Brig" said Kingy
"Well it can't be Dr Bahil can it she asked the Brig for people to help with this and then didn't come because of the bomb blast yesterday evening" added Molly
"Well could have been anyone in her team that knew, and what better than to get your hands on 10 British soldiers to use as hostages" said Blue shrugging his shoulders
.
Aldershot
Lieutenant Colonel Beck was striding across the parade ground at Keogh and entered the medical block, he continued marching down the corridor until he saw the door with the name plate of Major Baxter, he knocked and entered.
"Sir" said Baxter standing and saluting
"Sit" said Beck "I need a word." Major Baxter had a quizzical look on his face as he was unsure of why a Lieutenant Colonel in the Infantry would want a word with him.
"I've had news from Kabul this morning" said Beck "Not good news and I am not sure how to deal with it".
"Well if I can be of help…" started Baxter
"How is Major James and his counselling coming along? Obviously I have seen some reports but in all honesty and off the record is he coping?"
"I would say he is doing very well Sir" Baxter was starting to get a feeling that something wasn't right, the Lt Col was fidgeting and fiddling with his cap "He still comes for counselling of course but not as frequently as he now accepts that the death of his friend Captain Harte could not be attributed to him….."
"What about his feelings for his wife, how is he dealing with that?"
"From what I can gather they are seeing each other again and he is hopeful that she will eventually forgive him. Do I take it that something has happened to Molly?"
"Yes, and I need to know how he will react when I tell him"
"Probably the same as any of us if we hear bad news about our families. I don't think he will have the breakdown he had after Bangladesh but he is bound to blame himself he tried to stop her going"
"I've known Molly many years" Beck laughed "I don't think he would have been able to do that once she's made her mind up."
"Would you like me to come with you Sir?"
"No, I need to do this myself but leave the morning free in case he needs some support, I will suggest it to him".
"Do you mind telling me Sir what has happened in case he comes here?"
Beck looked at him with sad eyes "Not sure, they are all MIA, we know roughly where they were going but they haven't come back and now an SF team have vanished in the same area, so we are taking it very seriously".
He got up nodded at Baxter turned on his heal and left to make his way to Charles camp. Once there he knocked and walked in, Charles stood and smiled and asked if he would like a coffee. Beck couldn't help but grin back when he saw his beloved coffee machine on the windowsill and a selection of pods.
Charles made the coffees before asking why Beck was there.
"Sit Charles, there is something I need to tell you" Charles knew instantly
"Is she injured, how badly?"
"No, no Charles" he stuttered "Well we don't know she's missing"
"What, she said she was going into the mountains on a routine mission to vaccinate children. What the bloody hell happened?"
"Look Charles I am in direct contact with Captain Hurst and these are the details so far. Molly was part of a 10-man team that went about 80 miles north of Kabul to vaccinate some very vulnerable children. There may have been some prior knowledge that they were going as there was an explosion in the city near the hospital and there were several casualties meaning some of the intended team weren't on the expedition"
He stopped to take a sip of his coffee and all Charles wanted to do was grab him by the lapels and shake him to hurry him up, he wanted to know where Molly was and now.
"Unknown to us Special Forces were also operating in the area to disable a stash of weapons destined to be used in Kabul, we think." Charles thought of Nigeria and where Georgie had inadvertently stumbled on Bones operation and it went pete tong. Please not that and not in Afghan where there had particularly nasty methods for negotiating using hostages.
"Has she been taken hostage?"
"There is no evidence of that Charles, no demands have been received" he hesitated again "The Mastiff they were travelling in has vanished, or rather the tracker in it has vanished. I am now in contact with my counterpart in SF to see if there were any trackers on the SF operatives that we can use to find our men as well as theirs."
"So, there is every possibility they are still alive and that she is with SF somewhere?"
Yes Charles. You may know the team I believe they were in Bangladesh helping with the kidnapping of that child"
"Would that be Blue" he asked
"I believe that is his code name"
He let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding, yes he knew these men, Blue, Spanner and Jackson. Spanner had served with Elvis and Molly knew him well, they had been at many a barbeque together at Elvis', if anyone could get her out of this they would. They were very experienced.
"I will keep you updated Charles and as soon as we find them I will let you know." He looked at Charles intently but he was looking down at his pen which he was rotating in his hands. "Charles go and see Ted if you need to"
He nodded in response but he wasn't sure he did. He would know surely if something had happened to Molly, feel it somehow. He knew she was out there somewhere.
"We'll keep in touch Charles, I'll let you know as soon as I have any more information but I thought you should know"
"Thanks Roger" he sighed "I suppose I ought to let her family know"
"We can get family liaison to do that if you want"
"No, I'll do it" Beck stood put his cap back on and said he would be in touch again when he had more news before leaving Charles office.
Charles lent back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He knew Molly shouldn't have gone but he also knew that he couldn't stop her. She made it quite clear when they were at Pennyhill she could look after herself and right at this minute he really hoped that she could. He needed to phone people and let them know. His mum and Sam would be devastated but there was one call he had to make first before all of them. He picked up his phone and scrolled down to find the number and it started ringing.
"Well, Well, Well Charlie Boy" said the voice "I didn't think you would have the nerve to phone after all this time"
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose
"Hello Nan"