Blood Lily Company - Afghanistan, year 1

LXXXI

Sorry to have kept you waiting, but I've been very busy and now that I have time, I can write.

Sometimes I forget that I live in a country at war and that my job is precisely to wage war. And, oddly, when something very military, very warlike happens to us, I am somewhat surprised.

Lin says it's because I kept my innocence. Well, I have a doubt or two or three. But I'm not a great philosopher, so, when I don't mind trying to know myself, it's still not easy when I have to kill to survive.

Anyway. So after what had happened, the massacre of the villagers by Durrani's men, the massacre of Durrani's men by my comrades, the decision we had made to go deeper into enemy territory, we knew to expect that the shit would continue to hit the fan.

So, we were starting to worry that we might have to think about sleeping there, we were broiling in the sun, or close enough, a little dazed by the heat, and suddenly, several things happened at the same time.

Our earpieces hissed, almost ruining our eardrums.

Kris, white as a sheet, turned around, facing the top of the eminence that overlooked our eyrie.

Baby Jane said, calmly, « Incoming. Visitors. »

Kris yelled « Erik! »

The giant stood up, facing the same direction as his brother.

A dark mass fell from the top.

Right on top of the Viking who caught it in the air, falling to his knees then on his back, with the weight of it.

There were growling, Icelandic swearing, Dari swearing, which Erk doesn't understand, a knife flew straight at Kris, who turned on his stomach immediately, the knife burying itself in his backpack.

Then the heaving heap in the center of the bowl came to a standstill and Erk pushed the body of his attacker away.

- Guys, said Baby Jane, I have two vehicles on approach, full of angry blokes armed with the latest generation of AK guns...

- Quenotte, the comms? Erk asked.

- Scrambled...

- Like eggs, said Tito in a low voice, then he immediately looked embarrassed. Sorry.

We chuckled.

- No, it's a good one, Tito, Kris said. Fine.

He had collected himself, he was no longer pale, and he was holding the knife that had killed his backpack in his hand, keeping his eyes fixed on the blade.

- Quenotte, he said, what are the possibilities for reaching the base?

- Smartphones?

- Hmm, he raised his eyes. Tell me, a priori, Jo's tweaking makes them impossible to spot or triangulate?

- Supposedly. But without contacting the base to make sure, it is impossible to know.

- Yeah... and since these are personal cell phones... I would hate to put a target on one of you because you used your own smartphone to help us out.

- Kris, Tito said, can we try via satellite? The link that Archer has with the sats?

- It's a good idea. But... Damn, none of us have the knowledge to know if it's possible or not. If we send a message, it could end up like a bottle at sea...

- What about a flare? Kitty asked.

- Excellent idea, miss. You take care of it. See with Erik, who has the map, for the direction to fire your flare to. Tito and Archer, between the two of you, try to send a S.O.S. via GPS or your satellite overlay. Quenotte, do you think it's only our earpieces that are dead?