Friendly Fire (A Spider Shepherd short story) Read online

  They were now hidden from the battlefield and the sound of firing had faded, carried away on the wind. As they moved on, the upper reaches of the valley opened up to them and he could see a notch in the skyline, a narrow pass towards which the group was heading. As he stared towards it, Shepherd saw two figures waiting by it, holding the reins of a group of mountain ponies. ‘Faster Taj,’ he said, quickening his own pace. He looked back. Lex was falling behind but he didn’t have time to wait for him.

  Taj and Shepherd moved on at route march speed, no longer attempting to conceal their pursuit, the gap steadily narrowing. At last, Shepherd called a halt, trying to calm his laboured breathing as he took the sniper rifle from his back and once more sight-zeroed it, begrudging the time it took, but knowing the jolting it had taken on the march along the ridge would have thrown it off. He studied the group through the scope as they reached the horses and began to mount. The tall figure showed his profile as he was helped on to a horse and Shepherd made a positive ID. It was Muj 1 - Osama Bin Laden.

  ‘Sunray, Sierra 5. Muj 1. Positive ID. 100%. Permission to fire.’

  ‘Negative,’ said the Major. ‘Do not engage. Do not disobey this order.’

  ‘What? I have him cold. He’s the reason we’re all here.’

  ‘Negative. Permission refused. Do not engage.’

  ‘Are you insane?’

  ‘The Yanks want to do it. 9/11 gives them that right. We’re the junior partner here.’

  ‘So where are they - waiting for their helmet-cams so George Dubya and the boys back home can watch?’

  ‘Delta Force are now in the caves but they can’t find him.’

  ‘That’s because he isn’t there. Muj 1 is almost out of the head of the valley. I’ve got him in my sights. I can take him right now.’

  ‘Negative. Permission refused. Do not engage.’

  Shepherd cursed under his breath, then dropped to the ground and lay still, calming his breathing as he brought up the rifle until Bin Laden’s head filled the scope. He was in the middle of the line of horsemen and now almost at the summit of the pass, in a narrow defile between two rocky crags. It was now or never. He took up the first pressure, exhaled and fired. Bin Laden’s head disappeared from the scope but there was no spray of blood. Instead, the rider in front of him now filled the scope, his back arched and arms flung wide as he slumped from his horse.

  Shepherd swung the scope down. Bin Laden’s horse was on its knees. It had stumbled in the instant that Shepherd had fired. Muj 1 was now scrambling from the saddle, stepping over the prone body of his comrade and scrambling for the summit. Three of his escorts ran with him. The others, heedless of their own safety, stood in the open firing at the point from which the muzzle flash had come.

  Shepherd ignored the incoming fire. He found his target again in the scope and fired in one movement, but Bin Laden was already diving for the cover of the rocks at the summit, and he disappeared from sight as the round struck the rock face and ricocheted away.

  Shepherd scrambled to his feet and he and Taj set off at a run, using fire and movement to keep the muj heads down, but they had gone a couple of hundred yards when the wind strengthened still more and the snow flurries became a blizzard. They struggled on but eventually Taj put his hand on Shepherd’s arm. ‘Even I cannot find my way in a white-out, my friend. We have to turn back.’

  Shepherd hesitated then gave a grudging nod. ‘Sunray, Sierra 5,’ he said for the benefit of his radio. ‘Call off the dogs. Muj 1’s gone. He’ll be in Pakistan before daybreak. Oh, and Sunray, be sure to thank Delta Force for me, won’t you? There’ll be a price to pay for this fuck up.’ He switched off his radio and cursed under his breath.

  Taj patted him on the back. ‘You did your best, my friend.’

  ‘It wasn’t good enough,’ said Shepherd bitterly.

  ‘We’ll get another chance one day, insh’allah,’ said the Afghan.

  ‘I bloody well hope so,’ said Shepherd.

  ###

  Spider Shepherd left the SAS at the end of 2002 and joined an elite police undercover unit. You can read the first of his undercover adventures in Hard Landing, where he goes undercover in a high security prison to unmask a drugs dealer who is killing off witnesses to his crimes.

  Hard Landing is available in the UK for 49p at – http://amzn.to/xxX2YU

  And in the US for less than a dollar at – http://amzn.to/xWg1E7

  You can read more about Stephen Leather’s work at www.stephenleather.com

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  Friendly Fire (A Spider Shepherd short story)