Zappa returned from the group of captured jihadists carrying a large backpack full of passports and border permits.
‘Yup, we got the usual shit here. We got Yemenis, Saudis, Jordanians, Syrians – just like you said, Major. We got some Iraqis from Tikrit. We even got us an Algerian. We may even have us a leader of Ansar al-Sunna. Won’t that look nice in the report?’
He threw the bag up into the air; it landed with an empty thump on the ground. Jolo’s horse began chewing at it.
‘No, Bucephalus! Later!’
‘Bucephalus?’
‘Captain Jolo, this is Vincent Zappa, DIA, Mosul.’
‘Honoured, sir!’
‘Wasn’t Bucephalus…?’
‘Alexander the Great’s horse, yes Mr Dappa. His spirit returns to us.’
‘It’s Zappa, Captain.’
‘Yes, Dappa.’
‘OK, it’s Dappa! Pleased to meet you. And you must be the Scourge of the East!’
Jolo laughed.
‘Like I said, Major. We got us a fine bag. Medals all round.’
‘Medal?’ Jolo’s eyes lit up. ‘I like a medal. I put it on my sash.’
Richmond started coughing, feverishly, then passed out.
‘Hasil! Hasil! How long for helicopters to come for Major?’
Hasil shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
Ashe got on to the Humvee and found a blanket for Richmond. Hasil nodded to the contact on the other end of the mobile. ‘They come soon! They come for Major!’
‘Don’t forget poor Laski here!’
‘No one is forgotten. Come with me, Tobbiash, to friends in Bashiqa.’
‘Bashiqa… That’s in the Sheikhan, isn’t it?’
‘Not very far from Mosul. East. Good country. The Sheikhan is good country. Our country.’
‘What about Vinny and the major?’ Ashe was thinking of his task.
‘Mr Dappa, will you join us?’
‘Captain Jolo, I’d just love to join you and Toby and all the Yezidis at Bashiqa. Really I would. But I got work to do in Mosul. There ain’t much time.’
‘Oh yeah? Nice try, Vinny. I know you’re fed up of me hanging round your neck. But I don’t think my superiors are gonna be happy with my taking a paid sabbatical.’
‘Hey, bud, don’t get me wrong. You’ve done your share. And I love your company. But how about giving Vinny some arm- and leg-room here? I’m workin’ best on my own.’
‘But—’
‘Listen, my clever friend, the second I got beans on our Turkish friends Yildiz and Yazar, you’ll hear from me. Might even bring ’em to you direct! Express service, how about that? Now give Vinny a break. You head off with Jolo. Hell! You’ll be a lot safer with him in Bashiqa than with me in Mosul. I don’t want you slowin’ me down.’
Jolo looked upset. ‘Turks, Mr Dappa?’
‘Not friends necessarily, Captain. But I’d know better if I could just locate ’em.’
‘We help you. My people help you.’
‘I’d appreciate that.’
For all his curiosity about the Yezidis, Ashe wasn’t ready to part from Vinny and Richmond. ‘Really, Vin, it’s Mosul for me, come what may. I’ve got to see the major’s all right and stay close to things.’
‘Now, Toby—’
Jolo pointed to the skies. ‘Look! Choppers!’
Three Chinooks from Tel Afar swooped down towards them. Seeking landing space, they hovered overhead, their lights darting beams across the desert floor.
Zappa waved at the chopper crews. ‘Hey, taxi! Over here!’
The Chinooks landed and three US medics leapt out and raced over to Richmond. Zappa rushed to greet them. Pointing at Ashe, Zappa tried to say something to one of the medics, but couldn’t be heard against the roar of the choppers. He steered the medic towards Ashe, then returned to help with Richmond.
‘Dr Ashe?’
‘Yeah. Hadn’t you better help with the major?’
‘He’s gonna be just fine. My colleagues can handle him, sir. Hear you’ve had some trouble here. How ya feelin’?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Breathing, sir. Are you feeling breathless, Dr Ashe?’
Ashe was taken aback. ‘Breathless? Well, since you ask, it’s been a bit tight since the battle. I hadn’t really noticed.’
‘Yeah, I can see y’all been busy here. Wait there please.’
The medic ran over to consult his colleagues as they strapped the major’s stretcher to one of the Chinooks. Returning with a stethoscope, the medic smiled. ‘Shirt up, Dr Ashe! Now breathe in and out slowly.’
The Chinook carrying Richmond rose into the sky, whipping up the sand. The medic started coughing. Ashe was anxious to get away, but the medic held his shoulder, pressing the stethoscope diaphragm firmly to Ashe’s chest and back. ‘Now cough, sir. And again. Once more. Now breathe in slowly, sir. And out again.’ He took the stethoscope from his ears. ‘OK, Dr Ashe. If you’re a medical doctor, I won’t have to explain pneumothorax to you.’
‘I’m a doctor of philosophy, Doctor.’
‘OK. You’ve had quite a shock. Been knocked about? Heavy weight on your body?’
‘You could say that.’
‘OK, you’ve had more than the usual amount of air in your lungs. Abnormal breathing. I don’t want you in the chopper, sir.’
‘Not you as well!’
‘I can’t be sure right here, but I think you might have excess air in your pleural space – between your chest wall and lungs. The atmospherics up there could exacerbate a pneumothorax. I am not joking, Dr Ashe. You better stay on dry land, sir, and try to take it easy. Can you do that?’
Ashe nodded.
‘If breathing is not completely normal tomorrow, or if you feel at all uncomfortable with it, or if you have a dry cough you can’t explain, you get your friends to take you to an army hospital, d’ya hear? And, Dr Ashe, I recommend you keep far away from stressful situations. At least for a few days.’
‘I’ll try.’
Zappa returned to Ashe. ‘What was that about stress?’
‘Very clever, Vinny.’
‘I was concerned for you, Toby. I knew you wouldn’t take it from me. I’ve seen these things before.’
Ashe looked over to Hasil and his fellow horsemen as they lined up the Arab prisoners for the long walk back to the US base at Mosul. ‘Couldn’t I go with them?’
‘Stress-free, Toby. Guarding terrorist prisoners is not what I’d call stress-free. Now I don’t want to hear any more about it. And I gotta run. May the good Lord bless and keep you, Toby. You’re in good hands.’
Ashe smiled. ‘I’ll miss you, Vin.’
‘And d’you know somethin’, you Limey bastard?’
‘What’s that?’
‘I’ll cope.’
As Zappa disappeared into the third Chinook, Ashe looked up to see Jolo waiting on horseback.
With a final burst of energy, an exhausted Ashe climbed onto Bucephalus and he, Jolo and a detachment of thirty Yezidis rode eastwards beneath the stars to Bashiqa.