zigzagged across the valley and across the river, passing directly in front of Fahad. He sank down, his head just above the water. The spotlight moved on.
Within touching distance of the steep concrete face, Samir began his work. The rest of the team took up positions around him. No longer moving, Fahad shivered. He was unable to stop, his hands shaking. Concerned about his brother’s coordination, he moved to help him only to find he wasn’t readying the explosives: instead, he was chipping at the concrete.
– What are you doing?
The crash of the water released from the dam concealed their conversation. Samir said:
– If the explosives are planted just a short depth inside the concrete the force of the explosion will travel inwards, through the structure. It might even bring the whole thing down!
Fahad was furious.
– This wasn’t the plan. We have to damage it, that’s all. A hole is too risky. They’ll hear us! We don’t have time!
– The river is loud enough to conceal the sound of our work. Fahad implored er’s:
– You don’t have to do this to impress me. Set up the explosives and go! Stick to the plan! This isn’t about your pride!
Insulted, Samir turned away, striking the concrete again, trying to chisel a hole.
A spotlight snaked along the riverbank towards the face of the dam. This time its movements were deliberate and careful. They’d heard something. Fahad gestured for his men to duck, pulling his brother down with him. The spotlight hit the water, turning it as bright as day. Fahad prayed.
He reacted slowly to the first sound of gunfire, hoping that it wasn’t real, amazed by the power of denial, wanting so much to be able to turn back time and order his brother to stay at home. Still underwater, Fahad watched as the water around him turned red. He stood up. There was heavy gunfire, bullets chipping the concrete dam, ripping through the water. One of the men was floating on the surface. His brother was alive, pressed up against the dam, unable to move, paralysed with fear. Fahad reached out for the explosives. They would have to detonate them now, killing themselves but doing as much damage as possible. A bullet hit his brother in the face, his features disappearing. He dropped the bag. The explosives were swept away.
The two remaining men fired back, hopelessly, emptying their magazines at targets they couldn’t see. Fahad didn’t fire a shot, sinking to his knees, clasping his dead brother. He had failed. His love for his brother had blinded him. The boy was not a soldier. He should never have been allowed to come with them.
There was a rumble and the water level suddenly rose, from his waist up to his shoulders. The entire river swelled. The level of discharged surged. A mass of water was released from the dam. It crashed down around him. Fahad was separated from his brother’s body, picked up and lost in the newly created white rapids. Tossed downstream, he was helpless. A poor swimmer, he found himself underwater, his body pounded against the riverbed. He kicked hard, only for another wave to catch him, spinning him round. Smashed against a rock, he lost consciousness for a moment. When his thoughts returned, he was on the surface. The velocity of the river had dropped, the sudden swell had dispersed and he was able to keep himself from going under again.
In a matter of seconds he’d been carried several hundred metres downstream from the dam. The sound of machine-gun fire was distant. Alone, he allowed himself to be carried away by the river. Wretched, he wondered why he’d been saved.
Greater Province of Kabul City of Kabul Kabul Police Headquarters Dih Afghanan
Next Day
Leo and Nara had been rescued from the fire minutes before the roof collapsed. Several members of the mob had tried to climb up, at the points where the building wasn’t ablaze. Their determination forced Leo into action, kicking their hands and stamping on their faces. As more of the building was engulfed, including the shop underneath the apartment, the mob waited for the pair to die. Nara buried her head in Leo’s shoulder, unable to watch as the flames moved closer. The sheets of tin roofing buckled and bent, becoming too hot for their bare feet, forcing them to hop like schoolchildren playing a game. Just as they were on the brink of deciding whether to jump into the flames or into the mob below, a Soviet military detachment arrived, investigating the deteurbance.
Helped down, they were brought to the police station, examined by a doctor, given food, and then told the news. The reason they’d been saved by a military detachment was because martial law had been imposed on the city. The attack on Nara had not been an isolated incident. Every member of Leo’s class of trainee students had been targeted in a coordinated series of attacks. Nara was the only survivor. The murders took place within a four- hour period. Marking out the crimes on a map of the city it was evident that one set of attackers couldn’t have carried them all out. In total there were fifteen dead: nine students and six family members, either because they’d been obstructive or because they’d been considered complicit in their child’s education. The murders themselves were savage. The intent was two-fold: to kill and to provoke. Some victims were found with their throats cut, their tongues sliced off. One man had been decapitated, the Communist sickle cut into his forehead. These were attacks on the institution of the secret police and part of a propaganda war fought not on radio airwaves but in blood, an event with enough scale and horror to be talked about across the entire city. A message was being sent to those considering forming an alliance with the infidel government – death awaited them. Leo took no consolation from the fact that he had always been honest with his students about the dangers of the profession they’d chosen, warning them that they’d experience hatred as they’d never experienced before.
Unlike the other officers, Captain Vashchenko did not appear perturbed or tired, entering the room with his usual abrupt efficiency.
– Nara Mir, you did well to survive. We’re impressed by your strength. You are a powerful symbol that we cannot be beaten so easily. As the only survivor you are also the key to solving these crimes.
Leo raised his hand, interrupting:
– Nara has only recently started learning Russian. Perhaps I should translate.
The captain nodded, showing no embarrassment at his mistaken presumption. Once Leo had finished, the captain continued:
– These murders are a sensation. They were intended to be. The city’s population is talking of nothing else. For this reason, we must solve this crime today. It seems to me no coincidence that at the same time as trainee agents were being murdered an audacious attack was launched on the Sarobi Dam. Had it succeeded there would have been a power shortage across the entire city. The two events together would have dramatically undercut our authority and made it impossible to plausibly assert that we were in control. Fortunately the Sarobi Dam attack failed. We’re trying to identify the bodies of the bombers.
Hearing the translation, Nara asked:
– What about the man I injured?
– His body was removed from your home before we arrived. We found the blood but nothing more. One thing is for certain: this cannot be allowed to stand. In the same way that the deserting officer is to be executed in order to send a clear signal to our soldiers, we must send a clear signal to the Afghans that those who threaten our operation will be killed.
Leo didn’t translate, instead asking:
– Fyodor Mazurov is to be executed?
He glanced at Nara to see ifhe understood. The shock on her face confirmed that she had. It was a lesson that could not be taught – she was forced to experience the sensation for herself, responsibility for another person’s death. Blind to the nuances of these emotions, the captain was breezy in his summary.
– As I said, he must be made an example of. For the same reason, we must make an example of these attackers and return life in the city to normal. I have repealed the order for martial law. The impact of these crimes must be reduced, not exaggerated. Life will continue as normal. And we will catch the killers.
There was silence. Nara said, in awkward Russian:
– And the woman, Ara?
The captain was becoming impatient with their interest in matters he considered concluded.
