“But,” Josh starts.
“Josh, leave it now,” I interrupt him. “I want you to check the inventory on that equipment, make sure it is all present and correct.” I can see it in Josh’s face that he is about to protest and try and delve further. “Now, soldier!” I tell him before he does.
“Yes Sir,” he replies and goes to do exactly that.
Of course, I can understand Josh is confused and has legitimate questions as to why I would agree to take on this mission and leave Emily again, and he is wondering what leverage the Colonel has over me to get me to agree. I can only hope it won’t play on his mind for long because there is no way I am going to tell him that the Colonel used him as the bargaining chip to get me to agree; at least, I won’t tell him now, maybe when this is over. I need Josh’s attention on the mission, we can’t afford for him to be feeling guilty and torn because of what transpired between Colonel Reed and me, that could be fatal for the whole mission.
Josh is making a start at going through the equipment and Dan has gone over to him and is probably consoling him a bit, but knowing Dan, he is trying to take Josh’s mind off our conversation and moving it onto the mission where his mind needs to be.
“Captain,” Lieutenant Winters says from behind me and I turn to see that he has finished his calls and is coming back towards me.
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
“I have arranged for Second Lieutenant Ward to be transferred to your team; she will be transported here shortly.”
“Very good, thank you, Lieutenant,” I reply.
“Two Special Forces patrols are also inbound; they will be here in about thirty minutes, I’m afraid I can’t give you any more information on the patrols, at this time.”
“Do you know if they are both SAS?” I ask him.
“I don’t, Captain, all I know is that command is sending two patrols.”
A patrol of UK Special Forces consists of four men, meaning there will be eight joining my team. Each member of a patrol will have a specialist skill, along with their basic Special Forces training, like demolition or medic for example, but all will be highly skilled in combat procedures. The two main fighting branches of UK Special Forces are the SAS, (Special Air Services) and the SBS (Special Boat Services), both of which are among the elite of any combat forces in the world. I don’t say that out of any bias because I was UK Special Forces, believe me. I have seen action around the world with Special Forces from other countries and very few compare.
Whilst I will be confident of the men’s abilities if the patrols are from either branch of the Special Forces, it may be easier if they were both from the SAS. This is only because I was SAS and there is a deep-seated rivalry between the SAS and SBS and while I doubt there would be much of an issue if one or even both patrols were SBS. Especially in these times, I don’t want misguided rivalries affecting how we work as a team on the mission.
Another issue, if they are SBS, is that I was a Royal Marine who decided to join the SAS instead of the SBS. This can be seen as treachery by some in the SBS because the Royal Marines are sea-based and the vast majority of Royal Marines who join the Special Forces go for the SBS as a natural progression. Some SBS operators also have a tendency to look down on Royal Marines, and they see them as somehow inferior, as some SAS do with the Parachute Regiment. This could be an issue for Dan; he was a bloody fine Royal Marine Commando but never felt the calling to try for Special Forces. I personally never had any time for these rivalries. SAS, SBS, Marine or Para—as far as I was concerned, we were all part of the same fighting force and as long as you did your job that was good enough for me.
“Do you know where my daughter is now?” I ask the Lieutenant.
“Yes Captain, she has been moved to the family area, close to the food area where she was when you left.”
“Okay, good, I think now will be the best time to go and see her, before the patrols arrive, don’t you?” I ask him and the Lieutenant agrees.
Before we leave to see Emily, which I know is going to be difficult, I go and see Dan and Josh. Josh seems to have put his questions to one side, at least for now, and his mind seems to be on the task at hand. He is getting through taking an inventory of the equipment, with some help from Dan. I explain where I am going and ask for them both to hold down the fort here while I am gone, which they agree to with no problems. I do warn them, however, that the Special Forces patrols may arrive before I get back and I ask Dan to get them to double-check their equipment and wait for my return when I will brief them on the mission.
“I’ll handle them, Boss, no worries,” Dan says with confidence.
Special Forces operators can be cantankerous and a law unto themselves at times, something I was guilty of when I was still active. This wasn’t, at least for me arrogance, it was because I was always at peak physical fitness, I trained as hard as possible, drilled over and over. I was to some extent a tightly wound spring. The last thing I or my colleagues needed was some ‘Herbert’ trying to tell us how to do our job; we knew how to do it better than anyone, and we were always prepared for action. We craved it!
The downtime was the worst, both on and off base, it
