2-20

 

20.

We could see the lights of Musa Qala in the distance. February 2008.

Our tanks were in a harbor and we were eating dinner out of bags, talking in low voices.

After the meal, around midnight, I went on radio stag. Sitting in the back of a Spartan¹, the bigdoor open, I had the desk pulled down and I was taking notes off the radio. My only light was adim bulb overhead in a wire cage. The stars in the desert sky were brighter than that bulb, andseemed closer.

I was running the radio off the Spartan’s battery, so every now and then I’d start the engine togive the battery a charge. I didn’t like making noise, for fear of attracting the Taliban’s attention,but I had no choice.

After a while I tidied up the Spartan, poured myself a cup of hot chocolate from a thermos,which didn’t warm me. Nothing could. The desert could get so cold. I was wearing desertcombats, desert boots, a green puffer, a wool beanie—and still shivering.

I tweaked the radio’s volume, tried to pick up the voices between its crackles and squelches².

Mission reports being sent in. Info about mail deliveries. Messages being passed through battlegroup net, none of which related to my squadron.

I think it was about one a.m. when I heard several people talking about Red Fox.

Zero Alpha, the officer in command, was telling someone that Red Fox this and Red Foxthat…I jotted³ a few notes, but stopped writing and looked up at the stars when I heard themmention…C Squadron.

The voices were saying that this Red Fox was in trouble, no doubt about it.

I made out that Red Fox was a person. Had he done something wrong?

No.

Were others planning to do him wrong?

Yes.

Judging from the tone of the voices, Red Fox was about to be murdered. I swallowed amouthful of hot chocolate and blinked at the radio and knew with total certainty that Red Fox wasme.

Now the voices were saying more explicitly⁴ that Red Fox’s cover had been blown, that he wasexposed to the enemy, that he needed to be extracted immediately.

Fuck, I said. Fuck fuck fuck.

My mind flashed back to Eton. The fox I’d glimpsed, when stoned, from the window of theloo. So, he really had been a messenger from the future after all. One day you’ll be alone, late atnight, in the darkness, hunted like me…see how you like it.

Next day we went on patrol and I was full-on paranoid, worried I’d be recognized. I wore ashemagh tightly over my face, with blacked-out ski goggles⁵, while keeping my head on a swiveland my finger tight on the trigger of my machine gun.

After dusk Special Forces collected me, their Chinook escorted by two Apaches I was chattingwith over the radio. They flew me across the valley, back to FOB Edinburgh. We landed indarkness and I couldn’t see a thing. I ran into the FOB, then into a green canvas tent, where it waseven darker.

I heard a squeak⁶.

A soft light came on.

A man stood before me, screwing a small lightbulb into a socket⁷ dangling⁸ from the roof.

Colonel Ed.

His long face seemed longer than I remembered, and he was wearing a long green overcoat,like something straight out of the First World War. He filled me in on what happened. AnAustralian magazine had outed me, told the world I was in Afghanistan. The magazine wasinconsequential, so no one noticed at first, but then some bell-end in America picked up the story,posted it on his worthless website, and that got picked up by the crawlers. Now the news waseverywhere. The worst-kept secret in the Milky⁹ Way was the presence of one Prince Harry¹⁰ inHelmand Province.

So—you’re out.

Colonel Ed apologized. He knew this wasn’t when or how I wanted to end my tour of duty. Onthe other hand, he wanted me to know that his superiors had been pressing for weeks to pull me,so I was lucky the tour hadn’t been shorter. I’d eluded¹¹ the powers that be, and the Taliban, andmanaged to put together a respectably long stint¹² with a sterling¹³ record. Bravo, he said.

I was on the verge¹⁴ of begging to stay, but I could see there was no chance. My presence wouldput everyone around me in grave peril¹⁵. Including Colonel Ed. Now that the Taliban knew I was inthe country, and roughly where, they’d throw everything they had into killing¹⁶ me. The Armydidn’t want me dying, but it was the same story as one year earlier: The Army was extra keen thatothers not die because of me.

I shared that sentiment.

I shook Colonel Ed’s hand, left the tent. I grabbed my few belongings¹⁷, said a few quickgoodbyes, then jumped back on the Chinook, which was still turning and burning.

Within an hour I was back in Kandahar.

I showered, shaved, got ready to catch a big plane bound for England. There were othersoldiers milling about, waiting to board as well. Their mood was very different. They were alljubilant. Going home.

I stared at the ground.

Eventually we all began to realize that the boarding process was taking an inordinately¹⁸ longtime.

What’s the holdup? we asked, impatiently.

A crew member said we were waiting on one last passenger.

Who?

A Danish soldier’s coffin¹⁹ was being loaded into the cargo²⁰ hold.

We all fell silent.

When we eventually got on, and took off, the curtain at the front of the plane swung openbriefly. I could see three guys on hospital beds. I unbuckled my seatbelt, walked up the aisle²¹ anddiscovered three gravely injured British soldiers. One, I recall, had gruesome injuries from an IED.

Another was wrapped head to toe in plastic. Despite being unconscious, he was clutching a testtube containing bits of shrapnel removed from his neck and head.

I spoke²² with the doctor caring for them, asked if the lads would live. He didn’t know. But evenif they did, he said, they faced a very tough road.

I felt angry with myself for having been so self-absorbed. I spent the rest of that flight thinkingabout the many young men and women going home in similar shape, and all the ones not goinghome at all. I thought about the people at home who didn’t know the first thing about this war—bychoice. Many opposed it, but few knew a damned thing about it. I wondered why. Whose job wasit to tell them?

Oh, yes, I thought. The press.

 

1 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

2 squelches   

v.发吧唧声，发扑哧声( squelch的第三人称单数 )；制止；压制；遏制

参考例句：

3 jotted   

v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下

参考例句：

• I jotted down her name. 我匆忙记下了她的名字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policeman jotted down my address. 警察匆匆地将我的地址记下。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

6 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

7 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

8 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

9 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

10 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

11 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

13 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

14 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

15 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

18 inordinately   

adv.无度地，非常地

参考例句：

• But if you are determined to accumulate wealth, it isn't inordinately difficult. 不过，如果你下决心要积累财富，事情也不是太难。 来自互联网
• She was inordinately smart. 她非常聪明。 来自互联网

19 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

20 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

21 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

22 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。