never met Rob's ex-wife. He'd looked for traces of her in Tom, the part that didn't seem to have come from Rob, but it was hard to tell. Tom was the stealth version of his dad, quiet and self-possessed. It was hard for Mike to look at him without imagining what a son of his own would be like.
"You okay, Zombie?" Rob asked.
"Still waiting for Livvie's answer."
"Right." Rob knew what he was talking about and didn't press him. "Stay sharp."
The twenty-mile road to Dibeg was a flat, straight route across a scrubby plain with no cover either side and no choke points. It was safer than a winding route through ambush-friendly terrain, and a combination of mini-drone patrols and tele-controlled unmanned ground vehicles reduced the risk of IEDs. But Mike had known enterprising locals plant explosives again on exactly the same spot within thirty minutes of the first one being cleared. The TUGV couldn't stop mobile attacks on the road itself, either.
Mike could rely on Rob to spot trouble, though. He knew they were looking for the same indicators: disturbed soil, breakdowns minus drivers, odd litter, and even dead animals, anything vaguely off-key. Five miles out, the bus approached the first side road. Teetotal's voice came on the radio.
" Red One to Red Two, blocking. All yours, Royal. "
That was Rob's cue to overtake the bus and move into the lead position while Teetotal pulled across the junction to stop any other vehicles separating the bus from its escort. As soon as the bus cleared the junction, Teetotal pulled out again and moved in close behind. The bounding overwatch system was repeated at each junction.
"See, I'd be fine doing close protection if it was all driving," Rob said. "But I'm not carrying shopping for some celeb or picking up their snotty brats from school."
"You just want to do screeching J-turns, don't you?"
"It's my hormones, Zombie."
Small motorcycles passed them in the opposite direction, wobbling under the load of baskets or pillion passengers. Mike watched them carefully with his H&K 416 by his leg and one hand resting on his sidearm. A bike, side panniers overflowing with vegetables, puttered slowly ahead them. Mike couldn't tell if it was going as fast as it could or trying to make them pass, but it wasn't low enough on its suspension to be laden with explosives. Rob checked the mirror.
"Red Two, passing, clear ahead."
He pulled out to overtake. Mike glanced at the bike just as something green flew into the air and bounced back towards them.
"Shit — "
Rob didn't even have time to swerve. Mike braced for an explosion before the thing splattered on the road in a spray of seeds and juice. It was still a bowel-loosening moment. Rob sucked in a breath.
"Nearly needed a change of boxers there, mate," he said.
" Red One to Red Two -- you okay, Royal? "
"Red One, no problem. I just shat myself. Flying fruit." Rob drove on, checking the rear-view with a big grin on his face. "Sorry, Zombie."
Mike did this run so often that he could almost set his watch by it – half an hour, maybe forty minutes if there was a slow freight convoy or a stray goat on the road. It wasn't urban-busy, but it wasn't deserted, either.
It was starting to look that way now, though. The traffic thinned out. Then he couldn't see anything coming towards them. If an attack was planned, locals were often warned to stay clear.
Mike got on the radio. "Red One, anything behind you?"
" Sweet FA, " Teetotal said. " Let's start worrying. "
Rob's scan pattern — rear-view, left mirror, right mirror, rear — speeded up. It didn't matter that Dibeg was just minutes away. It only took seconds to get hit.
Teetotal sounded relaxed, but he always did. " Red One to Red two, still nothing behind. "
Mike was looking for something mobile like a parked truck with a command wire. They were now seven miles from Dibeg. If anything was going to happen, it'd be in the next few minutes.
Then he saw it. It wasn't a truck, and it wasn't
"You okay, Zombie?" Rob asked.
"Still waiting for Livvie's answer."
"Right." Rob knew what he was talking about and didn't press him. "Stay sharp."
The twenty-mile road to Dibeg was a flat, straight route across a scrubby plain with no cover either side and no choke points. It was safer than a winding route through ambush-friendly terrain, and a combination of mini-drone patrols and tele-controlled unmanned ground vehicles reduced the risk of IEDs. But Mike had known enterprising locals plant explosives again on exactly the same spot within thirty minutes of the first one being cleared. The TUGV couldn't stop mobile attacks on the road itself, either.
Mike could rely on Rob to spot trouble, though. He knew they were looking for the same indicators: disturbed soil, breakdowns minus drivers, odd litter, and even dead animals, anything vaguely off-key. Five miles out, the bus approached the first side road. Teetotal's voice came on the radio.
" Red One to Red Two, blocking. All yours, Royal. "
That was Rob's cue to overtake the bus and move into the lead position while Teetotal pulled across the junction to stop any other vehicles separating the bus from its escort. As soon as the bus cleared the junction, Teetotal pulled out again and moved in close behind. The bounding overwatch system was repeated at each junction.
"See, I'd be fine doing close protection if it was all driving," Rob said. "But I'm not carrying shopping for some celeb or picking up their snotty brats from school."
"You just want to do screeching J-turns, don't you?"
"It's my hormones, Zombie."
Small motorcycles passed them in the opposite direction, wobbling under the load of baskets or pillion passengers. Mike watched them carefully with his H&K 416 by his leg and one hand resting on his sidearm. A bike, side panniers overflowing with vegetables, puttered slowly ahead them. Mike couldn't tell if it was going as fast as it could or trying to make them pass, but it wasn't low enough on its suspension to be laden with explosives. Rob checked the mirror.
"Red Two, passing, clear ahead."
He pulled out to overtake. Mike glanced at the bike just as something green flew into the air and bounced back towards them.
"Shit — "
Rob didn't even have time to swerve. Mike braced for an explosion before the thing splattered on the road in a spray of seeds and juice. It was still a bowel-loosening moment. Rob sucked in a breath.
"Nearly needed a change of boxers there, mate," he said.
" Red One to Red Two -- you okay, Royal? "
"Red One, no problem. I just shat myself. Flying fruit." Rob drove on, checking the rear-view with a big grin on his face. "Sorry, Zombie."
Mike did this run so often that he could almost set his watch by it – half an hour, maybe forty minutes if there was a slow freight convoy or a stray goat on the road. It wasn't urban-busy, but it wasn't deserted, either.
It was starting to look that way now, though. The traffic thinned out. Then he couldn't see anything coming towards them. If an attack was planned, locals were often warned to stay clear.
Mike got on the radio. "Red One, anything behind you?"
" Sweet FA, " Teetotal said. " Let's start worrying. "
Rob's scan pattern — rear-view, left mirror, right mirror, rear — speeded up. It didn't matter that Dibeg was just minutes away. It only took seconds to get hit.
Teetotal sounded relaxed, but he always did. " Red One to Red two, still nothing behind. "
Mike was looking for something mobile like a parked truck with a command wire. They were now seven miles from Dibeg. If anything was going to happen, it'd be in the next few minutes.
Then he saw it. It wasn't a truck, and it wasn't
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