Read Kill Zone (A Spider Shepherd Short Story) for Free Online

understand
that weight is at a premium, but I’m wondering why we’re leaving ourselves so
light on comms equipment and yet taking half a dozen mopeds for what is only a
relatively short distance. We could walk in to the target in a couple of
hours.’
    ‘True,’ Jock
said. ‘We could, but when we detonate those charges, every muj within fifty
miles is going to come running. So we need to be in like Flynn, do the job and
get out again. Okay?’ He waited for a nod from Todd before continuing.
    ‘Right, I’m
thinking all we need is six, four to form a defensive cordon around the
building and stop our one-eyed friend, or anyone else for that matter, from
escaping, and a two-man assault group. Geordie will be the team medic for
emergencies.’ He looked across at the Captain. ‘Spider’s got explosives
experience, so I suggest that he and you form the assault group. That gives you
the chance to be in at the kill.’
    ‘That’s fine by
me,’ said Todd.
    Jock looked at
Shepherd. ‘Sure,’ said Shepherd.
    ‘All good,’ said
Jock.   ‘Now, arms. All of us will
carry AKS 74s, the ones with the folding butts, that can be slung across the
chest ready for immediate use. We’re using them because weight restrictions are
going to be very tight and the 5.45 cal ammo the AK 74 uses is very light, so
we can carry a lot of it. Each man will also carry a three foot length of a
sectional ladder, for the assault on our friends’ hide-out.’ He glanced at
Todd. ‘Don’t worry, we often use them. They’re standard kit for
Counter-Terrorist teams, short enough to carry in vehicles - or on mopeds - and
obtainable from most heavy lift aircraft.  In theory you can make a ladder
as long as you want it, but, judging from the description of the target, we’ll
not need more than eighteen feet.  It’s a three-storey building and like
all assaults we’ll be doing it top down, because it’s impossible to clear a building
by going up the stairs. Even a kid with a catapult can be enough to stop a
highly-trained team of experts.’ He nodded at Shepherd. ‘Explosives?’
    ‘I’m thinking of
using shaped charges of standard issue, PE4 to effect entry by blowing holes
through the walls.’   Shepherd
paused.   ‘Have you done any
demolitions, Captain?’ Captain Todd shook his head.   ‘Well, the shaped charges are PE4 plastic explosives held in
triangular-shaped sections of plastic material.   Because the charge is
shaped, it will go through any material: metal, brick, concrete, whatever,
without a lot of collateral damage.  Provided you protect your ears, you
can stand quite near to it, even as close as one or two yards if you’re feeling
really lucky, although you’re a lot safer if you’re around a corner when it
goes off.  Obviously it requires an initiation set to get it to explode
and we’ll be using a Number 33 electric detonator - a length of cable and an
initiator, either battery or exploder.’
    Todd frowned.
‘There may be twelve or even more Taliban fighters inside the building. Are you
confident that an assault team of two will be enough? And, apart from the
AK74s, what weapons we’ll be using to clear the rooms inside the building of
the Taliban?’
    ‘A dustpan and
brush would be handy,’ Jock said, provoking a burst of laughter from the
others.
    ‘There won’t be
any Taliban to deal with because anyone inside that building will be dead,’
explained Shepherd.   ‘What kills
anyone inside a room when a shaped charge detonates is not the debris blown in
by the explosion but the sudden increase in air pressure.  It’s known as
“over-pressure” and it instantly destroys most of the organs in the human
body.’ He showed Todd a well-thumbed booklet full of columns of figures.
‘Normally SAS demolitions work with a precise amount of PE4, calculated using
these tables in response to the thickness and materials of the walls to be
breached and the estimated size of the rooms beyond. You then fill