Read Personal Protection (A Spider Shepherd Short Story) for Free Online

usually fitted with machine guns and larger fuel tanks. ‘I’d go with these,’ said Jimbo.
    ‘Personally, I’d prefer the Dodge Power Wagon,’ said Rusty, pointing at two bright red SUVs. ‘The Pinkie started out as a good idea but it quickly got bogged down in the usual morass of MoD planning and general incompetence. It was given an operational requirement range of one thousand miles and consequently had to carry a couple of hundred gallons of fuel. So it ended up as an overweight, underpowered, useless piece of kit that could not deliver its crew or weapons where they were required.’
    Shepherd looked at Jimbo. Jimbo shrugged but didn’t argue. 
    ‘The Dodge was originally developed as a military stores carrier during the Second World War, but it’s been continually upgraded ever since for civilian roles,’ said Rusty.  ‘It’s been used throughout the Middle East by the oil companies to travel deep into the remotest regions searching for oil.  It has an excellent power to weight ratio and in the right hands is capable of travelling anywhere.’
    ‘But the Pinkies are painted to blend in with the background colour of the desert,’ Jimbo said. ‘The Dodges are bright red. They’ll be seen from miles away.’
    ‘They’re painted red so they’re visible from the air,’ Rusty said, ‘and can be found easily in an emergency. But once we’ve splashed some pink paint on them, they’ll blend.’
    ‘We’ll not be travelling in daylight when we’re approaching the target,’ Shepherd said. He patted Jimbo on the shoulder. ‘Rusty has the local knowledge of local, we have to trust his judgement, so the Dodges it is.’
    Jimbo nodded. ‘No sweat.’
    Shepherd winked at him. ‘Now, Comms: we’ll be maintaining radio silence unless there’s a crisis, so we’ll take Motorola body sets with sets in each vehicle.  Scaly Beebop will organize frequencies that won’t be compromised by the IED suppression system we’ll be using. Weaponry: Jock, can you sort that out and we’ll see to the rest of the kit? They’ve no armoured vehicles or artillery, but they may have mortars and GPMGs.’ Jock nodded.
    ‘I’ll take charge of water supplies,’ Rusty said. ‘I’m going to nip down to the local souq and pick up a few chuggles.’
    ‘Chuggles?’ said Jimbo, frowning.
    ‘They’re carriers for cooling drinking water,’ Rusty said. ‘They’re made from hessian sacking with a metal pouring spout.’
    ‘Do me a favour, that’s sacking, isn’t it?’ said Jimbo. ‘You can’t carry water in a sack.’
    ‘As a matter of fact, you can. They’re made by Indian craftsmen and can be bought cheaply in any souq in the Middle East. They’re made from closely woven hessian and when filled with water, the hessian expands to become waterproof enough to carry water without losing too much of it. You tie them to the sides of your vehicle and as the airstream blows over the hessian, it cools down your drinking water.  They’re brilliant - far more efficient than modern water coolers.’
     Jimbo’s expression remained sceptical, but Rusty was already on his way out of the door. The rest of the team spent several hours kitting out the vehicles with weaponry, equipment, fuel and a little food. ‘Eating is not going to be a priority on this job,’ Geordie said, tossing a few packs of assault rations into one of the Dodges, ‘so these will do the job.’ 
    They also fitted a camera system on the back of the other vehicle, consisting of a telescopic carbon fibre pole which could be raised up to 150 feet using hydraulic pressure.  The pole was strong but so thin it was almost impossible to see at any distance over a couple of hundred yards. At the top of the mast there were a range of small high-resolution cameras, including infra-red and thermal imaging as well as colour cameras for daytime use. ‘We’ll be able to use the cameras to view ahead of our route through the sand dunes,’ Shepherd said.