Read Rough Diamonds (A Spider Shepherd short story) for Free Online Page A

to the helicopter. ‘The guys inside it didn’t look like they’d have a use for it any more. Geordie told me that he was sighting the AT-5 when he spotted that one of the BTR’s had a communications rail aerial on the top. That’s always a sign that it’s a command vehicle so I thought it was worth a closer look.’ He grinned. ‘Take a look at what we found. To the victors, the spoils.’
    The bag was heavy but when Shepherd peered into it he gave Jock a puzzled smile. ‘What exactly am I looking at? It looks like a load of pebbles.’ 
    Jerzy took the bag from him, took one glance into it and then said ‘Not pebbles, my friend, something a lot more valuable than that. These are uncut diamonds, I’ve seen enough of them during my time in Freetown. I’m not an expert, but I’d say you were looking at least ten million dollars worth there, maybe a whole lot more.’
    ‘Bloody hell,’ said Shepherd.  ‘No wonder the mercenaries were so keen to head straight here. He gestured at the bag. ‘Take as many as you want, Jerzy. You’ve earned them, fair and square. Just make sure there aren’t any complications once we get back to Freetown.’
    The Czech picked out six of the diamonds and slipped them into his pocket.
    ‘Enough?’ Shepherd said.
     He nodded. ‘More than I could make in five years flying choppers.’
    ‘What about the rest?’ Jock said.
    ‘They’re HMG’s, according to Parker,’ Shepherd said. ‘But I’m sure Her Majesty doesn’t need all of them’ He took the bag from Jerzy. ‘I can think of a much better home for them.’
    * * *
    Dawn was breaking as they began the flight back to Freetown. The diamond mines were continuing to operate almost as if they were fully automatic. Shepherd glanced down at the giant machines and the men who look like ants as they moved around them. ‘Unbelievable,’ he said. ‘We’ve just fought a pitched battle on their doorstep and yet they’ve all turned up and started work as if it had been nothing more than a fireworks party.’
     ‘Maybe they’ve seen so much fighting already that one more battle is just all part of the average working day,’ Jock said.
     As they took off, they saw a crowd of ragged looking men, most carrying spades and sieves, gathering outside the main fence of the mine. Shepherd stared at them for a moment and then said ‘Let’s do the locals a favour for once. Jerzy, put us into a hover outside the fence, will you? Jock, Jimbo, Geordie, try and get those guys to move back.’
     Jock slid open the cabin door and began gesturing at the men to move back. A few took a couple of steps backwards but most remained where they were, staring sullenly at the chopper. ‘I’ll just encourage them,’ Jock said, aiming his rifle. He put a few bursts into the dust between the miners and the fence and the crowd moved back. He fired another short burst into the ground and the men moved further away from the fence.
    ‘Be careful, mate, we don’t want them getting hurt from the ricochets,’ warned Shepherd.
    The men continued to move back. There were angry shouts and some of the miners shook their fists at the helicopter as it hovered above them.
     ‘Okay, here goes, ‘Shepherd said. Aiming the missiles at the base of the fence, he emptied the rocket pods into it. The ground erupted in smoke, flame and dust, but when the smoke had cleared, a long stretch of fencing had been obliterated. Jock leaned out of the cab and waved the men forward again. Instead of angry shouts and raised fists, a ragged cheer now went up and as the helicopter rose into the air and began to wheel away. As the flew off, they could see hordes of illegal miners sprinting for the fence, pouring through the gap and fanning out across the diamond fields.
     ‘It won’t last of course,’ Shepherd said. ‘But they might get one or two good days, before the companies drive them out again. Hopefully they’ll have found a few diamonds by then.’
    They dumped