‘’Me too! I also am a big fan of bacon in the morning. Then, we will visit the Afghan mess before we eat, so that I can first present my respects to Colonel Amin. I am already overdue for that.’’
‘’Colonel Amin will understand the delay, Nancy. The Afghans themselves are not exactly models of punctuality.’’
‘’Still! I would rather start here on the right footing.’’
Once dressed, Nancy left her rifle locked in the special locker made to secure weapons that was fixed to a wall of her bedroom, keeping only her pistol with her. Going out of the cabin with Maria, she let the Italian woman point to her the various installations of interest in the camp, which was contained within a defensive perimeter wall that was roughly 500 meters to a side and was made of a thick earthen berm topped by barbed wire. They walked past the building used by the international staff, heading towards those used by Afghans and finally entering one extremity of a long building. Maria spoke to Nancy as they got through the door and entered a relatively small room.
‘’We are now in the Afghan officers mess. Colonel Amin is sitting at the head of the table to our right.’’
‘’Thank you! Just wait near the door: I won’t be long.’’
All the Afghans present had now fallen silent, looking at the newcomers. Nancy noted quickly that a small table in a far corner was used by Senior Lieutenant Shirzai, who seemed to be the only female Afghan officer in the camp. Walking to the officers’ table, Nancy stopped three paces from Colonel Amin, a short but solidly-built man with a short beard, and saluted him, speaking in Dari.
‘’Captain Nancy Laplante, Canadian Army, newly assigned as mentoring staff to the female recruit patrolman course, Colonel. I am sorry that I didn’t present myself earlier, sir.’’
Amin, agreeably surprised to see a NATO officer show him proper respect, got up from his chair and saluted back. Nancy did not offer her hand for a shake, knowing that Afghan customs dictated that women were not supposed to initiate physical contact with unrelated men. She also noticed at that time that a man sitting near Amin wore the insignias of a military imam and was closely examining her with a reserved expression.
Amin did not shake hands with her but smiled as a greeting.
‘’Thank you for coming, Captain Laplante. I was told only today about your coming. You do speak a good Dari, I must say.’’
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‘’I can also speak fluently Pashto, Urdu, Arabic and a few more languages, Colonel. This is my third operational tour in Afghanistan. I am also a war correspondent in civilian life and did many trips to your country to do reports in the past years. As well, I happen to be an expert in martial arts and in pistol shooting. I will be happy to help train your female recruits to the best of my abilities, Colonel.’’
‘’And your help will certainly be appreciated here, Captain Laplante. Canada has always proved to be a steadfast and respectful friend of Afghanistan. Welcome to Shouz. May I present you my officers and aides, starting with our Imam, Wahid Nayeddin?’’
Nancy bowed the Islamic way to salute the Imam.
‘’Salaam, Imam Wahid!’’
‘’Salaam, Captain Laplante!’’ Replied politely Wahid. After the round of presentations was completed and Nancy had left the mess with Maria, Wahid looked at Najibullah Amin.
‘’I must say that this woman seems well versed in the proper customs of Islam, Colonel. She is also the first foreigner I have seen here that can speak both Dari and Pashto.’’
‘’She certainly is out of the norm…and more respectful to us than most other foreign staff.’’
Amin did not need to mention names, as Wahid and the other Afghan officers present knew well which international staff member truly respected them and which ones didn’t.
Going back to the group of buildings reserved for the international staff, Maria guided Nancy to a large rectangular, prefabricated white building.
‘’This is the combined mess, cafeteria and kitchen for all the international staff of the camp. One word of caution before we go in the cafeteria: watch out for Captain Gino Vinetti, another Carabinieri officer on tour here. He is an incorrigible playboy and likes to think that he is irresistible to women.’’
That made Nancy grin widely.
‘’Is he good-looking?’’
‘’Like a young Marcello Mastroianni, but even better.’’
‘’Oooh! I will definitely have to meet him, then.’’
Maria laughed at that, then opened the door of the cafeteria for Nancy. They entered a good sized room half filled with tables, at which about thirty men and women were sitting 111
and eating. Jennifer Cummings was there as well, eating her supper in the company of three other women and two men in American uniforms. Maria, after waving and smiling at Jennifer, then led Nancy to one of the tables, where five male Italian officers and NCOs were eating. She whispered to Nancy as they were still a few meters from the table.
‘’Captain Vinetti is the first one on the left, facing us, while Major Rambaldi is next to him on his left.’’
‘’Target acquired and locked on!’’ Replied Nancy, who could see that Vinetti was already smiling while eyeing her from head to toe. This time, Maria opened the presentations, speaking in Italian to Major Rambaldi, a tall but thin man in his early forties.
‘’Major Rambaldi, may I present you Captain Nancy Laplante, newly arrived in the camp to take over the female patrolman course.’’
Rambaldi got up and bent over to shake hands with Nancy over the table.
‘’Welcome to Shouz, Captain.’’ He said in English, to which she replied in fluent Italian.
‘’Thank you, Major. I have to say that I was supposed at first to serve in Herat, but I will certainly give my best here.’’
‘’I have heard about what happened in Herat concerning your assignment, Captain. I must say that you were treated by some in a rather cavalier way. However, their loss is my gain, judging from your linguistic talents. You do speak Italian with a rather quaint accent from the North, Captain.’’
Nancy smiled at that: Rambaldi definitely had a good ear, having detected her Milan accent, where her past incarnation as Karl Beck, a German mercenary chieftain of the 17th Century, had learned his Italian.
‘’My Italian teacher was from Milan, sir. He was also a bit old-fashioned.’’
‘’I see! But please, have supper with us, Captain.’’
‘’With pleasure, Major.’’
Going with Maria to the service counter, Nancy grabbed a tray and a plate and got served some veal with potatoes and carrots before returning to the Carabinieris’
table. To the delight of Captain Vinetti, she sat opposite him, with Maria sitting facing Rambaldi. Nancy had to concede that Vinetti was a truly handsome man, with looks worthy of an Italian movie star. She thus smiled warmly to him.
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‘’While I do not wear an alliance, I have to warn you that I do have a boyfriend of a rather impressive stature, Captain. Feel free however to give me your best shot during my tour in Shouz.’’
While Vinetti broke in a grin, Maria giggled at her words, like a few others around her.
‘’Well, this tour certainly just got more interesting, Captain Laplante.’’
‘’Please, call me ‘Nancy’.’’
‘’And call me simply Gino, Nancy.’’ Said Vinetti, now the image of suavity. At a neighboring table, two Italian NCOs exchanged knowing looks.
‘’A week, tops!’’ Whispered one of the Italian, making the other shake his head.
‘’I say two days at most. A bottle of Chianti on this.’’
‘’Deal!’’
At Jennifer Cummings’ table, one of the female army clerks eating with her bent forward to ask her a question in a low voice.
‘’Isn’t she the reporter that we saw about a month ago on CNN during a news report from Afghanistan?’’
‘’It could well be, Louise. I will know more about her tonight: she wants me to have tea with her, Lieutenant Garibaldi and the Afghan female trainers, so that we could get to know each other better. She can speak tons of languages, including Dari, Pashto and Arabic.’’
‘’An egghead?’’ Said a male MP staff sergeant in a derisive tone. ‘’Why waste all that time learning other languages when English is already the standard worldwide?’’
Jennifer gave him a dubious look: she was of the firm opinion that it had been a mistake to send John Wainwright here, or anywhere in Afghanistan. The army was however short of personnel for overseas tours and had overlooked, or ignored, the fact that Wainwright was a certified redneck with barely hidden contempt for Afghans, or any other non-westerner. He also firmly believed that women didn’t belong in combat, or even in the army. He was however of a higher rank than her and she could not openly rebuke him for his views. Wainwright then noticed the way she was looking at him and made a mean smile.
‘’What’s the matter, Cummings? You don’t like what I say?’’
‘’No, and I suspect that neither will Captain Laplante.’’
‘’I don’t work for her, so screw her opinion.’’
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A civilian police trainer eating at a nearby table heard that and eyed him with reprobation.
‘’Sergeant Wainwright, you’re talking shit again. She is an officer and you will pay the proper respect due to her, or I will report your attitude to Lieutenant Hooper. I happen to have met Captain Laplante before, at a combat pistol shooting competition near Dallas three years ago, and she cleaned my clock then, taking second position overall. As a war correspondent, she has seen more of war than you will ever see, so cut your crap!’’
Wainwright glared at the civilian but didn’t reply. Gerald Morton was a big, tough and highly experienced police officer from Texas that had been a SWAT team member for years. He also was the head international instructor on police techniques and combat shooting and had the power to have Wainwright removed as an instructor, something that would definitely look bad in his personnel file and may even cut any possibilities for future promotions.
19:57 (Afghanistan Time)
Female instructors staff office
Shouz Afghan Border Police training center
Senior Lieutenant Maryam Shirzai had her two NCOs, Sergeants Aziza Kaker and Jamilla Noori, sit on extra chairs already brought in the small office, then sat at her desk, facing Maria Garibaldi and Jennifer Cummings. Nancy Laplante was not in the office, however, prompting her to look at Maria and ask in her laborious English.
‘’Where is Captain Laplante? This is the agreed time, no?’’
‘’She went to get a tea service. She should be back anytime now.’’
‘’But, she could have asked a servant to bring it from the kitchen?’’
‘’I thought so myself, but she replied to me that she wanted to do it the proper way, according to Afghan customs.’’
Impressed, Maryam translated that to her two police sergeants. She was just finishing speaking when Nancy entered the office, a large tray with a steaming tea pot and six cups on it. She put the tray on top of Maria’s desk and bowed in succession to each of the other five women, speaking in Dari, then in Italian and English.
‘’Let’s have tea together in the traditional way, so that we can talk together in friendship.’’
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She then served herself each woman, starting with Maryam Shirzai and ending with herself. With a cup of hot tea in hand, she sat on the last empty chair and waited for all to have taken their first sip of tea. She then spoke in Dari, looking at the three Afghan women.
‘’I may be senior in rank here, but this is an Afghan facility in your country, while me, Lieutenant Garibaldi and Sergeant Cummings are here to support you, not to tell you what to do. Senior Lieutenant Shirzai, I acknowledge you as the sole commander of this course.’’
She repeated herself in English as the Afghan women exchanged stunned glances: up to now, the international staff had assumed itself to be in effective control of how training was to be conducted, often showing a paternalistic attitude towards the Afghan training staff. On their part, Maria Garibaldi and Jennifer Cummings were equally surprised but did not object as Nancy spoke again to Maryam.
‘’I have just reviewed quickly the course schedule and the required curriculum from the Afghan Border Police program. What I propose to you is that we respect the present curriculum but also that we improve in depth various course training points, with our help. I am a high-level master in a martial art technique called karate, as well as in combat shooting techniques, especially with pistols. Lieutenant Garibaldi is an expert in police investigative procedures and arrest techniques, while Sergeant Cummings is well trained in the use of a police baton. If you wish so, you could use us to actually give the instruction in those specialties, which would allow you and your two sergeants to teach the points touching specifically Afghan law, border and checkpoint procedures and how to handle family and women-related crimes. This way, you will be able to minimize the use of male instructors with your recruits, especially in the matters of unarmed combat and weapons training, which require actual physical contact between instructors and recruits. I am sure that Imam Wahid would appreciate that last point.’’
‘’He certainly would, Captain.’’ Replied Maryam, her mind racing through what Nancy had said. ‘’I am sure that he would approve of such changes and recommend them to Colonel Amin. Just this would be a huge improvement in my mind. I will speak to both Imam Wahid and Colonel Amin about this tomorrow.’’
Nancy nodded her head, then translated what had been said for the benefit of Maria and Jennifer before returning to Dari.
‘’I have identified a number of time periods that could be used for extra shooting practices. In the present situation in Afghanistan, shooting proficiency is unfortunately 115
becoming more and more critical for the survival of your police officers. I will try on my part to obtain extra ammunition for those extra practice sessions. If you would permit me, I would also like to inspect in what state the weapons allotted to your recruits are and, if possible, improve on them, as I am quite knowledgeable in weapons.’’
‘’I see no problems with that, Captain. In fact, obtaining sufficient ammunition for our police officers is never easy. If you can find a way to improve on that, I would be most grateful and so would Colonel Amin.’’
‘’Thank you, Senior Lieutenant Shirzai. Would you like us to review together the course schedule in detail now, with the input of all present here?’’
Maryam felt like a breath of fresh air had blown through the office: this was turning to be so different from the way past courses had been conducted.
‘’I would love to, Captain.’’
20:34 (Afghanistan Time)
Sunday, November 4, 2012 ‘A’
Female instructors office
Shouz Afghan Border Police training center
Watching Maryam Shirzai as she answered her telephone, Maria Garibaldi knew at once that it was some bad news. After a few clipped phrases, the Afghan police woman slowly put down the receiver and looked at Maria with sadness.
‘’Soldiers have found our missing recruit: she was murdered by the Taliban while on her way to Shouz. I…I’m going to inform Nancy and Colonel Amin of this.’’
Maria then felt as well sadness come to her as Maryam left the small office: it was a cruel end for the dreams of a young and brave young woman who had gone against the prejudices of most of her compatriots in order to serve her country. Out of the 31 female recruits that had been expected at first, three had changed their minds at the last moment, most probably because of threats against them or their families, and one was now confirmed dead. That left 27 recruits, who had already arrived in Shouz. It wasn’t much but, for a country like Afghanistan, with its misogynist rules and the terror spread by the Taliban, it said a lot about the courage of those 27 women. They would start their eight-week course tomorrow and Maria, like the other female instructors, was resolved to give the best of herself for them. The six days since the arrival of Nancy Laplante had brought many changes and improvements to the course preparation, including the arrival 116
two days ago of a stock of extra ammunition for rifle and pistol practices, thanks to some contacts Nancy said she had with some higher NATO staff left unnamed. By sharing some of that extra ammunition with Colonel Amin, for the use of his male recruits, Nancy had ensured that the ammunition for female recruits would not simply be seized by other instructors and had gained even further Amin’s support. Even Imam Wahid was approving of her initiatives, as they would ensure that minimal physical contact would be made between male instructors and female recruits, a very sensitive subject in a country where extremely strict, not to say sexist rules governed the interaction between men and women. Wahid had also been impressed by the respect shown by Nancy to Islamic customs and practices and by her deep knowledge of those customs, in sharp contrast with the attitude of many of the other international staff members. That however did not mean that Nancy had played the subservient female, far from it.
Deciding to call it a night, Maria got up from her chair and put her desk in order before leaving the office and going to her cabin, intent on taking a shower before going to bed. She found Nancy sitting cross-legged on the floor of her bedroom, her eyes closed and in a classic meditation pose. She still wore her white karate practice suit, complete with black belt with the five golden bars denoting a fifth Dan master.
Everybody in the camp was by now accustomed to see her practice daily her karate routine late in the evening. The incredible agility and speed shown during those practices had in turn helped convince many doubters and detractors to treat her seriously as a fighter. Nancy then opened her eyes and looked at Maria.
‘’In case you were going to ask, Maryam did inform me about our missing recruit.
I was praying for her soul.’’
Maria nodded, then went to get a set of clean clothes, her soap box and her towel.
Seeing that, Nancy got up from the floor and went for her own things.
‘’If you are going to the showers, then I will go with you: I had quite a rigorous practice tonight. Don’t forget your pistol: you know the camp rules.’’
‘’Yeah, yeah! Is that to keep the Taliban away or to stop Gino Vinetti from spying on us in the showers?’’
‘’Both!’’ Replied Nancy as she grabbed her own pistol and slid it in her karate suit’s belt.
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Walking out of the cabin together, the two women lazily walked towards the showers building, situated in one corner of the square occupied by the facilities of the international staff.
‘’The American presidential elections are in two days. Who do you think will win, Nancy? Obama or Romney?’’
‘’It’s a hard call right now, Maria. They are nearly nose to nose right now.
Unfortunately, the Republicans still have a good chance to win: voters’ memories are so fickle these days, plus there are about as many religious nuts in the United States as here in Afghanistan. What can you expect from a crowd that still believes that the Earth is only a few thousand years old?’’
‘’I have to recognize that some of those American politicians and preachers can be quite extreme in their opinions. And what do you think will happen with Iran?’’
‘’That will depend on what the Israelis will do, actually. They have refrained up to now from striking Iran, but if Romney is elected President, they might just see that as a green light for getting the support of the…’’
Seeing Nancy suddenly fix her eyes in one direction, Maria looked that way, but saw nothing unusual at first.
‘’What is it, Nancy?’’
‘’That Afghan soldier walking towards the female recruits’ barrack: he keeps looking left and right and is walking quickly, as if he doesn’t want to be seen.’’
Now noticing in the semi-obscurity of the camp the said soldier, still a good fifty meters away, Maria had to quickly agree with Nancy.
‘’He effectively is acting suspiciously. Maybe he’s a voyeur who wants to go spy on our recruits.’’
‘’I don’t think so, Maria.’’ Said Nancy while grabbing her pistol. ‘’Get your pistol ready, just in case: we are going to check that man out.’’
Grabbing her Beretta 92 pistol, Maria pulled its slide, loading a 9mm bullet in the chamber, then followed Nancy, who was now hurrying towards the female recruits barrack. That barrack had been set apart from the other Afghan barracks, on the edge of the square occupied by the international staff, to keep the women as widely separated from the Afghan men as possible. Maria and Nancy were still about thirty meters away from the Afghan soldier, who was now at one of the entrance door of the female barracks, when the man noticed them coming towards him. Instead of running away, as Maria would expect from a voyeur caught in the act, the soldier instead opened the door 118
of the barrack and, holding it open with his body, grabbed something at his belt and brought it to his mouth, as if to bite in it. Nancy then stopped cold in her track and raised her pistol while shouting in alarm.
‘’GRENADE!’’
She then shot twice with her GLOCK 17L. Hit first in the torso, the man staggered and dropped what he had in his right hand. The second bullet hit him in the heart, making him crumble face down on the ground. Nancy then forced Maria to get down just before an explosion from under the soldier made his body jump in the air a good meter. While Maria hesitated then, Nancy got up and resumed her run, getting to the mangled body in a few seconds, then moving gently something on the ground with one foot while shouting something in Dari at the female recruits now screaming inside the barrack. Regaining her courage, Maria resumed her run and joined Nancy, her pistol at the ready. She then saw that a grenade, with its safety pin still in place, was near Nancy’s feet.
‘’He had two grenades with him?’’
‘’Yes!’’ Answered Nancy, her jaws tight. ‘’He was going to throw them inside the barrack, one after the other, which is why he was using his teeth to pull out their safety pins. If he would have succeeded, he could have caused a real carnage among our female recruits. Stay here and watch that grenade: I will go inside to reassure our recruits.’’
Nancy then entered the female barrack, leaving Maria alone near the mangled body of the attacker and its unexploded grenade. By now, shouts of alarms were resonating around the camp and a number of men were coming out of various buildings, weapons at the ready. Gerald Morton, the civilian senior police advisor, was the first to arrive, a GLOCK pistol in his right hand.
‘’WHAT HAPPENED HERE?’’
‘’Me and Nancy saw a marauder near the female barrack and went to check him out, Mister Morton. He was about to throw a grenade inside the barrack when Nancy shot him. He then fell on his primed grenade and was blown up. He had with him a second grenade, which is here, still with its safety pin in place.’’
Morton looked down at the body and at the grenade, then swore.
‘’Fuck! That bastard is one of our male recruits. He must have been a Taliban infiltrator. God knows how many more there could be in this camp.’’
He then knelt beside the grenade and, after carefully examining it visually, picked it up and showed it to Maria.
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‘’Don’t worry: it is still safe. This is a Pakistani-made 84-P2A1 hand grenade, a type frequently used by the Taliban. It has a lethal radius of about twenty meters. With two such grenades, that bastard could have butchered your female recruits.’’
After excitement, then fear, anger and hatred came next to Maria, who kicked with one booted foot the head of the dead infiltrator.
‘’The filthy, cowardly bastard! How could these Taliban pretend to do God’s work? I wish that they would all drop dead.’’
More armed instructors were by now arriving on the scene, including Major Rambaldi and Senior Lieutenant Shirzai. Maria repeated her story to them, causing many jaws to tighten at the implications of the failed attack. Nancy was coming out of the female barrack as Colonel Amin and Imam Wahid Nayeddin were arriving at a run. She took on her to brief the Afghan commander, making him look down with anger at the dead attacker.
‘’An infiltrator! I will order an immediate search by my instructors of the male recruits’ barracks, to look for more grenades or explosives. You have just averted a horrible bloodbath, Captain Laplante. Well done!’’
‘’Thank you, sir. If you don’t mind, I will resume my trip to the showers with Lieutenant Garibaldi.’’
‘’Go ahead, Captain. My men will take care of the rest.’’
Nancy was about to leave the scene when Maryam Shirzai touched her arm, making her stop and look at her.
‘’Thank you for saving my recruits, Nancy.’’
In response, Nancy smiled down gently at the Afghan woman.
‘’It was a pleasure, Maryam. I calmed them down, but they still could use some more comforting words from you. I will see you again tomorrow morning, at the welcoming parade.’’
That parade, which Nancy attended on the sidelines with Maria Garibaldi and Jennifer Cummings, to let the spotlight on the Afghan staff, was a standard affair, with a number of speeches from senior officers and the passing of basic information about the course. The 27 female recruits were then led by Maryam Shirzai and her two sergeants to the quartermaster, to be kitted out in uniforms and field kit, then to the infirmary, for a quick medical check. At lunch hour, however, Nancy started applying another novelty of hers, going to eat with Maria Garibaldi and Jennifer Cummings in the company of the 120