The Girl I Left Behind Me — Robert Cubitt

Volume 1 of 'The Warriors'. "Death crept into Pakistani airspace at the relatively slow speed of 170 knots. From the ground far below it was invisible to the naked eye. So small was it in comparison to its height that it didn't even cast a shadow on the sides of the mountains. In the air conditioned control room at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, Captain Cory Duncan of the United States Air Force checked the position of his aircraft. "OK guys, we are now in Pakistan air space." He flicked his radio switch. "Achilles One Zero this is Catcher Five. What is the status of hostile aircraft?" "Achilles One Zero, we have six PAF aircraft in the air at present. We classify them as two pairs of Chengdu Sevens and one pair of Mirage Threes. All are deployed along the frontiers with Kashmir and India. No hostile aircraft in your sector." The radar operator of the E3 Sentry aircraft, flying high above the Indian Ocean, signed off with a cheery 'Have a nice day'." *** Lofty is a soldier in the British Army, posted to Afghanistan for a tour of duty. Youssef is a British born Muslim whose parents are killed in an accident of war and who joins the Taliban seeking revenge. Behind him Lofty leaves his wife Emily and Youssef leaves his fiance, Fatima. 'The Warriors: The Girl I Left Behind Me' tells the story of how the war affects all of them in different ways.