Page 1 of What is Found

CREDIBLE THREAT

AUGUST 26, 2021: KABUL AIRPORT

CHAPTER 1

The instructorsat the Army’s DCC said spotting a suicide bomber was easy. The guy would be twitchy, sweaty, shifty-eyed, maybe mumbling prayers: all small but significant tells an astute observer should grasp. Because the guy was nervous, right? By definition, a suicide bomber was doing this for the first time. If he messed up, not like he was getting any re-dos.

The way their instructors ticked off those tells sounded a lot like a quadratic equation: A + B + C = KA-BOOM. Like,pay attention, Captain Worthy, and you, too, might be a hero.

Another thing the instructors said was that suicide bombers were, like, 99.999 percent guys. Women, they claimed, were rarer than hen’s teeth.

John and Roni never quite saw the logic in that. Because rare doesn’t mean never. Rare only means a lot less often. For example, Boko Haram routinelykidnaps girls and women and gives them a choice: become a fighter’s wife or find yourself made into a ticking time bomb.

So,raredid not equal zero. Although how anyone figured out genderafterthe fact, his instructors never did say. John and Roni figured this probably depended on whether you ended up with chunks or only red mist.

Something no one, not even Roni, ever asked was if any DCC instructor had actually applied these same datapoints and spotted a bomber before theka-boom. John figured the number to be just about zero. Honestly, those close enough to succeed at the last minute weren’t around to give an opinion one way or another.

So, perhaps there was some truth in all these calculations.

Or the other possibility: that was why it was called fiction.

CHAPTER 2

On August 26th,Abbey Gate was closed when John came on duty. Their CO gave them all a version of a straight story that morning at changeover.

“Credible threat,” their CO said. This was U.S. intelligence lingo for some guy or some guys—probably members of ISIS-K—being willing to strap on and then go out in a blaze of glory and a lot of extraneous body parts while taking as many others with them as they possibly could. “The threat was deemed likely early this morning, but the assessment’s been downgraded tomaybe.”

Meaning one of two things: maybe yes, maybe no.

All the medical stations around the airport shut down. Personnel twiddled their thumbs while rumors swirled: that Abbey Gate wouldn’t be reopened; that the Brits were now safe and sound; that, no, the Brits still weren’t ready; that a suicidebomber had been spotted but then, no, he hadn’t. Like that, on and on.

After a half hour of nothing to do, he was methodically repacking his medical go-bag after having methodically unpacked it when Roni wandered up. “Hey.”

“Mmmm.” He’d caught a glimpse of Roni, who’d just squeaked in for early report and changeover at the last second, though he’d willed himself not to look around.Because screw you, honey.Which was something he thought Driver was probably doing with energy and in earnest. So, instead of looking up, he gave a roll of cling gauze far more attention that it deserved and said, “Something on your mind?”

If he’d been hoping for an apology, he didn’t get one. “I was wondering if you saw my note.”

That note. She’d scrawled,Today. 1730.He’d found the note on his bed after storming into the bathroom and snarling that she’d better be gone when he got out. He debated between playing dumb or telling her to go screw herself. He settled for what he hoped was studied objectivity. “To paraphrase Julius Caesar, I saw it, I read it, I flushed it.”

When he didn’t continue, she said, “Are you coming?”

“To meet up with Driver and his merry men? Wait, does that make you Maid Marian?”

She ignored the jibe. “Are you coming?”

“If I do, do I get to feel his muscles?”

He was pleased at the sudden flush staining the underside of her jaw. “I’m being serious.”

“So was I.”

“Please, John.”Her clenched fists hung at her sides, though he saw the knuckles whiten. “I’m asking you nicely.”

“At the risk of sounding faintly not-so-very nice, why in hell would I do that?”

“Because it’s important. The meeting’s important.”

“To whom? To you? To Driver?” So much for studied objectivity. “Why would I even care?”

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