"Nichol, John - Stinger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nichol John)

decade after the end of the war against the Soviets. Only one hangar
remained standing and part of its roof had collapsed. Wooden
scaffolding surrounded the remainder, but I caught sight of three
helicopter gunships through the open hangar doors.

The terminal building was windowless, and its rust-stained, peeling
walls were pocked with the marks of shell bursts and bullets. I walked
inside. The baggage hall was unlit and the carousels and conveyors
were silent and shrouded in dust.

At the far end of the baggage hall three soldiers armed with
Kalashnikovs lounged around a table. They straightened at my approach,
gave my passport a cursory glance, then began to go through my bags.

It was my first sight of the Taliban soldier monks. They were all
young in their late teens or early twenties at a guess and all bearded.
Their black turbans were folded into elaborate shapes like
cock's-combs, with a long forked tail of cloth trailing down their
backs. Their expressions were neither welcoming nor hostile, but the
thick rim of black kohl around their eyes gave them a forbidding
look.

I was carrying no magazines or tapes and my only books were a couple of
dog-eared paperbacks Bleak House and Great Expectations but the
soldiers seized them just the same. They exchanged comments in
guttural Pushtu as they passed the copies between them, then threw them
into a box at the side of the table.

"Forbidden," one said.

I opened my mouth to argue, then thought better of it, shrugged and
bowed my head. He handed back my passport, and I pushed open the
sagging doors to walk into the harsh sunlight As I shaded my eyes I
heard a familiar voice.

"Late as usual, Scan."

Jeff's round, pale face was creased in its permanent expression of
slightly pained surprise.

There was a sheen of perspiration on his forehead, and as we shook
hands his plump fingers felt clammy.

"What the hell are you doing in Kabul?"

"The same as you flying a heli." He turned to make the introductions
to the two people flanking him.

"Scan Riever, this is Dexy Turner."