Killing Ground

Pradhan refused to acknowledge the soldier and trudged on, eyes straight ahead. The main gate was less than fifty yards away. He only made it a few steps farther, however, before the vehicle caught up with him and veered sharply onto the shoulder, blocking his way.

“You need to go back with the others,” the soldier said. He was a young recruit, half Pradhan’s age, pink-faced beneath his helmet. He was trying to be polite, but it was clear that he was issuing a command rather than a request, and though his carbine was aimed at the ground away from Pradhan, his finger was on the M-16’s trigger.

“I have an interview!” Pradhan snapped, unable to rein in his frustration. “For a job at the base! Working on computers!”

“All job interviews have been canceled,” the soldier told him. “There’s been a temporary freeze put on hiring while we—”

“I have the job!” Pradhan insisted, waving his employment application. “Ask Mehrab Shah! He recommended me! The interview is just a formality!”

“I don’t know anything about that, sir,” the soldier replied. “All I can tell you is the situation has changed. No one is allowed to come onto the base without proper clearance.”

“Ask Mehrab Shah!” Pradhan repeated. “He’ll tell you! I have the job! I have clearance!”

“Have you gone through processing?” When Pradhan stared back, uncomprehending, the soldier rephrased the question. “Have they given you a background check?”

“I have nothing to hide!” he said.

“That’s not what I asked, sir.”

“I’m a loyal Afghan citizen who lost everything to the Taliban!” Pradhan shouted, his voice trembling with rage as much as desperation. “Four years I spent in the Pakistan refugee camps! Four years! I came back because there were promises we would have a chance to get something back! Empty promises! Now, finally, I have an opportunity!”

“I’m sorry, sir,” the soldier said. “It’s out of my hands.”

“I’m begging you!” Pradhan pleaded. “This means everything to me!”

The soldier turned from the Afghan and glanced at the Humvee’s driver, who offered only a faint shrug. A second recruit riding in the back of the vehicle shook his head with a look of resignation. The soldier looked back at Pradhan and was about to say something when he checked himself and instead reached for the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt.

“This Mehrab Shah,” he said. “Whereabouts on the base does he work?”

“Mail and shipping,” Pradhan said, tears welling in his eyes. “He does maintenance and deliveries. Please! You have to help me!”

The soldier keyed the walkie-talkie. As he raised it to his ear and waited for a response, he told the distraught Afghan, “Let me see what I can do.”

AS HE RETURNED to his workstation following his nap break, Akira Tokaido shook his long wet hair, inadvertently flecking Aaron Kurtzman with a few wayward droplets.

“My dog used to do that,” the cybercrew leader quipped.