Warning Order (A Spider Shepherd short story) Read Free Page B

through a tube directly into your stomach. That helped to raise your temperature from the inside - much faster than heating you from the outside. But it was the medic on the rescue helicopter who really saved your life.’
    ‘What about the others?’ Shepherd struggled to sit up again and failed.
    ‘Please lie still,’ the doctor said. ‘You’re very weak and your body has had a very narrow escape. Give it time to recover.’
    ‘But my friends? What about my friends?’ 
    The doctor’s smile faded. ‘Two of them are recovering well and you will be able to see them shortly. But I’m afraid the other man drowned before he could be rescued.’
    ‘Who was it?’ Shepherd dreaded the answer, whatever it was, but he had to know.
    The doctor consulted his notes.  ‘McKay. Liam McKay.’
    Shepherd groaned and lay back.
    ‘I am sorry,’ said the doctor. ‘If it’s any consolation, drowning in such a cold sea is relatively painless.’
    Shepherd held up a hand to silence the doctor. He didn’t want to be consoled. He was barely aware of the doctor leaving the room.  He took slow deep breaths as he came to terms with what he’d been told. Liam was gone.  Not killed in combat - a proper soldier’s death - but lost in some stupid training accident. It was a senseless death. And it could so easily have been Shepherd who had died in the icy waters.
     His dark thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door and a fair-haired man walked in. He was wearing a red anorak over pale green overalls. Shepherd scowled at him. ‘This isn’t a good time.’
    ‘I won’t keep you long,’ the man said. He shifted his weight from leg to leg, clearly uneasy. ‘My name is Mats. I was the winchman on the rescue helicopter. I just wanted to make sure that you were all right and tell you how sorry I was that we weren’t able to save your friend.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ said Shepherd. He struggled to sit up and extend his hand. ‘I owe you my life.’
    Mats solemnly shook hands with him.
    ‘Seriously, if there’s ever anything I can do for you, you only have to ask,’ said Shepherd. Sitting up was painful so he lay back down again.
    Mats smiled. ‘That really isn’t necessary, I was just doing my job, and anyway, if anyone deserves your thanks, it’s our medic, Runar. I’d given you up for dead but he worked on you all the way back to Narvik.’ His smile evaporated. ‘I’m sorry about your colleague. Liam. He was a very brave man.’
    Shepherd nodded. ‘I know you did your best.’
    Mats nodded.  ‘I rescued the other two men first, and then I went to your friend, but he insisted I take you first, saying that you wouldn’t make it unless I did. He was obviously hypothermic himself, but I did as he said. If I hadn’t, you probably wouldn’t be here now.’  He grimaced and shook his head at the memory. ‘ He was washed away and when I was lowered, there was no sign of him. We searched but he didn’t resurface.’ He took a deep breath to steady himself before continuing. ‘He gave his life to save yours.’ Shepherd felt a slow tear trickle down his cheek. ‘I’m sorry,’ Mats said, ‘ but I thought you should know how he died.’ He hesitated for a second. ‘There’s one other thing you should know’ He took a step closer to Shepherd’s bed and lowered his voice. ‘My chief told your Commanding Officer that the weather was not fit for the exercise and likely to deteriorate further. He was ignored and the exercise went ahead.  My chief remained concerned and sent us out to overfly the boat. Your CO came with us in the helicopter and though he could see you in the water and saw the distress flare you fired, he insisted that you were, as he put it, “in control of the situation” and would be able to right the boat, and he ordered us back to base.  We only returned because when the weather deteriorated further, my chief overruled your CO.’ He searched Shepherd’s face for some reaction. ‘I hope I