‘Rusty used to fly helicopters for the Marines,’ I said. ‘That’s how he got involved in the first place.’ I eased the towel gently away from Latifa’s face, and saw that the bleeding had stopped. ‘Do you think I can make a phone call from here?’

We flew back toEngland ten days later in an RAF Hercules. The seats were hard, the cabin was noisy, and there was no film. But I was happy.

I was happy watching Solomon sleep, slumped on the other side of the cabin, his brown raincoat folded behind his head and his hands clasped across his stomach. Solomon was a good friend at any time, but asleep, I felt like I almost loved him.

Or maybe I was just getting my loving mechanism warmed up, ready for someone else.

Yes, that was probably it.

We touched down at RAF Coltishall just aftermidnight, and a gaggle of cars followed as we taxied to the hangar. After a while, the door clanged open and some coldNorfolk air climbed aboard. I took a deep breath of it.

O’Neal was waiting outside, hands thrust deep into the pockets of his overcoat, shoulders bunched around his ears. He jerked his chin at me, and Solomon and I followed him to a Rover.

O’Neal and Solomon got in the front, and I slid in behind them, slowly, wanting to enjoy this moment.

‘Hello,’ I said. ‘Hello,’ said Ronnie.

There was a pause of the better sort, and Ronnie and I smiled at each other and nodded.

‘Miss Crichton wanted very much to be here on your return,’ said O’Neal, wiping condensation off the windscreen with his glove.

‘Really?’ I said. ‘Really,’ said Ronnie.

O’Neal started the engine, while Solomon fiddled with the de-mister.

‘Well,’ I said, ‘whatever Miss Crichton wants, she must definitely have.’

Ronnie and I kept on smiling as the Rover swept out of the base, and into theNorfolk night.

In the six months that followed, overseas sales of the javelin surface-to-air missile increased by a little over forty per cent.THE END