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Staff Sergeant Walker steps away from the Ridgeback, wipes sweat from his eyes with a dust-grimed bandana, and tries to make sense of the scene before him. The heat has grown punishing. For a moment it twists the air, so that grey walls and desiccated bushes and sun-scorched faces above dark shalwar kameez all shiver unsettlingly. Walker wipes his eyes again and gradually the shimmering steadies. Yet still, the prospect doesn\u2019t quite add up. | Copyright 2016 by David Tallerman. Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices