National Geography: Surviving 9/11

Oh, it must be 100 degrees!

Why am I wearing wool?

Our driver will be here soon.

Before we melt?

It might be cooler inside, darling.

I love it when you call me darling.

I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

This isn't Aldershot, is it?

I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

'Aden, where East meets West.

Vital as an oil refinery,

as well as a Gulf trade route.

The beach here at Aden is lovely.

The sand is warm

and the sharks are not always hungry.

The Queen has full confidence in Aden's future

describing it as the perfect example of colonial rule.

Ah... lan. Ahlan.

Kaif halik? Kaif halik?

Aismi al Earif Armstrong.

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Tony.

Yusra.

What?

What did you say?

Hurry up, Baxter!

Well, we'll miss you, sir. All this cash we win off you.

- On the Queen. All in. - All in!

- Oh, hang on, oi! - Here we go...

Wait... Shh, shh, shh.

- No! No! - Yes!

I've spent two years waiting for a fly to land on that card!

What's the chances?

You fixed it for me to win.

Oh, no, no not me, sir. I respect you too much, Captain.

I know you better than any soldier I've ever served with

and you fixed it for me to win.

How would I do that, sir, a pet fly that understands English?

So, you're telling me on my last day I finally hit the jackpot?

A good officer needs three things -- judgment, authority and luck.

- Hear, hear. - You've got all three, sir.

Thanks.

- I farted on it. - No, you didn't! - You did what?!

He always puts his money on the Queen of Hearts.

I farted on it before the game started.

Alison, we need to...

Have a good day at the office, dear.

Ey up, Sarge, Laithwaite of Arabia's here.

Can I ask where you're going, sir?

Off base? Sir?

Doing my job.

Well, it is standard military police practise

to always know where you are, sir.

It's classified.

Lieutenant Laithwaite is, er...

What's the word I'm looking for, sir?

Are you about to criticise an officer

in the presence and hearing of another officer, Baxter?

The British Army is the best in the world...

.. because you always trust the man standing next to you.

Captain Page, taking a last look around?

An officer's wife hanging a bra out to dry.

What's the world coming to?

Sir.

From the hillside above Ballinluig.

It's seen me through, you have it now.

They're... getting me a drum.

How do you know?

A good officer knows everything his men are doing.

Why didn't Ed get it?

Your job.

Don't know.

Nothing to do with me?

No. - Oh, so you - do - know.

Your husband is a good officer...

So it must be me.

What am I going to do without you?

I think you should put some effort into being Mrs Laithwaite...

.. and maybe a bit less of that.

Don't do that. Not now, so late in the bloody day.

Can we?

One more time?

Promise me you'll be safe.

We said we wouldn't!

It is the biggest shipment of arms into Aden yet

and they are British, left behind after Suez.

So we're supplying the weapons and the targets?

Mm-hm.

The British Empire is destroying itself

and we're not even making money out of it.

One thing in the shipment is not British --

a Blindicide Bazooka.

Belgian.

- They're serious. - Mm.

And did your man get any closer to this leader?

Better than that...

Abdul Kadir Hakim.

He'll do anything to get rid of the British

and he wants to put on a show to announce himself.

What kind of show?

He sees you as the symbol of occupation --

the Royal Military Police.

Maybe it's the red caps you wear.

Look, they came with us --

raindrops from England!

Come under the umbrella, Joe.

Oh, I'm fine.

Tell me something I don't know about my new husband.

- Like what? - Anything.

I'm just as you see me.

What if they've forgotten us?

They'll be here.

No, what if night comes and it's just you and me

and... and the desert and the stars?

Really, afraid of planes?!

Geronimo, fall in!

I've got his leaving present here.

Here you are. I don't know what the locals call it.

A mirwas, sir. Tight skin, small, hairy.

Why would Captain Page want a drum?

To remind him of your lovely bollocks, Stoneham.

He'll get a regimental plaque for the wall. They all get that.

The good ones get a piss up in the Sergeants' Mess.

The best, the very best, the one's that you'd die for?

They get something that means something.

It doesn't matter what it is, it's the fact that you give it.

He's the best officer I've served under in 20 years.

Year and a half and we're still standing.

So, the new man, what do you know about him?

I know that his driver's late.

Eh? Oh, f...

Run!

So a piss up in the Sergeants' Mess?

Not for you, Stoneham.

You get to baby-sit the CO's boy.

George, come and look!

All right...

Hello!

I was just taking a last look at the desert

from the roof.

Do you think Father Christmas will come?

- Come on, George. - I'm going to decorate the tree...

Oh, hello, Mary.

My fourth shower of the day.

Sometimes I think it's all I do -- sweat and wash.

Perspire and ablute.

The men do the sweating and the washing.

What would any of us do without you?

Are you all right, Alison?

The walls used to sweat...

Do you remember?.. in Hong Kong.

We used to sit and watch the water running down the walls.

Such close relationships we make in Army life.

But we pack up and we move on.

In the morning, he'll be gone.

Look, we all think Ed should have got the promotion,

so it'll be hard for him with the new man.

He'll need your support.

This is for you and Ed.

Merry Christmas, Mrs Laithwaite.

What did your man say?

That he's the charismatic leader that they've all been waiting for,

and to announce himself to the world,

it's us red caps that he's after.

What would you have me do?

Send the whole unit out on night patrol but not give Captain Page

his send-off, all because your source has a feeling in his waters?

Give me permission to interview the prisoner.

- My source says he seems to know something... - That's not possible.

- Intel boys are in with him as we speak and my orders are to... - Sir.

.. leave him to stew, as talking to these people before

softening them up doesn't work.

How would we know that? Has it ever been tried?

You're obeying orders.

It's what we do!

Don't be bitter, Ed.

If you get angry because you were passed up for promotion,

you'll be passed up next time.

Left, right, left!

Left, left!

Left, right, left, right!

Left, right, left!

Not a mark on him.

Leave the prisoner in that position until I tell you.

There's a good chap.

Shh.

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Trust me.

What are you doing?

Trying to do my job.

Well, don't. There are rules.

Usually rules are written down. Not these ones. Why not, sir?

- Ed... - 72 hours of stress and everyone talks -- that's the theory.

You don't think it works?

I think torture's the best recruiting sergeant for terrorists.

How long till the intel boys come back?

They didn't say.