Get Fallen

Earlier this month, I received a thrilling instant message. “Ali” (not his real name), an Afghan interpreter I had last seen in 2011, was not only living mere miles away from me with his wife and four kids, but he also wanted to meet up. Within 48 hours, he was pulling up in his car to my home.

Ali was one of a small gaggle of interpreters we had on an outpost located where an endless plain met the Hindu Kush mountains. Being stationed “away from the flagpole” (far from central military leadership) created tight connections as we depended on each other for everything.

Identity concealed for the protection of family still in Afghanistan.

Ali fit right in amongst us when he arrived. While most ethnic Pashtun interpreters could only speak Pashto whereas ethnic Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek interpreters spoke Dari, Ali could communicate in both. This ability had him become the organizer of multiple events, such as Koran studies that I was invited to attend to provide a Christian point-of-view. That last part became a hook to get Afghans on base to participate as a person who could talk about the Christian faith to Muslims and while being respectful as rare as a unicorn for many.

His claim to fame, though, was his connections. Whether through blood relations, marriage, or friendships, he knew everything going on base and around it. A Polish soldier had a negligent discharge towards our general direction and ran away. So Ali talked to the Afghan shop owners and found out who it was. When an Afghan worker got kidnapped near the base, Ali worked the phones himself, pulling in favors and found out where the guy was being held. He worked with the Afghan police and a local baker to organize my surprise birthday party that featured the Titanic cake.

The last person I was with before I left the base was Ali. He took me to the flight line, where we talked about family and religion, and then he helped me take my bags on a Czech helicopter. The last I saw of him was waving goodbye as I flew off.

For a few years, we stayed in touch via Facebook, but after 2015, he stopped posting, and sadly I stopped trying to find him. Even when I returned to Afghanistan for another deployment, I didn’t try to contact Ali.

When the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIROA) fell to the Taliban in 2021, I tried looking up every Afghan translator, cook, soldier, and doctor I had worked with. Some I discovered had gotten out, but most were ghosts. I knew Ali had ties in the Middle East and the United States, but I also realized some Afghans willingly stayed in their home country. His fate was a mystery.

Source material footage of the fall of Kabul.

When he arrived outside my home, I ran into his car before he could get out. Right away, he told me he got out in 2020 and now lives nearby with his wife and children. Then, the conversation resumed where it had left off over a decade ago. We started talking about family and world problems through our religious lenses.

Over the course of brunch, I got further details about what had happened in the last days of GIROA. So many stories he told were along the the lines of, “You remember my cousin Mot? He was working on the president’s staff, and Mot told me that the president had ordered a month before the fall that money be put aside in case the president had to flee within a moment’s notice.” A humorous moment was when I asked about Abdullah Abduallah, the quasi-co-president of GIROA who stayed in Kabul when the Taliban took over. I wanted to know what Ali thought about Abdullah Abduallah. Instead, he said, “Oh, we don’t talk that much anymore.” It turns out Ali had a cousin close to Abdullah Abdullah and introduced them to each other before GIROA’s fall. Though I was surprised, I shouldn’t have been. It was Ali, after all.

Talking about the politics of the withdrawal and current Afghan events was difficult, though. Hope for the future was lackluster between us. In one ironic dark moment, Ali and I lamented how the current Taliban rule has made Afghanistan more stable than it has been within 40 years because of their reign of terror.

After the meal, we went on a long walk together. We laughed about old friends, compared Islamic and Christian End Times (we both agreed to back Jesus in His fight against the anti-Christ), talked about his wife who is trying to learn English, and discussed how a 14-year-old Afghan girl is basically indistinguishable from a 14-year-old American girl. Thankfully, with him nearby, we will have plenty of opportunities to spend time together in the future.

Ali served as one of the inspirations of the Sabia medic Zalta. She serves as the deployment buddy who is somehow connected to everyone, and being in his or her circle introduces you to a whole new cast of characters.

Another inspiration for Zalta was another translator named “Spade.” He inspired Zalta’s constant deployment dating. Spade once started offering drives on base to female European soldiers. Not only did that allow him to flirt with them, but he would also take pleasure in making the male European soldiers jealous.

While Ali’s story continues in the United States, Zalta’s story will remain intertwined with Brendan’s aboard the Sabia spaceship somewhere beyond the Moon. Time will tell if her fate and that of others are as happy as Ali’s.

Twitter Flash Fiction

The inspiration word for this story was control. I went for a Sabia-theme with this one.

“Machines had designed and created whole worlds for her. Massive fleets were at her command. Whole star systems quaked at her wrath. But when it came the human spirit within the princess, she knew nothing would control her daughter.”

Other Indie Author Deals

Wedding of the Torn Rose - A merchant who abandoned his birthright, a princess with a dark secret, and an encounter destined to change their lives forever… Down on his luck, Kaine Khalia was gathering mushrooms in the forest to sell in the nearby capital. A young woman’s screams were the last thing he expected to find. Dashing to her rescue, Kaine finds himself face to face with a monster that should not even exist, fighting for his life as well as hers. His world only gets crazier from there. Kaine returns with Princess Lydia to her father’s castle, where he discovers himself in the king’s good graces. Confused and leery by a reward beyond gold, Kaine reluctantly agrees to remain and help with Lydia’s younger siblings. Life could not have thrown him more. Plunged into a world of magical intrigue, unrest, and political maneuvering, each new event leaves Kaine feeling out of place and, worse, dangerously exposed to a growing threat. The Darian Kingdom stands at the crossroads. Lydia’s upcoming wedding to the prince of the Throatian Kingdom will soon become the defining moment in Kaine’s life. With secrets revealed, and the perils of war looming on the horizon, it is going to take every ounce of loyalty, imagination, and willpower for Kaine to survive, and, if he is fortunate, stop the fast approaching storm from burning his world to the ground. Journey with Kaine as he attempts to prevent a war and save a kingdom in the first volume of the Symphony of Crowns and Gods series. Wedding of the Torn Rose is a fast-paced fantasy adventure with mystery, action, and magic.

Mayim - Sophia McFadden, a Water Microbiologist, never thought her assignment to solve a water crisis in Romala could put her in harm’s way. After three escapes from harm, Sophia receives a call to flee the town, end her analyses, or perish. She considers leaving, but quitting shows her failing her mission. A corrupt oil mogul and his hordes of extraterrestrials and humanoids offer a sizable bounty on Sophia’s head. A daring agent steps forward to help her, but now peril stalks both—if she solves the mysterious enigma in the ocean.

Authors List your book on Netgalley - This is a guide for authors to learn more about listing their book on Netgalley including information on a Netgalley Coop.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know if you have any questions about Ali, want me to ask any questions to him for you, or want to directly to me about Fallen and Risen!

Leave a comment

Subscribe now

Patrick Abbott, Sci-fi Author

Reuniting with an Afghan Interpreter