CHAPTER FIVE
0630 Hours, July 12, 2519 (Military Calendar)
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve, planet Reach John held on tight as the dropship accelerated up and over a jagged snowcapped mountain range. The sun peeked over the horizon and washed the white snow with pinks and oranges. The other members of his unit pressed their faces to the windows and watched.
Sam sat next to him and looked outside. “Nice place for a snowball fight.”
“You’ll lose,” Kelly said. She leaned over John’s shoulder to get a better look at the terrain. “I’m a dead aim with snowballs.” She scratched the stubble of her shorn hair.
“Dead is right,” John muttered. “Especially when you load them with rocks.”
CPO Mendez stepped from the cockpit into the passenger compartment. The trainees stood and snapped to attention. “At ease, and sit down.” The silver at Mendez’s temples had grown to a band across the side of his closely shaved hair, but if anything he had gotten stronger and tougher since John had first laid eyes on him two years ago.
“Today’s mission will be simple for a change.” Mendez’s voice easily penetrated the roar of the dropship’s engines. He handed a stack of papers to Kelly. “Pass these out, Recruit.”
“Sir!” She saluted smartly and handed one paper to each of the seventy-five children in the squad.
“These are portions of maps of the local region. You will be set down by yourselves. You will then navigate to a marked extraction point and we will pick you up there.”
John turned his map over. It was just one part of a much larger map—no drop or extraction point marked. How was he supposed to navigate without a reference point? But he knew this was part of the mission, to answer that question on his own.
“One more thing,” Mendez said. “The last trainee to make it to the extraction point will be left behind.”
He glanced out a window. “And it’s a very long walk back.”
John didn’t like it. He wasn’t going to lose, but he didn’t want anyone else to lose, either. The thought of Kelly or Sam or any of the others marching all the way back made him uneasy . . . if they could make it all the way back alone over those mountains.
“First drop in three minutes,” Mendez barked. “Trainee 117, you’re up first.”
“Sir! Yes, sir!” John replied.
He glanced out the window and scanned the terrain. There was a ring of jagged mountains, a valley thick with cedars, and a ribbon of silver—a river that fed into a lake.
John nudged Sam, pointed to the river, then jerked his thumb toward the lake.
Sam nodded, then pulled Kelly aside and pointed out the window. Kelly and Sam moved quickly down the line of seated trainees.
The ship decelerated. John felt his stomach rise as they dropped toward the ground.
“Trainee 117: front and center.” Mendez stepped to the rear of the compartment as the ship’s tail split and a ramp extended. Cold air blasted into the ship. He patted John on the shoulder. “Watch out for wolves in the forest, 117.”
“Yes, sir!” John looked over his shoulder at the others.
His teammates gave him an almost imperceptible nod. Good, everyone got his message.
He ran down the ramp and into the forest. The dropship’s engines roared to life and it rose high into the cloudless sky. He zipped up his jacket. He wore only fatigues, boots, and a heavy parka—not exactly the gear he’d pack for a prolonged stay in the wilderness.
John started toward one particularly sharp peak he had spotted from the air; the river lay in that direction. He’d follow it downstream and meet the others at the lake.
He marched through the woods until he heard the gurgling of a stream. He got close enough to see the direction of the flow, then headed back into the forest. Mendez’s exercises often had a twist to them—
stun mines on the obstacle course, snipers with paint pellet guns during parade drills. And with the Chief up in that dropship, John wasn’t about to reveal his position unless he had a good reason.
He passed a blueberry bush and took the time to strip it before he moved on.
This was the first time in months he had been alone and could just think. He popped a handful of berries into his mouth and chewed.
He thought about the place that had been his home, his parents . . . but more and more that seemed like a dream. John knew it wasn’t, and that he had once had a different life. But this was the life he wanted. He was a soldier. He had an important job to train for. Mendez said they were the Navy’s best and brightest.
That they were the only hope for peace. He liked that.
Before, he never knew what he would be when he grew up. He never really thought about anything other than watching vids and playing—nothing had been a challenge.
Now every day was a challenge and a new adventure.
John knew more things, thanks to Déjà, than he ever thought he could have learned at his old school: algebra and trigonometry, the history of a hundred battles and kings. He could string a trip line, fire a rifle, and treat a chest wound. Mendez had shown him how to be strong . . . not only with his body, but strong with his head, too.
He had a family here: Kelly, Sam, and all the others in his squad.
The thought of his squadmates brought him back to Mendez’s mission—one of them was going to be left behind. There had to be a way to get them all home. John decided he wasn’t going to leave if he couldn’t figure it out.
He arrived at the edge of the lake; stood and listened.
John heard an owl hooting in the distance. He marched toward the sound. “Hey, owl,” he said when he was close.
Sam stepped out from behind a tree and grinned. “That’s ‘Chief Owl’ to you, Trainee.”
They walked around the circumference of the lake, gathering the rest of the children in the squad. John counted them to make sure: sixty-seven.
“Let’s get the map pieces together,” Kelly suggested.
“Good idea,” John said. “Sam, take three and scout the area. I don’t want any of the Chief’s surprises sneaking up on us.”
“Right.” Sam picked Fhajad, James, and Linda and then the four of them took off into the brush.
Kelly collected the map pieces and settled in the shade of an ancient cedar tree. “Some of these don’t belong, and some are copies,” she said, and she laid them out. “Yes, here’s an edge. Got it—this is the lake, the river, and here . . . ” She pointed to a distant patch of green. “That’s got to be the extraction point.” She shook her head and frowned. “If the legend on this map is right, it’s a full day’s hike, though. We better get started.”
John whistled and a moment later Sam and his scouts returned.
“Let’s move out,” John said.
No one argued. They fell into line behind Kelly as she navigated. Sam blazed the trail ahead. He had the best eyes and ears. Several times he stopped and signaled everyone to freeze or hide—but it turned out to be just a rabbit or a bird.
After several miles of marching, Sam dropped back. He whispered to John, “This is too easy. It’s not like any of the Chief’s normal field exercises.”
John nodded. “I’ve been thinking that, too. Just keep your eyes and ears sharp.”
They stopped at noon to stretch and eat berries they had gathered along the trail.
Fhajad spoke up. “I want to know one thing,” he said. He paused to wipe the sweat off his dark skin.
“We’re going to get to the extraction point at the same time. So who’s getting left behind? We should decide now.”
“Draw straws,” someone suggested.
“No,” John said, and stood. “No one’s being left behind. We’re going to figure a way to get all of us out.”
“How?” Kelly asked, scratching her head. “Mendez said—”
“I know what he said. But there’s got to be a way—I just haven’t thought of one yet. Even if it has to be me that stays behind—I’ll make sure everyone gets back to the base.” John started marching again.
“Come on, we’re wasting time.”
The others fell in behind him.
The shadows of the trees lengthened and melted together and the sun turned the edge of the sky red.
Kelly halted and motioned for everyone else to stop. “We’re almost there,” she whispered.
“Me and Sam will scout it out,” John said. “Everyone fall out . . . and keep quiet.”
The rest of the children silently followed his orders.
John and Sam crept through the underbrush and then hunkered down at the edge of a meadow.
The dropship sat in the center of the grassy field; her floodlights illuminated everything for thirty meters.
Six men sat on the open launch ramp, smoking cigarettes and passing a canteen between themselves.
Sam motioned to drop back. “You recognize them?” he whispered.
“No. You?”
Sam shook his head. “They’re not in uniform. They don’t look like any soldiers I’ve ever seen. Maybe they’re rebels. Maybe they stole the dropship and killed the Chief.”
“No way,” John said. “Nothing can kill the Chief. But one thing’s for sure: I don’t think we can just walk up there and get a free ride back to the base. Let’s go back.”
They crept back into the woods and then explained the situation to the others.
“What do you want to do?” Kelly asked him.
John wondered why she thought he had an answer. He looked around and saw everyone was watching him, waiting for him to speak. He shifted on his feet. He had to say something.
“Okay . . . we don’t know who these men are or what they’ll do when they see us. So we find out.”
The children nodded, seeming to think this was the right thing to do.
“Here’s how,” John told them. “First, I’ll need a rabbit.”
“That’s me,” Kelly said, and sprang to her feet. “I’m the fastest.”
“Good,” John said. “You go to the edge of the meadow—and then let them see you. I’ll go along and hide nearby and watch. In case anything happens to you, I’ll report back to the others.”
She nodded.