The ascent to twenty-five thousand feet would take several minutes. During the climb, as per protocol, the campers breathed pure oxygen and listened while Viktoria prepped them for the jump. She had warned them that the plane would be bumpy due to summer turbulence, but for Jalen, the bumps were less eventful than the JATO rocket “rush” on takeoff.
“Okay,” Viktoria yelled out the instructions. “Essentially two campers will be locked together back to front. The Group-A camper will be riding behind—and then on top—of a camper in training. Cody, how ’bout you pair with me?”
Cody’s face reddened again, but he nodded, and Wyatt breathed a visible sigh of relief.
Wyatt had been so worried about his little brother, but it was Jalen who really had a fear of heights. He stared at the other Rovers, searching for inspiration in their eyes, as they began strapping into all the harnesses necessary to do a tandem HALO jump. Once they were geared up in their jumpsuits, they began strapping onto one another.
“This procedure is crucial,” Wyatt said, taking the lead as Viktoria had asked him to. “Any mistakes, obviously, can be fatal.”
“All good, partner,” Samy said to Jalen, double-checking the clasps.
Jalen could not see Samy’s face at this point, as the older camper was clipped to his back like a turtle’s carapace.
“It’s so cool, dude,” Samy said, “Trust me, you’re gonna love it!”
“Approaching twenty-five thousand feet!” Wyatt shouted. “Final prep!”
Jalen felt as if his own heart was humming with the plane’s engine.
“Just breathe,” Wyatt said to Jalen before his mouth disappeared behind the oxygen mask. “Breathe.”
Jalen situated the mask on his face and took a deep breath, hoping the oxygen would travel to every cell in his being and stop his body from shaking. Final gear check began, each camper confirming the other was suited up correctly.
“Tuck that in!” Mary Alice barked at the goth-looking Rover named Sara. “You can’t have anything hanging off your suit.”
The jump light in the cargo hold was still glowing red, but Wyatt motioned the group to move down the ramp toward the wide opening in the rear of the aircraft. In order for them to land on the island, they’d have to jump from the aircraft nearly simultaneously. Jalen watched as the light from the rear ramp opening began to infiltrate the interior of the cargo hold. The wind, and the negative-fifty-degree temperature, came rushing in.
“Oh my god,” Jalen screamed into his mask. Even with a jumpsuit on, it was like diving into ice water.
Wyatt looked at the group and gave an encouraging thumbs-up to all, and Jalen raised a gloved thumb in return. The rear deck was now completely open, and the jumpers waddled toward the void like crabs, strapped to one another.
The red light above the opening flicked green.
“Go time!” Viktoria yelled as she and Cody stepped off into the wild blue yonder.
“We good?” Jalen asked as they moved toward the whirring vacuum of air. “Samy?”
Jalen got no reply. He looked at Wyatt’s face as he dropped off the edge, and instantly, he knew something was very wrong.
“Samy, Samy, can you hear us?” Viktoria stood over the teenager, holding the oxygen mask in place.
Samy smiled and gave a thumbs-up as some volunteers carried him away on a stretcher.
Once the kid had been whisked off to the medical ward for observation, Eldon knew the afternoon exercises were only going to make matters worse. He’d tried to explain to the SecDef that Samy’s exciting HALO jump was actually an example of Valor at its finest: “We teach good skills, so that even if the exercise goes south, these kids are able to think on their feet.”
“Yes, and this camper who suffered hypoxia, did anyone care to inquire what his recreational habits are at home? Did anyone bother to ask what he does the rest of the year, nine months of vaping and the hookah lounge? No wonder his lungs couldn’t take it.”
“You make a good point,” Eldon said. “I respectfully note that. But Wyatt was right there. And had he not been there to assist Jalen with the chute, the CYPRES unit would have ensured it would have deployed … We do have protocol in place, Madam SecDef. Now, where should we go next?”
Ken held out his notepad, upon which he’d scribbled the schedule he saw in the lounge.
“Lifting the hood?” Elaine said, her eyebrows making a near perfect V. “It says it’s to be conducted in the kill house.”
“Yes.” Eldon winced. “Right this way.”
For the SecDef’s viewing pleasure, this time it was Wyatt in the hot seat, hood over his head in the close-quarters arms training facility in the Caldera.
“So today is all about instincts,” Cass began. She circled stealthily around Wyatt, up on her toes like something from the genus Panthera. “Your gut.” She placed her nubby arm on her stomach. “The object of the exercise is to present the camper with a surprise scenario—a threat, a harmless passerby—and the trainee must react appropriately, having little time to think. Decision-making, reaction time, and close-quarters combat will all be tested. Since it is your third take with this exercise, we will be using firearms.”
“Ah, Cass.” Eldon raised his hand. “No arms today.”
“Well, then, what’s the point of the exercise?”
Eldon gave her a stand-down glare.
“Fine. So Wyatt will be demonstrating his martial arts skills and hand-to-hand combat. Are we ready?”
“Ready,” Wyatt gave a muffled response and Cass pulled the hood from his head.
The other four Group-A members came charging at Wyatt, in padded suits, wielding padded weapons. Wyatt, recognizing the threat, immediately assumed an athletic stance. Mary Alice came first, swinging the stick, and Wyatt moved to the right, dodging the blow and kneeing her in the chest. Wyatt uppercut her lip, and MA dropped, blood splurting, but Wyatt pivoted, ready to take the next charging camper when the SecDef popped to her feet.
“Stop,” the SecDef screamed. “Stop the drill!”
“Halt!” Eldon held his hands up. “Team Z, stand down.” He turned to the SecDef. “Is there an issue?”
“Is there an issue?” Elaine echoed in disbelief. “Sir, follow me.” The fabric of her pantsuit whisked as she charged out of earshot of the rest of the group.
“My god, this is insane. Completely insane. This program is going to be suspended until we can have a more thorough review.”
“Madam Secretary,” Eldon said. “With all due respect, we cannot just shut this down. Camp Valor serves a vital role in U.S. security. Countless lives have been saved by this program, including my own.”
“They’re kids. And last year, two of them died. Not to mention the senior staff member who also perished.”
“That’s correct,” Eldon said solemnly. “This is a high-risk unit that sees a tremendous amount of action. It’s why we are successful.”
“At what cost?” She turned away. “Ken, Tui, come over here!”
Ken came running over like a lapdog, the henchman lumbering behind him.
“Mr. Director, I’m putting Camp Valor on indefinite suspension, and I’m leaving my chief of staff to make sure my wishes are enforced. You should know that until otherwise informed, there will be absolutely zero military training at this camp. No fighting, no arms, no bomb-making, no defensive, offensive, or tactical training of any kind. There will be no campers allowed into the Caldera. They’ll be confined to the camp itself and its environs. My hope is this secret training nonsense will be forever stifled, but until further review, there won’t be any activity resembling what I’ve seen today.”
“May I have a word in private?” Eldon asked.
Elaine shot Ken and Tui a glance, and the two stepped away. “Make it quick.”
“Ma’am.” Eldon lowered his voice. “This is a massive mistake. The last five SecDefs who have visited our grounds—all of them would have engaged Valor to help hunt Encyte. Suspending the program right now is like taking the bullets out of your best gun, plugging the barrel, and putting a red plastic cap on the end of it.”
“Mr. Director, if I hear of these campers doing anything more dangerous than hiking trails and lanyard making, so help me I will ship them all back to jail where they belong … I might even send you with them.”
“Roger that,” Eldon said, teeth gritted. He turned to Avi. “Shut down all training. Immediately.”