Amber

Chapter 1

The commander stood on a desert plain, surveying a vast jumble of car-sized boulders not far away from where he stood with his squad. A large tract of the vast park had been closed with the cooperation of the National Park Service for the Navy’s usage of the terrain. He raised a megaphone to his lips.

“SEALs: Sea. Air. Land. Today’s training exercise will focus on the latter part of that equation. Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes sir!” A chorus went up in unison, but one voice was perhaps a bit louder than the others.

Dane Maddock squinted into the noonday sun as he looked at his commander. He knew the desert around them was wild and unforgiving, its topography varied, making it a favorite spot in which to train. There was also a surreal beauty about the place, with its red and brown dirt and rock hues dotted with green scrub brush and the occasional strange-looking trees like something out of a Dr. Seuss book that gave the park its namesake. Maddock found he had to disregard all that in order to stay focused on his mission, instead choosing to see his surroundings only in terms of tactical awareness — potential sniper nests, foxholes, climbing routes and survival resources.

“You all right, Maddock? You look like you just walked in on your parents making the beast with two backs.” This from the fellow SEAL by Maddock’s side.

“Don’t bug me, Bonebrake. I’m thinking.”

Uriah “Bones” Bonebrake, a broad-shouldered Cherokee who stood six-and-a-half feet tall, made a face that Maddock knew signified, “Well, excuse me for living.” He also knew from prior experience that it was unlikely the boisterous Indian would stay silent, and he did not disappoint now.

“Don’t strain yourself.”

The commander’s voice interrupted them both. “On the cargo net there you will find one rucksack per man. They are all identical so there’s no advantage to first pick. Each of you gets one. It contains all equipment sanctioned for this exercise, including climbing gear, weapons and med-kit. You will be using only non-lethal rounds for this exercise. Eliminating the opposition is not required in order to achieve your objective but may prove helpful.”

Maddock leaned in close to Bones while he eyed the heap of a dozen packs along with the other ten men lined up next to them. “I need every advantage I can get. This is more your kind of country than mine.”

Bones frowned in his direction while Maddock shifted his gaze to watch a golden eagle soar overhead. “The Cherokee tribe is from the southeast, genius.”

“Yeah, but some of you relocated to the west, didn’t you?”

“Not my family. We hid in the woods and built a casino.”

Once again the commander’s voice boomed. “Look at the exercise theater. A target asset to be recovered has been hidden somewhere within these boulders.” He spread his arms wide as the SEAL team collectively groaned at the expansive rockscape spread out before them. It was thick with boulders large and small, and even a rock face towering perhaps six stories from the top of the stone heap. It was a geologist’s dream but a field operator’s nightmare.

“The twelve of you have been divided into three teams, denoted by your uniform color. None of the three colors confer a camouflage advantage over the others in this terrain.” Maddock looked around the group and saw that this was true. None of them wore desert camo or even khaki or tan. He and Maddock each wore olive drab fatigues, while some of their fellow SEALs wore black, and the third squad dressed in navy blue, all of them of little use from a tactical standpoint in this part of the arid desert.

The commander continued. “The asset itself is small enough to fit in your packs or to be carried by one able-bodied man. It does not move and does not in and of itself pose any danger to you.” He grinned devilishly at the looks of hopelessness on the soldiers’ faces. Clearly they had been hoping the target was large, perhaps a structure of some sort, not something that could be carried.

“Like finding a needle in a haystack, right?” Maddock said quietly to Bones.

“More like finding your mom in the strip club. Wait, she’s probably easy to find. She’s the one with a body like the Michelin man.”

By this point in their military careers Maddock had grown accustomed to Bones’ wisecracking at often inappropriate moments, but that didn’t mean he was okay with it. He was about to return the insult in kind when the commander’s voice rang out.

“Green Team, you have earned yourselves a three-minute handicap. That’s one hundred eighty seconds for those of you who failed grammar school mathematics.” He shot a dark look at Bones. “After the Go signal, you can park your carcasses right there until I give you the word.”

Maddock instantly became aware of the withering stares shot his way by their two other Green Team squad mates: one stood four men down to their left, a dark-skinned African-American with a clean-shaven head almost as tall and broad of shoulder as Bones, and three down to their right, a Caucasian similar in stature to Maddock.

“Sorry, Willis,” Bones said to the black man, Willis Sanders, who only narrowed his eyes in return.

“Got your back, Prof,” he offered to their other teammate, whose name was in fact Pete Chapman, but who was known as Professor due to his affinity for trivia as well as his general intelligence. He, too, had no verbal reply for Bones.

“Gear up and standby!”

“Hooyah!” The SEALs bolted for the mound of bags at their commander’s order. Maddock, Bones, Willis, and Professor each donned one of the packs along with their fellow SEAL competitors. The megaphone sounded again as the commander looked at his watch.

“All teams ready except for Green! Mission starts in three… two… one… go!”

Maddock, Bones, Willis and Professor watched dejectedly as Black Team and Blue Team fanned out and ran for the boulder field. After a few seconds Maddock knelt and began going through the contents of his pack. He noted that none of the other teams had taken the time to do this, and they had nothing better to do while they waited out the three minutes.

“Comm check,” Maddock said holding up a handheld radio he pulled from his pack. All four of them turned their units on and found them to be on different channels. They agreed on one that they would use and then Maddock set his to scan mode to search the frequencies for radio traffic so that they might hear the other teams’ comm traffic later.

Meanwhile, Bones had his firearm out of the pack, a Sig Sauer P226 pistol. “Paint rounds, dudes, ours are bright green.” He raised the weapon and traced a member of Blue Team through the sights as he reached the rocks. “Time?” he inquired as he followed the special warfare operator’s progress up into the boulders with his pistol.

“Two minutes until you may engage!” the commander answered him.

Professor and Willis both narrowed their eyes. The implications Bones had raised were clear.

Professor eyed Bones, who still sighted through the P226. “If you have a shot then they’re going to have a shot, too. They all know we’re just sitting ducks out here. We’re going to have to spread out just as soon as we can.”

“I still think I can take at least one out.” Bones didn’t look up from his gun.

Maddock, now coiling a length of rope and clipping it to his belt, looked out on the boulder field. “Professor’s right, Bones. All any of us has are pistols, so there’s no real sniper threat, but a guy on the edge of the rocks could take out all four of us pretty easy.”

“Thanks again for getting us into this mess, Bones. I always wanted to know what a fish in a barrel feels like.” Willis voiced his opinion.

“Help me out, would you Willis? I need a steady platform. Just kneel down in front of me, I’ll rest this little paint shooter on your shoulder, and it should give me steady enough aim to take this guy down.”

“You crazy?” Willis took a step closer to Bones, staring at him as he looked down his gun sights. “We need to be ready to move, man!”

“Relax. They’re probably all scrambling around looking for the asset. No one’s even opened a pack yet that I can see.” Bones continued tracing the man as the member of Blue Team ducked in and out of various nooks and crannies.

“One minute to engage!”

Maddock shouldered his pack and looked out at the rocks. “If we play our cards right, Bones can take out one or two guys and we can spread out quick.” He pointed to a central rock spire, by far the most salient feature of the playing field. It consisted of three individual monoliths, each rising perhaps six stories vertically until they touched together at the top. The base was surrounded by an intimidating array of huge rocks haphazardly arranged. “A lot of guys will assume the asset is up there,” he finished.

“It could be up there,” Professor added.

“Time-consuming climb, and easy to pick climbers off that high wall if you’re close enough,” Maddock said.

“Hopefully the other teams eliminate a few of their own with cross-fighting before we get there.” This from Professor. “Thirty seconds. What’s our plan?”

“I still got this guy.” Bones looked at Willis. “C’mon, Willis. I need support here.” The big African-American muttered a choice curse under his breath and knelt in front of Bones, facing away from him. Bones rested the barrel of the pistol on his rock steady shoulder and took aim at the soldier on the edge of the rock field. Other men were visible farther away, very difficult targets for a pistol at this distance.

Maddock shouldered his pack and addressed the team. “Two reasons taking the top of that spire is worth doing: the asset could be there, and even if it’s not, it’ll provide a bird’s eye view that could help us locate the asset.”

“And it would make the ultimate sniper’s nest up there… Speaking of which, I got this guy… ” Bones’ finger began squeezing the trigger in anticipation.

The commanders’ eyes were glued to his watch, his arm slowly rising as he looked at it.

Maddock continued, speaking rapidly. “Let’s split up in case they do try to shoot us in the open. Bones and I will meet up at the base of the tower. Professor and Willis: you two prowl the boulder field, separately. Stay in comm. Sound good?”

All three men gave one syllable answers indicating their agreement. Then the commander’s voice came over the megaphone, loud enough to be heard by the other teams in the rocks, painfully so for Green Team.

“Green Team cleared for go in three… two… one… now. Engage!”

The report from Bones’ P226 served as a starter pistol for Maddock and Professor, each of whom set out in opposite directions toward the boulder field. A shouted curse followed by the words, “I’m hit!” told them that his round had found its mark. Per the rules of engagement, the Blue Team member who had been shot placed his hands in the air and began walking back to the cargo net.

Bones’ pistol spat again, multiple rounds this time, and a member of Black Team who had been bouldering on the near perimeter of the rock field froze when struck by Bones’ paintball, and then slid to the ground. Two men now took the walk of shame across the open plain to the commander.

“Six left. Let’s find that thing.” Bones thumped Willis on the back and rolled off to his right, aware that standing now would present a higher profile to those seeking to return fire. Willis dashed straight ahead toward the boulders, keeping his considerable frame low to the ground, moving almost crab-like at times as he sought whatever low, rocky cover he could find.

A paint round splattered a squat barrel cactus next to Maddock as he took the longest, most off-center route to the rocks. He raised his radio to his lips and hit the transmitter. “Taking fire, still moving.”

“Copy that, under fire,” came the grunted reply from Willis, already on the move himself, straight toward the rocks.

Bones, meanwhile, had just holstered his pistol and taken the first few steps toward the rocks when he saw a bright blue spot bloom on the hard-packed dirt in front of him. Blue Team was shooting at him. He dropped and rolled before transitioning into a low crawl behind a mesquite bush for cover.

“I made the rocks.” Professor’s voice boomed over Green Team’s channel. Even though Maddock, Bones and Willis still needed to get there, the news buoyed their spirits. Running the gauntlet could be done. Maddock’s voice came over the comm channel in panting rasps.

“Copy. Anybody still taking fire?”

Three replies in the negative greeted Maddock’s ears.

“I made it, too.” Willis’ voice informed them over the radios.

“Me three. I’m in a small boulder cave. Nice and cozy. ” Bones sounded almost happy, like there was nothing else he’d rather be doing.

“I see a man on the tower wall,” Professor reported.

“Copy that, I see him too,” Maddock sucked in a deep breath. “I just reached the rocks, east end.”

Maddock was formulating his next sentence when they heard a shot.

“Oh! He’s down. Picked off the wall!” Willis reported.

Blue or Black, you know?” Maddock asked.

“No bino’s in this kit and I can’t see from here.”

“Only five guys in our way now, whatever color they are. Green 1, ready for tower approach?” Bones’ voice traveled through the comm system.

“Affirmative, Green 2. Contact when the base is in sight, over.”

“Copy that, dude.”

Out of sight from each other, Maddock and Bones began bouldering toward the central rock spire. The going was treacherous and demanded their full attention; turning an ankle or falling and shattering an arm would be an easy thing to do. For the outlying boulder field, neither Maddock nor Bones required the assistance of climbing gear. Both SEALs were experienced mountaineers and had bouldered this type of terrain many times. Still, the added element of active shooters in the environment introduced an additional layer of stress, a factor over which they had little control.

Maddock paused at times to listen above the rush of blood in his ears, but he detected no “enemy.” He reasoned that rather than hunker down silently, waiting and hoping for someone from an opposing team to cross your path, the odds were better at winning if you focused your energy on finding the prize.

While he traversed the uneven terrain he kept his eyes open for the asset. They weren’t told what exactly it was but so far he hadn’t seen anything that wasn’t natural. After sliding down the face of a ten-foot high stone into a dirt ravine surrounded by large rocks that became taller as he neared the center spire, Maddock heard the sound of a rattle. He froze in place, knowing all too well what the noise likely signified. His eyes scanned the dusty desert floor for signs of the rattlesnake. There it was, a couple of feet off the dirt game trail Maddock followed between the boulders, shadowed in rocks.

Maddock nimbly sidestepped the serpentine threat and wound around another boulder until he reached a break in the rocks where the rocky tower jutted skyward not fifty feet in front of him. He whispered into his radio.

“I have visual with Base. Green 2, status?” Maddock tried to stick with approved SEAL field protocol, but Bones had never been a stickler for the rules, though his reply was immediate. “I also have visual with the base, bro. Don’t see anybody up there. They must all be looking for your mom’s house. Over.”

Maddock shook his head while replying. “I don’t see anyone up there either.” Maddock couldn’t blame anyone for looking thoroughly everywhere else before attempting to scale the tower. It was an easy place to get shot down from, as they had already seen, and besides that was a difficult, arduous climb to the summit, with no guarantee the asset would be there. “Let’s meet up on the south side.”

“Last one there’s a rotten egg.”

Maddock slithered amongst the rocky piles toward the south face of the tower. As he neared the target he came to a relatively open space leading up to the vertical wall. He knelt among a clutch of rocks and waited for a minute, observing his surroundings. At first he detected nothing but then the sound of a boot slipping over loose soil reached his ears, off to his right. He swiveled his head and saw a member of Blue Team step over a dried Yucca log. Maddock raised his pistol but kept his finger still on the trigger. When the soldier crept out of sight again, obviously patrolling for the asset and not tipped off to Maddock’s presence, Maddock holstered his weapon. He could eliminate him, but it would be at the expense of giving up his own position. As long as he and Bones remained undetected, they could be well up the rock face before anyone noticed.

“Psssst. Maddock!”

Maddock looked toward the source of Bones’ hissing — to the rock tower — but saw nobody. On closer inspection he caught movement, saw Bones’ big hand waving, seeming to come directly out of the rock itself. Maddock traced the rocky spire from its apex back to the ground, noting the seams where the three massive pieces of the formation came together. Bones had found his way inside the space where they met.

Taking a last look around to ensure he had no eyes on him, Maddock shot across the small amount of open space and into the crevice in which Bones hid. It was an interesting spot. Looking up, they could see a pinpoint of blue sky as the three sections of rock narrowed until they almost but not quite touched. The area on the ground was wider and roughly circular, but with not much more room than was required for the two of them to stand in.

Bones pounded a fist on one of the smooth rock walls. “It’s like a stone teepee.”

Somewhere outside, but not too close, they heard voices, the words indistinct.

Maddock glanced upwards once before raising the radio to his lips. “Green 1 and 2 to 3 and 4, you read?”

“Copy, Green 1. Green 3 is out.” Professor could not hide the disappointment in his voice at losing Willis. “Good news is I took out the guy who got him. Blue Team is completely eliminated. Only three Black tangos remain, over.”

“Copy, Green 4. We have made target base, now we’re moving up in the world, out.”

“Copy that, moving up. I’ll give you cover fire. I just hope that damn thing is up there. No sign of it out here.”

As soon as the radio call ended Maddock and Bones heard the soft padding of footsteps just outside the cave. Very quiet, but moving quickly by the sound of them, sort of a pitter patter on the soft dirt, with an occasional click. The two men separated instantly to either side of the cave entrance, guns held in the ready position. Was one of the remaining Black squad about to enter and attempt an ambush?

There was indeed a threat just outside the cave entrance, but it was not at all what they were expecting. In trotted a dog-like animal about the size of a German shepherd. The canine ran into the cave, rocking back on its haunches when it saw the two humans. It bared its teeth and emitted a low growl, but did not advance.

“Coyote. Where there’s one, there are usually more,” Bones warned.

Maddock made a sudden, threatening move toward the animal, swiping at it with his gun. The coyote turned tail and ran, but they knew it didn’t go far. They could hear it pacing not far outside the cave, whining and yelping.

“Thing’s gonna give our position away!” Bones complained.

“We better get on with it.” Maddock looked up toward the top of the rocky spire.

Bones had his pack open, organizing his climbing gear while assessing the joins in the rock, tracing them upward with his eyes. “I guess I’ll take lead.”

He stepped over to the wall and began inserting his fingers into a crack line, testing it. He knew well from experience that rock climbing was both a mental puzzle, determining the most efficient routes and combinations of hand- and footholds, and a physical one, knowing how to orient one’s body to the rock as well as having the arm, finger and leg strength and stamina to move about over long periods of time.

“I’ll take lead,” Maddock said, placing a foot onto a small irregularity in the rock wall.

“Why are you taking lead? I should take lead.”

Maddock looked at his friend. “Why you?”

“I’m the better climber.”

Maddock rolled his eyes. Bones reached into his pocket and produced a coin, an old buffalo nickel that he carried for good luck. “Flip you for it.”

“Fine.”

“I call heads.” Bones flipped the coin up into the air. Before it landed they saw a black splotch of paint appear on the wall of their chamber, not six inches from Bones’ head.

“Heads, I’ll lead.” Bones scrambled up the rock face, leaving his nickel on the dirt. Inside the tower, the going was tougher near the bottom because the walls were slightly concave. Until the three rock walls were closer together as the tower rose, climbing inside here would be tricky. It did afford the advantage, once off the ground, that they couldn’t be fired upon unless someone was inside with them, shooting up.

By the time Bones hammered his first piton into the face, twenty feet up, they heard a man shout, “Crap, I’m hit!”

And then their radios crackled with Professor’s voice. “Took out the trash for you. Should be clean in there now. Two more guys out here somewhere, how’s it going?”

Maddock relayed that they were making their way up the inside of the tower. He clipped a line to his harness that was fastened to the metal spikes and carabineers that Bones was installing as he went higher. He followed Bones’ route up the conical formation. It was a sound assumption that if it worked for Bones it would work for him, until he reached one section where the tall man’s long reach was clearly an advantage when grabbing for the next hold. Maddock jumped, the rock flaying his fingertips as he tried to dig them into a paper-thin nick in the wall.

The face at this point was sharply concave and Bones was barely hanging on as it was. With maybe fifteen more feet until the three rocks were close enough together to be able to wedge one’s body against the opposing walls, Maddock fell from the rock face. The only thing keeping him from landing on his back about forty feet below was the safety rope Bones had hammered into the wall. Even so, Maddock faced a twenty-foot freefall at the end of which his body was jolted hard at the end of the rope before dangling there in midair.

The impact also pulled Bones from the face, although being tethered directly to the piton in the wall, he didn’t have far to fall, but just dangled there, looking down to see how Maddock had fared. The team leader hung upside down, slowly spinning, his head about four feet out from the wall. Bones was about to admit defeat-there was no way he’d be able to haul Maddock all the way back up and then resume the arduous climb — when Maddock called up to him.

“Bones… I found it!”

“Found what? A way to fly? Because that would be great right about now.”

“No, I mean I found it. The asset.”

Bones looked down and saw Maddock reaching both arms out toward a crevice in the wall from his upside down position. Bones began rappelling down the face, using his legs to bounce off the wall when needed. In a few seconds he was hanging in midair next to Maddock, face to upside down face like a couple of bats.

Maddock now cradled a white plastic box with the black letters, ASSET, stenciled on one side. A red button was visible on top of the box inside a transparent plastic door.

“What are you waiting for Batman, press it!”

“You can do the honors.”

Bones flipped up the lid and depressed the button.

Within a few seconds their radios sounded with the commander’s voice.

“SEALs, this exercise has been won! Blue Team, Black Team, report back to me. Green Team: there is a transport helicopter waiting for you a click to the south. You are to report there without delay.”