Freedom

CHAPTER 1

Dane Maddock looked up from his copy of The Art of War as the barracks door banged open and a voice boomed.

“Oh, yeah! BUDS is over, buddies!” Uriah Bonebrake, a six and-a-half foot tall Cherokee with a personality like fingers on a chalkboard, raised his fists in triumph. “Next stop, SQTs!”

“Don’t forget jump school,” Willis Sanders called down from his upper bunk.

“Child’s play. I’ve been jumping off crap since I was a baby.” Bonebrake high-fived Willis and turned to address the room at large. “Tonight, I’m gonna take five hundred dollars out of my account and hit the town. I’ll spend half of it on cheap beer and loose women, and the other half I’ll just waste. Who’s with me?”

Dane muffled a fake cough as ragged cheers arose from the exhausted survivors of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. The candidates had completed eight weeks of Special Warfare Preparatory School, and a grueling six months of SEAL training. The past three-plus weeks had been spent on San Clemente Island, with Dane and his comrades put through grueling exercises designed to replicate days spent in action on the field of battle. How Bonebrake still had the energy to party was anyone’s guess.

“I think Pope Maddock is judging me again. You have something you want to say, Your Holiness?”

“Would it matter if I did, Bonebrake?” Dane didn’t bother to look up from his book. They’d had this conversation before, and he always found it a waste of time. Bonebrake was a clown destined for failure. Dane was amazed the man had made it this far.

“You think if I put termites in your skivvies they’d eat that stick that’s up your butt?”

Dane sprang to his feet and squared off with the taller man. Bonebrake had six inches and twenty pounds on him, but Dane knew how to handle himself and, if truth be told, he’d been itching for a fight since day one of training.

“What the hell is your problem, Bonebrake? Why can’t you, even once, conduct yourself with some decorum?”

“Big word from a little man. That’s another reason nobody likes you. You’re all superior.”

“Come on, Bones,” Willis said. “Don’t be like that.”

“Am I lying? Show of hands. Who here is Maddock’s friend? Hell, who knows where he’s from or what he does for fun when he’s not strutting around with proper decorum.”

“We don’t not like him,” Pete Chapman, a lanky, sandy-haired man who’d earned the nickname “Professor” for his vast knowledge of useless trivia, called out. “He just does his thing.” Chapman looked like he wanted to say more, but couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Dane’s cheeks burned. He took his training seriously, and he wasn’t about to waste it goofing around with Bonebrake and his crowd.

“You’re a joke, Bonebrake, and I’m going to laugh when you finally wash out.”

“I’m going to earn the trident, and when I do, I’ll have it tattooed on my ass so I can moon you every day.” Bonebrake took a step closer, so they were almost touching. “And I’ve told before, call me Bones.” He tried to poke Dane in the chest, but Dane slapped his hand aside.

Dane wasn’t sure who threw the first punch, but suddenly he and Bonebrake were in the midst of an old-fashioned brawl. Bonebrake caught him over the ear with a right cross, which Dane answered with an uppercut, then bounced a jab off the big Indian’s chin. Bonebrake didn’t as much as wince. He grabbed Dane in a clinch, drove a knee into his rib cage, and head-butted him across the bridge of the nose.

Ignoring the pain, Dane broke the clinch and landed a solid roundhouse to the side of Bonebrake’s knee. The bigger man wobbled and Dane leapt atop him. He managed to land a couple of solid elbow strikes before strong hands yanked them apart.

“Y’all done lost your minds!” Willis was the only man big enough to hold Bonebrake back on his own and, right now, it was all he could to keep him in check. “We’re supposed to be brothers.”

“Not a chance in hell,” Bonebrake spat.

“Fine with me,” Dane rasped through the Professor’s choke hold.

“Maddock! Bonebrake!”

The sharp voice froze Dane’s marrow and caused Bonebrake to immediately cease his struggles. Hartford Maxwell, or “Maxie,” was their commander and a man for whom Dane had the utmost respect. Never before had he heard such anger in Maxie’s voice. “My office in ten!”

“Yes sir!” both replied, but Maxie had already turned away from them. He strode out the door and closed it behind him with a bang.

Dane and Bonebrake exchanged looks of loathing, but otherwise ignored each other until they reached Maxie’s office ten minutes later.

Maxie was on the telephone when they arrived. He waved them inside, and they stood at attention until he ended the call. The office, austere as Maxie himself, held only a matching gray metal desk and file cabinet, and a chair. A single pad of legal paper, an empty “In Box,” a telephone, and a framed photograph of an attractive blonde girl of about sixteen sat atop his desk. When he finally hung up, he propped his feet up, laced his fingers behind his head as if he were lounging in a hammock, and regarded them with a steely gaze that matched the hair on his temples. He was solid in every way, and not a man to be trifled with.

After an uncomfortable silence, he let his breath out in a huff. “At ease.”

Dane tried to relax his posture, but found himself too tense to do anything but stare straight ahead. Bonebrake didn’t seem to have that problem. He sidled over to Maxie’s desk, picked up the photo, and whistled.

“Is this your daughter? Man, she is going to be a beauty. She must get her looks from your wife’s side of the family, huh?”

Maxie sat up, relieved Bones of the photo, and replaced it on his desk. “That’s my daughter Kaylin and, yes, she does take after her mother. A fate that hopefully awaits any children you might have.” He laced his fingers together, rested them on the desk, and gave them another silent stare.

“I’m sorry…” Dane began.

“I don’t want your apologies, Maddock. I want the two of you to change your behavior. You’re two of the finest I’ve ever trained, and I don’t want to lose either of you, but you pull a stunt like this again, I’ll come down on you like Ric Flair. You get my meaning?”

“Yes, sir!” Bonebrake said. “My grandfather loved Flair.”

Dane had no idea who Ric Flair was, but he got the gist. “Yes, sir.”

“All right, Bonebrake. Tell me what you know about Maddock.”

“What do you mean?” Bonebrake cocked his head like a confused puppy.

“I’m sorry. Was that question too difficult for you? Tell me about Maddock. And I don’t mean what he looks like or what he eats for breakfast. What do you know about him as a man?”

“Not much. I just know he thinks he’s better than everyone else. He doesn’t respect or appreciate the rest of us.”

Dane wanted to object, but held his tongue

Maxie turned to Dane. “Your turn. Tell me about Bonebrake.”

“He doesn’t take anything seriously. He wants respect, but he has no respect for anyone or anything.”

Maxie sighed. “You morons do realize I could make your lives miserable if I wanted to?”

Dane and Bonebrake nodded.

“If you don’t want that to happen, you’re going to do something for me. Blow this chance, and the next time you step out of line your dreams of becoming a SEAL are over.”

This time, their nods were reluctant.

“My family and I were supposed to take a little trip to Boston during leave time,” Maxie continued, “but now her mother has decided to come for a visit.” He rolled his eyes. “The tickets are non-refundable, so I’ve had two of them transferred into your names.” Maxie tore the top sheet off his note pad and slid it across the desk. On it was an airline name, and dates and departure times for the outbound and return flights.

Dane’s mouth went dry. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“You two are going to take a trip to Boston. I happen to know that you like Colonial history and Bonebrake likes bars. You’ll find plenty of both there. You’ll be in the birthplace of the American Revolution on the Fourth of July. Maybe that will remind you two why you serve and who is and isn’t your enemy.”

“Maxie, you can’t…” Bonebrake stammered.

“Do you really want to finish that sentence?”

Apparently, Bonebrake did not, because he lapsed into sullen silence.

“I expect you two to spend your leave together. Every minute of it. I’m going to interrogate you when you get back. Don’t give me reason to believe you did anything other than spending time getting to know and respect one another. You leave tonight, so you’d better get packed. Now get out of my sight.”

A million thoughts raced through Dane’s head, but he voiced none of them. What would be the point? Leave time at close quarters with Bonebrake. He had to hand it to Maxie. The man knew how to dole out punishment.