by John Darling
There was no actual time requirement for this test. As long as we all completed the task and the weapon can fire a bullet, then we passed. This made me feel so much better. I had been sweating bullets yesterday afternoon after being chosen to go next. I knew I wasn’t going to come anywhere near Alexei’s time and I was perfectly okay with that. Lieutenant Ward still timed me but I took my time and wanted to make sure that I put all of the parts together properly.
Yesterday morning Sierra had surfaced and her gun ended up not firing. She reluctantly had to go back to the bottom to reassemble her rifle. She got it to fire the second time around, but she had been really embarrassed about it. I didn’t blame her for feeling bad and that’s why I made sure I got mine on the first shot.
It took me eight and a half minutes to get through the test. Several of the OICs made comments about me being slow but I didn’t care. My gun had worked and that was all the mattered. I felt really good about my performance, but there was something new to worry about. Before Commander Knight had dismissed us for the day, he told us about something known as the “trials”. This event was the final event that we would have to endure at BCS; it would ultimately determine whether we graduated or not. The significance of this event was huge, because it combined everything we had been taught into one challenge. I was concerned about what kind of aquatic element they were going to throw at us. Before we went to bed last night Alexei sensed my frustrations and assured me that none of the challenges lying ahead would be anything we couldn’t handle. Funny how the tables have turned and he’s become the confident one.
Today the rest of the class had been taking the test, while the people who had already passed waited patiently on the benches. One by one we’d watched each person jump into the pool, don their gear and disappear for several minutes until returning to the surface with a weapon. Some of the guys next to me had been getting restless but I was actually enjoying this. We didn’t have to swim or do constant laps. I’d much rather take a few hours to sit here, relax, and watch the rest of my classmates. The only problem was that there was only one more person left to take the test.
“OK, Recruit Robert Flannigan. You’re our last contestant. No pressure!”
We watched Robert jump in the water and begin to gather his floating gear. Commander Knight told Dwayne, who had just finished his test, to get out of the pool. Dwayne hesitated to get out and Commander Knight instructed him to get out again, this time with a more authoritative tone in his voice. It was odd because each time one of us had finished, we had stayed in the pool with our gear on in case something happened with the person about to take the test. Not having someone on standby for Robert seemed like a bad move, especially if on the off chance something did, in fact, go wrong. He quickly dove beneath the surface as Dwayne got out of the water. Several seconds later, Robert immediately came back up and ripped off his mask in a panic. Something was wrong.
“I can’t breathe! Something’s wrong with my hose!”
Dwayne put his mask on and walked back over to the edge of the pool but was quickly halted by Commander Knight.
“Don’t you dare help him! So your gear isn’t functioning properly? FIX IT! Your equipment will fail you at some point in your career, but that doesn’t mean you get new supplies because of that. You still need to finish your job. Figure out how to make it work without getting out of the water and without any other divers.”
Robert had been one of the weaker swimmers in the group and I wasn’t sure what his background was, or if he’d even had any aquatic training before coming to BCS. Evidently whatever he’d had wasn’t enough since right now he was desperately trying to unkink his hose. Commander Knight appeared to be on a mission to prove a point of some kind. By excluding other divers, and new equipment, I’m not sure if he’s trying to punish Robert or force him to think on his feet. Whatever the reason is, it doesn’t seem fair that he has to go through this. I quickly brainstormed any possible way we can help him without breaking Commander Knight’s orders.
Robert struggled and struggled to unkink his hose. He tore off all of his gear from his body and was becoming more frustrated by the second. I wonder if the OICs had planned this, and if that had been they’d told Dwayne to get out of the water. Robert continued to spin in circles as Commander Knight taunted him.
“LET’S GO! People’s lives are at stake! If you can’t get your weapon, then you’re useless!”
Suddenly, an idea came to me. It wasn’t exactly going against Commander Knight’s orders, but it could be construed as not abiding by them either. If there’s any chance of it working, we need to act swiftly.
“Alexei, can you free swim to the bottom and back?”
Alexei gave me a weird look as the wheels continued to turn inside my head.
“Yeah, it’s about thirty feet, definitely do-able. Why do you ask?”
“Commander Knight said that other divers can’t help Robert, but what about regular swimmers? What if you and a few other SEALs swam down there and brought the parts up for Robert to assemble a foot beneath the surface?”
One of the OICs yelled at us from across the room and told us to stop talking. Alexei took a step behind me and lowered his voice to a faint whisper.
“I don’t know, that’s risky and definitely seems like a good way to piss off the Commander.”
It took another minute and a half to convince Alexei that my plan would work. He discreetly grabbed his goggles from underneath the bench and told two other guys to join him. They did the same, and then all three of them rushed into the water, making a ginormous splash in the process.
“Hey! Get those three out of the pool!”
The other OICs rushed to the side and yelled at them but it was too late. They had already dove down to get the parts. About thirty seconds later they surfaced and instructed Robert to assemble the gun “under” water. Commander Knight became furious and yelled at the four of them to get out of the water. Thankfully, they ignored him and the three of them created a wall around Robert so he could work. In the meantime, I decided to make the situation even edgier.
“Hey, everyone! Let’s give Robert some motivation!”
I started chanting “Rob-bert. Rob-bert. Rob-bert.”
A few joined in right away, and before long the entire class was chanting Robert’s name as loud as possible; “Rob-ert! Rob-ert! Rob-ert!”
This is a pivotal moment for our class. We’re standing up to the OICs and proving to them that we were not going to let something unfair happen to one of our brothers while we sit here and watch.
We kept chanting. Our voices got louder and louder. The rest of the class was screaming behind me and it was motivating Robert. I could tell he almost had it. Another minute went by and Robert flung his arms into the air with the assembled rifle in his left hand. Everyone cheered and yelled out his name. My plan had worked!
BANG!
A gunshot put a drastic end to the celebration and I looked up to see Commander Knight pointing a shotgun in the air.
“Out of the water! Now!”
He marched over to our group and handed the shotgun to one of the other OICs. The look on his face was terrifying and now I’m wondering if I had just screwed our entire class over by pulling that stunt. My hands became sweaty and instantly got goosebumps on my forearms and neck. He was within a few feet now, his eyes are locked onto me like a predator getting ready to devour its prey. I took a deep breath as he got right in my face. I watched his nostrils flare upward and a bead of sweat drip down the side of his face. I have never been this scared of anyone before in my life. He moved his arm and I flinched as if he was going to hit me. Instead, I found his hand pointing at my forehead.
“THAT… is exactly what we are looking for. It’s about time you all actually proved to us you are a team. Good work, Mr. Flashman.”
I let out a huge sigh as everyone began cheering again. Several people patted me on the back and Alexei rushed over to give me a big high five. Commander Knig
ht turned around and walked over to the other OICs. Someone piped up and asked if this meant we were done for the day. Commander Knight looked at Lieutenant Ward and smiled.
“Well since you all are so good at free swimming, I think it’s time to perfect that skill. Twenty-five underwater laps, let’s go!”
The mood in the room deflated faster than a kid opening a Christmas present filled with underwear. Everyone moaned as they grabbed their goggles and made their way over to the lanes. I couldn’t say I was surprised that there would be some consequence of that situation, however, as far as we know Robert passed the test. That alone is the most important thing.
Before I got into the water, I listened as the OICs said farewell to Lieutenant Swisher. Commander Knight had announced that he would be leaving and told everyone to thank him for his services. Lieutenant Swisher waved and thanked our class for treating him so well. I thought he was going to leave the pool deck, but he was walking toward our lane instead.
“Hey, Aqua Man.”
Alexei turned around and flipped his goggles up onto his head.
“You should think about joining our Army one day. Always good to have another fish like yourself on the team.”
Alexei thanked him and shook his hand. Who knew, maybe one day Alexei might become a tactical diver.
Chapter Eighteen: Flashman Arena
The sirens were going off, someone was yelling in the hallway, I knew I had about ten seconds before our door got banged on, but I couldn’t move. My legs felt like rocks and my arms felt like they were one good stroke away from falling off. Commander Knight had worked us for a while the day before, after Robert’s test, and I would have given anything for a break right about now.
“C’mon man we have to go!”
Alexei was enjoying this a little too much for my liking. While I was about to keel over and croak, he was excelling, barely breaking a sweat. I still envied his fish-like abilities in the water. No matter what we did, he found a way to make it look easy. I had even noticed the other day some of the SEALs jealous of how long he could hold his breath. Alexei was just pure proof that you couldn’t judge a person by their appearance. He might have struggled on the O Course and hadn’t scored as many headshots as Harold or Jemma, but man he sure could swim.
With my remaining strength, I slowly climbed down from my bed, quickly got dressed and dragged my body out to my spot outside my door. Commander Knight and the other OICs were waiting for us. Every single OIC appeared to be out this morning, which was rare since usually we only saw half a dozen of them at once. There were even a few other officers I’d never seen before. I quickly glanced down the hall and then back to the spot on the wall ahead of me. I didn’t want anyone catching me looking down there, especially when we were supposed to be standing at attention. Something must be happening to wake all these officers so early.
“Good morning recruits! How’s everyone doing?!”
We all screamed out in unison, “Outstanding sir!” back at Commander Knight.
The funny thing was that most of us were usually lying, at least I was. I felt the complete opposite of outstanding but in the military, you always tell someone of higher rank that you feel “outstanding” regardless of your actual state. Plus, it wouldn’t have sounded good if there were a mish-mosh of responses and different answers. Keeping it uniform not only kept things routine, but I could feel little things like this bringing our class together.
“In light of recent events, I want to congratulate all of you. The effort you all have put in over the past three weeks has not gone unnoticed. The other instructors and I want to reward you with the rest of the weekend off. Yes, you all heard that correctly. We’re going to give all of you almost two whole days off. During this time, following rules apply; no one is allowed above Deck Five and the Range Simulator is off limits unless an OIC is present to sanction the battle. We want you all to relax, catch up on your sleep, and be ready to come back to work bright and early Monday morning. Monday, we will begin prepping for the trials.”
Everyone in the hallway let out a huge sigh of relief as soon as he said the word “off” and I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. This was the best news we had received throughout this entire training. And I could tell that wasn’t the only one happy about this. Everyone around me was beaming from ear to ear. Harold, who lived in the room right next to Alexei and me, immediately put his hand out and I bumped it. Commander Knight wasted no more time and dismissed us. As Alexei and I headed back to our room, I listened as Commander Knight reiterated the good news to the other two hallways. The same level of happiness erupted and I continued to smile as Alexei closed the door.
“Dude! Can you believe this?”
“No actually, I can’t. Perhaps they are just giving us a bone so we put our guards down for a few days.”
Alexei’s paranoia didn’t faze me and I climbed up my ladder and hopped back into bed. Alexei opened his computer and began typing his password. I was about to tell him to sleep while we could, but a series of knocks on our door stopped me. Someone probably wanted us to play zombie tag or come to the lounge. Alexei stood up and opened the door. To my surprise, Uncle Keith was standing in the doorway.
“Trevor! What are you doing in bed? C’mon there’s something I have to show you!”
Even though Uncle Keith had said he was going to be around throughout the training, I hadn’t seen him that much. Either he had done a good job of hiding or he just hadn’t been around. Either way, I didn’t hold it against him. Besides, I didn’t need him. Training like this, for the most part, is something you have to figure out on your own. A little help goes a long way but no one could do it for you.
“What are you doing here?!”
He stepped into the room and quickly closed the door as I climbed down from my bed. For some reason, he was acting unusually happy.
“I just got back from a mission and heard you guys have some free time. There’s something that I need to show you. Up for an adventure?”
“Of course!”
I shook his hand and introduced him to Alexei.
“Ok there’s just one catch, you can’t tell anyone, promise?”
Alexei and I looked at each other and then nodded.
“All right, grab a sweatshirt and some pants. We’re going up to Deck Nine.”
A red flag immediately went up in my head. One of the two rules Commander Knight was to not go above Deck Five, and I’m fairly certain that it was an order, not a suggestion.
“Are we allowed to?”
“No, but you’re not going to tell anyone. And if anyone sees us, I’ll take the blame. Trust me, there’s just something that you need to see. Alexei, you’re welcome to come or you can stay here.”
“You think I’m going to miss out on breaking the rules? Think again.”
Uncle Keith laughed while Alexei and I quickly grabbed our sweats. We followed him out of the door and quietly down the hall. Uncle Keith opened a door and led us up a staircase that I hadn’t noticed until now. We made it up four flights of stairs and arrived at Deck Nine. As soon Uncle Keith opened the staircase door, I recognized a smell that I’d known my entire life. I stopped dead in my tracks and breathed the heavenly air into my nose. I cautiously continued to follow Uncle Keith when suddenly my heart skipped a beat as I gazed upon something I never thought I would find here.
“Is that an ice rink?!”
“It sure is Trevor, welcome to Flashman Arena.”
My eyes locked onto the fresh sheet of white ice through two windows and I opened the doors as fast as I could. A wave of cool air hit my face and it feels incredible. The rink was huge, definitely bigger than regulation size. There were two benches on the far side, a giant scoreboard and hanging from the ceiling is a black jersey with “Flashman” on the back along with my Dad’s number, ten.
Alexei marveled at the rink just as Uncle Keith put his hand on my shoulder. He pointed out a locker room in the back corner.
“
I think you’ll like what’s in there.”
Without hesitating, I began jogging around the edge of the boards and over to the room. I pushed the door open and my eyes took in one of the coolest locker rooms I had ever seen in my life. Gray carpet stretched the length of the room and there was a big S.T.O.R.M. logo in the center. Surrounding the room was at least twenty stalls all filled with equipment, and to my immediate left was a stick rack with fifty of the fanciest sticks I had ever seen. There must have been thousands of dollars’ worth of hockey stuff in here.
I slowly walked into the room and noticed that each cubicle has a jersey hanging with a different name on it. Uncle Keith’s name caught my eye about halfway down the bench. He wasn’t the only one that I recognized, though. Way at the end of the bench was a set of goalie equipment and on the jersey has the word “Knight”. Was Commander Knight a hockey player, and more specifically a goalie? I took a pair of Bauer skates out of one of the cubicles and turned around to find Uncle Keith and Alexei walking in the room.
“What is all of this?”
“Well, as you know, your Dad shared your love for the game. About eight years ago they were doing renovations on this level and he requested that a rink be built. At the time he had just completed one of the toughest assignments ever doled out to a Stormer so he had quite a bit of leverage. They immediately began building this fortress and it was dedicated to him right after he died. He came in here to skate and shoot pucks all the time while he was stationed here, and now you can enjoy the same luxury should you become a Heat Devil.”