Page 75 of Casualties of War
“It’s the only reason I’m sanctioning the place as a camp location,” she assured him.
Locke nodded and moved awayto assign sentry details.
They stepped into the cave and switched on flashlights or cellphones and playing them around the cave. It was narrow, littered with rocks and wind-blown leaves.
“Twenty yards in, it opens out. Around the corner of that projection there,” Adán told her.
Parris played her flashlight over it. “Looks like solid rock from here.”
“There’s a squeeze,” Adán said, his voiceflat and confident.
She recognized the term from her underwater training. A professional potholer had explained about underwater caves and squeezes and chutes that could rise to pockets of air, so if they were ever caught in one, find the chutes…
“Okay,” she said, making sure none of her doubt showed in her voice. Adán had been right about the cave. There was no reason why he would be wrongabout the squeeze. She moved through the milling men and flipped her rifle to point forward as she rounded the stony projection.
Sure enough, a narrow passage showed. She wouldn’t get through it wearing her pack. “Ramirez,” she breathed, so the cave wouldn’t pick up her voice and echo it.
Ramirez dropped his pack to the ground, hefted his rifle and moved forward.
“Turn side on,” she murmuredas he passed her.
He dropped his rifle so it hung by the trigger guard and shuffled sideways. He disappeared.
Ninety long seconds later, he reappeared, and beckoned. “All clear and sweet,” he said, with a normal voice.
Parris nodded and waved everyone on. They slotted through one by one, pushing or pulling their packs through with them. Parris waited until only Locke and Adán remained. Lightglowed on the other side of the aperture.
“Adán, go through,” she told him.
“After you, Captain,” Locke murmured, as Adán slid through the crack. Locke had his rifle slung and his pistol in hand.
Parris shuffled through, holding her breath. Caves were not her favorite place. She preferred the outdoors, with sky over her and the horizon far away. She shoved aside the sensation of the walls pushingin and squeezing her. It was all in her mind.
She stepped out into the larger cavern. Four of the pocket-sized LED lamps they carried were scattered over the floor, giving out enough white light to see the walls and the nearly horizontal floor. The floor consisted of smooth rock at one end and stony ground at the other. She realized the stony ground was rocks, dust and dirt that had accumulatedin the down-sloping gulley and had built up over the years. In a hundred more years, the floor might be flat.
Parris picked the far side of the cave where the floor was smoothest and furthest from where most of the men were congregating in the middle. She eased her backpack off and unstrapped the sleeping bag.
She turned to Adán, who stood nearby watching the men settle. No one was talking much.That was normal when they were operational.
“Here,” she said, tossing the sleeping bag at Adán.
He got his hands up and caught it. “What about you?”
“I’ll use the mat that goes under it.”
He looked as though he wanted to argue.
“You sleep on the ground a lot?” she asked, digging out the thin rubber mat that shielded the bag against moisture.
“Last night was the first time since I was a kid,”he admitted.
“Take the bag. You’ll still wake up with bruises even with the padding.” She spread the mat. “Only, move off about ten yards, huh? This is my office. I’ll be up late, taking meetings. I don’t want to keep you awake.”
He looked at her, startled. “Ten yards,” he murmured. He moved along the wall at least twelve yards before stopping and unrolling the bag.
Parris made herself ignorehim. She needed to report in, get updates to her orders, if there were any, and report on progress. She grabbed the small bottle of alcohol and wipes and cleared her face of the camouflage paint. Tonight, they wouldn’t need it.
She hauled the industrial armored laptop from her pack, flipped the pack on its side and fired up the computer.
