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Cole had said they were pulling a search-and-rescue mission, a plane down in the hills to the northeast The crash zone was seven miles away Who could march seven miles and carry extra water? Who would, if necessary, shoot with intent? Who would sneak up on a Kraut or Eye-tie guard and knife him in the dark?

>Suddenly the choice was not between Jenou and Tilo It was between Geer and Pang Pang’s presence ht create conflict, especially with the radioman who had not dealt e but probably fit in better

“Okay, people, listen up,” Rio says in unconscious i for a walk Canteens topped off, rations for twenty-four hours, extra a else, we have to move fast”

The radio over He doesn’t look like much, with a face so narrow he could be a flounder, but then his job is just to e the radio He has a pistol on his hip but no rifle and no pack He has a single canteen and no ammo other than what’s in his pistol But of course the radio itself, the size of a backpack, weighs thirty-eight pounds, and with all that still only has a range of three miles Three miles in open country, a few hundred yards in hill country

Anyway, the radioman is not Rio’s chief concern Her chief concern is the carefully blank look on Jenou’s face It’s the look Jenou gets when her feelings have been hurt but she doesn’t want to show it

Rio feels a flash of annoyance She shouldn’t have to be thinking about this nonsense She shouldn’t feel like she has to defend herself or soften the blow My God, she’s leading a patrol for the first time, which she sure as hell did not ask for, and her head is full of worry for Jenou!

Rio avoids looking at her friend and instead locks eyes with Cole, who is relighting his cigar and giving her a look ofwhat? Support? Sympathy?

They go over the map carefully, Cole, Rio, Jack, Cat, Geer, and Petersen in a circle

“Whenever you’re ready, Richlin,” Cole says, and his tone is gentle He knohat this means He knows that for the first ti directly on Rio’s shoulders—on the shoulders of an eighteen-year-old girl

“Yep,” Rio says She takes a deep, steadying breath and says, “Let’s move out Geer? Take point Cat, on our six”

In this, too, she is copying Cole, who always stays to the middle, the better to survive an ambush or minefield, the better to watch both ends of the line, the better to stay in touch with his squad And she knows taking point will please Geer

Does Cole have all these same sorts of worries about who and when and how? Does he take hurt feelings into consideration? For the first tieant her father talked about, the good sergeant whose job it is to keep you alive when an officer’s orders are sending you in harm’s way

I am heartily sorry for any time I made your life harder, Jedron Cole

The first mile or so is past twilit farm fields The road is narrow but not overly rutted Rio can see the hills rising ahead of the of the platoon beyond Cat Finding their first turnoff becomes a bit of a comedy as there are two very similar roads just fifty feet apart But one turns out to lead nowhere except a tiny farm almost entirely surrounded by prickly pears, as if the fare visitors

As it is the far assured that they are a a wineskin around before giving them better directions