Goddess Rising by Lawless Alexi

Author:Lawless, Alexi [Lawless, Alexi]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction
Published: 2015-09-22T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

September—Saturday Night

Camp Swift, Bastrop County, Texas

S A M A N T H A

“CADETS, LISTEN UP!” Colonel Sasser barked. “The final elimination round for the competition is field training in night land navigation.” He walked down the row of cadets standing at attention, examining them from their spit-shined boots and dark fatigues to their camoed faces.

“Darkness presents its own challenges with limited or no visibility within the navigational process,” he went on. “But the techniques and principles remain the same: advance tactical planning, map and terrain analysis, and predetermination of distances and azimuths so you knuckleheads don’t get lost.”

Piece of cake, Sam thought, looking up at the clear night sky without shifting out of her stance. She knew more about land navigation on foot or on a horse than any military could teach, just from growing up on thousands of acres of rough prairie land with cowboys who were deeply offended by the very idea of GPS.

“We’re going to split the remaining eighteen of you into two groups. Each team will need to designate a point person as the lead navigator.” Sasser paused, his lips twitching in a semblance of a smirk. “To make things interesting, we’re not only going to time your performance across the course, we’re going to have a few obstacles set up for you.” Sasser looked a little too happy about the prospect of waylaying the cadets. Sam wondered what he had in store for them.

“Your final time through the course will determine your total points in the Challenge prep. The top-scoring nine cadets to date will automatically make the team. There will be three alternates selected. Anything else just makes you a loser.” He held a hand to his ear. “Why?”

“Because close is not good enough, sir!” the cadets answered back in tandem.

They were broken up into teams, and Sam breathed a silent sigh of relief when Alejandro was appointed to the opposite team. Rita was thankfully put into her group, and they both high-fived as she stepped beside her.

“Fifty bucks, jaina. You owe me fifty bucks when we win this,” Rita told her with a wicked grin. “I’ve already got a new pair of shoes picked out.”

“I hope they’re pretty,” Sam answered, confident.

“You know it.”

The team battened down to begin planning their way through the course with the map they were given. Unlike the military, the cadets were not issued night vision goggles, and they were not allowed to use flashlights without risking point deduction for cheating. They were allocated a few compasses between the group with glowing dials.

“Shit, I hate this,” Vin Stephens muttered, reviewing the map. “If I wanted to wander around in the dark, I’d have become an astronaut.”

“This isn’t hard,” Sam replied calmly. “Once you get over the initial night blindness, it’s actually pretty straightforward.” She glanced down at the map. “My guess is the other group will be using dead reckoning to get from point A to point B,” she said, examining the target they were all trying to reach.

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