“Welcome, Sir Aeric, it is an honor to have you here. What you’re watching is the refinement of our tactics, techniques, and procedures. This is a simulation of a partial power-plant failure. That is why the lighting goes in and out. We also simulate total power failure, which plays out the way you would expect: a knife fight in a closet in the dark. This is a ten-minute evolution. It involves a nine-minute air supply, and the man with the fewest slash marks on his suit wins. He gets to get out first. The loser has to wait until the ten-minute mark before he can exit the tank.”

“Quite an incentive,” said Cavendish.

“In a man-on-man scenario, it’s tough but appropriate. Where it gets tricky for the guys is when you put three of them in there,” said Best. “The last guy out has it pretty rough.”

“What about those outfits they’re wearing?” asked Cavendish.

“Standard long-range recon swim kit. Blast-proof. Thermal regulation, which we enhanced for the mission. We think it will be effective,” he said.

Cavendish’s attention wandered and he stared at a set of seven connected shipping-container halves.

“That’s the training box,” said Best. “Same idea as what you see here, but it’s for them to practice team on team. Same protocol, nine minutes for the losers. It’s a lot harder, actually, not just because of the teaming, but also because we put a bunch of metal junk in there to simulate the interior. Essentially, it’s like you’re fighting a group of rabid monkeys in an airplane bathroom.”

An arched eyebrow was Cavendish’s only response.

Hernandez passed Cavendish one of the weapons. It was a titanium-handled steel-bladed brass-knuckled trench knife about a foot long. The anodized black coating had worn off on the knuckles and blade edges, both of which Cavendish inspected closely with the authority of someone who’d spent a year of his youth cornering the market on Japanese fighting swords.

“More sword than knife,” said Cavendish. “Can I keep this?”

Hernandez looked at Best with a nod.

“Yes, sir. Technically you already own it,” said Best.

“Too kind,” said Cavendish.

“We will make the final selection seventy-two hours before launch,” said Best. “The top six out of twenty-four. Four will be in the boarding party, two will remain in reserve.”

That explained the intensity of the underwater fight he’d just watched, thought Cavendish. “These men really want to go, don’t they?” said Cavendish.

“Of course, Sir Aeric. The prize fees you’ve offered are more than generous, but really, they just want to get back in the game,” said Best.

Cavendish returned the viz glasses to Hernandez. “Do you have all the medical-performance investment you need?” said Cavendish.

Best looked at Hernandez, who nodded.

“When we make the selection of our final six, I would like to authorize further cognitive augmentation, and a couple other things that the JSOC meat department is now using with the One Hundred Sixtieth helo drivers and the Persistent Operations Group,” said Best.

“That is, I believe, a permanent change?” said Cavendish.

“It’s in their contract,” said Best.

“Very well,” said Cavendish. “Hernandez will see to it. One last question before we meet the team. Something’s been bothering me,” said Cavendish.

“I am sorry to hear that, Sir Aeric. What is it? We have time before launch to address it,” said Best.

“What are we going to do about all the blood?” said Cavendish. “It can’t exactly flow out the scuppers. We need to figure out how to clean up the mess afterward.”

Jamie Simmons chewed his pasta quietly and stared at the coffee mug that he’d set on the table.

As he chewed, he worked his way through the day’s decisions on the Z, especially the regrets, the should’ve and could’ve moments that were all the more important now that they were running out of time. He went over the day from start to finish, but he kept fixating on the fact that he should’ve stopped at the pier-side bench before coming home. He’d let himself rush in to see Lindsey. But that five-minute decompression was one of the most important moments in his day, a time to pause and master his thoughts, to transition through the purgatory zone between duty and home. Between war and family. He knew he was on edge and shouldn’t have rushed back, but it was the fact that he was missing them at home that had made him rush.

This led him to recall his life before the war, when he’d never thought twice about what he ate or threw away or whether some should’ve, could’ve decision of his would end up leaving his sailors among the many burned carcasses cast into the Pacific. He became angry at himself for not following through on that prewar longing to be with his family, for his failure to act before their separation could turn permanent.

Jamie looked up and saw Lindsey studying him as he ate. She knew something was not right. His tension was clearly feeding hers.

“You look tired,” said Lindsey. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” said Jamie. “Let’s start over. I’m sorry, it’s just been one of those days.”

“Seems like you have those every day,” she said, a slight edge in her voice.

“I do,” said Jamie. “The closer we get to deploying, the harder it is. The crew is exhausted, and they know the ship is not where it needs to be.”

“It’s getting harder for all of us,” said Lindsey. “You need to make time for the kids. They were asking…”

“Asking what?”

“When you’re leaving again.”

“What’d you tell them?”

“You’ll have to go soon, but it won’t be forever.”

“It better not be.”

“I need to ask you something. I let it go after Pearl Harbor, but I have to know, I just do. Did you ever tell Riley you were done?”

“Jesus, Lindsey. Does it matter? Does it really matter? He died, bled out in front of me as close as we’re sitting here. You want to know what he thought of my career?”

“It does matter. To me. There’s no —”

A banging and a crash from upstairs stopped her. They heard an old man cursing, and then Martin laughing. Jamie’s eyes flicked over to the sound. Lindsey looked down.

“Why are the kids still up? And what’s he doing here?” said Jamie. He put his fork down with a sharp clink and reached for his coffee mug. Staring hard at Lindsey, he took a pull of the cold, bitter coffee dregs that should’ve ended up at his feet an hour ago.

“He’s fixing the toilet. It couldn’t wait,” she said. “He came by the other day and worked with Martin to print the part we needed with a three-D printer he cadged from one of his harbor buddies. They had a lot of fun. I know what you told me about him coming here, but I think he just wanted to be with his family before… What could I do?”

“You could actually do what I ask,” snarled Jamie.

“I could say the same thing,” Lindsey replied coldly. He didn’t know whether she was referring to the broken toilet, time with the kids, or his promise to leave the Navy. He didn’t care. In any case, he knew he was in the wrong. And he didn’t like it.

“I don’t have time for this. I need to prep for tomorrow.”

He grabbed the weighty folder full of personnel-assignment reports and walked out of the room, leaving his plate of shrimp and pasta mostly uneaten, a testament to his disappointment.

He went down the hallway quietly, passing the open bathroom door. He’d disappointed enough people tonight and hoped he wouldn’t run into his father, since that would only lead to the knockdown argument he’d just avoided by walking out on Lindsey. It was probably the wrong call, going to bed angry, especially with so little time left. Yet another bad decision to regret. He quickly rounded the corner and walked into his office.

Door shut, he sat at his desk. He reached to turn on the desk lamp but then paused in the dark. His eyes slowly adjusted to the room until he was almost able to make out the picture his son had drawn, tacked to the wall next to the window facing west. It was a magnificent green, yellow, and blue warship, taking up three pieces of paper taped together lengthwise.