Dinner was quiet.

Mike made biscuits in a cast iron pan. Dafydd did a passable stir-fry from dried beef and cut-up green, yellow, and red peppers. He called it a "fry-up."

"Emm, good stuff, Dafydd," Mike mumbled around a mouth full of food.

"Alright, thanks. You did good with the bread too, mate."

"Thanks." Mike grinned.

Gavin cored some apples and found some brown sugar to stuff in the middles. He wrapped them in foil and baked them around the hot coals.

"Love the apples," Mike held his in a fold of cloth and ate it with a spoon.

Dafydd nodded with a grunt of appreciation, and Gavin said, "Thanks."

"Hey, Hannah," Taeko started. "Not bad having three guys cook for us. What do you think?"

"Is it weird watching three guys fixing dinner for us and complimenting each other's recipes?" Hannah giggled.

"I think we're establishing the correct working relationship," Taeko stated.

"Are they making fun of us?" Mike asked.

"Yes. I think they're having a laugh," Dafydd answered. "You offended?"

"Not a bit, man. Just asking."

"And don't even think about asking us to do the dishes," Taeko informed them.

Mike and Dafydd laughed.

Gavin smiled but stayed quiet.

They were all tired. Soon after cleaning up, everyone started getting ready to sleep. Taeko walked over to Gavin.

"Uh, hey," she started.

"Hey, Taeko, you look worried. Is Hannah okay?"

"She's fine, Gavin, already asleep."

Taeko glanced around, and her gaze fell on Dafydd for a second before looking back to Gavin.

"It's Dafydd. What do you know about him? Has he told you anything he hasn't told the rest of us?"

"Just that he's never been to college."

"I overheard that. So who, or what, is he?"

"Don't know. What do you think?"

Taeko lowered her voice. "It's like this. Dafydd left one of the duffel bags open, and I saw some kind of military hat, like a beret, sort of a faded green with a badge on it. It's an upraised sword with a couple of wavy blue lines."

"And? You know what it is?"

"Yeah. My Dad, years ago, was in the JMSDF in Japan."

"JMSDF, as in Japanese Navy?"

"Yeah. My Dad was part of the first of the Japanese Navy's special units. They called it the Special Boarding Unit."

"Sorry, but I'm not following you."

She puffed air out of her cheeks. "The JMSDF wanted help getting the unit together, and the good old USA was too busy or something. So the British sent a group of their special Navy guys. They're called the Special Boat Service. And their badge is the one I saw in Dafydd's stuff."

"I've heard of the Special Air Service. SAS is like the UK's elite SpecOps guys. I haven't heard of the Boat Service."

"SBS is their Navy's special guys, like the SAS or our Navy Seals."

Gavin rubbed his chin. "Curious. Why are we on a dig with some SpecOps guy?"

"Maybe he's just like a safari guide, you know, to protect us," Hannah's voice piped up.

Taeko and Gavin flinched in surprise.

"Oh, sorry," Hannah smoothed. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"S'okay," Gavin said after taking a breath. "Where'd you come from?"

"I couldn't sleep. Anyway, Dafydd's Dad was in on the research, right?" Hannah continued. "It all fits, even if he took a different path after High School."

"She's right," Mike's voice came out of the dark.

Hannah let out a "neep," and the others jumped.

"Okay. The jump scare thing's getting old," Gavin snarked.

"You'll get over it," Mike said. "But I think Hannah's right. You guys are overthinking this."

"Thank you, Michael," Hannah smiled. "Besides, if you want to know, just ask Davy."

"Ask me what?" Dafydd's musical voice came out of nowhere.

All four twitched, and their heads snapped in Dafydd's direction.

"I wish everyone would stop sneaking up on me, us, whatever," Gavin griped.

Dafydd jabbed Gavin's arm with a fist. "Your heart can take it. But I got it, what you're saying. I guess you've been asked to come a long way on faith. So what do you want to know?"

Taeko folded her arms and tossed her head. "We want to know about you, Dafydd. Why are you here? We got cornered. What's your deal? Was this really your Dad's dying wish?"

"You might say that," Dafydd looked down for a moment. "My Mum died a long time ago. And my Dad, he had his heart set on me following him as an academic. Nothing wrong with that, but studies and me didn't get along too well."

"I feel ya, man." Mike agreed.

"Shush, Michael," Hannah put a hand on Mike's arm.

"Might have tried the university anyway, but my Dad passed away, and any good recommendation went with him. Besides. I know how Loomis almost got himself killed out here. So I thought I'd get some real-life experience and maybe do the university thing later. Fieldwork seems better than spending my life with moldy old tomes and boring old professors." He gave a crooked smile. "Fancied myself a modern Indiana Jones type one day."

"So then what?" Mike asked.

"It was a laugh. I mean, I joined the Navy to avoid any of that crawling around with a rifle out in the middle of nowhere sort of rubbish. Fieldwork for a University is one thing. Not the same as the Army thing. Well, once in the Navy, before I knew it, I got recruited into the SBS, which, yeah, is like your Navy SEALS. Figures, I thought. But alright. I did well, I think, But it wasn't what I wanted to do for life, you know?"

"Yeah," Gavin nodded. "I think I know what you mean."

"Well, I'm glad to have Davy here. He makes me feel safe and protected," Hannah beamed.

Mike leaned over and whispered in Gavin's ear. "What does that make us, the lame sidekicks?"

Gavin shrugged.

Mike spoke up. "Yeah. And I've seen the Indiana Jones movies and stuff like that. You know, it never works out well for the sidekicks. They always get whacked."

"Don't smile like that, Davy," Hannah continued. "I'm sure there's a still lot you haven't said yet. All of this camping and rafting gear is expensive, and that RV wasn't for free. I bet those mule guides weren't cheap either. And a guy with your experience could get a good-paying job somewhere. So even if that document is authentic, it would take more than that for you to be here and with the funding for everything."

"Whoo-hoo," Mike exhaled. Taeko elbowed him in the ribs.

"I think I'm in love, I do," Dafydd laughed. "You're a sharp one. The rest of you should listen to Hannah more often."

They all turned their heads towards her.

"What?" Hannah demanded. "Just because I'm nice doesn't mean I'm an airhead, regardless of how I know you all think of me. So no. Don't say anything or apologize. It's okay. I decided a long time ago to be myself no matter what anyone thought of me. And I'd rather be thought of as nice than sharp."

Mike grinned big enough for them all to see his teeth in the waxing moonlight. "So. If Hannah is sugar and spice and everything nice," he bowed towards Hannah, and she nodded back, "does that make Taeko here a stone-cold . . ."

"Watch it, country boy," Taeko warned. "Or you might wake up tomorrow missing something important."

"Yeet!" Mike pantomimed taking a shot to the heart.

"What made you decide to start speaking up like this, Hannah?" Gavin wanted to know.

"It's okay at the campus and all. But we might be getting into some places where I need you guys to know I can think and act on my own."

"I'm glad you're stretching your wings then," Gavin grinned. "Whatever the reason."

"While you're all listening to me for a change, I think Davy still has more to tell. Don't you, Davy? It's not like you've really answered all of our questions. What about the funding for this?"

Dafydd's grin faded. "This 'dig,' that is, all of this, is from Professor Loomis' life savings. He's broke and mortgaged to the hilt. It's not like anyone would have given him a research grant for this, would they?"

"I guess," Taeko allowed. "That means Loomis believes in this story enough to put his money where his mouth is."

Mike yawned. "Okay, okay. We're here. And Loomis bankrolled the trip. Setting us up like I think he did, well, still not cool. But I'll play along." He stretched and headed for his tent.

"Okay, okay. It's getting late," Gavin tried to sound confident. "Let's get some sleep and get an early start."

"Uh. An early start doing what? Exactly," Taeko wanted to know.

"Doing the getting into the cave entrance up on the cliff and getting in to see what we can see," Dafydd quipped. "And I agree with Gavin. We should turn in."

As Taeko and Hannah disappeared into the darkness, Gavin put a hand on Dafydd's elbow. Dafydd turned.

"Thought you might have a few things to talk about," Dafydd said softly.

"Yeah. Let's kick up the fire and get some tea or cocoa or something."

"Very well."

They sat on little metal and canvas camp stools and looked into the low flames, hands around steaming cups. The breeze still moaned lowly, and the stream gurgled along. A ribbon of stars glowed in the sky between the cliffs. Silvery moonlight reflected its way into the canyon.

Gavin inhaled the smoky air, which smelled of mesquite. He was surprised when Dafydd broke the silence.

"You're worried about your friends."

"Yeah. Look, man. You're a seasoned veteran. I'm just a college Rot-See guy. Everybody acts like I'm in charge or something. I feel responsible for them."

Dafydd looked him in the eye. "You are in charge. Sometimes it just happens that way. You've got to deal with it."

"I got that. But I don't know if any of them are taking this seriously, or they just think it's a summer vacation kind of thing. And if this turns into something more than that, well, I may be green as grass, but I'm not stupid. Missions have casualties, and you know it."

"That I do," Dafydd sighed. "And just here between me, you, and the rocks, I'm not too confident in, well, don't get mad, but in your friends. Me and you, we took the oath. I'm sure you'd take a hit for any of them. And Loomis told me about your background. I think you can hold your own."

"But you're worried about the others, especially Hannah. I'll bet."

"Too right, mate."

"Okay. Cards on the table, man," Gavin looked at the flames and then back to Dafydd.

Dafydd nodded. "All ears, here, man."

"I've watched Taeko at a couple of her competitions, Kendo and Kyudo. I swear she could put an arrow in your eye from fifty paces. Give her a Tanto and a Katana, and she'll chop you into hamburger before you get the chance to run. She's smart, takes Physics. But I don't know how she'll be in a real fight. It's not the same as controlled competitions. I know that much."

"Yeah. You're right."

"Mike's better off, I think. He's spent half his life in the woods doing all the camp-hunt-fish-whatever stuff. And he worked his grandfather's farm too."

"But you think, maybe, he's not too serious, right?"

"Right, okay, stop," Gavin fumed. "I feel like a jerk talking about 'em and judging them behind their backs, okay? They're not fellow soldiers. They're my friends."

"You want some advice?"

"Sure."

"You're going to have to lead. And we can't keep having private talks, right?"

"Yeah."

"You might be a college cadet, but I think you'll do alright. So can we agree to try, together, to make sure the others don't get ahead of us? And we try to keep them as unhurt as we can? 'Cause say what you want about them, I doubt any of them will quit or turn back."

Gavin stuck out a hand. "Deal. Can we also agree there may be a time to try to get them to hold back or go back?"

They shook.

"I agree, mate. And I'll back you up as the leader."

Gavin felt a lot better after talking out his worries without getting his friends upset. Was that the right thing to do? Was he being selfish? Was he keeping secrets?

Gavin stayed up after Dafydd turned in. He dug a monocular out of a cargo pocket.

Two can play the SpecOps game.

He selected infrared and scanned the small river. There! Gavin saw two figures standing by a raft on a small spit of rocky beach about two hundred yards upstream. They appeared to be looking his way.

It could be ordinary tourists, campers, or whatever.

Next, Gavin scanned the cliff face. He had learned that different lighting changed a lot of what you could see. About a hundred or so feet above their campsite, a small circle of off-temperature showed in the scope. A jagged line diagonaled down from the shadow to the canyon floor at the upstream edge of their little beach.

Interesting.

#

Chapter image by Mario Aranda from Pixabay.