Chapter 11
SANTIAGO
As we walked up to the training pool, I heard the murmurs starting up behind me. I wasn’t surprised, though. The cadets usually got either excited or nervous—sometimes both—when we reached this part of the program.
At this point, it was usually becoming a little more real, but what they didn’t know just yet was that it was also about to become so much more intense.
This wasn’t just about fitness, stamina, or endurance anymore.
We were now getting to the meat of the thing, and if they thought the obstacle course was hard, then they had no idea what they were in for today.
Several of the other instructors were standing around the pool, but while they nodded at me, no one said anything as I led the cadets to the edge. Once they were all gathered around me, I nodded.
“Okay, guys. As you know, this is our first time doing any training in the pool, so before we get started, I’m going to need you to listen up.”
An apprehensive silence fell over them as they eyed the equipment surrounding the pool. It was an intimidating sight, though. I knew that much for a fact.
Once they’d finished taking a cursory look around and brought their attention back to me, I took them through the basic safety rules. Thankfully, they all kept their mouths shut and heard me out. By the time I was done explaining the dangers of the pool, a few of them were looking more at ease.
No doubt that would change as soon as I got to the part where I told them what our exercise here was going to be. Before we got there, however, I paused. “Anyone have any questions?”
One cadet put up his hand, then inclined his head toward the other instructors. “What are they doing here?”
“They’re here as an added safety measure,” I said, using the question as a springboard into explaining the first underwater exercise. “Today, we’re going to have a simulation of a helicopter crashing into the water.”
Several faces fell to the ground, but I wasn’t done yet. “How this is going to work is as follows. You see that tarp over there?”
They looked toward where I was pointing, and once I saw a few of them nod, I grinned.
“Underneath it is our helicopter. It’s a highly specialized piece of equipment designed for us to run the exact kind of simulation we’re going to be doing here today.
I can also tell you from experience that it’s as close as you’re going to get to the real thing. ”
Although several of them paled, I wasn’t deterred.
As dangerous and perhaps unhinged as it was, this happened to be one of my favorite parts of the training.
“You are going to be buckled in and the simulated helicopter will be submerged. Once your heads go underwater, you will count to ten. There’s also a screen at the front that will be counting you down in case you lose it.
When your time is up, you will unbuckle and get out. Simple as that.”
When I was done, I saw the concern on some of the cadets’ faces, Hanna’s included.
Releasing a long breath, I made eye contact with all the scared-looking ones and nodded.
“People are going to quit today. This is not for the faint of heart. We’re not going to be putting you in gently or helping you clear the wreckage in any way. ”
As I said it, I glanced at Layla, wondering how she was feeling about all of this. Her face was stone, though, and she sure looked ready. On the other hand, this was a pretty infamous simulation. One we’d been running since way before Ron’s time.
In those days, the equipment hadn’t been nearly as sleek or sophisticated as it was now, but the principles remained the same. Since I’d heard Ron’s stories about this particular exercise so many times, I had no doubt that Layla had grown up with them.
She’d have known this was coming, and as I glanced at her again, I realized she didn’t even just look ready. She looked excited.
“Now getting back to your question.” I turned my eyes on the guy who’d asked about the other instructors.
“Obviously, I’ll be here at all times, but they’re going to be helping out today as well.
Some of us will be on the surface while others will be underwater.
If it looks like anyone is in real danger, we’ll pull you out.
If you see one of us coming toward you and for some reason, you don’t actually want or need our help, give us any signal to back off and we’ll do it.
Within reason. If we make a judgment call that you are, in fact, in trouble, we’re pulling you out whether you want us to or not. ”
A few panicked looks were exchanged this time around, and I clapped my hands to get their attention back on me.
“We’re doing this in groups of four. This next part is crucial.
If you see someone in your group freaking out, you signal one of us and that’s final.
Do not approach the person who’s struggling.
You will not have the proper equipment to help them, nor do you have the proper training yet.
If you interfere or waste time, you’ll only make it worse. ”
With that, I nodded to the three instructors who would be going underwater. They’d been sitting on the edge with most of their gear already on, and at my nod, they lifted their masks into place, popped their air supplies into their mouths, and rolled in.
Once their bubbles had dissipated, I knew they were in place. Turning back to the cadets, I spread my arms out to my sides. “Who’s first?”
Jonathan Hayes, Jameson Gray, and Jonathan’s two remaining friends stepped up, but I’d expected it to be them. Drew, one of the surface instructors, yanked the tarp off our helicopter and I heard the collective breath that was sucked in when the cadets got their first real look at it.
It was pretty much a helicopter, complete with rotors—which were blunt and wouldn’t be spinning—and without a nose or tail. Inside it, there were only the four seats, but other than that, it was the real thing.
“Gear up,” I said to the first group. “You’ve got three minutes to get your gear on and your asses in that simulator or it’s going in without you.”
On my whistle, they took off toward the lockers, some of them already stripping out of their workout gear as they ran. Unsurprisingly with this group, they all made it into the simulator on time and they were buckled in when the mechanical arm started lifting the cylinder into the air.
But this was where things usually got interesting. As I’d told them, we wouldn’t be submerging them gently. This was supposed to a simulation of a helicopter crash, not a nice soft water landing. And a crash was what they got.
The thing about helicopter crashes was that it wasn’t a smooth ride before you hit the water. You didn’t get your feet wet with a nice clear head and knowing exactly what was going on. It was a bumpy ride from beginning to end, and that was what we gave them.
As soon as the hydraulics started whining, the cylinder started shaking.
Shaking, rolling, bucking—basically imitating all the information we had from the black boxes of one of the choppers that had actually gone down.
The engineers who had designed this thing had dug deep, studying hundreds of crashes before they eventually did their thing.
We had a program that helped us choose the intensity of the crash, and even though we always started on easy, it still wasn’t a fun time. While the cylinder rattled its way to the water, I glanced back at the other cadets. If any group was going to make it, it was this one.
I wasn’t particularly concerned about them, but just in case, I was right here. Since they weren’t even in the water yet, though, it was safe enough for me to check out the reaction of the others to what might have come as a surprise twist to some.
Layla seemed more curious than worried, and her lips even had a slight upward tilt to them. Obviously, she’d been expecting the jarring movements of the helicopter. The only other cadet who didn’t seem too worried was Evans.
I’d been watching him, though. He was small, sturdy, and stoic, but outside of that time when he’d politely turned down Layla’s request for help, he was a team player. He wasn’t making friends, but he wasn’t making any enemies either.
While he’d started out as decidedly middle of the pack, he was standing out more and more with each exercise. He was one of those silent types who was definitely going to make it, and today, I was putting him in a group with Layla and Hanna.
For starters, I was doing it because respecting them didn’t only mean keeping your words respectful and your dick in your pants.
It also meant treating them like you would any other capable coworker.
Second, Hanna was getting paler and paler, and when the helicopter dropped into the pool, she looked like she was about to puke.
Layla needed someone else who knew what they were doing in that cylinder with her and it wasn’t only her I was doing it for, either. I’d already switched up a few other groups in my head where I suspected one or more of the usual suspects would be in trouble.
Group one finished the simulation safely and without incident, but the next couple of groups didn’t do quite as well.
As time went on, more and more of the cadets started freaking out and had to be pulled out of the water by the instructors at the bottom.
They were handed off to those of us at the surface and more than one of them was sobbing as they wrapped the offered towels around themselves.
After I announced the next groups, one of the cadets stepped forward and shook his head. “Respectfully, sir, I quit.”
“On the spot? Before you’ve even been in a simulator?”
His jaw tightened as he nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Very well. Go pack your bags and meet me in my office at lunchtime. We’ll get your paperwork done.”
As he left, the tension in the air ratcheted up another few notches. I could practically taste it at this point, and by the time I saw Layla strapping in, even I was on edge. This was going to be a big moment for her.
I just hope she can do this. If she was one of those who freaked out, she’d have bigger problems than the wall—and I’d have to call Ron to tell him about it. Generally, the people who struggled with this exercise had a much higher chance of falling out from here on out.
If that was about to happen with his daughter, I needed to warn him. And then I needed to figure out just why the hell I was hoping so hard that she was going to get through this with flying colors.