“Better,” Talon said. “Still too slow.”
Hammer’s chuckle rolled over the comms. “Want me to tell them that, or do you want to break their hearts yourself?”
“I’ll do it at the after-action,” Talon said.
Jug grinned beside him. The harsh light of the training field floodlights threw his face into sharp relief. “You going to tell me what’s eating at you, or am I supposed to guess?”
“Guess,” Talon said, eyes still on the SRF team forming up.
“All right. My guess?” Jug’s tone was mild, but the grin was sharp. “There’s a problem with Riley. I mean not relationship-wise, but something else. Iknow I’m just like that when Shelly has a work problem, and I can’t fix it.”
Talon didn’t answer. Which, as Jug knew, was its own kind of answer. Yeah, something was off with her, but she wasn’t giving him anything to grasp onto. Not yet, at least.
They stepped forward as the SRF team assembled, sweat running in rivulets down their faces. But their rifles were slung properly. All the small corrections were tallying.
“Better tonight,” Talon told them. “But still not good enough. Tomorrow, we run it again. Cleaner. Faster. Get water. Debrief in fifteen.”
The team moved off, and Talon stood in the cooling air, the floodlights buzzing overhead.
His focuswason the next exercise. But in the back of his mind, Riley’s voice lingered, and he was good with that. He could be concerned about her while still doing his job. If he were honest with himself, and he always was … he’d been doing it for the past year.
Fifteen minutes later, the SRF squad stood in a loose half-circle under the floodlights, rifles slung, uniforms streaked with dust and sweat.
Talon scanned the formation, letting the silence stretch long enough for the team to feel it.
“You’re improving,” he said finally. “But improvement isn’t the goal. Competence is the goal. And you’re not there yet.”
Jug stepped forward, voice clipped as he said, “Stack discipline at the first breach was solid. No one jammed the door. Clear improvement from last week.”
“Your spacing held through the second structure,” Talon added. “That kept you alive.”
Wolf’s voice came in from the sideline. “Rear guard, you must watch your sector. SRF Four left his corner open. That’s a fast way to die. Make note of it, my man, and clean that up tomorrow.”
Hammer’s gravelly tone cut across the group. “Speed’s better, but you’re still thinking in the wrong way. Night ops aren’t any slower because it’s dark. You made them slower because you hesitated. Hesitate in the field, you get dead.”
Talon let the words settle. “We’re going to run this scenario in the daylight tomorrow morning.” He looked at the team lead, Captain Oumarou. “The team can practice at night on your own time. We run another nighttime training run the day after tomorrow. We’ll keep running it until you get it right. Hydrate, rest, and be here ready to move at 0700 hours.”
The SRF squad broke, with some heading for the water point and others toward the barracks. As the last of them drifted off, Talon turned toward his team. Jug, Hammer, Wolf, and Stryker were still standing in a loose cluster, watching him with too much quiet amusement.
Jug was the first to speak, his grin obvious even in the shadows. “You’re distracted. No one else would notice, but we do.”
“I’m fine,” Talon said flatly.
“Sure,” Jug said, clearly not buying it. “And I’m a nun.”
Hammer’s rumble of laughter rolled through the air. “He’s not wrong, boss. You’ve been carrying that look since you got back from town this morning.”
Wolf tilted his head, dry as ever. “The Riley look?”
Talon’s eyes narrowed just slightly. “There’s no ‘Riley look.’”
Stryker, leaning casually against the rail, raised a brow. “Sure, there is. Just like Jug has the Shelly look. You know the look he gets when his phone buzzes, and we all pretend we can’t hear him saying mushy shit in the corner?”
Jug grinned wider. “They suck at it, just saying. But yeah, you’ve got a Riley look. Don’t let them nagyou about it, though. Sooner or later, they’ll all get the privilege of having that look. Because, Skipper, it’s a privilege. ”
Talon shifted. “Think something is off with her … Maybe a problem at work. Guessing, she hasn’t exactly said that.”
Hammer crossed his arms. “Skipper, if she’s in trouble?—”
