A New World Begins

A night on a bare mountain…

“Okay,” said Nat, “Everyone ready?”

Standing to attention outside the accommodation block, fully dressed in their field uniforms and with packs slung on their backs, Travis, Shane, Noah and Will nodded. “Yes, Sergeant.”

“Okay. Travis, lead off, everyone else follow on, single file, in his tracks. We’ll swap lead every ten minutes like Boots said to share the effort.”

The snow had continued falling sporadically for the last two days, covering the ground to a depth of about a foot and a half though with drifts considerably deeper where the wind had whipped it up. After their lunch, and with Wednesday afternoon sports generally curtailed, the guys were eager to head out and put the lessons Craig had taught them into practice. Rotating the lead frequently so the point man didn’t get worn out by forging a path through the snow was just one of the tips he’d passed on. In addition to spare clothing and food in their backpacks, each of them carried a pair of skis. The skis, obtained with a few other items from the military equipment stores, had been Travis’s idea: a quick show of hands had revealed that all of them could ski to some degree with the exception of Shane and it had been quickly decided there would be time to teach him the rudiments.

“That sky looks as though it’s getting heavier,” said Will as they crossed the quad and headed for the sports field. “I think the real snow will start to arrive in a day or two. The winds were lighter than originally forecast so it’s taking longer to get here, but that means it’s had more time to pick up moisture from the Lakes. Could be worse than predicted.”

Nat didn’t comment but he could sense they were all hoping Will was correct. They were clearly looking forward to the chance to learn new skills and prove they could handle the weather and whatever other challenges were thrown at them. Craig’s lecture, based on just a half dozen PowerPoint slides but delivered with enthusiasm and in his own unique style, had really fired the guys up.

At the point where a drift of snow indicated the small hedge around the car lot gave way to the start of the sports fields, Sergeant Anders was waiting for them in the Humvee. Nat called the squad to a halt alongside it as Sergeant Anders waved to them through the window. He was obviously intent on staying inside where it was warm.

“Okay guys, everyone put your packs onboard then get your skis on. Shane, that doesn’t include you. You’re going to guide Sergeant Anders to the spot we’ve chosen to build our snow hole. You got the co-ordinates?”

Shane nodded enthusiastically. “Memorised and written down on my Glo-board too. And I know exactly where it is anyway, we’ve been there before.”

“Yes, but remember what Boots said about the snow making navigation harder. Everything looks the same.  Go slowly and don’t forget to keep checking your map, log the distance travelled against the ground, cross-reference to any distinctive features the snow hasn’t hidden.”

“Got it, Sergeant. And I’ve got the radio switched on to stay in touch with Will. I’ll do a radio check in a moment.”

“Okay Shane, jump in and away you go. We should catch up with you at the RV in about thirty minutes.”

“Hold a moment,” said Will, as he stood up from fastening his ski bindings. “Craig stressed we do the radio checks before we split, make sure comms are good right from the get-go.”

“Well remembered, Will,” said Nat, “I was hoping you wouldn’t forget that.”

Everyone chuckled as Will reached under the cuff of his combat jacket and squeezed the pressel connected to his radio and spoke into the microphone tagged to his lapel.

“Snow Bear from Fox Three, radio check, over.”

Shane’s radio hissed and he responded as he opened the door to the Humvee and jumped in alongside Sergeant Anders.

“Fox Three, reading you loud and clear. Over.”

“Snow Bear, same you. Fox Three OUT.”

Sergeant Anders slipped the Humvee into drive and eased away, the tyres crunching across the snow as it gradually disappeared into the distance. The falling snow quickly damped out the noise of the engine.

“Travis, you and me will alternate lead, following the GPS to the RV. Will, you take third place, monitoring the radio and doing radio checks every now and again to maintain comms with Shane.”

“Call sign Snow Bear, Nat. We always use call signs on the net.”

“Okay, Snow Bear it is, Will. Noah, you bring up the rear and cross check the pace and distance like Craig said. If the GPS goes down we’ll need a traditional position fix. You got the counter?”

Noah nodded and held up a length of knotted string. “Ready, Nat. One knot through my fingers every twenty strides, a compass bearing every ten knots if we’re closed in and can’t see a reference feature.”

“Ready we are then,” said Nat. “Travis, push ahead, slow and steady. Let’s make this look good. Plenty of people are watching us from the ante-room and the sports complex.”

* * *

They moved across the sports field and into the wood, quickly finding the main track that led out towards where it got a little hillier with shallow ravines cutting across the slope. They followed the track, checking their progress with GPS fixes every few minutes. It wasn’t really necessary as the track was easy enough to follow but the practice was useful.

“Nat,” came Noah’s voice from the rear after about twenty-five minutes. “We should be just about a hundred strides from the fork in the track where we turn off. Probably just over that little rise.”

Nat and Travis glanced down at the GPS units attached to their forearms. “Yeah, that’s right,” confirmed Travis.

Noah and Will exchanged glances. There had been no need for Travis to sound so surprised. Noah had diligently been checking their position by dead reckoning, even in a blizzard he would have been right. It wasn’t difficult to count paces and slide knots through his fingers.

They crested the rise and saw the fork ahead of them, a smaller side track cutting gently away downhill towards the spot where, a few months earlier, they had set up their first camp and learned the rudiments of harbour drills and patrol craft. The spot where Noah had taken the Commandant prisoner until he could be vouched for, and where Craig’s booby trap flares had caught out Jackson when he tried to sneak up on them. Up to that point on the trail they had more or less walked on their skis but now, with the ground dropping away, they could actually do some downhill skiing for the last few minutes. Direction finding would be easy: a fresh set of tyre tracks showed where the Humvee had travelled along the main track from the opposite direction and then turned off down the side track.

“Okay guys,” said Nat, “We ski properly from here, nice and slow though, we don’t want anybody hugging a tree or breaking a leg. Order of march is me at the front, then Will, followed by Noah and finally Travis bringing up the rear.” Before Travis could complain Nat added, “That’s because you’re the best skier, Travis. Best always goes last, observing progress and ready to swoop in and correct any problems.”

Ten minutes later they swept into the clearing at the head of the ravine they had chosen from a study of the map the day before.  Travis had dropped back a hundred yards or so as they approached it, then zoomed in to catch them up and came to a halt with a sharp turn that sent a small spray of snow up. He raised his goggles and grinned.

“That’s how to do it, Shane. We’ll soon teach you…”

Shane was just putting the finishing touches to a large white and green camouflage net that he and Sergeant Anders had draped between a few pines in order to create a shelter for the Humvee. The net would keep the worst of the snow off the vehicle, allowing it to be ready for use more quickly when needed. Large, interconnecting aluminium poles supported the net, keeping it clear of the vehicle. A quick shake of each pole at intervals would prevent too much snow gathering on the net. Sergeant Anders smiled and leaned against the Humvee, soaking up the warmth from the engine cover and observing as Nat called the group to order.

“Okay, well done everyone. Don’t forget to take a couple of layers off now we’re stationary to let any sweat evaporate rather than soak into the fabric and freeze later. Put the layers back on, one at a time, as you begin to cool down. Regulate your temperature. We’re going to be quite active for the next few hours so we probably won’t need many layers on for a while. I’ll give you a refresher of the plan. You can take your skis off now too.”

“We’re listening, Nat.”

“First off, this is a non-tactical training scenario, so we don’t need to post sentries and do all the rufty-tufty stuff. No tomahawks required. We’re going to spend the next few hours creating a survival shelter. We’re going to work in pairs to share the load, and in parallel with that Sergeant Anders will take each of you in turn to give you about half an hour of snow driving tuition in the Humvee. I calculate that we’ve got about four hours of light left, so we need to crack on.”

“I had time to take a quick look down in the ravine when we got here,” said Shane. “The snow’s drifted quite deeply, just like Boots and Will said it probably would. I think we can do the Type 2 shelter that Boots told us about.”

“That’s a bonus,” said Travis. “If we don’t need to use our skis to form the roof we can spend more time skiing and teaching you how to ski.”

“Okay, get your packs out of the vehicle. The shovels and other kit will be no use to us if Sergeant Anders drives away with them,” said Nat. “Will, send a message back to your artillery friends who are monitoring the net to let them know we are in location.  Noah, you’re first for the driving, we may as well start Sergeant Anders off gently. Any questions?”

“Just a comment from me,” said Sergeant Anders who had been listening in with interest. “Cadet Sergeant Bauer pointed out that this is a non-tactical training scenario. We’ve used a camouflage net to screen the Humvee as though it was a tactical situation. In a genuine survival scenario, you wouldn’t hide the Humvee, you’d try and park it somewhere obvious where it would be easily spotted by anyone searching for you. In fact, if you had the Humvee, you wouldn’t dig a snow shelter, you’d use it as your shelter and run the engine intermittently to keep yourselves warm. Nice and toasty inside, isn’t it Cadet Lundgren? Keep the muffler clear though so you don’t gas yourself on carbon monoxide.”

“Yes, really warm,” smiled Shane.

“Maybe we could get a set of those Day-Glo panels from stores that are used to signal to helicopters, like we learned at the artillery school,” added Will. “Me and Noah know how to use them, and we can store them on the Humvee roof for extra visibility.”

“Good thinking,” said Nat. “We’ll ask for a set if we actually do need to go out for real.”

“Okay, looks like it’s time for us to go for a sleigh ride, Cadet Mason. Jump in the driving seat and let’s see how long we can drag this out. If we time it right, we’ll come back to a completed igloo with a nice pot of stew all ready for us.” Sergeant Anders patted Nat on the shoulder as he wandered round to the passenger seat of the Humvee and climbed in. “See you later, Cadet Sergeant Bauer.”

As the Humvee chugged gently away up the track with Noah at the controls, Nat turned to Will, Shane and Travis. “Let’s go a little way down the ravine and look where the best place is to build our shelter. We can leave all the kit here for now, we’re not going to be going more than a hundred yards at most if the assessment Will and Craig did from that air survey data is correct. Once we’ve sorted the location, we’ll come back here for the spades and snow saw, then start work.”

The guys followed Nat down into the ravine where the snow was, as hoped, deeper, reaching almost to Nat’s waist as he led the way. Towards the side of the ravine the snow had drifted deeper. Nat pulled the handle from one of the ski poles he’d brought with him, connected them together and pushed them into the snow. They disappeared right to the level of his hand.

“This looks like a good spot. We’ll go and get the kit, then start work here. Me and Will can dig first and get the access corridor in, that might take us half an hour. Travis, when we get back up to the clearing, you can start teaching Shane how to walk on skis. Just some gentle cross-country strolling along the track to begin with. Got that? No Olympic class downhill slaloms and jumping, we don’t want to kill him!”

“I don’t want you to kill me either,” laughed Shane. “I’ll just be happy if I can stand up without breaking my ankles.”

“When Noah gets back, we’ll swap around.  Travis can go driving, me and Will can take a break and Shane and Noah can work on the snow hole. Let’s go.”

* * *

Travis dropped two pairs of skis on the ground as Nat and Will grabbed their snow digging kit and wandered back down into the ravine.

“Okay, Shane, let’s get you moving. This is going to be easy. Like Nat said, we’re not trying to be downhill racers, just show you how to do some simple cross-country stuff. First of all, put your skis on, just like this. Watch what I do. First, slip the toe of your boot into that clip at the front. It might help to tap the sides of your boot with a ski pole and knock any loose snow off them. Then drop your heel firmly into the binding like this. See how that clip at the back snapped over and locked my boot in place?”

“Yes, I saw that. It looks easy. Can I try?”

“Yes, go ahead. Easy enough, isn’t it? Okay Shane, now you’ve got your skis on, we’ll just take a couple of gentle steps. First, try it without using the poles. Simply slide one ski ahead of the other, then bring the other ski forward. Just sliding.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Travis, I’m just sliding on the spot. I haven’t got any grip. I feel like Michael Jackson doing a moonwalk.”

Travis laughed as Shane just slipped around on the spot.

“That’s why we don’t do it that way, Shane. You have two choices. You can pick your feet up and move them forward, one after the other, just like walking. That’s slow too, though, and lifting the weight of the skis every step will soon tire you out.”

Shane tried it, lifting one foot up and taking a step, then a bringing his second foot up alongside the first. “That’s heavy, lifting and dragging these planks. I’ll be worn out in no time.”

Travis nodded. “Now we’ve done the hard ways, let’s try the best way. Just dig in your poles by your sides, spread your feet apart a little, keep the skis under your hips and in line. Now, just lean forward a fraction, slightly lift one ski and slide it forward as you push gently against your poles.  Just like this. Watch me.”

Travis slipped forward, slowly and methodically, showing Shane how to move off.

“Okay, Shane now your turn.”

“This is definitely easier, Travis. I’m actually moving somewhere, not moonwalking!”

“It’s simple, Shane. Did you notice your skis are a bit bent up in the middle? When you lay it on the snow, the middle bit doesn’t touch against the ground. That centre bit, right under your boot, has a texture on it, like tiny ripples or spikes. When your weight is on the ski, those bits are pushed into the snow and grip you in place. When you lift your foot up, just a fraction, to step forward, the middle bit of the ski springs up, breaks the grip and you can just slide the remainder of the ski, the smooth bits, across the snow.”

“Hey, that’s smart,” said Shane, “I didn’t notice that. Let me try again, just another couple of slidey steps.”

“You’re getting it Shane. Sort of push and glide, push and glide, with each step. That’s good, now you can move we need to get you to slow down and stop if you build up too much speed. That’s the really important bit, and that texture isn’t enough to slow you in time if you are going fast. Just stand still a moment while I slip my skis off. Okay, now hold your poles out in front of you so I can grab the ends and tow you across this flat bit.”

Travis stood facing Shane, took hold of the ends of his poles and began to step backwards, pulling Shane across the snow.

“See how easy that was? You don’t have much friction slowing you down, but you might need to stop quickly, like if you are heading towards a tree or a cliff. You haven’t got a parachute pack like James Bond had, Shane, so you need to be able to stop before you go over the edge. Now, I’m going to tow you again, just a few yards, but this time as I pull you, I want you to push your heels outwards.  Just a bit, so you your skis move apart at the back and get a bit closer together at the front. Kind of make a ‘V’ shape. Ready?”

Travis began to pull Shane across the clearing, then nodded and said, “Heels apart, Shane, push them outwards, slow and gentle.”

Shane did as Travis instructed, slowly sliding his heels wider apart, forming a V shape with his skis. As he did so, Travis started to struggle to keep towing him. “See, Shane? It takes me way more effort to pull you when you do that. It’s slowing you down. That’s how to stop. Dead easy, at least at the slow speeds we’ll be doing across country. Let me put my skis on again and we’ll do some practice. You’ve already learned the basics. I just need to teach you how to go uphill now, so let’s go find a gentle hill so you can learn to herringbone. A lesson like this would cost you way over a hundred dollars at Aspen.”

“I feel a bit like Bambi on ice,” giggled Shane as Travis set off across the clearing towards the track and he tried to follow.

“You look like Bambi on ice,” laughed Travis. “But keep up, I’ll only go slow. You just need plenty of practice.”

* * *

Down in the ravine, well, it was more of a gentle valley really, Nat and Will were starting work on the snow-hole. Both had a spade and Nat had managed to get a snow saw from stores. That was kind of like a long knife with big teeth on it.

“Remember what Boots told us, Will. I’ll slide the saw into the drift and cut the edges of a block of snow, about a foot square and as far into the drift as I can reach the knife, so maybe about two feet. Then you slide the spade under the bottom cut, wiggle it to loosen the block, then slide the block out. Ready?”

Nat slipped the saw into the snow and moved it around, sawing at the snow until he’d outlined a square. Will stepped in with the spade, slid it under the block, eased it out and placed it gently on the ground. Boots had been clear about that: “Try and keep the block in one piece, just like a big brick, don’t just dump the snow on the ground.”

“Well, that was easy enough,” said Nat. “All we have to do now is keep on doing it and tunnel into the drift, make a corridor just as wide as I am and about two thirds as tall. You stack the blocks up at ninety degrees to the drift to make a wall in front of the entrance we create.”

The two of them continued to work at the drift, gradually cutting a corridor into it, swapping roles every few minutes to even out the work. The blocks were stacked up, just like bricks, to make a wall at a right angle to the entrance, shielding it from any wind.

“I’m building up a sweat, Nat, this is hard work,” said Will. “Craig was right, I’d best take a couple more layers off!”

They had progressed about six feet into the drift by the time they heard the Humvee returning and climbed out of the ravine to go and meet Noah and Sergeant Anders. The noise had also attracted Travis and Shane who came skiing, if a little unsteadily on Shane’s part, back down the track to join them all in the clearing.

“Er, didn’t Boots say stripping your clothes off was a sign of advanced hypothermia and needed immediate action?” laughed Travis when he saw both Nat and Will were stripped to the waist.

“You try digging tons of snow without getting hot, Travis,” countered Will. “We’re stripped off because we ‘re hot, not because we’re cold…”

“How did Noah do, Sergeant Anders?” asked Nat as he slipped on a thermal vest and then a T shirt. It might have been hot whilst he was digging but the snow and wind soon cooled him off once he stopped work.

“Oh, pretty good, just like he did in the mud driving last Fall,” said Sergeant Anders. “Noah is easy to teach, aren’t you Noah? He does exactly as he’s shown and told. Who’s next?”

“You can have Cadet Larson – Travis – next. He’ll be more of a handful. Knows all about driving already.”

Sergeant Anders grinned and wandered back to the Humvee. “Come on, Larson, get those planks off your feet and teach me all about driving then.”

“Will, get a few layers on and then get a link back to college on the radio and let them know we’re all fine. Noah, Shane, you two come back down with me and I’ll show you where we’ve got to in building the survival shelter and you can take over the digging.”

“How did you get on with your ski lesson, Shane?” asked Noah as they followed Nat back down into the ravine. “You didn’t look too bad following on behind Travis.”

“I think I’m getting there, Noah. I wobble a bit, and daren’t go anywhere near as fast as Travis does. I did fall over a few times but I haven’t broken my legs yet.”

Back at the snow hole Nat pointed out progress to Shane and Noah. “We’ve dug a passageway about six feet back into the drift, just wide enough to walk down, and stacked the snow blocks up across the front to create a wind break. We need to go back about two more feet, then we can start cutting sideways into the show from the corridor to create the ‘T’ profile and sleeping shelves. We managed to get a gentle slope on the corridor so the floor is lower at the door like Boots said.”

“I can go to the back and start cutting the last few feet,” said Shane, and Noah can get the blocks out with his spade and pass them to you to stack at the wind break. Once we’re back far enough we can start going sideways like you said and make the platforms to sleep on. We start those cuts from knee high and go up according to Craig.”

* * *

As it approached 5pm the light was fading but the snow hole was almost complete. Sleeping shelves for three people had been cut into the snow outwards from the central corridor, and the roof expanded upwards slightly in an arched form to give full standing room over the central corridor. One end of the windbreak wall, the end from which the wind was most likely to blow, had been sealed off with snow blocks and the wall itself curved inwards from shoulder height upwards to make a roof connecting it to the snowhole. “Kind of like a porch’ as Travis said. More blocks had been formed into an arch at the open end such that it was necessary to kneel down and crawl in to enter, then it was possible to stand up and turn through ninety degrees to walk into the shelter area. Snow had continued to fall, gradually getting heavier, all afternoon, and was slowly covering all the footmarks and tracks around the snowhole. The guys stood back with Sergeant Anders to admire their handiwork.

“That’s pretty impressive going,” said Sergeant Anders. “Right on time too, this snow is really starting to come down now. It’s time for me to be getting back and see if my guys have finished preparing the accommodation and control room at the sports pavilion. I have a feeling it’s going to be needed.”

“Right guys,” said Nat. Time for us to get inside and finish off, there are still a lot of minor things to be completed. “Will, you need to move the radio down here, set up inside and re-establish comms for a start. Let’s jump to it.”

* * *

“Fox One from Zero, Fox One from Zero.”

“That’s for you Nat, Fox One is your call sign,” said Will as the radio crackled into life. He passed the handset to Nat and added, “Press the switch to talk, and keep it brief. No more than ten seconds per transmission.”

“We’re non-tactical, remember,” said Travis as Nat leaned over and grabbed the hand set. “We’re not going to be DF’d and then get an artillery barrage on our heads.”

“Zero, this is Fox One. Send, over.”

“Oh, hi Sergeant Bauer. It’s Cadet Private Sullivan here, you know, from Robertson Squad. I just thought you ought to know Captain Davis is on his way out to you. That National Guard Sergeant came and briefed him and the Commandant about your survival shelter. He seemed very impressed. Captain Davis said he’d come and take a look for himself. Actually, he set off about quarter of an hour ago in the Humvee so he’ll be with you real soon. Oh, and we’ll be calling you again on the hour with a weather update and a bulletin from the Commandant. I think the college might be about to go to Stage 2 of the weather plan. Er, is there anything you need from us?”

“Negative, Zero. Message received and understood. Fox One OUT,” replied Nat and handed the handset back to Will.

Will grimaced. “That was rubbish voice procedure from Zero. No InfoSec either. Total amateur.”

Nat smiled. “I guess we don’t need to worry too much about losing to Robertson Squad in the radio skills part of the MilSkills competition then. Let’s just hope none of the other squads are as hot on VP as you are, Will.”

“Do you want me to go up to the track and meet Jackson, Nat?” asked Travis. “It’s dark out there, and the snow will have covered all our tracks, and he doesn’t know precisely where we are. He could drive up and down the track all night and not find us.”

“Good thinking, Travis. Will, grab a pack of red Cyalume sticks from the side pouch on my pack and pass them to Travis. Travis, hang those in the trees between here and the track, and put one close to the track too to show where we are and mark our path in case anyone else needs to come out here tonight.  Hang them from branches on string though, don’t stand them on the ground or the snow will just cover them over.”

* * *

About ten minutes later there were sounds from outside near the entrance and shortly after that the noise of someone crawling into the outer porch area. A figure appeared in the doorway on his hands and knees then stood up to enter the shelter zone.

“Good evening, gentlemen.”

“Attention, Officer present!” snapped Noah, the first to recognise the Commandant as he lowered the hood on his jacket. Noah was already sliding off the sleeping shelf and standing to attention.

“Relax, stand easy,” smiled the Commandant, “There’s not much space in here for formalities.”

“As the Commandant stepped forward, Jackson squeezed in behind him, then Travis could be heard entering the outer porch. Travis’s head appeared briefly in the doorway and he said, “I’ll stay out here in the porch, leave more space in there for a while.”

“Thank you, Cadet Larson,” said Jackson, edging further in behind the Commandant.

Noah and Shane, who had also slid down from his position lying on the sleeping shelf, eased themselves back to the side and sat on the right-hand sleeping shelf as Nat and Will moved over and sat on left-hand shelf, their legs dangling into the corridor. That left the chair at the far end, fashioned by Will from some blocks of snow and covered with a closed cell foam sleeping mat, for the Commandant to sit down on.  Alongside the chair, in a niche carved under the sleeping shelf at the far end of the little corridor, the radio set crackled quietly. From out in the porch they could hear Travis rummaging around in the backpacks and then a collapsible camping chair slipped through the doorway for Jackson to sit on.

“Well, this quite exceeds expectations,” said the Commandant. “Sergeant Anders said you had dug a good survival snow hole but to be honest I was expecting something a little more rudimentary, perhaps like one of the igloos you see in cartoons. Care to tell me a little about it?”

There was a quiet ripple of laughter, then a babble of facts were hurled at the Commandant.

“We’ve made it with three raised shelves to sleep on, each big enough for a person to lie down on using their camping matt for insulation.”

The shelves and the floor all slope down towards the door so any melt water can drain away. But most important, any carbon monoxide will go downwards too as we breathe it out or cook. It’s heavier than air. It’ll escape out under the door.”

“Warm air rises, so the low-level door keeps the warm air in.”

“Wind can’t blow in because of the porch area and right-angle entrance out to the porch.”

“The roof is arched. That’s a strong shape. It can withstand more snow landing on top.”

“We don’t need heating in here. We don’t want our shelter to melt. The heat from our radio and our bodies will keep it comfortable enough no matter how cold it gets outside, our clothes and sleeping bags are rated to Arctic levels.”

“That candle burning in the niche is doing double duty. It gives us some light but to be honest, the Cyalume sticks stuck in the walls are better at that. The real reason for the candle is to make sure we know there’s oxygen in here. If it starts to burn smoky, we know the oxygen level is falling.”

“We’ve got air vents to let air in. We stuck three ski poles with their handles removed out through the roof on the sheltered side to make vent holes.”

“They are like snorkel tubes. We wiggle them every half hour to make sure the outer ends don’t get covered over by snow.”

“The radio antenna is remoted, it’s hung up in a tree and connected by this cable poked through the wall. We used a couple of criss-crossed ski poles under the antenna to make a ground plane for it.”

“We have a rota. Three people will sleep on the shelves, and two people will stay awake, sitting here in the middle where you and Captain Jackson are now.  They do a radio call back to College every half hour to let them know we are fine, and make sure neither of them fall asleep. Then after a few hours we cycle round and they go to sleep and two more people stand watch.”

“We do any cooking out here in the porch, right next to the doorway,” came Travis’s voice from the porch area. “We’ve got a small gas burner so we can boil water and cook stuff in a pan.”

“It’s definitely well thought out, wouldn’t you agree Captain Davis?” said the Commandant.

“It’s very well done. It’s not something we’ve ever been taught in the MilSkills syllabus while I’ve been here at college,” replied Jackson. 

“I’ve an inkling I’ve seen a snow shelter like this before, many years ago when I was serving with our allies over in Europe,” said the Commandant and looked at Nat quizzically.

The guys all smiled and looked at each other. They weren’t going to divulge their secret.

“It’s a shame you all have to come back in to College at ten o’clock,” said Jackson. “It’s quite snug in here, but the weather’s going to get worse overnight.”

The Commandant saw the look of disappointment on all their faces.

“Maybe not. This is really much better than I anticipated, and they seem to have got all the safety aspects covered. I’m minded to let them stay out with a few changes. I think a quick radio check every fifteen minutes throughout the night, and a proper carbon monoxide alarm in here like those in each dorm, would be a good idea though.”

“I could come back with you,” said Nat. “I could get a carbon monoxide alarm and ski back with it. I’ll leave Cadet Larson in charge here, and Artilleryman Mason will come too so that there is a pair of us for the journey back, just in case of accidents or something.”

“No need,” said Captain Davis. “You all stay here and I’ll get an alarm sent out in the Humvee. I’m sure there will be plenty of volunteers to drive over to you and drop an alarm off. The driver will find you easily enough, Cadet Larson has put some good path markers out all the way down from the track.”

* * *

“Callsign Fox from callsign Zero, are you there? Oh, err, over.”

“Zero from Fox Two, send, over,” said Travis, whose turn it was to monitor the radio. “They aren’t getting any better, are they?” he grinned to Will.

“There’s a Humvee on its way out to you with some stuff, Callsign Fox. They said they’d be there by seven and to let you know. Can you let us know if they arrive? Oh, and if they don’t arrive by seven, tell us that too so we can do a search party or something in case they are lost or crashed. Err, over.”

“Copy that, Zero,” replied Travis as Will looked on approvingly. “I confirm: Vehicle inbound to my location, ETA nineteen hundred hours. Will send status report at that time. Fox Two OUT.”

About ten minutes after the radio call there came the muffled sound of footsteps outside and boots being banged to rid them of snow, followed by the noise of someone crawling through the entrance into the porch. A few seconds later two figures struggled into view.

“Hi Kyle,” said Shane who was nearest the door. “And, err, is that you, Jayden?”

“Hi guys,” said Kyle, lowering the hood on his ‘Jacket, Combat, Cold Weather’, clearly fresh from the stores. “I couldn’t resist popping out to see the snow hole for myself after hearing about it from the Commandant and Jackson. “Am I in time for dinner?”

“We haven’t cooked yet,” said Will. “We decided to leave that until later, closer to bedtime, so we are all full of warm food before we go to sleep.”

“No need to bother cooking,” laughed Kyle. “We’ve brought dinner for you. Jayden’s just bringing in two insulated containers of food from the dining room. There’s plenty for everybody.”

As Kyle squeezed further into the central corridor they could see Jayden had just dragged two large insulated boxes into the porch, along with a backpack and a rolled up sleeping bag.  Jayden stuck his head through into the main area and looked around.

“Hmmm, not bad, but rather you than me, Kyle. I’ll think about you all when I’m tucked up snug in bed right next to the radiator in my room. If there’s nothing else you need, I’ll be off now. See you in the morning guys.”

As Jayden turned and began to crawl out into the night Nat looked at Kyle as Travis reached for the radio and began to transmit.

“Zero from Fox Two, Zero from Fox Two, over.”

“Zero here, Fox Two. We’re listening.”

“Vehicle returning from my location to base. ETA minutes one five. Confirm, over.”

“Er, yes, okay Fox Two. Jayden’s on his way back?”

“Roger, Zero. Fox Two OUT.”

Nat waited for Travis to finish his radio transmission but before he could say anything to Kyle, Kyle put up a hand and spoke first.

“Yes, I’m staying Nat, but not taking over. You’re still in charge, I’m just here so that there’s an adult present. College rules and stuff. Got to keep the parents happy. It was either that or call you all back in – some of the staff were a little uneasy at the Commandant letting you stay out here in what might be the worst storm for years.”

“Mainly the civilian staff, I guess,” said Nat.

Kyle nodded. “And besides, if Bensinger Squad are going to be leading the way again, I want to be part of it, even if it is just as an acting Cadet Private.”

Nat’s face softened a little and he pointed to the doorway. “Best drag your kit in, Private.”

“And the food boxes too, Private,” ordered Travis sternly, “Might as well see what we’ve got, and then the empty boxes will make a chair for you to sit on.”

“Evens up the numbers,” said Will. “Three awake, three asleep. Works well.”

Shane pulled the first of the insulated boxes into the shelter and popped the lid off. Inside were a series of other insulated containers which he and Travis began to investigate.

“Wow, proper food. There’s a whole load of roast chicken legs in this one.”

“A few steaks in this one.”

“Mashed potatoes and vegetables here. What’s that one, Shane?”

“Rice in this half, pasta in that half.”

“Some pots of sauces in here too. This is just like being back in the dining room.”

Kyle smiled. “It’s exactly what is being served in the dining room tonight. There’s a big flask of hot chocolate too and, courtesy of the Commandant,” – Kyle smiled and reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a small glass bottle – “A tot of rum to put in it. Apparently, it’s a tradition in the Royal Navy, so he says…”

The guys all smirked as Nat took the bottle and put it in the niche beside the radio, “For later.” Maybe the Commandant did have an inkling of what was going on behind the scenes after all.

* * *

Just after midnight, Noah, who was on radio duty and had just made their quarterly call to base, adjusted the headset he was wearing and asked if he could read his book until it was time to call in again. Shane, Will and Travis were all asleep on the shelves, snuggled deep in their Arctic grade sleeping bags.

“Sure Noah, Kyle and I can keep an eye on everything else, including the candle, and we’ll all hear if the carbon monoxide alarm goes off. It’ll even wake Travis.”

Nat reached over and opened the flask of hot chocolate, poured what was left equally into three mugs and then did the same with the remnants of the small bottle of rum that the Commandant had sent them. It had only been a small bottle but it added a little zest to the chocolate and had been appreciated by everyone, and not just for the taste. They felt the Commandant was in this with them. He’d likely figured something out, but wasn’t going to split on them.

Nat tapped Noah’s foot to attract his attention and then passed him one of the mugs. Noah smiled his thanks and took the mug, cradled it in his free hand and went back to his book.

After taking a sip of his hot chocolate and glancing at Noah, who was still deep in his book, Kyle spoke quietly.

“Jackson and I had a discussion earlier. He’s genuinely impressed by what you’re doing with the squad, and he’s got a suggestion for you.”

Nat said nothing, just waited for Kyle to continue.

“Now we’re at Stage Two, and probably headed for Stage Three, there’s going to be some disruption to the curriculum. Most of the teaching staff might live on site but there’s a few that don’t and some gaps in the schedule are probable if they can’t get in because of the snow. The thought is that Bensinger Squad might like to plug some of those gaps.”

Nat took another sip of his chocolate and leaned back, “Go on.”

“A possibility might be that tomorrow morning, when you all come skiing back in from your ‘Night out on a bare mountain’, the squad provides a lecture in the main lecture hall to any classes that would otherwise be cancelled due to lack of staff. Say, about how to build a snow survival shelter. A few PowerPoint slides, the guys presenting a couple each on a particular aspect of what to do. Then after lunch, when maybe two or three classes have been cycled through the lecture, the guys lead the classes out here, show them this survival shelter, supervise them as they put a few of the techniques into practice. Cut and stack snow blocks, that sort of thing. Not build a complete shelter, just get a feel what it’s really like to do what you’ve taught them in the morning.”

Nat thought for a moment, then spoke. “I can see some benefits from that. It’d really put the Squad out on point. I’d need something in return though.”

“We thought you might.”

“If the guys are giving a lecture, then supervising a demo, that means they’re acting above their rank. They need some authority to back their status as instructors up.”

“Jackson’s thought of that. For the duration of the lectures and demos, say a day or two, they’ll be made Acting Corporals. It’ll only be temporary, but it means they’ll not get messed around while they are trying to teach.”

Nat nodded. “That’ll do for starters. But how about it also counts towards their promotion assessment at the end of the year? Everyone gets an automatic promotion to Corporal anyway for their sophomore year, but if any of the guys show they genuinely have a talent for leadership and instructional skills this early, maybe they can be promoted on the last day of their freshman year instead of the first day of the sophomore year. That will give them seniority and look good on their records.”

Kyle smiled. “Jackson said you’d lay down conditions. Said it was a Bauer thing. I think I can get him to agree to that if you’ll share the glory with him.”

Nat nodded. “Captain’s Promotion sort of thing. Spotting and advancing talent. We can work something along those lines. But, besides the benefits, there might be some small issues too though, but I think I can work around those.”

“You’re thinking about me, aren’t you Nat?” asked Noah.

Shane and Kyle both span their heads around to look at Nat. Realised he’d only had one ear covered by the radio’s headphones. He’d heard their discussion.

“It’s not an issue, Nat. I might not like talking to groups of people, but I can do it. I won’t let you or the guys down. Count me in.”