His fingers were hurting now. His bare chest heaved for breath as he crushed it against the rough stone. Don’t think about the pain, he told himself. It’s just pain, that’s all. Just minor abrasions, so don’t feel sorry for yourself. A nurse in any hospital emergency room would laugh at them and put you at the end of the line. And what about Nam and all the guys who lost a lot more than fingers? Remember the black plastic body bags stretched out on the ground in Danang? A long line of them waiting to be picked up like so much garbage. What would any of them give to be still clinging to life, even by raw fingertips? Just hang on.

How far had he come? No. Wrong question. How far to go? he began to wonder, knowing he shouldn’t think about it, shouldn’t look up. Keep focused on the light, on the next step, he told himself. Forget the girl. Forget the CIA. Forget Arabia and the war. There’s only the rock and the next step. His universe had shrunk to a few feet of rock and darkness. There was no longer up or down, no past or future. Only the rock and the pain, he thought, pulling himself painfully up to the next set of hand and footholds.

“You’re almost there!” Kelly’s voice sang out from below. There was excitement in it. “You’re doing wonderfully,” she called and the Scorpion didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her warm encouragement.

Only about five feet to go, he told himself, gathering his reserves for a last push. Wearily, he reached up and began stabbing at the rock again. The instant he struck the blow he knew it had gone wrong. The clang of the flint against the rock sounded different and then the awful snap and whirring as the broken blade flew straight at his eyes, spinning like a propeller.

Instinctively, he jerked his head back and even as he turned he knew it was wrong. He tried to duck his head back into the rock, but it was too late. He could feel his balance going and there was nothing he could do. His hands were peeled off the rock by the momentum and before he could even think to react he was falling, briefly aware of the rush of air and somewhere Kelly’s scream and in that last second, his body took over, pulling his knees into a tuck position because it would be fatal to land on his head. He felt his feet hit the ground with a thud that jarred every bone as his body collapsed like a puppet whose strings have been cut.