He took a breath. “But anyway, Eric’s father wanted Eric to join Doc Cameron, so he took the men down to the river and left me in charge of the village defenses. That, of course, made the capture of the village much easier.”

The Major nodded, obviously pleased. “For you to gain their confidence to that degree in less than a month’s time, that is remarkable.” He leaned back, putting his hands together to form a steeple. “So what went wrong? We’ve never had this much trouble taking a group before.”

“Two things. First, Captain Byers was delayed by a flash flood. He lost almost half a day and decided to travel at night to get back on schedule.”

“No!” the Major said angrily. “I warned them not to do that.”

“I know, but he figured he was still nearly thirty miles from the village, and it would be all right. But unfortunately, Eric’s father and Dr. Cameron were out hunting. They camped on a high ridge, and—” He shrugged.

“Cameron is the brain surgeon?”

“Yes. Eric’s father hightailed it back to the village to warn us and sent Eric with some dynamite to join—”

“They had explosives?” Nicole broke in.

“Yes, Eric’s dad was a chemist and an explosives expert. They make their own. They also have reloading equipment and make their own gunpowder as well.” He turned back to the Major. “Anyway, we would still have been all right. Lights meant civilization. The village was wary but very excited, eager to see who we were.”

“It was Cameron who made the first contact?”

“Yes. Eric was hidden in the trees, covering him with a rifle. At first Captain Byers made out as if they were looking for some unknown village. Then he inadvertently let it slip that he knew how far away it was. Doc was instantly suspicious and started to back off. Bruce panicked and tried to stop him. That’s when Eric opened fire, and Bruce was hit.”

“How is Captain Byers?” the Major asked.

“Still in a lot of pain. We took him straight to surgery this morning. The surgeon thinks he may never fully recover the use of his right arm.”

“It’s not that I have no sympathy,” the Major said curtly, “but he’s reaping the results of his own shortsighted stupidity. Well, either way, he is now relieved of his command.”

Nicole looked up quickly. The Major’s impatience with shoddy performance was legendary, but Bruce Byers was one of the original Guardians and second in command to the Major.

“Go on,” the Major commanded, prodding Travis out of his own evident shock at Byers’s dismissal.