Sam listened as the team talked about the fifteen-point score necessary to pass the PT test. At least one point had to be scored in each of the five events out of a possible fifty required to pass each physical training test. They had to do pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, a 120-yard shuttle run, then the two-mile run. The moment the team completed the PT test, they had to pass the DT test as well. Defensive tactics included boxing, handcuffing, control holds, searching subjects, grappling, weapon retention, and disarming techniques.

With the rain, it was a given that everyone’s timing would be off. Sam shivered under the wet poncho and looked around. Everyone at the table had removed theirs. Dumb, dumb, and dumb. First she hadn’t even noticed that Hawkins was missing, and now she was eating breakfast in a poncho. Irritably, she pulled it over her head. Then she winced at the puddle she’d left on the floor. Slick rushed forward with wads of paper napkins to dry up the rainwater.

Today there was no seven o’clock breakfast for the staff. They’d breakfasted at five o’clock and were already out in the field waiting for the teams to show up.

At ten minutes before six, Hawkins stood up and pulled on his poncho. “Showtime!”

Sam noticed they were the second team to arrive. The moment Teams One and Four arrived, Havapopulas brought his whistle to his mouth. The teams separated and followed their instructors. During the next hour each member of the team passed the push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. The 120-yard shuttle run was no problem. The teams split up and started off on the two-mile run. In future tests and trials the duration of the test would increase; the two-mile run would go to three, five, seven, then ten miles. Endurance was the name of the game when it came to the PT and DT tests.

When they were over, with everyone passing, Sam was proved right that their timing was off. Allowances for the rain had been made earlier.

Pappy stood under an awning that had been erected the previous night. He was the scorekeeper. He was more than a little pleased with the results he was seeing for all four teams after only one week, especially considering the foul weather. He knew it would be a different story when they moved down to the second and third plateaus. Those recruits with no law enforcement background had trouble all week with disarming techniques, control holds, and the real killer—grappling. He knew that Samantha would excel in everything but the grappling and the climb.

Pappy felt like cursing the weather for throwing off the timing. In dry, sunny weather, grappling and scaling the fifty-foot wall was a challenge. In rain and mud, it was a nightmare. He donned his poncho and moved off.