Flint, Lady Jaye, Bazooka, Alpine, and Footloose sat around the campfire. They had decided on their new assignments and had agreed that Duke didn't need to know about the switch. Flint felt relieved, confident that his team could finish the tasks ahead of schedule and maybe even head home early.

Each of them would be working now in an area in which they had at least some experience. Flint had been surprised when Lady Jaye admitted that she knew how to repair the house. "Habitat for Humanity," she had explained with a shrug. "My mother wanted to make my resume look good, so she signed me up. Turns out I liked it. I worked with them every summer during college."

They headed out to their new tasks that afternoon. Bazooka worked on the dock, Alpine climbed from peak to peak testing radio reception, Footloose started repairing the generator, Lady Jaye started cleaning the inside of the house, and Flint began work on the topographical map. The work went quickly and smoothly; by nightfall, each of them had a good start and were pleased with the progress.

Meeting back for dinner—more pork and beans—they recounted their accomplishments and exchanged notes. Flint praised each of them in turn, feeling slightly guilty, but knowing that he had made the right decision.

Lady Jaye joined him on his log after dinner while the others took their turn at cleaning up. "Flint, I know that this is going pretty well, and I appreciate your open-mindedness on the assignment switch." She lowered her voice. "I wasn't sure if I should say anything, but…I overheard Duke and Scarlett talking about us before we left."

Flint raised his eyebrows. "You were eavesdropping?" Then he grinned. "What were they saying?"

She gave a wry smile. "I think I was supposed to overhear. I was working in the garage with Shipwreck—remember when Duke asked us to wash his jeep? I couldn't figure out at the time what we'd done to merit the extra work, but I think it was part of the plan." She fidgeted with her canteen a moment. "Basically, Duke and Scarlett were saying that if either of the teams pulled off our assignments it would be a miracle. They let a few hints drop about the food situation, too." She looked up at Flint, meeting his gaze. "I got the feeling that they were setting us up, but also that he wanted to give the teams a chance to succeed despite stacking the odds against us. They were talking where Shipwreck and I couldn't help but overhear."

Flint nodded in understanding. "I think I get it. Duke is watching us. Not just me, but all of us. He must have made sure that someone from each team knew ahead of time what was going to happen…" His voice trailed off as he looked in the direction of the building. "Wait a minute. If you knew about the food—"

Lady Jaye smiled. "Yep. That's why I packed the extra bags. Knowing how Bazooka feels about food, I let him in on it, too. I wasn't sure it was allowed, but I did check with Duke and asked if it was okay if I brought extra supplies, and if we were allowed to fish or supplement our meals in other ways. Based on how he was smiling, I think he was pleased I figured it out."

"Did Shipwreck figure it out too?"

This time Lady Jaye laughed. "I don't think so," she replied. "I tried to tell him to look into it, but he wouldn't listen."

Flint chuckled. "Looks like we've got one up on Beach Head's group. Not that it's a contest, of course."

"Of course." Lady Jaye glanced at the returning figures of the others. "One last thing. I'm not trying to get out of work, but…I wouldn't mind being transferred to KP duty for a while. I can still work on the house, of course, but we're going to finish the other assignments ahead of time now, which gives us plenty of time to really work on the repairs later. It would be a lot easier with everyone working on it together, anyway."

The warrant officer nodded. "If it means eating anything other than pork and beans, you have my complete support. But I thought you can't cook?"

Lady Jaye gave him a knowing look. "That was just a rumor I started."

"What?" Flint laughed. "Why?"

"Oh, come on, Flint. A woman on a military base who can cook? Everyone would expect me to spend all of my time in the kitchen. Even Roadblock gets frustrated sometimes with all of the requests he gets, and he intimidates the hell out of people. Think what it would be like for me."

"You've got a good point," Flint conceded. "Does that mean we get a real breakfast tomorrow?"

"I'm no gourmet chef, but I think I can manage some pretty edible camp food."

"In that case, I think everyone will be thrilled to help with the house. I know Alpine will be happy just to have Bazooka's digestive system off of overdrive." He looked over at the small tents. "Really, really happy."

Alpine crawled out of his tent in the morning, still half asleep. He stood and blinked for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Am I dreaming?" he called out. He took a few steps toward the smells that had awakened him. "I swear I smell coffee. And bacon…" He followed his nose toward the fire, where Lady Jaye was working over the flames.

She looked up with a wide grin. "It's not a dream, Alpine." She gestured to the scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee. "Help yourself. It's still camp food, but it's better than what we've been eating."

Alpine sat down with a contented sigh. He held a plate piled with food. Real food. The others joined them in the fire circle, exchanging happy looks. "Wow, where did this come from?" Footloose asked.

"Thank Lady Jaye," Flint said. "She packed extra food, just in case." He looked sheepishly over at her. "I forgot to apologize for getting mad that you wanted to take all the extra bags."

"Don't worry about it. You had no way of knowing."

"What's she talking about?" Alpine asked through a mouthful of food.

"The pork and beans weren't a mistake," Bazooka told him.

"Duke did set this up on purpose," Flint added. "He wanted to see what we'd do with horrible food and terrible assignments. But he also let Lady Jaye overhear him talking about it, I guess to see if she'd do anything." He finished his plate and set it aside. "You did technically go over my head," he mused. "And I'm disobeying orders. We're either going to pass with flying colors or fail miserably."

Alpine patted his stomach. "At least we'll fail comfortably. I feel like I could climb a mountain today." He gave an exaggerated start of surprise. "Oh, right—that's my job."

"Hey, Bazooka—did you bring the fishing gear?" Lady Jaye asked.

"Yeah, in the extra bag," he said, standing up. "I'll take it with me when I go to work on the dock."

"Wow, fresh fish for dinner," Footloose sighed. "Catch about ten for me, Bazooka."

Lady Jaye gathered all of the pots and pans as the others gathered their gear. She planned on working on the inside of the house for a while, then taking a break to check on Bazooka's fishing and to look around for some fresh food to add to the meal.

Alpine reached the top of another peak and turned in a circle, holding the small antenna at arm's length. It looked like he'd found his spot for a transmitter. Now it was just a matter of getting all the equipment up there. He doubted it would take more than a few days.

Flint made another notation on the paper. He was finished with about a fifth of the map. He checked his watch. Almost lunch time. Taking a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, he packed his gear and started the trek back to camp.

Bazooka pounded the last piling into the water. The base of the dock was finished and secure. He could easily complete it in a couple more days. It was heavy work, but anything was better than trying to figure out complicated equipment. His stomach gave a loud rumble, telling him it was time for lunch. Lady Jaye had already collected the trout he'd caught that morning and promised that if he caught more, he could stuff himself silly at dinner.

Stalker faded back into the trees as Bazooka neared his observation point. The big man walked by, completely oblivious of his presence. Stalker made a few notes on his clipboard. Flint's team was handling the situation much better than Duke had anticipated. He smiled to himself. It was time to make things more complicated.

The afternoon was uneventful, other than a close-up encounter with a bear. Lady Jaye laughed off the incident, promising to leave most of the berries for the wildlife in the future. The pay off, however, was worth it. Though lunch had been more prepared camp food, dinner that night was almost all freshly gathered or caught.

The team savored the delicious trout, baked in the coals and stuffed with mushrooms. Lady Jaye had also delved into the supply of vegetables she'd brought, preparing a side dish of potatoes and carrots. Dessert was a blueberry cobbler, made with what had escaped the bear's attention.

Alpine leaned back with a smile. "This mission is turning out to be a piece of cake. Or in this case, fresh blueberry cobbler. Jaye, I don't blame you for hiding your talent. I wouldn't have left you alone if I had known you could cook like this."

"Yeah," Bazooka agreed, helping himself to a third trout. "This is great."

"Hey, Bazooka," Alpine called, "Tell the bear story again."

Lady Jaye blushed. Unbeknownst to her, Bazooka had watched her entire encounter with the big brown bear. He was too far away to help, but not too far away to see what happened.

Bazooka stood up. "Well, Lady Jaye was picking blueberries, and I went to find her 'cause I had already caught four fish. So I walk out of the clearing, and there's this huge bear standing over her. I tried to yell, but she didn't hear me. Jaye looks over her shoulder, though, and sees the bear." He imitated her facial expression, eliciting laughter from the others. Then he raised his arms, playing the part of the curious bear. "So this bear is trying to get its mouth into her bag, and she's all like, 'get out of there, you big beast!'" he finished in a falsetto voice.

Alpine leaned over to Flint. "Sometimes I wouldn't trade him for anything."

Flint nodded, chuckling at Bazooka's storytelling.

"So Jaye takes a swing at the bear and smacks it on the nose." Bazooka imitated the bear again, looking hurt and confused. "It rubbed its nose and stood up all the way and let out this really loud roar." Bazooka did his best to make the same sound. "I don't think Lady Jaye expected that…her eyes got really wide and she dropped to the ground."

"I had just realized that I hit a 600 pound bear," Lady Jaye laughed. "I don't know what I was thinking. But it works with Gung Ho when he's getting into my stuff," she said with a shrug.

"And the bear just rifled through the berries in the bag and walked off," Bazooka finished. "You were really lucky," he told her. "It must not have been very hungry."

"Maybe you smelled like pork and beans," Alpine commented, making a disgusted face.

Flint watched his team, feeling a swell of pride. He'd been silly to worry about their performance. Despite their quirks, his teammates were doing superbly and working well together. He had no doubts about finishing this mission.

Stalker looked down at the items he'd stolen from the group. They should still be able to make do, but it wouldn't be easy. If they managed without this equipment, he would have to find other ways to interrupt their work. He didn't like having to be such a bastard—not really—but Duke wanted to see how they performed under pressure. If they could take everything he threw at them, their evaluations would be outstanding. If not, well…he was sure Duke wouldn't be too hard on them. He took out an MRE, wishing he was sitting around the fire with the others and eating real food. Well, the faster he could force them to call in for extraction, the sooner he would be back on base.