chief, closed his own chameleoning, and followed his men into the water. The Skimmer gently backed
off as Fryman paddled to the farther Sea Squirt, first squad’s. He slipped into his tube, plugged into the
rebreather, took firm hold of the grips, and said into the all-hands circuit, “Squad leaders, report.”
“First squad’s ready,” Sergeant Bingh replied.
“Third squad is go,” Sergeant Kindy said.
“Let’s do this thing.”
Sergeants Kindy and Bingh, the two squad leaders, had already assured themselves that their men were
secured inside their tubes, their rebreathers hooked up. The squad leaders took the controls and sent the
Sea Squirts on a shallow dive path to five meters’ depth, where they leveled off, and, using inertial
guidance, directed the Sea Squirts toward the distant cliffs. In minutes, they were moving at twenty-five
knots; third squad’s Sea Squirt was at wing position, a hundred meters to the left and fifty meters behind
first squad. Everybody settled in for the long ride.
A standard hour later, Fryman signaled Bingh and Kindy, and the squad leaders began slowly edging
their Sea Squirts toward the surface. When Kindy looked over the side of his Sea Squirt through the
light-gatherer screen of his helmet, he could see the sea bottom slowly rising toward them. At another
signal from Fryman, the squad leaders brought the Sea Squirts to a stop on the bottom with the tops of
their upper tubes a meter below the surface of the ebbing tide.
The Marines slid backward out of their tubes and gathered their gear, then paddled to where they could
kneel on the bottom with only their heads above water and observed the shore—half with their infra
screens, half with light gatherers. The squad leaders took a moment before exiting to key the “wait”
instructions into the Sea Squirts, which headed for a designated hiding area in deeper water as soon as
the Marines were all clear.
While the nine Marines were assembling, Fryman gave the beach and cliffs close behind it a scan with
his motion detector. No one there. “Hit the beach,” he ordered.
Keeping only their heads above water, the Marines advanced on a line, propelling themselves with their
fingertips and toes against the sandy bottom. When the water was shallow enough that they were almost
on their bellies, they rose to their feet and surged forward, past the waterline and across the shallow,
boulder-studded beach, to the foot of the cliff. Water streamed off their water-repellent chameleons.
Fryman took a minnie from his waist pack, turned it on, and placed it against the cliff face. The minnie
felt about for tiny irregularities in the rock that would give it purchase, then began scampering upward.
The miniature reconnaissance device was disguised as a type of rodent common to the cliffs in this area
and would easily fool any casual observer. As dark as the night was, a casual observer wouldn’t even
notice the unnatural assemblage hanging off the rodent’s hindquarters. Two more, similarly disguised,
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaublad...02]%20-%20Point%20Blank/Sher_034549363X_oeb_c01_r1.htm (2 of 4)26-12-2006 4:55:45