Chapter 4
Daniel turned to the line of trainees, who had not moved, had barely breathed, through the entire exchange. "Carry on with the qualification course," he said. "Lieutenant Commander Carter will be observing the remainder of today's block."
The trainees returned to their lanes slower than they'd started, glancing occasionally toward Lane Three, where Emma Carter stood quietly checking her rifle one more time, exactly the way she'd checked it the first time, no different, no performance in it either way.
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Six weeks later, when that BUD/S class began Hell Week, the trainee who'd whispered "who is she" during Emma's first shot was the one who, on day three, stopped another candidate from quitting by reminding him, word for word, what Lieutenant Commander Carter had said about confidence needing to be earned rather than assumed. He didn't know she'd never meant it as a lesson for the candidates. He'd absorbed it anyway, because the best lessons rarely announce themselves as lessons at all.
Master Chief Ryan Cole kept his post on the range, but the culture of it changed inside a season, the smirks gone quieter, the unknowns on his line treated, from that day forward, like they might be exactly who they turned out to be.
