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for the moment.
    “ I might have two days.” Alex said, wincing even as he said the words. His father took it better than he thought he would.
    “ Then let’s not waste any time. You look like you're still in good shape ; limber enough for some rope climbing?” h is father asked, becoming a bundle of energy.
    “ Yeah, I still get out rock climbing every once in a while.” Alex’s eyes became distant as he thought for a moment about a particularly tricky slope in Afghanistan that he had found himself clinging to.
    “ In that case, I’ve got two days with my son , and I’m determined not to waste any time. The way I see things, you’ve missed six annual trips to Joshua Tree , and you owe me.” Ted said brightly.
    They had gone to the remote location in the Mojave Desert for its spectacular camping and climbing spots ever since Alex was fourteen years old. In fact, it had been those trips that had inspired Alex to join the Armed Forces. He and his father would climb the highest cliff available and watch the jets fly in and out of 29 Palms, dreaming of the day when it would be his turn behind the yoke and control stick , screaming across the sky at five hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately, Alex had grown too tall to fly in the fighter jets, but the Army had treated him like a gift from above.
    Ted had already gotten up from the breakfast table , intent on packing for their trip. Alex grabbed his eager father’s arm before he could get too far.
    “ Pops, I can’t be seen in the open right now. I took a huge risk even coming here.” Alex kept his voice low . “I’m safe for now, but there’s no guarantee that it will stay that way. Men are looking for me, and while there’s no record of where I come from, or where I grew up, if I’m seen, that puts you in danger.”
    “ It’s not a pretty world we live in,” Ted replied evenly to his son . “You’re my son, and as far as I know , you died six years ago, killed by some damn stupid training exercise. No one will find out who you are, or what happened to you. I’m just asking for one more family trip, you and I…together, before you have to go back out into whatever wild blue yonder you find yourself in again.”
    Ted’s voice lowered, sounding almost desperate . “I haven’t had much going for me the last few years, with your mother dead, and you gone . S ome nights, well, some nights I didn’t really see the point of going on, but now that I know you're alive and you're here … ” Ted paused, choking up . “I’m going to treasure every moment I’ve got.”
    Alex’s sense of self-preservation was beginning to wane. How much more could he really put his father through? Besides, Joshua Tree was in just of a remote area of California as Onyx was ; the risks probably wouldn’t be any worse there than they were here. In fact , Alex considered, it might actually be the perfect place for him to hide out for the next few days.
    He smiled broadly at the older man’s enthusiasm, “All righty , Pops, let’s go climb some mountains.”
    Ted slapped his knee and rushed off with an energy that Alex hadn’t seen for a long time. Whatever happened, Alex decided, it was worth seeing his father this happy again.

 
    Chapter Four
     
    The average day in Joshua Tree was hot , which was to be expected considering that its home, the Mo j ave Desert , boasted some of the hottest temperatures in the world. Death Valley , for instance, only a few miles north of Joshua Tree, boasted the world record of 132 degrees Fahrenheit. Today didn’t look like it was going to break any records, but the 115- degree heat let the two rock climbers know that Mother Nature wasn’t messing around.
    Alex and his father were on the west side of the park, two miles away from anyone else in the world, ascending one of the more remote climbs available. The route lay directly on one of the largest and most imposing of mountains in the Joshua Tree National Park. The edges sloped up