Private Mandella, Chapters 8-9 Summary

After two weeks of training around Miami Base on Charon and the loss of eleven company members, the remaining privates are moved to darkside, where their orders are to build and pressurize a bunker in preparation for a simulated attack. They are deposited next to all the necessary building items. However, since the materials are submerged in a deep pool of helium, they spend the better part of a day brainstorming methods and actually extracting everything out of the pool. During this process, one of Mandella's team members begins to stumble repeatedly over his own feet and falls down on his back, breaking the heat exchanger on his fighting suit. The medic informs Mandella, who has been promoted to Acting Corporal for the duration of the exercise, that this man will die before they can get him...