Code of Honor

Kamran is at first doubtful that Hagan could be the traitor. He trusted him in the facility, and felt like Hagan was on his side. But the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that Hagan is in the perfect position to be a traitor, as someone on the inside of DHS: “When it came right down to it, I realized, I didn't know anything about Mickey Hagan. Not really” (200). For the rest of the night, after the realization, everyone sits silently. Nobody is ever awake alone—a fact, Kamran realizes, that indicates that they don’t trust each other anymore. 

Twenty-four hours after the call with Mickey, the team stops at a gas station in New Mexico to get gas, stretch, and eat a bit. Kamran is antsy—they are about 11 hours from Phoenix, and are taking back roads to escape notice. The Superbowl is only two days away.

While they wait, Dane helps Kamran practice some defense moves to protect the most vulnerable parts of his body. Halfway through, Kamran thanks Dane for teaching him how to get a gun from someone, even though Kamran failed to get the gun from his attacker in the warehouse. Dane begins to question whether Kamran really is the rat, referencing his Iranian mother and the idea that his “code of honor” (202) is in fact about being a martyr to a larger cause. Kamran becomes enraged; Dane puts him in a headlock. Dane then reveals that he doesn't actually believe that Kamran is the rat at all; instead, he was trying to teach Kamran a lesson about anger: “Anger can be good. It can keep you focused. Alive. If you control it. When it controls you, you're dead” (203). Kamran asks Dane is he learned this lesson because of his other-than-honorable discharge. Dane glares at Kamran then calms down and begins to tell his story. 

Dane tells the story of his other-than-honorable discharge—a step above a dishonorable discharge, but still a black mark on his record. He asks Kamran if he knows about PTSD, and explains that he began to experience bad symptoms after the Battle of Khafji. He began to shake, jump at every explosion or gun shot, and get angry over nothing at all. He began to steal pills from the med tent to self-medicate, refusing to tell anyone about his ailment, saying, “The army, they teach you to suck it up” (204).

During one particular firefight, Dane was so out of it on drugs that he nearly got his friend shot and killed, though the friend managed to escape with his life. Knowing the code of the Green Beret's—“I will not fail those with whom I serve” (205)—Dane turned himself in, and for his honesty got himself an other-than-honorable discharge. He was 24 and thought his life was over. Mickey found him in a bar in North Carolina and recruited him for a job. He saved Dane's life and got him into rehab. Dane tells Kamran to stick to his Code of Honor—that sometimes, when everything is stripped from you, that code is all you have. 

The van finally arrives in Arizona. They drive to an area just outside Phoenix, near Superstition Mountain. On the ride there, Jimmy shows the team how he used a still image of the video with an overlay of the mountain to determine the range of the terrorist camp. Kamran mentions that there are caves in the mountains, which might be where the terrorists are hiding. Jimmy makes a snide remark about how Kamran would know, implying that Kamran is a rat. Kamran suggests a horse stable near his mom’s stable where they can rent horses to ride into the mountains. Jimmy stays outside with Kamran at the stables while Aaliyah and Dane go inside to rent the horses. Kamran protests that he isn’t the traitor, responding to Jimmy’s earlier accusations. Jimmy doubts him, making it clear that he trusts no one. He reminds Kamran to watch his back, as Dane and Aaliyah come out with the horses. Dane tells Jimmy to let Hagan know they are going in, which Jimmy questions, but Dane insists.