Ambush

In a military courtroom in Washington, D.C., a judge hands down a verdict: Private Lucas Starr, who disobeyed a direct order from Captain Ronald Perkins, is found not guilty of insubordination, because the order could be seen as reckless and a danger to civilians. Afterward Lucas chases Ron down the hallway, begging to work things out, but Ron coldly refuses. If Lucas is innocent, Ron reasons, then he himself must be guilty, and he tells Lucas he never wants to see his face again.

Back home in Odyssey, Ron and his son Wyatt visit Whit's End. While Wyatt heads upstairs to the Imagination Station, Ron quietly asks Whit to program its parental controls so Wyatt can only go on history adventures, not Bible ones. Whit is surprised, since Ron seemed supportive of Wyatt's faith while he was deployed overseas. Over a cup of raspberry ripple ice cream, Ron finally tells Whit the story he hasn't even told his wife Carla or Wyatt, the story of what happened to him in Rakistan.

Ron remembers the long, boring weeks his company spent waiting in camp, where Private Lucas Starr, a cheerful Christian, helped Ron decode Wyatt's Sunday school texts, like the one claiming people in Egypt got "boiled" during the ten plagues (Lucas gently explains they were afflicted with boils). Ron's good friend Tony is there too, worried about his wife Tracy, who is expecting twins back home. Then orders arrive: a weapons transport mission.

The next day, Ron, Tony, and Lucas ride in the lead vehicle of a five-truck convoy carrying millions of dollars' worth of weapons. In a strangely silent town, a flock of sheep with no shepherd blocks the road, and Ron senses a trap. Suddenly a vehicle loaded with explosives slams into the second truck, and enemy soldiers open fire from behind trees and buildings. In the chaos, Ron pulls the wounded Tony and Lieutenant Meredith aboard, and Lucas drives them out of town with another explosive-packed vehicle in pursuit. Then their truck runs dry, its gas tank shot through, and the survivors flee into the woods on foot. Ron and Lucas take turns carrying Tony on their backs, and when Ron falls and dislocates his shoulder, Lucas pops it back in and does most of the carrying. Sheltering briefly in a cave, Lucas prays for Tony and the squad, while Ron plans a march to an allied depot that must be warned of a possible attack.

In the night they spot a house ringed with razor wire, with a military jeep and an enemy soldier outside. Ron decides they will grenade the house, seize the jeep, and drive back for Tony and Meredith. But at the last second Lucas spots a toy wagon inside and freezes, afraid a family with children may be in the house. Ron insists it is an enemy outpost and orders him to throw the grenade. Lucas refuses: "There could be innocent lives in that house, Captain." When Ron tries to wrestle the grenade away, pain shoots through his injured shoulder and he cries out, and the enemy spots them. Fleeing under fire, Ron carries Tony on his back and is shot in the hand. They reach a clearing where an American helicopter rescues them, but aboard the chopper they discover Tony is not breathing. He has been shot several times in the back; his body shielded Ron's, and he cannot be revived. Ron takes Tony's compass, a gift from his father, and the letter to his wife that Tony kept in his pocket.

Seven Marines died in the firefight, including the commanding officer. Ron heard whispers that his cry of pain alerted the enemy and that Tony's death was his fault, and though investigators later confirmed the house really was an enemy military post with no family inside, the tribunal still cleared Lucas. In the eyes of the Marines, Ron tells Whit, he was responsible for the death of his friend, and his wounded hand will never work again.

Ron asks Whit, a combat veteran himself, who is to blame. Whit answers that no one is; it happened, and it is tragic. When Ron blames Lucas, Whit gently pushes back, saying any father could understand Lucas's fear that children were inside that house, and then asks the harder question: why hasn't Ron told his own family? Ron admits he can bear the Marines thinking he is guilty, but not his wife and kids. Finally the truth comes out: "Christianity made Lucas weak. I don't want that for my son."

Just then Wyatt appears at the counter, asking for a cup of strawberry ice cream, not for himself, but to comfort a little boy upstairs who is scared of the Goliath display. After Wyatt leaves, Whit tells Ron, for the record, that he doesn't believe Wyatt is weaker because of his faith. Ron quietly concedes that maybe Whit is right, apologizes, and decides to go upstairs and spend time with his son. As Ron walks away, Whit tells him that people are praying for him. "Yeah," Ron answers softly. "I know."