John Archer, a young Marine Corporal, is at the tail end of his enlistment. Seven days before Christmas he’s summoned to battalion headquarters. For the first time in his career, the Secretary of Defense has issued his unit a deployment order. All he knows for sure is that recent world events are in play. Moving from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to the Middle East, Archer must come to terms with his personal fears, the intense desert heat, and Iraqi soldiers always potentially just over the next horizon.