Later that night, my mom came into my room to talk to me as I played a video game. I was still mad at her and Dad for making me quit the STR, but at the same time, I understood.
“We need to talk. I know you’re still mad at me and your father, but I just want you to know that we love you, and we are trying so hard to help you,” she said as she sat on the bed.
“Look, I get it, okay? You don’t want me to get hurt, and you don’t want me to help you guys.”
“Alex, that’s not true. I know you just want to help us, but we’re your parents. We are supposed to be helping you.”
“But I want to. You guys are all that I have and hearing that Dad may lose his job scared me. And I don’t want anything bad happening to you guys.”
Mom gave me a hug. Her hug felt warm and refreshing, and it felt like some of the stress in my life just melted away.
“Nothing bad is going to happen to us, sweetie, okay?” she said.
She released me and stood up.
“I should go to bed now,” I said as she walked out.
“Mom?” I said, and she turned around.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you too, sweetie,” she said as she smiled and closed my bedroom door.
I got changed and went to bed. Maybe leaving the STR was a good choice after all. I felt like my life was finally coming together.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The day of the academic decathlon finally arrived. When my parents dropped me off, I found my group outside the TV station, heading in. Max and Matthew had suits on. Kristen wore a blouse and pants. I wore a black suit as well. I got there in the nick of time. I approached Mr. Hiller.
“Mr. Hiller!” I said as I ran toward him.
“Well, Alex, you haven’t been showing up to our practices lately,” Mr. Hiller said.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I can assure you I came prepared,” I said.
Matthew walked up to us with his arms crossed.
“It’s okay Alex. We don’t need you. We got this,” Matthew said.
Max came up shortly thereafter.
“Wait. If we want to win, then we need all the help we can get; and Alex can help us,” Max said.
“Fine. I will go talk to the judges while you guys get comfortable,” Mr. Hiller said.
Mr. Hiller walked off, and we went inside. We sat down at one of the tables backstage. We waited there, and quizzed each other while we waited for the decathlon to begin.
“Kristen, what are the five elements of a halogen?” Matthew asked.
“Fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, an astatine,” she replied.
“Correct. Max, what does RAM stand for?”
“Random Access Memory,” he replied.
“Correct. Alex, what are the two main nervous systems?”
“Peripheral and central.”
“Correct.”
We continued to quiz each other while we waited. Mr. Hiller came in.
“Good news, Alex. The judges said you can stay,” Mr. Hiller said.
“Thank you, sir,” I said.
“Oh, come on. He missed most of our meetings. He shouldn’t even be allowed to participate,” Matthew said.
I turned to Matthew with a scowl on my face.
“Trust me. I came prepared,” I said in a calm voice.
As we talked, one of the judges approached us.
“We’re ready to begin,” he said.
“All right, guys. Let’s go,” Mr. Hiller said.
We then walked to the stage. There were students, teachers, parents, and staff everywhere. We went inside and got seated in our positions. The decathlon took place in a TV studio where it would be broadcasted on the educational access channel. There were two tables that each sat four people, with a podium in between the two where the announcer would stand. Our opponents, Gleenview, sat opposite from us. The studio was dark, but not too dark. There were seats in front of us where the audience sat, and the camera crew was in between us. Once everyone took their seats, the announcer began.
“Hello and welcome to the fifteenth annual Academic Decathlon. Today, our contestants are Brooksfield and Gleenview high schools,” he said.
He continued to go on until we were asked to introduce ourselves. The Gleenview students introduced themselves and what their fields were. Our team then also introduced ourselves and stated our fields.
Round one started with the first questions, which were very basic.
“Category: human anatomy. Question: How many bones are there in the human body?”
I immediately hit the buzzer.
“Two hundred and six,” I said.
“That’s correct. Ten points,” the announcer replied.
He asked the next question, which was about literature. Gleenview answered it and got the next point.
“Okay, next category: computer tech. Question: What is the difference between read-only, and random-access memory?” he asked.
Max immediately hit the buzzer.
“Data in random-access is not permanently written, read-only is,” Max said.
“That’s correct. Ten points,” the announcer replied.
He continued to ask us questions. Gleenview got most of their questions correct, but we were able to keep up the pace. They were good though. After about twenty questions, they were already ahead of us by thirty points. After some time, the announcer let us take a ten-minute break.
“Okay, guys, we’re doing great out there. Alex, nice work,” Mr. Hiller said.
“Thanks,” I replied.
We reconvened and went over our notes to make sure we had everything straight.
After the ten-minute break ended, we got back to our seats and continued the decathlon. This time, we managed to get ahead of Gleenview, mostly because I found myself answering most of the questions. The announcer asked a math question, something that would take time to figure out. The announcer gave us one minute for our teams to answer.
My teammates were having a tough time answering the question, but I wasn’t. I figured out the math problem in my head. Once I figured it out, I reached for the buzzer, but then Matthew pushed the button. He answered wrong, and the other team got the points.
Matthew started to get in the way. The announcer kept asking questions, and Matthew would answer some of them wrong, costing us points. Gleenview got ahead of us again, this time, by twenty points. The announcer called for one last ten-minute break. During the break, the team went backstage and confronted Matthew.
“Matthew, what the hell is wrong with you man?” Max asked.
“Nothing. I thought I knew the answers,” he said.
“Dude, we’re going to lose this because of you,” Kristen said.
“Maybe we should have Alex lead; he seems to know everything. How about it?” Matthew asked.
“Don’t try to turn this on me. You’re supposed to be the leader, and you suck at it right now,” I replied. “Look, I know you want to win, but this behavior is not helping us, okay?”
Matthew started to get aggravated. He walked toward me.
“Maybe you should back off before I throw you off the team!” he said.
“Let’s not go there,” I replied.
When Matthew stood in front of me, all of a sudden, I felt like I had returned to war. The thoughts of all the battles I fought were buzzing in my head, and I had trouble trying to get them out of my head. I could feel my heart racing, and I thought about attacking Matthew. I started to do the breathing my therapist taught me. Not to mention the book I read also had some great tips, like trying to let the attack run its course by telling it to stay a while like someone staying over my house. After a few minutes, I started to calm down, but the thoughts were still in my head, so I just ignored them as best as I could.
“You’re not worth it,” I said as I turned around and walked away.
Matthew followed me and pushed me on my back, which barely moved me. I turned around, and Mr. Hiller came in between us.<
br />
“Guys, calm down! Matthew, you need to chill out. I’m demoting you. You’re not the team captain anymore,” he said.
Matthew went to sit down.
“I think Alex should lead,” Max said.
“Would you like to, Alex?” he asked.
“Sure,” I replied.
Round three started, and the questions were much harder. I took over and effectively lead the team. I coordinated everyone by making sure they knew what they needed to and made sure they were focused.
“Category: chemistry. Question: How many cations does aluminum have?” the announcer asked.
“I can’t remember this one,” Kristen said quietly.
Kristen struggled to remember the answer.
“It’s plus three,” I said.
“That’s it,” she said, hitting the buzzer. “It’s plus three.”
“Correct,” the announcer said.
I continued to help provide the answers for our team. We were now tied with Gleenview. We just had to answer this last question correctly, and we would win.
“Final question. Category: history. Question: Who led the French forces in the Battle of Marengo?” he asked.
I must have read dozens of books on history. I had the answer in a heartbeat. I quickly hit the buzzer.
“Napoleon Bonaparte,” I said.
“That’s correct. Brooksfield has won by ten points,” he announced as the audience applauded.
After the decathlon ended, the others and I met up.
“I just want to say congratulations to all you. You guys did so good, especially you, Alex,” Mr. Hiller said.
“Thanks,” I replied.
“Hey Alex, can I talk to you for a second?” Matthew asked.
“Yes, I suppose,” I replied as we walked to a more secluded area.
“Look, things got out of hand. I just wanted to win, you know? I’m sorry I almost screwed everything up,” he said.
“It’s okay. At least we won,” I replied.
Afterward, we went out to a pizza parlor to celebrate our victory in the decathlon.
“Everyone, can I have your attention please?” Mr. Hiller asked as he got up.
“I would like to propose a toast to the team, who went through hell to make sure we won. And more specifically, to Alex. Not only did he pull the team together, but he showed amazing leadership,” he said as we lifted our glasses up.
We ate up and talked for a bit.
“So, how do you feel now?” I asked Max.
“Better. My parents seemed impressed. They said they were really proud of me after the decathlon,” he said.
“Awesome,” I replied.
Max moved closer to me and whispered. Luckily, the restaurant got so noisy that no one would hear us.
“Are you still resigned from the STR?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“That’s too bad. It would have been cool to get that guy,” he said.
“Tell me about it,” I replied.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The following Friday after school, the STR called me and informed me about Mikhail’s location.
“Alex. Mathis here. Get your ass over here. We have a positive I.D. on Mikhail,” John said.
“You know, I can’t come back, right?” I asked.
“I know, and I will make you a deal. Complete this mission and you will never hear from us again,” Mathis said.
“Is that legal?” I asked.
“I made a deal with the UN. However, since you have legal guardians, I need their permission,” he replied.
“Okay. I will go and get them,” I said.
I went downstairs where Mom and Dad were watching TV. I approached them and sat down next to them.
“I need to ask you guys a favor,” I said.
“Sure. What is it?” Mom asked.
“There’s someone on the phone who wants to talk to you. I’ll put it on speaker,” I said.
I put the phone out after I put it on speaker.
“It’s me, Mathis again. We have an assignment for your son. I need your authorization first,” Mathis said.
“Absolutely not!” Mom replied. “Alex, I thought we talked about this.”
“Look, I know you don’t want me to go back. But I promise that if I complete this mission, I will never work for them again,” I replied.
“And what if you get killed?” Dad asked.
“I’ll be careful. Please? I promise I won’t ever go back there again,” I begged.
“This is your last mission. Understood?” Mom asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Thank you. I’ll see you at HQ, Alex,” Mathis said before he hung up.
When I got to the STR headquarters, Mathis showed me the ransom video that Mikhail sent in.
“Okay, this morning, we got this video from our dear friend, Mikhail,” he said as he played the video.
The video played on the big screen in the front of the room. It showed Mikhail in his Taliban attire in some kind bunker with other Taliban soldiers in the background. A single light lit up the room, and a brick wall stood behind Mikhail as he spoke.
“You invaded our land; murdered our men, women and children; forced the survivors to flee their homes into foreign lands where they will be hated; bombed our cities into rubble and dust and you call us terrorists! Now, starting today, you will pay for invading our land. You will witness the damage brought on by Operation Sanitation. Thousands of your troops are about to die. If you do not want this, then here are my demands. All US military forces will withdraw from the Middle East, now and forever, and will never return. However, if my demands are not met, or if anyone tries to stop me, Operation Sanitation will commence. You have forty-eight hours to respond.” The video stopped.
“What’s Operation Sanitation?” I asked.
“Unknown. We have his location in a nearby base that Mikhail has a few miles east of Dishu. You, Jack, and Harper along with several members from SEAL Team Six will go in and eliminate him. Also, find out what exactly Operation Sanitation is and stop it,” Mathis said.
“Mikhail could have bio-weapons in the area with skin nearly as strong as mine. I recommend that all troops have armor-piercing bullets to kill them,” I said.
“Agreed. Also, he has a computer that contains a lot of information on the Union and may contain the whereabouts on Jackson. That will be your secondary objective,” John said.
“How long do we have until Operation Sanitation commences?” Harper asked.
“Once your team arrives, you will have less than one hour to kill Mikhail and stop the operation before it commences. We will be giving each of you explosives to blow up whatever he is using. Alex, I’m putting you in command of this mission,” Mathis said.
“You think you can do it?” Jack asked.
I thought about it for a second. Then, I remembered about how I led my team at the decathlon, and I felt more confident.
“Yes,” I replied.
We completed the briefing and got prepped for the attack.
We arrived at the target location, and we quickly moved to the airfield. It felt hot and humid outside, almost like in Quetta.
“Looks like they’re about to take off,” Jack said as he looked through his binoculars.
“We’ve got to move now. Come on. Everyone get into position and wait for my command,” I said.
I moved north of the compound. Harper and two of the seals moved to the south area, while Jack and the last three seals moved to the west portion of the base. The compound had six hangars with three on opposite sides of each other. There were guards all over the compound, armed with assault rifles and light machine guns.
Once we got into position, I pulled out my rifle and aimed my grenade launcher at a tank truck. I fired the grenade launcher, blowing up the truck, and we began our attack. I gave the order and everyone moved in, shooting anyone who got in the way. I could see spurts of blood exploding from the soldiers as I shot.
I immediately planted the bomb inside of the plane. Jack and Harper also planted the bombs on the planes while being shot at from almost all directions. One of the seals got killed planting the last bomb.
I tried to make a break for it, but I was heavily gunned down by enemy forces. It was almost impossible to reach the last plane. As we detonated the bombs on the other three planes, the last plane took off.
I saw an anti-aircraft missile launcher nearby. I quickly ran, grabbed the launcher, and shot the last plane down. After it crashed, three bio-weapons emerged from the wreckage and attacked us.
All of them were the same as the one I fought in Quetta, with the same super strength and reinforced skin tissue. But, thanks to the fact we had armor-piercing rounds, we made short work of them.
After we secured the area, we proceeded into the base to eliminate Mikhail.
We entered the facility through the nearby hangar, proceeded inside, and fought off more soldiers. We came across a hallway, where we encountered heavy resistance from enemy forces, who set up a massive barricade preventing us from proceeding.
The others and I took cover as the soldiers fired at us almost nonstop. I saw an opportunity to sneak past their barricade and flank them. I had the others cover me as I snuck into the hallway next to their barricade. I encountered light resistance as I proceeded down, but I shot them. Once I reached their barricade, I sprayed my rifle into the soldiers, spraying debris, dust, and blood all over.
Once we secured the area, we proceeded to the door of the main computer room. The door was massive and was at least one foot thick of reinforced steel. Harper proceeded to a console nearby to open the door. She pulled out some hacking equipment and patched into the computer. After a few minutes of hacking into the system, she got the door open, but it opened slowly.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jack shouted.
The Omega Archives Page 17