“Good. Then I have a few more questions for you, before we send you back.”
Chapter 18: Sabotage
The General ended up asking specifics about how my ability worked. I decided to be somewhat honest with that part, explaining that it was the same ability that let me ‘perceive’ my environment without my eyes. Their computer had already predicted that I should be able to see, so I had to clarify that I couldn’t actually see details at all – which was only partially true. Instead, I lied and said I could just sense threats, which allowed me to have a general perception of my surroundings.
I also explained my range to an extent, although I didn’t give him the exact details. For example, I could sense both Trinity and Liz strongly even though I wasn’t trying. I wasn’t sure why I could sense Liz like I could Trinity, because she wasn’t a threat at all, but that’s why I had picked her up during dinner when she was still a few miles away. I was beginning to suspect there were other reasons why I could sense someone strongly, because Liz didn’t fit the normal pattern. When I first met her, I had barely sensed her even though I was less than twenty feet away. I could also faintly feel the other three as well without trying, but again I wasn’t sure why. It seemed like the more used I was to their presence, the more sensitive I became. Granted, that’s not what I told the General.
Instead, I informed him that I could sense were everyone was if I tried to focus in their direction. I did share that if I came within some’s range of attack that I typically sensed them more quickly, but otherwise I had to be trying – to be focusing and scanning. Which was half true. I also shared that super low threats were more difficult for me to sense. I could even pick up wild animals, but I had to really be focusing – and that was true.
I knew for a fact the General had suspected I knew Avery was in the room. However, the more I talked with him about my ability over the speaker, the more that suspicion seemed to wane. At the very least, it seemed like I was being honest, and the information they had from field data matched up with my explanation. They would never need to know, or be able to know, that I could fine tune my ability to the point of being able to recognize a person by the shape of their body.
Now the rest hinged on whether or not Avery would betray me, because she certainly knew I had been faking it. She knew her ability hadn’t worked. I hadn’t even responded the moment she had first used it, surprised that it felt like someone was gently tickling me.
Technically, I was betraying her by telling her I loved her still – I guess I did have feelings for her. How could I not? But I wouldn’t choose her over Trinity no more than I would choose Liz over Trinity, just like no one in their right mind would choose a supermodel over a goddess, unless they had some kind of inferiority complex, which I decisively did not. I didn’t care Trinity was stronger than me, or could sprint faster than me. If someone offered me a million dollars, I was going to take it, just like I’d take Trinity so long as she was willing to have me. And really, I had my own ways in which I was superior, such as my healing and durability.
Once the General was done with his interrogation, I was released and handed my soaking wet clothes. I didn’t bother changing into them though – no point really, since it was still raining outside. I just accepted them and then walked out in my dark gray boxer briefs.
It had been at least forty minutes, if not longer, since I had left the cafeteria, so I was surprised to find that everyone was still there, including Zayden. I guessed they must have all been waiting for the rain to let up. It’s not like there much to do back at the barracks. They didn’t supply a TV or other electronics. It was either lift-weights, run, play with a basketball or football, or else socialize.
When I arrived at the mess hall, they all looked at me in surprise when I walked in only wearing underwear. I tossed my clothes on the floor next to me and sat down as is. It’s not like they hadn’t already seen me naked anyway. Of course, everyone wanted to know what was up, so I gave them just enough details to convince them I wasn’t hiding anything.
“Well,” I began, “supposedly the General just wanted to know more about my sixth sense. Apparently, their computer wasn’t able to give them a good explanation of what I was doing in the field. However…” I paused, glancing at Trinity again. “I think that the real reason they brought me in was to determine if they had someone who could control me if needed.”
They all glanced at each other then, waiting for me to continue. I sighed. “They had a guy who seems to have some kind of gravity-manipulation ability. Codename Magnitude. It has very limited range, but is fairly powerful. It’s the same guy who I sensed yesterday, and if he had used it on me yesterday, then he probably would have broken all my bones.”
“Jeez,” Zane exclaimed. “That sounds like really bad news.”
I nodded. “The table and chair began to buckle underneath the pressure. They’re going to have to replace them now. They probably use him to restrain people if needed.”
Zayden finally spoke up. “So what was the result exactly? Could the guy restrain you?”
I stared at him for a moment, before answering slowly. “Yes.” I then immediately shook my head no. We were fairly confident they didn’t have microphones trying to record our every word – Ava occasionally checked out their surrounds in her shadow form every few days. However, this wasn’t something I wanted to chance. I needed the General to think he could control me if needed. And while I didn’t want to risk him finding out that wasn’t true, I also didn’t want to lie to Zayden or the others. I knew that if I started flat out lying to them then they wouldn’t trust me. And I needed them to trust me if I was ever going to get them to fight with me if needed.
Unfortunately, the rain didn’t show any signs of stopping, so after a while we all decided to make a dash for the barracks. We all needed to shower anyway after a long day of exercise. The rain might have been fun to play in if it were a lighter drizzle, but it was coming down way too hard for everyone except Liz – practically in buckets. The looks on everyone’s faces was priceless when they glanced back to see that Liz’s shield was keeping her dry. It hadn’t dawned on them that her shield could be used as an umbrella, nor had she mentioned it since she was deep in thought.
When everyone was getting ready for bed, we had a soldier come in and announce that tomorrow would be another mission day, although we would need to be up at four in the morning. He assured us it wasn’t a surprise drill and that we would be on an airplane most of the day, over seventeen hours. They were sending us to Indonesia for this mission.
After we arrived, we would get on a smaller airplane where we would parachute into the middle of a jungle. From there, we would then track down and take out the head branch of a syndicate that was becoming a problem for our own country. The Indonesian government had no idea they were housing a terrorist group, and our military didn’t plan on trying to convince them to take care of the problem. Thus, everything would be handled as discretely as possible. As far as anyone was concerned, we didn’t exist and a lot of money was being spent to make sure it stayed that way.
After the soldier left, Zane scoffed. “Jeez, they’re really working us to death this week.”
Zayden seemed annoyed by that remark. “I’d rather be out killing people than stuck here all the time.”
Their comments made me curious. “How often do you normally have missions?”
Trinity was the one to answer me. “It depends, but not usually three in a week. Granted, yesterday wasn’t actually a mission. But I’d say the average is about once a week at the most. There have been some months when we aren’t deployed at all. No one likes when that happens though, because someone gets extremely restless when that happens and becomes difficult to be around.” Trinity made sure to glare at Zayden as she said it, in case anyone wasn’t a hundred percent positive of who she was referring to. He just ignored her.
Liz finally spoke up. “But I don’t know how to parachute. I’ve never jumped out of a plane
before.”
Trinity shook her head. “I’ll make sure you’re attached to me, so you don’t have to do anything. They make harnesses for two people.”
That seemed to reassure Liz some, but she was still nervous about the jump. We would get a lot more information about the mission on the plane ride to Indonesia. For now, it was time to get some sleep. Once we did get there the next night, it would likely be a long one. No doubt they intended to have us attack the syndicate in the dark.
This time when I watched Trinity and Liz sleep, I tried to keep my mind clear of most thoughts. While I was glad I didn’t have the grief of killing Avery weighing on my mind anymore, I still hadn’t spent time processing the fact that I would never see my parents or friends again. I didn’t want to think about it only to snap again. I was sure Trinity wouldn’t be thrilled to find me waking her up with an emotionless expression. It unnerved her enough when she was awake, never mind being forced to rouse to such a sight.
As I focused on Trinity’s peaceful expression, the hours slipped away quickly like I was in a trace and losing track of time. I had briefly had the thought to check to see if Avery and that other ability user were still on the grounds, but when I searched for them it appeared they were gone. I knew for a fact they kept Avery at a different location, and normally those who needed punishment were brought to her rather than her coming here. Both Trinity and Liz had met her at a different facility.
Once it was time for everyone to wake up, we all got ready to leave. We didn’t really need to bring anything – supplies and equipment would be provided for us. Thus, we quickly found ourselves being shuttled off to a military airbase and flown off into sky.
The trip was really long as promised. I didn’t mind being cooped up in a plane all day, especially since I was able to sit next to Trinity the whole time, but by the end of it everyone else was restless. It had only taken a few hours to practically memorize the material for the mission, which meant there wasn’t much to do the rest of the time. We learned about everything from the enemy to the natives to the types of animals and insects we would encounter. It was like a short lesson in anthropology, zoology, and assassination.
I hadn’t thought about the time change when I had assumed we would be arriving at night time. When we got to Indonesia, it was nine in the morning instead of ten at night like I had assumed it would be. Nevertheless, the majority of the mission would take place at night. In fact, it was even possible that after we parachuted into the jungle, we might be there longer than a day. It just depended on how the mission played out. We were quickly debriefed after we landed, going over a lot of the same material with a heavier focus on the enemy. We were then sent off to sleep the rest of the day away in a large room with six beds – only four ended up occupied since Liz slept with Trinity again and I didn’t sleep.
They were all exhausted – something about being stuck in a plane all day seemed to have that effect, not to mention it was nighttime for their internal clocks. As usual, I felt fine. At one point, one of the soldiers guarding the doorway peeked his head in, surprised to see I was still awake leaning against the wall watching everyone sleep. He probably assumed we were taking shifts keeping watch, since we didn’t know anyone there, because when he checked on us a second time several hours later, he seemed genuinely shocked that I was in the exact same spot with the exact same level of alertness. I didn’t worry about it though. For all this guy knew, I had slept on the plane.
Zayden, Ava, and Zane all woke up before they had to, in that order, sitting up and quietly waiting for it to be time to go. I was surprised that Zayden woke up first, but then remembered that he was probably excited about all this. I knew Trinity would probably have woken up on her own too if she had been allowed to sleep another thirty minutes or so, but I finally woke her up when it was almost time.
None of them had eaten anything in over twenty-four hours at this point, with the exception of Liz. They were all used to the routine, but Liz certainly wasn’t. Trinity had gotten the military flight attendants to give her something on the plane when she started looking pale and weak – they had food stocked even though they weren’t offered anything other than fluids. Liz hadn’t complained once, but she certainly didn’t turn down the meal. She was so hungry she didn’t even apologize that she was the only one eating.
The soldiers guarding the door finally came in again, this time with familiar pouches of calorie-packed syrup for everyone. I gave mine to Zayden. They then led us to another room and went over all the equipment we were being supplied with. Everything was dark green this time, including the clothing we were given. There was one dark green backpack that was essentially a giant radio that could be used for communication with the base out in the deep jungle. We were also provided with six short-range radios for intergroup communication.
Another backpack had a week’s worth of those pouches, along with insect repellent in another section. It also had a set of six thin black thermal blankets that folded up to almost nothing. We were warned to be careful with how we used them, since we could overheat or suffocate if we tried to cover ourselves up entirely with them. They could also be used for other purposes, such as making a makeshift tent if needed. Granted, it’s not like any of us planned on staying in the jungle for longer than a day.
We were then provided with four smaller packs that stored water inside, each one only holding about two gallons to keep weight down. The jungle humidity made it difficult to stay hydrated, even though the temperatures weren’t that extreme at night. There was also a small metal tap connected to one that could be pounded into certain types of trees for water if we ran out. We weren’t given any weapons, other than one pistol for Zane, upon his request. We were also give two machetes in case we needed them to get through a thick area. Ava already had her knives. The only other pieces of equipment were four sets of compact night-vision goggles – technically we only needed three, but no one said anything. Plus, I realized Ava probably wouldn’t want to stay in her shadow form the whole time.
We carried the six bags onto the much smaller plane with us, only to have them stored in a netting that would be dropped with an automatic activation parachute. We would then have to seek out the supplies before we made our way through the thick jungle.
Once we were all situated with parachute rigs, with Liz connected to Trinity, the plane took off. The sun had finally set, so it was just now starting to transition to twilight.
As we neared our jumping sight, Liz was becoming progressively more nervous, so we tried to help her calm down. She was currently sitting in Trinity’s lap, so that they could just swing their legs over the edge and push off when it was time.
“What are you afraid of?” I finally asked when nothing we said seemed to be working.
She stared at me in disbelief. “Dying of course!”
“But wouldn’t your shield–“ I began, but I didn’t finish that statement. Liz immediately shook her head, but I didn’t need her confirmation to figure it out. I glanced at Trinity at the same time she glanced at me. Liz could die if she fell from this height without a parachute, because even if the shield stopped her a few feet sooner from hitting the ground, it wouldn’t make much difference.
Trinity tired to reassure her. “But look, you’re not doing it alone. You’re with me. Besides, these things have two parachutes in them just in case the first one fails. The reserve is a more reliable too.”
“It is?” Liz asked seriously, glancing back at Trinity
She nodded. “Yes, it really is. The first one is designed more for aerodynamics whereas the reserve is just designed to be as failproof as possible. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning than both parachutes failing.”
Liz took a deep breath. “Okay…it’s still scary though.”
I reached out and gently patted her on the head. “How about this? Trinity and I will jump together, and I’ll make sure she pulls out her parachute first. That way if something does happen then I’ll be abl
e to grab you both and use mine.” I had never jumped out of a plane either, but I didn’t feel nervous about it at all. Probably because if both my parachutes did fail, I’d probably survive slamming straight into the ground.
“Promise?” Liz asked quietly.
“Of course,” I said with a smile.
“Also,” Trinity continued. “You need to control yourself. This is mostly a stealth mission, which is why we’re doing this right before nightfall. So no screaming.”
Liz looked down somberly. “I’ll try.”
“Seriously Liz, you have to do more than try. It’s really important – no matter what, no screaming. Same when we are on the ground. We can’t afford to have our presence given away.”
Liz nodded quickly.
Once it was time to jump, Trinity and I went together first just like we had promised. As we pushed off at the same time, I quickly discovered that freefalling from this height was amazing. Suddenly there was nothing below me for several hundred feet. I almost wanted to neglect my parachute for the thrill of smashing into the ground, but then decided I was letting my near-invincibility get the best of me. Unfortunately, we were dropped so low that there wasn’t much time to enjoy the freefalling while I could. We had to deploy our parachutes fairly quickly, although I could sense everyone else had jumped already by the time we activated them.
Liz did really well. At least until Trinity’s first parachute shot out like a bunch of streamers – it had looked whole when inspected, but the second the wind caught it, the whole thing turned to shreds. Fear gripped me for the first time, because clearly that couldn’t be accidental. Her rig had been sabotaged.
Trinity quickly cut the first one by pulling a ring and activated the second one, which abruptly slowed them down for a millisecond, causing them to sore almost twenty feet above me, before it also tore and became useless. The moment I saw the second one split, I shot my blood out and pulled them back down to me. Liz wasn’t screaming, but it was obvious in her expression that she was staring death in the face…and was terrified.
Omega Squad Page 22