Humankind: Book 1 in the Invasion Day series

by LC Morgans

  In order to complete their primary training phase, following orders and maintaining discipline were two of the key principles. Showing skill in combat and surviving in the field were next, and then their tactical and intellectual skills came after. She knew she’d potentially skipped ahead by trying to be clever with her code-breaking skills now, and if that wasn’t the point of this exercise, then she was willing to show her understanding in the matter. Kyra wondered if the ambush was exactly what their chain of command wanted to happen. They were perhaps required to show how they tackled a rebel combat scenario, and it was no-doubt Silas’ job to get them there. She knew she was winding herself round in circles, and hoped he would speak up soon and save her from the inner turmoil she was having.

  “Two teams. Millan,” his voice pulled her from her thoughts and she snapped to attention. “You take four recruits east and meet us at the waterfall.” He showed her the point on their small map that indicated the falls, and she nodded. “If we aren’t already there, you wait until sunrise and then climb. Do not attempt to scale that mountain in the dark, is that understood?”

  “Yes, Sergeant,” she replied, and she could hear the shakiness to her voice. He trusted her to lead a small team away from the main group, and she couldn't begin to explain how amazing it felt to have her idea rewarded with a show of faith in her deciphering skills. Kyra chose the four recruits closest to her, the ones who had joined her first, and together they turned and walked into the forest. She didn’t dare look back, but heard the murmured voices of the rest of their platoon as they too gathered their things and headed north.

  After two hours of slow progress through the dense forest, their team came upon another small clearing. They secured the perimeter and took a drink of water, while remaining quiet and on guard for any sound of life around them in the trees. Kyra took a look at her map and located the small gap in the forest that she was sure must be where they’d stopped, and she knew it was time to head north again. She used her goggles to check for any sign of rebel activity, but found none, and after devouring an energy bar from her pack, she lead the others on through the trees.

  By dusk they were exhausted, and by midnight they were ready to sleep where they fell, but Kyra pushed her team onwards. It was too risky to sleep, at least until they reached the waterfall, and she knew there couldn't be much forest left for them to clamber through. The trees were already thinning out, and she could hear running water in the distance. Every muscle and bone in her body screamed for rest, but she engaged her brain and told her aching limbs to shut the hell up. There was only one goal, and that flag was it. Sleep and rest were for the following day when they'd retrieved their prize and passed the exercise.

  As if she’d willed it, moonlight hit Kyra’s face and her boots squelched into softened mud. The others then broke free of the woodland, and they too peered up into the simulated moon overhead. Sometimes she had to remind herself that the hot sun or howling winds weren’t real, and that they were nothing more than elaborate training grounds provided by the Thrakorian's. They’d been created to ensure their human soldiers were trained in all aspects of earthly warfare, regardless of where they were stationed, and it worked. Troops could then be sent to every corner of the world dependent on their division, and thanks to the intense training could survive and work on any terrain.

  Kyra checked her watch, and it was three-am. She wondered if the others were languishing by the cool waterfall already, laughing and joking with each other about their sub-team and her foolish plan. The sheer thought of being ridiculed for her idea made her stomach ache, but it also urged her onwards. She had to know for sure if she’d been right or wrong, but would hold her head high regardless, and knew Silas would be proud of her initiative.

  It wasn’t long before they found the waterfall, and the cool mist coming up from the pool was heaven on her sweat-covered brow. The team then scoured the area from top to bottom and found no sign of their platoon.

  “Do you think they were hit?” one of the other women recruits named Brona asked when they dropped their packs and took refuge by one of the alcoves.

  “Maybe they got here hours ago and went for the flag rather than wait for us?” Jett asked, fiddling with his pack to squeeze it into a pillow-shape.

  “Surely they would’ve left us a sign if so? And McD said to wait for sunrise before scaling the mountain,” Kyra answered quietly, feeling pensive, and the others murmured in agreement. “Let’s rest now, and at dawn we head for the flag. Follow orders, complete the exercise,” she added, telling herself as much as the others. Sleepy affirmations met her ears, and she settled down beside the others to take first watch. She held on as long as she needed to before rousing the next in line, and then stared down at water for a while before letting her lids fall closed.

  Chapter

  Five

  Just before dawn, Kyra woke from her light sleep, slid on her glasses, and quickly scanned the area around their small alcove. It was clear. There was still no sign of the rest of their platoon, and she began to wonder if their smaller team would have to go for the flag alone. She moved her aching body slowly, and climbed out of their huddle to stretch her legs and arms in the cool morning air. The water was rushing to the small pool beneath, and she loved the calming sound it made. It was kind of like white noise to her frenzied thoughts, and soothed her. Brona roused too, and she asked if it was clear. Kyra nodded.

  “I’m going to do a quick sweep. Come and find me if there’s any sign of them,” she told her, and Brona nodded before turning back into the shadows for a few more minutes of rest.

  Kyra grabbed her weapon and checked the waterfall and its surrounding area—still clear. There wasn’t any sign of McD or the others, and she knew that dawn was less than thirty minutes away. If she were going to climb that mountain with just four recruits for company, she would need to be fresh and alert, so she decided a wash in the cool water of the falls would do just the trick. She stood staring at the cascade, but it was coming down fast and hard. Kyra was sure it'd feel more painful than relaxing to stand beneath the heavy downpour, so she decided a splash of water to the face from the pool below would have to do. She grabbed a small pouch from her pack and threw one of the beans it contained into the water. After waiting the few required seconds, readings from the pool began to appear on the screen of the part she’d kept in her hand. The bean was a clever device designed to check the water for dangers such as temperature, acidity or poison, and animals that might pose a risk to anyone considering a swim. It came back as clear, and Kyra reached down to stroke the surface of the cool water with her hand.

  “You can take a dip if you’d like? I’ll keep watch,” Brona’s soft voice called from the direction of the alcove, and she climbed out of the shadows. She’d clearly thought better of having any more sleep, and Kyra was glad. The thought of getting a cool soak was so inviting she couldn't bear refusing the offer. She beckoned her over and Brona quickly followed her lead. When she was standing beside her, she followed Kyra’s gaze out and away from the pool towards the forest.

  “Stay here and watch, if they come from the woods you’ll see them as they breach the tree line. Shout me as soon as you see anything,” she instructed her, and her comrade nodded in understanding. Brona crouched and rested against one of the boulders so she could watch the area to the south, weapon poised and ready, and Kyra quickly stripped down to her underwear. She left her combats folded in a neat pile above her boots, but left her weapon right beside the waters edge in case it was needed.

  After one last peek around, she stepped forward into the water. It felt freezing on her sweaty skin, but was also a welcome relief from the heat and grime from the day and night before. The trek through the forest had given her scrapes that stung with the freshness of the water, and her sore feet throbbed, but slowly eased as she took the weight off them and lay back in the pool. She peered up at the mountain of rock they still had to scale, and saw that the morning sun had now hit its pea
k. It was almost time to get ready to move.

  Kyra rubbed the skin on her arms, legs, torso, and back with her hands to clean as much of her dirt away as possible without the use of soap or towels. She rinsed her hair a few times and then swam back to the edge, where she stepped up and began twisting her waist-length, dark brown hair around itself to squeeze the water out. The warm air was drying her skin nicely, and she begrudged climbing back into her dirty uniform so stayed away from the small pile as long as possible.

  “They’re here!” Brona’s voice called from her spot as lookout, and Kyra quickly poked her head above the rocks to take a look for herself. Her friend was correct. Of the ten recruits McD had taken north, only six followed behind him. One of them, Jonas, was on a crudely made stretcher being carried by the others, and Kyra wondered if he’d been injured for real or as part of the role-play. Those who were fatally wounded were expected to play dead and would’ve stayed behind with the other soldiers who’d played the rebels, while those with serious injuries had to also carry on in the role of casualty. She hoped it was the latter in Jonas’ case, but was happy to see them regardless. “Hadn't you better get dressed?” Brona then asked with a surprised expression. Kyra looked down at herself and realized she was right. She wasn’t shy about her body, but knew this was not the time or place to be sauntering around half naked. She hurried back to her pile of clothes and was hopping on one foot, trying to push the other damp one into the leg of her combat trousers, when Silas rounded the boulder and stopped dead.

  “Nice to see you had time for a swim,” he told her with clearly forced seriousness. His eyes roved over her skin and she felt herself prickle with heat under his gaze. It was then that she realized he’d never seen her with so few clothes on before, and she felt her cheeks burn. The incident with the wet pajamas was a blur now that her fever had passed, and this time she was more than conscious of what she was showing off. She also noticed when he stopped to peer questioningly at the scars on her arms and torso. He’d only ever seen the ones on her hands and face, and he was clearly wondering about them.

  Kyra hadn’t told him the story of the rosebush and its thorns that’d ‘kissed her’ the day King Kronus had come to Earth with his troops, and knew he would have his questions about her scars. Now was not the time for that talk, though.

  “Just a much needed rinse after our long trek. How did your team get on?” she asked as she buckled her belt and grabbed her shirt.

  “You were right, Recruit. We hit a rebel camp and lost three soldiers. One was taken hostage, and the rest of us got away. Jonas was injured, broken ankle I believe.” He seemed annoyed that one of his men had been hurt, and Kyra guessed he blamed himself in some way.

  “So, it’s a real injury then? Not a yellow dart?” Silas nodded and frowned, but his scowl did nothing to hide the fact he was still staring at her. He watched her every move as though he’d missed her and was reacquainting himself with her again, and she enjoyed having his eyes on her. Kyra felt like the sexiest woman alive, despite the fact she was giving him the opposite of a striptease. The air buzzed between them as she buttoned her shirt, and his eyes lingered on her cleavage before she hid it away with the uniform he was so used to seeing her in. When her hands dipped beneath the waistband of her trousers she was sure his breath hitched, and Silas seemed mesmerized by the so innocent act of watching her tucking in her shirt. “My eyes are up here,” she joked, sliding her glasses into place, and he gave her one last grin before shaking off his momentary lapse of Commander persona.

  “We’re going to leave the others here and take only the strongest up the mountain. All we need is for one of us to retrieve the flag, and then we can come back down for the others and head back to the door. I’ll instruct the others to make Jonas a splint and crutch for the trek back, and we’ll go your way.”

  “Yes, sir,” was all Kyra said in response to his order, but she couldn't hide the small smile she had at knowing she’d been right. Silas had known he was taking the others into an ambush, of course he did, but he’d still made the choice to let some of them take the alternative route, and it’d paid off. Kyra’s team were rested, fed, and hadn’t endured both a fight and a long trek with a wounded comrade. They were ready to scale that mountain, and she hoped she might even be the one with her hands around that flagpole atop it.

  It wasn’t long before Kyra and her team was scaling the rock face with Silas. Jonas had apologized profusely for doubting her, but there was nothing to be done other than for him to be ready to head back once they returned with their prize. The others seemed grateful for the respite, and cheered the small team when they started hiking up the trail towards the summit.

  Kyra climbed, trekked and even had to jump over the rocky terrain, and free-climb up sheer faces of the mountain in order to scale it, but she didn’t complain once. Her hands were bleeding from climbing, and her muscles screamed in outrage when she’d forced them to move her body upwards using numerous static movements to ensure she didn’t fall, but she refused to stop even once. There were no ropes securing them, just their strength and will to succeed, and by mid-afternoon she was stood staring down at the flag emblazoned with a huge L against the army’s incredible emblem. Every part of her wanted to reach out and be the one to grab it, but she forced herself to wait. The team, their platoon—that came first this time, and Kyra finally felt like she understood the solidarity they shared. Silas, Brona, Jett, and their other sub-team members, Liza and Andy weren’t far behind her, and then together they reached out and lifted the flag from its hold. Each of them beamed, pleased with themselves and each other in a way no one could ever take away from them, and even Silas grinned from ear to ear as he roared with happiness at having achieved their goal. The small group followed his example, and each of them let out battle cries that they knew would be heard from their platoon below.

  The climb down took half as long as the ascent, but this time it was with a light and happy sense of pride. They’d done it, and in good time too, so were keen to get back and find out how well they'd placed overall. When the small group reached the waterfall, shouts of praise and happy faces greeted them, and Silas passed the flag to Kyra so she could be the one to show the others. She beamed, and accepted hugs from her comrades when she joined them, before letting the flag go to be passed around. There was still the hike back to get through, but for now the biggest hurdle had been conquered, and even Silas stood back and let them enjoy the moment.

  “Last one in stinks of McD’s sweaty undies!” Jett bellowed as he ran past Kyra and the others, stripping as he went, and dove straight into the pool beneath the falls. Laughter ensued, and each of the recruits stripped down in record speed so as not to endure the torture of being called names by the others on the route back to base. Her discarded mess of clothes resembled nothing of the neat pile she’d left that morning during her swim, but Kyra didn’t care. The only thing she was careful to discard were her glasses, and then she jumped into the blissfully cool water below with the others. Brona was too busy trying to find somewhere to put the flag, and was unfortunately last to jump in, so was teased from the instant her head broke the surface.

  “No! Technically Jonas is the loser,” she tried in vain to save herself the torment, but it was no good, and she eventually accepted her taunts with a smile. The group swam, splashed, laughed and fought, and all the while Silas stood and watched from the edge with a smirk.

  Kyra was up on Jett’s shoulders having a wrestling match with Brona when his voice finally rang out from above them.

  “You have five minutes and then we’re off,” he called, and was met with groans from the group. “But you can’t go anywhere without your clothes…” They all looked up to find their Commander stood with a wicked grin on his face and a pile of clothes in his arms. “And you say my undies stink,” he added with a grimace, before walking away and out of sight. The platoon cried out in unison for him to bring back their clothes, and after a few excruciating seconds, Sila
s returned but was empty handed. He took a seat next to Jonas overlooking the pool.

  Kyra and the others watched as he chatted with his fellow spectator for a few minutes, and they seemed to agree on the terms of their game. “You can have your clothes back, but only if you answer a question correctly,” he called, and the group collectively moved closer to the bank. As eager as they were to stay in the water, they were also very aware that they were still being timed, and therefore needed to get back to the start of their exercise sooner rather than later. Silas shot questions at each of the recruits in turn in a quick-fire test of their skills, and those that answered correctly were told to get out of the water and retrieve their clothes. She didn’t know if he’d done it on purpose, but Kyra ended up being the last one out of the water. The others were all getting dressed over the ridge, talking so loudly it was hard to hear anything over the din, and Jonas had been helped up and was starting off towards the forest. She liked knowing they had a stolen moment amidst the chaos, and let herself enjoy his gaze now that they were effectively alone.

  Silas stepped down onto one of the rocks by the water’s edge. His gaze burned her skin with its intensity again, and Kyra yearned to kiss or touch him, but didn’t dare. She simply stepped within reaching distance and peered up at him through her soaked lashes.

  “What’s my question?” she asked, her voice quiet and haughty.

  “Where are you going for summer break?” Silas asked, and every molecule of her body screamed in excitement. Was this his way of asking her to spend it with him? She sure hoped so.

  “I don’t know,” she answered. “Our credits are allocated so we can go home, but I don’t have a home to go to. I was thinking of staying here.”

  “You can’t stay, they use the time to prep for secondary phase and the new intake. Why don’t you use the credits to go somewhere else?” His lip curled into a half-smile. “Somewhere like Hawaii?”