For the first game, they had to rescue wounded squad members in a Syrian town near the epicenter of the country’s civil war. It was all virtual but seemed very real to those participating, as they got wrapped up in the emergency situation.
The team quickly devised a plan. Kala drove the jeep in to scout the mission. Pace followed with the ambulance truck. Kala’s skills behind the wheel made for a swift entrance. Rane and Devon were with her and quickly scouted the scene. When Pace arrived with the others and the ambulance the team split quickly to accomplish their tasks. Sanji translated some enemy documents to help locate a group of the soldiers. Jadyn and Jaya scaled into a building to let Devon in to access and diffuse the enemy's weapon protection system. Shanta and Pace went to the main building where the most injured lay. They first did triage for the injuries and then started bringing the troops back. Rane and Zander stayed at central communications, Rane to guide everyone, Zander armed and ready to protect against enemy fire. Both also helped load the ambulance. Calice and Kala went after a few stray soldiers trapped across a small pond. Calice swam to them, attached a rope to the small raft they were trapped on, and Kala pulled them across.
As they collected the troops and almost had them all loaded, they suddenly came under enemy fire. Zander and Sanji, who were bringing up the rear, told the others to go. They would hold off the enemy and follow with Kala in the jeep. Zander looked at Sanji and said, “Create a diversion so I can get to the artillery on that hill. Sanji, without hesitation, ripped his trendy shirt off from under his protective vest and tied it around a rock. He pulled a strand of material loose and lit it on fire as he threw the rock towards the enemy fire. The shirt burst into flames. The enemy, unsure of what kind of burning bomb was flying their way, hesitated long enough to allow Zander to reach the artillery and start firing.
The others finished loading the ambulance and were off. As the ambulance pulled away, Rane caught Devon’s eye and suddenly both broke into laughter.
“Did we just get saved by Sanji’s favorite designer shirt?” asked Rane.
Devon, shaking his head with a mischievous grin, “We did. I never thought I’d be so happy Sanji loves flashy, tight polyester!”
Everyone burst out laughing. Any tension from the close call completely melted away. They all enjoyed the rest of the day, thanks to Sanji’s ingenious and ridiculous save.
Zander, Sanji and Kala peeled in shortly after the ambulance arrived, thanks to Kala’s racy road handling skills. The others greeted them eagerly, with lots of discussion about how they should give Sanji the “shirt saving medal.”
As they completed the mission, Blake clicked the timer and then stared at the reading. “Wow, I’ve never seen a group come even close to that fast. These children are like a well-oiled machine,” Blake said in his slow, southern gentlemanly manner.
“Yah,” responded Drew, “Let’s see if we can’t turn up the heat a bit on these puzzles.”
“Will do, sir,” replied Blake.
Keece showed up later in the day, after finishing up an urgent work project, a new VR exercise release.
“How’s it going?” she asked eagerly.
Drew looked pleased, “So far, they’ve aced everything, and had a pretty good time doing it.”
“Well that’s good.” Keece was relieved to hear they were enjoying the activity. It had been presented to them as a fun day of games, but she knew one of Drew’s goals was to see how the children responded in stressful situations.
It sounds like they are responding well under stress,” she continued.
Drew, clearly a little frustrated and amused at the same time, “To say they have responded well, might be an understatement. I’ll let them fill you in on some of the details, but let’s just say that even when we threw in a surprise attack, they handled it very well and even managed to end up in hysterics at the end!”
Keece was perplexed and amused, “Oh, I can’t wait to hear that story.”
Blake’s ear to ear grin reinforced the fact that this was a good one.
Drew continued, “Yes, the plan to stress them under pressure hasn’t really worked as planned. To their credit, they have worked incredibly well together. But we do have one more trick up our sleeve.”
“Sounds like I got here just in time for the real action,” she said.
Drew smiled, shaking his head slightly, “We shall see.”
The children prepared to start the next mission, where they had to helicopter in to save a crew on a sinking vessel in rough seas. Two important objectives; they had to deactivate several weapons and extract valuable computer files and logs from the ship to complete the mission.
They huddled over the intel, Rane and Devon began parsing the tasks. Pace and Kala had to get everyone in and off the ship safely. Zander, Jadyn & Jaya would take care of deactivating the weapons. Shanta and Calice were on rescue duty. They had to find anyone still on board, help get them stabilized if injured, and then off the ship. Sanji and Devon were to find and decrypt computer files and logs. Rane was central command and backup.
Keece was impressed with how quickly they disseminated the tasks and each group started executing their tasks.
A few minutes later, Kala interrupted everyone loudly, “Guys, we have an issue.”
Rane stepped over to try to help out while the others continued. After a quick review of the problem, Rane announced, “All hands on deck. We need help with this one.”
Everyone’s attention was quickly focused on the issue. Rane continued, “We have a way onto the ship, but no way off. The helicopter can drop us off via rope, but it can’t land anywhere nearby after that for extraction. Any other potential solutions?”
There was a moment of silence, then they started to brainstorm. Any lifeboats on the ship, or other boats nearby? Could they swim anywhere? They went through a laundry list of options. As they discussed them, each had its challenges. None seemed like a workable solution.
You could see the team was getting frustrated. Devon and Pace were heating up in their discussion.
“There must be a way to land the helicopter,” Devon said with a raised voice.
“Devon, I’m telling you, with the seas this rough, that is not an option. There is no way the military would take that risk with the helicopter and the lives piloting it,” retorted Pace angrily.
Rane stepped in, “Okay guys, getting frustrated isn’t going to help. Let’s all take a deep breath and chill. And then see if we can’t find the solution.”
After a slight pause, Zander chimed in, “What if that’s it? What if there is no solution for us to find?”
Rane looked at Zander questioningly and he continued, “We’ve aced every test so far, right? What if this time there is no solution for us to find? What if we have to create one? If I were El Capitan (their nickname for Drew) I’d do that. How else can he really test us?”
Devon, his brows knitted together, said, “I think you’re onto something. The perfect last test, one with no solution.”
Keece looked over at Drew and Blake and saw them both smirking.
“Called you on that one, didn’t he?” Blake teased Drew
Drew answered, “Leave it to Zander to think like the game maker.” They all laughed.
Rane jumped in. “I agree. Let’s figure out our own solution. What on the ship floats?”
Kala answered, “Life vests?”
“Yes, they have some in the helicopter we can grab on the way in to add to whatever we find on the boat.” Pace said.
They continued to brainstorm. Jadyn, Jaya and Zander were to look for anything on the ship that could potentially propel them. The rest would scrap together materials to create a raft of sorts.
They started their mission, collecting any kind of ropes, cushions and life vests they could find in the helicopter, then rappelling one-by-one while Pace held the chopper steady. Pace had to leave them at this stage, but he would fly back and try to find any kind of boat that could meet the raft par
t way.
The rest set about their tasks. Fortunately, there were only five injured Navy men to rescue, and a few additional bodies to try to get ashore. Calice and Shanta brought them to the main deck, the agreed upon rendezvous place. Shanta did her best to administer treatment to stabilize any serious injuries.
Jadyn spotted a lifeboat pretty far underwater on the sunken part of the ship.
“Calice! Do you think you could swim to that?”
Calice answered with a surprisingly steady voice for an eleven-year-old, “I can get there, but what will it take to get it loose?”
Zander looked up lifeboat use directions for this ship and went over them with her. One of the injured soldiers said there were wetsuits in one of the rooms still accessible. Zander rushed off to grab them.
“Bonus, there are some underwater diver propeller units we can use to help propel the boat,” said Zander as he returned.
Rane was with them now, “Awesome! Good find Zander!”
Rane looked at the lifeboat and the directions. “Calice, you swim down with a rope, then we can haul you back if there is trouble, but Jadyn and Jaya can also follow. They may need to get in the lifeboat to get to the release.”
The three of them easily slipped into the wetsuits, all too big for their small frames. Masks, fins, and then a rope tied to Calice. Then they were off. Calice was leading the way, the others slower, but not too far behind. They had to move quickly to release the boat. They had not found any oxygen tanks, so they were all holding their breath.
Calice tied the rope to the lifeboat, then worked the cover open. Jadyn and Jaya had to get to the other side, the deeper side to get to the release. They struggled in, but they were running short of breath in the rough seas. Jadyn sent Jaya back up. He was struggling with one last release when Calice tapped him to go up. He swiftly followed the rope back up. He knew he could come back if needed once he caught his breath. Calice grabbed the release and gave it all her might and it slipped free. She turned and yanked on the rope to tell the others to start pulling it up. She quickly swam up for air.
The lifeboat bobbed to the surface as Rane and Devon hauled Calice aboard.
“Nice work, girl!” Rane gave Calice an affectionate hug.
The weapons had been neutralized, the shipmen rescued, and the files and ship logs recovered. They all piled into the lifeboat. Devon and Zander tied themselves to the boat and then held on to the underwater diver propellers in the front. They headed for shore. Halfway there, Pace met them in a small speedboat. They connected the boats and were quickly on their way to shore. Mission accomplished.
Blake looked at Drew, “Where did you find these kids? And how soon can we recruit them for the military?”
Drew laughed, “It doesn’t sound like you’re giving proper credit to my genius training techniques.”
Blake rolled his eyes, “You know I love you, El Capitan.” He rolled the name used by the children off his tongue, sarcastically, “But I don’t think even you can take all the credit.”
“Pshaw!” replied Drew, pretending to be offended. “These really are just some kids who were hand-selected by Keece here to go through our training. And remember, not a word about this to anyone.”
Blake nodded, clearly a little suspicious of Drew’s answer, “Yes, sir. Mum’s the word.”
“Thanks Blake,” Drew replied.
Drew then turned to Keece, “Well now that they’ve passed the stress test, I guess it’s back to the usual tutoring. Let’s at least give them Monday off.”
“Rane might need a little more time off than that. Her coach has decided her team should try out for the Junior World Cup,” Keece said, waiting for what this meant to sink in.
Drew gave her a skeptical look. “You mean her team,” he put a heavy emphasis on the word “her,” “is going to compete for the Men’s Junior World Cup,” this time with a heavy emphasis on “Men’s.”
“Yup!” Keece replied with a chagrined look.
“Oh boy,” Drew whistled under his breath.
“Exactly,” was Keece’s response.
Drew questioned, “Can they do that?”
“Raney’s coach has been petitioning the organization for months, arguing that the tournament should be based on merit. If the team loses, they will be out, but if they keep winning, they should be allowed to compete,” Keece looked like she had put a lot of thought into this argument. “He’s got a point.”
Drew agreed, “Yes, but it will put her at the center of quite a controversy.”
“Yes, it will.” responded Keece with a heavy sigh. She was clearly aware of the potential maelstrom ahead.
Chapter 12
Pele found an opportunity to get into Mariana’s office a couple of weeks later. One of the newer members of the squadron was sick and Pele volunteered to help him out by taking his cleaning duties for the day. It so happened that cleaning Mariana’s and the General’s office were part of his duty. The cleaning was always done after hours so as not to disturb the General or his assistant during work hours.
Pele stepped into her office as Mariana was finishing up for the day.
“Oh sorry, ma’am, I can come back when you’re done,” he said politely, with his best charming smile.
“Oh no,” she replied. “You’re the perfect excuse to call it a day.” She swiftly collected her things and left the office.
Pele jumped on her computer as soon as the door swung shut, hoping to get on before the computer’s security timed out, and he would need her password. It worked and he was in. He quickly pulled up her email, praying she did not return.
He could not find anything in her sent file, but in her trash was the evidence he was seeking. Jaber was definitely sending the Robustor suit and other weapons plans to an outside email. Pele could not tell who Jaber was sending the information to, but he suspected someone within ISEX. Pele recorded the email address and slipped it into his pocket. Why would Jaber delete the messages from her sent box, but not empty her trash, he wondered? Then it occurred to him, Jaber probably figured she was not likely to check her trash often, and it might look suspicious if her trash was always empty. Also, if the emails were ever tracked, it would incriminate her and possibly the General, not Jaber.
Pele closed her computer, having found the evidence he needed. Right after it clicked shut, the door to Mariana’s office opened. Pele reached for the trash bin under her desk. As he looked up, she popped back in, “Sorry, I forgot something.”
Pele breathed a sigh of relief, “No problem ma’am.”
He continued his cleaning task, as she whisked back out of the office.
Later, back in his own room, Pele contemplated how best to expose Jaber. He had long ago learned to be very careful about questioning him. Every time he made any kind of inquiry to Jaber, especially about why his sentence was so long or why he never heard from his family or friends – he thought at least his mother would respond – within a day or two Jaber would give him some brutal assignment or find an excuse for some form of punishment, like another stint in solitary confinement.
Pele would never forget the time he’d asked Jaber about his sentence in front of Jaber’s commanding officer. Pele had been so frustrated for so many years of not getting a straight answer on his sentence he thought asking in front of Jaber’s commander might help. Unfortunately, that was not the response he got. That night, Pele was suspiciously jumped and beat up on the way to his barracks. He barely made it back to his bed alive. The next day he was blamed by Jaber for starting the “fight” and sent to solitary confinement for ten days. To say Pele hated the man was an understatement. He was only too happy to find a reason to turn Jaber in, but he knew if his case was not airtight, he ran the risk of Jaber’s wrath.
A couple of days later, Pele was sitting in the Cantina watching the news with some of the men in his unit. There was an interview on the news that seemed to catch everyone’s attention. Pele looked at the screen and realized his daughter, Rane, was be
ing interviewed. He stared, astonished. He hadn’t seen her for over eight years, but he was sure it was her. She still wore her signature thin rainbow braid on the right side of her hair. He swelled with pride. She had grown into a lovely young woman, beautiful in a down-to-earth, natural way. He listened intently to the interview.
Rane was being interviewed because her soccer team had qualified for the Men’s Junior World Championships tournament. They were one of sixteen teams to qualify from all over the world. She was the only female playing in the tournament. Apparently, she had been playing in all-boys leagues for years because she was such a talented player. However, many of the teams, especially from countries outside the US, were protesting her participation. They did not feel a woman should be allowed into a men’s league. Countries with cultures where women were veiled and subservient were especially offended.
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