Sakira

by Robert blanton

  “You guys nervous?”

  “Maybe, but it works out better this way. Now the deal is we’ve all chipped in five hundred apiece to be on this team. Each one of you is worth a five-hundred-dollar bounty.”

  “What’s the other five hundred for?” Kal asked.

  “Party for the winning team. Losing team cleans up.”

  “What if you don’t get any of us?”

  “Then you guys are having a really big party.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Not really. Each of us has a unique paint color, so we know who gets the bounty. You guys are blue like last time. We’re still setting up,” Aaron said. “Match starts in fifteen minutes.”

  “Good by us,” Liz said as she gave Aaron a cold stare. “We like to eat at expensive restaurants.”

  With that, Aaron turned and headed into the arena.

  “What do you think they’re up to?” Liz asked Kal.

  “I don’t think they’re setting up,” Kal said. “I think he wants us to be thinking barricade.”

  “Makes sense, so what do you think?”

  “What would you do?”

  “Not sure.”

  “I would stay mobile,” Blake said. “I think they’ll try to get us from both sides.”

  “That’s my thinking. They’ll do something to engage us on one side, and have half the team attack us from the rear. Like when we’re busting into a room or clearing a new hallway.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “Watch our backs,” Kal said as he pulled a surveillance puck from his pocket. “We can stick these on the ceilings. If we center them in the junction, they can cover both hallways.”

  “It's time, you guys ready?” Kal asked.

  “Born ready,” Liz said. “Oorah!”

  Everyone else gave an Oorah, and they entered the arena.

  “Okay. Blake, go right; let’s get the right intersection covered.”

  Blake leap-frogged into the hall after Marc and Liz declared it clear. He slid the puck they’d tossed in, to the left, past the doorway. Then he headed right toward the end of the hallway.

  “Rear guard, stay alert,” Kal called out as he took up his rear-guard position. He and Catie walked backward down the hallway until they caught up with the team. Blake was waiting to start clearing the hall. When they arrived, he slid a puck into the hall. His heads-up display showed everything was clear.

  “Clear.”

  “Okay, Cat, you and Marc are up.”

  Catie pulled a puck from her vest and held it over her head. Marc grabbed her around the waist, and with a little hop from Catie, lifted her up so she could attach the puck to the ceiling.

  “Okay, now back to the left, we’ll proceed as usual. Cat, you watch with your HUD, I’ll use my eyes.”

  “Roger.”

  Once the team had backtracked to the entry and then to the next junction, Kal called for a stop.

  “I think the action is going to happen in this hallway. It’s going to have to be something that makes noise so it will alert the enemy. So, watch for tripwires and anything else. If the hallway is clear, we go to the end and put a puck at the junction, then come back and clear the rooms.”

  “What if someone is hiding in the room waiting for us to do that?” Liz asked.

  Kal pulled something from his vest. It was L-shaped with an elliptical metal shape on the end. “Door jammer,” Kal said. “Won’t stop them, but it’ll slow them down and cause a lot of noise.”

  “Good.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Blake slid the puck into the hallway. It was clear, so Marc and Liz entered and took up left and right positions. Blake assumed point as Catie and Kal backed into the hall.

  “Okay, Cat, you’re up again.”

  Catie and Marc repeated their puck-planting process, and everyone moved on down the hall. They stopped at each doorway as Kal used one of his jammers to lock the door. To use the jammer, he slipped it under the door then used his foot to force the handle around. The edges of the ellipse were rough, so it grabbed on the floor and the door, jamming it tight. They repeated the process on the other two doors in the hallway, and then checked the next junction. It was clear so they planted another puck and went back to the first door.

  Blake stopped in front of the door and reached for the handle. Kal touched his arm to hold him up.

  “What do you want to bet there’s nobody in there?” Kal said.

  “That makes sense, so not taking that bet,” Blake said.

  “Right,” Kal said. “So, let’s make a little noise like we’re’ going to breach this room. Try the handle nice and hard, then give it thirty, then put your shoulder into it. Cat, we still clear?”

  Catie had the display from all three pucks up on her HUD, showing four separate views of the hallways. “We’re still clear.”

  “Go.”

  Blake twisted the handle to the door; it moved a little then jammed. “Locked.”

  “Still not taking the bet,” Kal said.

  Blake continued counting down from thirty. He’d just reached fifteen when Catie called out “incoming, from behind. Three. They’re in the side hall, just reaching the main hall now.”

  “Good. Marc, Liz, you take them. Marc, on the right, Liz, on the left, Blake, you get down and cover the middle. Cat, you and I have to cover the rear. Lean up against the wall to minimize your exposure. Yell out if someone comes into that hallway.”

  “Got it.”

  Thirty seconds later, the enemy made the corner. Catie counted down until they hit the turn. Liz took out the first one to uncover, then Marc got the next guy. Liz shot the third just as he realized he was going the wrong way.

  “Three down.”

  “They’re behind the second door,” Catie said. “I heard them try to open it.”

  “What do you want to do now?” Blake asked.

  “Let’s clear the other two rooms. No sense taking any chances that they split up more.”

  “Okay, same process as usual?”

  “Of course.”

  The team went back to the first room. Marc and Liz took up positions on each side of the door, and Catie and Kal each covered one direction. Kal took the direction back toward the second room.

  “Cat, we clear?”

  “Clear.”

  “Blake, go.”

  Blake kicked the door in, and Marc slid a puck into the room. Looks clear, Blake called out as he checked the room out on his HUD. Marc and Liz covered the sides, and Blake, who’d rolled over behind Marc, jumped into the room. “Nobody home.”

  “Okay, the third room now,” Kal said.

  It only took them another minute to clear the third room, then they gathered in front of the second door.

  “Okay, so we’re pretty sure our last three bogies are hiding in there,” Kal said. “By now they’re going to be pissed off, and they probably know we already took out half their team.”

  “So how about we go get some doors,” Blake said.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “We build a kill box around the door. Force it open and jam it so it can’t close. Then we shoot ‘em. Got any tape?”

  “You know it.”

  Marc, Blake, and Kal went around the corner and removed one door, after making sure the room was clear. Then they removed the other two doors in their hallway and brought them back. During this time, Catie and Liz stood guard at the door, listening for any activity inside.

  “Okay, we’ve got the doors, now what do we do with them?” Kal asked.

  “When I kick the door in, someone is going to push this one in so the door can’t close. Use your door jammer to lock it into place. Put it at about a twenty-degree angle away from the opening; same thing on the other side, except we can lock it in right away. Then Marc yanks me back beyond the doors, and we drop the third one between them,” Blake explained. “Then we control the access, and we start picking them off.”

  “What stops them from nailing y
ou after you kick the door?” Liz asked.

  “Marc needs to pull me out fast.”

  “I don’t like that,” Marc said.

  “Other options?”

  “Why don’t we lay the third door on top of him?” Catie suggested.

  “How do I kick the door out, then?”

  “We need to have it set on a fulcrum,” Marc said. “What can we make one out of?”

  Catie pulled out one of her paintball guppies and handed it to her father. “These?”

  “We have plenty of them,” Marc said. Each team member had a 6X harness of guppies for paintball refills. “I can make a three-by-two stack, so they’re kind of stable. But it will still be a little unstable.”

  “The pucks will stick on either side,” Catie said as she pulled one out. She stuck it onto a guppy and then stuck it on the floor. She pushed it, and it held the guppy straight. Squeezing the side, she got it to release and handed it to her father.

  “Perfect. How did you know they did that?”

  “Too much time on my hands,” Catie said with a shrug.

  Marc quickly assembled four stacks of guppies. Each was about 22 inches tall. He placed two them about two feet from the door on each side, then the other two about six feet back. Then he and Blake laid the door on top of them like a table

  Blake lay down underneath the door and brought his knees up. They bumped the door before he got them all the way up. He pushed the door up with his hands and brought his knees all the way up. “I can just let it rest on my knees. When I kick, it’ll drop down and stop on the guppies so it won’t nail me in the shins.”

  “Good, then I’ll pull you back,” Marc said. “Cat, tell me when his feet are clear of the end of the door, so we can drop it down.”

  “There,” Catie called out when Blake’s feet passed the end of the door. His head was just below the top of the door. “Okay, Blake, when you see the top of the door, you push it up. I’ll let you go so you can sit up, and then I’ll keep it going until it’s against the other two doors.”

  “Easy peasy,” Liz said.

  “Then we toss a puck in and figure out where everyone is,” Kal said. “I expect them to be along the front wall, so there isn’t a line of fire to them from the hallway. But that means they won’t have a line of fire on Blake, either.”

  “Alright, let’s get this thing done,” Marc said.

  They locked the left door into position. Catie put a puck on it right at the end at the top of the doorway. Then they placed the right-hand door into position with the door jammer under it to lock it in place once they kicked the door in, and Liz slid it into the room some. Blake lay down under the door table and got his knees into position.

  “Okay, this needs to go like clockwork,” Kal said. “After Blake kicks the door in, Liz, you push this door into position, I’ll lock it into place since I’ve got the weight. Cat, you’re on the left side looking over the top of the table door, you’ll need to shoot right-handed.”

  “No problem.”

  “As soon as the door gets kicked, you start laying in cover fire. Pull back when you feel the table door raising up, so you don’t lose your weapon,” Kal said. “Anyone not ready, give us a heads-up now … Okay, Blake, you’re on.”

  “On three; one, two, three.”

  Blake kicked the door. As soon as Marc heard Blake’s feet impact the door, he yanked him by his harness, falling down as he pulled Blake back into the hallway. It was only a second, and Blake was pushing the door up.

  “Got one,” Catie called out.

  Marc was lying on his back when Blake sat up into a crunch position. He used his feet to push Blake up. Blake pushed the door up with him, and their box was closed. Liz and Kal had the right-hand door jammed into place.

  “Good job, everyone,” Kal called out.

  “I’m out,” the woman in the room called out.

  “Told you I got one,” Catie said.

  “Hey guys, let me through,” the woman said again.

  “Not going to happen unless your friends want to surrender.”

  “Hey, I need to pee.”

  “Sorry about that, you’ll need to hold it for about ten or fifteen more minutes while we finish up here.”

  Aaron laughed at that and hollered, “You haven’t gotten into the room yet.”

  “We’ll be there, just relax,” Kal hollered back.

  “Don’t count on it.”

  Kal signaled everyone to listen up. “Okay, he’s on the left side against the wall. I assume the other guy is on the right side up against the wall so we can’t get a line on him. Liz, we’ll boost you up so you can sit on my shoulders. That’ll put you above the door. Cat, you’re on Marc’s shoulders. Blake, make sure they don’t push our door down.”

  “I should slide the puck in farther so we can see the room,” Catie said.

  “Okay, do that. Now you’ll want to reach down with your gun and fire around the corner blind, or I guess using your HUD. You need to line up the shot before you let them see your gun, then just let loose with it. Recoil’s not too bad, but plan on your shots going wild. Pull back after a few rounds and try again if we need to.”

  Catie slid the puck in about 1½-inches. The view of the room came up on her HUD. She focused on the left-hand view and saw Aaron standing against the wall about three feet from the door. He had his rifle zeroed in on the doorway at about chest height. Looking at the right-side view, she saw another guy standing right after the door. It was giving him some cover.

  Liz indicated that she was ready, so they both laid their rifles horizontal and eased them into the room.

  “I’m good,” Catie said when she had Aaron lined up.

  “Go for it,” Liz said, and they both started firing. After five shots each, they pulled back.

  “I’m out,” they heard Aaron yell.

  “I couldn’t get the other guy,” Liz whispered. “He’s got the door protecting him.”

  “I see that,” Kal said. “Okay, last round. We’ll open this center door. Liz, grab a handful of paintballs. Blake and Marc get ready to roll into the room. When I open the door, Liz, run in and throw your paintballs at the ceiling, so they bounce off it and the wall behind the door. Blake, you hit the floor just past the door and unload on him. Marc, you follow Blake.”

  “I’ll gently shove the door against the wall after I unload,” Liz said. “That’ll either force him into the room or pin him.”

  “Good idea. Everyone ready, on three; one, two, three.”

  Kal yanked the door sideways using the handle. Liz immediately ran in and tossed two handfuls of paintballs over the door, then she leaned against it. Blake was already rolling past the end of the door, firing.

  “Oomph,” the last man gasped as the door smacked him. “Alright already, I’m down.”

  Aaron walked over to Kal, “No hits again?”

  “I think we’re all clean,” Kal replied.

  “Well, if that doesn’t beat all. I can’t believe we didn’t get at least one of you,” Aaron said. “And the kid got two of us.”

  “She’s a pretty tough cookie,” Kal said. “Might want to be careful calling her a kid, she might take a few more shots at you.”

  Aaron laughed. “I guess we have some cleaning up to do. Looks like you’re having a big party tonight.”

  “Why don’t you guys join us?” Marc said. “We had fun and learned a lot going against you. We’ll be at the Orchid at five o’clock; you guys can cover the check. Whatever’s left over, you can use to drown your sorrows over the weekend.”

  “Hey, how about my sorrows?” Blake whined.

  “Okay, you can make them invite the three of you over for drinks. Catie and I are off to Miami tomorrow.”

  “Sound like a plan?” Blake asked Aaron.

  “It’s your money; we lost. But we’ll be happy to help you spend it.”

  “See you guys at the Orchid,” Marc called over his shoulder, as team MacKenzie headed out.

  �
��Wow, are we hot or what!” Catie gushed.

  “Don’t get overconfident,” Kal said. “I’d give us a C+ as a team. Maybe with the tech, a B. But against a real A team, we’d have been toast. Much less if it had been real combat.”

  “How so?” Marc asked.

  “They weren’t using real guns,” Kal said.

  “What’s the difference?” Catie asked.

  “Real bullets go through walls.”

  “Oh!”

  “Real pros would have had the halls covered. When we tried to put the pucks up, they’d have taken us out. Probably would have gotten two or three of us. Then down to three, we would have had a hard time.”

  “But we could have put the puck on the corner like I did on the door. Then we wouldn’t have been exposed.”

  “Why didn’t you suggest that?”

  “I didn’t realize we’re were exposing ourselves that much. And the pucks are less noticeable if they’re on the ceiling.”

  “See, B performance,” Kal said. “That would have helped, but still nothing like real life.”

  “Again, how so?” Marc asked.

  “A five-hundred-dollar bounty is nice, but real bad guys get paid a couple hundred grand, and they’ve got good tech and a lot more practice than these guys,” Kal said. “And when they play, losing means you’re dead.”

  “Yikes!” Catie squeaked.

  “Yeah, real life can suck,” Kal said.

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  They were lucky and got a separate room at the Orchid. As everyone filed in, Aaron and Kal made the introductions.

  Sheri, Jake, Paul, Charlie, Mae, and Aaron had been their opponents.

  “Aaron, you said they had a kid on their team. But she’s like what, twelve? We’ll never live this down,” Charlie groaned.

  “Charlie, you’d better dial it back, or you’re going to have to go mano-a-mano with Catie,” Liz said.

  Catie was giving Charlie a mean stare. “Sorry, no offense,” Charlie said. “I’m just hurting from all the paintballs I had to eat.”

  Everyone talked back and forth about tactics, then somehow the discussion turned to poker.

  “Yeah, same skill applies to poker,” Kal said. “You have to be able to read your opponents, do the math in your head on the odds, then make the right play.”

  “You want to put your money where your mouth is?” Aaron said.