BlackSmoke

by Robin Leigh Miller

  When Sam worked with military men in the past they followed her lead, did the job, then disappeared. To the men she worked with she was just another man, one who was trained extensively in covert operations.

  These men however would not work with her without knowing who she was. Like Black Smoke, they were used only when the situation was deadly. If they never returned it was considered an acceptable loss. Unfortunately, they didn’t work well with outsiders, especially one they knew nothing about.

  Walt walked toward the three men sizing them up, mentally warning them that if they caused Sam any harm he would personally deal with them. He may not have been her father, but he was the closest thing to it and any unprofessional conduct toward her would be punished.

  “Gentlemen, if you’ll come with me I’ll show you to your barracks,” Walt said in an unusually stern tone. The men nodded then followed him.

  Once they reached the barracks Walt waited until they dropped their duffel bags on bunks then proceeded. “There’s a small kitchen in the next building. It’s fully stocked. Help yourself to anything in there. Showers are in the back of the barracks. If you find you need anything else please feel free to contact me.”

  “One question.” One of the men asked.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Why do we need a training run? We’ve never needed a training run before an op.” He asked with attitude.

  “I’ll fill you in on that when we meet up in,” Walt said looking at his watch. “One hour. I’ll pick you up and take you out to the field and fill you in then.” Walt turned to leave.

  “Hold up!” The man demanded.

  Walt turned. “Yes.”

  “You got a computer I can use around here?”

  “There’s one in the rec hall two doors down. Help yourself.” Walt told him then left.

  “Man don’t say much does he?”

  “He said he’d fill us in Ricochet, just roll with it.”

  “It kinda pisses me off havin’ to do a trainin’ run. Who do they think we are? Your everyday grunts?” Ricochet snarled.

  “Must be big,” came a deep voice from their left.

  “I was thinking the same thing Boomer. I was just thinking the same thing.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m gonna do some diggin’ on this Cannon guy. See what his story is.” Ricochet said marching out the door.

  Boomer snickered. “Man don’t know when to keep his nose out of things.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.” Kong, the third man, tossed his bag to the floor and stretched out on an empty cot.

  Thirty minutes later, Ricochet came strolling back through the door of the barracks. Boomer was caressing explosives that he always carried with him and the third man was still lying on his cot. Ricochet shook his head at the sight of the two.

  “While you two been snoozin’, I found out a little about our man Cannon.” Neither of the men stirred. “Well, don’t ya wanna know?”

  “Fill us in. You won’t be happy until you do,” the third man yawned.

  Ricochet flopped down on an empty cot. “This Cannon guy is retired military. Decorations and all.” After a few moments of silence, Ricochet huffed. “Well?”

  “Is that all?” Kong commented, disinterested.

  “Yeah, that’s all! I couldn’t find a thing about him. Every time I got to a file on him, it said government classified. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

  “It’s none of our business,” Boomer said in his slow deep voice.

  “It doesn’t concern us. Let it alone Ricochet.”

  Ricochet flopped back on the cot grumbling to himself. “Don’t come crawlin’ to me when things get weird.” Then he closed his eyes, his mind trying to figure out the puzzle they had found themselves in.

  Chapter Three

  When the jeep pulled up in front of the barracks the three men were ready to go. They were dressed in military camo and black boots with military issue rifles at their sides. Walt looked them over then motioned for them to jump in. The ride to the field was quiet. Not one of them asked any questions. Walt hoped that they wouldn’t demand too many answers when it came to Sam, but deep down in his gut he knew once they found out who she was that would all change.

  The four men pulled up to a tent that was set up in the middle of a field. As Walt jumped from the jeep the other three men looked around. There wasn’t much here—just open fields and a small patch of woods about three hundred yards to their left. They looked at each other then followed Walt into the tent.

  “Have a seat men. I’ll fill you in on why we need this little exercise.” Walt sat in a folding chair behind a makeshift desk, while the other three sat across from him.

  “The government has asked me to send a team to Afghanistan to recover an American scientist who has been kidnapped. As I’m sure you know when the Taliban gets their hands on an American we are unlikely to see them ever again. There are some who have been returned for ransom. I’m afraid however, this won’t be a ransom case.” He looked into their faces as he told them. He liked to get a feel for how they handled the news that was dropped into their laps. So far there was not even a blink.

  “We’ve done recovery before. We’ve never had to run an exercise beforehand,” the third man stated.

  “I have no doubts about your abilities gentlemen. If I did, you wouldn’t be here. That’s not what this is about,” Walt replied.

  “Then what is it about?” Ricochet asked with attitude.

  “This is to see how well you can work with another team member.” Walt watched their faces closely. Again there were no surprised looks. He knew they had worked with other military teams before, but never with an outsider.

  “Still not making sense Sir,” the third man said respectfully.

  “This team member is not military. And this exercise is to see how you deal with the unorthodox ways of an independent.” Now Walt was seeing some reaction in the three faces looking back at him. Not much, just slight frowns and maybe even a little confusion.

  “Your first exercise will be to retrieve a flag at these coordinates.” Walt handed each man a small square piece of paper. “I’ll decide if we need another exercise when this one is completed.”

  “You’ve got to be kiddin’ me. We came all the way here to play a child’s game?” Ricochet grumbled.

  “I assure you, this will be no child’s game. You must retrieve the flag without being killed and I’m willing to bet you each a beer that you won’t make it.” Already Walt could feel Sam’s presence in the area. He had no idea where she was, but he could feel that she was there. He stood and crossed to a large metal box, opened it and pulled out a paintball gun.

  “What the hell is that?” Ricochet laughed. “We really are playing kid’s games.”

  Boomer and Kong looked at each other puzzled. Neither had ever used a paintball gun in an exercise before. Now they wished Ricochet had been able to find out more about Cannon.

  “You’ll use these. The fourth team member has an electronic device strapped to him. They tell me if you hit him an alarm will go off. I’ve never heard it personally,” Walt chuckled.

  “Do we get an alarm?” Boomer asked.

  “No, if you’re taken out you’ll know because you’ll find a bright red sticker plastered to your body somewhere.” Walt watched their faces and saw utter confusion.

  “You’re telling us that the fourth team member isn’t carrying a gun?” The third man asked, slowly drawing out the words.

  “That’s right. When you see him it’s because you’re about to die.” The smile that crossed Walt’s face made the three men stiffen.

  Ricochet stood, “Let’s get moving then.”

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Walt replied, still smiling.

  Walt watched the three men pull out their compasses, hook their radios in their ears, then start out across the field. “This was going to be fun,” he thought to himself. The soldiers would be at a disadvantage for this exercise, but that couldn’
t be helped. Besides, no one ever knew what to expect from a real mission.

  * * * * *

  “Hey Kong,” Ricochet whispered in his radio. “Who do you think this fourth person is?”

  “Black Smoke,” Boomer’s voice said into their ears.

  “You’re outta your mind Boomer. That’s just talk.”

  “It doesn’t matter who it is, we have a job to do so keep your eyes open,” replied Kong. His eyes darted from side to side looking for any movement in the field. He looked across at his two teammates sure they would be doing the same thing.

  They were almost to the treeline when he heard a noise through his earpiece.

  He looked across the field for his two teammates and only saw one. Boomer was crouched down looking in the direction where Ricochet had been.

  “Ricochet, was that you? What happened? Respond,” Kong whispered anxiously into his mouthpiece. When no answer came, he whispered again, “Ricochet, damn it answer me!”

  “Ah hell,” his voice came through loud and clear. “I got me a big red target on my chest. Can you believe this? I’m out already, damn it.”

  “What happened?” Boomer asked calmly.

  “Hell if I know. I was creepin’ along, then all of sudden I’m lying on my back looking’ at the sky. Man, I didn’t see anythin’!”

  “Ricochet, please return to base.” Walt said into the radio. He couldn’t help the chuckle in his voice.

  “Black Smoke,” Boomer repeated.

  “Keep alert Boomer,” the third man told him. As they entered the small patch of woods he slid behind Boomer. He knew he’d be opening himself up for attack but he felt he could handle it. “I’ve got your back Boomer.”

  Ricochet jogged back to the tent where Walt waited and watched through binoculars. “Hey man give me a pair of those. I want to watch.”

  Walt looked at him with a cocky grin. “Radio first,” He said holding out his hand.

  “What, you think I’m gonna give’m a heads-up?” Ricochet snapped.

  “It’s what I’d do,” Walt answered, his hand still outstretched.

  Ricochet smiled then handed over the radio. He lifted the binoculars to his eyes and scanned the wooded area. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out where this fourth team member had come from, or how he was taken out without him ever getting a glimpse at what was coming.

  Not seeing anything, he settled the binocular sights on Boomer and Kong who were creeping through the woods scanning everything and listening for anything unusual.

  Everything seemed to be going well until Boomer stopped dead in his tracks and swung his paintball gun to his right. It was a slight sound, nothing a normal person would think twice about. Boomer however, was trained to be cautious of every sound.

  “What is it, Boomer?” Kong asked.

  Boomer didn’t answer. Instead he crouched down and looked through the gun sight. He could see a leaf flickering on a tree limb. None of the other leaves were moving. Boomer smiled to himself sure he’d found member number four.

  Without telling Kong what was going on, he lay on his belly and began to crawl toward the tree with the vibrating leaf. His movement was slow but sure, a crawl he’d done hundreds of times usually without making a sound. His confidence was iced when he reached the tree and no one was there.

  Boomer stood and scanned his surroundings with an eagle eye. Nothing. His brow furrowed with confusion then he turned to head back toward Kong. Before he finished turning, he took a kick to the ankle and a jab to the stomach. Fortunately for Boomer his fighting skills kicked in instantaneously.

  Dropping to a crouch, he stretched out his right leg and spun, kicking Sam’s legs out from under her. When she hit the ground she arched her back and sprang upward again. Sam knew these woods better than anyone and she knew how to lure someone into an area that would be to her advantage. Without looking she knew a tree branch was directly over her head.

  Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a big red target, dropped it to the ground and stomped on it causing it to stick to the bottom of her boots then jumped for the limb. Boomer lunged forward as she kicked her feet out.

  He was big, so she put every bit of strength she had into it. Boomer’s eyes were huge as he was lifted off his feet and thrust backward. He landed with a bone jarring thud, all the air rushing from his lungs. When he could breathe again he looked down at his chest and saw the red target firmly in place.

  “Hunh,” Boomer huffed then dropped his head back to the ground. “I’m out,” he said into his radio.

  Kong had watched Boomer belly crawl toward a tree. The next thing he saw was Boomer flying through the air and landing on his back. He didn’t know what had taken place but he knew the result. Clenching his jaw, he set his sights on the flag and moved forward.

  “Boomer, return to base,” Walt said over the radio.

  “Damn! No one ever takes Boomer out that fast,” Ricochet snarled at Walt.

  “This isn’t just anyone.” Walt replied then placed his binoculars back to his eyes to watch the final man.

  Sam tailed the third man a few hundred yards before she got bored. It was time to take him out. Her instincts told her he would be a harder target than the other two so she needed to be sure of her moves. When she saw they were almost to the flag, she picked up a stone and tossed it off to his left. She watched as he held his position scanning the area.

  Okay she thought to herself, she’d confuse him a little. She picked up another stone and tossed it to his right. Then picked up a stick and tossed it into the tops of the trees just above his head. She watched as he followed the sounds with his head moving ever so slightly. Then she picked up a bigger stone and threw it hard toward him.

  Kong felt the stone nail him in the back and turned with his finger on the trigger ready to fire. Nothing. Nothing was there. He knew he was being played with, but that was fine, he’d been played with before. Hell, he’d done it himself a time or two. All he needed to do was move a few more yards and he’d have the flag. As he turned back to begin walking dirt was thrown in his eyes.

  The temporary blindness gave Sam the seconds she needed to finish him. She dropped her body to the ground, swung her legs out to kick his feet out from under him but was met with a hard kick to her shoulder. She spun to the opposite side and tried again. Again she took a kick to the shoulder. Adrenaline was pumping like fire through her veins fueling her. She stood and gave a straight leg kick to his stomach. The blow connected and Kong doubled over. But not before he grabbed her foot and twisted her leg. Sam followed the movement, kicking off the ground with her other leg and spinning in the air. Her free foot kicked out and struck the side of his head causing him to drop her foot.

  Before Kong could recover he felt a hard blow on his chest, which knocked him off his feet and onto his butt. He figured this was it, he was finished, but Sam had other plans.

  Just for fun and a bit of revenge, Sam dropped down on his chest and pinned his hands with her knees. She reached down and placed two fingers into his trachea then waited for his eyes to focus on her masked face. The look in those eyes was made chills run down her back. This was a dangerous man.

  Slapping the target onto his chest, she continued to look into his eyes. Once she got past the look of pure anger she started noticing their deep blue color and how his black eyelashes framed his eyes so perfectly. She found herself getting lost in his eyes, forgetting everything that was around her.

  Samantha, let the man up. You are choking him.

  Sam mentally shook herself then removed her fingers from his throat. She jumped easily to her feet then took off into the woods. The whole time she ran she cursed herself for her reaction to him. Why, of all possible times, had she chosen that moment to notice a man’s eyes? She could have killed him. She’d never been distracted like that before and that could only mean one thing—trouble.

  Kong reached for his throat and massaged the area where she had dug in her fingers. He was gasping for breath.
His mind was reeling from what had just happened. This guy was fast and could take a serious hit. Yet, something wasn’t quite right about him. Kong couldn’t put his finger on it but something was off. He looked down at the red target on his chest and swore.

  “I’m out,” he grumbled into the radio. He picked himself up and started back toward the tent. He kept running the whole incident over and over in his mind trying to pinpoint the cause of his uneasy feeling, but it just wouldn’t come.

  When he arrived at the tent, Boomer and Ricochet met him. “How’d you go down?” Ricochet asked.

  “Fast,” was all Kong would say.

  “Black Smoke,” Boomer chimed in.

  “Damn Boomer. Would you give it a rest already. I keep tellin’ ya, there ain’t no such thing,” Ricochet snorted.

  “Gentlemen, come in and have a seat please,” Walt said from behind them.

  The three men filed into the tent and sat, waiting for an explanation. From the smug look on his face they decided things had gone exactly the way he’d expected.

  “First, I have to tell you no one has ever made it that close to the flag before,” Walt said, trying not to let his smile show. “Tell me, is the flag still out there?”

  Ricochet gave his trademark snort then said, “You telling us you don’t even know if there’s a flag out there?”

  “Well, I put one out there three years ago. It hasn’t been touched by human hands since. Like I said, no one’s ever made it that close before.” Walt sat in his chair and stretched his legs out in front of him, then crossed his feet.

  The three men looked at each other then Kong spoke. “Excuse me Sir, but are you going to tell us who that guy is?”

  Walt sat straight in his chair. “Are you telling me you’ll do this job with this team member?”

  “With all due respect Sir, I think the four of us could retrieve anyone from anywhere,” Kong said with conviction.

  “Would you do the job without knowing the identity of this fourth member?” Walt asked.