Operation Child Soldier (The Academy Book 1)

by Jaci Wheeler

  I don’t even have to think about it; I know all of them would carry me in a heartbeat.

  “If you want to earn that spot then you need to be able to do the same for them. In a perfect situation, another one of the guys will be available, but that doesn’t always happen. You aren’t a tiny girl, Aria. I wouldn’t ask it of you if I didn’t think you were capable. Now are you ready to stop being a pansy and carry my fat butt?”

  I nod and pick him up again. I grit my teeth and pull out all my strength. He is right; it’s time I start earning my spot. They will not break me; they will fear me. I will make them cry and not the other way around. I chant this in my head over and over until I carry him the full five miles.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Aria

  I’m sore from all the training I’ve been doing all week, but it’s time to set that aside because tonight is my night. I’m going to be a team leader and I’m going to rock it.

  Cameron said he won’t be on my team, and they most likely won’t put me with Ezra or even Boobs McGee since I’ve worked with them before. I suit up in my black combat uniform. I French braid my long blonde hair, grab my bag, and take off for the site, which is pretty much an expansion of forest that surrounds the Academy. I’m surprised when I see Cam standing there with the group.

  “Hey, I thought you weren’t going to be here.”

  “I never said I wouldn’t be here; I said I wasn’t going to be on your team. Tonight I get to be one of the bad guys, babe,” he says with a devilish smirk that fits him much too well.

  “I’m just here to introduce you to your team and lay out the ground rules. They thought it would be best since you have a history undermining authority,” he says with a pointed look. I just roll my eyes.

  “Meet your team. This is James, Edwin, Savannah, Jamie, and Raul.” I smile my hello. I get a few nods, one smile, and a few dirty looks as well.

  “It’s up to you to figure out strengths and weaknesses and to come up with a plan of action. Are you ready for your scenario?”

  I’m too excited to do anything but nod. Cameron hands me a folder and starts to read.

  “Hostages: Daniel Patterson, age fifty-four, and his daughter Sarah Patterson, age nineteen, have been taken to an unknown location within these coordinates. Sarah is a diabetic and has been without insulin for too long. There’s a chance she will be unresponsive and could have or will slip into a coma by the time you reach them. Time is your enemy at this point. You are going into a hot situation and, because of the location, there is no extraction point within range for the helo to land. So you are going to have to go to the extraction point marked with an ‘x.’” He shows me on a map and I nod. It’s all pretty mild so far.

  “That’s it? What’s the catch?” I ask, and Cameron smiles wide.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that comms are down. Horrible timing for the glitch but you are going to have to use hand signals.”

  “If comms are down, how are we going to signal to be extracted?” I ask out loud. Cameron shrugs and winks at me again.

  “Okay, your mission is to bring father and daughter back alive. The guns aren’t real, but the pain will be. They are stimulation darts, and will leave a paintball effect so we know who was shot. Each person has a different color and everything will also be digitally recorded so we can figure out the stats. Are you ready?” I nod again.

  “Let the games begin.” Before I can blink, Cameron is gone and I am left in a forest with strangers who look like they can eat me for breakfast. I refuse to let myself be intimidated but it’s much easier to do around my peers. These people are straight up intimidating, but I have to swallow it back. We are now on the clock and time is of the essence.

  “Okay, first things first. Do we have a medic?”

  I have five sets of eyes staring back at me.

  “Are any of you medically trained?”

  Nothing, not even an answer. I know they are all medically trained because that’s a requirement to become an agent but I’ll let that pass since I’m also trained.

  “Okay, when we get to the hostages I will medically assess and treat if necessary.”

  “Who are my sharpshooters?” Ah, some life in the eyes. Finally, we are getting somewhere until I realize there are five hands raised.” Gah, they are not making this easy on me.

  “Okay then.” I take a marker from my bag and place a small dot on an overhanging limb off in the distance. I come back and order each person to hit the mark. Using my binos, I look to see who hit the mark.

  “Savannah and Raul, you will take the high ground.”

  “We need a tracker, so Jamie, you will take the lead.”

  “And what makes you think I’m a tracker?” She asks with more attitude than I’d like.

  “Well at this point I know I’m not going to get a straight answer so I’m not bothering to ask. You are the smallest and from watching everyone walk the last few steps, you are also the lightest of foot. I prefer to have the fastest in front so that you can check ahead and double back…which I’m assuming you are capable of?” I ask, giving her my own attitude.

  I earn a small smile and what I hope is some respect.

  “Good. That leaves James to flank left. I will flank right and Edwin will bring up the rear.

  “No,” Edwin says.

  “Excuse me?” I ask.

  “James is bigger; he should take the rear.”

  They can’t just work with me here. It really doesn’t matter to me who takes the rear, to be honest, but this is now a power struggle. If I give in, I won’t earn their respect or my title. I get right up in his face which is easy to do since we are the same height. However, he has a good eighty pounds on me.

  “I’m not going to stand here and argue with you. This is the plan and you will follow it.”

  “And if I don’t?” he says, getting so close he could kiss me. I seriously don’t have time for this crap and the only way to do this is to end it now. I quickly sweep his leg fast and he goes down hard. I’m right on him now and up in his face.

  “I’m not going to put up with this crap from you. You are either in or you stay down here; the choice is yours. But never get in my face again.”

  I see admiration shining in the girls’ eyes, and shock and disbelief all over Edwin’s face, but he lets out a small smirk and jumps up.

  “Alright then, we’ve got a mission to carry out.”

  And just like that, I have a team.

  ***

  Holy crap, this is a lot harder to do without comms than I thought. We’ve been out here for an hour, we have had a few kills, but I feel like we are walking in circles. We’ve pinpointed where we think they are keeping the hostages, but we aren’t sure how many Tangos there are. I’m done with this little game. I signal to James to come close.

  “What’s up?” he whispers in my ear.

  “This is taking too long. I’m going to circle around and go through the trees.”

  “The trees?” he asks in disbelief.

  “Yes, I’m an amazing climber. Good thing too since we don’t have a medic.” He smirks at my joke. “I need you to cover me though, ok? Once I go around and see what we are working with we can come up with a better plan of attack. I’m pretty sure they are all huddled together. Otherwise, they’d be taking more shots at us by now.”

  “Makes sense. Ok, I’ll signal the others and make sure you have cover.”

  When James gives me the go ahead, I waste no time as I shimmy up a tree. I make sure I’m secure and then jump over to the next tree. I make my way in an arch.

  I find the perfect tree that’s thick enough to climb high and will hold my weight well. I get a good look at the landscape and know exactly where they are. Well, at least I know where I would be.

  We are surrounded by cliffs and dangerous rock formations that are on either side except where we are currently traveling. If we continue on this path, we’ll walk right into their trap. The only way around is to hike up and
over and come in from the back. It’s going to take much more time and energy, but it’s our only shot. I hurry down the tree and relay the information to my team.

  “That’s going to take too much time. Remember, she could be in a coma by now; she needs her insulin,” observes Jamie.

  “I agree with Jamie,” Edwin adds.

  “We don’t have any other option. If we go straight, we will be dead before we can get her out alive anyway. Our best bet is to go up, and over and according to this map, there’s a clearing a few miles behind where I think they are being held. I can shoot a flair for extraction. It’s our best option.”

  “That’s a whole lot of ground to cover if we go up, over, and behind, though,” James adds, looking skeptical.

  “Then I guess we better hurry. Savannah, James, and I will take east; Jamie, Raul, and Edwin, you take the west. Permission to engage any Tangos you come across. If you get to them, first shoot your flare and we will meet at the rendezvous point.”

  “Copy that. You heard the lady, let’s move on out,” James says.

  And we are off at a fast clip. The climbing is hard, but we all make it in a short amount of time. What I wasn’t expecting was the freezing water we had to swim through. I guess I missed that on the map, since it was shallow. The other two did it without complaint, but it didn’t make for the best conditions to hike in soaking wet clothes. We start to walk and I realize my mistake.

  I signal to stop and take cover.

  “What is it?” Savannah asks.

  “There’s no way we can approach in these clothes; we will give ourselves away in a heartbeat.”

  So, what do you suggest?” James asks.

  I just raise an eyebrow.

  “You can’t be serious,” Savannah says, reading my mind.

  “Do you have any better ideas?” I ask.

  “What?” James asks obliviously.

  “She wants us to strip,” Savannah says in disbelief.

  “No way. You mean you want us to approach naked?”

  “Not naked per se. You will keep on the underoos, but everything else must go. Shoes too; they will squish.”

  “You want us to run around in the forest in our underwear and bare feet?” James asks, looking horrified.

  “Look, we saved a ton of time cutting across the water. It was worth it, but we are losing that time arguing, so drop ‘em,” I say as I start shedding my clothes.

  “When in Rome,” Savannah says as she follows suit.

  “I’ll never live this down,” James says but starts taking his clothes off as well.

  It takes a little while to adjust to the forest floor, but I’m ignoring the pain in my feet as we take off at another fast clip. We reach the cliff we have to climb in order to get to the hostages.

  I stop and listen. I can hear gunfire, which means the rest of our team has made it as well. I point for Savannah to take the lead, and James takes the left. I go to the right and we all start to climb. I motion for them to stop when I make out a few guys patrolling the cliff’s edge. I go around wide and use the cover to my advantage and then I take them both out. I motion to my team to proceed while I cover them. We all make it up and over the ledge before anyone is the wiser.

  The eyes of the two guys who I’d shot look like they are going to bug out of their heads when they see how we are dressed, er, not dressed, that is.

  It looks like the rest of our team is laying fire and drawing the Tangos out the front, which is perfect. We take care of the three that are patrolling the back and then slip into the cabin unnoticed. I approach the man who is huddled in a corner with his daughter laying with her head in his lap.

  “Hello, sir. May I have your name, please?”

  “David,” he replies, looking totally confused by our outfits or lack thereof.

  “I know we look a bit odd, but there’s no time for explanation now. We are here to rescue you. May I have her name, please?”

  “This is my daughter, Sarah.”

  “Ok, I’m going to check her vitals really quick, sir, and then give her a shot of insulin. Then we need to move. Can you walk?”

  He nods and I hurry and get to work. I check her pulse and then take the pen light out of my bag to check her pupils.

  “She looks good. Savannah, can you get the insulin for me, please?”

  I hurry and put on the medical gloves and take the needle and insulin that Savannah passes over. I’m sure it’s just a saline solution but whatever, for tonight, it's real.

  “Sarah, my name is Aria and we are here to help. I’m going to give you your insulin shot now, just a little pinch,” I say as I give her the shot.

  “How long has she been out?” I ask her dad

  “Not very long. She was just talking a bit ago.”

  “Then we should be safe to move her. Follow us,” I say and slip Sarah over my shoulder. She wasn’t exactly light, but she was a feather compared to Cameron. I hate when he’s right, but I’m so glad he made me carry his heavy butt five miles. I’d never tell him that of course.

  James steps up just as I start to carry Sarah.

  “I can get her.”

  “No, I need to you lay down cover, and if the dad needs help, it’d be a lot easier for you to help him. I’ll be fine.” He hesitates like he doesn’t want to let me, but then nods.

  “If you are sure.”

  “I am, but we are wasting time. Savannah, you go out first and cover us, then the dad, and Sarah and I. James, you bring up the rear and make sure we don’t take any fire. We will go once Savannah gives the all clear.”

  Savannah nods and takes off outside. I hear two shots which means we are going to be coming out hot. Savannah gives the all clear and I shove the dad out the door where I am hot on his heels. James is covering us and I hear him get three more shots off. There shouldn’t be many more Tangos left.

  We hoof it as fast as we can to the clearing where we see the rest of our team at the extraction point waiting with the helicopter for us. I’m pretty sure Edwin swallowed his tongue and Raul smiles big, while Jamie just looks from one of us to the next like she doesn’t understand what is happening.

  “Later,” I say as I put David into the helo and then lay Sarah down next to him. We all jump in and we are off.

  Once we are in the air, we all whoop and holler!

  “That was seriously awesome,” I say all smiles.

  “Are you going to tell us why you are naked now? I mean not that I’m complaining. In fact, I think we should do all ops naked. You know, save the planet and all?” Edwin says and Jamie smacks him.

  “How is doing ops naked saving the planet?”

  “You know, less waste, less to break down…who really cares. I vote that Aria is the best trainee ever! I say she passes and is permanently on my team.”

  “Even after I laid you out?” I ask him, smirking.

  “Especially after that. Girl, you don’t take no crap from no one and you lose your clothes in an op. Yes, you are on my team for life. Speaking of life, will you marry me?”

  At that, he gets punched by both Jamie and Savannah.

  “Hey, don’t be jealous girls; there’s plenty of love to go around.”

  I’m pretty sure everyone in the helo rolled their eyes at that. That’s when I noticed Sarah sitting up smiling.

  “Hey, you are awake.”

  She laughs and rolls her eyes.

  “I was awake the whole time, silly. I’m not actually diabetic,” she says and everyone laughs.

  Oops, I guess I forgot this wasn’t real.

  “That injection you gave was super smooth too. I’ve been stabbed so many times this week I’m starting to look like a junkie.”

  “Glad to be of service.”

  The helo starts to land and Raul reaches behind him and pulls out three blankets. He wraps one around Savannah and she blushes a little. Interesting. I gladly take the blanket as does James and we quickly wrap it around ourselves.

  As we exit the helicopter,
we are greeted by a bunch of wolf whistles and cheering all around. Edwin quickly exists and bows saying, “Thank you, oh you shouldn’t have.” Raul slugs him in the arm, shaking his head as we walk by. They all start chanting my name and I’m not gonna lie, I’m eating it up. Cameron walks up to me shaking his head, but he can’t hide the grin that’s trying to escape.

  “Did I make you proud?” I ask sweetly.

  “You would have made me proud if you kept your clothes on. You are a disgrace, Richards.” He is still smiling, though.

  “A disgrace with the fastest time and no kills or wounded on her team,” Ezra says, stepping up and giving me a high five! Now tell us how you talked James into getting down to his skivvies,” Ezra says, ducking James’s swing.

  “Alright, enough. I need to get my girl dry before she catches hyperthermia,” Cameron says, leading me away.

  “No fair, you just want her all to yourself!” Edwin yells after us. Cameron just shakes his head and chuckles. This is the happiest I’ve seen him, or at least the most he’s ever smiled. He obviously loves those guys and being on missions. I wonder why he doesn’t go out more.

  “Well, honestly, how did I do?” I ask once we are far enough away from the crowd.

  “You seriously dominated, Aria. You were off to a slow start, but I hear you put the team in place pretty quick. That’s usually what takes most trainees the longest. Did you really lay Edwin out flat?”

  “You bet I did,” I said proudly.

  “I would have loved to have seen that. Anyway, it took you a bit to get started, but climbing the trees was brilliant, and you are the only trainee who thought of going down and around the cliff.”

  “Yeah, but did I kill you?” I ask, really wanting to know.

  He smiles down at me.

  “I’ll never tell.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Aria