The Life We Lead: Ascending

by George Nagle

  The major’s tone had stayed even the entire time, exactly how James would talk. No emotion, just logic, and James recognized his friend was right; he needed to become part of the team.

  That day, he let the team get on with learning the passageways. First, in the light, then with night vision goggles, then in the dark. The guys outside the training exercise could see everything on monitors, and it was funny, and a bit disconcerting, watching guys stumble around a bit or doing the same hall twice or just walking into walls.

  James stayed away until they all finished, then approached the group. The men were huddled together, looking over a clipboard.

  “Hey, guys, what’s up?” he asked in a lighter tone than he typically used.

  Everyone was silent except the major, who said, “We’re reviewing times. We have a standing bet that those who finish last buy the beer at the next bar. Looks like Jason and Ben are buying tonight.”

  Everyone laughed, even Jason and Ben.

  “Still have one more person to make the runs,” James said.

  They got quiet and stared at him. The silence grew uncomfortable. James shifted his weight and smiled. He felt like he was back in school and the last kid to be picked for a team again, but he wasn’t going to let it show.

  “Yeah, I still need to go,” James affirmed. He hoped he sounded firm, but pleasant.

  The men crossed their arms and stared at him. Finally, one of the guys, Rocker, made a flip with his hands as if to say, “Get on with it if you must.”

  “Right.” James took his time. Taking a run was different than studying the map or even the construction. It felt real though, just like the halls had felt on his and Tim’s tour.

  When he finished his first try and walked back out, Kevin announced, “Looks like Ben isn’t paying.”

  Everyone let out a great burst of laughter. It was clearly laughter at James, not with him.

  “Double or nothing. I’ll do a lot better with the next round,” James said, smiling.

  The major just stared as if to say, “This is your mess.”

  In fairness, they’d all taken three practice runs per round before doing it timed. James knew this, but winning wasn’t the point.

  He did this round in the goggles, again slower than the others, but faster than before.

  “Guess this means I ain’t got to pay, either,” Jason roared.

  “I have one more round,” James said.

  “Not worried,” said Jason to more laughter.

  As James emerged this time, having executed the run as effortlessly as if he were strolling through the park, silence again reigned. The difference this time was that it was born of amazement. James had beaten the best time by more than two minutes, in the dark.

  Little did the team know that on his first two passes, he’d counted his steps and taken his time to learn the halls. It was a trick he’d learned when he was nine and had lost his vision for ten days due to an operation.

  “Looks like he isn’t buying tonight. After that performance, I feel like buying him a beer. That was great. We watched on the infrared, and you made no mistakes,” said Paul, who was generally good-natured and liked to have everyone get along.

  “Got lucky,” James shrugged.

  “Lucky, my ass,” said Kevin.

  “I told you guys, he has skills. Besides being a dick that is,” the major said, and everyone laughed and began to head toward the chow hall. The major knew James was able to move well without sight only because of how the two men had met.

  For a moment, James wondered what Ian had told his men about how they’d come to be acquainted. James was certain they didn’t know the full story by any stretch of the imagination.

  “Wait,” James said. “I think I still owe you guys some beers.”

  “You just kicked everyone’s ass and it was double or nothing. Means you owe nothing,” Matt said.

  “We didn’t bet on the last round, just the first two. So tonight is on me. There’s a place in town we can go after dinner,” James said.

  Again, silence.

  Rocker, who had said maybe ten words in the last four days, gave a shrug and made his way to dinner. The others followed and talking broke out. The major caught James’s eye for a second, gave a wink, and they carried on.

  After dinner, James and the major volunteered to stay sober and drive, and everyone agreed. They ended up at a rather nice sports bar and grill location with multiple large screen televisions, pool tables, darts, and even a shuffleboard game. The bar area itself was large and made a flat bottom “V” shape. James appreciated the quality oak wood with a highly polished brass rail that ran the length of the bar.

  He was starting to win the guys over one at a time. He’d learned that Rocker was the lead singer for a band back home. James had commented, “Yeah, I could tell by how much you talk that you have a great voice.”

  This got some laughs and a bird flipped his way by a smiling Rocker.

  He’d learned that Haiden and Keegan were cousins and talked about fishing every chance they got.

  Paul was the explosives expert and had apparently started at a young age, which explained why he was missing part of a finger.

  The master of arms was Jason, who knew more about weapons than the rest put together.

  Kevin wanted to go into podiatry, but was serving as the medic and communications person for the group.

  Matt was an amateur pilot but also had broad-spectrum vision that came in handy as a marksman.

  Finally, Ben was also a marksman who had grown up in a family of hunters. He practiced every day to be the best because he wanted to fit into his family. Turned out he was adopted.

  They were having fun and no one drank too heavily. The men were on their third round of beers when the evening took a turn. James had just passed the last of the beers to Paul and turned to grab his water and pay the bartender when a bald man standing six-feet-four-inches and weighing a solid 270 pounds bumped his left side.

  As James grabbed his water with his left hand, as he normally did, it spilled a little, and a drop landed on the man’s hand.

  “Watch what you’re doing, asshole!” the man said aggressively.

  James glanced up at the man, slightly disgruntled. Clearly the guy was drunk. He decided to move on and let it go.

  The man leaned in to James’s face, saying, “I said, watch what you’re doing, asshole. You could at least apologize.”

  James’s forehead scrunched up as he said, “Sorry?”

  “That ain’t no apology, wrinkle face. Say it like you mean it.”

  The man’s friends, who were all large as well, chuckled.

  Paul, having just made it back to the table, let the rest of the group know what was happening. The major held out his fingers to signal the group to hold tight for now.

  James did his normal thing, and within a blink, assessed the individuals and situation. He decided to take the high road.

  “You know what, you’re right. My mistake. Sorry that drop of water hit you. Have a good night.” He gave a false, close-lipped smile and handed the bartender the cash.

  “That sound sincere to you, boys?”

  The group shook their mullet-covered heads.

  “Nah, didn’t to me either. Try again, boy.”

  James knew this guy was looking for a fight, but he really didn’t feel like obliging him, and he couldn’t risk getting entangled with the cops and causing a delay.

  “Look man, sorry about that. Let me buy you and your friends here a round. What will ya have?” James spoke as politely as he could, but he had a feeling this was still going to end badly. He set his glass of water back on the bar.

  The bartender quickly said, “What’ll it be? Another Bud?”

  “Nah, I think his offense is worth more. Like one of them imported fancy beers. Gimme a Blue Moon.”

  The bartender poured the beer quickly and set it down. He then turned to the others and asked what they wanted. Before they could answer, th
e bald man said, “Hold on, let me see how this one does first.”

  He picked up the glass. Looking James in the eyes, he slowly brought it up to his mouth with his right hand. Just as the glass touched his lips, the man made a fast motion and dumped the contents over James’s head. He shook the glass to get every drop out before setting the glass on the bar with a loud slam.

  “Now that hit the spot!” he exclaimed and laughed.

  The live band that had been playing fell silent, as did the other patrons in the bar, but the bald man and his friends roared with laughter.

  James could not see what his group was doing behind him, but he heard the scrape of several chairs and the sound of men getting to their feet.

  The friends of the man who had just dumped the beer stopped laughing. James turned his head visibly to the left, but not so far that he could see his companions. He paused a moment, then turned back to face the man.

  The major sat down. After a moment’s hesitation, the other guys followed his lead.

  The bald man let out a great burst of laughter. “Looks like your little friends know what’s good for them, too. They wouldn’t be able to protect you from us, asshole.”

  He and his friend laughed again, and so did James.

  “Getting your ass kicked funny to you, boy?” the man said, spurring on the laughter of the others.

  James shook his head, spraying beer everywhere but the bald man somehow ignored this shower. “No, but the fact that you think they stood up to help me is funny. Truth is, they stood up to protect you and your friends from me.”

  A moment passed in which the energy of the room shifted. James was taking control almost through sheer willpower.

  The bald man and his friends laughed. The sound was defiant, overly confident, a mix of surprise and trepidation. This response clearly was unexpected by all, but especially by the bald man, who had five inches on James and more than a hundred pounds.

  James shifted his left foot behind him and said, “I think we’re going to call it a night so no one gets hurt.” He turned abruptly, as if to leave, but the bald man grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand.

  Idiot.

  James let a small grin appear. At moments like this, time seemed to slow down. In reality, and James knew it, his focus was so sharp that he reacted as if he were seeing everything a move ahead. This just made more things happen in a smaller space of time.

  Given his would be attacker’s position, James had deliberately placed his weight on his left foot so he’d have better pivot control. As the bald man pulled him around, he brought his right arm up and around the bald man’s arm to break the shoulder grab and secure the offending appendage.

  He followed that with a swift turning kick with his right leg to the man’s diaphragm, causing him to double over. Still holding the bald man’s right arm, he used his right leg to kick the man’s right knee before releasing his arm. He then quickly stepped in with his left arm and grabbed the man’s head. He banged it into the bar rail, allowing his own hand to follow through the motion.

  In the highly polished brass, he saw two of the man’s friends coming toward them. The one on James’s left was slightly closer. As James turned to the left, he grabbed his water glass with his right hand.

  Swinging around, he blocked the hand of the closer man with a wide sweeping left forearm block, while throwing the water in the other would-be attacker’s face. He continued turning, smashing the empty glass into the left temple of the dry attacker and knocking him out.

  The wet attacker didn’t stop but he did hesitate slightly, giving James the time he needed to hit the first man with the glass and gain a better position. The position change forced the wet attacker to throw a wild swing with his right arm.

  James promptly blocked it with his own right arm and kicked him in the stomach with his right leg. Turning into the man’s arm that he still held in his right hand, James crushed it with his left elbow, causing the man to suffer a major hyperextension.

  James then slid under the attacker’s arm and stood up while bringing the injured man’s arm down hard onto his own shoulder. The man’s shoulder dislocated. When James saw a knife fall from his hand, he finished him off with a leg sweep and a stomp to the chest.

  James prepared for the man’s other friends, but they were moving away, not attacking. The room was so quiet you could hear the ceiling fans above and the grunts of the man who had taken a foot to the ribs. The other two men were still unconscious. The whole fight was over in seconds.

  The major walked up behind James and said, “Time to go, I believe.”

  “Right.” James turned to the bartender and handed him twenty bucks. “That’s for the beer, glass, and mess. I suggest calling at least two ambulances.” He gestured. “These two have concussions, these two have broken ribs, he has a knee out of place, and he has a shoulder out of place. Maybe an elbow, too, not really sure. This is my number if the cops want to talk.” He wrote down his number and handed it to the barman.

  The barman shook his head with a grin. “I’m ninety-nine percent certain they won’t need to talk to you. My cousin-in-law is the sheriff, and this is self-defense if I ever saw it, plus it’s all on tape.”

  James shook hands with the bartender and walked out with the group behind them.

  “Dude!” Rocker said as James walked by.

  “Does he ever shut up?” James asked, grinning. Everyone laughed.

  James felt rather good. It had been a while since he’d had a rush like that, and he felt lighter. Reflecting, he had to admit it had been a great release. He did feel slightly guilty for causing so much damage, but it was nothing life-threatening, and hopefully those guys wouldn’t be such idiots again.

  Just before James turned in for the evening, the major came into his room.

  He let out a deep sigh as if he was going to give a speech, then said, “Well, that had to be the most unique way of building the team’s confidence I’ve ever seen. Paul was all about getting up to help you; I had to order him to stay seated. Afterwards, he was saying they should start calling you Leonidas.”

  James laughed. “That’s an entirely inaccurate analogy. Now, if I’d …”

  “Not the point, you nerd,” said the major in an elevated voice.

  James squinted and shook a playful fist at his friend.

  “It was impressive, but I can still kick your ass.” The major winked and walked out.

  ***

  The next morning, having thought it over, James decided to tell the group their objectives. He started with the list he and the major had discussed, and then told the group the story of his and Tim’s trip and the discovery of the children. He did not disclose why he and Tim had gone, but merely said they’d gone to secure intel. The men didn’t question this, but they did ask other questions.

  Paul was first to raise his hand. “Why are they out so far in the middle of nothing? How can they get customers way out there?”

  “Customers? Really? Customers?” Ben challenged this choice of words, clearly angry.

  “Well, what do you want to call them? Visitors?” Paul said defensively.

  “I think the term you be looking for is deranged sickos,” Keegan said, which was immediately followed by a “Mhmm,” from Haiden. The two cousins did this almost every time the other spoke.

  James took command of the room. “The children are valuable. Location isn’t an issue. In fact, it’s a fortress we’re attacking and bringing down.”

  Ben stood up with a determined look on his face. Everyone looked at him as he stood there. Finally, he spoke. “How many?”

  “At least thirty-five when I was there six months ago. Not really sure now, and not sure how many adults are former abused kids that want out, too,” James said.

  Ben paused, every inch of his face showing hatred as sweat began to roll off him. “I was abused as a kid. No kid dies, and we never speak of this. Ever. Sorry, Major, but James, you have full command,” he said through gritt
ed teeth.

  As he sat down, all of the other guys stomped their left foot, then right foot, and clamped their hands once, including the major. Later, he explained to James that was the way they sealed a pact.

  For the next few hours, James walked them through the potential plans and they listened. They didn’t speak unless James paused and asked if they had suggestions or questions. The answer was always the same: “Not today, sir!”

  The next two days, they ran through scenarios and made modifications. James was the leader now, but he recognized he should follow each individual’s expertise and suggestions. He particularly liked the stick bombs Paul had brought. Essentially a spear on one end and sticky material on the other, the weapons allowed for bomb placement just about anywhere. A timer or detonator set them off.

  Ben was training with James on some additional hand combat. Ben and Matt decided Matt would play sniper from a distance. Matt and James had a very specific discussion on Matt’s ability to take out individuals, and Matt laughed.

  “Please, I can take the weapon right out of their hands at three hundred yards without scratching them. That isn’t a problem,” Matt said, chewing on a toothpick. It reminded James of Val Kilmer in Top Gun, and James hated that character in the movie. On impulse, he ripped the toothpick out of Matt’s mouth.

  “Good thing that one was dead and I have more,” Matt said, undisturbed, as James walked away, shaking his head and chuckling.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Six days before they were due to set off, Calvin and Raymond called. They exchanged hellos quickly before Calvin dived in.

  “So, we think we have a way to maybe solve the problem,” he said excitedly.

  Raymond jumped in. “Yeah, we went back through the tapes and watched most of what Yan did. Parts were out of frame, but we think we figured it out.”

  “How are you managing that?” James asked.

  “Well, it’s quite brilliant, if I say so myself. We went back and looked at old invoices that led us to look at old power consumptions. We put it together from there.”

  James wasn’t sure who had just answered him because they sounded alike, but it didn’t matter. “So how do I take it down?”