Robert Ludlum's The Utopia Experiment - By Kyle Mills Page 0,41

our shot now. Agreed?”

When everyone came back affirmative, Smith leaned out around the tree he’d taken refuge behind. This was something he had to see.

“Okay, I have the guy at one o’clock—”

“Negative,” Smith interjected. “I already know you can hit him, Corporal. Let someone else take the shot.”

“Affirmative. Lieutenant. You spotted him, he’s all yours.”

“But…But I…”

“Relax, Stacy,” Smith said. “Just a game, remember.”

“Yeah, Lieutenant,” Grayson said. “You’ve got this. Just line the Merge’s crosshairs up and tell me when you’re ready. Major Kent. I take it you’ve got a line?”

“My crosshairs are dead center and I’m ready to go.”

“Okay, everybody else pull back nice and easy. We’re going to go about twenty meters and set up to cover our people’s retreat. In the meantime, get a bead on that guy, Lieutenant.”

To the degree that it was possible from his position, Smith watched Grayson and two of his team members slither back and find cover that allowed them a clear view of the soldiers left behind.

“You ready Lieutenant?”

“The crosshairs are on his arm. I can’t see any more of him.”

“That’s okay. An M16 round to the arm will ruin anyone’s day. Fire on three. One…Two…Three.”

Both guns flashed and speakers on the sides sounded with the crack of the shot.

And then, predictably, it all hit the fan.

The Delta team, figuring they could terrify the less experienced force, broke cover and charged forward, firing at the two people trying to retreat back to their unit. Smith’s software registered a very near miss on his lawyer and he watched Delta’s impressive speed and accuracy pulsating bright red as they approached.

Under normal circumstances, it was a sensible strategy. These were not normal circumstances, though.

Carrie and Duane, the computer tech, were shooting wildly, ignoring their targeting system and missing by wide margins. Grayson, however, wasn’t so easily rattled. He nailed the lead attacker dead center and was lining up on another when the Delta team recognized that things weren’t going their way, dropped, and disappeared behind uneven ground.

When Smith caught up with his team of misfits again, they were huddled against the broad trunk of a tree. All but Grayson were gulping wildly at the air and Smith thought Stacy might actually be in respiratory distress until she grinned and gave him the thumbs-up.

“Okay, now!” Smith said. “So what do you think? Shooting Delta guys is kind of fun, isn’t it?”

Based on their expressions, they thought it was.

“So you want to hear the score? Major, you had a kill, congratulations. Lieutenant, unfortunately, you just got a graze, so no appreciable damage.”

“Damn!” she said, the disappointment heavy in her voice.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Lieutenant. That was a low-percentage shot for anyone. And you made your point getting that close.”

“What about me, sir?” Grayson asked.

“Dead center of mass.”

He pumped a fist in the air.

“So, by my calculations, your first engagement with Delta left your team fully intact, while you scored two kills and a graze. I’d call that a pretty good start to the day.”

“So what now?” Duane said. “The rest of those guys aren’t going to make the same mistake again.”

Grayson nodded. “I think we should sweep northeast, so we can attack the mountain on the least steep side. With those kinds of losses, Delta’s going to pull back to a defensive position, and frankly they’re going to overestimate us. We can use that.”

Based on an overhead image of the battlefield that only Smith could see, Grayson was exactly right. Delta was setting up to keep an extremely professional opponent from climbing the hill, focusing on the steeper southern and western slopes. The east slope had a far less practical entry point but it was probably the only one this group would be able to get up.

The rain started to recede and Smith followed as they moved out again. They passed right by the two “dead” Delta soldiers and he would have loved to see the look on their faces, but the thermal overlay had strengthened to the point that subtlety of expression was obscured.

Grayson had put Stacy, the heavier of the two women, on point. She looked exhausted and he’d obviously decided to sacrifice her if need be. Probably not realistic in real combat but one of those easy calls to make in a training exercise.

“Wait,” Smith heard Stacy say quietly over his Merge. “Corporal. Come up here and look at this, please.”

Smith stayed where he was, bringing up a window that displayed her unit’s input. She was looking at the ground between two